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1:

?

...............K3

...............A73

...............AK94

...............J763

AQ1074....................J9862

J...............................K6

632...........................Q107

A984........................1052

...............5

...............Q1098542

...............J85

...............KQ

?

This auction has something of a double-edged sword. If North opens 1NT in the usual way, a Texas transfer of 4H will keep E-W out of the auction. After a Jacoby transfer at the two-level, West might come in with 2S, which allows East to push the bidding up to 4S right away. If North does not open 1NT we might get 1D-P-1H-1S; X-4Sand then South is under great pressure. We ended up with one inexplicable contract of 3NT N, 4H N thrice, 4H S and 5H S twice.

?

The sad thing for E-W is that their values have a good deal of wastage. The heart king, a defensive asset, does nothing offensively and N-S can defend 4Sx for a top board thanks largely to neither East's nor West's holding shortage in a minor. But pushing N-S to 5H gave Saranne and Lernot a 75% score, behind Conndy's top for defending 3NT -2. All the heart contracts took exactly the expected ten tricks. At matchpoints leading the heart ace first when drawing trumps has a 26% chance of an overtrick for blocking the singleton king; at IMPs declarer can guarantee to bring in the suit for one loser by leading low, preferably from the South hand to North's seven if West plays the six.

?

4H N = (3); 4H S =

5H S =1

3NT N -2

?

2:

?

...............Q1053

...............Q4

...............K952

...............J75

AJ8.......................K94

109876..................K2

103........................QJ64

1032......................KQ98

...............762

...............AJ53

...............A87

...............A64

?

East opens the bidding and likely declares 1NT. If South comes in with a bad takeout double then North likely bids spades and a couple of Souths ended up playing in no-trumps. Contracts were 1NT E thrice, 1NT S, 2C E, 2S N and 2NT S.

?

Whether South or East declares, no-trumps contracts should lead to seven tricks for N-S. Leigh Ann played 1NT +1 when West allowed her two spade tricks; not playing the ace on the second round would have cut her off from the long spade in dummy. Two Easts made 1NT, Cindy after a heart opening lead. Only Diabot managed seven tricks on defence. All the two-level contracts failed by one trick.

?

1NT S +1

1NT E -1; 2C E -1

1NT E = (2)

2S N -1; 2NT S -1

?

3:

?

...............10

...............A109875

...............Q85

...............K82

K9842......................763

642...........................J

J...............................AK94

J1053.......................AQ764

...............AQJ5

...............KQ3

...............107632

...............9

?

I thought N-S might be able to stop in 2H if East stayed out of the auction but the only auctions that got to 2H saw South advance. If East overcalls 2C on the first round the auction reaches at least 3C and likely 3H or higher. Contracts were 3C E, 3D S and 4H N five times. North is very near an invitational sequence and might well opt for it with an upgrade of the diamond queen. South has good hearts and a 5-4-3-1 pattern, suggesting acceptance.

?

4H is set by a diamond ruff. Jim made the contract after the opening lead of East's singleton trump, a lead only a Robot would find. Conndy managed a two-trick set when, late in the hand, declarer unnecessarily finessed East for the spade king. The other 4H contracts finished -1. Glynneth defended 3D S -2. Gernot played 3C E +1 for the E-W top, although N-S can pick up the first four tricks off the top.

?

4H N =

4H N -1 (3)

3D S -2; 4H N -2

3C E +1

?

4:

?

...............A1052

...............A7

...............A864

...............1086

J963......................KQ8

Q1093....................6542

97...........................J5

KQ9.......................AJ74

...............74

...............KJ8

...............KQ1032

...............532

?

One North passed in second seat and East then passed in third, leading to a passout. Otherwise North opened 1D. One East doubled, leading to 2H W when South took rather a passive view of affairs. Otherwise, after North's 1D, South had a choice between 2D/3D or else 1NT. One South responded 1NT and played the hand there. 2D, at least once made as an inverted raise, was usually the choice, leading to 3D N twice and 4D N twice.

?

Diamond contracts had nine tricks, with three losers in clubs and one in spades. Henry took ten tricks when West broke the hearts before all the clubs had been cashed. Saranne and Lernot tied for E-W top defending 4D -1. 2H could always have been set by a set ruff and this was done by Jerik. Marian in 1NT always had eight tricks and would have been N-S top even without the ninth trick she picked up.

?

1NT S +2

3D N +1

3D N =

2H W -1

Passed Out

4D N -1 (2)

?

5:

?

...............A83

...............J

...............864

...............985432

Q652.........................----

AK9...........................1086432

AKJ2.........................Q105

Q10............................AJ76

...............KJ10974

...............Q75

...............973

...............K

?

2S from South and then West comes in with 2NT, 3NT or a double. Whatever West did, most of the time East finished in 4H. One naughty South opened 2S and bid again, completing the auction P-P-2S-X; 3S-4H-4S-X. One N-S pair stole the bid in 3S.

?

4H can take all thirteen tricks but declarer doesn't really have a serious reason to drop the offside singleton king of clubs. The Restricted Choice finesse in trumps is a marginal favourite, but only by a 5-4 margin on the assumption that North with QJ doubleton in hearts would play each honour half the time. Everyone in hearts took eleven tricks. Declarer in spades can be held to six tricks. Carl was, but was already assured of the N-S top for taking the bid in 3S undoubled. 4Sx was set only three tricks but that was more than enough; E-W led three rounds of diamonds when West needed to switch to a spade.

?

3S S -3

4H E +1 (3); 4H W +1 (2)

4Sx S -3

?

6:

?

...............AJ6

...............J1098

...............J85

...............Q73

K7........................1042

AK7......................Q654

972.......................Q1063

KJ1052.................98

...............Q9853

...............32

...............AK4

...............A64

?

I suppose most Wests overcalled 2C after South opened 1S. It looks as if that might not make much difference. P-1S-P-2S; P-P seems almost sure to run into either X or 3C from West, but P-1S-2C-2S; P-P let West pass most of the time. One West doubled 2S and East ended declaring 3Hx; another E-W pair pushed N-S to 3S. East might bid 2NT over a double (after 2C) from West to indicate no real preference; West will likely then opt for 3C.

?

If E-W do choose to balance they do poorly whatever denomination they choose; Starian were N-S top defending 3Hx -2; N-S will score at least +200 against any E-W contract higher than 2S. When South played in spades the layout was particularly friendly with the spades coming in for no loser and the club king onside. By a 4-2 margin declarer took ten tricks in spades instead of nine - often, as happened with Wendy, after a heart lead. The main point is that E-W need to get their diamond trick in time before declarer can get a discard established on the fourth heart from dummy. To make it worse, if West leads the diamond deuce, East has to find a finesse of the six to enable West to lead the suit again - and the six could bed disastrous if West led from Kxx.

?

3Hx E -2

2S S +2 (3); 3S S +1

2S S +1 (2)

?

7:

?

...............10742

...............J10942

...............4

...............AQ10

Q96.......................KJ8

K............................8763

AK8653.................QJ7

K97........................J32

...............A53

...............AQ5

...............1092

...............8654

?

It looks as if E-W will bid 1D-1H; 2D without anything exciting happening. At least one West apparently opened 1NT and got left there. The expected 2D W was played thrice. Higher contracts were 2H S (North showed majors over either 1NT or 1D and South - fortunately - chose hearts), 3D W and an ambitious 3NT E.

?

E-W have a tame nine tricks in diamonds unless West opts to finesse the club nine first. Lynn took ten tricks when she snuck a heart past the ace. 3NT E finished -2 with -3 possible but not necessary for the top score. Henry's view of 5-4 came though when Leigh Ann escaped in 2H S -1, not that she was in any danger of -2 or worse. Jerik set 3D for 5/6, perhaps after a starting club to the nine.

?

3NT E -2

3D W -1

2H S -1

2D W +1 (2)

1NT W +1

2D W +2

?

8:

?

...............A53

...............AQJ654

...............105

...............K6

K107........................J986

982..........................----

A7............................QJ8632

Q9542......................J83

...............Q42

...............K1073

...............K94

...............A107

?

It seemed highly improbable that anyone would play any contract other than 4H N, and so it turned out to be. South could either invite or begin with a forcing raise. North accepts an invitation and may make a mildly encouraging noise if South starts with 2NT but it won't go anywhere past 4H.

?

If East does not lead a middle or high spade 4H makes easily enough by force if declarer is psychic. An opening lead of a middle or high spade at least makes it possible for E-W to cash four tricks if declarer starts diamonds. If the opening lead is the diamond queen, the easy make is to duck in dummy. If the play begins with three rounds of diamonds, the forced make requires running the trumps, dummy discarding a spade. If East discards a club, after the trumps declarer plays three clubs and West has to lead away from the king of spades. If East discards two spades West must discard down to two clubs. Then North leads the club king. If West ducks a club to the ten throws West in for a spade lead. If West unblocks the queen, South's ten scores on a finesse. The endplay acts similarly after a spade lead, although then East has to come down to one spade to keep the diamond queen-jack and West has to save two spades, allowing either a diamond duck or cashing two clubs and then letting West take two spades only to have to lead from the diamond ace. As declarer was hardly going to find such a line (Bill was not playing, nor was Paul, Rich DeMartino or Geof Brod) I perhaps expected a set most of the time, but four declarers emerged with a make and only Saranne, Glynneth and Heve with a set.

?

4H N = (4)

4H N -1 (3)

?

9:

?

...............A432

...............82

...............AJ963

...............K9

QJ876....................K105

Q10........................AJ9754

107.........................K2

AQ65......................J7

...............9

...............K63

...............Q854

...............108432

?

I am pleased to report that nobody let the auction die in 2D N after 1D-1H-2D, and only one East was allowed to play 2H. West has the values to act over 2D, and with only four spades would likely have made a responsive double. E-W contracts were evenly divided between the majors: 2H E, 3H E twice, 3S W twice and 4S W. The one N-S contract was 5Dx N.

?

The layout was rather kind to 5Dx. There was no preventing three spade ruffs unless West got in with the club ace to lead a diamond and North ducked. Jamie scored 5/6 getting out for -1; -2 would have scored only 1/6. Heart contracts could have been held to eight tricks maximum by a spade ruff; a second ruff allowed the possibility of a sixth defensive trick, as was posted by Jerik for the N-S top. Spade contracts looked set for nine tricks; Connie made 4S W when North overruffed the third heart instead of discarding a diamond.

?

3H E -2

5Dx N -1

2H E +1; 3H E =; 3S W =

3S W +1

4S W =

?

10:

?

...............A8762

...............85

...............KJ863

...............Q

J95.............................K103

62...............................AKJ

Q974...........................A52

AKJ3...........................9762

...............Q4

...............Q109743

...............10

...............10854

?

1NT from East and then whether South interferes or not we get a contract of 3NT E. The lebensohl auction would be 1NT-2H-3NT to deny a stopper, but East has more than enough of one. Everyone finished in 3NT E, however anyone got there.

?

3NT is a bit tricky but East can force 3NT = if the first club is taken by the ace or king. This was only done three times, with makes posted by Louise, Cindy and Gernot. Jerik's -1 was the middle score, with the other declarers all finishing -2, generally after a finesse of the club jack on the first round.

?

3NT E -2 (3)

3NT E -1

3NT E = (3)

?

11:

?

