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1:

?

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

...............J10853

...............J53

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

KQ9653..................J84

----..........................KQ64

AQ1064...................972

63............................984

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

...............A972

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

...............KQJ1052

?

This lively hand saw every auction reach game. Three saw a push to the five level and six ended in a double. South opens 1C in third seat and West overcalls 1S. North then likely makes a negative double or bids hearts outright, East raises spades and then we are off to the races. Contracts were 4S W, 4Sx W four times, 5H N, 5Hx N and 5Sx W. 5H makes some sense, as East could hold less wastage: Jxx xxxx Kxx xxx makes 4S a strong favourite, Axx xxxx Jxx xxx even more so.

?

Both 4S and 5H can finish -1 with double dummy play. Jamob posted 5Hx -2 when a heart was led from the South hand at trick six (a club was needed). Frank made 4Sx after a heart lead when North let the spade g though to dummy on the second trick and a club loser went away on the second heart.

?

5Sx W -3

4Sx W -2 (2)

4S W -2; 4Sx W -1

5H N -2

5Hx N -2

4Sx W =

?

2:

?

...............AQ2

...............A84

...............J32

...............QJ72

10865.....................J97

952.........................KJ6

A1075.....................K84

96...........................A843

...............K43

...............Q1073

...............Q96

...............K105

?

At this vulnerability nobody left East in 1C (and East might reasonably pass if Bill is not watching). It seems that half the Wests responded to 1C, leading to 1NT E thrice and 1NTx E once. Wehn West passed, we finished with contracts of 1NT N twice and 3NT N twice. If North balances with 1NT South should be careful to realize that 1NT is likely a mild overbid and passing is fine.

?

This layout should have produced eight tricks for N-S regardless of which side declares. Callie had a good escape in 1NTx -1; after three rounds of hearts, two diamonds, two spades and the last heart, South led a spade when a club or diamond was needed. This was not a complete top-to-bottom swing , as 3NT N was allowed to make both times. As holding N-S to eight tricks in no-trumps requires a diamond lead from East ducked by West, it is not surprising that nobody found that defence at the table. When East declared only Rekenee produced better than they could have forced.

?

3NT N = (2)

1NT N +3

1NT E -3; 1NT N +2

1NT E -2 (2); 1NTx E -1

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3:

?

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

...............K109

...............AKQ8764

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

AK9..............................Q103

J853.............................Q64

J109..............................32

753................................AKJ108

...............J8754

...............A72

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

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

?

One North opened 3D and played the hand there; for almost everyone else it became a bidding problem. Had South ever bid no-trumps, North would likely have raised to 3NT but all eight Norths declared in diamonds: 2D once and 3D the other seven times.

?

3NT could have been set off the top or would have made had E-W let South it. It looks as if it would have been a tricky set anyway, as anything but cashing out lets declarer in with nine other winners ready to go. E-W have a lot of pitfalls to avoid defending against diamonds and almost everyone made declarer's life much easier than Myrne did. After a high club, spade to West and club back ruffed (about the only way E-W can avoid being helpful), declarer drew three trumps when after two trumps it was necessary to lead the second spade. East winning the trick would have been endplayed; West would have had to win and return a trump or a club and then East would have been squeezed. Instead, dummy had to find a critical discard too early and the squeeze evaporated. Every other declarer took ten tricks in diamonds.

?

2D N +2; 3D N +1 (6)

3D N =

?

4:

?

...............J5

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

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

...............A9732

AKQ96.....................1082

Q5............................AK7

Q865........................A92

QJ............................K1086

...............743

...............J108632

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

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

?

This is a positional slam for E-W; declarer comes to twelve tricks if the spades behave and if the hand with the diamond king is on lead. West opens 1S or just possibly 1NT; East has plenty for game but not really anything extra and West has a little extra but the queens are bad cards for slam, and the West hand has no outside controls. Contracts were evenly divided between 3NT and 4S W, with the 3NT contracts evenly divided among themselves, twice by East and twice by West.

?

