2:

?

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

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

...............J1097542

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

92................................AKJ865

J652............................Q93

AKQ8..........................----

J94..............................AK83

...............Q104

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

...............63

...............Q10652

?

If the E-W hands had no duplication of values there would be fine play for slam (give West Q2 AKJ2 9865 J94 or 92 AKJ2 865 QJ94). As the hands are 4S might well fail. East's rebid after 1S-1NT if the auction is uncontested may have a big effect on the outcome. Some auctions went 1S-1NT; 3S-4S. The uncontested auction that ended in slam was 1S-1NT; 3C-3D; 3S-3NT; 4S-6S. If East trusts West not to leave in 2C unless the hand holds a singleton spade, we might get something like 1S-1NT; 2C-2NT; 3H-3S; 4S, East showing three hearts in case West's 2NT included good hearts and 3S confirming a doubleton. 3NT is a reasonable finishing spot as well.

The other slam auctions were not uncontested: P-2C-P-2D; X-2S-P-4NT; P-6S-X-6NT; X after an interesting choice of opening bid from an Eastbot, and the interesting P-1S-P-1NT; 3D-4C-P-4D; P-6C. I'm not sure why in the two suit slams there was a jump to the six-level with no indication of a heart control.

?

The play in spade contracts, 4S especially, proved difficult for both sides. South clearly is not going to lead a trump. It turns out that dummy cannot be kept off lead forever. N-S can cash two hearts and wait for the spade queen. A diamond lead lets declarer discard the heart losers; South ruffs the third winner but doing so just swaps South's trump winner for the ruff. Sarah took eleven tricks after a diamond lead, sharing E-W top with Betty, Mary and Sandi. A club lead looks worse but works out better if declarer tries for three diamond discards. South ruffs the third diamond and gives North a club ruff. North returns a fourth diamond and East must ruff high to save ten tricks; ruffing low allows a set. Marnad defended 4S -2 for the N-S top when East discarded a club on the first diamond and then two hearts; declarer would have had to ruff the fourth diamond high to save -1.?

?

6:

?

...............87532

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

...............Q986

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

Q4.......................K9

----......................1087532

AKJ42.................107

QJ9872...............K105?

...............AJ106

...............AKJ4

...............53

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

?

This hand almost provided a double game swing, among other things. One South opened 1C and, rather against the odds, was left there. Two interesting things about many auctions: a) over a good many 1NT openings from South, West bid a natural 2C, and b) multiple Norths were able to bid 2H over 2C as a transfer to spades. Jevin reached 4S S via P-1NT-2C-2H; X-3S-4C-4S. Three E-W pairs played in doubled club contracts. Philip and Carl played in 4Cx after P-1NT-2C-2H; 3C-3S-P-P; 4C-X and P-1NT-2C-2H; P-2S-3C-P; P-X-P-3S; 4C-X. Geancy had even better fortune in the auction, playing 3Cx against a Big Club after P-1C-1D-P; P-1S-2C-2S; 3C-X.

?

4S S cannot be defeated; East does not get on lead to give West a heart ruff and, once trumps are drawn, the rest is easy. Declarer could even afford a 3-1 trump split so long as there would be no more than one loser. E-W have a chance of eleven tricks in clubs. If the lead is a spade to jack and queen, declarer has the timing to ruff two diamonds high and then draw trumps. Two rounds of clubs right away prevent the second diamond ruff. A heart force is not quite good enough if declarer ruffs a diamond and then leads a spade towards the queen, but returning to hand with a second heart ruff instead allows South to gain control of the trumps. All the doubled club contracts took ten tricks, giving Nancy the E-W top.

?

7:

?

...............A10954

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

...............KQ10632

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

Q7............................62

A10653....................J42

954...........................AJ7

A107.........................KQ963?

...............KJ83

...............KQ987

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

...............J54

?

Survin/Randi, Mallys/Haorge and Garbot/Marudy all passed the hand out, North intending to compete on the second round of the auction but naturally never getting a chance. Nice to see that the Rule of Fifteen would have given any opening East the appropriate punishment. When North opened 1S the South hand improved quite a bit, although a splinter raise opposite a light opening might have gotten the side too high. Some Norths facing an invitation thought the hand had done enough just opening the bidding, but 4S was reached seven times.

?

4S made comfortably. Harold and Kevin made an overtrick after a heart opening lead, declaring getting a free ruffing finesse and discarding a club on the second high heart. The diamonds established with one ruff and declarer just lost one trick in each minor. Sarip defeated 4S when declarer finessed East for the spade queen.

?

12:

?

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

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

...............AJ10942

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

10.........................Q984

K1042...................73

5...........................KQ87

QJ108765.............K43?

...............J7653

...............AQ986

...............63

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

?

The auctions varied in large dependence on West's choice of initial action. Six Wests passed, seven opened 3C and one opened 4C. Curiously, no of the Wests who opened declared. Three auctions were short: 3C-3D. The other 3C auctions were 3C-3D-4C-4H, 3C-X-4C-4H, 3C-X-P-4C; P-4D-P-4S and 3C-X-4C-4H; P-5D. The 4C opening bid also led to 5D: 4C-X-P-4H; P-5D. Passes led to three partials, one game and two sacrifices: P-1D-P-1H; 3C-3D twice, P-1NT-P-2C; X-2D-3C-3H, P-1NT-P-2D; 3C-P-P-3S; P-4S, P-1D-P-1S; X-XX-2C-2S; 3C-4S-P-P; 5C-X and P-1NT-P-2H; 3C-4S-5C-5S; 6C-P-P-X.

?

Erik made 4S, which requires at least one bit of help. The easiest make I could find was: diamond to ace, spade to queen, diamond king. Then even a club to the ace is not enough: diamond jack-queen-ruff is followed by a low heart to the king. West can now force South with a second club, leaving:

?