...............A932

...............Q97

...............AK72

...............J9

J.............................8754

K854......................AJ62

J964.......................853

KQ74......................32

...............KQ106

...............103

...............Q10

...............A10865

?

Would North or South open the bidding? Either way one hand or the other declared in spades. There was at least a game invitation with a 4-3 margin in favour of game and a 5-2 margin in favour of North's declaring: 3S N twice, 3S S, 4S N thrice and 4S S.

?

The 4-1 trump split complicates the play but the dropping of the singleton jack helps; South can ruff a heart and a diamond, score the club ace and the three diamond tops, then win four tricks with the spade ace, king, queen and nine. The complication of the 4-1 split was enough to keep a 4-3 majority of declarers from taking ten tricks, with three declarers taking ten, three nine and one eight. Jim and Joyce tied for N-S top in 4S =. Three declarers finished -1, with Lernot posting the set after two rounds of spades followed by a club when a diamond was necessary.

?

4S N =; 4S S =

3S N +1

3S S =

3S N -1; 4S N -1 (2)

?

12:

?

...............AKJ102

...............54

...............852

...............K106

Q95.........................643

K106........................873

63............................AKJ

AQJ54.....................9832

...............87

...............AQJ92

...............Q10974

...............7

?

We start either 1C-1S-2C-X or 1C-1S-2C-2H, except that one auction ended in 2C. We ended with a full rainbow of contracts: 2C W, 2NT N, 3D S twice, 4C W, 4H S and 4S N, 3D S making the most sense.

?

3D was the highest contract making by force with the behaving trumps and there being no shortage to create a threat. Diane and Marian both scored +110 in that contract. Declarer could take eight tricks in either spades or hearts, both contracts facing a diamond ruff. No-trumps or clubs could see declarer held to seven tricks, Carthurl scoring N-S top defending 4C W -3. Saranne exceeded expectations, defending 2NT N -2 to tie Loubot's 4S N -2 for E-W top. N-S top was Erik's in 4H S =; after two rounds of clubs and a losing heart finesse, West continued with the club jack when it was necessary to get the diamond ruff to salvage -1.?

?

4H S =

4C W -3

3D S = (2)

2C W -1

2NT N -2; 4S N -2

?

13:

?

...............76

...............J84

...............AK

...............AKQ1042

J543.............................109

Q63..............................AK1092

Q954............................8763

75.................................93

...............AKQ82

...............75

...............J102

...............J86

?

This hand turned into something of a double trap. Unless East comes in with a light heart overcall - reasonable enough with all the values in the suit and a little distribution as well; if non-vulnerable with that hand Bill would likely bid 2H for the extra pre-emption - North is too good with eight probable top winners to be content with a mere jump rebid of 3C over 1C-1S. The hand cries out for 3NT, which just happens to walk right into the wrong layout on this hand. Contracts went as nearly as possible into pairs, with the outlier being the one partial of 3C N. Two Norths did rebid 3NT and play the hand there; two Souths declared 3NT (a little strange, as the rebid that stands out after 1C-1S; 3C is 3S) and two N-S pairs won the bidding contests by finding 4S S. Jerik were one of those pairs, with the systemic advantage of knowing they were in a game-forcing auction right away. They were able to bid their suits in a leisurely style and find out they did not like the idea of playing 3NT. Diabot also reached 4S S.

?

The second part of the trap was for the defence. Bill would likely have been in his element defending this hand as West if he were on lead, as his natural instinct to lead his three-card major would have paid off handsomely. The instinct would have been tempered slightly by East's not having overcalled hearts. But neither West led a heart, allowing Carl to take eleven tricks and Marian to take all thirteen. Even with East on lead it was necessary for East to underlead the hearts on either the first or second trick; one of the two Easts on lead began with the ace and king, scoring -630; only Conndy managed to set 3NT. This resulted in unluckily low scores for 4S S, in which both Erik and Diane took only ten tricks.

?

3NT S +4

3NT S +2

3NT N +1

4S S = (2)

3C N +2

3NT N -1

?

14:

?

...............K10974

...............J1097

...............3

...............942

AQ83.......................J6

6532.........................8

J76...........................KQ109854

A7.............................KQ5

...............52

...............AKQ4

...............A2

...............J10863

?

3D, 1D and pass were all initial actions chosen by East. 3D often ended the auction; South would have liked to come in but had no safe way in. One pass saw South upgrade the hand to a 1NT opening bid and eventually play 2S, East making the strange decision to let 2S sit uncontested. The other three auctions got to 4D E, which was twice the contract. At the last table, South came in with a double, eventually pulling 4S to 5C. This was left in undoubled.

?

Diamond contracts all took ten tricks and spades took seven, in line with expectations. The battle came down to whether Leigh Ann could escape for -2 in 5C. -3 could have been forced by drawing dummy's trumps, but a diamond lead allowed Leigh Ann a diamond ruff and an escape in -2 to score 5/6 instead of a zero.

?

2S S -1

5C S -2

3D E +1 (3); 4D E = (2)

?

15:

?

...............973

...............A83

...............Q8753

...............AQ

8...........................AJ102

QJ10972...............K54

6............................92

K10862.................9754

...............KQ654

...............6

...............AKJ104

...............J3

?

South opens 1S and West has a fine Michaels cue-bid. At this vulnerability, looking at the E-W hands one would be pleased to sacrifice in either 5C or 5H. North has at least a game invitation and South can accept with pleasure. Two E-W pairs did take a five-level sacrifice, both times pushing South to 5S. 4S was left in three times and two Easts doubled 4S. One of those doubles came about after West began with a 2H overcall; East expected a better hand. The other 4Sx auction began 1S-3C; I did not get to see if that showed some kind of two-suiter.

?

5Cx could have been set four tricks, although South would have had to start with the singleton heart, get a ruff, and then underlead the diamond ace-king to put North in for another ruff. 5Hx finishes a peaceful -2 without declaring heroics. With the club finesse working declarer takes eleven tricks in spades, losing just two trump tricks to East. Carl and Wendy were willing to sacrifice the overtrick in 4Sx to be more certain of making the contract, quite a reasonable course of action.

?

4Sx S =(2)

4S S +1 (3); 5S S = (2)

?

16:

?

...............J

...............AJ1086

...............QJ87

...............A52

K65432..................1098

K.............................9743

1043........................92

QJ6.........................10873

...............AQ7

...............Q52

...............AK65

...............K94

?

We managed to get most N-S pairs into slam. After 2S-3H, it was natural for South to drive to slam and perhaps equally natural to select 6NT as the final contract in case of a spade lead rather than 6H; 6NT S was played four times and 6H N only once. One South stopped in 3NT and the last auction finished in 5H N, stopping with one missing key card, often a dubious decision.

?

Impressively, West managed to avoid any temptation to lead a spade against 6NT. This would have given declarer the contract even if the hearts were misplayed. Three declarers did misplay the hearts in 6NT, going down after leading the queen first and being stuck with a loser when West turned up with the singleton king. Holding the eight-spot, leading low first was correct. Swap the eight and seven and leading the queen first would have a better chance of bringing in the suit for no loser - East might hold a singleton eight or nine. On the actual hand one might avoid that line anyway if West has opened 2S, as if West holds K98x in hearts and gets a trick, there is sure to be an easy endplay. If dummy's spot is lower than the seven, again leading low is the correct play (declarer cannot afford to treat a dropped 7/8/9 as a singleton). Misplay the hearts and declarer cannot recover; only Joyce played the suit correctly to make 6NT. In 6H declarer can even take all thirteen tricks, the star card being the seven of spades. After, say, a spade lead to the ace, declarer draws trumps in four rounds and then plays the diamonds, ending in dummy:

?

----

8

----

A52

?

Q7

----

----

K9

?

If West discards down to one spade, South can continue with the seven, declarer ruffing out the king. If East discards a spade South can lead the queen through West to establish the seven. That means both of them have to unguard the clubs. In 6H Steven (S) lost a trick with a first-round spade finesse, but he'd already played the hearts correctly, taking twelve tricks.

?

6NT S =

6H N =

3NT S +4

5H N =

6NT S -1 (3)

?

17:

?

...............73

...............QJ64

...............J3

...............J8532

AQ8.......................964

AK3........................9852

K7..........................A842

A10974..................K6

...............KJ1052

...............107

...............Q10965

...............Q

?

If South opens 2S in third seat West overcalls 3NT. Otherwise West opens 2NT and should finish in 3NT, which was the contract six times. How the seventh auction finished in 4H W I didn't see and would rather not imagine.

?

Weirdly, despite the 4-1 trumps, 4H makes an overtrick for the best score available. Declarer cashes the heart ace-king and then just takes the ruffing finesse in clubs, eventually coming to two spades, the top two hearts, the diamond ace and king, three clubs and two club ruffs. 3NT takes ten tricks on a similar but risky line, endplaying North to emerge with four clubs and two tricks in each other suit. Every contract made on the number, giving Hank the E-W top.

?

3NT W = (6)

4H W =

?

18:

?

...............Q985

...............A754

...............AQ

...............852

AK42......................J1073

----..........................QJ32

J10542....................7

AKJ4.......................10763

...............6

...............K10986

...............K9863

...............Q9

?

1D from West and then likely a double from North or perhaps a pass. We did not finish in 1Dx (or 1D undoubled) at any table. There was competition with N-S's hearts against E-W in black suit or the other. Contracts were 2S E twice, 2S W, 4C E, 4C W, 4S W and 5Hx S.

?

Declarer can be held to nine tricks in spades but only by a trump lead; otherwise the clubs are used to get diamond ruffs in the East hand with heart ruffs in hand as well; declarer can get either seven tricks with trumps and three clubs or six tricks with trumps and four clubs, though this does entail a guess that South will hold one trump. Gernot took ten tricks in 2S E, two declarers took nine and Starian posted 2S E -1 after a spade lead when declarer continued trumps at trick two. Both club contracts took the expected nine tricks. Heve, defending 5Hx, had a comfortable -3 and picked up an extra undertrick to make the penalty +1100when South let East draw too many rounds of trumps.

?

2S E -1; 4C E -1; 4C W -1 (2)

2S W +1

2S E +2

5Hx S -4

Yes; we had enough and then the system started kicking people off again. I just got kicked off right after the game didn't launch.

?

?

1:

?

...............3

...............10976

...............J

...............AJ107432

KJ87...........................65

AKJ32.........................Q85

92................................Q107543

K8...............................Q5

...............AQ10942

...............4

...............AK86

...............96

?

This is a tricky one to predict. North may or may not open 3C and then South may or may not bid over that. If North passes East may open 2D. Or South opens 1S and West may or may not overcall 2H. There were contracts in all four suits along different paths: 3D E, 3H W, 4Cx N, 4S S twice, 5C N twice and 5Cx N.

?

E-W need to get trumps going quickly to hold club contracts to the minimum, although declarer is likely not to extract the maximum. Peggy made 5Cx when E-W began with two rounds of hearts; West needed to switch to the low club at trick two to force a set. Henry made 4Cx as well. The undoubled contracts all went down, with Marudy picking up E-W top defending 5C -3. 4S finished -2 both times, declarer having nowhere to go outside of the trump suit for tricks.

?

5Cx N =

4Cx N =

3D E -1; 3H W -1

4S S -1

4S S -2; 5C N -2

5C N -3

?

?

2:

?