A diamond lead when East declared could have held declarer to eleven tricks; otherwise there were twelve tricks secure once the spades behaved reasonably. Both Easts in 3NT had a bit of a lucky escape, John after a heart lead, although, with West having bid diamonds, it would have been a tough lead to find. Troward, Wendric and Study received careless declaring in 4S W and took two tricks.

?

4S W +1 (3)

4S W +2

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

?

5:

?

...............10963

...............K32

...............A986

...............A10

AK5.....................J74

10........................J7654

KQ1042...............3

KQ98...................J765

...............Q82

...............AQ98

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

...............432

?

North likely did not open in first seat or South in third, leaving West to open 1D. This ended half the auctions, South likely fearing that a balance would lead to an excessive penalty. Some intrepid Easts responded to 1D, leading to contracts of 2NT W, 3C W twice and 3NT W.

?

3C seems able to force an overtrick unless N-S get their spade trick going in time; the wrong defensive line would have been to force West to ruff hearts twice, as diamonds establish with one ruff and declarer can come to ten tricks, although against more solid defence neither defender took more than nine. 1D was also able to be held by a spade lead, but to seven tricks. 3NT should have been two tricks down but Frank even managed a make when N-S missed their last chance to cash hearts. Top defensive result N-S was a three-way share of the top on +50 with Marudy against 3C, Jevin and Ritold against 1D.

?

1D W -1 (2); 3C W -1

1D W =

1D W +1

3C W =

2NT W =

3NT W +1

?

6:

?

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

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

...............J9753

...............J1043

AKQ9875..........62

AQ10.................7542

A2......................Q104

5........................AQ62

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

...............KJ86

...............K86

...............K987

?

Some Wests opened 2C, as the hand has the controls and the top winners. It might have been tempting for East to try for a slam, but nobody ventured beyond 4S. One West knew East had an ace or two kings and may well have wanted to look, but either found East's club control in time to sign off (one would want East to hold xx Kxx Kxxx xxxx or such). Contracts were 1S W(! - did South open and West overcall?), 3NT E and 4S W six times.

?

With South holding the diamond king and the heart king-jack, West can come to twelve tricks double dummy in either spades or no-trumps - when in dummy with the club ace, finesse the ten of hearts, then run all the spades. West's last four cards will be the heart AQ and diamond A2, while East keeps all three diamonds and one heart. South must keep both red kings guarded, and then West can endplay South with two rounds of either red suit. John in 3NT E along with Bob and Frank in 4S W took twelve tricks, although perhaps not all on so pretty a line of play. But it was nice to see that 4S +1 scored just below average.

?

1S W +4

4S W =

4S W +1 (3)

4S W +2 (2)

3NT E +3

?

7:

?

...............763

...............AQ98

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

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

QJ104.................K852

J105432..............K6

A.........................Q1072

105......................K42

...............A9

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

...............KJ964

...............A9873

?

South opens 1D and then usually rebids 2C unless West overcalls 2H. 1D-1H-1NT and 1D-P-1H both seem likely to result in a 2C rebid, although one South did leave 1NT in. After 1D-2H, North and East pass, leaving South to reopen. Four times North gave a quiet preference back to 2D, ending the auction - which was just as well against Jevin, who surely would have defended 2Hx given a chance. Unfortunately for most N-S pairs if E-W competed to 2H they all took the push to the three-level, resulting in 3D S twice, 3Dx S and 5D S on the long and winding auction 1D-1H-P-P; 2C-2H-3D-3H; 4D-P-5D, North's not bidding 1NT combined with the freely bid 3D convincing South that the fit was better for both sides.

?