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

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

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

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

----.....................984

1042...................7

----.....................8

J87.....................K?

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

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

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

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

?

Declarer returns to the North hand with the heart jack and plays diamonds from the top until East ruffs, when South overruffs, draws trumps and takes the last diamond for the tenth trick. Erik was the only declarer in game to make, preventing the phantom sacrifices from providing the top N-S scores. Best E-W score was defending 4S -3.

?

14:

?

...............A7542

...............AQ74

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

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

K8.....................10

1092..................KJ853

AKJ1043...........65

83......................Q10764?

...............QJ963

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

...............872

...............AJ52

?

West opened 1D in third seat, North overcalled 1S and eleven N-S pairs reached 4S N, although Paun and Jevin were two of the three to stop in 3S (along with Pally).

?

Both West and North have a test of mettle in the play. After two rounds of diamonds West might decide against leading the third. If North holds all six missing spades or A10xxx, East's not overruffing the third trick will flag that East does not hold the singleton king. When West did not lead a third spade three declarers took eleven tricks - Jeff in 3S +2, Gernot and Mary (W) in 4S +1. When West did lead a third diamond, North could have opted to ruff with the ace, which would result in nine tricks when West held K108 or ten otherwise. Ruffing low results in ten tricks when West holds all three and a guess if East overruffs with a spot and then West follows low on the next round. Most Norths did ruff low, got overruffed and were then faced with a guess on the next round when South led the queen and West played low. As West has shown six diamonds to East's two East has more room for the spade king, although North might lead ace and queen of hearts just to see if East covers or not. If East does cover that increases the likelihood of West's holding Kx in spades. But a shrewd East may work out what North is doing. In the end, along with the three declarers taking eleven tricks, ten were taken by Alice, Gareth and Jim. E-W top was a six-way tie defending 4S -1 for Leighry, Matty, Deebot, Sarip, Tarry and Linj.

?

15:

?

...............K983

...............AQ1087

...............1085

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

?

I did not copy the whole hand and here include only North's holding because I saw one North open Flannery in third position. This reminded me of an old partnership from four decades ago of Linda Barton and Lynn Gallagher, both of whom were known to bid Flannery a HCP or two light in more than third position. I discovered, though, that they did so for different reasons. Lynn thought it was acceptable to count distribution. Linda knew the requirement was in HCP but would often deliberately open aggressively when she played against superiour opposition. If not carried too far it was a reasonable strategy.

?

16:

?

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

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

...............A1063

...............J87652

A753.........................KJ984

1052..........................K74

9854..........................J

K10 ...........................AQ43

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

...............AQJ63

...............KQ72

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

?

We frequently have a deal that could be called Balance or No Balance? and in the Friday game this was it. Most Souths overcalled 2H over East's 1S and West raised to 2S, passed back to South. Balance or No Balance? The final count was seven contracts of 2S E and seven higher contracts, so that a majority did balance, as a small number of tables were higher than 2S by South's second chance to call. At one table, for instance, North opened 3C (no comment) and then passed South's 3H response. Contracts higher than 2S were 3H S twice, 3S E thrice, 4D S and 4Sx E.

?

East can force nine tricks in spades against any defence, although after, for instance, a club lead, declarer may well lead the second spade too soon, allowing South to gain the lead, draw the third round of trumps and then just sit back, force East in diamonds and wait patiently for East's tricks to run out at eight - unless, of course, declarer has the insight to play the spade king first and then run the jack. The 2S contracts all succeeded: Hank (B) and Betty took ten tricks; Linda and Mary (H) nine; Dee, Larry (Sh) and Nancy eight. Sandi and Connie played 3S =; Heve held declarer to eight tricks. Survin were N-S top posting 4Sx -1. Rita was second N-S making 3H, a reasonable outcome after a spade lead, losing the first spade and a club, then ruffing one spade and losing another spade and a trump.

?

17:

?

...............J9864

...............QJ

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

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

K10............................53

98762........................A1054

K108..........................AQJ95

AK4............................73

...............AQ72

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

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

...............Q10982

?

Most Easts opened the bidding and the contract was usually 4H W, a contract seen ten times. One noteworthy auction not ending in 4H was P-P-P-1H; P-2C-P-2H. I do not know what version of Drury E-W were playing but shall assume 2H was the signoff. West is better than a dead minimum but the weak trumps are a distinctly negative factor. 2H definitely makes sense, especially if East has not promised four hearts, as being assured of four-card support goes a good way. East was good enough for either 2NT or a fit-showing jump of 3D if the pair plays FSJs; at the very least the hand might have gone farther over 2H. West is hardly going to be so weak that 3H is dangerous, bidding 1H in fourth seat.

?

4H took at least eleven tricks when trumps split 2-2. If N-S did not grab their spade trick off the top or after winning their trump trick, declarer took twelve tricks, producing a three-way tie for top between Geoff, Philip and Cindy.

Yes; that ran this morning.

?

?

3:

?

...............A106

...............KJ10

...............AQ865

...............KJ

QJ32.....................8754

Q3.........................9872

K10732..................4

84..........................AQ92

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

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

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

...............107653

?

We start with a hand that illustrates the value of non-informative auctions. The standard auction is 1D-1H; 2NT-3NT. Marudy had a Stayman auction after a Mexican 2D opening bid, but it was not clear which major South held. After the standard or 2/1 auction East likely leads a spade. After an auction that does not reveal which major South holds, a heart is the slightly more solid choice.

?

