Yes; it will be six team matches, each match scored in IMPs and converted to Victory Points to determine the final total outcome.

?

1:

?

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

...............AKQ107

...............KQ103

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

AJ86........................K1052

32.............................65

96.............................AJ8542

A8543.......................6

...............Q973

...............J984

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

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

?

At least one North opened 2C, a marginal decision. One South was left in a 1H opening bid when West decided not to balance. The usual destination of the auction was 4H, played twelve times.

?

The final auction could have come right out of a story by Mr Mollo. North accidentally opened 1S instead of 1H. South made a weak raise to 3S and North then tried to get out of spades, which was going to be tricky with South always putting the contract back into spades. First North tried 3NT, returned to 4S. Then North tried 5H, returned to 5S. E-W doubled 5S. Finally North ran from 5Sx to 5NT, passed around.

?

This hand in hearts could come straight out of an intermediate-level lesson on defence. East leads the singleton club to West's ace. The best card declarer can play is the queen as it turns out; West would then have to decide whether East led a singleton or from KJ6. East would not have led the six-spot from either KQ6 or QJ6. If West knows or guesses the six to be a singleton, the return is obviously the club eight. East ruffs and has been given a clear signal to return a spade. West wins the spade ace and gives East a second club ruff; declarer finishes with only eight tricks. But only four pairs held declarer to eight tricks and three more to nine; five declarers made 4H. But this was not N-S top, as 5NT happened to make. E-W's minor aces were taken early. North discarded her singleton spade on the fourth club in the South hand and then ran the hearts with the diamond Q103 as her last three cards. By that point it was clear that something odd had happened, but East was still - naturally enough - stuck on the 1S opening bid and kept Kx in spades, blanking the diamond jack and giving declarer eleven tricks and the N-S top.

?

E-W could have escaped in 4Sx for -2, better than a making game, but that result would have been lucky to emerge with the near-average -300 would have scored.

?

5NT N =

4H N = (5)

1H N +2

4H N -1 (2)

4H N -2 (4)

?

2:

...............AK7654

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

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

...............KJ64

2.................................QJ83

K83............................1062

J8432.........................A965

Q972...........................85

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

...............AQJ975

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

...............A103

?

All the N-S pairs got to game, but to three different games - 3NT, 4H and 3S. South opens 1H and North responds 1S. The next bids are 2H and 3C, which puts South a bit on the spot. 3H might be tried, as the heart nine helps the suit a fair amount, increasing the chance that there will be only one loser opposite a low singleton to over 50%. 3NT is out with no diamond stopper, as is 3S with only a doubleton. 3D could theoretically work if it shows either a partial stopper or nothing else to bid. If South does bid 3H, does North try 3NT, raise to 4H or rebid 3S on the six-card suit? If North does bid 3S South can raise to 4S on 109 doubleton. Contracts were 3NT N thrice, 3NT S thrice, 4H S and 4S N six times.

?

One of the puzzling things was why 3NT did better from the South side than from the North, as West had a more natural diamond lead, though there was no reason for either hand not to keep going in diamonds after West gains the lead with the heart king. There is an outside chance that West might lead the diamond jack on the third round and East might not unblock the nine, but the three Souths in 3NT (Margarita, Venky and Bill) all took eleven tricks to share the top board. Against Bill West switched to a club when in with the heart king, even though two rounds of diamonds had already been played. North declaring took eight, seven and six tricks, all depending on how desperate declarer got after two rounds of diamonds. Glotin's +300 was E-W top, followed by Pally's +200. 4H makes easily; West has to lead the singleton spade to hold declarer to ten tricks. 4S will require a correct guess in either clubs or hearts when the 4-1 trumps give declarer a second loser in the suit. Rita did take eleven tricks in 4H; 4S made thrice and was -1 against Cliborah and Paun.

?

3NT S +2 (3)

4H S +1

4S N = (3)

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

3NT N -2

3NT N -3

?

3:

?

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

...............AKQ95

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

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

103........................762

J1064....................87

4............................A1032

KQJ532.................A1084

...............AQJ85

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

...............KQJ97

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

?

Here we had the one hand on which everyone played the same contract (of 4S S). North can make a 2/1 response in hearts and then support spades. South might initiate control showing (North could easily hold Kxx AKxxx Axx xx or such) but the side can stop in 4S, as South will not go beyond 4S.

?

Today must have been National Lead Your Singleton Day, as a diamond lead here nets West two ruffs and results in 4S -1. Inexplicably only two pairs, Linj and Matty, found the relatively easy set. Two pairs scored remarkably we for holding declarer to ten tricks, while an astonishing nine Souths posted +450 in 4S +1. Vulnerability prevented 5C from being a worthwhile sacrifice, although, as was the case with Board 1, the game wasn't making anyway.

?

4S S +1 (9)

4S S = (2)

4S S -1 (2)

?

4:

?

...............AQJ954

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

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

...............J865

K732..........................106

A842..........................KQ1076

10972.........................AJ

Q................................K1042

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

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

...............KQ8543

...............A973

?

North opened 2S. Most Easts overcalled 3H; when East did bid 3H only one West passed; the others all raising to 4H. Contracts were 2S N four times, 3H E and 4H E eight times.

?

We had yet another singleton lead, although at least this time it was not necessary and there weren't any ruffs in the case. But if South did lead a spade against hearts, North?should have returned a spade at once. Otherwise declarer would have had a shot at an endplay, although South could have circumvented that later by giving East an extra club winner, which would not have been enough to discard all the spade losers from the West hand. Larry (Sh), Linda and Rich all made 4H to share E-W top; Glynneth were N-S top when East finessed the diamond jack at trick two, resulting in 4H -2. Half the declarers in 4H finished the regulation -1. 2S could have been held to six tricks, with the four spade contracts evenly divided between six and seven.

?

4H E -2

4H E -1 (4)

2S N -1 (2)

3H E =

2S N -2 (2)

4H E = (3)

?

5:

?

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

...............K10632

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

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

A10985..................KQJ

Q............................A9

AKJ104..................952

Q3..........................A9764

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

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

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

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

?

East opens the bidding and West is very close to a slam inquiry once the 5-3 spade fit is uncovered. Move either of the minor queens into diamonds and slam would be fine. As it was a minority of Wests moved for slam, but everyone who did so bid it. Contracts were 3S W, 4S W eight times, 6S E and 6S W thrice. Perhaps the East to declare opened 1NT.

?

Against 6S W North has to avoid giving away a trick. Fortunately if the E-W hands are shown to be balanced North might find the trump lead. Larry (Sh) made 6S W after a spade lead; he drew trumps and finessed in diamonds, after which North switched to a low heart, after which Larry had the presence to run it to his singleton queen, a play which could not cost and in this case gained. More impressively Phyllis (H) made 6S E, as South does not have a bad lead and it's easy for North to find a good continuation when in with the diamond king. Except for an inexplicable 4S -1 against Leighry that gave them a three-way share of N-S top with Bota and Rurry, both of whom set 6S, all the other E-W pairs took eleven tricks.

?

4S W -1; 6S W -1 (3)

3S W +2

4S W +1 (6)

6S E =; 6S W =

?

6:

?

...............J109843

...............AQ1097

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

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

Q6.............................2

82..............................KJ6

K7543........................Q10862

KQ103.......................9842

...............AK75

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

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

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

?

1NT from South and then N-S had a nice slam if they could find it, even with the diamond duplication. Give South AKxx KJx xxx Axx and 7S would be an excellent contract. Only Conndy found the slam after the sequence 1NT-2H; 2S-4H; 6S; if South took 4H as a self-splinter then slam would have been a breeze opposite a fitting hand (Qxxxxx ---- KQxxx Jx, anyone?). Almost everyone else stopped in 4S, with one 3S S contract and the rest all 4S, twice by North (a 3S response showing both majors? although that ought to show some slam interest, so that South must have really disliked the heart holding?) and nine times by South.

?

Except for Pheileen's posting 3S +1 (irrelevant, as they were scoring 11/12 either way) everyone took eleven tricks when the double finesse in hearts failed both times. Alas! It seems to be a sort of justice that Conndy won despite their bad luck on this board.

