Yes; Tuesday evening and Friday morning will continue online presumably without interruption.

?

?

Yes. Tuesday evening and Friday morning online will be continuing indefinitely. Wednesday I hope to retool for the players who have dropped out.

?

1:

?

...............AJ965

...............732

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

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

1083......................74

K............................AQJ654

A52........................J8

Q97632..................K108

...............KQ2

...............1098

...............KQ763

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

?

Here was a hand favouring two-level overcalls on five-card suits. East opens 1H or perhaps 2H. Over 2H, South has a reasonable 3D overcall, but over 1H the auction may well go 1H-1NT; 2H with N-S never getting into the auction. Usually the auction did reach the three-level; contracts were 2H E, 3D S twice, 3Dx S and 3H E. I don't think a black suit got into the bidding anywhere.

?

The Law was technically right on target; although E-W held only seven hearts, they did hold nine clubs between them. Diamonds could take eight tricks and hearts nine. All the diamond tricks were right on target; hearts all did better. Gareth began with E-W top in 3H E +2. After the lead of ace and another club he could have taken eleven tricks by force had he overtaken the heart king and played for the 3-3 split. Instead he led two rounds of diamonds after clearing the heart king. N-S could have cashed their spade winners but did not.

?

3D S -1 (2)

3Dx S -1

2H E +2; 3H E +1

3H E +2

?

2:

?

...............Q10854

...............A76

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

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

AKJ7.........................32

J52............................Q4

73..............................AKQ10964

KQ82........................A10

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

...............K10983

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

...............9743

?

This was the first of a number of hands on which everything rode on the opening lead and/or first trick. Jevin ended up slightly overextended after their auction began 1D-1S; 3NT on Kevin's eight probable running tricks. Jeff continued with 4NT and they finished in 6D E. Two other pairs reached slam, 6NT E at one table and 6S W at another after a misclick. The other three tables played quietly in 3NT W.

?

3NT W took all thirteen tricks. This is clear after a spade lead. Curiously, if North leads a low heart, South will likely finesse when dummy plays low. A diamond lead will result in thirteen tricks if South discards a club. Lournot were N-S top defending 6S W -4. Although it is much more normal to lead away from a king against smalls slams in suits than in no-trumps, Elizabeth found the killing heart lead against 6NT while Kevin was E-W top in 6D = after a spade lead. The auction likely made more sense than usual for a heart lead, as East likely showed a lot of running tricks.

?

6S W -4

6NT E -1

3NT W +4 (3)

6D E =

?

3:

?

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

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

...............AKJ2

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

876............................K32

----.............................A73

10943.........................765

QJ7632......................AK95

...............AJ9

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

...............Q8

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

?

This auction can get up quite high quite quickly. If South opens 3H North has an easy 4H. This contract was reached at all six tables. This hand shows the perils of coming in with a flat hand; despite West's good distribution the heart duplication leads to six easy losers if North can ever push the spades through East twice (requiring the lead of the queen or ten if North takes the diamonds first); luckily the vulnerability kept E-W from sacrificing.

?

South is held to eleven tricks by a club lead. If anyone other than Elizabeth received the lead of a diamond, she was the only declarer brave enough to discard her club loser before touching trumps, as she took twelve tricks while everyone else took eleven.

?

4H S +2

4H S +1 (5)

?

4:

?

...............KQJ542

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

...............AJ10

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

A873........................96

K1083......................A42

Q754........................83

10.............................A76532

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

...............Q975

...............K962

...............KQJ4

?

Game was reached half the time. North has a 1S opening bid, South can invite game, likely with 1NT followed by 2NT, and North just might like the spades well enough to accept either in the suit or no-trumps. It would be a good deal easier to accept if the ten and deuce of spades were swapped. Contracts were 2NT S, 3D N, 3S N, 3NT S and 4S N twice, one of those times after South tried to bid a natural 2NT response and North interpreted 2NT as a Jacoby raise, as was on their card.

?

Spade contracts can be held to eight tricks without much difficulty and declarer might even end up with seven if East gets a diamond ruff as well as West's getting a club ruff. Steve pulled off a par-bettering 4S -1 for a middle score. Elizabeth produced the par result of 2NT =, but Leigh Ann took eleven tricks in 3NT for the N-S top. Defeating 3NT requires three heart tricks. Either of the first two rounds of the suit could be ducked; if E-W begin with ace and king, West has to find the club switch at once or the timing for the third winner is gone.

?

2NT S +2

2NT S =

3D N -1; 4S N -1

3S N -2

4S N -3

?

5:

?

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

...............A1087

...............K65

...............K742

QJ82.....................AK753

52..........................KQ6

A43.......................J98

A1062...................J3

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

...............J943

...............Q1072

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

?

4S E -1

3S E +1

4S E = (4)

?

We began 1S-3S and then five Easts accepted the invitation while only one counted seven losers and passed.

?

Passing should have resulted in a brilliant top. The game is quite a close proposition, but the natural diamond lead from South's Q1072 should result in a set; N-S get two diamonds, the heart ace and a club. Luckily for Elott, however, they not only avoided a zero but scored 80% for their score of -170; only Study found the winning defence of a diamond lead and continuation to set 4S; everyone else took ten tricks. Maybe people just defaulted to the lead of the other major, or perhaps North thought a heart return might work better.

?

6:

?

...............AKJ862

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

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

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

1075..........................4

J632..........................8

J976..........................AQ1083

K2..............................AJ9874

...............Q93

...............A1094

...............K52

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

?

Some Easts opened 1D and some opened 1C. I would probably be disinclined to reverse with the two minors and likely would see a 1D opening bid as more likely to lead to a reasonably accurate picture of the hand. One auction ended in 2S N, likely after 1D-P-1H-1S; 2C-2S, conservative of North and then inspired of East. Higher contracts were 3S N, 3NT S, 4S N, 5Cx E and 5S N. 5Cx E came about after West opened 1C, South somehow found a takeout double and North jumped to 4S. East could have proceeded with 4NT but chose 5C instead and was doubled. The 5S contract was likely the result of a 5D sacrifice.

?

Spades are much easier to play than hearts would have been, although declarer would likely have gotten the trumps correct thanks to East's having shown good distribution. All the spade contracts took the expected ten tricks. 3NT N could have been defeated by the psychic opening lead of the club jack. South has a slightly lucky ten tricks in 3NT given that West holds Kx in clubs. Elizabeth took eleven tricks after a diamond lead went to queen and king. Jamob emerged with N-S top defending 5Cx -2 when declarer did not guess the clubs (who would after a takeout double?); 5Dx would have finished only -1; too bad the side was vulnerable.

?

5Cx E -2

3NT S +2

4S N =

2S N +2; 3S N +1

5S N -1

?

7:

?

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

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

...............QJ854

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

K9542....................A10

Q83........................AJ42

A.............................K63

AJ52.......................Q976

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

...............K1097

...............10972

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

?

Everyone reached 3NT E. Partnership style determines how, whether the initial response is 1NT forcing, 2C or even an immediate 3NT. At matchpoints there is little for East to do differently; even after 1S-2C; 3C, 3NT stands out. Give East A10 AKJ2 643 Q976 and 6C is at least as good a contract while the bidding contests would have numerous scores, both 4H and 4S becoming viable as well.

?

3NT is held to nine tricks by a diamond lead, although then it takes some doing with both finesses failing and the hearts splitting badly. The requird line is rather pretty - after a diamond to the ace, spade to jack and ace and a low heart. If South ducks the queen wins and then declarer can switch to a black suit. If South wins East has three heart winners and North gets squeezed out of the last diamond on the fourth heart. Bob was one of three Souths to find the diamond lead and hold declarer to nine tricks; Harold received a heart lead and took eleven.

?

3NT E = (3)

3NT E +1 (2)

3NT E +2

?

8:

?

...............KQJ9732

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

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

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

----............................A108

K109872...................643

AJ862.......................Q10973

76..............................92

...............654

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

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

...............KQJ10843

?

If West passes, South has a strange time responding to 1S; it would be interesting to see how strong players would handle the auction. I did not see anyone pass as West and cannot report such an auction. The West hand is much closer to a 1H opening bid than to 2H and 1H was opened at least once, leading to 1H-X-2H-4C; 4H-4S-P-P; 5H-X. At equal vulnerability it is hard to blame West for taking the five-level sacrifice. 4S was played four times and one North took the push to 5S.

?

In spades N-S have eleven tricks if E-W take a diamond in time and twelve otherwise, with only Ritold and Mahn finding the diamond winner in time to tie for E-W top. Duplication rears its ugly head again, as either 5Dx or 5Hx is down one trick too many because of a ruff. Jamob avoided the trap of a spade lead against 5Hx; a diamond lead keeps declarer locked out of dummy and secures a ruff for the fifth defensive trick and the key score of +500. 5D is set three tricks by putting South on lead in clubs and then a heart switch back through to secure a ruff in that suit.

?

5Hx W -3

4S N +2 (2); 5S N +1

4S N +1 (2)

?

9:

?

...............K10962

...............KQ974

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

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

Q74.............................AJ53

A62.............................J85

K85.............................J76

A865...........................K94

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

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

...............AQ10932

...............QJ107

?

This hand seems to come down to whether South could goad E-W into the auction with a 2D or 3D opening bid. A 1D opening bid led to the inelegant contract of 2NT S, opening bids of 2D and 3D were passed around, and E-W declared 2S E, 3NT W and 4Sx E, the last two definitely pushed by a higher opening bid.

?

The hand is grim for any contract over 1NT; no declarer can force more than seven tricks. Leigh Ann made 2NT S after East discarded a diamond on the fourth club. Every other contract was defeated. The forced set of 2D is particularly cute: E-W begin with three rounds of clubs before trumps are touched. This allows East a club ruff. Even if South could ruff the fourth club in dummy high (North holding a singleton jack and East 10xx), that would create a second trump loser. 3NT W and 4Sx E went down one trick more than necessary, though neither such trick was relevant, but 4Sx -4 did give Study +1100. Everyone but Leigh Ann went down, the spade and diamond declarers taking the expected seven tricks. E-W have a brutal time declaring with those flat hands without intermediates; even 1NT probably could not be made by force if the N-S hand patterns were a little less extreme, allowing defensive communications. Jamob were E-W top for sitting quietly and defending 3D -2, South being a Flannery player who presumably opened 3D when 2D was not available.

?

4Sx E -4

3NT W -3

2NT S =

2S E -1

2D S -1

3D S -2

?

10:

?

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

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

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

...............KQJ72

QJ...........................K8752

Q73.........................A984

AQJ9.......................75

A954........................63

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

...............K1062

...............10843

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

?

West has a not particularly appealing 1NT opening bid, but again not everyone opened 1NT, as one?auction finished in 3D W. 1NT was left in once and East had an uncomfortable in-between hand. It would have helped to have been able to bid 2C and then follow over 2D with a non-forcing 2S. Any East who began with a transfer to 2S followed with 2NT, as 2NT W was played twice and 3NT W, West likely upgrading the doubleton QJ in partner's five-card suit. The final contract was 2H E, suggesting one of three possible auctions, none particularly good: the uncontested 1D-1S; 1NT-2H and 1NT-2C; 2D-2H as a low-level variant on Smolen along with the contested 1NT-2C-2H as an attempt at a transfer.

?

1NT could have been held to seven tricks by force, but the club king lead blocks the suit, ending with all three declarers in partials coming away with eight tricks. Jevin managed to post 3NT -2 when declarer did not go after the diamonds in time. Leighry posted 3D -2 to tie Jevin for N-S top; 2H finished -1 but = would have?yielded the same matchpoint score.

?

3D W -2; 3NT W -2

2H E -1

1NT W +1; 2NT W = (2)

?

11:

?

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

...............1082

...............QJ63

...............QJ1074

109853...................AK64

KQ..........................J965

1097........................K82

K53.........................A6

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

...............A743

...............A54

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

?

The auctions split among four paths. One West decided to leave 1NT in. Two East did not open 1NT, leading to 1D-1S; 2S, West declaring. Another West left in 2S after a transfer. The last two invited game, East declining with a 3S bid, ending the auction there.

?

Despite the 3-1 trump split with the sure loser, 4S E can only be defeated by a diamond opening lead, establishing the second diamond trick in time before the good luck in hearts allows two discards. North, alas, never gets in. It is much easier to find the diamond lead when West declares, but both Norths on lead chose the more solid club sequence. Everyone took ten tricks in spades except against Glynneth, who were N-S top defending 3S -1 when East never started heart and instead led a diamond to the king. 1NT took eight tricks; seven or nine would have scored the same.

?

3S E -1

1NT E +1

2S E +2 (4)

?

12:

?

...............A10952

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

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

...............AKQ43

J63........................Q87

K3..........................A109875

KQ1086.................53

952.........................87

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

...............Q642

...............AJ72

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

?