After a heart lead declarer can force ten tricks. Four heart tricks are ready to go. West has to discard on the third heart and any choice weakens defensive prospects one way or another, either reducing E-W spade winners from two to one, making it easier for declarer to pick up four diamond tricks or allowing communications to be cut if West parts with a club. A spade lead, on the other hand, strikes gold. Whatever dummy and declarer do on the first trick, E-W can establish two spade winners whichever hand gains the lead; declarer is lucky to scramble together nine tricks.

?

4:

?

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

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

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

...............Q10632

A1062.....................4?

52............................AK7643

KJ98.......................Q1074

AJ5..........................K8

...............KJ73

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

...............A32

...............974

?

Here was our reasonable slam; can 6D be reached? The auctions had different rebids from responder after 1D-1H; 1S: 2H only, after which E-W were a bit lucky to reach 3NT; 4H ending the auction; a fourth-suit 2C followed by 2NT-3NT. I would like 2C followed by 3D; East has control of all the side suits, good diamond support and a likely source of tricks in hearts. Give West, for instance, xxxx x AKxxx Axx, and slam becomes a huge favourite. But, even if slam is not reached (and it would be tricky), 5D turns out to be a better spot than 3NT, although not so good as 4H.

?

Even if the lead is a club, 3NT is unlikely to produce more than nine tricks. A club into West's tenace provides trick number six; then three more can be established in either red suit and South has a chance to find the spade switch. If both red suits split 3-2, hearts will take eleven tricks and diamonds twelve, with some additional chances with 4-1 diamonds. A spade lead will sink 6D if trumps are 4-1 unless the layout is very specific - North would need the singleton ace.

?

5:

?

...............98632

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

...............KJ108

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

AQ104..................KJ7

AK........................Q106

965.......................3

9643.....................KQ10752?

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

...............98754

...............AQ742

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

?

At IMPs E-W would pick 5C in a flash. 3NT (although reached on the only uncontested auction of 1C-1S; 1NT-3NT) is out of the question with the running diamonds and 5C is almost a sure thing. At matchpoints, however, 4S would win the bidding contests. 5C was reached after the lengthy auction P-1C-1D-1S; P-2C-P-2D; P-2S-P-3C; 3D-4D-X-5C. N-S found what appeared to be a nice sacrifice in 4Dx after P-1C-2NT-P(?); 3D-P-P-4C; 4D-P-P-X. If West gets to respond 1S, I like a 2S raise from East at matchpoints, likely leading to 1C-1S; 2S-4S.

?

5C makes unless South holds all three trumps or the defence manages a ruff. On the actual layout it can be defeated. South leads the singleton spade, wins the first club and puts North on lead with a diamond for a spade ruff. Against 4S N-S can pick up a third trick with a club ruff but it is a trap. The only defence is to force East in diamonds twice before the club ruff is taken; otherwise declarer can draw trumps and run the clubs. N-S take nine tricks playing in diamonds; either the hearts or spades will establish so long as declarer delays drawing trumps.

?

9:

?

...............982

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

...............96532

...............AK8

K4.............................5

AJ9843.....................Q1065

KQ84........................AJ7

5................................J9732

...............AQJ10763

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

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

...............Q1064

?

This was our big Battle of the Majors. Our Souths all took rather different actions. One opened 3S, ending the auction. Another opened 1S and eventually declared 4S after P-P-1S-2H; 2S-4H-4S. The longest auction was P-P-P-1H; P-2H-2S-3H; 3S-4H-4S. I much prefer a 4S opening bid in third seat; it has chances of making opposite Kx xxxx xxxx Kxx and there is a much better chance of E-W's making the wrong decision if the bidding is rushed. On either of our longer auctions East or West might have gone to 5H, a much harder call to find if South opens 4S.

?

Remarkably, both partnerships are identically situated. Each side has two losers and a ten-card trump fit missing the king, with the finesse losing to produce a result right on target for the Law: twenty total trumps and twenty tricks combined for the two sides. 4S is slightly more precarious; if trumps are 3-0 there could be a club loser.

?

11:

?

...............10973

...............107652

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

...............A96

AKJ........................84

A8..........................QJ4

AK862...................QJ1054

KQ3.......................1054?

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

...............K93

...............97

...............J872

?

This was a lucky slam if E-W had found the right one. It was probably fortunate for the E-W pairs to miss slam that those Easts made a point-count response and that it was 2H showing 4-6 points, with the East hand a maximum. Had the split been 23-7 instead of 24-6, West might have gotten busier. One pair did reach slam, but, alas, the wrong one, after 2C-2D; 3D-4D; 6NT. We also see here the value of control cards - slam becomes considerably better if East holds Kxx in hearts instead of QJx, although, had West held A10x, QJx might have been a better holding for East.

?

6NT W only makes after a club lead, but 6D can make after any lead if declarer guesses which black honour to place with South and will always make after a spade lead as well. The main play point after a neutral red lead is that declarer will likely lead a club to the king first. If North wins then declarer can take the second club before finessing in spades. If North ducks sufficiently smoothly declarer may go wrong, cash the top spades in case the queen drops and then lead to the second club.

?

16:

?

...............1042

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

...............10986

...............KQJ5

95.............................AKJ83

10542.......................A

AK............................742

A9742.......................10863?

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

...............KQ9863

...............QJ53

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

?

This hand I include as the best played hand of the game, Rita declaring 5Cx W =. The auction was P-P-1S-2H; 3C-P-4C-4H; P-P-5C-P; P-X, reasonable enough for North to expect three trump winners if the ace lay with West. But it turns out the hands fit so well that N-S cannot take more than two tricks. The opening lead was the heart jack to the ace; then came diamond to ace, heart ruff, diamond to king, heart/diamond discard/ruff, spade ace, spade king, spade ruff, heart/diamond/ruff, then dummy led the club ten to North who was left with KQ5 in trumps while West held A97.