?

4S N +1 (2); 4S S +1 (9)

3S S +1

6S S -1

?

7:

?

...............1076

...............J76432

...............A93

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

96543......................KJ8

A9............................K5

J42...........................K1086

J95...........................A863

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

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

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

...............K10742

?

We finally got a hand without a game contract. N-S seem likely to bid 1C-1H; 1NT-2H. Reverse the black suits and East would likely have doubled 1H; the hand as is might double 2H with both opponents limited and a fit likely. West could also balance with 2S once 2H is left in; as the hand has already declined too opportunities to enter the auction East should not expect too much. Three tables with intrepid players got the auction to the three-level, though usually it stopped on the two-level. Contracts were 1NT S, 2H N seven times, 2S W twice, 3H N twice and 3S W.

?

2H is at least moderately right-sided when played by North; a lead of either minor lets declarer take ten tricks. The spade lead is interesting; declarer runs out of entries to dummy. Spade to queen, club to queen and ace, spade to ace, club king, club ruff, spade ruff, club ten ruffed and overruffed and now there is no re-entry to the South hand to discard the second diamond loser on the fifth club. Results declaring in hearts were mixed, with two declarers taking eight tricks, four taking nine, two taking ten and Ken taking eleven. Spade contracts can be held to seven tricks if N-S get their club ruff. Louff, the only pair defending 3S, picked up an extra and unnecessary third undertrick when declarer mismanaged a ruff-and-discard late in the hand. Sandi was E-W top in 2S =, a feasible result if a club is not led, as South is unlikely to find the club switch after winning the first spade and all that remains is for declarer to play North for Qxx or 10xx in trumps instead of Axx, easy enough when South has opened the bidding. 1NT S can be held to eight tricks but Erik took nine for a good score instead of a middle.

?

3S W -3

2H N +3

2H N +2; 3H N +1

1NT S +2

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

2H N = (2)

2S W -1

2S W =

?

8:

?

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

...............AQ32

...............AK1062

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

10965.......................Q82

1054.........................K8

J9.............................7543

J1098.......................Q543

...............AK73

...............J976

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

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

?

N-S had a good slam here if they could find it. It appears that a clear majority of the field opened with 2NT rather than 1D, as contracts were 4H N seven times, 4H S thrice, 5D S (a rogue 2C opening bid that seems to have gotten what it deserved), 6H N and 6H S. The slams were reached in completely different ways: 1D-1H; 4NT-5C; 6H (brave with the spades wide open) and 2NT-3C; 3H-3S; 4C-4H; 5C-6H, produced by Rabbot. Note Bill's 3S bid followed by 4H to put the question of slam into the air. Northbot had almost all prime cards - aces, kings, the trump queen and even a strong five-card side suit into the bargain. Bill's 4H denied a diamond control but Northbot's 5C not only showed the second-round club control but implied diamond control and showed a hand worth going beyond game.

?

Everyone took twelve tricks; the heart finesse lost but the suit split 3-2, allowing for either opponent to hold Jxxx in diamonds. The doubleton jack's dropping gave 5D the same twelve tricks but Randi were already going to be E-W top just for N-S's choice of contract.

?

6H N =; 6H S =

4H N +2 (7); 4H S +2 (3)

5D S +1

?

9:

?

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

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

...............8642

...............J1072

954......................AKJ2

AJ1096................K4

AK3.....................Q1097

Q3........................AK9

...............Q763

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

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

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

?

After East's 2NT opening bid West is sure of slam but should not expect grand slam to be in the picture, although it is possible opposite something like AKxx KQxx xx AKx or even the ideal 17-count of Axx KQxx xx AKJx. But finding an ideal hand is unlikely when it will entail partner's holding the right doubleton. At IMP scoring West might just raise directly to 6NT, which should be safe even from a nasty heart split, but at matchpoints the could be hands with enough of a good play for thirteen tricks in hearts to make 6H preferable. The auction should reach 6NT when East has no heart support; 6NT E was played eight times. One West kept the hand in hearts for a contract of 6H E while two pairs each went both higher and lower than par to 3NT and 7NT, the latter always a possibility when a side holds all the aces and kings.

?

Steve and Howard both made 7NT, giving their opponents reasonable grounds for being a little salty. The normal way to finesse the hearts was through South, although West's holding the nine-spot greatly reduced the advantage of doing so, for with AJ10xx one could not score five tricks after catching North with Qx. Eleven declarers took all the tricks. Only against Marbot (-1440) and Glynneth (+100) did declarer fail. Against Glynneth in 6NT the diamonds and club queen were played first and then declarer went up with the ace on the second round of hearts, being left after that with no way to recover.

?

6NT E -1

3NT E +4 (2)

6NT E =

6H E +1

6NT E +1 (6)

7NT E = (2)

?

10:

?

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

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

...............Q1086

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

KQ85.......................9742

K10732....................5

AJ3..........................942

A..............................87432

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

...............A984

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

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

?

If South opens, we could have something like 1C-X-XX-P; P-1H-P-1S; P-P-X-P and then South may or may not take the double out with a disappointingly low amount of defence. Otherwise West opens 1H which South may leave in (I suppose North might double playing Equal Level Conversion but I cannot recommend it). South may balance with 2C, likely to be doubled by West; E-W may play in either major while N-S may play in clubs or no-trumps. Contracts were 1H W twice, 2S W, 2NT N, 2NT S twice, 2NT W(the outlier?), 3C S, 3Cx S, 3S W, 3NT N and 3NT S twice.

?

?With their favourable distribution E-W can scramble together seven tricks in spades (and both declarers in spades did, although I would not have expected that, especially given North's being positioned to overruff the third club. No-trumps can take nine tricks for N-S. If East begins with a heart to West's king declarer has three heart winners to go with four clubs and comes to a ninth trick before E-W can come to a fifth; if E-W attack spades declarer has time to start diamonds. Only Judy made game in no-trumps, however; Heve posted 3NT -1 and Linj 3NT -2, Linj after declarer did not finesse in diamonds in the middle of the hand. Clubs similarly offered nine tricks as par, Dianne taking ten in 3C but Cliborah managing to defend 3Cx -1. A club lead holds West to four tricks in hearts, mainly because it's important to set up South's being able to ram good clubs through West for overruffs. Conndy produced 1H -3, matched by Louff's defending 2NT W -3, to score 10.5/12.

?

3NT S +1

1H W -3; 2NT W -3

2NT S +3

3S W -2

2NT S +1

3C S +1

2NT S =

1H W -1; 2S W -1

3NT S -1

3Cx S -1; 3NT N -2

?

11:

?

...............A875

...............AK42

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

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

32..............................J9

10986........................QJ5

AJ3............................KQ102

K632..........................Q854

...............KQ1064

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

...............9854

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

?

Every South played in spades. I thought there might be more than one pair in 4S. Bill got there after opening 2S and then not accepting Northbot's signoff (he was in a mood for action after being on the receiving end of the grand slam the round before): 2S-2NT; 3C-3S; 3NT-4S. Three pairs played in 3S and nine stopped in 2S. Had I been South I'd have inclined to an invitation with 3D after a raise to 2S from North. With the low doubleton North would have accepted the invitation.

?

With 2-2 trumps everyone took ten tricks. Nobody led a club from the king as West - or, if any West did, declarer did not rise with the queen.

?

4S S =

2S S +2 (9); 3S S +1 (3)

?

12:

?

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

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

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

...............K432

AQ542..................J10963

AQ2......................93

AQ........................J1063

J108.....................Q6

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

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

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

...............A875

?

1S from West and then East might have bid 4S, bid 2S or possibly even passed. The last seems the most sensible way to reach the contract of 2S W, which was played once after the auction 1S-P-P-2H; X-P-2S. Everyone else played in 4S W; if East responded 4S West did well to recognize the lack of slammishness about the hand; it would take Kxxxx Kxxxx xx x or something similar to make 6S.

?

4S fails against normal defence. Had declarer been allowed to choose which of the three finesses would succeed, hearts would not have been selected, as declarer has a chance to discard a heart from the East hand on the third club. Larry (Sh), NJ, Don and Geof were allowed to make 4S, almost surely on an underlead from North of the diamond king.