...............AK102

...............10765

...............KQ10

...............A2

J9...........................754

3.............................984

AJ9743...................8652

K1097.....................863

...............Q863

...............AKQJ2

...............----

...............QJ54

?

If West stays out of the auction South opens 1H and rebids 3D over North's 2NT response. This discourages North and slam may be missed unless South takes a relatively positive view of the hand. But with West overcalling 2D, North cue-bids 3D and South can cue-bid 4D and follow with 5H to show interest in slam without control in either black suit. North likely bids 6H over that despite the diamond near-wastage. If South opens Flannery North may find the diamond void and sign off, as happened once. Other contracts were 4H S, 5H S thrice and 6H S thrice.

?

With the spades behaving and hearts 3-1, 6H was never in jeopardy. Declarer in 6H can always make an overtrick on a squeeze, but needs careful timing. After, say, a spade lead, declarer draws trumps, takes the club finesse and then runs the spades, ending in dummy, ruffing a diamond along the way if West covers the club queen. The position will be either:

?

----

10

KQ

2

?

----

J

----

J54

?

or

?

----

10

KQ10

A

?

----

J2

----

J54

?

Declarer will then have to read whether West's diamond guard cand be trumped out. If not the club will establish, as West was squeezed on the last spade. Mark and Marjorie took all thirteen tricks in 6H; Leigh Ann took twelve. Spades has perhaps an easier path to thirteen tricks, as South can ruff two diamonds and then discard the third on the fifth heart. (Declarer can also come to thirteen tricks in hearts by negotiation two club ruffs in the North hand but that does run a small risk of defeat.)

?

6H S +1 (2)

6H S =

4H S +3; 5H S +2

4H N +2; 5H S +1

5H S =

?

3:

?

...............K5

...............AKQJ52

...............AJ

...............Q53

A9................................83

1096.............................743

98743...........................Q105

J82...............................109764

...............QJ107642

...............8

...............K62

...............AK

?

This hand depended entirely on the auction, as it was no surprise that all eight declarers took exactly twelve tricks (one originally claimed only eleven by mistake but the claim was corrected. Everyone reached slam, not difficult when South opens the bidding and North holds 20 HCP. The interesting thing is that spades were never trumps. Nor did they ever have to be. Two Norths put the final contract into 6H on the solid suit, but the usual contract was 6NT. Jevin probably had the quickest auction: 1S-3H; 3S-6NT. The disadvantage of playing with an unfamiliar partner was on display here as one pair had a misunderstanding over South's 5S response to 4NT (probably that was the wrong bid) and finished in 7NTx -1 against Karleta. 6S would have been fine as well, but, had the suit been less solid, 6NT would have been vastly superiour for being able to cope with a dreadful break in either individual major so long as the other behaved.

?

6NT N = (4); 6NT S =

6H N = (2)

7NTx N -1

?

?

4:

?

...............9

...............J85432

...............7

...............A10986

K107543..............AQ82

K..........................106

Q94......................A10863

K42......................Q5

...............J6

...............AQ97

...............KJ52

...............J73

?

I hope West didn't open 1S. North is not good enough for Leaping Michaels over a 2S opening if that is the choice, likely resulting in the auction 2S-4S freezing the opponents out. 4S was the most common contract, played thrice. West also played 2S, 3S twice and 5S. One stray North managed to declare 4H.

?

We followed up the two slams with a double game swing - most appropriate. If East leads the club queen against 4H, declarer might fear the ruff and decide to play the ace first, getting doubly lucky when the king drops singleton and North loses only one spade, one diamond and one club. Marian even took eleven tricks when E-W didn't cash out. Spades took ten tricks at all the tables but two. Mahn defended 2S +1 but Breta managed to make 5S by sneaking a heart past the ace.?

?

4H N +1

2S W +1

3S W +1 (2)

4S W = (3)

5S W =

?

5:

?

...............Q1032

...............Q10532

...............K

...............1095

J85.......................AK764

K...........................A4

AQ10973...............2

Q74.......................AKJ83

...............9

...............J9876

...............J8654

...............62

?

Finally an E-W slam, although it was nowhere near so easy to play as the N-S slams. The chance of stopping would seem to be if West decided to downgrade the heart king and respond 1NT to 1S, planning to follow with 3S. I could see 1S-1NT; 3C-3S; 4S, although West might reasonably move on that sequence opposite a jump shift. Two pairs stopped in 4S. If West begins with 2D, after 1S-2D; 3C-3S, East can hardly stop short of slam. This would be a good hand with which to convince players who doubt the utility of asking for the queen of trumps, as in the old days if East thought West might hold four trumps we might have seen players in 7S. Four pairs bid 6S E, one 6NT E and one North doubled 6S. That seems to be rather a dangerous double, although Bill will remember a Mollo hand on which the Rueful Rabbit got a top board by doubling a slam with nothing and convincing declarer to play him for a dangerous trump holding.

?

Any slam ends up coming down to the play of the spades. As declarer is out to lose no more than one trick in the suit, the percentage line is to lead ace or king and then low to the jack, although against the double it is tempting to run the jack through North, planning not to play the king next after jack/queen/ace. When South drops the nine declarer can finesse North for the ten and take thirteen tricks. The ace lead risks losing two tricks if North holds Q109x but, without any indication of length with North (such as a double), remains the percentage play. Here, when South drops the nine, leading low second guarantees bringing in the suit for one loser unless N-S get a ruff. If E-W had found themselves in 7S, playing ace and king would have had the best chance of success. Half the slams made and half failed (against Jevin declarer led ace and king) - weirdly, including the doubled slam, rewarding Liggy for bravery. Jamie made all the tricks after South led the singleton trump - a dangerous lead against a small slam, and here we see why.

?

6Sx E -1

6S E -1 (2)

4S E +1 (2)

6S E = (2)

6S E +1

?

6:

?

...............----

...............K75432

...............Q854

...............Q32

J1083....................KQ642

J9..........................A6

A3..........................K97

A10874..................J96

...............A975

...............Q108

...............J1062

...............K5

?

1S-3S may have started every auction - West is more likely to upgrade the hand to a game force than to raise only to 2S. Maybe a little surprisingly six Easts went on to 4S while only two stopped in 3S. The hand is a little better than average but not by much and contains seven losers.

?

Declarer gets a bit lucky. The club king lead guarantees a ruff or a heart lead establishes a trick but N-S cannot do both. Declarer has just enough time to draw trumps and establish clubs. Declarer can get into trouble by starting the clubs too early before trumps are gone. Scott managed eleven tricks when South played low on the first club and could have forced a ruff by playing the king; Leighry set 3S when declarer drew trumps and started clubs too late. Liggy were N-S top defending 4S -2.

?

4S E -2

3S E -1; 4S E -1 (2)

3S E +1

4S E =

4S E +1 (2)

?

7:

?

...............10

...............K73

...............K9743

...............J763

AQ5.........................J8642

J9652......................8

AQ...........................852

Q84.........................AK102

...............K973

...............AQ104

...............J106

...............95

?

West opens 1NT. This was left in thrice. Three Easts transferred to 2S and left the auction there. One East went on over 2S and the contract became 4S W. The last auction was 1D-X-3D-X, South opening by some accident or other. It took a while to finish, as West wanted to know the strength of 3D, North's original explanation saying "not broke". North eventually provided a range of 7-10; when answering questions, if one has a range, please provide it and be as specific as possible. Also, if explaining a bid after it is made so that the explanation box is not available, please tell opponents privately and don't answer a question in table chat.

?

West was not sure about defending 3Dx, but Ritold were top when they managed a two-trick set. (A heart lead or club lead and heart switch allow a three-trick set.) Spade contracts look like taking nine tricks. Declarer loses a heart and diamond, can ruff the third diamond but will then lose two spades. The spade contracts all took nine tricks. 1NT could take seven tricks, although Jevin set the contract when declarer took the top three clubs and lost to the jack.

?

1NT W -1; 4S W -1

1NT W = (2)

2S W +1 (3)

3Dx S -2

?

8:

?

...............AQJ10

...............Q1092

...............K4

...............KJ3

K6.......................9742

K83.....................7

1098763..............AQ

104......................AQ9852

...............853

...............AJ654

...............J52

...............76

?

Almost every auction began with 1NT from North and a transfer; North declared six times in hearts (along with once in no-trumps) to South's once. South might play in hearts if West opens 2D and North doubles or if system does not include 2D being a transfer after P-1NT-2C. Game was not particularly likely; contracts were 2H N thrice, 2NT N, 3H N, 3H S and 4H N twice.

?

North's declaring makes a big difference as West only get the lead once and there is a finesse in every suit. When South declared West could finesse North is both minors and hold declarer to eight tricks; North declaring could force nine. Marian made 4H?when West missed the chance to lead a club through, John posted 2H +2. The other heart contracts were equally divided between taking nine and seven tricks, Elott and Winne sharing the top defending 3H -2 from both sides.

?

4H N =

2H N +2

2NT N +1

2H N +1

2H N -1; 4H N -1

3H N -2; 3H S -2

?

9:

?

...............QJ75

...............KJ873

...............93

...............K8

K64.......................A10932

1052......................A9

A85.......................KQJ10

J1064....................Q2

...............8

...............Q64

...............7642

...............A9753

?

At least half the Easts opened 1N (unless one North opened, presumably not a light Flannery but perhaps 2H or something showing weaker major two-suiters). 1NT was left in once and South played 2H and 3H, both of which presumably arose after 1NT-P-P and North's bidding 2C or 2D to show both majors. One East played 3NT, which seems likely to come about after a 1NT opening or after an opening bid from North. The other Easts declared 2S, 3S twice and a doubtful 3D, which could have originated with any opening bid.

?

East takes nine tricks in spades with a correct read of the trumps; N-S have plenty of time to establish their heart trick before the clubs are ready to provide discards and declarer has enough top winners not to be too inconvenienced by 4-1 trumps. Marjorian defended 3S E -1 but the other declarers in spades all took nine tricks. A sufficiently early heart lead could have held no-trumps to seven tricks, but the tendency was to begin with and continue clubs. Anne X played 1NT +2 and Harold 3NT +1 after E-W began with and continued clubs. Both heart contracts failed by one trick to score 4.5/7.

?

3D E -1; 3S E -1

2H S -1; 3H S -1

2S E +1; 3S E =

1NT E +2

3NT E +1

?

10:

?

...............A63

...............KQ85

...............K1083

...............106

Q9...........................K1075

10942......................AJ3

52............................74

AJ754......................9832

...............J842

...............76

...............AQJ96

...............KQ

?

Would N-S be able to avoid the dangerous 3NT? Half the pairs found their way there, twice from each side of the table. There were three partials, 2S S and 3D S twice. The last auction was long and meandering, causing poor Gareth agony in the East seat. N-S did find that they did not have good enough clubs for 3NT, winning the battle but losing the war by arriving in 4S S.

?

Gareth was rewarded for his suffering during the auction when 4S finished four tricks down, two more than needed for the top score. 3NT should have been -1 every time. E-W do not need to lead a club originally as South can only establish an eighth trick and not a ninth. Everyone did lead a club against 3NT but only Marudy managed the set. When Lin declared E-W blocked the club suit and against Renee and Marian West discarded clubs on the run of the diamonds, allowing 3NT = all three times to share the N-S top.

?

3NT N = (2); 3NT S =

3D S = (2)

2S S -1; 3NT S -1

4S S -4

?

11:

?