?

The play was almost perfect; 5C cannot be set by force. The one chance the defence was given came on the lead of the third heart, which allowed North to ruff high and get off lead. As North held four diamonds to East's three, the key for North is to keep the fourth diamond for an exit card after the second high ruff. Declarer's plan is to take a spade and diamond ruff in hand before leading the third heart. If North discards dummy ruffs and leads a spade; North overruffs West but then must lead a high club to the ace leaving North with C K5, East with S J C 10 and West on lead with H 10 C 9 to force an eleventh trick by leading a heart. If West ruffs high and gets out with a diamond West can ruff in either hand and will come to two of the last three tricks by ruffing a spade low or leading a heart through North. The real moral of the story may be the danger of the double, which, by placing all the trumps with North, clues declarer in to the winning line of play.

?

?

?

I won't need to, thanks; nobody will be arriving until Saturday and the funeral is Wednesday.

?

1:

?

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

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

...............AKJ103

...............K1053

95..............................K843

QJ875.......................109

7................................9864

A9842.......................Q86

...............QJ10762

...............643

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

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

?

After 2C by North, eleven Souths responded 2D and two bid 2S. The suit is not far off the quality needed for a 3S response, a sort of semi-positive that should show a suit playable opposite a low singleton and with some agreed limitation on outside controls. The 2S responses both excited opener and the pairs finished in slam, 6NT N at one table and 6D N at the other. Only one pair finished in slam after 2C-2D, also finishing in 6NT N. Four pairs won the bidding contest and arrived in 4S S.

?

6D almost makes. In order to dispose of the heart loser a club must be led from dummy if E-W don't oblige, and the only way to do that is to lead a diamond to the queen. Unfortunately East can ruff the third heart higher than dummy, as the queen will already have been removed. Too bad, as the club queen's dropping is helpful. Slams all had to fail, with Boric taking the E-W top defending 6NT N -4. 4S +1 split the N-S top between Connie, Eileen, Sarah and Jamie. 4S requires a little care not to allow West a diamond ruff.

?

3:

?

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

...............KQJ9

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

...............AJ103

1053.......................AKQ62

10843.....................62

32...........................10765

8752.......................96

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

...............A75

...............QJ98

...............KQ4

?

If East were to pass throughout the hand would be a bit of a trap for N-S as, after 1D-1H; 1NT, North would likely go at least to 4NT, and then what? As it was, though, east almost always overcalled 1S. Would N-S pairs avoid 3NT and find their top matchpoint spot of 4H? Seven pairs managed to do so, likely helped if South was able to make use of the Support Double. Pharah, for instance, had the auction 1D-P-1H-1S; X-P-4H.

?

The play in 4H began with East's leading the top three spades and declarer's ruffing the third round. Because neither North nor South held the heart ten there is a case for ruffing even at IMPs. With KQJ10 in hearts North could discard on the third spade, planning to ruff a possible fourth spade from East with the ace, draw trumps and claim, catering to a 4-2 trump split. Here declarer came out all right ruffing, as East had the spade length and West had the thirteenth trump. Discarding on the third spade gives up the overtrick if hearts are 3-3 and one still risks going down if East holds four trumps and West holds either the ten-spot or eight-spot, to be able to overruff on the third spade and force a trump from North. In the end 4H = created a large tie for N-S top between Georgette, Eileen, Dianne, Kieli, George, Laurie and Sarah.

?

8:

?

...............543

...............QJ43

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

...............9543

AQ82......................KJ7

1052........................876

K63.........................AQ742

Q72.........................J6

...............1096

...............AK9

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

...............AK108

?

This one had various possibilities. If East opened 1D, it seemed important that, if South passed, East should also pass a 1S response. Rebidding 1NT got East raised to 2NT, a settable contract. 3D was also played a couple of times after a rebid. One interesting auction was P-P-1D-X; XX-1H-P-P; 1NT-P-P-2H; X. North did not have to bid 1H, but, as hearts were the hand's best suit, there was no particular helpful thing about passing. West might just as easily have bid 1S instead of 1NT. South's 2H was doubtful; North is marked with a weak hand from the auction and did not opt to compete to 2H over 1NT. West's double of 2H apparently was meant to convey that the hand was a maximum pass as dealer, but risked conveying the message that West had an active desire to defend hearts. It turned out lucky, however, as a pass of 2H might have led to 3D from East. At least one East passed, resulting in 1NT S.

?

Conndy and Pheileen took their five tricks as N-S to go plus. E-W took their nine tricks against 1NT S, which might have been top except that Marcia's gamble paid off. After the top clubs, had South switched to hearts 2NT could also have been defeated but Marcia's LHO played a third club and she cashed out for ten tricks and E-W top on +180. 2Hx finished -1 with 3-3 trumps. Declarer just had to be careful after being forced in diamonds to clear the clubs before drawing trumps.

?

10:

?

...............Q982

...............KJ875

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

...............43

K7543...................J

1032......................Q96

K5.........................A7632

KJ6.......................A972?

...............A106

...............A4

...............J1084

...............Q1085

?

A majority of tables, eight, passed the hand out. Two Easts opened 1D, leading to contracts of 1NT E and 2NT E. Three Wests opened 1S, leading to 1NT E twice and 3D E.

?

3D is always -1 whether South gets a heart ruff or not. Declarer can always piece together seven tricks in no-trumps, which was managed two times out of four. Kevin was the only declarer to go plus, picking up E-W top while +100 shared N-S top between Nanbot, Keianne, Conndy and Linj.

?

11:

?

...............A10873

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

...............Q1083

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

KQ...........................64

K5............................10762

AK964.....................J75

AKJ5........................Q1076?