?

4S W -1 (8)

2S W +1

4S W = (4)

?

13:

?

...............J109

...............AJ1083

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

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

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

7652........................Q9

A7............................Q1064

K1065......................AQJ8

...............AK75

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

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

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

?

East opens 1D and South may upgrade the 14-count based on the presumably well-positioned diamond honours. If South passes East presumably plays 1NT. If South overcalls 1NT it appears that South will likely play 2H. A 1C opening bid instead may have West take the contract back into clubs, which ought to be an eight-card fit after 1C-1H; 1NT. The last and least likely possibility is that South will overcall 1S, perhaps over a 1C opening bid, leading to 2S. Contracts more or less fell in line: 1NT E seven times, 2C E, 2H S thrice, 2S S and 3C E.

?

E-W were favoured to beat par in 1NT and perhaps in 2H. We could not expect anyone to find the lead of the doubleton heart king against 1NT. A club or high spade could lead to -2, although after a spade South had to be careful not to give East a sixth trick with the queen, which usually happened. Playing standard signals, North's dropping the jack on trick one would deny the queen; the danger would be that South might read it as being from J109x and try to drop the queen doubleton. 1NT -1 was the popular result and became part of an eight-way tie for E-W top with the two declarers in clubs. Only Conndy posted 1NT -2, which was good for N-S top at the vulnerability. In 2H declarer could take ten tricks by dropping the offside heart queen. This could become easier in a couple of ways. If East's heart nine is not from 9xx declarer might play the ace next trusting East not to toss the nine indiscriminately, but the more likely hint may be from the high cards. If West leads the diamond ace and switches to a club, East's play of the club ace and queen may clue South in to West's holding the king. With the play's implying seven HCP for West in the minors, East becomes a strong favourite to hold the heart queen. West's leading ace and another diamond would even allow for a possible eleventh trick. Henry was the only South to take ten tricks in hearts. Against Larbot South was on the path to ten tricks but discarded the fourth spade from hand late in the play rather than a diamond. 2S took the expected nine tricks for a good score.

?

1NT E -2

2H S +2

2H S +1 (2); 2S S +1

1NT E -1 (6); 2C E -1; 3C E -1

?

14:

?

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

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

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

...............AKJ943

J92.......................A765

K953.....................J

KJ10843...............AQ965

----........................862

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

...............A10762

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

...............Q1075

?

Someone please tell me that the heart jack did not convince any Easts to open the hand. I can live with a pair's deciding to open seven-loser hands with 2.5 Quick Tricks but anyone who opened "because the heart jack made the hand 11 HCP" is more than I can bear. As East declared more often than West I must presume several 1D opening bids but I am going to cling to the belief that they would all have been opened had the jack been the ten or even the deuce. If the auction starts 1D-1H it seems unlikely to stop below game whatever West does. 1D-P seems likely to lead to clubs if West is willing to sell out. Otherwise we start P-P-2D-3C and the hearts can come into the auction if East leaves South room. Contracts were 3D E, 3H S twice, 4D E twice, 4D W, 4H S, 4Hx S, 5C N, 5D E twice and 5Dx W twice.

?

Club contracts should lose one spade, one diamond and one heart; diamond contracts one heart and two spades. All the minor contracts took ten tricks except for Cliff's making 5Dx W, most likely after South's letting the heart jack run to the king. Hearts can be held to eight tricks if East wins a diamond or spade lead and finds the club switch to give West two ruffs. Trying a forcing attack will promote a trick for the heart nine but South can get out of serious trouble by forcing West in clubs at any point. Phyllis (B) took ten tricks in 3H for the N-S top but the declarers in 4H and 4Hx both finished -1. 4H -1 was interesting.?When I began watching one diamond and two spades had been played, West's jack being high.?South then began the hearts with the ace. When this dropped East's jack, the follow-up was a?heart towards dummy (jack from J9 would have made for an interesting falsecard had that been East's holding), taken by West's king. West then had a chance to cash the spade jack and then lock declarer in the North hand with a heart to the queen. Dummy would have had to lead a club, allowing West a ruff. West led the low heart instead, which gave South a chance to out West on lead with the third spade, forcing an entry to the South hand with a diamond ruff and allowing the last trump to be drawn.

?

3H S +1

3H S =

5Dx W -1

5D E -1 (2)

4H S -1; 5C N -1

4Hx S -1

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

5Dx W =

?

15:

?

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

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

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

...............9654

AQ92.....................1064

1072.......................AK43

AQ6........................743

J108.......................AQ7

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

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

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

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

?

This seemed to be mainly a question of whether, after 1C-1H; 1S, East would bid no-trumps with the flat hand or 2D to allow West to show the stopper. 3NT was reached ten times, with a 6-4 margin favouring East. One West stopped in 2NT and one North, after (apparently) a second-round double from South, was left in 2C. The last auction ended in 1NT E after an unfortunate loss of connection from West at the start of the auction, which began P-1C-P-1H; X-XX before West returned and was reseated. I did point out that the replacing Robot had opened 1C and redoubled in hopes of avoiding any misunderstanding, but to no avail. The redouble simply showed three hearts, but East likely assumed it showed extra values, hence the 1NT rebid that ended the auction.

?

The E-W hands do not look terribly appealing despite the 26 HCP and fair share of intermediates. Two flat hands opposite each other will have to play many suits. Fortunately for West the spade honours and diamond king were onside to counter the 4-2 heart split and offside club king, allowing a par result of nine tricks. Maybe a little surprisingly nobody was held to only eight tricks. Eight declarers took nine tricks and four - Eileen, Larry (Sh), Steve and Paul - took ten. Larry's overtrick came when South led the spade trey to East's six-spot on the third round of the suit when leading high would have let the trey overpower the deuce on the fourth round. Jean had the happy escape on the hand, playing 2C -3 and being extremely grateful not to be doubled.

?

2NT W =

1NT E +2

2C N -3

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

3NT E +1 (2); 3NT W +1 (2)

?

16:

?

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

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

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

...............Q98643

K843.........................AJ1052

82..............................9763

AJ106........................5

KJ7............................A52

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

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

...............KQ832

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

?

After 1D-P-1S-P; 2S, North may come in with 3C, which ended the auction twice. When North passed, three Easts and Souths let that end the auction. When East valued the hand as worth an invitation or exploratory look, 3S E was played thrice and 4S E five times. Rich was among those in 4S after using a Spiral ask and deciding that four-card support was enough to provide play for game. Another possibility, similar to that of Board 11, would have been for an invitation with 3H, accepted by opener with a low doubleton.

?

4S can be made by force if declarer finds the queen of trumps, although it is unlikely, as declarer will probably expect to need two heart ruffs. An opening lead of the diamond king could help, as declarer can then lose a diamond trick to get rid of one heart and one club loser, thus requiring one less ruff in dummy. 4S was defeated one trick every time, by Bota, Louff, Jenky, Conndy and Glynneth, to share the N-S top. Indeed all the spade contracts yielded exactly nine tricks. Rita made an interesting falsecard as South, playing the diamond king on the first lead rather than the queen; had declarer wanted to avoid a loser in the suit that could have been a convincing factor. Ruth and Jim both had good escapes in 3C, finishing in the middle with seven and eight tricks when aggressive pursuit of diamond ruffs would have let E-W hold declarer to six tricks.

?

4S E -1 (5)

3C N -1

3C N -2

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

?

17:

?

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

...............109764

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

...............J643

Q8753.....................K

AJ............................KQ82

1032........................AK86

AK7.........................10952

...............AJ964

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

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

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

?

I expect Harold would have opened 1NT had he been playing and sitting East; without him that only seems to have happened once, as the contract was almost always 3NT W, played eleven times, probably after 1D-1S; 2C-2H; 3H-3NT or perhaps a direct 3NT from West on the second round. One East declared 3NT and one West an inexplicable 1NT (misclick on the response?).

?