2/1 players get around the age-old dilemma with 5-5 black suits by being able to rebid 3C over 1S-2R, although 1C followed by 1S and 2S if the auction allows does have convenience. Everyone seems to have opened 1S. When East passed, the auction could have begun 1S-1NT; 2C-2NT. A 2H overcall (I hope Bill did not faint reading that) likely saw South limp into 2NT (if natural). 3H managed to push N-S around a bit, being played once undoubled and once doubled, South preferring the sure plus to trying 3NT without a good heart spot for a second stopper. The other contracts were 2S N, 3NT S twice and 4S N.

?

4S takes ten tricks in a straightforward way when there is only one trump loser. 3NT is quite interesting. If E-W begin with three rounds of hearts, declarer picks up a tenth trick by crossing to the North hand in clubs and running the spade nine. A diamond lead (or switch after the lead of the heart king) forces declarer to duck to come to nine tricks. Jamob defeated 3NT by an early diamond lead but Rita managed eleven tricks in 3NT. Jevin scored 60% defending 3Hx -3.

?

3NT S +2

4S N =

3Hx E -3

2S N +2

3H E -3

3NT S -1

?

13:

?

...............1065

...............KJ103

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

...............KQ542

----...................AKQJ72

A986................52

AKQ10986.......542

96.....................A8

...............9843

...............Q74

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

...............J1073

?

Here was the tragedy of the evening. Auctions were P-1S-P-2D; X-4S, 1S-2D; 2S-3NT, 1S-2D; 2S-3D; 4S, 1S-2D; 2S-3D; 5D and 1S-2D; 2S-3H; 3NT twice. As 7NT is a claimer, we wonder why everyone missed slam. The answer lies in the almost universal 2S rebid. East needs to jump to 3S with seven likely winners. West, with eight likely winners, will almost surely get to slam one way or another. East doesn't need much from West to make slam.

?

4S and 3NT both took all the tricks without difficulty. In diamonds, however, twelve tricks were the limit after a club lead; declarer could not draw trumps before playing spades.

?

5D W +1

4S E +3 (2)

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

?

14:

?

...............AK872

...............AQ864

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

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

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

3...............................K1097

K63...........................QJ4

A107542...................Q86

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

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

...............A1098752

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

?

If West opens 3C, North likely just takes the plunge with 4C or perhaps just goes to 3NT. North might also get to 3NT if South makes a weak jump shift response of 3D to 1S. Nobody got to 3NT S but 3NT N was played thrice. 1S-1NT might be followed by 2H-2S or 2H-3D, leaving North the chance to follow with 3H. A little curiously we saw two contracts of 4S N to one of 4H N.

?

3NT can be set if E-W get clubs established in time and perhaps even when not. Gareth made 3NT but Lournot managed the set. 4H was made by John despite the 4-1 trumps; declarer loses just two trumps and a club. 4S can also be made by force, but that requires a complicated line of play, involving establishing diamonds and then drawing trumps, either reaching dummy with the heart jack or endplaying East. Even Bill might not find that line at the table. Wendric set 4S with a club lead and heart switch; declarer could have found the make after taking the ace but ducked.

?

4H N =

3NT N =

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

?

15:

?

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

...............KJ54

...............9632

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

QJ10......................852

Q973......................A10

10754.....................K8

43...........................AQ10975

...............A9743

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

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

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

?

South opens either 1S or 1NT. East came in with a 2C overcall over 1S-1NT or however the partnership agrees after 1NT-P-P. Those pairs who use 2C to show a single-suited hand had to play 3C instead of 2C. One North backed in with 2H after 1NT-P-P-2C; P-P. This pushed E-W to 3C but South carried on to 3H thinking that North held five; they were not a regular partnership and did not have the understanding that that auction would likely be on a four-card suit. E-W played 3C thrice and 2C twice, one of the 2C contracts being by West after East showed a single-suited hand with a double.

?

If N-S find their spade ruff, E-W cannot take more than six tricks in clubs. It is on the lucky side for declarer that there is no entry to the West hand for one club finesse, let alone two, although the opening bid suggests that the club finesse will lose anyway. The only declarer in clubs to take more than six tricks was Eric when play began with three rounds of hearts and he had his escape for -1. Elott defended 3H -1 for E-W top.

?

3C E -3 (2)

2C E -2 (2)

3C E -1

3H N -1

?

16:

?

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

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

...............J653

...............KQ8

96...........................AKJ8

KJ94.......................1062

A1087.....................Q2

432.........................A1065

...............Q1052

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

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

...............J97

?

East opened 1C and rebid 1S; West almost universally rebid 1NT and played it there, with one auction finishing in 2C.

?

With N-S unable to break the diamonds, 2C sailed home as Karlene was able to manage the hand in a leisurely fashion, N-S had no active path that would do them a whit of good.1NT also comes to seven tricks by force with both sides having a slow time of it building tricks. Jevin were E-W top defending 1NT W -2 when declarer got too busy in the wrong suit and deliberately led a low diamond to the ace early in order to take a losing spade finesse. Jamob posted -1. Wendy and Judy both took the expected seven tricks and Elizabeth eight, likely after a diamond lead.

?

1NT W -2

1NT W -1

1NT W = (2); 2C E =

1NT W +1

?

17:

?

...............Q752

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

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

...............AK32

AJ..................K964

AKJ10982......3

95...................AKQ62

85...................Q96

...............1083

...............654

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

...............J1074

?

North opened 1C and E-W were almost sure to get to game, most likely 4H W, after East's 1D overcall. One pair stopped in 3H W and another in 3NT E but 4H W was the majority contract.

?

Either 3NT or 4H takes eleven tricks if declarer drops the offside queen, just making if the losing finesse is taken. Happily for declarer, N-S have only 13 HCP between them, making playing for the drop of the queen much more appealing, although some Norths would have opened Qxxx xx Jx AKJxx. Wendy, Judy and Gareth all dropped the heart queen. Wendy was E-W topin 4H +2, North not having ventured the second high club. Gareth was next in 3NT E +2. Mahn were N-S top defending 3H W +2l the other declarers all played 4H W =.

?

3H W +2

4H W = (3)

3NT E +2

4H W +2

?

18:

?

...............KJ7

...............8752

...............1065

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

Q8632...................109

J43........................Q9

K3..........................AQJ742

Q74........................1096

...............A54

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

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

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

?

Those Easts who did not play Flannery opened 2D. South doubled and North played 2H thrice and 3H the fourth time after South invited. Of the two Flannery players, one opened 3D, North playing 3H after a double. The other passed and N-S reached their highest contract of 4H: P-1C-P-1H; 2D-4H (from where did that come?).

?

There were nine winners available, although a tenth would have come into view had East led the ten or nine of clubs. Five declarers took nine tricks. Mary took ten after two rounds of diamonds, one spade and three hearts - West led a club into dummy instead of a second spade.

?

3H N +1

2H S +1; 2H N +1 (2); 3H N =

4H N -1

1:

?

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

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

...............K10842

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

QJ4..........................AK92

Q1084......................AJ65

765...........................Q

K87..........................J1063

...............753

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

...............AJ93

...............Q54

?

1C-1H and East is stuck between 2H and 3H. One East apparently opened 1NT and was left there; one East was left in a 1C opening bid. Three raises to 2H were left in without a balance, though presumably some of the 3H contracts had a 3D balance from North, maybe most of them as West is likely to accept the invitation after a 3H raise. 3H W was played six times and 4H W thrice, 1C-1H; 3H-4H the likely path to game.

?

The layout would have allowed declarer eleven tricks in hearts had there been enough entries. There are two club losers if South ducks the first honour led from the East hand. Eric took eleven tricks in 4H for the E-W top; North discarded a club on the fourth spade. After that there was no way for N-S to collect two club tricks against best play. +170 was the most common score, posted five times. Cinbot began with the N-S top defending 1NT =.

?

1NT E =

1C E +3

3H W =

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

2H W +3; 3H W +2 (2)

4H W = (2)

4H W +1

?

2:

?

...............8532

...............10975

...............KJ97

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

A.........................QJ97

KJ863.................4

Q.........................A83

A109753..............K8642

...............K1064

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

...............106542

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

?

This hand all came down to the auction. E-W played in clubs at every table and there was no sensible line of play that would not result in declarer's taking twelve tricks. That just made it a question of whether E-W would play in a partial, bid game, or get all the way to the almost-guaranteed slam.

?

If West's queen were in either hearts or clubs and therefore an offensive asset instead of a probably-wasted honour the hand would have been worth a reverse. If not reversing, West likely opened 1H in order not to lose the suit after a 1S response. P-1H; 1S-2C; 3C-5C would have been reasonable, or 4C from West and 5C from East. We ended with a bit of underbidding producing a 1-4-3-5-1 split from the two-level to the six-level. The one pair in slam were Jianica after a light opening bid from East: 1C-1H; 1S-2D; 3C-4C; 4D-4H; 5C-6C. 2D was Fourth Suit Forcing and 3C confirmed the 5-4 black suits while denying three hearts. 4C set trumps and showed slam interest. 4D was explained as showing a bad hand and 4H asked for key cards. 5C showed two key cards without the club queen, but with her length Angelica did not need the queen to bid 6C, which at worst would need a finesse in hearts.

?

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

5C E +1; 5C W +1 (4)

6C E =

?

3:

?

...............KJ1043

...............K8632

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

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

A6............................Q82

Q5............................AJ1097

J7653.......................Q8

AQ83........................K76

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

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

...............AK1094

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

?

West opened 1D and North usually bid 2D to show both majors. East might have doubled with a solid penalty double of hearts; after P-1D-2D-X; 2S-P-P East might bid 3S and convince West to bid 3NT. We finished with five different contracts doubled: 2Sx S, 2NT E, 3C W, 3Hx E, 3Sx S, 3NT E twice, 3NT W thrice, 4Cx N, 4H E, 4S S and 4Sx S. 4Cx N was reached after a sad error. North misclicked over 1D and bid 2C instead of 2D. The heart contracts declared by East came after North either overcalled 1S or passed, eventually reaping the benefit of giving the opposition minimal information.

?

E-W could hold spade contracts to six tricks by cashing their clubs off the top. Jaul produced 4Sx -4 which ought to have been the defensive top had it not been for the awfully unlucky 4Cx N, which finished -6 against Riry. 3NT could have been held to nine tricks by a spade lead from either side of the table - declarer has four heart winners, three clubs and two spades.

?

3Hx E -1

3C W -1; 3NT W -1 (2); 4H E -1

4S S -1

2Sx S -1; 3Sx S -1

2NT E +3

3NT E =; 3NT W =

3NT E +1; 3NT W +1

4Sx S -4

4Cx N -6

?

4:

?

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

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

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

...............KJ95

A62.......................KJ73

AJ92.....................107

K10942.................A75

Q...........................10872

...............Q84

...............Q653

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

...............A643

?

West opened 1D and had to choose a rebid after East's 1S response (except at the table where North misclicked and overcalled 1NT, the auction ending in 2C S). 2D was chosen rather more often than 2S, the former ending the auction four times and the latter twice. Strangely four Wests ended up declaring 1NT, which did not seem to be in the running as a likely rebid. Higher contracts were 2NT E twice and 3NT E - did any Wests rebid 2H, either as an intended reverse or just ignorantly?

?

This looked as if the scores would run close and they did, with +150 taking E-W top for Paul and scores running all the way down to -90 scoring 10/13 for Cinbot, Heve and Dane. Contracts in no-trumps could have taken eight tricks although four pairs were held to seven (giving Keianne the N-S top) and Paul took nine. Jianfeng took nine tricks in 2S although Randi held declarer to seven. N-S apparently have to get active to take more than four tricks; forcing West to ruff a club complicates the play. Diamond contracts could take nine tricks without much difficulty, with a chance of more, especially if North did not lead a black suit. 2D took nine tricks thrice and Jatin took ten: spade, club, club ruff, heart and then South led the diamond jack, the only wrong card.

?

3NT E -2

2S E -1

1NT W = (3)

2C S -1

2D W +1 (3)

1NT W +1; 2NT E =

2D W +2

?2S E +1

2NT E +1

?

5:

?

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

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

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

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

9...........................K103

AKQ83.................976

A2.........................K965

AJ1063.................Q87

...............Q8762

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

...............Q1043

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

?

This looked as if we might easily have seen 4H W at every table and we nearly did. East declared 4H once and one West stopped in 3H; 4H W was played twelve times. 1H-2H; 4H or 1H-1NT; 3C-3H; 4H seemed almost certain, although West could well have tried bidding clubs, as xxx xxxx xxx KQx would have been an easy slam had East held four hearts, with a chance for xxxx xxxx xxx Kx.

?