...............J952

...............J9843

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

...............943

?

It looked as if East might just be able to avoid temptation and stop after 2C-2D; 2NT, but the only East to pass on that sequence was Louise's Eastbot. Two Wests rebid 3D instead of 2NT and got passed there, a dangerous thing for East to do. 3NT W was played nine times, with a thirteenth contract of 4C W.

?

Par in either minor was nine tricks, seven in no-trumps>North would have to discard a spade on the run of the clubs defending no-trumps, but, even if West does not try the diamonds, N-S can still cash six tricks; North can reach South in spades to cash the third heart. But the line of defence was just tricky enough that only Nanbot, Marudy and Haorge posted 3NT -2. Phoebe was E-W top in 3NT +1 when North, determined not to play the second spade, won the diamond queen, then got off lead with ace and queen of hearts.

?

13:

?

...............QJ3

...............KJ642

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

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

6..........................10854

AQ83...................5

J83......................K9742

KQ1086...............J52

...............AK972

...............1097

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

...............A4

?

No auction occurred more than twice on this hand. South opened 1NT five times. The hand should be upgraded out of a 15-17 HCP 1NT with the prime cards and good five-card major. 1NT led to 3C W twice, 2H N, 2H S and 3H S. After the eight 1S opening bids, three Wests doubled and five overcalled 2C. Two auctions with a double went P-P-1S-X; 2S-3D-3S; the third ended after the raise to 2S. South might have bid 3H over 3D as an invitation to 4S. After the 2C overcalls, North raised to 2S every time. Four Souths bid 3S over 2S; two Norths advanced from 3S to 4S. The last auction was P-P-1S-2C; 2S-P-P-X; P-3C-3S.

?

4S did not make; West can always block the hearts. Without a club opening lead (or a heart ruff off the top) Henry was able to take twelve tricks in 3S, which tied Hank (V)'s 2H S +4 for the best declaring result. Hearts can be held to ten tricks by a club lead; South can be forced and then West will get a second trump trick. Kielbot was N-S top defending 3C -3, although Don made 3C for E-W top. 3C can be set by force.

?

14:

?

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

...............53

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

...............AK10875

K109.......................A6

6..............................AKQ10982

KJ10743..................A85

QJ2..........................9?

...............QJ7543

...............J74

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

...............643

?

The East hand qualifies for a 2C opening bid. With normal breaks the hand is within one trick of game and has more than sufficient high-card strength and controls. The great stylistic question of whether to open 1H or 2C may be a case of which risk one holds to be greater - missing slam after opening 1H or reaching a bad slam after opening 2C. Seven of the thirteen E-W pairs reached slam, with a 4-3 margin among those pairs of a 1H opening bid. After a 1H opening bid, East may have a tough time of it if West responds 1NT. A jump shift to 3D just to create a game force looks likely to reach slam; otherwise East likely rebids 4H and it is tough for West to budge over that. Here the slam is close; whether or not it is bid may well depend on whether West gets the diamonds into the auction, as seen in the auctions of Paun and Jevin. Paun's auction was 2C-2S-X(control showing)-P; 3H-P-4D-P; 6H. West's holding a diamond suit is the fastest way for E-W to find twelve tricks; xxx xxx KQJx xxx would be enough to make 6H a sitter. Jevin's auction was 1H-2S-3D-P; 7H, a jump worthy of Fredda Kelly herself.

?

Slam in hearts was close. Paul took all thirteen tricks after a lead of the singleton diamond, but, after a non-diamond lead, some declarers failed. Indeed, had the auction begun 2C-P-2D-3C, declarer might have expected South to hold the diamond length. Kevin made 7H after lead of the spade queen, which gave him a choice of successful lines. Even after a trump lead, though, I expect he'd have gone with the odds and finessed North for the diamond queen, South's 2S jump and three hearts giving inferential odds of 9-4 in favour of North's holding the diamond queen.

?

17:

?

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

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

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

...............652

KQ743.....................5

952..........................AKJ1043

85............................10942

J94..........................KQ

...............J862

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

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

...............A10873

?

I include this hand almost entirely because it bears a remarkable resemblance to a hand from the past. One East overcalled 3H after North opened 1NT; nine of the ten declarers in hearts took nine tricks. Declarer can prepare to discard a diamond on a black-suit winner. N-S have an interesting way to prevent a discard by playing three diamonds off the top; South ruffs the third diamond with the six-spot to force the nine. If declarer then tries to establish a black suit, North can lead a fourth diamond and South can ruff with the eight-spot. But East gets out all right by leading a trump to hand and then ruffing the fourth diamond.

?

The hand of which this reminded me was one from years ago when defending 6H E; West held 952 in trumps and South 863. Declarer's trumps were AKQJ10. One trick had already been lot and declarer needed to ruff two losing clubs, a suit in which South and West both began with doubletons. South could have trumped the third club with the six-spot to force the nine, then ruff the fourth club high with the ace. But declarer drew one round of trumps before taking the first ruff in dummy and South found, to his horror, that on the first round of trump he had automatically followed suit with the six to show three trumps. Left with the 83 in front of dummy's 95, he was helpless and the slam made.

1:

?

...............K1096

...............AK943

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

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

Q742...........................AJ5

J108............................752

A76.............................K9852

A86.............................94

...............83

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

...............QJ3

...............KJ10752

?

This was a version of the Flannery Death Hand. Playing 1NT forcing, what does North rebid after 1H-1NT? Norths came up with three different answers at the table. 2H seems the smallest lie; it was chosen once and ended the auction. Two Norths rebid 2C. One may have had an uneasy moment when South passed; the other surprisingly was able to pass a raise to 3C, an even sterner test. The last two reversed into 2S. South bid 3C both times. One North passed; the other instinctively retreated to 3NT. One North did have a Flannery 2D opening available, resulting in a contract of 2H S without any stress.