Declarer can take ten tricks in no-trumps, with eight top tricks, one easily established in spades and another in clubs when the queen drops doubleton. Nobody was defeated in 3NT, although there was a 5-5 division between nine and ten tricks in 3NT. Jerik were assured of the N-S top simply for defending 1NT. Marie and Hank split the E-W top in 3NT W +2, Marie coming to eleven tricks when South led a spade at trick four instead of any other suit.?

?

1NT W +3

3NT W = (5)

3NT E +1; 3NT W +1 (4)

3NT W +2 (2)

?

18:

?

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

...............QJ7652

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

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

A10863..................QJ972

98...........................A

102.........................KJ96

J932.......................K85

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

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

...............8743

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

?

1S-P and then much depends on whether West raises to 2S, 3S or 4S by partnership agreement. If West raises to 2S only, North comes in with 3H, which will push West to 3S and then may not stop there. Contracts were 3S E four times, 4H N, 4H S, 4S E four times, 5H N, 5Hx N and 5S E.

?

Spade contracts always have the variable of whether declarer takes the anti-percentage play of trying to drop the king of trumps. Assuming East goes with the percentages and finesses, then a club lead holds East to ten tricks by establishing the third defensive trick before the entry is gone while other leads allow eleven. Heart contracts take a fairly normal eight tricks, with a chance of a ninth if East ever leads a diamond or just possibly gets endplayed, although West should be able to help prevent that. Spade contracts took nine tricks twice, ten tricks five times and eleven twice, Joel and Phyllis (H) taking eleven (Joel after a diamond lead). Rurry defended 5S -2 for the N-S top. In hearts three declarers took eight tricks, with Paun collecting E-W top defending 5Hx -3.

?

5S E -2

4H N -1

3S E =

3S E +1 (3)

4H S -2; 5H N -2

4S E = (2)

4S E +1 (2)

5Hx N -3

1:

?

...............K76

...............AK6

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

...............KJ63

Q10954..................32

5.............................Q97

J962.......................1087543

Q85........................104

...............AJ8

...............J108432

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

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

?

North opens 2C and rebids 2NT or perhaps raises a natural heart bid if South makes one. The South hand is good enough to go to slam over that. Most tables did reach slam. Two pairs stopped in 4H S, one reached 5H S and the rest all went to slam, 6H N, 6H S twice and 6NT N twice. Lin raised Louise's 2NT rebid directly to 6NT.

?

Everyone took twelve tricks, North's diamonds turning out to provide a resting place for three low black cards from the South hand, eliminating the need to guess which finesse to take.

?

6NT N = (2)

6H N =; 6H S = (2)

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

?

2:

?

...............AKJ3

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

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

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

Q109854..........62

85.....................A9764

8542.................J9

K.......................Q872

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

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

...............AK73

...............10653

?

N-S ought to finish in 3NT. If West opens 2S in third seat, North should bid 3NT at once rather than give South a chance to pass. If West passes North opens 2NT and plays 3NT after Stayman. One North only overcalled 2NT and was left there. Another North somehow ended up in 4H but the rest all went to the solid 3NT.

?

Eleven tricks are there without much trouble if declarer has patience. If E-W withhold the heart ace on the first two rounds declarer does just as well to switch over to clubs; the trap is that East can win the third heart and return the fourth or even duck the third heart to have a third winner ready to go when in with the club queen. Wendric were one of three pairs holding 3NT to ten tricks after declarer played the third heart too soon. Kevin, Louise and Jamie took eleven tricks to share N-S top with the only above-average N-S score.

?

3NT N +2 (3)

3NT N +1 (3)

2NT N +3

4H N -1

?

3:

?

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

...............Q9873

...............AK62

...............K2

KJ108732.........A6

J6......................K104

84......................Q103

93......................J10864

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

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

...............J975

...............AQ75

?

Does West come in after South opens? A 3S overcall leaves North with little to do but make a negative double. Then what for South? Two Souths left the double in. A 2S overcall may have worked out better in that North had just enough for a 3H bid and 4H was reached twice, as was even 5H. A couple of Wests disliked the vulnerability and passed, letting one N-S pair stop in 3H while another blundered its way into 3NT S. The last contract was 4D S.

?

Heart contracts can take nine tricks by force. Declarer can bring in the hearts for one loser via an intrafinesse - low from the ace finessing the seven to East's ten, then running the queen from the North hand and pinning West's jack. This is a line one might try if West has pre-empted, making East likely to hold three trumps, if not four. This is partly psychological as well, as West might well win the first heart with the king from Kx. The four declarers in hearts were split 2-2 between nine tricks and eight. 3NT S was doomed on a spade lead and declarer dropped a trick along the way to finish -4 and give Charole the best defensive result. Rather like hearts 4D could have taken nine tricks but declarer took only eight. N-S can take the first five tricks against spades. Jamob did so for N-S top, but Bettina was E-W top playing 3Sx +1 when North began with the top two diamonds, then followed with a heart to South's ace and then South tried to give North a diamond ruff. Oops.

?

3Sx W -1

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

4D S -2

5H N -3

3NT S -4

3Sx W +1

?

4:

?

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

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

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

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

Q93.................K5

AQJ10963.......87

7.......................KQ985

109...................J742

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

...............542

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

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

?

This one confused me quite a bit. West had a relatively clear 3H opening bid, which I'd have expected to end the auction most of the time. But 3H W was played only once. Apparently North doubled most of the time, leaving us with 3S S five times and 4S S twice, which, given the double, I'd have expected to see the other way around.

?

N-S can take nine tricks by force in spades, E-W's best chance of a fifth trick coming from a heart lead and continuation followed by a finesse of the spade ten. This proved a rather popular line, with eight tricks beating out seven by a 4-3 margin. Andrzej and Breta shared N-S top on +140 while Owbot defended 4S -2 for E-W top. Lynn, the only declarer in hearts, had a tricky path to nine tricks, as she could always reach dummy with a spade ruff to take the losing trump finesse and likely finish with eight tricks, but she managed ten to score 6/7 instead of 2/7.

?

3S S = (2)

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

3H W +1

4S S -2

?

5:

?

...............Q102

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

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

...............J109753

KJ983......................65

J987.........................Q6

85.............................KQ632

A8.............................KQ42

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

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

...............AJ1094

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

?

1D from East and then South was a bit on the spot - pass, double or bid either 1H or 1NT? Of the possible choices the one not taken was 1H. A double led to 3C N; a 1NT overcall led to 2D S, likely after a double from West; North might well run to 2C and South correct to 2D. Left to their own devices E-W might also stop in 2D via 1D-1S; 2C-2D. Three Wests, though, perhaps rebid 2S instead and played the hand there. Three E-W pairs just couldn't stop and found themselves in 2NT E, 3D E and 3NT E.

?

All the contracts could have been set by force, the only successful declarer being Lin in 2D S =, although it did not score above average. A club lead attacks the entry to West's hand before declarer is ready to use it and lets N-S take seven tricks by force, although the defenders against no-trumps only took six. Ritold had the only E-W plus defending 3C -1, although a major lead would have netted an extra trick. Robbot tied for N-S top taking their par seven tricks defending 3D E -3. The three 2S contracts all varied in trick results - seven, the par six, and five. Anbot tied for N-S top defending 2S -3; after a diamond lead Andrzej returned his singleton club, at which point West went for a quick discard on a club and found trouble when South ruffed the second club.

?

2S W -3; 3D E -3

2S W -2; 3NT E -2

2D S =

2S W -1; 2NT E -1

3C N -1

?

6:

?

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

...............Q432

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

...............A762

J83.........................K92

K87.........................AJ106

A643.......................975

KJ3.........................1094

...............AQ75

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

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

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

?

It could be that all the Wests resisted any temptation to double 1D, for which I am thankful, as the double is grim and likely to lead to no good. With the humans in the seats with the best cards, we had a passout between Robbot and Owbot, neither human wanting to open the 12-count. The usual contract was 1NT N, played four times. One South declared 1NT, likely making that rebid instead of 1S, although that is more usual after 1C-1D than 1m-1H. One South opened 1S and was raised to 2S; the last South somehow ended up declaring 2NT instead of 1NT.

?