...............AK1087

...............AKJ

...............976

...............Q5

Q43.........................J62

1032........................986

A1053......................K8

K86.........................AJ974

...............95

...............Q754

...............QJ42

...............1032

?

The auctions here followed three distinct paths. Two Norths opened 1NT and played the hand there. Four Wests left a 1S opening bid in; the other two balanced, leading to a contract of 2S N.

?

Against spades E-W can always take a diamond ruff off the top and come to six tricks. Otherwise North can force eight tricks with trumps and hearts both splitting 3-3. Five declarers took eight tricks in spades, Henry among others after the opening lead of a heart. Only Myrne managed the set. 1NT can be defeated off the top but it is not necessary for East to find the diamond switch after running the clubs. Both Karleta and Marudy posted 1NT -1 to tie Myrne for E-W top.

?

2S N =; 1S N +1 (4)

1NT N -1 (2); 2S N -1

?

12:

?

...............4

...............A1054

...............Q8653

...............QJ6

A3...........................KJ7652

J73..........................Q96

J1042......................A9

8542........................103

...............Q1098

...............K82

...............K7

...............AK97

?

2S from East in third seat ended the auction thrice. South has the values for a 2NT overcall, with Q1098 in East's suit having particular value as a nearly certain double stopper; there is almost no way the suit will run. 2NT ended the auction once; the other four Souths declared 3NT.

?

3NT takes nine tricks comfortably enough, especially if West leads the ace of spades and continues the suit. If E-W avoid spades entirely or cash only one round, one trick establishes in hearts and the diamond ace doubleton in the East hand can be crashed. Jeff took ten tricks after E-W began with three rounds of spades. Ritold got lucky on the same defence - declarer either got the bidding reversed or misclicked, winning the third spade with the queen. This allowed a two-trick set. 2S finished -2 twice and -1 for Myrtle.

?

3NT S +1

3NT S = (2)

2NT S +1

2S E -2 (2)

2S E -1

3NT S -2

?

13:

?

...............AJ643

...............94

...............----

...............K108532

KQ985....................1072

53............................1072

AQ863....................J9542

Q.............................AJ

...............----

...............AKQJ86

...............K107

...............9764

?

Unless North gets aggressive and opens, South starts with 1H and then West overcalls either 1S or 2H. One South accidentally passed a 1S overcall (naturally North passed, presumably hoping for a reopening double). The contracts were evenly divided between South's in hearts and E-W's: 1S W, 3D E, 3H S twice, 3S W, 3Sx E and 4H S twice.

?

4H needs a heart lead to hold declarer to ten tricks; with clubs 2-1 declarer has the timing to establish clubs while dummy can still ruff a diamond. Marjorie made 5H after a spade lead; Peggy also took eleven tricks in 3H while the other two declarers took ten. N-S top naturally went to Jevin, who defended 3Sx -3, the first of their two top boards defending a doubled partial (one of their specialties). Wendric posted 3S -4 and Rekenee 1S -4 (barely possible but after three rounds of hearts with the third overruffed, then a club to the ace it looks just doable) for 50%. Judy was top E-W playing 3D E -1.?

?

3Sx E -3

4H S +1

4H S =

1S W -4; 3S W -4

3H S +2

3H S +1

3D E -1

?

14:

?

...............Q65

...............A83

...............Q865

...............Q106

73............................AJ1082

9652........................KQ104

1097.........................J2

9542........................K7

...............K94

...............J7

...............AK43

...............AJ83

?

This would have been an excellent time to have been playing a canape system on which East would have opened 1H. After the natural 1S, South overcalled 1NT and North usually took it directly to 3NT. 1H might have kept N-S out of 3NT entirely; South may double and then North may bid diamonds instead of no-trumps; the auction could stop in a partial quite easily. Along with 3NT S five times contracts were 2Hx E, 2NT S and 3H E.

?

3NT took ten tricks four times after a spade lead, though there was likely a little help in the clubs; declarer CAN force four tricks in the suit but is not likely to run the eight from hand after queen/king/ace. Renee took eleven tricks for the N-S top although declarer can be held to nine; Ritold were allowed a two-trick set. The other contracts were all in the middle, both heart contracts finishing -1 and 2NT +1 being the only time no-trumps took nine tricks.

?

3NT S +2

3NT S +1 (3)

2NT S +1

2Hx E -1

3D E 1

3NT S -2

?

15:

?

...............AQ8652

...............653

...............10

...............854

J104.........................K7

AQ7..........................J10982

98632.......................AJ4

97..............................1062

...............93

...............K4

...............KQ75

...............AKQJ3

?

If N-S play weak jump shift responses, how weak is weak? I believe at least one auction began 1C-P-2S, but the jump shift was never left in. At least one North responded 1S, as East declared 3H, surely after a (grim) 2H overcall raised by West. Everyone got to the three-level, with contracts of 3C S twice, 3H E, 3H W, 3NT S, 4S N twice and 5C S.

?

The games were too ambitious. 4S could have been only one down with a first-round intermediate finesse in trumps, but both declarers finessed the queen and finished -2, although low to the eight does not lose a trick as there is a sure trump lose anyway and gains when West holds J10x or J10xx. Clubs can take nine tricks; Ritold's opponent went all out for a make and finished -4. 3NT depends largely on the lead. Weirdly, a spade lead results in -3, as East cannot be prevented from scoring five hearts, the spade king and the diamond ace. Against Jeff West found the heart lead that establishes the suit but lets declarer establish a diamond trick and escape for -1. The only successful declarer was Mark in 3C S =, finishing ahead of the two N-S pairs to post 3H -1.

?

3C S =

3H E -1; 3H W -1

3C S -1; 3NT S -1

4S N -2 (2)

5C S -4

?

16:

?

...............Q52

...............106

...............AKJ9875

...............9

K10764....................9

92............................KQ874

Q3............................104

AQ87.......................K10652

...............AJ83

...............AJ53

...............62

...............J43

?

This looked like a hand with potential big swings. Either West or North opens and there is a good chance either way that South will finish the auction declaring 3NT. Or so I thought, at least: 1S-2D-P-2NT; P seemed likely to get North to bid 3NT, but the hand was never played there. Perhaps the common auction was P-1D-2NT. North almost always took the bid in diamonds, finishing with contracts of 2D N twice, 3D N thrice, 4Cx W, 4D N and 5Dx N.

?

3NT rides on the lead - ten tricks after a spade lead, nine after a heart, eight after a club. Diamond contracts usually took ten tricks. John and Ken took eleven tricks in 3D when East never got a heart and West allowed a discard on the fourth spade. Winne set 4D when East was allowed a spade ruff. Jevin had four top tricks for the N-S top defending 4Cx -1.?

?

4Cx W -1

3D N +2 (2)

2D N +2 (2); 3D N +1

4D N -1

5Dx N -1

?

17:

?

...............9875

...............942

...............KQ1072

...............5

KQ63.......................A102

Q73..........................65

9...............................J83

AKQJ7.....................96432

...............J4

...............AKJ108

...............A654

...............108

?

South opens 1H in third seat and then West presumably either doubles or bids 2C. North raises hearts and East clubs if they were bid. Then it's just a question of which side pushes the other and how high. 4H has better play than either 5C or 4S. Contracts were 3C W, 4C E, 4C W thrice, 4D S twice and 4H S.

?

Clubs take a solid ten tricks, the only declarer varying being Martin, who took eleven when N-S did not cash out. There should have been nothing terribly wrong with 4D, which, along with 4H, should have been a fairly easy -1, but Winne posted 4D -2 and Jamob 4D -4. Jeff made 4H when West persisted with a second club after getting in with the heart queen, missing the chance to cash the spade winners.

?

4H S +1

4D S -2

3C W +1; 4C E =; 4C W = (2)

4C W +1

4D S -4

?

18:

?

...............A

...............1094

...............AKQ32

...............AKQ6

Q9764...................K85

A7..........................652

84..........................J10965

J532.......................98

...............J1032

...............KQJ83

...............7

...............1074

?

North usually opened 2C and likely followed with 2NT after a waiting bid. A little strangely almost all the auctions finished in no-trumps: 3NT N four times, 3NT S, 6H N and 6NT N twice. Both the auctions that ended in 6NT had a strange 2D overcall from East over 2C (last-board punchiness?). The 6NT auctions were P-P-P-2C; 2D-2S-P-6NT and P-P-P-2C; 2D-2S-P-3NT; P-4H-P-6NT (presumably both N-S pairs were playing either HCP or control step responses). The 6H auction was uncontested: 2C-2D; 2NT-3D; 3H-3S; 4H-4NT; 5D-6H, Jeff driving to slam.

?

No-trumps contracts can be held to ten tricks by a spade lead and declarer gets a little lucky that the heart ace is doubleton so that four heart tricks can be cashed. Rita naturally led a spade against 3NT S. East, however, had a natural diamond lead and then all the declarers took twelve tricks, the clubs all managing to score. 6H makes, but requires care, as, missing the trump ace, declarer must be careful not to try three diamonds too early or allow a defender to draw North's last trump while a spade could still cash. Eric and Henry tied for N-S top.

?

6NT N = (2)

6H N =

3NT N +3 (4)

3NT S +1

1:

?

...............J1095

...............K8762

...............54

...............K4

AK43......................Q72

104.........................AJ

10973.....................QJ86

1093.......................QJ87

...............86

...............Q953

...............AK2

...............A652

?

This hand may reward actions that are not generally recommended. East opens 1m and is likely to declare 1NT, unless the auction goes P-1D-P-1S; P-1NT and it is understood by N-S that a double is takeout for hearts and clubs with the implication that short spades prevented an original double. That is reasonable enough, and will result in a contract in some number of hearts, North being able to compete to 3H. East may be left in 1NT; being left in if West shows belated diamond support seems less likely (and never occurred). Spades may get played as well. The non-recommended action is an immediate takeout double with short spades, although that was the start of the only auction to reach the dangerous-looking 4H: P-1D-X-1S; 2H-2S-3H-P; 4H. Besides 4H, contracts were 1NT E thrice, 2H N, 2S W twice, 2NT E, 3H N five times and 3NT E.

?

N-S have ten tricks available in hearts thanks to the 2-2 trumps; all the declarers in hearts took ten tricks, giving Mark (A) N-S top for being the only declarer in a N-S game. When East declared no-trumps, the hand largely came down to whether the opening lead was a club or a heart. When other factors are equal, leading from Qxxx tends to work better than leading from Axxx; the ace will often serve as a useful entry and may have less urgency to lead the suit at once. A large swing rode on this. The club lead in and of itself was not fatal; if North read the deuce as fourth-best and knew that East also held four clubs, North could have found the heart switch in time. But only Lark, who posted 3NT -4, played hearts in time and took their eight tricks. Conndy posted 1NT -1, the hearts probably blocking. The other three declarer in 1NT and 2NT took eight or nine tricks. Paul, in 1NT, received club leads to the first three tricks. He was then sure of -1 and emerged with eight tricks when N-S missed their last chance to switch to hearts.?

?

4H N =

3NT E -4

2H N +2; 3H N +1 (5)

2S W -2 (2)

1NT E -1

1NT E +1 (2)

2NT E +1

?

2:

?

...............9842

...............AK9863

...............K5

...............5

1053.......................AK6

----.........................QJ52

AQ6432.................10

10973.....................AKQJ2

...............QJ7

...............1074

...............J987

...............864

?