The play looked nearly as easy as the auction, if not more so. Declarer had eleven tricks when the club finesse failed; two Wests took twelve tricks when Gene and Angelica snuck a spade past North's ace. Gene made it harder for North to grab the ace by leading the low spade from hand at trick two, while North had minimal information. Conndy were N-S top just for their opponents having stopped in 3H.?

?

3H W +2

4H W +1 (11)

4H W +2 (2)

?

6:

?

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

...............AKQ5

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

...............987

AK763....................82

7.............................104

10976.....................A84

J103.......................AQ6542

...............QJ4

...............J98632

...............QJ2

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

?

Any of the four hands might have opened the bidding. East had a light 1C, South a rather nasty 2H. At a different vulnerability a third-seat 2S would be quite appealing. The North hand just satisfies the Rule of Fifteen requirement. Contracts were 1NT E, 2C E, 2H S, 3C E, 3H S thrice, 3S W, 4C E and 4H S five times. East's opening had a chance of keeping the contract low; South's opening 2H was almost sure to elicit 4H from North.

?

A spade ruff off the top lets E-W hold heart contracts to eight tricks. East can take eleven tricks in clubs, but that requires dropping the offside singleton king. Randi were N-S top posting 4C -2. Only two contracts made: 2H = for Ken and 2C +1 for Gloria.

?

4C E -2

2H S =

1NT E -1; 3C E -1; 3S W -1

3H S -1 (3); 4H S -1

4H S -2 (4)

2C E +1

?

7:

?

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

...............8765

...............AJ107

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

765......................Q932

3..........................K104

Q852...................963

QJ1072................K93

...............A104

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

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

...............865

?

This seemed as if South had to finish in 4H unless just possibly South upgraded the hand to a 1NT opening and North decided to forego Stayman with four spot cards. We did get thirteen contracts of 4H S with the last auction ending in 3H S; did West perhaps come in and throw the pair off?

?

West had a natural club lead, meaning that a second loser would ensue at once if a finesse lost. I'm a bit surprised that nine declarers took twelve tricks; there must have been at least a few spade and diamond leads. Against Riry, after a club lead declarer used the spade king to take the second trump finesse and then took the ruffing finesse in diamonds to take only eleven tricks, along with three other declarers in 4H. Miven were E-W top for getting to defend 3H +3.

?

4H S +2 (9)

4H S +1 (4)

3H S +3

?

8:

?

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

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

...............K87532

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

KJ42.......................A9653

KJ854.....................1096

AJ............................Q10

K10..........................A32

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

...............Q732

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

...............QJ854

?

This time we finally got everyone into game, but which game would E-W attempt, 4H or 4S, and, if 4S, from which side? One lengthy auction saw N-S take the plunge and sacrifice in 5Dx N. Of the major games, 4S was selected over 4H by an 8-5 margin, with East declaring by a 5-3 margin in spades. I know one of the three pairs to finish in 4S W plays Flannery. West might also delcare after a 1NT opening bid, rare as that would be with nine cards in the majors; another possible auction might begin 1H-2H; 2S.

?

West's declaring reaps benefits when North cannot lead a diamond to profit, and 4M declared by West cannot be prevented from taking eleven tricks. 4H occasionally hit a little bump with the trumps 4-1, but declarer only went down against Glynneth. Declarer got off to a fine start after winning the club lead with the king by leading a low heart from hand and crashing the singleton ace, but then after a club to the ace declarer led a heart to the king and finished -3. Three of the other declarers in 4H took eleven tricks, the fourth ten. In 4S W, all three declarers took eleven tricks. 4S E, often after a diamond lead, gave declarer eleven tricks only once, ten twice and nine twice. Miven finished a perfect round posting 5Dx -6, although N-S could not force anything better than -4, more than enough for a clear E-W top.

?

4H W -3

4S E -1 (2)

4H W =; 4S E = (2)

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

5Dx N -6

?

9:

?

...............A1096

...............AK5

...............Q105

...............986

742.........................K8

QJ962....................1083

A............................K983

AKJ10....................7543

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

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

...............J7642

...............Q2

?

The vulnerability may perhaps be blamed for half the pairs playing in 2S S. One contract was even 1S N, likely after 1C-P-1D-1H; 1S. For those E-W pairs who trusted principles over vulnerability, competing over 2S led to 3C W, 3H W twice, 3S S twice and 4H W by Boric after the auction 1C-P-1S-2H; 2S-3H-P-P; 3S-P-P-4H, Bob liking the holding of three low spades, sure that East would hold no greater length than a doubleton.

?

It takes two honours' being well placed but 4H rolls in, Bob taking the E-W top for his optimistic bidding. Both the 3H contracts took ten tricks as well, and 3C took nine. If West led the singleton diamond ace, spade contracts would be held to seven tricks. 2S -1 was the plurality result, posted six times. Ken somehow managed nine tricks for N-S top, with Larry (St) the only other declarer to take eight in 1S +1. Even the two E-W pairs to leave 3S in still scored above average just for balancing and pushing N-S up a level.?

?

2S S +1

1S N +1

2S S -1 (6)

3S S -2 (2)

3C W =

3H W +1 (2)

4H W =

?

10:

?

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

...............9874

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

...............K1043

AK875....................932

AJ1063...................Q

53...........................KJ64

7.............................A9652

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

...............K52

...............AQ1098

...............QJ8

?

1D from South and then West is in the middle sort of range that can find it awkward to bid Michaels. Better to bid spades and then hearts if need be. If East shows an invitational hand, West can accept; the West hand is good enough to try 3H over a raise to 2S but it might not happen. Three pairs reached 4S, Linj on the simple auction P-1D-1S-P; 2D-P-4S. It looks as if the split between a 1S overcall and 2D was 7-7.

?

A 9-3 majority of declarers in spades took ten tricks (eleven for Gloria), as the heart king was in the short hand and was onside for a normal finesse, so that either playing South for the king or trying to catch it with two ruffs worked. Larry (Sh) made 4S E, NJ and Martin 4S W.

?

3S W -1

2S E +1; 2S W +1

1NT E +2; 2NT E +1

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

3S E +2

4S E =; 4S W = (2)

?

11:

?

...............AJ42

...............10732

...............AKJ2

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

Q6.........................K109875

A986.....................J

85..........................973

K9752....................QJ8

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

...............KQ54

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

...............A1064

?

There were two Mini-Roman hands opposite each other, only the dealer's was short in spades, which disqualified the hand from a 2D opening for Gernot. If South opens 1m, North responds 1H, East likely overcalls 2S and then North gets to 4H if South's four-card support is revealed. If South passes and North opens 2D, South likely drives to 4H. A 1D opening bid from North likely gets a 2S overcall from East and a negative double, leading to probably 4H from the North side. 4H was declared nine times, with a 6-3 majority favouring North. One table stopped in 2H S, two Souths declared 3NT and East sacrificed twice in 2Sx and 4Sx.

?

4H makes despite the 4-1 trumps; declarer ruffs either two clubs or two hearts and loses one trick in a black suit and two hearts. Trying for a cross-ruff might lead to going down; declarer will need to get something good out of the diamonds. Four of the nine 4H contracts were defeated. 3NT is -1 by force but both declarers took ten tricks. It will not surprise too many readers to learn that these players were Louise and Hank. Strangely, declarer was safe if a club lead were won by East and followed naturally by the second high club. Declarer wins the second round and then West gets into trouble on the fourth diamond; if West discards a club and a spade West can be endplayed in hearts. Richard scored well in 2Sx -2, the expected trick result. Conndy, defending 4Sx, defended safely for -3 and the top N-S score rather than trying to get everything they could.

?

4Sx E -3

3NT S +1 (2)

4H N = (3); 4H S = (2)

2Sx E -2

2H S +2

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

?

12:

?

?

...............AQ105

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

...............KQ10952

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

742...........................86

A932........................854

763...........................AJ84

752...........................AK96

...............KJ93

...............QJ1076

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

...............Q843

?

The distribution seemed to want to push N-S into 4S; it's not easy for South to keep from inviting after 1D-1H; 1S. 4S was played by North eight out of nine nine times, 2S N and 3S N once each. Three pairs chose 3NT with the 4-4 major fit this time, although neither Heve nor Lourene were among them. South declared all three 3NT contracts, once doubled.

?

Despite there being only eight trumps and three top losers, 4S was unsinkable, with only Riry posting a set against the only declarer in spades to take any number of tricks other than ten. 3NT was wrong-sided with South declaring, vulnerable to a diamond opening lead. Jane (M) took nine tricks after a spade lead, though it did her little good. Gernot made an overtrick for N-S top. Jianica were E-W top posting 3NTx S -3, likely sure of a set after a diamond lead.

?

3NT S +1

4S N = (7); 4S S =

3NT S =

2S N +2; 3S N +1

4S N -2

3NTx S -3

?

13:

?

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

...............AKQ92

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

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

92.............................AQ1063

J873.........................64

AQ9..........................KJ

A874.........................J1062

...............K87

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

...............7632

...............KQ53

?

Four Norths opened 1H. The ten tables where North did not open saw five Easts open 1S and the other five pass. All five auctions starting with two passes ended in passouts; NJ, Larry (Sh), Elaine, Jatin and Rita all resisted the temptation to open a hand that did not meet the Rule of Fifteen. The 1H opening bids led to 1NT S twice, 2H N and 2S E. East's 1S opening bid led to 2H N, 2NT W thrice and 3NTx S. I thought we might see at least one contract in diamonds after 1H-1S-X, but we didn't; South bid 1NT instead.

?

In no-trumps, E-W can be held to seven tricks, but North has to lead a high heart and South must unblock the ten. Then North switches and, when South gets in, North can run four more heart winners. When N-S declare, E-W can take eight tricks after a spade lead (if East is on lead it must be the queen) unless declarer guesses to finesse the hearts. Unfortunately none of the N-S pairs defending 2NT found the winning defence; Angelica and Linda took eight tricks while Erik took nine. Riry defended 1NT S -2 and Marudy 1NT S -1. The only N-S plus was Doug's 2H =, although the contract could have been defeated by force. Boric collected +1100 against 3NTx S -4 for the E-W top.

?

2H N =

Passed Out (5)

1NT S -1; 2H N -1

2S E =

2NT W = (2)

2NT W +1

1NT S -2

3NTx S -4

?

14:

?

?

...............10975

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

...............10632

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

Q6...........................AKJ

AJ42.......................87

AKQ........................J94

AJ83.......................Q10652

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

...............K1063

...............875

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

?

The fine slam on Board 2 was almost always missed, while this slam was reached six times. West generally opened 2NT, with half the Easts settling for 3NT W. One made an invitational raise to 4NT which West passed. The remaining auctions were evenly split between 6NT and 6C, with some responders going directly into an asking sequence. West declared both slam twice and East once. Jerik's auction was P-1C; 1S-1NT; 2S-3C; 4C-6C; they at least got to stay reasonably low for most of the auction. Miven also reached 6C much more directly: 1C-4NT; 5C-6C.

?

The E-W honours could have been better arranged or worse. West could have held Q6 AJ42 AQ3 AKJ8 or 64 AKQJ AQ2 AJ83 with either poor or strong play for slam. As it was, whatever the lead, it all came down to the club finesse. The finesse succeeded and thirteen declarers took twelve tricks. Dane were N-S top when, after two rounds of spades had been played, declarer blocked the clubs and had no entry to the East hand for the last club.?

?

3NT W +2

3NT W +3 (6); 4NT W +2

6C E =; 6C W = (2)

6NT E =; 6NT W = (2)

?

15:

?

?

...............Q752

...............J1074

...............K64

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

AJ96.......................103

A85.........................Q632

Q5...........................A103

9754........................AJ86

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

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

...............J9872

...............K102

?

Who would open, if anyone? Eleven auctions ended with four passes. East opened in fourth seat, 1C twice and a systemic 1D the third time. Jerik's Big Club system worked to their advantage; after Erik responded 1S and Jim rebid 1NT, Erik knew from the lower range of their 1NT opening bid that 3NT was unlikely and he was able to pass 1NT. The other contracts were 2NT E and 3C E.

?

Club contracts can force nine tricks on an endplay; Judy (P) managed nine tricks, likely after a diamond lead, although any lead but a trump gives declarer at least the chance of a trick right off. No-trumps can be held to seven tricks. Jianfeng made 2NT E for a top board; the fate of the hand was not decided until trick ten. After a round of hearts had gone jack/queen/king/ace, a heart was led from dummy at trick ten. South's hand was high, but North won that trick with the ten, crashed the nine-spot and had to give declarer an eighth trick.

?

Passed Out (11)

1NT E =

3C E =

2NT E =

?

16:

?

?

...............K95

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

...............AJ8432

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

Q843......................J2

A106.......................QJ42

KQ1097..................5

3.............................KQJ976

...............A1076

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

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

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

?