E-W have seven tricks and a fair chance of taking them even if East loses a little time with a club lead, which is still on the right track. They key to a plus score is West's finding a low heart switch when in with the diamond ace. This proved harder than expected; 1NT N was never defeated, with John and Steve taking overtricks to tie for N-S top. Jeff could have been set in 2S but made the contract when West began with a club lead, the only suit to allow a make. The two E-W plus scores were both against no-trumps with South declaring. Charole defended 2NT S -1 and Wendric 1NT S -2, the only pair to match or exceed defensive par.

?

1NT N +1 (2)

2S S =

1NT N = (2)

Passed Out

2NT S -1

1NT S -2

?

7:

?

...............106543

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

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

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

----..........................972

Q963.......................A2

AJ1065....................K2

Q764.......................AK9532

...............AKQJ8

...............J10754

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

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

?

South is worth 1S (except, perhaps, to Alvin Roth); does West double? The hand has quality support for any of the other three suits and is worth an opening in support of the other suits; there is low defence on the debit side. Then we get to the age-old question of what responder does with five-card support lacking a shortage. How high does North raise, both with and without a double? Can East be shut out of the auction? Almost certainly not after a double; indeed after 1S-X-4S I think 6C is conservative. Give West a void spade and there could be a loser somewhere but hardly more than one. 1S-P-4S or 1S-P-3S might keep East out of the auction but not only did East almost always come in, N-S only declared twice. Contracts were 4C E, 4S S twice, 5C E four times and 5Cx E.

?

Playing in spades, a club lead forces declarer to start hearts right away. Otherwise South gets forced at once and likely loses control of the hand, although just playing the hand give N-S a high score; Andrzej were N-S top in 4S -1 and Breta scored 5/7 for 4S -3. In clubs declarer can take all the tricks, although the 3-0 trump split makes twelve tricks more likely, as taking all the tricks requires finding the diamond queen with North. Twelve tricks are easy enough. If the lead is a spade declarer can ruff all three spades in dummy; after a heart lead declarer can plan for the ruffing finesse in diamonds and settle for one ruff with two discards. Two declarers in clubs took eleven tricks, three took twelve and Charlie in 5Cx took all thirteen for E-W top, likely after a diamond lead.?

?

4S S -1

4C E +2

4S S -3

5C E = (2)

5C E +1 (2)

5Cx E +2

?

8:

?

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

...............J9764

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

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

Q.........................K8742

AK.......................Q853

AQ10974.............86

Q732....................84

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

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

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

...............AKJ965

?

This was our Doublepalooza, with five of the eight contracts doubled and there would likely have been a sixth. The auctions occasionally turned into a Battle of the Minors, with one N-S pair smart enough to stop. The five doublers were John, Bob, Leigh Ann, Wendy and Rita. Lynn might have doubled 3S but took Northbot's explanation of South's bidding as a self-Alert. 2S S and 3NT W were also played undoubled. The auctions with doubles were: 1C-P-1H-2C (1C was 15-21 with any shape while 1H showed spades); 2D-P-P-3C; 3D-X, N-S probably helped by the artificial start, 1D-1H-1S-2C; 3NT-P-P-X (exuberant of West), 1D-P-1S-2C; 2D-P-P-3C; 3D-P-P-4C; X, 1D-P-1S-2C; 2H-P-P-3C; 3D-3S-P-4C; X and the faster 1D-P-1S-2C; 3D-P-P-4C; X.

?

The eight contracts were set a total of 22 tricks, with no declarer finishing better than -2. Club contracts could take eight tricks by force, diamonds and spades seven, no-trumps six. No declarer bettered par; it was only matched by Bettina, Robert and Mary, although declaring was not a ticket to success. N-S top went to Jamob defending 3NTx W -4 (picking up an extra trick when East discarded a diamond instead of a spade at trick nine on the last club. Leighry and Ritold tied for E-W top defending 4Cx S -3.

?

3NTx W -4

3Dx W -2

3NT W -2

2S S -2

3S S -3

4Cx S -2

4Cx S -3 (2)

?

9:

?

...............J76

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

...............A95432

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

943.........................KQ1082

K107.......................A52

J10..........................KQ7

KQJ94....................105

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

...............QJ9864

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

...............863

?

1S from East and then does South come in with 3H at the vulnerability? It happened at least once and scared West out of the auction. As it uses up so much bidding room, the overcall really sticks both East and West on the spot. West can go to 3S on this hand; is it competitive or invitational? Really the invitational sequences tend to get cut in half, with lesser invitations blending down into competitive raises while the greater invitations tend to get bumped up into game bids. If West does bid 3S, East has extra values but cannot really be comfortable either bidding 4S or passing. Not everyone took the invitational route with the West hand; two Easts played 2S (did South overcall 2H and then feel able to pass? it's hard to imagine anyone not balancing at favourable vulnerability). One pair had an accident in the bidding and finished in 3D E. One South pushed E-W out of the bidding and declared 3H; 3S E was played thrice and only one E-W pair went on to 4S. Reaching 3NT feels vaguely possible in an uncontested auction; after 1S-1NT; 2D-3S East might offer 3NT, or West might theoretically try 2NT over 2D.

?

3NT would have been interesting; after a diamond lead from North it depends entirely on whether declarer pursues clubs or spades. N-S cannot duck a spade or declarer can then change tack and shift over to clubs. But pursuing clubs at once gets lucky, knocks out the entry to the long diamonds and lets declarer force ten tricks. Spades can be held to nine tricks by a heart ruff, with a 3-3 split. Gareth made 4S for the E-W top after a diamond to the ace, club ace, heart, spade to the ace and then a second diamond from South instead of giving North a heart ruff - South could have counted East's points and known that only a heart ruff would have a real chance of success. Owbot had the middle score taking their par seven tricks against 3H -3 given the even results between +140 and higher. Mahn were N-S top defending 3D E -3.

?

3D E -3

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

3H S -3

2S E +2; 3S E +1

4S E =

?

10:

?

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

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

...............AQ10954

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

AK..............................QJ764

QJ7.............................AK106

J876............................K

AJ84...........................Q93

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

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

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

...............K10652

?

This was the only hand of the set with everyone in game and nobody in slam. After 1S from East some Wests had a tricky call. I did see 3NT at least once as a response and I have seen some pairs use 1NT forcing followed by 3NT to show this sort of hand. When West began with 2C and East followed with 2H, three pairs decided the diamonds were too dangerous for no-trumps and settled into 4H E once and 4S E twice. Four pairs ended in 3NT W and one pair in 4NT E after an artificial 1C opening bid showing 15-21, after which West was bound to invite slam and the pair did well to stop as low as they did.

?

Hearts and spades can both take twelve tricks by force thanks to the kind club layout and (in hearts) 3-3 trumps. Lynn took all the tricks in 3NT W after a low diamond lead; she was assisted by North's discarding the singleton club along the way, marking the finesse against the ten after queen-king-ace the round before. Doug also took all the tricks in 4NT E after a club lead, which made it even easier. The other declarers in no-trumps took twelve, eleven and ten tricks. 4H and one of the 4S contracts yielded eleven tricks; Study defended 4S = for N-S top.

?

4S E =

3NT W +1

4H E +1; 4S E +1

3NT W +2

3NT W +3

3NT W +4; 4NT W +3

?

11:

?

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

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

...............J964

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

A64...........................KQ982

K9.............................Q543

AQ73.........................K5

AJ84..........................96

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

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

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

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

?

This well could have been another hand with everyone in game, but one pair got all the way up to 6S, one of those contracts that would likely be a fine spot with a ninth trump but with eight has a lot of moving parts. Otherwise most pairs had a 1m opening from West followed by 2NT, with four Easts finding the 5-3 spade fit and playing 4S while three let West play in 3NT.

?

6S can only be defeated by a club lead, not because a club winner cashes but because declarer is forced to cash the three diamonds right away and then North can lead the fourth diamond when in with the ace of hearts to promote a defensive trump trick. After a diamond lead we get: diamond to king, heart to king and ace, club to queen and ace, diamond ace, diamond queen, heart to queen and then declarer can ruff both low hearts - the spade six is a huge card. N-S can try leading two spades, but then the third heart is trumped and North can be squeezed in the red suits for the twelfth trick. Bettina made 6S W after the opening lead of the heart ace, which made the hand a good deal easier. Spades are held to eleven tricks by a club lead; no-trumps are right-sided declared by West and can force eleven tricks thanks to the kindly-placed clubs. Only Lynn in 3NT and Leigh Ann in 4S took eleven tricks; all other declarers took ten.