?

The club contracts were the least interesting. If West leads a spade through E-W have five tricks. A little surprisingly the one declarer who didn't take eight tricks took seven instead of nine. Declarer can make 2H by force because E-W run out of things to lead. If E-W could cash their five winners and then lock?North in hand that would work, but West has to duck the first club. That lets declarer draw trumps before West takes the club ace; then one by one the side suits become untouchable; either East or West will have to let South in or lead the third spade.

?

The fate of 3NT S was instructive. West found the diamond lead, although a spade to the jack and a diamond switch would have made all things clear. Had North's diamonds been QJx Eastbot might have found the duck but the bot won the king, returned the five-spot and then played the deuce on the third round. West won the second club and switched to a heart, giving Paul ten tricks instead of six - all because of the diamond deuce. The nine would have been a strong signal for a spade return when West got in.

?

2:

?

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

...............43

...............KQ1092

...............A92

KQ103.........................85

Q82.............................AKJ10765

AJ875..........................64

J...................................43?

...............A742

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

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

...............KQ108765

?

A 4H opening bid might well have ended the auction. Almost everyone finished in 4H, although I saw one auction of 3H-4C-4H; how does North pass that? One N-S pair found 5C, doubled by West.

?

4H makes in comfort; the hand came down to the play in 5Cx and whether declarer would finish -1 or -2. West led a heart to East, who returned a spade. South won the ace, a natural response out of fear of a singleton. But, if South is setting a target, it has to be -1 because of the vulnerability. Once South played the spade ace, Jeff was able to cash both spade winners for -2 and the E-W top. But ducking the first spade means that West cannot lead the suit again and East does not have another entry. Declarer wins, say, a heart return, draws trumps and leads the diamond singleton. If West wins North's diamonds provide discards for South's low spades; if West ducks declarer does not lose a diamond. -1 either way and the top score. At equal vulnerability the ace would have been the correct play because -2 would be the target. Ducking risks -3 if East's spade is a singleton and at equal vulnerability -3 is the result to avoided if at all possible while -2 is still on the good side.

?

10:

?

...............J108

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

...............AQJ104

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

K942.....................75

KQ1094.................J875

K............................9532

762.........................A104?

...............AQ63

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

...............876

...............KQ95

?

This hand looks like a lot of trouble for N-S. South opens 1NT and it is difficult for North to stay out of 3NT with the powerful diamonds. Five of the six N-S pairs played in no-trumps, usually 3NT, although one pair had the good luck to stop in 2NT. Only Pauise avoided no-trumps altogether, after 1NT-2D (both majors)-P-2H; P-P-3D.

?

In 3NT after a heart lead declarer has a choice of plays that is much more frequent at matchpoints than IMPs. South soon learned that there were five diamond tricks after the inevitable heart lead. At that point, if hearts were 5-4, declarer could play for a safe -1 by knocking out the club ace or try for either nine or ten tricks by taking the spade finesse. At IMPs one would naturally play for the make. At matchpoints it looks as if -1 may make the better target, unless one thinks that not many pairs will go to game. Declarer in 2NT and one (I think) of the declarers in 3NT took seven tricks; I dislike 2NT -1 as declarer does not want the spade finesse to work, which allows 3NT to make. The safer play for the probable make would have taken advantage of the stop.

?

3D had ten tricks after a heart lead, eleven after a spade, giving Louise the N-S top either way.

?

12:

?

...............J754

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

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

...............K942

KQ98......................3

74............................Q985

K985.......................J742

J63 .........................10875

...............A1062

...............A1062

...............AQ6

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

?

2NT from South and then Stayman at most tables ending in 4S. Only Kevin raised directly to 3NT instead of using Stayman. The side was known to have a little extra in values and there was a chance that the spades would be weak if there were a 4-4 spade fit.

?

On paper the hand rates to be a win for 4S, as the contract makes by force while 3NT can be held to nine trick, although, if the opening lead is a diamond, declarer can force ten tricks if the opening lead is the five-spot; this is because the only way for West to reach East's hand is with that card; if West leads the five, then 5/10/J/Q and East never gets in again; declarer with a correct heart guess can cash six tricks in hearts and clubs, then get off led with ace and another diamond and West will have to lead spades. But Jeff received an opening spade lead, which gave him ten tricks by force, and eventually he picked up an eleventh. 4S can reasonably be defeated. Club to ace and queen, heart to king, club king, diamond to queen and king, diamond to ten/jack/ace, diamond ruff, spade to ten and queen is reasonable enough but probably puts declarer into an untenable position whichever red suit West returns. Nobody in spades ever took more than ten tricks, giving Jevin an easy N-S top.

?

13:

?

...............986432

...............A9764

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

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

Q10..........................KJ

1032.........................KQ85

J1032.......................AKQ

KJ106.......................9754

...............A75

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

...............987654

...............832

?

The North hand surpasses the requirements of the Rule of Twenty and 1S was opened five times. Two Easts overcalled 1NT and played the hand there; both South and North really disliked being vulnerable, although both sides vulnerable is the most conducive to passing; 1NT -2 beats 2S = or +1; 1NT = beats 2S -1. Three Easts doubled, those auctions ending in contracts of 3S N, 3Sx N and 4C W. The last auction began P-1C and finished in 3H E. There is a strong case for North to look for or even just jump to game opposite a single raise, as the six small spades improve drastically opposite support. AKx xxx xxxx xxx or Axx Kxx xxxx xxx both offer?fine play for game and the actual South hand is quite good as well.

?