N-S get a beautifully kind layout despite (or perhaps because of, in a way) the 4-1 diamonds. As West holds the singleton ace, South can begin by leading low from hand. In diamonds, East will eventually come to a trump trick, there not being enough entries for all the finessing, but either nine tricks in?no-trumps or ten in diamonds cannot be stopped. Of course one hardly would play like that; it is much more reasonable, for instance, in 2D, for declarer to decide to give up on the club finesse. A spade lead might even convince declarer to finesse the heart queen right away and then South is in trouble. Jamob were able to post 3D -3 largely due to that, good for 5.5/7 behind Leighry's 3Dx -2 and tied with 5D -3 against Frallie. Rita managed nine tricks in diamonds while lost took eight. Eric managed eight tricks in 1NT, having won the board just by playing the hand there after Wendy's pass.

?

1NT N +1

2D S +1

2D S = (3)

3D S -3; 5D S -3

3Dx S -2

?

8:

?

...............A8543

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

...............K963

...............763

J976.......................KQ2

KQ104....................J763

72...........................AQ

A105.......................KJ98

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

...............A952

...............J10854

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

?

We could have seen 1NT from East and then Stayman leading to 4H E at every table. One West, curiously, raised only to 3H, which East naturally left there, spoiling one of our best chances to see the same contract at every table. Everyone else played 4H E.

?

The 4-1 trump split is not so menacing as it appears. N-S can get a third trick with a spade ruff and force declarer to guess the clubs correctly or can try to wreak havoc with declarer's trump control. But declarer can stop drawing trumps after two rounds, often transposing into the other line. It was lucky North didn't hold both major aces; then there would have been a set off the top. Between misplaying the trumps and misguessing the clubs a 5-3 majority of declarers took only nine tricks. Henry, Jamie and Myrtle were the three declarers in 4H =. Among the successful defenders, Jevin secured the set when dummy discarded a good spade at trick nine instead of a club.

?

4H E -1 (4)

3H E =

4H E = (3)

?

9:

?

...............KQJ962

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

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

...............K108

A3..................................1074

108742...........................AJ965

872.................................----

952.................................QJ743

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

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

...............AKQJ10643

...............A6

?

North opened 1S. Whether East chose to bid Michaels at the unfavourable vulnerability or not, South quite naturally thought of slam and it seems likely that all (with perhaps only one or two exceptions) went to 4NT on the first or second round of the auction. If playing 1430 with spades as the implied trump suit, here many pairs ran into a difficulty when North showed the king as a key card. If North's key card were the spade ace there could be twelve sure tricks and if it were the heart ace chances were E-W would not cash their two top spades. Two pairs stopped in 5D S and one in 5S N; the others all went to slam, 6D thrice and 6S twice. 6S seems ill-advised, even if one knew North held the queen. The suit will always have to behave, while 6D just needs any three winners from North and if the first two tricks can be cashed out, the greater the glory if they aren't. Understandably nobody won the bidding contests by stopping in 5NT.

?

The North hand perversely does not provide a quick make against the wrong lead in either slam, so that four of the five were defeated. Tracy emerged covered in glory in 6D. West led the spade ace, on which East played the three-spot, presumably to discourage. The ten as a suit preference signal for hearts would likely have worked; as it was, West perhaps took the three as a signal for clubs and switched to that. Twelve tricks in a twinkling. The others emerged mostly with eleven, although spade contracts could have been held to ten tricks by a diamond ruff. Judy (P) had the good luck to emerge second in 5S +1. I could see 5S = after a club lead; West might duck the first spade in order to draw South's last trump and then switch to a heart but a second club seems wrong. Leighry set 6S two tricks with a ruff; in 6D against Glynneth declarer tried running all the trumps instead of establishing the second trick and finished -2 as well, perhaps not expecting so many pairs to be in slam.

?

6D S =

5S N +1

5D S = (2)

6D S -1; 6S N -1

6D S -2; 6S N -2

?

10:

?

...............10862

...............Q107

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

...............104

A7......................Q95

J6......................K543

J86....................Q97

QJ7653..............K92

...............KJ43

...............A982

...............K105

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

?

Again we had nearly the same contract and declarer at every table. South opened 1NT and it went around seven times. The one exception was when West doubled, presumably to show a single-suited hand. East, with help for any six-card suit and good values, made a pass that we often saw in the Loring-Reich partnership back in the days of Brozel.