?

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

3NT W +1 (2)

4S E +1

3NT W +2

6S W =

?

12:

?

...............AJ3

...............AQJ1096

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

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

KQ5...........................10982

84..............................7

QJ1083......................K654

AK6...........................QJ108

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

...............K532

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

...............542

?

After 1NT from West, if North passes that should end the auction, which occurred twice. 2H ended the auction twice. East can come in with a negative double if available; this resulted in 3H N twice. West declared 3S at one table, suggesting a negative double taken as Stolen Bid. The last auction ended in 5D W.

?

Hearts get lucky and take nine tricks thanks to West's holding the spade king-queen. But the unkind trump spots force declarer to use both entries to the South hand for spade leads. Whether all four declarers played the best way or whether any received help in the form of a spade lead I cannot say. There is not quite an endplay against correct defence. But all four declarers in hearts took the par nine tricks. 1NT W finished the par -2 both times but non-vulnerable scored better for the declarers. +140 tied for N-S top; -50 tied for E-W top for Leigh Ann in 3S -1 and Bettina in 5D -1. 5D again received the lead of the heart ace; N-S could have held declarer to nine tricks only with the unlikely underlead of a heart to South for a spade through West.

?

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

1NT W -2 (2)

3S W -1; 5D W -1

?

13:

?

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

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

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

...............97542

J10.............................K53

A84............................10973

J1053.........................A976

AQJ10........................63

...............AQ87642

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

...............K2

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

?

West might come in over 1S with a double, but it ought not to make that much of a difference. South rebids spades and should finish playing the hand in that suit. Contracts were 2S S five times, 3S S, 3NT N and 4S S.

?

It seems as if E-W have five tricks against spades easily enough and eight tricks was the majority result, giving Owbot the E-W top defending 4S -2. But taking nine or even ten doesn't require anything awful. A trump lead, two rounds of trumps, then West wins the first heart with the ace and shifts to the diamond jack, ducked to the king, is a reasonable enough sequence of plays without any outright clear error that allows declarer ten tricks (as taken by Lin). John, though, had the best escape of the game. A diamond lead against 3NT results in -5 by establishing the suit at once to go with four clubs, the heart ace, and E-W can even establish a spade by force if need be. John received a heart lead; for much of the hand the result was going to be -3 but then at trick nine East led a heart to North's hand instead of the killing club.

?

3NT N =

2S S +2

2S S +1 (2)

2S = (2)

3S S -1

4S S -2

?

14:

?

...............K104

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

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

...............A10875

87532.......................AJ96

10..............................954

J1082........................AK4

Q42...........................J96

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

...............AK7632

...............9753

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

?

After East opens and South overcalls 1H, does West come in at all? Even if West does come in, North invites game and South may well accept on the good loser count. Contracts were 2H S twice, 3H S twice, 3S W and 4H S thrice, nobody finding the sacrifice in 4S.

?

West can make 3S with careful enough play - if South gets a club ruff the spades can be double-finessed; if not the spade ace can be taken first and declarer loses one spade, one heart and two clubs. Mahn defeated 3S one trick, but just taking the bid at that level scored 5/7 for Nary. Hearts can always take ten tricks; the even club split lets declarer discard two diamonds. This can be prevented by E-W's forcing North to ruff a diamond right away, but then declarer can ruff the other diamond as well. Here the field rather let me down. Nobody took ten tricks in hearts. Leighry and Boug both posted 4H -1 to tie for E-W top, while both 3H and both 2H contracts just made. I have to diagnose excessive speed in drawing trumps. Jeff posted 4H +1 for N-S top; East finessed against dummy on the opening spade and there was the overtrick.

?

4H S +1

3H S = (2)

2H S = (2)

3S W -1

4H S -1 (2)

?

15:

?

...............963

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

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

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

KQ108.....................AJ

Q107........................AJ62

KJ10........................Q98432

A96..........................Q

...............7542

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

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

...............J107532

?

It's very difficult at times to work out the chances for slam after 1NT when the side has a fit in a minor. And here it was essentially a toss-up. Usually West opened 1NT and after Stayman East could not justify going beyond 3NT, the contract sic times. Nancy picked this one up by telepathy and rebid 6NT after Mary showed 4S. The other slam reached, in an artificial auction, had a similar jump: P-1C-1H-2C; P-2NT-P-6NT, East at least knowing that North's hearts were not strong and were finessable.

?

6D would likely have won the bidding contests but here could have been set; after a heart lead a ruff i the suit cannot be prevented. 6NT can be set by force but North has to find the lead of the club king. We have stories of successful leads of a king from suits headed by KJ10 but I cannot recall anyone leading a king from Kxx and catching partner with the J10x opposite. Everyone took twelve tricks. One North led a spade against 6NT and the other led a heart.

?

3NT W +3 (6)

6NT W = (2)

?

16:

?

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

...............K9762

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

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

QJ1074.................A632

Q54.......................A8

7............................J8543

K1053....................72

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

...............J103

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

...............AJ86

?

Here usually South opened in fourth seat, West often overcalled and half the time North played in some number of hearts. We avoided a contract in diamonds that would have given us a rainbow.Contracts were 1H N (had West fallen asleep?), 2H N twice, 2S W, 2NT S, 3S W, 4C S and 4H N. The 3S W auction provided a first for me - a misclicked Alert. E-W were using a method apparently called Roadrunner, with 15-21 1C opening bids and very light openings in the majors. They were Alerting all their bids in a timely manner, apparently having most of them saved in the Chat manager function. West opened 1S but accidentally clicked on the Alert for 1C and never noticed. The auction proceeded to be 1S-2H-2S-3H; P-P-3S.

?

3S can be set two tricks by the lead of North's singleton trump, the way to prevent East from getting two club ruffs. North might not have found the trump lead anyway if properly informed, but I don't think North would have overcalled 2H knowing 1S to be natural. The auction could well have proceeded 1S-P-2S-P; P-X. Presumably East could have bid 3S anyway, although if East did not South might have bid 2NT or possibly found a double. Whether North is more likely to find a trump lead knowing 1S to be natural seemed doubtful. Being able to defend both adjusting and not adjusting, I gave the benefit to the non-offending side and adjusted. Fortunately it made very little difference, as 3S -1 was just on the edge of average.

?

All four denominations had variable outcomes depending on the lead. Either a club or a heart contract would be held to right tricks by a diamond lead, but all declarers took at least nine. John posted 1H N +4 and Andrzej even made 4H after the opening lead of the ace of trumps. Owen was E-W top playing 2S +1. A spade lead should hold declarer in no-trumps to eight tricks, but Leighry picked up one more to post 2NT -1.

?

4H N =

1H N +4

2H N +2

Av+/Av

2H N +1

2NT S -1; 4C S -1

2S W +1

?

?

17:

?

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

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

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

...............QJ9

KJ1092...................Q4

62............................J953

KJ97........................85

65............................AK843

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

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

...............AQ642

...............1072

?

1D from South in third seat; 1S from West, 2H from North and then what? Who knows? Contracts were 2H N twice, 2S W twice.3C E, 3D S, 3S W and 4H N, anything from 2H to 3D seeming about equally likely.

?

Play potential was fairly straightforward. With the?simonsa sitting well for E-W and N-S holding 3-3 black suits, spade contracts could take eight tricks by force, hearts could be held to six tricks by a club ruff and both minors could give declarer seven tricks. Four declarers bettered par as did one pair of defenders. Carole and Leigh Ann took nine tricks in spades in the only successful contracts. Mahn were N-S top defending 3C E -2Boug E-W top defending 4H N -4. Karlene and Kevin both played 2H -1 when E-W did not start with a club ruff.

?

3C E -2

2S W -1

2H N -1 (2)

3D S -2

2S W +1; 3S W =

4H N -4

?