East opens 1C and West presumably responds 1D; North presumably overcalls, either 1H or 2H. East may well bid 3NT directly over that. In an uncontested auction, East would rebid 2H and West would likely show the good clubs; E-W could well end up in clubs instead. North's competition was occasionally effective; contracts were 2Hx N, 3C E twice, 3NT E eight times, 4C E, 5C E and 6C E.

?

Declarer in clubs can force twelve tricks against any defence, even a trump lead. Declarer scores three heart ruffs, the top two spades, the diamond ace, the five trumps in hand and then either the diamond queen or a fourth heart ruff. Vala got quite lucky - facing the only 6C contract in the field, they picked up a two-trick set for the N-S top when declarer could have made the contract for E-W top. Harold posted 5C +1; the three club partials yielded to declarer nine, ten and twelve tricks. The key to posting 2Hx -1 for Ken was not playing too many trumps too soon. 3NT could always have been made by force, though -1 was possible against, say, a lead of the spade queen; declarer might well finesse the diamond queen on the first round and never get a heart trick. But the heart lead was nearly universal; Paul, John and Yumi tied for E-W top with one overtrick if North persisted with a second heart.

?

6C E -2

3C E =

4C E =

3C E +3

2Hx N -1

3NT E = (5)

5C E +1

3NT E +1 (3)

?

3:

?

...............3

...............QJ1096

...............AQ942

...............42

Q10542.................976

K7..........................52

KJ..........................1065

9863......................KQJ85

...............AKJ8

...............A843

...............873

...............A7

?

N-S ought to have no trouble reaching 4H after a 1NT opening bid and a transfer; 4H S was played ten times. Two Norths went back to no-trumps afterwards and South curiously elected to play 3NT rather than 4H. One North accidentally passed 1NT. The last auction saw South go beyond game and eventually playing 6H.

?

Declarer in 4H loses the third round of diamonds and the trump finesse, usually emerging with eleven tricks. +450 was posted eight times. 3NT got lucky; it would have failed against a club lead but likely received a spade lead instead, allowing nine and ten tricks. 6H -1 gave Dalan the E-W top.

?

4H S +1 (8)

3NT S +1

4H S = (2)

3NT S =

1NT S +2

6H S -1

?

4:

?

...............A865

...............3

...............Q76

...............KQJ63

72.........................J109

A10876................Q54

J108.....................AK32

542.......................1097

...............KQ43

...............KJ52

...............954

...............A8

?

It seemed as if 4S N would be nearly inevitable, as with an unbalanced hand there would be no chance of North's rebidding 1NT after 1C -1H. We got as close to unanimity as we would all day - contracts were 3NT S, 4S N twelve times and 4S S. I am not sure whether any South opted for 2D Fourth Suit Forcing after 1C-1H; 1S, but the hand does not have sufficient extra values; 4S should be quite sufficient.

?

It turned out 4S was sufficiently right-sided when played by North; the only time 4S was defeated was when South declared and Phoebe made the natural lead of the diamond jack. 4S N can be defeated and it looked as if at least one or two pairs would find the diamond lead, heart switch and diamond return through, but nobody did. Henry made an overtrick in 4S for the N-S top, a plausible result after three rounds of diamonds or a club lead or shift.

?

4S N +1

3NT S +1

4S N = (11)

4S S -1

?

5:

?

...............A74

...............10752

...............K7

...............K982

62............................J109

9864........................A3

9864........................Q10532

Q107........................A43

...............KQ853

...............KQJ

...............AJ

...............J65

?

?N-S were bound for game again but would the game be 4S or 3NT? If South opens 1NT it may well depend on whether the pair plays Puppet Stayman or not. After a 1S opening bid, North can bid Drury but South may offer 3NT as a possibility and North may decide to sit. Contracts were 1NT N, 2S S, 3NT N, 3NT S six times and 4S S five times.

?

The main difference between 4S and 3NT is that in 4S declarer has a little more time. In 3NT a diamond lead means that declarer can only knock out one ace and must then cash out. Had the club ace been with West this would have given 4S a clear edge. But declarer cannot break the suit without losing the first two rounds. Ten tricks for both contracts. All seven 3NT contracts yielded ten tricks. Frank managed 4S +1 when the defence broke clubs. Jonj were E -W top defending 4S -1 when declarer ducked a spade for no good reason at trick three.

?

4S S +1

3NT N +1; 3NT S +1 (6)

4S S = (3)

1NT N +3

2S S +2

4S S -1

?

6:

?

...............82

...............A1082

...............K4

...............Q7653

K103.......................AQ94

J65..........................Q

J832........................AQ107

AKJ.........................9842

...............J765

...............K9743

...............965

...............10

?

This is a tough one. East opens 1D and West has a flat hand with 13 HCP. 3NT W looks nearly inevitable and was the contract eleven times. One pair got all the way up to 5D E, Dane reached the interesting 4S E and the last auction ended in 4H N - I would not have expected North to have found a way into the auction.

?

3NT W can be set off the top by a low heart lead, although the suit could have blocked. Frankbot and Darry were the only two N-S pairs to manage to take their five top tricks. A club lead allowed declarer to run ten tricks off the top when the diamonds behaved; Jatin received a club lead and finished +2 for the E-W top. 4S could have been defeated had South won the first heart with the king, although a club lead and ruff off the top cede control of the hand to declarer and allow a make. A heart lead to the ace and heart return lets East discard two club losers on hearts and make 4S another way. Dale was unlucky not to score well in 5D =, which would have done rather well in an IMPs bidding contest.

?

3NT W -1 (2)

4H N -2

5D E =

4S E =

3NT W +1 (8)

3NT W +2

?

7:

?

...............J98

...............75

...............K

...............AQJ10952

KQ106.........................2

AQ2.............................KJ1064

Q1083.........................J642

K8...............................743

...............A7543

...............983

...............A975

...............6

?

1NT from West and then North likely has system restrictions on how to get into the auction. East comes in with hearts if North does not bid 3C and then it seems largely just a question of whether North goes on from there. A few Souths came in on this auction, usually to their own detriment. Contracts were 2H W four times, 3C N twice, 3Cx N, 3H W four times, 4H E, 4Sx S and 5Sx S after a long and convoluted auction.

?

The spade contracts looked on pace for eight tricks after a red-suit lead but both declarers fared worse, Dane posting +800 against 4Sx and Heve +1400 against 5Sx. Clubs had a chance of ten tricks if North could unblock the diamonds before having to use the spade ace; Mark (S) took ten tricks in 3C but Lourene were able to set 3Cx - a lucky outcome given the club layout. N-S had seven winners against heart contracts, but the best defence required the opening lead of the singleton king of diamonds. Accordingly all the declarers in hearts outperformed par, with Harold and Dale posting 2H = for the only E-W declaring plus scores.

?

4H E -2

3C N +1

3C N =

2H W -1 (2); 3H W -1 (4)

2H W = (2)

3Cx N -1

4Sx S -3

5Sx S -5

?

8:

?

...............AJ95

...............KQ9

...............KJ9

...............K62

----...........................KQ1032

7432.........................AJ10865

542...........................A

AJ8753.....................4

...............8764

...............----

...............Q108763

...............Q109

?

East's 6-5 pattern may suggest that there would be lively results in the auctions, and that came to pass, with the number of doubled contracts at five. If dealer, East would have had ample playing strength for a reverse and a 1H opening bid, but North opens 1NT and then East shows majors or at the very least bids hearts naturally. West has a good enough hand in support to raise, although not everybody did, and at two tables where South did not bid lebensohl to compete in diamonds the auction ended in 2H E. Two more auctions ended in 3H E but everyone else reached game. The game contracts were 4H E twice, 4H W twice, 4Hx E twice, 4Sx S, 5H W and 5Hx W twice.

?

Hearts can be held to eleven tricks by a heart lead only, so that with East declaring twelve tricks cannot be prevented, although to come to twelve tricks by force declarer must play North for all three trumps. Darry and Lernot both posted 5Hx -2 to share the N-S top. Against Darry, declarer took the ruffing finesse in spades (forgetting the auction?) and later began the hearts by leading the ace from hand. Four declarers found twelve tricks in heart games for pleasant outcomes. Jane (M) was E-W top making 4Hx, although Giselaine also went plus defending 4Hx -1; if anything one would have expected the double to assist declarer. Jane's making 4Hx prevented Heve from having a perfect round; they backed up their 5Sx -5 on the previous board with 4Sx -3, beating all the undoubled games.

?

5Hx W -2 (2)

4Hx E -1

2H E +1

2H E +2; 3H E +1

3H E +2

4H W =

4H E +2 (3); 5H W +1

4Sx S -3

4Hx E =

?

9:

?

...............K9

...............J98

...............AJ1075

...............Q106

65...............................A3

1073............................AQ652

KQ2............................983

AK432........................985

...............QJ108742

...............K4

...............64

...............J7

?

Would South's third-hand 3S opening bid end the auction? It did so eleven times. When anyone else came in the contracts finished at 4H E and 4S S twice. I can almost see East's taking a flying stab at 4H if West has passed in tempo, as West likely has the best hand at the table, but Ax is not the best spade holding for the action and the minor weaknesses could have declarer up against it at once.

?

All E-W have to do to set 3S is establish a diamond trick before the clubs provide a discard. That 3S made eight times suggests that, at least occasionally, West was too afraid of the club queen in dummy to cash the second winner, although Erik, one of the successful declarers, received a club lead with a heart switch to the king. Shane were N-S top defending 4H -2; Hever were E-W top defending 4S S -2.

?

4H E -2

3S S = (8)

3S S -1 (3); 3S S -1

4S S -2

?

10:

?

...............KJ106432

...............1094

...............72

...............Q

95.................................AQ

KQ5..............................AJ9863

AJ63.............................Q

5432.............................K876

...............87

...............2

...............K109854

...............AJ109

?

East opens 1H; West responds 1NT forcing planning a limit raise to 3H next. If South overcalls 2D West likely cue-bids 3D. North may come in with spades, but E-W ought to be able to reach 4H one way or another. One North was left in 3S and another sacrificed in 4Sx but all the other auctions finished in 4H E.

?

Hearts can take ten tricks but have difficulties if declarer passes up the diamond finesse due to the bad club layout. Nine declarers made 4H, which seems a bit on the high side, although there are endplay possibilities otherwise. Against Shane, Cbot and Jerik declarer led a club to the king and never got a discard on the diamonds. Lernot and Delen scored much better in 3S -1 and 4Sx -2 than they might have done.

?

4H E -1 (3)

3S N -1

4Sx N -2

4H E = (9)

?

11:

?

...............105

...............AQ96

...............985

...............J1052

K98.......................A7432

J1054....................72

KJ1032.................A76

6............................A87

...............QJ6

...............K83

...............Q4

...............KQ943

?

1C from South; whether or not West overcalls 1D East gets 1S in and the spades probably dominate the competitive auction. Contracts were 1NT S, 2S E four times, 3C S twice, 3H N and 3S E six times.

?