Declarer can force eleven tricks in spades with the 2-2 trumps and the 4-3 hearts, not to mention the successful club finesse. Declarer in 3Sx +1 was N-S top, but 3S +2 was below average, as 3H and 4C finished -4 and -3 for hefty vulnerable penalties, even undoubled. Curiously, playing in 1NT proved to be the best E-W could do, although N-S could force eight tricks. One declarer escaped for -1 when South did not lead a club through and Owen was E-W top taking a gaudy nine tricks when N-S never established their spades.

?

17:

?

...............63

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

...............KJ1065

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

AKJ5...........................7

106..............................AQJ875

A98.............................Q742

Q973...........................A2

...............Q109842

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

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

...............K54

?

This hand from the last round had a 3-3 split among the choice of contract (or denomination) hands as opposed to 5-1. East opened 1H and South overcalled, 2S being more popular than 1S. West naturally went to 3NT. This was left in thrice and pulled, finishing in 4H, thrice.

?

Although East could discard the club loser in 4H, the diamond lead makes it impossible to do everything needed for the overtrick; ducking produces an immediate ruff and winning means the cord to dummy is cut by a spade lead when South gets in with the heart king. Dorbot, Study and Jevin all defended 4H = to tie for N-S top while in 3NT Breta and Paul took ten tricks and Jim eleven.

1:

?

...............Q72

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

...............KJ96532

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

----..........................AK98

Q10753...................AK98

Q10.........................A7

AK8753...................J106

...............J106543

...............J2

...............84

...............Q92

?

Starting with a slam sometimes seems a bit unfair, and this one had a surprisingly high proportion of pairs to get there - five of the twelve. Slam was reached by Loubot, Linj, Glynneth, Pharah and Paun, all in competitive auctions. If E-W were left to themselves it would have been easy: 1D-1H; 4H-4S; 5D-6C and then East, knowing spade duplication to exist, would probably have been content with 6H. Glynneth had the easiest auction: 2D-X-P-4H; P-6H. Because the opening bid was 2D instead of 3D Lynn's 4H showed a good bit more than 4H over 3D-X would have done; with a diamond control, Gareth had an easy 6H raise. Pharah had the only auction of the five on which North began with a pass: P-1C-2S-3H; P-4NT-P-5C; P-6H. The other three auctions began with 3D. Linj were similar to Pharah: 3D-X-P-4H; P-4NT-P-5C; P-6H. Paul kept the seven-level in play: 3D-X-P-4H; P-4NT-P-5C; P-5D-P-6C; P-6H. Had Paul bid 6D over 6C, which showed the club king and heart queen, Don would probably have bid 7H. Loubot did not have a key card ask: 3D-X-P-4H; P-5D-P-6H. I like Eastbot's 5D, as the East hand feels far more invitational than ask-worthy. West has quite the slammish hand, needing only control of diamonds, and Louise could have looked for 7H with a bid of 5S.

?

Louise, NJ and Lynn all made the overtrick. I would like to think that they all realized that North's holding seven diamonds made South a strong favourite to hold the queen of clubs, but I must allow for the possibility that they all received an opening lead of the singleton club. Don did not; when it came time for him to play the clubs he led the jack and overtook with the ace, after which he did not have the luxury of a guess, as South, with the Q9 remaining, was guaranteed a trick. It is possible that an inferential count was available. Suppose a trump lead; after winning the second trump in dummy, declarer can cash two spades, ruff a third and take one high club before returning to dummy with the diamond ace. Now, assuming North to hold seven diamonds for the 3D opening bid (a perfectly good assumption if a 2D opening bid is weak) then that makes thirteen cards shown, marking South with the club queen. Poor Phyllis (B) did not have the assist of a 3D opening bid and indeed only knew that South had length in spades. Naturally she played for the drop in clubs.

?

4:

?

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

...............A32

...............J874

...............AJ54

AQJ1053...........87

J8......................Q974

103....................AKQ5

K103 .................Q97

...............K42

...............K1065

...............962

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

?

This one came down to the opening bid. Back in the day there would have been more 2S opening bids, which presumably would have been left in. In our game it appears there was only one 2S opening bid. Everyone else apparently opened 1S, usually reaching 4S. Keianne managed to get to the superiour 3NT via 1S-2D; 2S-3NT.

?

Switch West's clubs and hearts and there would have been little difference between 3NT and 4S. 4S would be fine for IMPs. At matchpoints it depends largely on the opening lead; a heart lead forces declarer to find South with king to no more than three, or the same if a club is lead with a heart shift. Chances improve a bit if declarer gets to try to discard a heart on the third diamond. 3NT has chances if the spades don't behave, especially if South does not hold the heart length. And at matchpoints no-trumps scores the ten extra points when both contracts take the same number of tricks. Keianne were E-W top playing 3NT +2.

?

5:

?

...............KQ109643

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

...............964

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

82...................................J

9852...............................1043

A75.................................Q1083

J762 ...............................AKQ103

...............A75

...............QJ76

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

...............984

?

North is too weak for a Namyats 4D and starts with 1S. Then came either a double or a 2C overcall. One redouble auction went 1S-X-XX-2H; 4S. I don't particularly care for West's 2H; there is no need for West to bid anything and here the 2H bid went a long way towards E-W's missing their profitable sacrifice in 5Cx. I do like North's 4S rebid; the suit does not require support and this is not a hand that wants to sit for a penalty double. By bidding 4S at once North removed any chance of East's getting the clubs into the auction and the 5C sacrifice was missed.

?