Presumably either North or West opens 1D. If West opens N-S stay out of the auctions and we get 1D-1H; 1S and then East may rebid 1NT or perhaps jump to 3C if the pair plays that jump as natural and non-forcing. West might also raise to 2H instead or possibly back into 2H on the third round over a 1NT rebid. If North opens 1D, East may overcall 2C. If this had happened on a Tuesday with Jevin playing N-S Jeff playing South would likely pass 2C in hopes of defending 2Cx at that vulnerability, but a negative double would also be possible. We ended with a rainbow of contracts: 1Hx E, 2H E, 3C E twice, 3Dx N, 3H E twice, 3S S, 3NT E, 3NT W four times and 4H E.

?

Every contract was defeated. Declarer overperformed in 3C, with Larry (Sh) scoring 8/13 for -100 and Leighry 10.5/13 for +200. Getting out for -1 in 3Dx may have been the most impressive declaring result of the day but only saved half a matchpoint against Miven, as E-W won the board just by defending, both defending pairs (the other being Panda defending 3S -2) scoring +100. East could take seven tricks in hearts; Lourene were a little fortunate to squeeze out a set (on an overruff of a diamond at trick nine) while the other declarers took seven, seven and eight, all -1. Most declarers in 3NT W took eight tricks, although Randi were N-S top defending 3NT W -3. 3NT E finished -2 against Haorge.?

?

3NT W -3

1Hx E -1; 3C E -2; 3NT E -2; 4H E -2

2H E -1; 3C E -1; 3H E -1 (2); 3NT W -1 (3)

3Dx N -1; 3S S -2

?

17:

?

?

...............1054

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

...............AQ53

...............Q87

Q76.......................AK982

A95.......................K3

72..........................J6

J9542....................AK63

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

...............J10874

...............K10984

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

?

Lourene got lucky; East misclicked and the hand was passed out. Keianne were runners-up; the misclick was on 1NT instead of Pass and East was left in 1NT. Almost everyone else reached 4S E, which was played ten times. I thought some pairs might get stuck if South made a Michaels cue-bid, but?nobody stopped below game except for the two misclickers. Perhaps an auction beginning P-1S-2S-P; 3H-X-P convinced West to jump to 4S. One East ended up in 5C and one intrepid N-S pair sacrificed in 5Hx. At equal vulnerability 2S was probably unwise, as E-W were nearly sure to have game with North a passed hand and at equal vulnerability there was not likely to be a profitable sacrifice.

?

We even had a majority result here - eight Souths (all except Cindy [X] and Phyllis) likely led the singleton club against 4S and handed declarer the suit, giving declarer an easy twelve tricks. Gloria received a club lead; she and nine other East posted +480. After other leads, the two declarers who took only ten tricks drew trumps and played the club ace-king. Given the spots in the layout, ace first is correct. If South has made a 2S cue-bid, declarer has a marked finesse through North, as South has already played all three black cards. This shows how helpful it can be to compete when one's side is outgunned. Had West's clubs been J9842 after a 2S cue-bid, running the jack first would be best, as the suit can be picked up for no loser if South holds any spot singleton - three of the four 3-1 splits instead of two. Boric had five sure tricks against 5Hx and were E-W top. Curiously, the 5-4 fit would not have made 5Dx any better; indeed it could have been set an extra trick by the heart ruff.

?

Passed Out

1NT E =

4S E = (2); 5C E +1

4S E +2 (8)

5Hx N -3

?

18:

?

?

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

...............K743

...............1064

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

J84.......................Q632

AQ865..................J9

K5.........................872

J65........................A982

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

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

...............AQJ93

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

?

This time we reached a majority contract after P-1D-1H-1NT, which was played nine times. Three Souths persisted with diamonds, ending in 2D twice and 3D. One East backed into 2H and West played it there; the last table went all the way to 3NT N.

?

The most common result was 1NT =, posted five times and the outcome if East leads the heart jack on which West plays the six or five, then continues the suit if North ducks. West gets in with the diamond king, the hearts run and eventually E-W win a spade or the club ace. Cindy (M) was odd North out taking eight tricks, while three 1NT declarers (Mark. Larry [St] and leigh Ann took nine, Mark after West overtook the heart jack with the ace. In diamonds, declarer can endplay E-W into breaking one of the black suits and take nine tricks, but there was no score of +110. Glotin defended 3D -1 when declarer broke clubs and was unable to force E-W to break spades, Jerik scored a similar -90 against 2D = and Louise received a spade lead and made E-W break clubs to score +130. Keianne picked up an important second undertrick defending 2H, not quite enough for top but significant with six scores of +90. Jurcia made no mistake against 3NT and finished with E-W top on +200.

?

1NT N +2 (3)

2D S +2

1NT N +1

2H W -2

1NT N = (5); 2D S =

3D S -1

3NT N -2

1:

?

...............K64

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

...............A976

...............10875

10.............................J953

KQ103......................8

QJ54.........................1032

AK92........................QJ643

...............AQ872

...............J76542

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

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

?

South has a slightly awkward time of it in third seat and is better off opening 1S instead of 1H. When North responds with Drury, South has a sufficiently low loser count to accept. One pair did reach 4S S, with the other two pairs in 3H S and 3S S.

?

4S looks okay when declarer sees dummy and 4H looks even better. Ten tricks are easy enough in hearts, especially if South takes a high spade first and then leads a low spade through West before starting trumps. 4S similarly wants to start hearts. It is not surprising with the two 4-1 splits that declarers all underperformed. Donbot defending 4S -1 and Harob defending 3S -1 tied for top when declarer played trumps before the side suit. Steve made 3S for N-S top.

?

3S S =

3H S -1; 4S S -1

?

2:

?

...............1043

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

...............A1042

...............A105

K5.........................Q62

AKJ95...................1074

KQ96.....................J3

96 .........................KQ732

...............AJ987

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

...............875

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

?

This was fairly straightforward. One E-W pair managed to stop after 1H-2H, but the other Wests at least invited and had the invitation accepted.

?

The play was straightforward as well. Declarers had the three aces to lose and the trump finesse. There was a chance of losing a fifth trick - declarer might trump the third diamond, then run the heart ten, allowing South an overruff on the fourth diamond. But all three declarers took nine tricks, giving Donbot the E-W top.

?

4H W -1 (2)

2H W +1

?

3:

?

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

...............AJ962

...............A87654

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

AQ104..................95

K5.........................1043

KQ10932..............----

J ...........................AKQ98763

...............KJ87632

...............Q87

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

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

?

This one was quite the free-for-all. One South opened 3S and was left in it, something only a Robot would do. A 3NT overcall by West would have been fascinating had it been left in, but West ended up in 6NT - curiously, not doubled. The third auction saw E-W in a bit of a ping-pong match, finishing in 5D W, which was much more reasonably left undoubled, as there was a tolerable chance of a decent runout.

?

All the contracts failed. No-trumps declared by West is perhaps the most interesting - the most effective opening lead is a club, forcing declarer to take club tricks right off the top and squeezing the hand. The best West can do is to take ten tricks, so long as North reads West's discards carefully and keeps the third card in whichever red suit West abandons. Maurie posted 6NT -2 for the middle score. Heve were N-S top defending 5D W -3, taking their expected five tricks. Donbot went plus defending 3S S -2. They could have done one trick better, but Don overruffed a ruff with the spade jack and missed a chance to score a trick with the four-spot. But it made no difference, as even allowing an overtrick would have been the E-W top.

?

5D W -3

6NT W -2

3S S -2

?

Leaders: Donbot-Heve 5.5, Maurie-Harob 3

?

4:

?

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

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

...............K6432

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

J10962..................AQ8

AJ10......................K842

J5...........................Q1087

Q74........................103

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

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

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

...............A9652

?

No East opened in third seat. The auction might have been P-P-1D-P; 1S-P-P-2C, perhaps ending there or going on to 2S or 3C. 3C should fail if E-W can cash their hearts early; declarer lacks the entries to ruff a spade and draw all the trumps when the suit must be finessed through West as well; the upshot is that West will get to overruff a diamond. 2S might make, although that will require a correct guess of the hearts. The only auction with a bid saw South open 1C in fourth seat and declare 1NT.

?

1NT had eight tricks with the two black suits behaving, but any plus was enough to give Louise N-S top.

?

1NT S +1

Passed Out (2)

?

5:

?

...............10843

...............J8765

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

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

K975.....................2

A9.........................1042

Q4.........................K87653

KJ765....................Q42

...............AQJ6

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

...............A102

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

?

One East opened 2D in second seat and eventually declared 3D. As the other contracts were 2NT S and 3H S, it seems almost certain that South opened 2NT at both those tables, left in once, and transferred into 3H S the other time.

?

3H turns out to be right-sided when declared by South. E-W can get a spade ruff only at the cost of their normal spade trick. Declarer must come to at least nine tricks, and Steve took ten. 2NT is set by a club lead, Miken producing that normal result. Harold played 3D, which could have finished -2 against proper defence. Unfortunately South began with the spade ace when either a heart or club was required, then continued with the ace of diamonds and Harold could no longer be set. He even emerged with an overtrick when the hearts were delayed until the clubs were established.

?

3H S +1

2NT S -1

3D E +1

?

6:

?

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

...............J7542

...............KQ6

...............A105

A109642...........QJ

63......................KQ

72......................AJ43

J43....................KQ982

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

...............A1098

...............10985

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

?

I wondered if I would see a downgrade to a 1NT opening bid, but that did not happen. One auction was 1C-2S; 4S; the others began 1C-1S; 2NT, left in once and finishing in 4S the other time.

?

4S is troubled by the trump blockage. After, say, a club lead, South can get a ruff, as declarer has no entry to hand to draw the third trump. This looks as if it ought, though, to come at the cost of the defensive diamond trick. The key is a pretty one. Declarer's best shot after two rounds of trumps is to lead the second club to jack and ace. Now North does NOT give South the ruff but sets up the diamond trick first and there is the set; the ruff still comes. That defence would have been a thing of beauty, especially as the timing has to be precise. Bob received the opening lead of the diamond king and that gave him the entry to hand he needed for the make; Ken also made 4S. It did not matter what Lourene did defending 2NT but they took the five tricks they could.

?

2NT E =

4S W = (2)

?

Leaders: Heve 8.5, Harob 8, Donbot 6.5, Maurie 6

?

7:

?

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

...............KJ96542

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

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

AKJ...........................98742

A8.............................107

10652........................A843

KQ64 ........................A10

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

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

...............KQJ7

...............J752

?

1NT from West; did North get into the auction? One North did and managed to take the bid in 3H. At the other two tables East transferred into 2S and then passed both times, a dubious call with two aces and a semi-balanced pattern.

?

Of course, having stopped in 2S, the layout was fine, with the trumps 3-2 and the queen onside. Even the 4-1 diamonds were not quite enough to do harm. If the diamonds are avoided Sout gets endplayed; if N-S start with a diamond and a ruff, South gets squeezed. Eleven tricks were possible; declarers took ten and nine. Lourene were N-S top on -140; declarer drew trumps too soon. Maurie's par score for defending against 3H was also +200, but they did better. Declarer's attempts to improve on the result turned -2 into -4.

?

2S W +1

2S W +2

3H N -4

?

8:

?

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

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

...............A8432

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

K105......................Q864

K1042....................AQ87

KQ10......................75

Q84........................632

...............J93

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

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

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

?

It seemed likely that the auction would begin 1C-1D-X-2D; 2H, with West playing 2H once and 3H once. The third contract was the unlikely 1NT E, made slightly less unlikely by the perpetrators' being Heve, who are prone to play in no-trumps with a major fit.

?

Despite the 4-4 fit, 1NT proved to be the contract with a better layout. 2H could be held to eight tricks by a club ruff. Against 1NT, even if South establishes the club suit, there is no entry to run it. N-S get only two club tricks and declarer has time to bring in three tricks in the kindly-divided spades. However, declarer has to duck a club lead to bring this about. Against Donbot declarer left the spades a little too late and did not preserve enough entries to be able to bring in the suit, resulting in 1NT =. Neither of the pairs defending against heart found the club ruff, so that both Bob and Mary scored +140.

?

1NT E =

2H W +1; 3H W =

?

9:

?

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

...............AKQ10

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

...............Q10954

A65432.................J9

43..........................J865

1084......................A72

A8..........................J732

...............KQ8

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

...............KQJ53

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

?

North apparently didn't open, as North's doing so seems almost sure to result in a game contract. After a 1D opening from South West likely competes. Game is possible: P-P-1D-1S; X-P-1NT-P; 2NT-P-3NT is quite possible. West may overcall 2S instead. Everyone stopped short of game in three different contracts: 2NT S, 3C N and 3D S.