All East has to do to come to ten tricks in spades is to finesse through South for the queen; between that and the 3-2 trumps the hand basically plays itself. Seven of the ten declarers in spades took ten tricks; the others took nine. Clubs should have taken eight tricks, with E-W holding five top winners, but Cindy took nine and the other declarer seven. Larry (St) did well in 3H -1. 1NT could have taken five tricks but four was more to be expected if the diamonds were cashed and then came a switch to spades, although declarer can manage four heart tricks by force with a finesse of the nine. Declarer in 1NT discarded a heart on the diamonds, removing -2 from the realm of possibility unless West switched to the heart jack. When in with a spade, declarer still had a chance to cash out for -3 and a fair score for -150 against a wall of -170s; -200 was bottom.

?

3C S =

3H N -1

3C S -2

2S E +1 (2); 3S E =

2S E +2 (2); 3S E +1 (5)

1NT S -4

?

12:

?

...............108542

...............K53

...............J96

...............86

K63........................J97

Q104......................AJ97

A7...........................Q102

KQ932....................1054

...............AQ

...............862

...............K8543

...............AJ7

?

1C-1H; 1NT seems likely to be the auction but too many Souths could not resist the lure of the opening hand, despite the poor quality of the diamonds. Indeed 1NT was never the contract; we saw 2D S, 2H E eight times (likely the result of a support double most of the time), 2NT W, 3C W twice, 3NT E and 3NT W. 3NT W was reached by accident, West rebidding 2NT instead of 1NT.

?

Everything sits just about perfectly for E-W; heart contracts can take eleven tricks by force and no-trumps ten. NJ was E-W top in 3NT E +1, Phoebe next in 3NT W =. Heart contracts took from seven to eleven tricks, with Paul posting +200, Hank, Sandi and Yumi +170. Jatin posted +210 in 2NT W +3. Vasu would have been all right in 2D S -3 had the vulnerability been the other way around.

?

2H E -1 (2)

2H E =; 3C W =

3C W +1

2H E +1

2H E +2 (3)

2H E +3

2NT W +3

2D S -3

3NT W =

3NT E +1

?

13:

?

...............AKQJ6

...............109

...............J83

...............A97

1082......................9743

QJ74......................A2

AQ9654.................K102

----.........................KQ53

...............5

...............K8653

...............7

...............J108642

?

There were some strange auctions on this hand. Two Norths were left in an opening bid of 1S; why would West pass? Perhaps the strangest thing is that the contract was never 3D E; one would expect a 1NT opening bid to start the auction 1NT-P-2D-X. One North was left in 2H after a transfer The plurality contract of 3D W was played five times, which makes sense. One human-Robot pair had a misunderstanding over how to proceed when a transfer is doubled and both halves of the pair left 2D in. Three auctions went beyond 3D, ending in 3H S, 3S N and 5C S. That left two contracts of 3C, played once by South and once by North after the Don't Try This at Home sequence of 1S-P-2H-P; 3C.

?

3D is an interesting make; declarer needs to start the hearts early unless South obligingly discards multiple hearts on North's spade winners. Only Leighry set 3H when West drew trumps too soon and was saddled with a second heart loser at the end. The strangest results in the play were that 1S was set two tricks by Dalebot and three tricks by Heve; seven or eight tricks for declarer seems to make more sense and for North to take only the top four trumps seems barely possible - trump lead to North, club ace ruffed, three diamond winners, fourth diamond ruffed and overruffed and then dummy would have to discard clubs on all the diamonds so that East would then turn to club and the low club would be high, West would discard three hearts, North would ruff the fourth club and lead a hear instead of the second trump, letting East give West a heart ruff. Just doable without nonsensical play. 3S -3 against Dalan was a much more plausible result. The club contracts all took the expected nine tricks. While Glotin scored well defending 3H -2, Ken produced the N-S top score of +140 declaring 2H +1, which strongly suggests a club lead ruffed and then another club ruff given when East took the heart ace, both ruffs helping declarer more than the defenders.

?

2H N +1

3C N = (2)

3D W -1

3D W = (4)

1S N -2; 3H S -2; 5C S -2

1S N -3; 3S N -3

2Dx S -4

?

14:

?

...............AKJ

...............10

...............10954

...............86542

42............................Q8

AJ764......................KQ82

K862........................73

KJ............................AQ1097

...............1097653

...............953

...............AQJ

...............3

?

How many Souths came in with 2S over East's opening 1C? With North an unpassed hand, Bill might give it a miss even at matchpoints (had this been Board 1 with North having dealt and passed, I would not have expected him to remain quiet), but at least one South came in, C finishing by declaring 4S, although the auction was 1C-1S-2H-2S; 3H-3S-4H-4S. East's declaring thrice and one contract of 5H W suggests other jump overcalls by South and North's competing to 4S at least twice more. Contracts were 4H E twice, 4H W nine times, 4S S, 5H E and 5H W.

?

The layout was remarkably good for spades. C even made 4S when West did not realize the need to force dummy with the second heart in order to be able to lead the third heart when in with the king of diamonds. The inference that East did not hold five hearts would have told West that South would have a heart loser remaining after the ruff. It made little difference as only one pair managed to go down in 4H - perhaps declarer tried to discard spades on clubs before drawing enough trumps? East declared, too, which was rather a shame, as Gloria took twelve tricks in 5H E, the logical result after a club lead. Perhaps the strange result was 5H W =; either North didn't cash the top spades or South let a diamond go through. One West and the other East in 4H took eleven tricks but that still left eight declarers in 4H W posting the expected +420.

?

4S S =

4H E -1

4H W = (8)

4H E +1; 4H W +1; 5H W =

5H E +1

?

15:

?

?

...............Q7

...............9643

...............975

...............AJ64

A94.....................KJ852

AK1052...............Q7

3..........................AKQ42

K1072..................8

...............1063

...............J8

...............J1086

...............Q953

?

It was hard to say with this hand how many pairs I would expect to look for slam. After 1H-1S; 2C-2D; 2S, East knows West has three spades and short diamonds. If East starts showing controls, West will like the improving hand even more and be glad to co-operate. An asking sequence offers the chance to stop in 5S when the spade queen and one key card turn up missing. But only one pair played in 5S while two went to 6S. Perhaps even more strangely five pairs played in 3NT, twice by West and thrice by East. Six pairs were content with 4S E.

?

No-trumps contracts were right-sided when played by West, although no South found the club lead that could have held declarer to eleven tricks. With both majors behaving declarer had thirteen tricks available in either no-trumps or spades on any non-club lead. Louise, Vicki and Yumi took all the tricks in 3NT to score 11/13; Alan played 6S+1 but the other declarer in 6S found a way to go down against Darry - perhaps drew trumps first and didn't notice that the heart jack fell? The spade games similarly had a narrow majority taking thirteen tricks, just above average. Had East's diamonds been AKQJ2, 6NT W would have been considerably better than 6S (or slam in either red suit), as declarer would have had multiple possible paths to twelve tricks and would not have needed any particular suit of the three to behave.

?

6S E -1

4S E +2 (3)

3NT E +3; 3NT W +3

4S E +3 (3); 5S E +2

3NT E +4 (2); 3NT W +4

6S E +1

?

16:

?

...............Q95

...............A854

...............J42

...............532

106432.....................AJ87

QJ72.........................109

Q103.........................A986

4................................A98

...............K

...............K63

...............K75

...............KQJ1076

?

After P-P-1D-2C, a lot may depend on what West does then. Pass, a negative double and perhaps 2D are possibilities. 2C S was left in four times. One North played 2H, the least comprehensible contract. The lowest contract after that was 3Cx S, although one might have expected to see 3C undoubled a few times. Negative doubles of 2C got multiple auctions higher, to 3S W, 3NT S, 4Cx S twice, 4S E, 4Sx E, 5C S and 5Cx S.

?

Clubs seem bound for nine tricks, but three declarers took ten. Leigh Ann was N-S top in 3Cx =. Spades take nine tricks if declarer plays the trumps correctly. With the nine-spot missing it's technically a toss-up between leading to the ace and leading to the jack; either works if spades split 2-2 while the ace is better if South has a singleton honour and the jack if South has a singleton spot. The ace has a slight practical advantage in that North might play an honour from KQx. All three spade declarers took nine tricks, giving NJ E-W top in 3S =. 3NT could have been two tricks down after a spade lead to the ace, or one down after a diamond lead and continuation. Cindy had a bit of good luck; West led a spade but East finessed the jack and she had her make, eventually finishing with ten tricks.

?

3Cx S =

3NT S +1

4Sx E -1

2C S +2

2C S +1 (3)

4S E -1

5C S -1

2H N -2; 4Cx S -1 (2); 5Cx S -1

3S E =

?

17:

?

...............1074

...............A5

...............A543

...............KQJ2

J865......................AKQ

J8762....................1043

10..........................KJ87

A107......................643

...............932

...............KQ9

...............Q962

...............985

?

I was looking for 1D-P-1NT, which turned out to be the plurality contract, played five times. There was also a sixth 1NT contract declared by North. North might open 1C instead, or East might double (more likely after 1C than 1D, although I do not recommend takeout doubles on flat hands too weak for a 1NT opening bid. There may have been one auction 1D-X-2D-X, which is the most likely way to produce the contract of 2S E. The other auctions all turned into mild battles of the red suits, with contracts of 2D N twice, 2D S, 2H W, 3D N and 3H W twice.

?

South makes 1NT in relative comfort; E-W have five tricks off the top but South establishes a seventh trick quickly. C and Dee both posted +120 after a heart lead, as declarer's establishing the clubs gets lucky and kills off the fourth spade winner. North makes 2D despite the 4-1 trumps, as the singleton ten is helpful and in the right spot. North starts with the ace and then finesses through East twice, losing only the king. Cindy managed an overtrick in 2D when she was able to discard a spade on the third heart and ruff the third spade but a spade opening lead from NJ set 3D N. A club lead, which looks quite obvious, gives the defence six tricks against hearts. Keianne and Leighry took six tricks against 2H and 3H; Doug was allowed a make, which seems to have required two bits of help.

?

1NT S +1 (2)

2D S +1

2S E -2; 3H W -2

1NT N =; 1NT S = (2)

2H W -1

1NT S -1; 2D N -1 (2); 3D N -1

3H W =

?

18:

?

...............Q63

...............KJ654

...............KJ4

...............A8

982.........................A105

AQ73......................98

A107.......................95

Q76........................KJ10532

...............KJ74

...............102

...............Q8632

...............94

?

The closing hand looked fairly tame, with most of the fireworks supplied by pairs trying to go out in a burst of glory. If there is a mild surprise, it could be that nobody took a shot at 3NT; it would at least be mildly tempting for East after P-P-1C-1H if East does anything mildly encouraging and West ever shows the heart stopper. Two auctions ended in no-trumps: 1NT E and 2NT N. East may well slow-roll the hand, first raising to 2C and then continuing to 3C; there were no suit contracts at the one- or two-level. 3C W was played six times. Higher contracts were 3H N twice, 3S S twice, 4S S and 5Cx E.

?

3NT W makes after a heart lead, but other declarers or leads should produce eight tricks for E-W, the outcome for both 1NT E and 2NT N. Most contracts were quite straightforward. Against clubs, N-S had to be active in establishing spades and diamonds. This would have held declarer to eight tricks but nine tricks occurred just as often - Harold, for instance, received a club lead and continuation and was able to get a discard on the hearts. Jatin even managed ten tricks. The best E-W scores were defensive: Dalebot's 2NT -3, Heve's 3H -2 and Dane's 3S -2.

?

5Cx E -3

3C W -1 (2)

3H N -1; 3S S -1; 4S S -1

3C W = (3)

1NT E +1

3C W +1

3H N -2; 3S S -2

2NT N -3

1:

?