?

As is so often the case in 1NT when the opening bid is left in, entries become a sticking point. If North had held the club ace it would have been interesting to see what would have happened after a club lead and spade finesse, as declarer must lose the lead and at least losing a spade to the ace does not give E-W their seventh trick at once. Judy (R) was the one declarer to make 1NT, which acan always be set by force. It appeared that E-W found a way to block the clubs, which really ought not to have happened even if West began the suit with the queen. Rita, Martin and Louise got out for the double dummy -1. Haorge were E-W top defending 1NTx -3 when declarer won the second club and played a diamond to the ace and then another to the ten. -2 was as common as -1;?both East and South to get squeezed on the clubs. East gives up the diamond guard, and then South has to be a little counter-intuitive and keep the third diamond in order to endplay West into breaking the hearts for -1.

?

1NT S =

1NT S -1 (3)

1NT S -2 (3)

1NTx S -3

?

11:

?

...............AK109

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

...............AQ1086

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

J87...........................652

753...........................98

J3.............................K54

A9763......................J10852

...............Q43

...............AKQ106

...............972

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

?

The hand is close to slam, which was bid once after a Puppet Stayman auction: 1NT-2C; 2H-6H. North liked how much the hand improved and was unlucky to find so much wastage in clubs. The other auctions all stopped in game, with 4H chosen over 3NT by a 4-3 majority, although I did not see how many auctions began with 1NT and how many with 1H. I was a little surprised not to see anyone getting beyond 4H after a 1H opening bid, as South has extras and may well advance with 4C after 1H-2D; 2NT-3H; perhaps the three low diamonds put opener off.

?

Sadly for North any club honours other than the ace in the South hand are wasted. Change the doubleton KQ to A2 and 6H becomes a fantastic contract, not far?from a 90% chance of success. Slam would still have been okay with only a wasted king or queen, but South's holding only eleven working HCP meant that declarer would need either both halves of a double finesse in diamonds or behaving spades and a diamond finesse for the king. There was an off-chance that E-W might get one diamond and somehow miss both chances to cash the club ace, but Mahn were up to the defensive task and did defeat 6H for the E-W top. A club lead forces declarer in 3NT to cash out; in 4H one would prefer that the spades not behave in order to get an extra trick, as declarer in 3NT can take the same number of tricks as in 4H with four spade winners, while badly behaving spades still let heart declarers have a chance in diamonds. Rita took twelve tricks in 3NT after an improbable lead and Renee in 4H after West led the diamond jack to queen and king and East decided to go for the ruff rather than a club. That was an iffy decision, as, holding four small, South would almost surely have taken the ace. Even as it was it risked the contract; give West a singleton D J and East the club ace and there would have been four tricks for the defence off the top.

?

3NT S +3

4H S +2

3NT N +2 (2)

4H S +1 (3)

6H S -1

?

12:

?

...............KQ5

...............Q765

...............A1083

...............Q6

J7..........................9862

9............................AKJ10

KJ942...................Q7

K9872...................A53

...............A1043

...............8432

...............65

...............J104

?

Jevin seemed doomed to a system fix after their auction went P-1H-P-2H, East naturally declining to balance. Other auctions began P-1D-X, which was once left in. The usual contract was 2C W, played five times, South luckily avoiding any temptation to enter the auction over a double. The last contract was 2H E.

?

When West hit the jackpot in finding East with the trump Qx, 1Dx was doomed for the bottom score. Frallie managed a reasonable -2, enough to beat even a game bid. N-S had four tricks available defending 2C, although a heart lead thrice allowed an overtrick. Kevin pulled off a great escape in 2H, which should have been -2 for a poor score. With two trumps still in dummy and the East hand and one with West, he led the second diamond from hand late in the play, East played the queen and could have drawn the N-S trumps, but West overtook, did not have any trumps and Kevin squeaked in with 2H = for the N-S top.

?

2H N =

2H E -1

2C W +1 (2)

2C W +2 (3)

1Dx N -2

?