?

Either 3m contract could have been held to nine tricks. Both declarers took ten. Don played 3C and was still only due for nine tricks up until trick ten. East, on lead with J8 in hearts and A7 in diamonds, had to lead the diamond ace to hold Don but led the heart jack instead to give the overtrick. This tied Ken's result in 3D S. The overtricks put pressure on Louise in 2NT. She could be held to nine tricks by a spade lead, which would still be top, but underperforming would have given her a bottom. She took her nine tricks and had the top despite the overtricks in the minors.??

?

2NT S +1

3C N +1; 3D S +1

?

Leaders: Maurie-Heve 11, Lobot-Donbot 10, Harob 9.5

?

10:

?

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

...............A85432

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

...............Q54

K862......................AQ94

J97.........................K

Q.............................J95432

108763...................J9

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

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

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

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

?

South opens 1NT and then it all falls on North's valuation of the hand. North might transfer to 2H and then raise to 3H as an invitation, but all three Norths opted to pass 2H.

?

The play here was as straightforward as anything all day. There are two spade losers and usually one heart loser. The spots are not there to offer any sensible alternative to leading the ace. With the usual one loser in trumps everyone took ten tricks for a flat board.

?

2H S +2 (3)

?

11:

?

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

...............K109853

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

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

AQ872......................KJ106

Q...............................76

764............................J3

10985........................AKQ62

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

...............AJ42

...............KQ105

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

?

This hand was a bit hard to understand. North presumably opens 2H in third seat. This makes East a little uncomfortable. Is the action of choice to double and risk West's bidding diamonds or to bid 3C? Doubling likely gets West to 4S one way or another, but then I don't know why South didn't carry on to 5H. Perhaps if 4D could have been a fit-showing jump then North, with a secondary fit in diamonds, could have carried on to the nice sacrifice in 5H. Contracts were 3S E and 4S W twice.

?

Here is the double fit at its finest; we had a potential double game swing here, either 4H or 4S making in a breeze. Harob were N-S top for having kept from pushing E-W into game. Don received a club lead against 4S and made an overtrick for the E-W top.

?

3S E +1

4S W =

4S W +1

?

12:

?

...............AK64

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

...............J94

...............AK52

82........................QJ105

AKQ84................102

Q752....................A3

106.......................J8743

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

...............J953

...............K1086

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

?

If West passes, North opens 1NT; one West balanced with a presumably DONT 2D and was left there. One West played 2H, likely after 1H-X-1S-P; 2D-P-2H or something similar. The third auction got really out of line starting with East's rebid: 1H-X-1S-P; 2D-P-3C-P; 3H-P-4H-X.

?

Harob took their expected six tricks against 4Hx for the N-S top. Don took six tricks in 2H and tied Mary, who managed an impressive six tricks in 2D, for E-W top.

?

4Hx W -3

2D W -2; 2H W -2

?

Leaders: Donbot-Maurie-Harob 14.5, Lourene 12.5, Heve 12

?

13:

?

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

...............764

...............10984

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

Q4............................853

AJ85........................KQ10932

AK............................QJ6

AKJ92......................8

...............AKJ1072

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

...............7532

...............764

?

2H from East and South cannot do much. West could likely have stolen a remarkably lucky top with 3NT but twice raised to 4H and once resorted to 4NT, stopping in 5H with one key card missing. This told West nothing about whether East did or didn't control spades.

?

South led the spade ace-king at every table and we had another flat board.

?

4H E +1 (2); 5H E =

?

14:

?

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

...............QJ10973

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

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

J54............................A62

AK6...........................2

752.............................KQJ103

QJ103........................A985

...............Q10973

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

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

...............K642

?

This looked reasonably easy: 1D-2NT from E-W would shut North out and East would likely accept the invitation. 3NT W was reached twice; the third contract was 4D E.

?

3NT can make by establishing the diamonds before the clubs. With hearts 6-3 and the length with North it is important to attack North's possible entry first; declarer does not mind losing the lead to South later. But Harob managed -2 and Maurie -3 against 3NT when declarer tackled the two suits in the wrong order. 4D could also make but Hank had E-W top for even -1.

?

3NT W -3

3NT W -2

4D W -1

?

15:

?

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

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

...............10863

...............10953

A7632....................Q8

4.............................Q7653

A42........................KQJ9

Q642......................87

...............K1095

...............AK92

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

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

?

A good deal depends on whether, after South's 1C opening bid, West overcalls 1S or not. If West does not, we get something like 1C-P-P-1H; 1NT and it may end there. 1C-1S may get a disastrous 2H from East or a stopperless 1NT, which likely ends the auction. It seems that West bid all three times, as contracts were 1NT E twice and 2H E.

?

A little weirdly, the winning lead against 1NT E is a low heart (or top heart followed by a low one), establishing a third trick for N-S in the suit and providing an entry to the North hand for a spade lead through to establish two spade tricks, and all before East can get the club queen established in time. Any other start to the defence gives declarer a trick or at least a tempo. Not surprisingly, the two 1NT contracts, both succeeded, Hank emerging with eight tricks when North led a club instead of a spade at the crucial trick. 2H can also get out for -1, but all N-S have to do for that set is just cash the top clubs when they're led and wait for their four heart tricks. Harob were N-S top anyway and picked up an extra undertrick.?

?

2H E -2

1NT E =

1NT E +1

?

Leaders: Maurie-Harob 18.5, Heve 17, Donbot 16.5

?

16:

?

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

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

...............KQJ72

...............Q543

KJ1082.................643

K954.....................A732

1083......................A54

8............................AJ2

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

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

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

...............K10976

?

If East doubles 1D, West likely competes to 2S with the good five-card suit and range nearly good enough for a jump. If East passes 1D, South responds 1NT and that is likely it. Contracts were 1NT S twice and 2S W, the last after East passed 1D but doubled 1NT.

?

The layout quite suits E-W. Spade contracts take nine tricks without much trouble; both majors split 3-2 and the spade queen is onside. Bob took nine tricks in 2S as expected. 1NT S could have finished -2, which happened once for the middle score. Steve made 1NT S when the opening lead was the spade jack and West later discarded a spade on the diamonds.

?

1NT S =

1NT S -2

2S W +1

?

17:

?

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

...............AKJ62

...............K985

...............Q74

AJ9........................K1042

Q97........................43

QJ2........................A1063

AK102....................J86

...............87653

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

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

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

?

1H-P-P and West is good enough to double and then bid 1NT. Will East make any sort of move towards game? The one game that was bid came after East overbid and jumped to 2S in reply to the double; West then jumped to 3NT, quite reasonably. East might have made a move after 1H-P-P-X; P-1S-P-1NT, but the other two Wests were left there or even balanced with 1NT instead of a double.

?

No-trumps can take eleven tricks; if North does not lead hearts the hand gets squeezed. Everyone took eleven tricks, giving Bob E-W top and dividing N-S top between Lourene and Heve.

?

1NT W +4 (2)

3NT W +2

?

18:

?

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

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

...............K1085

...............K875

A..........................10543

KQ765..................A93

A632.....................Q974

A93.......................Q10

...............KQ62

...............10842

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

...............J642

?

West opens 1H, East raises to 2H and West likely comes out with some sort of invitation. One West stopped in 2H, another finished in 3H and the last West played 4H. The third auction was 1H-2H; 3D-4H.

?

Despite the 4-1 splits in the red suits, that the singletons are jacks mitigates the bad effect. 4H makes even against a spade lead if declarer avoids leading trumps too soon. All three contracts finished with an overtrick, giving Lourene the N-S top when West led the club ace at trick eight instead of a diamond. Harob were E-W top for being the only pair in 4H.

?

2H W +1

3H W +1

4H W +1

?

Final: Harob 24.5, Heve 21.5, Maurie 18.5, Lourene-Donbot 18

1:

?

...............A1098

...............109762

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

...............1082

Q43.......................K765

AQJ5.....................K

J10987..................AQ

5............................AKQJ94

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

...............843

...............K6432

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

?

We started with a hand that does not seem to fit a lot of partnerships. Some Easts opened 2C and some 1C. The choice ought to have made the difference between slam and no slam. After 1C, East rebids 2S and it will be hard to move West off 3NT. East may raise to 4NT invitationally but that should be all. After a 2C opening bid West should move towards slam and East has a quite reasonable acceptance. At our tables slam was reached thrice, with two other pairs looking: 3NT E, 3NT W, 5NT W twice, 6C E and 6NT E twice.

?

Declarer has the tricks to make slam but cannot untangle them if the opening lead is a heart. After, say, a club lead, East wins and leads the spade king. If North takes that and returns a spade the hearts cannot produce four tricks by unblocking. Luckily North gets squeezed in the majors, although declarer is likely to try the diamond finesse instead. If North ducks the spade the squeeze still operates but in a different way. West comes down to the spade queen and the four hearts. North must keep all four hearts and blank the spade ace. East can then unblock the heart king, get out with a spade and North will have to lead into West's hearts. Chances are, though, that declarer will prefer the diamond finesse to the squeeze, and a heart lead ruins declarer's communications. John made 6NT after a diamond lead for E-W top; Leighry were N-S top after a heart lead was ducked and the result was 6NT -3.

?

6NT E -3

5NT W -1; 6C E -1

3NT E +3 (2); 5NT W +1

6NT E =

?

2:

?

...............AQ9

...............10964

...............KJ94

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

8743.....................J1062

53.........................QJ72

A862....................Q5

1095.....................KJ8

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

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

...............1073

...............76432

?

We nearly had 3NT N at every table. One North, though, opened 1D instead of 1NT, E-W competed and the auction ended in a lowly 2S W.

?

3NT S would have offered West a couple of leads that might have made declarer squirm a bit, but with North declaring the only lead to hold declarer to the contract was a spade. Leigh Ann took ten tricks after the lead of the queen of hearts; by the time West got in for a club lead, she had her overtrick already secured. Harold and Kevin also took ten tricks in 3NT. Two declarers made the contract and Elott posted a set, declarer likely passing up the heart finesse.

?

3NT N +1 (3)

3NT N = (2)

2S W -1

3NT N -1

?

3:

?

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

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

...............8743

...............K2

Q652.....................K974

A2.........................10854

K96.......................AQ

J963......................Q107

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

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

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

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

?

My personal choice of a 1S opening bid in third seat was made only by Kevin. Ritold and Giselaine produced a passout; at all the other tables East opened 1C in fourth seat, the hand just meeting the Rule of Fifteen. Two Wests were allowed to play in their 1S response (I don't know why South didn't make a balancing double. Jeff played 1NT S after Kevin's 1S opening. Higher contracts were 2D N, 2H S and 3D S after a curious auction in which South overcalled 1D on J1052, spades were never bid and N-S had a chance to defend 3C.

?

Haorge posted N-S top when declarer misguessed the trumps, began with a low spade to the queen and then at trick four led the good king from dummy, establishing Hank's jack and ten. Tracy took the seven tricks in 1S that he could force to be E-W top. Diamonds could have been held to eight tricks in either of two ways - either draw three rounds of trumps and wait, or else play a spade and force declarer to lose a spade trick by taking an early two ruffs (or transpose into the other line). Kin and Ken both took nine tricks in diamonds for a good score, tying Henry's 2H S =.

?

1S W -2

2D N +1; 2H S =; 3D S =

1NT S =

Passed Out

1S W =

?

4:

?

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

...............KJ106

...............A964

...............10874

532...........................A964

Q532........................98

Q108........................753

K52..........................AQJ3

...............KQ1087

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

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

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

?

It seemed a tossup which side would declare 1NT on the hand. I was looking for P-P-1C-1S; X and then does North pass and let East bid 1NT or does North bid 1NT first? It was evenly divided: 1NT E, 1NTx E, 1NT N twice, then 2C E and 2S S twice.

?

Whoever declares, no-trumps contracts ought to yield eight tricks to N-S. Both N-S pairs of defenders against 1NT took eight tricks, giving Karleta the N-S top thanks to the double. Harold managed a trick more than expected when the E-W club honours crashed together in three rounds. 2S could have forced nine tricks but both pairs of defenders held the contract to eight tricks.

?

1NTx E -2

1NT E -2

1NT N +2

2S S = (2)

2C E -1

1NT N =

?

5:

?

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

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

...............AQ10742

...............K65

Q2.............................A1076

AKJ106.....................9872

K86...........................9

J74............................10832

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

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

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

...............AQ9

?

This turned into a Battle of the Reds. After 1D-P-1S a 2H overcall from West?usually?secured the contract in hearts. 1D-P-1S-P; 2D-P-3D could have kept West out, with perhaps the exciting prospect of North's attempting 3NT. Hearts won out over diamonds by a 4-3 margin, with the three-level most popular: 2H W, 3D N twice, 3H W thrice and 4D N.