...............Q1054

...............K652

...............J107

...............K4

7...........................AK982

J94.......................Q73

AK94....................83

AJ1072.................965

...............J63

...............A108

...............Q652

...............Q83

?

This hand might have been passed out but West opened at every table. Auctions tended to go in pairs: 1C -1S; 2C twice, 1C-1S; 1NT twice and 1C-1S; 1NT or 2C-2S twice. The outliers were 2D W and 2NT W.

?

No-trumps has a reasonably kind lie. Nine tricks are possible if N-S lead hearts, eight otherwise. Lin was E-W top when South returned the diamond queen at trick three when a low diamond or a spade would have held. The other NT contracts took eight tricks. Eugenie took the ten tricks she could in clubs; Ritold held declarer to nine. Judy (P) made 2S but Mryne set it; an aggressive diamond attack may succeed.

?

2D W -1; 2S E -1

2S E =; 3C W =

1NT W +1; 2NT W =

3C W +1

1NT W +2

?

2:

?

...............1087

...............5

...............AQ94

...............QJ975

A3........................J654

J10863.................Q9

107532.................K6

A..........................108632

...............KQ92

...............AK742

...............J8

...............K4

?

One South opened 1H and was left there. Another South opened 1H and left North in 1NT. I don't think anyone opened Flannery. All the other auctions ended in 3NT, with North declaring by a 4-2 margin. Opening 1NT with 5-4 majors seems a little odd. although it might lead to competition from West and N-S's defending a doubled partial. The plurality pattern seemed to be a 1NT response from North and South opting to invite.

?

3NT looks a bit dodgy but has a kind layout. Eubot defeated 3NT N when declarer put off the spade finesse too long; both 3NT S contracts were defeated as well. Three 3NT N contracts made; Tracy took ten tricks after a club opening lead.

?

3NT N +1

3NT N = (2)

1NT N +2

1H S =

3NT N -1; 3NT S -1 (2)

?

3:

?

...............964

...............93

...............Q1054

...............A1076

Q5..........................1083

K542......................AJ876

K98........................J763

Q943......................8

...............AKJ72

...............Q10

...............A2

...............KJ52

?

1S from South, usually raised by North and then it was just a question of whether South invited game or went directly to 4S. One East was allowed to play in 3H after competition; the other contracts were 3S twice and 4S five times.

?

4S can make by force but has to get lucky - declarer needs to drop the spade queen and bring in the clubs; South's heart queen turns out to be wasted and would be most useful in a black suit. Curiously, 4S made three times out of the five. Jeff received a club lead and then led out the ace and king of spades as there happened to be no entry to dummy once he had not played the ten on the first trick.

?

4S S = (3)

3S S +1

3S S -1; 4S S -1 (2)

3H E =

?

4:

?

...............AK632

...............QJ8

...............A43

...............J10

Q10854.................7

K97654.................----

----........................KQJ10986

A5.........................KQ982

...............J9

...............A1032

...............752

...............7643

?

This is the most important hand of the set. Controversy erupted at one table which will be detailed later. First, West had to choose an initial call after South passed. Four different actions were selected; we had three passes, three 1H openings, one 1S and one 2H. Had the suits been six spades and five hearts then 1S would likely have been a majority choice. The 1S opening bid did not have a good result; the auction ended in 5Hx W when East eventually gave up. The 2H opening bid ended in a contract of 4D E. 1H led to 3Hx W, 4D E and 5D E. Passing led to 4D E, 4Dx E and 5D E.

?

I want to discuss the 4Dx E auction for a moment. East has quite a powerful hand but the particular East overcalled 3D after North opened 1S. When asked to explain, East replied, "Diamonds". That is not a proper reply to the question. E-W had weak jump overcalls on their card and a proper answer would have been something like, "Natural, weak". Now, East clearly, despite holding only 11 HCP, does not have a weak hand. But it is acceptable to violate bidding agreements on purpose if one tries to make the auction sound a certain way. East may have been trying to get doubled, planning to start with 3D, then bid 4D and possibly 5D, which under normal circumstances looks like dreadful bidding. Perhaps East did not want to lie and say the bid was weak when the hand was strong. But "weak" was the correct answer because the opponents are allowed to know the agreement but not the hand. As weak jump overcalls are not Alertable and as N-S took the bid as weak when they doubled, there were no grounds for me to adjust the results, but North naturally felt rather ill-used in getting a flimsy answer to the question. Always describe the agreement, which goes equally truly if one makes a mistake. How often does someone click on the wrong bid and then get asked what it means? In such a case the best response is to tell how partner should interpret the bid. Sometimes there will be recourse if an error mars the auction irreparably to the opponents' detriment but many errors are just part of the game.

?

In the play, we see how a solid suit does not need support. Even if forced right away, West can draw trumps and come to eleven tricks when the clubs behave. I was afraid some pairs might play in clubs, where declarer cannot take eleven tricks if N-S force early ruffs. East loses control of the trump suit and cannot run the diamonds unless clubs split 3-3. But even a 5-1 split does not sink 5D. All the diamond declarers took eleven tricks except for Louise, who took twelve after the lead of the ace of hearts. Jevin defended 3Hx -4 for +1100 and, unusually, were only second best for a four-figure penalty; Jamob scored +1400 defending 5Hx -5.

?

5Hx W -5

3Hx W -4

4D E +1 (3)

5D E =

5D E +1

4Dx E +1

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5:

?

...............94

...............K1064

...............54

...............QJ972

AKQ753..............J102

87........................J95

3..........................KQJ98

10864..................K5

...............86

...............AQ32

...............A10762

...............A3

?

South opens 1D and West overcalls 2S (the "good 14" crowd may want to upgrade the hand to 1NT if they can live with two doubletons when one is xx). Does North come in with a negative double? If so East raises to 3S and then it is hard to keep South from bidding 4H. If North passes East might raise. 3S likely ends the auction; if East passes South may balance. Eventually 3S or 4H seems likely. Contracts were all in spades: 2S twice, 3S four times and 4S twice. possibly as a sacrifice.

?

4H gets very lucky unless E-W are sharp. Suppose West cashes two spades and switches to a diamond. Declarer draws trumps ending in dummy. If the club queen is run next, East must duck and declarer comes up a trick short; covering allows declarer to finesse the nine next and run the suit after one ruff, for which there is not another entry if East ducks first. In spades, East's honours are wasted if N-S defend reasonably - they take two hearts, two clubs and a diamond and declarer comes to only eight tricks. But N-S had a problem. The opening lead was usually a diamond and then South had to guess who had the singleton. Robert and two other declarers in partials took ten tricks after a diamond return at trick two. Both the 4S contracts were only set one trick. Lin made 3S. Kenbot/Eubot were the only table to produce the expected result of eight tricks; Troward set 2S when declarer drew trumps too soon and could only ruff one club as the diamonds were not established first.

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2S W -1; 3S W -1; 4S W -1 (2)

3S W =

2S W +2; 3S W +1 (2)

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6:

?

...............2

...............AKQ1065

...............72

...............J873

9864..........................AK53

7.................................J9843

J1085.........................964

AK102........................6

...............QJ107

...............2

...............AKQ3

...............Q954

?

Looking at just the N-S hands 3NT is reasonable, thanks to the heart ten. The suit will behave a little more than half the time and E-W cannot take more than the black ace-kings. 1D-1H; 1S-3H; 3NT would be a fair auction. 4H is rather shakier double dummy; E-W are almost sure of a club ruff, although the bid often works out in practice. Contracts were 2H N, 3H N, 3NT N(!) and 4H N five times.

?

Heart contracts are held to eight tricks by a black-suit lead, the result posted by Eubot and Glynneth against 4H as well as by Study against 3H and Myrtle in 2H, which was N-S top as the only plus score. Three declarers in 4H escaped for -1, a higher number than I'd have expected. Tracy, for instance, received a club lead and spade switch; East eventually got endplayed in trumps and had to give up the second undertrick. 3NT is interesting; if declarer can cobble together three black-suit winners then the 5-1 hearts are no problem. Trying two hearts at once may fail; declarer has communication trouble and will have to be careful to start spades rather than play clubs too early and let West cut the N-S hands off too soon. An initial diamond lead may be enough to set 3NT, at least in practice. Harold finished -1 but that was still above average opposite all the heart contracts.

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2H N =

3H N -1; 3NT N -1; 4H N -1 (3)

4H N -2 (2)

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7:

?

...............85

...............Q9873

...............K6

...............AJ76

AJ10962..............Q43

K54......................A10

107.......................Q83

Q7........................K10432

...............K7

...............J62

...............AJ9542

...............95

?

If South opens 2D, E-W may get pushed into 4S if West squeezes out a light 2S overcall, although East may downgrade the diamond queen and only invite. 3S seems the most likely spot if West passes and East balances with 3C, or if South cannot open 2D and West opens 2S. contracts were 2S W, 2Sx W, 3S W thrice, 4H N(!) and 4S W twice.

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The layout is kind to 4S - the spade finesse works and the suit splits 2-2; declarer can even be careless and get away with taking the heart ruff first without an overruff and there is no club ruff. The one snag allowed Ritold to defeat 4S; West did not ruff the third diamond high and Harold got an overruff with his eight-spot. Declarer could have spared the nine. Everyone else in spades took the expected ten tricks, Judy (R) picking up the top in 2Sx +2. Cinise defended actively to set 4H two tricks instead of one, useful at this vulnerability.

?

4S W -1

2S W +2; 3S W +1 (3)

4H N -2

4S W =

2Sx W +2

?

8:

?

...............AJ87632

...............J5

...............5

...............AQ3

Q..............................K1095

K4............................Q62

KJ832......................A1076

KJ1087....................65

...............4

...............A109873

...............Q94

...............942

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After 1D-1S, whether East raised diamonds or bid 1NT, E-W rated to find their diamond fit and compete to 3D; would North carry on and allow East to double 3S? would hearts get into the picture? One East was left in 1NT when West opted not to show the clubs and North was disinclined to continue. North declared 3S and 3Sx. The remaining contracts were in diamonds: 3D twice, 4D, 5D and 5Dx.

?

Diamonds could take nine tricks by force, although that would entail guessing the trumps correctly. If North competed in spades with vigour, that would not be unlikely as 3-1 diamonds would make bidding high more appealing to North with a singleton. Kenbot defeated 3D when West spurned the finesse but all the other declarers in diamonds took nine or ten. 3S and 3Sx both finished the expected -2. In 1NT Kathy took ten tricks after a spade lead and continuation. Had South led a heart it would have been necessary to duck the lead in both hands to make 1NT at all.

?

5D W -2; 5Dx W -1

3D W -1; 4D W -1

3S N -2

3D W =

1NT E +3

3Sx N -2

?

9:

?

...............953

...............A10742

...............J10

...............972

62............................AQJ8

KJ93........................85

875..........................AKQ642

Q854.......................6

...............K1074

...............Q6

...............93

...............AKJ103

?

P-1D-2C-P; P and East comes in again with 2D, 2S or double. The hand has fine playing strength, justifying 2S - game needs only Kxxx in spades opposite and, if there is no spade fit, 3D is highly unlikely to be dangerously high. west likely goes back into diamonds, although one West proved quite intrepid. Contracts were 2D E, 3D E thrice, 3H N, 3NT W and 4D E twice.