13:

?

...............AJ85

...............1087

...............K84

...............1093

Q9..........................K3

654.........................J932

1052.......................AQJ73

Q8754....................A6

...............107642

...............AKQ

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

...............KJ2

?

Three Easts were left in an opening bid of 1NT, likely the best choice as there is a serious rebid problem if the auction begins 1D-1S. After 1D, South overcalled 1S, doubled or passed, with N-S declaring in spades every time but from both sides of the table: 2S N thrice, 2S S and 3S S.

?

Spade contracts can be held to eight tricks from either side of the table, but there is an advantage if North declares. West has no entry to cash the club queen on the third round of the suit. If South can draw trumps, clear the hearts and then duck a diamond to East, declarer gets a ninth trick. If the first diamond is led from the South had, West needs to rise with the ten to prevent this. Ken and Kevin took nine tricks in 2S N, either with an early diamond lead or by endplaying East as I described. (I am reminded of the slam that was defeated when declarer was given a chance to avoid the club finesse and duck the first round into the South hand for an endplay; no declarer found the duck when given the chance and only Donna correctly rose with the nine second hand to force the set; Paul would have ducked but the hand timed out before North played.) 1NT turned out to be an unlucky bid for much the same reason; N-S could force -2. Henry took eight tricks when he began the clubs by leading low and South ducked, allowing the queen to score and the diamond finesse to follow. Not playing the ace first prevented North from giving a count signal from an odd number of cards in the suit as well as letting South fear that North's club holding might have been the singleton ace!

?

1NT E -2 (2)

2S N +1 (2)

2S N =; 2S S =

3S S -1

1NT E +1

?

14:

?

...............Q964

...............1052

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

...............AJ94

1073..........................KJ85

AJ876.......................K43

J94............................53

75..............................K1083

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

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

...............AK10862

...............Q62

?

Bill will enjoy this hand, though even he might not have found the killing lead against 3NT N, as the strength of the East hand reduces the chance that West will hold both five hearts and a good enough suit for it to establish and run. There were three main paths to the auction. If West made a light 1H overcall the contract became 3H W. If South opened 1D and rebid 2D, we ended in a diamond partial. 1D followed by a 3D rebid led to 3NT N. Contracts were 2D S, 3D S twice, 3H W twice, 3NT N twice and an unlucky outlier in 3NT S.

?

Unsurprisingly Jamob were able to defeat 3NT S off the top - it was lucky East's hearts weren't KJx, although that would have made the hand infinitely more interesting. Ken and Howard made 3NT N after a club lead. Taking the bid in 3H undoubled made it almost irrelevant whether declarer finished -1 or -2. Diamond contracts could have been held to nine tricks but two declarers took ten.

?

3NT N = (2)

2D S +2; 3D S +1

3D S =

3H W -2

3H W -1

3NT S -1

?

15:

?

...............AQ52

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

...............K10

...............AQJ103

J109743................K86

4............................J10975

93..........................J87

K542......................76

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

...............AKQ63

...............AQ6532

...............98

?

That this fine slam was so often missed is probably due to players' giving too much emphasis to Majors Above All. South's three-loser hand makes for a fine reverse; the plan should be to bid 1D, 2H and then 3H to show the 5-6 red suits. If South gets the reverse in, 6NT N should be reached easily, especially if West remains quiet. One of the two 6NT auctions was uncontested: 1D-1S; 2H-4NT; 5D-6NT. Why North would distort the distribution with serious extra values I cannot imagine but at least North recognized South's reverse and steered into a great spot. The other auction featured competition: 1D-2S-3C-P; 3H-P-6NT. This time Jevin's system worked for them, as Jeff would likely have opened 1H on a non-reversing hand; the same auction for the five-card major pairs might suggest a balanced minimum and get North to rebid 3NT. Contracts were 3NT N thrice, 3NT S(!), 4H S, 4NT N and 6NT N twice.

?