?

It would have been nice to see 3NT N attempted; would East have found the heart lead? Weirdly the hearts are the safest lead looking at just the East hand and become the killing aggressive lead looking at the whole deal. Against diamonds E-W should defend passively, but West got into a pickle after taking two rounds of hearts, although there is nothing wrong with a club switch. North must hold a spade honour to have opened the bidding and any spade losers will not go anywhere. Just sit back and wait. But all three declarers in diamonds took ten tricks. Hearts always come to nine tricks because the frozen spades allow declarer to establish the clubs. Three declarers took nine tricks in hearts while Louise took ten, which seems highly unlikely, an underlead of the diamond ace seeming to be the only helpful thing North can do that gives West a useful trick.

?

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

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

3H W +1

?

6:

?

...............Q9872

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

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

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

K4.........................A103

10853....................KJ9

98..........................AJ75

107654..................AQ9

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

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

...............KQ10643

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

?

I never saw the auction for which I was looking. Marudy, I knew, would play 2NT E after a 2D opening bid. But I expected to see 1D-P-P-X; 1NT at least once. I did see one East follow the balancing double with 2NT, which, played thrice, was the plurality contract. Two Norths declared 2S after beginning with an overcall instead of a double. One South left a reopening double in.?At the last table East bid 1NT later in the auction and South removed that to 2D.

?

The hand is kind to E-W, who can take eight tricks in either no-trumps or diamonds. Diamonds even offer a chance of nine tricks, as the spade ruff and two entries to dummy are priceless. Only a diamond lead through East from North holds declarer to eight tricks; without that lead South in the end position will have to ruff two of North's winners and give East three trump tricks in addition to the spade ruff. Scott made two overtricks in 1Dx after a heart lead and return. 2NT can make because North gets endplayed and takes only three spades and two hearts, though that requires near-psychic levels of guessing. Jevin were N-S top defending 2NT -2; East played clubs first from hand instead of hearts and later started hearts instead of continuing clubs. Gareth made 2NT E for a fine declaring result and was unlucky not to score better against Scott's 1Dx E +2 and Mahn's 2D S -3. 2S turns into another titanic battle of throwing the opposition on lead. Perfect defence should produce a two-trick set but -1 was a reasonable practical result for Troward and I was not surprised to see Ken make 2S.

?

2NT E -2

2S N =

2NT E -1

2S N -1

2NT E =

2D S -3

1Dx E +2

?

7:

?

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

...............A832

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

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

A98.........................K753

J10..........................K764

9853........................1076

Q873.......................J10

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

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

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

...............K6542

?

Could we get everyone into 3NT? Not this time. One South raised to 2NT only and North declined.

?

Nine tricks was the probable outcome, reached at five tables of the seven. A spade lead and return, ducked by East, gives declarer the most interesting choice. The king of hearts onside is more likely than 3-3 clubs but also requires 4-3 spades, while playing for an even club split means wanting to be able to lose the lead to West. Kevin took ten tricks when each side persisted in playing the other's suit. East, moved by the better spots, led a heart to jack(?) and ace. Kevin then ran the spade jack to the ace and West returned a second heart, allowing Kevin a third heart trick and the time required to bring it in. Mahn defeated 3NT when declarer ducked a club and then cashed the king too early, establishing the fifth winner for the defence.

?

3NT N +1 (2)

3NT N = (4)

3NT N -1

?

8:

?

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

...............KJ97

...............1064

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

KJ863.....................1095

1083........................6

97............................AKQ8

Q87.........................KJ643

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

...............AQ542

...............J532

...............A1092

?

This time we got everyone to game. The hand would have suited Jerik, who might have opened 1S in second seat and had an uncontested run to 4H, As it was, East usually opened in third seat, letting West bid 1S over South's 1H overcall. But the fit was good enough that nobody stopped in a partial; contracts were 4H S five times, 4S W and 4Sx W.

?

Mark had a lucky escape in 4Sx; North led a club, which would have allowed for two ruffs with the spade ace-queen still to win. South cashed the heart ace at trick two, though, unsure of where the singleton lay. But it was highly unlikely that North would have led a club from Q85 instead of partner's hearts. Both declarers in spades escaped with eight tricks. 4H makes on the splendid fit, with two aces and eight tricks with trumps. Whether the diamonds are led off the top or not declarer can cross-ruff right away. In a cross-ruffing situation it pays to count winners rather than losers; Troward's opponent drew a second round of trumps and had to go down.

?

4H S = (4)

4Sx W -2

4S W -2

4H S -1

?

9:

?

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

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

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

...............A9854

A98.........................J4

10862.....................543

72............................QJ105

QJ103.....................K762

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

...............J97

...............A98643

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

?

it seems we have a game full of bypassers, as South declared in spades every time except when North opened 1S and the auction was 1S-3S; 4NT-5H; 6S. I wondered if any Norths would splinter into 4D after 1C-1S and how excited South might get if that happened. There was one contract of 6S S. One pair managed to stop in 3S S and another in 3NT N, leaving 4S S as only a plurality contract.

?

We see how important the trump jack can be when the fit is only eight cards and a higher honour is also missing. Eleven tricks are the limit in spades. Kevin gave the defence a chance to go wrong. After a diamond lead to his king he cashed his three heart winners and then began a cross-ruff. At trick ten, dummy having ruffed two clubs, West led the fourth diamond go through and Kevin scored a low ruff, then ruffed another club with the spade ten and was sure of two of the last three tricks. Had West ruffed the fourth diamond, Kevin would have had to overruff with his queen. Then, even if he finessed the spade ten, West would win the ace and set the contract by returning either a club or heart, whichever West had saved. A heart would be ruffed, overruffed and overoverruffed, leaving West with the thirteenth trump; a club would force South to ruff with the king and establish East's jack. Glynneth set 6S two tricks; the other spade contracts took ten tricks or eleven. 3NT was not terribly secure but made when the spades behaved.

?

6S N =

4S S +1 (2)

4S S =

3NT N =

3S S +2

6S S -2

?

10:

?

...............10943

...............A82

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

...............A102

A82........................K765

95...........................KQJ1063

AJ1032...................K8

K53.........................9

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

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

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

...............QJ8764

?

We did get everyone into game. Not everyone reached the same game; contracts were 3NT W, 4H E five times and 5H E. If West does offer 3NT as an alternative, East ought to return to 4H; the suit is playable opposite a low singleton and there is a good chance there will not be enough fast tricks in no-trumps to match the result in hearts.

?

Declarer catches a bit of a break in 3NT; only a club lead holds declarer to nine tricks (and then West has to duck to get them!). Callie led a spade but received good luck when West discarded diamonds on the hearts and came only to ten tricks. 4H always had eleven tricks with the friendly diamonds and a chance of twelve if the clubs were never led. Jevin set 4H after a spade lead when declarer avoided the diamond finesse.

?

4H E -1

3NT W +1

4H E +1 (3)

4H E +2; 5H E +1

?

11:

?

...............10764

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

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

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

AQ985...................KJ3

AJ..........................754

J92.........................1043

A63........................KQ94

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

...............K1092

...............AK76

...............10872

?

One West opened 1NT and was left there. I did not get the full breakdown of 1S or 1NT opening bids; one West declared 3NT. The other contracts were all in spades: 2S, 3S and 4S thrice. I did see one West bid 3S over 1NT-2NT.

?

This would have been a good hand for Heve, as declarer has nine top tricks in either no-trumps or spades and the clubs deny declarer in 4S a tenth. Weirdly, though, with West declaring at every table, South frequently unguarded the clubs, despite seeing the clear threat in the East hand. Two of the three 4S contracts made; it was only set by Jevin. Rekenee even set 3S when declarer didn't draw all the trumps and Ken ruffed a high club. Tracy was E-W top in 3NT +2; South unguarded the clubs and the opening lad was a heart to the ten and jack.

?

3S W -1; 4S W -1

2S W +2

1NT W +3

4S W = (2)

3NT W +2

?

12:

?

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

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

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

...............AJ86

9853.....................AKQ6

Q85.......................K87

86..........................K104

KQ72.....................543

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

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

...............AJ975

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

?

This was the last hand without a game contract. Over 1C from North, East had a choice between pass, double on a flat hand, 1NT without a stopper and 1S on four. It appears all four options were taken. Contracts were 1NT E, 1NT N, 2S E twice, 2S W twice and 4D S after the lengthy auction P-1C-X-1D; 1S-2D-2S-3D; P-P-3S-P; P-4D.

?

No-trumps can yield eight tricks to N-S. East declaring after a diamond lead has a chance of a make but cannot force it, although Judy did bring in seven tricks while Ken made 1NT N. 2S could have lost two tricks in each of the side suits; three declarers were set but John brought in the contract. Lin made 4D for the N-S top after E-W began with two rounds of spades, allowing her entries and timing to draw trumps and establish the discard she needed.

?

4D S =

1NT N =

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

1NT E =

2S E =

?

13:

?

...............J103

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

...............AQ10842

...............Q1075

98754.........................----

Q982..........................AK107654

3.................................J6

J86.............................K943

...............AKQ62

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

...............K975

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

?

North often opened 2D, East came in in hearts and then South usually bid spades. West often raised hearts. Could N-S have found slam? Yes if North had made a splinter raise had there been room. It's irregular but, as North really ought not to hold four spades, a splinter raise can be made on three and then South knows that xxx x Axxxxx xxx makes slam more than half the time. I would also hold that 2D-2H-2S-3H; 4H ought to be considered a splinter, given the hand's already being so limited in strength. A little surprisingly the auction only once got higher than 4S: 2D-2H-2S-3H; 3S-4H-4S-X; P-5H-X, stumbling into a good spot. North declared twice, 4D and 5D; the other four contracts were 4S S.

?

Thirteen tricks were available in spades with a heart ruff, thanks to North's holding both jack and ten of trumps. Marudy held declarer to ten tricks when the spade ten was overtaken by the ace. John was always going to score 5/6 in 5Hx -1 or -2 but even managed to make 5Hx when North led a club.

?

4S S +3 (3)

4S S =; 5D N +1

4D N +2

5Hx E =

?

14:

?

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

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

...............9865

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

J93.........................Q764

A96.........................3

10............................AQ732

1097542..................QJ6

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

...............KJ10874

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

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

?

Would N-S find 4H? The North hand is just worth a limit raise, and will certainly accept any invitation from South after a single raise, whether East opens the bidding or not. South can reasonably invite if the auction does begin 1H-2H. 4H was reached by a 4-3 marin, with 3H played the other three times. At IMP scoring, there would be a huge premium on reaching the unsinkable 3NT. Jevin's auction was 1D-X-P-2S; P-3H-P-4H.

?

The opening lead was a diamond and the entire fate of the hand came down to whether South rose with the king on the second round or finessed. Results split four ways with four declarers playing the king (taking nine tricks) and three the jack (taking ten): +420 for Rita and Jeff, +170 for Renee, -140 for Elott and Marudy, and +50 for Mahn and Giselaine.

?

4H S = (2)

3H S +1

3H S = (2)

4H S -1 (2)

?

15:

?

...............9765

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

...............KQ97

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

K82......................J43

J1098...................7532

53.........................A1062

K1042...................83

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

...............KQ64

...............J82

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

?

We finally got everyone into the same game, although not from the same side of the table every time. Everyone arrived in 3NT, six times from the South side and once from the North.

?

Declarer can always take eleven tricks, but E-W might talk declarer out of finessing in clubs by persisting in hearts and establishing the suit or perhaps can get two diamond tricks if East ducks two rounds. Breta and Lin were the only two declarers in 3NT to take the possible eleven tricks. Against Breta East switched to a spade when in, allowing declarer time to play on clubs. Lin led a diamond from dummy and East rose with the ace, making the play of the hand rather easier.?

?

3NT S +2 (2)

3NT S +1

3NT S = (4)

?

16:

?

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

...............Q9843

...............J8643

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

8642......................QJ1053

752.........................AKJ10

9.............................K2

KQ1075..................43

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

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

...............AQ1075

...............A62

?

Possible auctions might be or begin 1S-2D-3S-5D or 1S-X-3S. west might begin with 2S over a pass, but 3S in a competitive auction seems fine. One South ended in 3NT and another in the only partial of 4D. East played 4S and 4Sx, along with 5D N, 5D S and 5Dx S.

?

5D can force eleven tricks but not twelve. The hearts can establish but declarer cannot do that and draw the trumps, certainly not without help. All the diamond contracts took eleven tricks. 4S looked like taking eight tricks; Leighry picked up a third undertrick against 4Sx but -2 would have been top anyway. 3NT is -2 against a major lead, -1 against a diamond and = against a club. Elott began with a major lead and dropped a trick along the way, but were still E-W top.

?