18:

?

...............AQ86

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

...............AQ76

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

KJ2........................97543

K98........................6543

K943......................8

A109.......................652

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

...............AQJ7

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

...............Q743

?

One West opened 1NT and played the hand there, North being stuck for a call. Otherwise West opened and North overcalled 1NT. This was left in once but usually finished in 3NT. One North appears to have doubled, leading to a long auction ending in 5Dx S.

?

Diamonds can take eleven tricks with careful play of the trumps, and Andrzej did for N-S top. That is a dangerous double! 3NT can be held to ten tricks by a spade lead but nobody posted ten tricks. Kevin, Louise and Robert took eleven, as did declarer against Owbot in 1NT. Boug and Leighry were allowed four tricks on defence, Boug after declarer mishandled the diamonds. Lynn escaped with E-W top playing 1NT -3.

?

5Dx S =

3NT N +2 (3)

3NT N = (2)

1NT W -3

1NT N +4

1:

?

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

...............A763

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

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

A8754.....................QJ32

J1085......................KQ92

54............................K

103..........................K875

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

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

...............QJ962

...............AQJ962

?

If North passes, East usually opens 1C and that likely keeps South out of the auction for a round, but 2NT is clear from South after P-1C-P-1S; P-2S (not to mention that North could certainly double on the second round of that auction). The pair that allowed West to play 2S made me wonder if either of them had a pulse. Another West was allowed to play 3S, but at least the third West to declare got pushed into 4Sx. N-S pairs that pushed on and took the bid were evenly divided between playing game and playing in partials: 3C S twice, 3D N, 4D N and 5D N four times.

?

Club contracts are held to ten tricks by a diamond lead, as West still has the spade ace as an entry to give East a diamond ruff. One declarer took eleven tricks and one nine. Except for Boric, who were allowed to defend 5D N -1 (a ruffing finesse in clubs to go with the trump finesse?), diamond contracts took eleven tricks when declarer finessed or twelve when declarer dropped the offside singleton king. The latter line of play has an increased chance of success from East's competition. Randi took their expected seven tricks for the N-S top defending 4Sx -4.

?

Harold, one of two Norths to play 5D +1, had an interesting time of it. East did not see Harold's 1D opening bid and "opened" with a three-suited 2D. In the ensuing confusion East explained the hand, a nice gesture but more than was technically required. Taking 2D as a Michaels cue-bid (presumably what West expected) would have made the finesse even more attractive. East could have held a void diamond but knowing that the hand held opening values inclined Harold to the successful drop instead.

?

4Sx W -4

5D N +1 (2)

5D N =

4D N +2

3C S +2; 3D N +2

3C S =

3S W -2

2S W -1

5D N -1

?

2:

?

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

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

...............10743

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

754.........................Q8632

982.........................J6

A86.........................K52

QJ106.....................K52

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

...............AK743

...............QJ9

...............A98

?

Several Norths raised 1H only to 2H and this ended the auction four times. The heart queen is at full value but the flat pattern is a negative. One E-W pair came in - perhaps after a pre-balance from East? - and eventually played 3Sx E. When North did more the resulting contracts were 3H S and 4H S five times. 3NT N looks like the winner of the bidding contests; if anyone is to get there North may have to opt for 2NT as the rebid after a 1NT forcing response. 1H-1NT; 2C-2NT will almost surely be accepted, East will lead a spade, and +600 ought to be N-S top.

?

3NT is superiour to 4H mainly because of the diamonds. The suit will not come in, but at least there is no chance of an opposing ruff. With 3-3 diamonds hearts can take nine tricks, but declarer in 4H may well finish -2 after a club lead, trying to make the contract with a losing spade finesse. Leigh Ann made 4H for the N-S top, while Gel and Jerik posted 4H -2 and Glynneth were E-W top defending 4H -3, getting an extra trick somewhere. The heart partials had a 3-2 split of taking nine tricks against eight. Jane, in 3Sx, could have finished -3 but managed an above-average score with a result of -1; the defence avoided diamond leads for too long and then North played the jack on the first spade instead of winning, each move bumping up declarer's outcome by one trick.

?

4H S =

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

2H S = (2)

3Sx E -1

4H S -1

4H S -2 (2)

4H S -3

?

3:

?

...............A94

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

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

...............QJ1064

QJ63......................10852

109542...................AKQ3

Q10.........................76

98...........................K72

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

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

...............AKJ95

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

?

1NT from South could have been left in, especially as Carl was not playing, for those who recall the time he fooled Muriel Romero by making a DONT overcall against her with only two HCP. That happened thrice. We had a remote chance of a rainbow hand; there was a spade fit, but no sensible way to get there unless West shows both majors and East fears a spade ruff in hearts. (Of course here N-S can get a ruff against either major, but there are many hands with two fits on which one must play either in the weaker suit or the stronger to avoid a ruff.) Probably most Wests did not want to come in at the vulnerability on the weak hand, although 2H W was played once. If more Wests had come in, we doubtless would have seen at least one N-S pair in 3C. 2NT S was played thrice, presumably after a declined invitation. One South declared 3D (plausible after a 1D opening bid), with three pairs in the ill-fated 3NT, twice by South and once by North. If South does open 1D instead of 1NT, North does not want to be playing inverted raises. The hand is too weak for 2D, the trumps too weak for 3D. 2C is out of the question, leaving either 1NT or a quirky 1S (if South raises, a 4-3 fit with a singleton heart in the hand with the tripleton may well play prettily). After 1D-P-1NT, whether East came in or not, 3NT N just requires South to make pendulum invitation (a term that just came to me for when a player underbids and then overbids in the same auction).

?

Steve took the twelve tricks that were there in 3D with both minors behaving. With nobody getting to 5D (reasonable but very hard to find in a minor with South's balanced hand and North's minimal support, although it seems that diamonds might be reached via 1NT-2H-X (negative). Marie had the good luck not to receive a heart lead; she took ten tricks for N-S top. The other contracts in no-trumps took eight tricks six times and seven tricks twice. With four scores of +120 and one +170 that put considerable significance on Gernot's 2H contract, which could have been set two tricks. Happily for Lernot, after two rounds of diamonds South did not find the switch to the spade king, resulting in 2H -1 for the middle score.

?

1NT S +3

3D S +3

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

2H W -1

2NT S -1; 3NT N -1; 3NT S -1

3NT S -2

?

4:

?

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

...............10876

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

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

Q6..........................K75432

954.........................K

K62.........................Q975

K9653.....................Q10

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

...............AQJ32

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

...............A874

?

The outlier here was 2H S. East must really dislike being vulnerable to pass two rounds running. Otherwise there were three camps. About a third of the Souths were afraid to come in over 2S, making 2S E the contract thrice. When South overcalled 3H, there was a 4-3 division with leaving it there just more popular than going to game.

?

It helps South if East has opened spades; West will lead the spade queen and declarer will get pulled into the right line of drawing trumps. Left to one's own devices South may try to ruff a club before drawing trumps, allowing East to overruff. A club lead could make it quite difficult for declarer if West ducks the first spade, but finessing will still see Soth home. Six of the eight declarers in hearts took ten tricks, Tracy and Sandi making 4H to share the N-S top while Conndy set the contract. Declarer drew trumps and did not take the spade finesse. There was a ruffing finesse available on the third club but dummy ruffed. 2S could have been set by force if dummy is cut off before the third (and perhaps fourth) club is ready for a discard. As this was not an easy find we saw Larry (St) posting 2S = and Bob 2S +1 for the top two E-W scores.

?

4H S = (2)

3H S +1 (4)

2H S +1

2S E -1

4H S -1

2S E =

2S E +1

?

5:

?

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

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

...............KQ854

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

106...........................AK

432...........................AKQJ1087

AJ72.........................106

A983.........................J5

...............J8432

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

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

...............KQ104

?