?

3NT is defeated after a club lead unless South foolishly wins the first two rounds or wins the first round and switches. Forcing the queen while there is still communication in clubs will just do. If declarer wins the queen and runs the diamonds, South comes down to K10 in spades and four good clubs; because there is no second club in dummy there is no endplay! Diamond contracts all took ten tricks except against Myrne; declarer played the third trump and was unable to ruff the fourth spade. 3NT was the expected -1 against Ritold; 3H N finished -4, one trick more than Study needed for the top board.

?

3NT W -1; 4D E -1

2D E +2; 3D E +1 (3); 4D E =

3H N -4

?

10:

?

...............8765

...............8653

...............AK8

...............109

3...........................J104

AQ7......................J42

Q76.......................109532

AKQ874................J3

...............AKQ92

...............K109

...............J4

...............652

?

South opens 1S and West either overcalls 2C or doubles. Double seems fine; if East can reply with 1NT then 3NT should have reasonable play. North may go or at least eventually get the auction to 3S over either 2C or a double; that likely ends the auction. Contracts were 2S S, 3S S thrice, 4C W thrice and 4Cx W; Wests were largely feeling frisky.

?

Clubs can be held to eight tricks by force, although only by a weird sort of ping-pong. If N-S take the diamond ruff off the top West can draw trumps ending in dummy and use the two long diamonds. If N-S start passively, the club jack is the only entry to the East hand to run a diamond intermediate through South's Jx, but N-S can take the diamond ruff then and there will be no entry to the East hand to cash diamonds. Myrne produced 4C -2, tying Jevin's 4Cx -1. Spades are held to eight tricks by an overruff on the third round of clubs. All four spade contracts took eight tricks.

?

4Cx W -1; 4C W -2

2S S =

4C W -1

3S S -1 (3)

4C W =

?

11:

?

...............10742

...............KQ107

...............874

...............K7

AQJ965.................K83

86..........................J4

93..........................KJ652

832........................QJ6

...............----

...............A9532

...............AQ10

...............A10954

?

1H-2S-3H-3S and then South is worth at least 4H. If South knew North held four hearts and more or less invitational strength then there might be a look for 6H, as opposite four-card support a helpful club holding gives 6C some play. Contracts ranged widely: 3S W, 4H S four times, 4Sx W, 5H S and 5S W undoubled after the auction 1H-1S-2H-3H; 4C-4S-5H-X; P-5S (I suspect South misclicked).

?

Either 2-2 hearts or 3-3 clubs allow declarer to take twelve tricks if one of the diamond honours sits with East; here, as both rounded suits spit evenly, the king alone is enough for thirteen tricks, taken in three of the five heart games. Cinise and Eubot were able to hold declarer to twelve tricks when declarer was slightly inaccurate. The thirteenth trick mattered when 4Sx was set the appropriate three tricks; +510 beats +500. the undoubled spade declarers both dropped a trick but had the top two scores.

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4H S +3 (2); 5H S +2

4Sx W -3

4H S +2 (2)

3S W -3

5S W -5

?

12:

?

...............AKJ3

...............3

...............K102

...............AKQJ4

Q106......................52

97652.....................AKQ10

QJ73.......................9865

3.............................1065

...............9874

...............J84

...............A4

...............9872

?

Some Norths opened 2C and some 1C. Two auctions got dropped in 3C N but everyone else found the way to game: 3NT N, 4S N twice, 4S S and 5C N twice.

?

With the spades behaving so kindly both black suits provide twelve tricks. 3NT got both lucky and unlucky - unlucky that East was on lead with the obvious heart lead (had it been 3NT S, would Bill [S] have led a spade had the suit not been bid from Q10x?) but lucky that the suit blocked, saving 2.5 matchpoints for declarer. Limy were E-W top, posting 5C -1 when declarer never played spades until having to lead the suit out from hand at trick ten.

?

4S N +2; 4S S +2

4S N +1

5C N +1

3NT N =

3C N +3 (2)

5C N -1

?

13:

?

...............AJ65

...............J9

...............K65

...............AKJ4

1043........................KQ98

85............................K732

Q102........................AJ7

Q7532......................106

...............72

...............AQ1064

...............9853

...............98

?

This was one hand on which we had everyone produce the same auction. 1NT-P-2D-P; 2H was the auction at all eight tables; not a peep from any East or a look for game from any South.

?

Declarer can take nine tricks by force, although that likely entails having to finesse in clubs, potentially dangerous if the spade ace has been knocked out. East may be able to ruff the third club and give away the trump trick?for the protected king. In practice, East gets stuck on lead quite often and gave declarer ten tricks thrice while only Kill held declarer to eight. Kevin, one of the three declarers to take ten tricks, ducked a spade lead, then received a diamond switch when a heart or club was needed.

?

2H N +2 (3)

2H N +1 (4)

2H N =

?

14:

?

...............KJ102

...............7643

...............A82

...............J4

3........................A965

KJ8....................Q95

73.......................Q1065

KQ97652............83

...............Q874

...............A102

...............KJ94

...............A10

?

Does West bid 2C or 3C over 1D? 2C gets a negative double from North; 3C rides to South who may make a balancing double. Contracts all got higher than 3C: 3D S, 3S N, 3S S thrice, 4C W, 4Cx W and 4S S.

?

A club lead holds declarer to a maximum of nine tricks in spades, though fewer are certainly likely, as the diamonds may not be guessed to lie as they do and the 4-1 trumps are a further complication. Robbot posted 3S -2 when declarer led a spade at trick seven (a heart or diamond was needed at that point) and a second undertrick when the diamond was led at trick nine but to the king instead of the jack. Club contracts would seem to have nine tricks but Kenbot took a fifth against 4C to tie Jamob's 4Cx -1. Howard and Rita made 3S to tie for N-S top.

?

3S S = (2)

3D S =

4C W -2; 4Cx W -1

3S S -1; 4S S -1

3S N -2

?

15:

?

...............J54

...............K832

...............KJ97

...............Q2

Q3.........................A1086

76..........................AQJ104

A543.....................86

97653....................J8

...............K972

...............95

...............Q102

...............AK104

?

At least one pair bids up-the-line instead of majors first, as one auction ended in 1NT W: 1C-P-1D and then East either doubles or overcalls 1H, over either of which West likely bids 1NT, ending the auction unless North opts for a double. 1C-P-1H likely keeps East quiet, likely leading to 1S-1NT on the second round and a contract of 1NT N, played thrice. South's playing 2NT twice may have been after 1C-P-1D-X; 1NT-P-2NT; the other contracts were 2NT N and 3D N. The 3D auction was 1C-P-1D-X; P-1S-1NT-2H; 3D, South likely thinking East's hand to be rather better than it was.

?

E-W can come to six tricks declaring or defending no-trumps. Defending is simple - lead hearts and establish the sixth trick. declaring one just has to duck two rounds of diamonds and West comes to six tricks with two spades, three hearts and the diamond ace or, instead, four hearts and one spade. Bob took nine tricks in 2NT S when West did not hold up the ace and later led a spade when a heart would still have held declarer to eight tricks. 1NT N yielded eight tricks every time but Cinise defended correctly to post 2NT -1. 3D -3 was E-W top for Marudy.

?

2NT S +1

1NT N +1 (3); 2NT S =

1NT W -1

2NT N -1

3D N -3

?

16:

?

...............KJ32

...............Q2

...............AK4

...............AJ107

74................................6

K864...........................J10953

10652..........................873

Q84.............................K652

...............AQ10985

...............A7

...............QJ9

...............93

?

Here was our slam hand, reached at every table. Even if North opens 1NT (I believe one pair did, as their range extends to 18 and they finished in a contract of 6S N) South will at least transfer to 2S and then raise to 4S to show mild slam interest or do something more encouraging with the six-loser hand. If 1NT-4H; 4S-5H is not Exclusion, it accurately lets North know to bid 6S with control of both minors. One pair reached 6NT S, four bid 6S S and two pairs went to 7S on the auctions 1C-1S; 4S-4NT; 5D-7S and 1C-1S; 4S-4NT; 5D-5NT; 6S-7S. I'm not sure what 6S showed, but both Souths seemed to expect better playing strength from North, but I don't think there was room for it if one accepts that North would have splintered with Kxxx AKxx A Axxx or bid 4C with Kxxx Ax A AKJ10xx.

?

Slam turns out to be a question of right-siding. 6S N got unlucky; not only did setting 6S require a heart lead from the hand without the king but East had a natural lead of the heart jack. South always took twelve tricks, losing one club but finessing twice and discarding a heart on the third club. It was unfortunate that the diamonds split 3-3; slam is cold if North had held KJ32 Q2 AK74 AJ10 and grand slam opposite KJ2 Q2 AK1043 AJ7.

?

6NT S =

6S S = (4)

6S N -1; 7S S -1 (2)

?

17:

?

...............A10742

...............93

...............Q83

...............AK9

KJ86...........................53

AJ106.........................Q8752

J42..............................A9765

Q5...............................2

...............Q9

...............K4

...............K10

...............J1087643

?

North opens 1S and then it is a question of whether East comes in with 2S or not. An uncontested auction begins 1S-1NT; 2C-3Cwhich would seem to be enough but was never the contract; the only pair in 3C had South declaring. One pair declared 2NT W, which seemed to indicate a different way of proceeding after the cue-bid. I'm not sure how East declared 3H and 4H; did the bidding begin 1S-P-1NT-X? Contract were varied: 2NT W, 3C S, 3H E, 3NT S, 4C S, 4H E and 4H W, not the same contract and declarer at any two tables.

?

Lin had a happy escape in 2NT W -1, although -2 would not have scored any worse. Both 4H contracts made, Robert after an opening lead of the club ace, although the winning defence is hard to find. North must lead a diamond to the king, then South returns the diamond ten and North DUCKS. If dummy overtakes trumps can be drawn but there are two diamond losers. If dummy ducks North wins a club and gives South a diamond ruff or declarer must play ace and another trump out of hand. When declarer was able to ruff a club before diamonds were played, a low diamond from dummy through South picks up the suit on the lucky layout for one loser. Bob could have been defeated in 3NT S but was home after West led the heart jack, emerging with ten tricks in the end for our double game swing.

?

3NT S +1

3C S +1; 4C S =

2NT W -1

3H E =

4H E = (2)

4Sx N -3

?

18:

?

...............J94

...............A1085

...............53

...............Q962

K87...........................Q

Q...............................KJ9632

J9742........................A108

A743..........................KJ8

...............A106532

...............74

...............KQ6

...............105

?

1H-1S-X-2S; 3H-3S-X might have been possible but never occurred. South overcalled either 1S or 2S. Every auction reached 3H; half the N-S pairs competed to 3S, and half the auctions that went to 3S carried on to 4H, one auction being 1H-2S-2NT-3S; 4H.

?

With South on lead there was no way to force two diamond tricks, allowing East to take nine tricks in hearts. Spades can take eight tricks by force, although there is a chance that E-W can force South to ruff a third heart with the ten if the defence cashes two clubs before leading the third heart through. But all eight tables produced the double dummy result in tricks, scoring 5.5/7 for the Easts left in 3H, 4.5/7 for Jeff and Wendy, who were left in 3S, and 6.5/7 for Myrne and Kenbot, who pushed their opponents into 4H.

?

4H E -1 (2)

3S S -1 (2)

3H E = (4)