4Sx E -3

5Dx S =

5D N =; 5D S =

4S E -2

4D S +1

3NT S -1

?

17:

?

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

...............KQJ975

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

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

AJ8743..................----

10...........................862

AJ75......................K96432

A8..........................KJ43

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

...............A43

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

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

?

North began with 2H and then it was up to South to see what came next. The three undoubled contracts were all partials: 3H N, 3S W and 4C E. Four auctions ended with a double: 2H-P-4H-X, 2H-P-2NT-3S; P-P-X, 2H-P-4H-4S; 5H(?)-P-P-X and the lengthy 2H-P-P-X; P-3D-3H-3S; 4H-P-P-4S; P-P-X-5D; P-P-5H-X, presumably the longest auction of the game.

?

No contract made. South's diamond void was of moderate use, but there was nothing useful for declarer to do after ruffing a diamond lead. The defence could get a bit busy and give declarer more than eight tricks. Spades could take seven tricks, although the declarers in spades were held to six. Just defending meant at worst an average score, 3H N -1 when Leighry opposed Elott, the only defenders to take their full five tricks against hearts, as everyone else allowed nine.

?

3Sx W -3

3S W -3; 4C E -3

3H N -1

4Hx N -1

5Hx N -2 (2)

?

18:

?

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

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

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

...............AJ1074

A109.......................KQ752

Q1093.....................AKJ4

943..........................75

K65..........................92

...............J643

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

...............KJ82

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

?

East declared in spades at every table. North might have opened and/or N-S might have competed to the three-level, especially if North began with 1D for rebid considerations instead of 1C. North is more likely to take action after P-1S-P-2S (presumably with 2NT) than after 1C-1S-P (or 1NT)-2S. Contracts were 2S E twice, 3S E four times and 4S E.

?

Declarer in spades could force nine tricks but was unlikely to bring in the trumps unless South had obligingly bid 1NT over a 1S overcall. Soctt?played?2S +1 despite not guessing the spades when South led a club to North's ace. Frank also took nine tricks in 3S but most declarers took the normal eight and Jevin held declarer to six to finish with a shared top.

?

2S E -2; 4S E -2

3S E -1 (3)

2S E +1; 3S E =

1:

?

...............AQJ4

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

...............A1032

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

109863...................K752

A104.......................K9

7..............................J864

9865.......................AQJ

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

...............QJ8763

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

...............1072

?

It really looked as if this auction might have died quietly in 2H after 1D-1H; 1S-2H. South had the loser count for 3H or 3D on the second round and one could equally easily see 3NT N after a 3D rebid particularly; I just hoped not to see 4H. Of course, the game being what it is, naturally some Easts had to make an off-shape takeout double and a significant minority of contracts were by E-W, with spades as popular as hearts for trumps. Contracts were 2D N, 2H S thrice, 2S W twice, 2NT N, 3D N, 3S W, 3NT E, 4D N and 4S W.

?

The hand sits prettily for E-W. E-W can manage six tricks against a heart contract declared by South but requires the hair-raising defence of a club lead, low heart return to the ace, second club, cash the third club, then East leads a diamond, gets in with the heart king, and gives West a ruff. A diamond lead may well produce five tricks; declarer has to rise with the ace to get a club discard but E-W still get two club tricks, the top two hearts and a ruff (or else a diamond instead). Ritold did take six tricks on defence; Eric took nine in 2H as declarer. The hand lies beautifully for E-W in spades; Jatin emerged with E-W top in 4S = after a lengthy auction; I do not blame N-S for not setting 4S, as, despite the 4-0 trumps, North must lead the spade, ace, queen or jack for the set; North wants to play four rounds of trumps to reduce West's capacity for diamond ruffs. The hand went back and forth, with five changes in the double dummy outcome, N-S making the last inaccuracy. All the spade contracts made. 3NT E -5 against Conndy was just about on par. If North declares in no-trumps, East has some brutally bad leads from which to choose. The only lead to hold declarer to eight tricks by force is a club from AQJ, despite the auction's likely clarifying that declarer holds the king. How often will we see that sort of hand? The lead might be found just because the other leads are so bad, but even Bill might miss it.

?

3NT E -5

2H S +1

2D N +1; 2H S =; 3D N =

2H S -1

2NT N -2; 4H N -2

2S W = (2)

3S W =

4D N -3

4S W =

?

2:

?

...............AKQ3

...............KQ65

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

...............AJ8

J84........................9765

A93........................84

KQJ106.................A732

92..........................763

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

...............J1072

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

...............KQ1054

?

1D by West in third seat and a double from North. East might just squeeze out 2D; West played 2D and 3D. South can enter the auction over 2D, which seems to make it easier for N-S to find game. South declared in hearts at every other table: 2H twice, 3H six times and 4H thrice. One of the auctions to reach 4H was P-P-1D-X; P-1H-P-4H. 4H is too much but 3H seems reasonable enough, although a cue-bid of diamonds instead ought to do just as well. South has more than enough to accept a 3H invitation and might even give a look for game opposite 2H.

?

The play offered no surprises or mysteries. All Souths in hearts took exactly ten tricks, providing a tie for top to Lee, Dee and Serge. Similarly both Wests playing diamonds took exactly seven tricks, giving Glotin a perfect start in 2D -1.

?

4H S = (3)

2H S +2 (2); 3H S +1 (6)

3D W -2

2D W -1

?

3:

?

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

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

...............AQ1097654

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

Q2.............................AK107

AKQ1043..................862

83..............................KJ2

AQ8...........................KJ6

...............J98643

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

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

...............10974

?

West opened 1H and the ball was in North's court. The popular choice of overcall was 4D, bid nine times. Three Norths were content with 3D while Connie went all the way to 5D. 3D seems to allow E-W to reach the top spot of 6NT; East may settle for 3NT over 3D and West has enough extras for a natural raise to 4NT, an invitation which East will be happy to accept. At twelve tables West played 4H; as Connie had bid 5D, East had to go to 5H, although the defensive potential of the hand might have made a double preferable despite the vulnerability (on the hand an 1100 penalty was in the air, second best to 6NT.

?

The whole hand came down to the opening lead. Would North lead the diamond ace and then give South a ruff? That lead was found by Connie, Liz, Doug, Jim (U), Deebot, Serbot and Marbot. The other Wests received a different lead, providing scores of +680 to Lynn, Leigh Ann, Jatin, Rich, Martin and Elaine.

?

4H W +1 (6)

4H W +1 (6); 5H W =

?

4:

?

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

...............QJ943

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

...............AQ1032

K952..........................A108743

1076...........................K852

6.................................984

KJ987.........................----

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

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

...............AJ107532

...............654

?

This one could get tricky after P-1H-2S-3D. If West raises to 3S as expected North can pass, letting South rebid 4D. If West passes, North has to find a rebid, in which case 4D may be the least of evils. One North apparently rebid 3H and regretted it when South raised to 4H. Contracts were 3D S, 3S E thrice, 4D S four times, 4H N, 4S E, 5Cx N (not the wisest of doubles, as N-S could easily have gone back to 5D) and 5D S twice. The 3D contract came about after North misclicked and opened the bidding 1S, which shut E-W out of the auction, much to their distress.

?

Pharah did find some good fortune in the misclick, as Phyllis led a club rather than a spade. This made Pharah the only E-W pair to hold a diamond contract to ten tricks; five declarers took twelve tricks in diamonds and one took eleven, giving Eric and Dianne a tie for N-S top. E-W top was Haorge's for 5Cx N -3. Lernot were second, defending 4H -4. Nine tricks could have been the limit in spades as long as N-S were careful not to allow an extra entry to the West hand. Serbot did defeat 4S but Gisela took eleven tricks and Geoff ten in 3S.

?

5D S +1 (2)

4D S +2 (3)

4D S +1

3D S +1

4S E -1

3S E =

3S E +1

3S E +2

4H N -4

5Cx N -3

?

5:

?

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

...............K1063

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

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

QJ85.......................K4

97............................AQJ54

A9763......................J42

86............................Q109

...............10763

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

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

...............J7543

?

1NT N was only left in five times, matching 2H E for the most frequently declared contract. The other three contracts were 2S W, 3H E and a perplexing 2D E.

?

Why a balance hand would want to interfere over 1NT is beyond me. Unless East insists on establishing hearts (which allows a make if declarer guesses the spade and diamond position accurately) 1NT should be defeated while 2H does well to get out for -1. Henry, NJ and Judy (P) made 2H to tie for E-W top. Conndy were N-S top defending 2H -3, receiving a trick at trick two when West led a spade and another at trick eight when a diamond was ruffed and overruffed. Curiously, 1NT never took seven tricks; Ken and Jim (U) took eight tricks while the other three declarers took six; maybe E-W allowed them four club winners? 2D E = seemed the most normal of successful contracts for Haorge, begging only the question of how they got there.

?

2H E -3

1NT N +1 (2)

3H E -2

2H E -1; 2S W -1

2D E =

1NT N -1 (3)

2H E = (3)

?

6:

?

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

...............1064

...............AJ987

...............QJ2

K108......................J764

J52.........................Q983

Q1042....................K

986.........................K543

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

...............AK7

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

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

?

1NT S was left in only once. All the other Norths made at least a move towards game and eventually South declared 3NT. The invitation seems reasonable enough, the good diamonds counting for something beyond the honour value.

?

The hand is quite straightforward to play as well, with ten tricks coming in when diamonds and clubs behave, North's good diamond spots making the 4-1 split of no consequence. Declarer just has to know to finesse an intermediate first. If anything the 4-1 split is a help, as it spoils the likely falsecard of king or queen from H10x. Six Souths managed to take ten tricks, dividing the top between Cindy, Phoebe, Erik, Dee, Serge and Marjorie. Three declarers in 3NT were defeated, with Stenj taking E-W top on their score of +100.

?

3NT S +1 (6)

3NT S = (3)

1NT S +1

3NT S -1 (2)

3NT S -2

?

7:

?

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

...............KJ987

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

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

K52.........................J4

104..........................AQ52

Q92.........................KJ876

J9832......................106

...............Q10873

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

...............10953

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

?

Pairs that play Flannery may have had an advantage on this auction, as it is fairly common for Flannery pairs to play that the auction 1H-1S shows five, given that opener would not hold four spades unless the hand were good enough for a reverse. Of course, North might find it difficult to decide between 2S and 3S. Otherwise the auction would likely begin 1H-1S; 2C-2H; 2S, over which South could have made one more move and North may well have accepted. 4S S was reached thrice. One North rebid 1NT instead of 2C and was left there, one East was left in 2D, four Souths played 2S, one North played 3H and South played 3S thrice.

?

The four and three of spades play potentially crucial roles in the play of 4S. After, say, a diamond lead, followed by two clubs and a heart to East, five rounds of ruffs in the minors, if East sacrifices the jack and four of spades, will be followed by a heart to East's ace, leaving West with the spade K52 over South's 1083; as long as West does not then overruff, the spade five promotes for the setting trick. There are plenty of pitfalls; if E-W begin with three hearts South must ruff with an intermediate spot. A key point, though, is that, if South can slip in a ruff with the spade three, five ruffs in the minors will bring declarer ten tricks as there will be two trump winners to come in the end position. Ruffing the low club first forces East to ruff; then, after the second diamond ruff, the spade ace and club queen can be cashed to produce the same result. But declarer is unlikely to guess that clubs will be 5-2 and that it will be necessary to lead low from the North hand on the third round. Glynneth managed to set 4S when declarer led the club queen too early; the other declarers in 4S also went down. Liz and Dianne were the only declarers to take ten tricks in spades.

?

2S S +2; 3S S +1

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

1NT N +1

2S S =

2D E -1

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

?

8:

?

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

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

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

...............J1082

A32.........................QJ854

A6...........................K9

95............................AQ84

KQ7654...................A9

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

...............Q107432

...............K1062

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

?

1C-P-1S and then does South act? If not we get 2C-2D; then 2S (or perhaps East chooses 3NT on the second round. 2H may elicit a Support Double. 3H seems likely to be passed around to a reopening double by East, with West bidding 3S. E-W always reached game, but not always 4S. Contracts were 3NT E six times, 3NT W, 4S E five times and 5C W.

?

Spade contracts can take twelve tricks by force, but, after a heart lead, declarer has to be careful because of the spade three-spot and four-spot again. If the opening lead is a heart then two rounds of spades followed by the top clubs and a club ruff force declarer to draw the last trump while there is still control of the hand and there is an entry to dummy. If declarer makes the common play of leading a heart to the ace to play the next club then North ruffs and there is no entry to dummy for the last club. Oops! Larry, Sandy and Sarah were the three Easts to take twelve tricks in 4S. 3NT never took more than ten tricks; Keianne and Dane posted a set to tie for N-S top. 5C made the expected eleven tricks.

?