The play in 5Cx was instructive. When West's doubleton turns out not to provide a ruff, declarer needs to hold the diamond suit to one loser to pick up eight tricks and -500. The key is to leave the diamonds as late as possible for declarer, ideally not even to have to play the suit at all. If N-S begin with two rounds of spades, declarer can draw trumps and play a heart. After North cashes two hearts a diamond back gives declarer an extra chance to guess right. But North has a surprise resource - a ruff-and-discard. Declarer can still prevail but will need one good guess instead of having two chances at it. Lernot were able to avoid having to help declarer at all - Gernot led a trump. Declarer drew trumps and led a spade, but Larry cleared his two hearts before the second spade. Even then East could have run the queen or ten of diamonds, won the ace when North covered and then finessed the eight - too difficult a guess to expect. Had the third round of spades been played declarer could also have endplayed South into leading a diamond from the king, which might have been marked as being in the South hand by the key point of the auction.

?

8:

?

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

...............K754

...............1062

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

AQJ........................10942

932.........................J8

A8753.....................QJ

KQ .........................J10952

...............K763

...............AQ106

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

...............A3

?

1NT by West passed around to South. Even if playing a double as penalty or showing equal values to the 1NT opening bid South does not have a good hand for the action. One West opened 1D, resulting in 1NT S =. Of the eleven auctions with a 1NT opening bid there were four Souths who came in. One chose to bid 2H for the majors and eventually declared 3H. Two of the doubles resulted in a contract of 2D W. One double was left in.

?

1NT cannot be defeated even with the unstopped hearts. With the spade finesse succeeding, once the club ace comes out in the second round, West can reach the clubs by giving South the king of diamonds. Boric were fortunate, however; declarer led the ace of diamonds at trick two, eventually led the spade ace first and was lucky to escape for -1, which tied them for N-S top. 2D can be set by force, most neatly by starting with three rounds of hearts, the main point being for N-S to avoid leading spades for West at any point. Both declarers in 2D made the contract for a moderately good score. Jeff was able to back up hi bidding by taking eight tricks in 3H for -1 and the other side of the just-above-average bar.

?

12:

?

...............AJ632

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

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

...............Q932

K10........................8

Q542......................KJ1096

KQ105....................A643

1075.......................A84?

...............Q9754

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

...............J972

...............KJ6

?

Here was another sacrifice hand with a ten-card spade fit for a vulnerable N-S and E-W with a 5-4 fit in which to sacrifice at the five-level. Does East double or overcall 2H after North opens 1S? South should bid 4S over either. West has a fighting chance of bidding 5H if East overcalled 2H but has a tougher time of it after a double from partner, which suggests more defence than 2H while also reducing the likelihood of finding a nine-card fit. One West doubled 4S, ending the auction. And several Norths did not open. Pharah had an uncontested auction ending in 2H E +2 after a Drury sequence. Louise's opponents defended with care and set her 4H one trick but just taking the bid was good enough. Two Easts got to declare 5Hx -2 and E-W top was defending 5Sx N -1 when declarer tried to drop the trump king.

?

13:

?

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

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

...............Q94

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

Q4...........................K1083

AJ75........................92

J2............................8753

AKJ65.....................832?

...............J965

...............Q10843

...............AK106

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

?

The main question on this hand was whether South would open a Flannery 2D in third seat. Three Souths did so and the only reason there was not a fourth was that North at that table opened 1C. When South opened 1H West overcalled either 2C or 1NT. 2C often ended the auction; 1NT could have been doubled, which, if left in, would have allowed North to double a 2C runout for penalty. North's 1C opening bid led to 4H S; the three Flannery openings led to 3C W, 3NT N and a conservative 2H N.

?

Par in hearts was nine tricks but Jeff made 4H, quite likely after the spade queen opening lead. That may not be enough in and of itself to force a make but, if dummy follows with a spade and East gives West a ruff instead of pushing through a club, declarer can get home by running the heart ten through West to avoid losing a trick to the jack or nine. The Flannery openers all scored reasonably; declarer in 2H took ten tricks, 3C W might have been -3 but finished -2 and North made 3NT. 3NT ought not to be makable by force; eventually declarer must give E-W either a second heart trick or a second spade trick and then E-W can arrange to cash five tricks.

?

16:

?

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

...............AKJ54

...............63

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

----..............................Q108

873..............................Q1062

KJ9742........................Q105

QJ62............................K97?

...............AK765432

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

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

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

?

This was Tracy's best (and unluckiest) moment of the game. The other Souths all settled for 4S one way or another. After Howard opened 1H and rebid 1NT over Tracy's 1S response, Tracy counted nine probable winners and jumped to 6S, which would easily have won a bidding competition.

?

6S makes whenever trumps split 2-1, a 78% chance. If the South spade suit were headed by AK9 instead of AK7, declarer could have led the jack trying to induce a cover if East held Q108, allowing the marked finesse on the next round. With trumps 3-0, on a club opening lead declarer should finish -3 instead of -1 (-2 on a diamond lead) as the contract can still make if the heart finesse succeeds.

?

18:

?

...............K92

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

...............AK9873

...............765

Q1073......................4

AQ962.....................KJ843

Q5............................642

A8............................J432?

...............AJ865

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

...............J10

...............KQ109

?

This became a big Battle of the Majors. We had yet another 5-5 fit, this time in hearts. The bidding almost always got to game. If South opened 1S then North likely raised the valuation; otherwise East raised to 4H when West opened 1H. A Flannery auction starting with 2D from West might have had a chance of ending in 3H E.

?

E-W had four clear losers in hearts. I mention this hand at all only to point out the possible play in spades of leading low to the nine if West does not force out the king. If there were no chance of E-W's forcing North to ruff a heart declarer would have an even safer play of the ace first and then low towards the K9, holding the losers in the suit to one any time both East and West followed to the ace. Thus the only way for E-W to force a set would be to lead ace and another club. West can always win the third round of spades by force, and the East hand can be reached with the heart king to give West a club ruff.