6NT is rather better than 6D, 6H or 6C for the usual reason of not needing any one suit to behave; 6H fails and 6C just comes in. 6D can join 6NT in taking thirteen tricks, but a club lead may trick declarer into taking the two black aces to discard he club loser, eventually going down on the bad heart split. 6NT provided an overtrick to both Howard and Kevin, though declarer can play for safety if the lead is neutral and lose the fourth club before touching the diamonds, allowing 6NT to make if either red suit behaves.

?

6NT N +1 (2)

3NT N +4; 3NT S +4; 4NT N +3

3NT N +3 (2)

4H S +1

?

16:

?

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

...............AKQ9874

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

...............K86

KJ109543..............Q76

3.............................J652

K8..........................63

543.........................QJ72

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

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

...............AQ109752

...............A109

?

This second consecutive slam was rendered difficult to bid by West's opening the bidding, usually with 3S. North bid 4H and that usually ended the auction. One South bid 5D, ending in 5H N. Another South bid 4NT over 4H. North bid 5H(?); South persisted with 5NT, thought over North's 6D and eventually passed. Fortunately North did not faint on being lft in 6D. The last auction began with 2S. After 2S-3H-P-5D, South's having jumped convinced North to raise to 6D. This shows the advantage of the 3S opening bid; South had insufficient room to be descriptive.

?

This time 6NT would not have done because the spades were not double-stopped. 6D turned out to be better than 6H because the diamond king would be a loser in either contract but the 4-1 hearts were not a huge bother in 6D as declarer did not need the length, the AKQ being just enough on their own. The only tiny trap in 6D is that a spade lead more or less forces declarer to ruff the second spade in dummybefore playing trumps. Howard and Rita made 6D to share the N-S top; all the heart contracts took eleven tricks.?

?

6D N =; 6D S =

4H N +1 (5); 5H N =

?

17:

?

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

...............KJ532

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

...............K965

72.........................A654

A6.........................10874

AKQ874................3

AJ7.......................Q842

...............QJ1083

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

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

...............K965

?

A 2S opening bid from South in third seat might well have led to 3D W. Otherwise we begin P-P-P-1D; 1H. If East shows spades either with a bid or a negative double West's standout rebid is 3NT with eight plausible top winners. West might even rebid 2NT if East passes. Contracts were all by West: 2D thrice, 3D thrice and 3NT twice.

?

Even with diamonds 4-2 3NT cannot be stopped, thanks largely to East's ten of hearts, which blocks the suit. If the opening lead is the spade king declarer must duck but West wins any continuation, finesses clubs while in dummy if North plays a second spade and then establishes the diamonds; N-S cannot cash enough tricks for a set. Both Bob and Frank emerged with ten tricks, Frank after South ducked the club queen. Nine tricks should have been the limit in diamonds but two declarers took ten after N-S did not cash out.

?

2D W +1 (2); 3D W = (2)

2D W +2; 3D W +1

3NT W +1 (2)

?

18:

?

...............9432

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

...............J87

...............KQ532

KQ5......................6

AJ9652.................K1084

Q62.......................K93

J............................108764

...............AJ1087

...............Q3

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

...............A9

?

We closed nearly just as we began. P-1S-2H and then North would like to make a mixed raise. East supports hearts and only one action, ending in 3H W, managed to stop short of game. We saw 4H W thrice, 4S S and 5Hx W thrice.

?

The defence can perform slightly better on this hand than on #1, and there are eighteen total tricks instead of nineteen. 4S is defeated by the offside KQx; chances look fine otherwise. To defeat 4H W (4H E is cold!) North must lead a diamond and South must finesse against both the king and the nine, ducking the seven to West's queen. Then, when South gets in with the spade ace, South must underlead the ace of clubs to allow North to lead a second diamond through. If West draws both rounds of trumps before starting the spades, North has a chance to signal for clubs and help South find the play, but I am not surprised that all declarers in hearts took exactly ten tricks, though the duck of the first diamond does seem more in order than not.

?

5Hx W -1 (3)

4S S -1

3H W +1

4H W = (3)

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