3NT E -1; 3NT W -1

3NT E =; 5C W =

4S E = (2)

3NT E +1 (4)

4S E +2 (3)

?

9:

?

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

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

...............AQJ3

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

53...............................A42

9752...........................K4

1092...........................K874

QJ83..........................9652

...............KJ10986

...............Q86

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

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

?

This auction usually began with 2NT from North, South then driving to 4S, often with a Texas transfer. One pair reached 6S N, a possible outcome if South starts with a Jacoby transfer and then bids 4S, which North takes as showing some slam interest. One North declared 4NT one way or another. Jerik's auction began with their forcing 1C, to which Erik responded with a semi-positive 2S, showing limited HCP but a decent six-card suit. Jim opted for 3NT.

?

A diamond lead from West if South were to declare in spades prevents declarer from getting rid of the loser. That holds South to ten tricks. With North declaring there is time to play hearts, as West never gets in. Two declarers managed to hold themselves to ten tricks by finessing in diamonds first, the others all took eleven. Jim (U) and Dee in 3NT and 4NT had very good luck that East held the heart king, which was the only way dummy could be reached to run the spades. Even so, a club lead would have been disastrous for either declarer, but they both avoided that unpleasant fate and emerged with a tie for top.

?

3NT N +2; 4NT N +1

4S N +1 (8)

4S N = (2)

6S N -1

?

10:

?

...............J76

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

...............A42

...............Q965

AQ8......................952

72.........................J10643

KQ1065................J97

KJ10.....................72

...............K1043

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

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

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

?

We saw 1NT by West and a transfer from East eight times, finishing in 2H W. One West was left in 1NT. Two Wests opened 1D and North overcalled 1NT, left in once and doubled the other time. The last two Wests somehow both declared 2NT, a strange outcome.

?

1NT N favours N-S because East only gets the lead once. A spade lead lets E-W establish four diamond tricks, but the North can establish two spades. Otherwise North can establish three club tricks for seven tricks either way and perhaps an eighth. Giselaine were able to set 1NTx two tricks for the E-W top, a bit lucky. Bob made 1NT N and was a little unlucky not to score well for +90. 2H could have been set two tricks, although the contract was made four times, by Leigh Ann, Rich, Carl and Rita. Rich had the contract secured after three tricks - North led the top three hearts. A low diamond lead at trick two would have saved -2,?while a low club or spade at trick three could have saved -1.

?

2H W -2; 2NT W -2

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

1NT N =

2H W = (4)

1NTx N -1

?

11:

?

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

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

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

...............KJ108532

AK6............................QJ10732

A1083.........................K65

AJ1082.......................654

4..................................6

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

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

...............KQ7

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

?

This was Heve's moment of glory and a most surprising double game swing. Game was reached at almost every table; after P-1D-3C West had a double to reopen and the field as a whole did rather well not to get East stuck in a partial. One North stole the bid in 4C. Seven Easts played 4S and four auctions went higher, two ending in 5Cx N and two in 5S E. Hank passed 3C rather than raise at once and received a most curious reward. West reopened with 3D rather than a double. This was passed back around to Hank, who reopened in turn with 3NT, ending the auction.?

?

Spades were cold for eleven tricks, although Lark's opponents managed to go down in 4S. All the club contracts took the expected nine tricks. Hank could have finished -5 in 3NT but he made the contract. West led an intermediate diamond and Hank was sure of -1 after running the clubs. But West discarded all the low cards in the majors, could not reach East in the end position, and had to give Hank another diamond trick.

?

3NT S =

4S E -1

4C N -1

5Cx S -2 (2)

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

?

12:

?

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

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

...............A10983

...............10873

10.............................9532

K4............................AQ9763

KQ654.....................72

KQ542.....................A

...............AKQJ84

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

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

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

?

The first six calls seem likely to be 1D-P-1H-1S; 2C-P; is East then content with 2H or will we see 3H? One South played 2S and one West played 3D but all the other auctions went to 3H E or 4H E, with the game surprising taking a 9-2 majority.

?

The natural diamond lead does no good against 4H, which is set only if South begins with a low heart. The key to the hand is that, if East draws trumps, it is impossible to get discards on the clubs in time. If East takes two discards on the clubs, there is no way to draw the last trump and the contract loses to a diamond ruff or overruff of a club. Curiously the two declarers in 3H justified their conservative bidding by going down against Boric and Lark. But 4H made six times (with overtricks for Harold, NJ and Geoff, Geoff after a spade lead and spade ruff), failing only three times, with Jaz taking the N-S top for 4H -3, just ahead of Erik's 2S S =.

?

4H E -3

2S S =

3D W -2

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

4H E = (3)

4H E +1 (3)

?

13:

?

...............9732

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

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

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

84...........................AJ1065

A943.......................10

AK73.......................J1062

K64.........................Q107

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

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

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

...............AJ952

?

One South opened 1C and was left in. Three Souths were left in an opening bid of 1NT. The next contract up the line was 2C S, with West playing 2NT thrice and East declaring the other five times, once in 2H after an accident in the auction (South opened 1NT, West overcalled 2D and East apparently misread the auction, bidding 2H) and four times in 2S. I was looking for a possible 3D E and a rainbow, but East never bid 2S as a balance against 1NT showing spades and a minor, or if East did, West left it in 2S.

?

This was a particularly unlucky 5-4-2-2 1NT, as the two doubletons mean that the diamond queen drops and the spades can run as well, allowing E-W to force 1NT -3. Erik made 1NT, much to his own astonishment. E-W never played a second diamond, so that his Qx was of some value after all. After that West had two chances to win a heart lead with the ace and passed them both up. The club switch and each heart duck contributed one trick to Erik's favourite charity and his seventh trick came in with both spades and diamonds wide open at the time. 2S took nine tricks three of the four times and eight the other. At least as heroic as Erik's 1NT = was declarer's escaping in 2H -1 against Conndy, but that only scored 1/12, as two of the three 2NT contracts were defeated, although Phyllis managed 2NT W +1, impressive enough, although West has an easier time declaring if the auction flagged most of the high cards via a 1NT opening bid or a sequence starting 1C-P-P. E-W top was a tie between Louff's 1NT S -2 and Randi's 2C S -2.

?

2H E -1; 2NT W -1 (2)

1NT S =

1C S -1; 1NT S -1

2S E =

2S E +1 (3)

2NT W +1

1NT S -2; 2C S -2

?

14:

?

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

...............K74

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

...............QJ763

1087..........................J654

QJ963.......................A5

65..............................KQ104

AK2...........................985

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

...............1082

...............AJ98732

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

?

South opened 3D at almost every table although did not do so at least once, as the auction ended in 3C N, which is easier to see if South passes rather than after South opens 2D (P-P-1H-2H; X-2NT-P-3C seems plausible). 3D S was left in six times. There was also a contract of 3H W, suggesting that the opening bid was not 3D, as the West hand is too weak for a direct 3H and East over such an overcall is quite good enough for 3NT. Two Norths tried 3NT and were left there. After a 3S response from North two Souths returned to 4D and played the hand there. The most unfortunate example of bidding One More Time resulted in 4H W.

?

This hand proved to be the big declaring trap of the day, twelve contracts failing by a total of 34 tricks. The one successful declarer was Liz in 3C =. 3C -2 can be forced - a club lead and heart switch allow East to ruff a club and E-W to draw South's trumps; declarer will be -1 and will still have a spade to lose. A three-trick set can be forced against either 3D or 3NT, 3D -2 scoring just above average for Eric and Serge as declarer. Doug got out for 3NT -1 and Lee for 3D -1, Lee after a high club lead and a switch to the heart nine, perhaps a mouse slip. Only two contracts were set more than three tricks, Pharah gaining one trick on par to defend 4D S -5 and Marbot managing to defend 4H W -6, a result which can actually be forced. North starts with three spades, on which South discards the clubs, then N-S score the next six tricks cross-ruffing in the minors, the minor defensive trap there being that, if South leads the diamond ace on the first or second round North has to ruff it.

?

4H W -6

3C N =

3H W -2

3D S -1; 3NT N -1

3D S -2 (2)

3D S -3 (3); 3NT N -3; 4D S -1

4D S -5

?

15:

?

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

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

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

...............6543

K5.......................AQ92

AKQJ9643..........1087

J72......................A963

----.......................A10

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

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

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

...............KQJ9872

?

Had West been dealer, the auction might have been vastly different, especially perhaps for Paun if their variant of Namyats allows the bid to hold a void. East has the perfect hands opposite Namyats as long as West's four-loser hand includes sufficiently solid trumps. They might even have found the seven-level if East, who would have initiated an asking sequence, could have found the king of spades.

?

The usual beginning of the auction was 3C-4H. Had the vulnerability been equal or favourable, there would have been far fewer than the six 4H contracts we actually had, with one pair in 5H and the other six in 6H: Pharah, Haorge, Marudy, Glynneth, Leighry and Randi. Randi's auction was 3C-4H-5C-5H; P-6H. All thirteen declarers took all thirteen tricks.

?

4H W +3 (6); 5H W +2

6H W +1 (6)

?

16:

?

...............Q87

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

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

...............AQ864

J643.......................K92

109.........................KQ652

109653...................AQ7

K5...........................109

...............A105

...............A8743

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

...............J732

?

Two passes to East and then likely a 1H opening bid; I don't know whether our upgraders would consider the hand worth 1NT. Two Norths did not balance when 1H was left in(!) while one South left in a balancing double for penalties. One South declared 1NT, presumably also after a balancing double. Higher contracts were 2C N, 2Cx N, 2C S, 2D E, 2H E twice, 2S W, 2NT S and 3D W. There was not really any denomination that was much of a surprise when it turned out to be trumps.

?

The layout favoured N-S, even more so when East or West declared and missed the dropping of the diamond king offside. No E-W contract made and all were at least -2 except that Judy (P) bettered expectations as declarer and took seven tricks in 2D E -1 for the E-W top. N-S top went to Serbot defending 1Hx E -2. Rich bettered par by one trick in 2S W -2. N-S declaring could force eight tricks in no-trumps or a stunning eleven in clubs, as everything sat perfectly. Not only were clubs 2-2 with the king onside, but the diamond queen ruffs out to establish the jack and the hearts provide a ruffing finesse for discards of the two spade losers after a lead of jack/queen/ace and the first heart ruff allow South's 87 to cover two of North's spades for the price of only one trick scored by East's king. The spades were practically frozen for both sides; E-W could not force a trick in the suit; N-S could only force two by running the queen and then the eight, an unlikely line. Doug took eleven tricks in 2Cx, just missing out on the N-S top by twenty points. The other club contracts took ten or eleven tricks, no-trumps overperforming with nine or ten, as East had numerous dangerous leads and West no entries.?

?

1Hx E -2

2Cx N +3

2H E -4 (2)

1H E -3; 3D W -3

1H E -2; 2S W -2

2NT S +2

1NT S +2; 2C S +3

2C N +2

2D E -1

?

17:

?

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

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

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

...............KQ843

Q43........................AKJ107

J3...........................865

Q85........................974

J10732...................96

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

...............K1042

...............KJ1032

...............A?

?

Almost everyone got to game. Possible auctions include 1NT-2C; 2H-4H; 1C-1S-X-2S; 3H-P-4H; 1C-1H; 3H-4H, etc. One South was left in 2D, one East in 2S and one North in 3H. Games were 4H N nine times and 4H S.

?

Declarer could force eleven tricks in hearts. Connie took all thirteen after a diamond lead but nobody else took more than eleven. Pharah, Marudy, Stenj and Glynneth all held declarer to ten for good scores. Sandi was E-W top playing 2S E -2.

?

4H N +3

4H N +1 (4); 4H S +1

4H N = (4)

3H N +2

2D S +2

2S E -2

?

18:

?

...............J95

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

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

...............AJ874

AQ108432........K7

6........................1095

97......................AK1053

Q96...................K105

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

...............AKJ742

...............Q842

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

?

West has a loser count that makes the hand worth eventually reaching 4S, likely as a second-round rebid. After 1D-1H-1S-2H; P-P(or 3H)-3S, East can reasonably accept the invitation with good cards and an encouraging heart holding (especially if the auction suggests that N-S hold nine hearts). One pair had some sort of bidding accident and played 3D E, 3S W was played thrice, 4H S and 4S W eight times.

?

Spades could take eleven tricks with a correct guess in clubs. Gernot, Jatin and Rich all posted scores of +450 to share E-W top. Vioebe were the one N-S pair to defeat 4S. Declarer led a diamond at trick seven instead of drawing trumps, then passed up the club finesse at trick ten. Conndy were N-S top defending 3D E -2.

?

3D E -2

4S W -1

4H S -1

3S W +1 (2)

3S W +2

4S W = (4)

4S W +1 (3)