Finally a hand on which I could unequivocally defend a 2C opening bid on under 20 HCP (I frequently get complaints in the non-virtual-club BBO games that someone opened 2C on insufficient values and usually there's at least questionable rounding involved). East has a classic within-one-trick of game hand; had Tracy been East instead of South he would surely have opened 2C. There may have been one or two 2C opening bids, as two E-W pairs played 5H E; West really ought to give at least a look for slam if East does start with 2C. One N-S pair somehow found a way into the auction and finished in 4Sx S. The majority contract was 4H E after 1H-1NT; 4H, although one East, playing matchpoints to the max, opted to raise West to 3NT instead - don't try this at IMPs.

?

4Sx cannot be set more than two tricks by force - on?most other boards this would have been brilliant but 4Sx -2 gave Lernot the E-W top because of the vulnerability. Gene's bravery in raising Del's 1NT response to 3NT was rewarded not only in the minor aces but in North's holding a natural diamond lead. Del scored 90% for 3NT +3. Jim and Bob took twelve tricks in 4H, which is much harder, as there is no line of defence that jumps out at one resulting in giving declarer a trick.

?

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

4H E +2 (2)

3NT W +3

4Sx S -2

?

6:

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

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

...............AKJ832

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

984..........................AKJ2

1042.........................AQ93

Q1064......................7

A105.........................J832

...............Q1076

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

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

...............Q974

?

This hand marked a downfall for three pairs. One East had to open a catchall 1D (due to an artificial 1C); as this had limited HCP, West passed 1D and North was delighted to let it sit. Two pairs opened a three-suited 2D. One West decided to gamble that East held four diamonds and passed rather than going to 2H. Again happy, happy North. The other West to respond to 2D duly bid 2H and then presumably East could not resist going on to 3H over North's 3D, a bit undisciplined, even with an absolute maximum. Otherwise much rides on whether West responds 1D or 1NT to 1C. 1D keeps North quiet and may lead to 1NT W, played three times. It is hard to imagine North's not coming in with 2D over a 1NT response; 2D N was played thrice and 2Dx N once. The final contract was 2H E, suggesting 1C-P-1NT-2D; 2H.

?

If West has bid 1D along the way to 1NT it seems possible for North to find the major lead that holds declarer to five tricks with two diamond finesses. N-S can take nine tricks in diamonds, easier done on defence than declaring. 1NT W saw declarer overperforming by a trick or two, with Doug making 1NT (only one other contract was made). In diamonds Harold became the only other successful declarer, taking his par nine tricks playing 2D N +1. The other declaring Norths took only six or seven tricks. It was easier for N-S defending; both 1D and 2D finished -4, giving Leighry and Pharah a tie for N-S top. E-W could take eight tricks in hearts but the defence not surprisingly received the benefit of declarer's not expecting the honours to lie so badly, leading to 2H -2 and 3H -3.

?

1D E -4; 2D E -4

3H W -3

2H E -2

2D N +1

1NT W -1 (2)

2D N -1

1NT W =

2Dx N -1; 2D N -2

?

?

7:

?

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

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

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

...............Q1074

AK......................Q10873

AKJ873..............Q5

54........................762

K96.....................AJ3

...............9654

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

...............AQJ9

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

?

West has a big hand and it looks as if we could get everyone into 4H. We almost did. 4H W was played nine times. Jerik played 4H E because of Jim's 1H response to 1C, showing normal responding values but with fewer than three controls. That at least put slam out of play at once and just led to 4H E instead of 4H W. The last contract was the slightly wonkier 4S E - perhaps after 1H-1S; 3C-3S; 4S. The West hand is probably good enough for 3C or at least feels closer to 3C than to 3H with the heavy ace and king content.

?

Sometimes hands with one suit wide open make bad matchpoint hands for Precision pairs, but here East's lack of positive heart support will probably stop E-W from getting into an asking bid sequence that would pinpoint the diamond lead for N-S. N-S can take their two tricks after a diamond lead against 4H and three tricks against 4S if dummy is forced to ruff the third diamond. But who would lead a diamond? With North holding K10xx in diamonds and Q10xx in clubs, the club lead seems safer if the auction has not contained either minor - a control bid in clubs could draw North a map for a diamond lead. Marcia, Sarah and Peach found the diamond lead from North. Sandi also found the diamond lead against 4S but settled for 85% when the force was not found. Seven declarers took all thirteen tricks after a non-diamnd lead.

?

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

4H E +3; 4H W +3 (6)

?

8:

?

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

...............J10763

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

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

742.........................A108

A42.........................85

762..........................A98

10974......................K8632

...............K953

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

...............K103

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

?

1C from East in third seat (or perhaps not) and 1NT from South. Then it just becomes a question whether N-S find their three-aces-missing game (the tricks are too slow for 3NT, although give South the club ten and this would be an interesting hand for bidding competitions) with a side question of whether E-W have a 4-2 split in either spades or diamonds and can negotiate a ruff. Only Troward, Leighry and Heve reached 4H (the ever-dfferent Heve did so from the North side; all other contracts were declared by South, although against Heve West raised to 2C over 1NT). Leigh Ann liked the hand enough to pre-accept partner's transfer with 3H, which came through strongly this time. 2H S was played seven times and one pair tried 3NT S anyway.

?

West led a club against Judy but did not continue the suit in the middle of the hand, leading to a make and a big escape. With the 3-3 splits in spades and diamonds all the heart contracts took exactly ten tricks.

?

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

3NT S =

2H S +2 (7)

?

9:

?

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

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

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

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

J942..........................A63

108............................AK94

Q54............................K9873

8764...........................J

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

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

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

...............AKQ102

?

P-1D-X-P; 1H-P and then South bids either 1NT or 2C (an original 1NT overcall is possible), perhaps ending the auction; if South bids 2C East might come in with a balancing double. 1NT S was only played twice and 2C never at all. Besides 1NT S, contracts were 2D E, 2S W, 2NT S twice, 3C S thrice and 3D E twice.

?

Club contracts result in eight tricks unless West leads a diamond and East allows North a heart trick later in the hand. Whether an immediate heart ruff is taken or not does not matter so long as East does not lead a high heart from hand. The diamond lead doesn't matter so much in itself, as South can always trump a diamond in dummy, although a spade lead and continuation just gives declarer less time. But all three Souths made 3C. 1NT is held to seven tricks by a spade lead or heart lead and spade switch. Again, though, West usually led a diamond, with Dianne posting 2NT S +1 while Rita and Sandi took eight tricks. Dianne received a diamond lead and then at the end East cashed the heart king before establishing the hand's last diamond. All three declarers in diamonds took nine tricks, the par result. East loses one spade, one club and two diamonds, the second diamond loser being so soft and slow that it usually gets traded for anything else North-South pick up. The only thing is to play the spade ace on the first or second round and not to run the jack. 2S is held to seven tricks by the lead of a black suit but even there Cindy took eight tricks to tie Gene, Larry (Sh) and Jane for E-W top.

?

2NT S +1

1NT S +1; 2NT S =

3C S = (3)

1NT S =

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

?

10:

?

...............1076

...............A9864

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

...............A82

942.........................QJ85

J753........................Q10

J85..........................Q932

KQ10.......................753

...............AK3

...............K2

...............K1074

...............J964

?

Once again we almost got everyone into the same contract. It looks as if South will open 1D and rebid 1NT over a response of 1H, eventually reaching 3NT whether North invites or goes there directly. 3NT S was reached nine times, with one contract of 2NT N and one of 2NT S.

?

The heart spots make all the difference. 3NT comes to nine tricks when the suit establishes four winners, East's Q10 doubleton working as well as a 3-3 split. But most declarers finessed one of the middle hearts on the second round, not taking full advantage of the layout. One declarer took only seven tricks, six took eight, three took nine and Sandi was N-S top in 3NT +1, the overtrick coming when West left the spades too long and continued diamonds until it was too late.

?

3NT S +1

3NT S = (3)

2NT N =; 2NT S =

3NT S -1 (4)

3NT S -2

?

11:

?

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

...............A9874

...............AK6

...............K2

9842....................Q6

Q53......................KJ62

8...........................Q942

AJ1065.................843

...............AKJ10

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

...............J10753

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

?

We came close again to getting everyone into the same contract. I could see 1NT S if South passes as dealer and then takes a conservative position later in the auction with North also taking the conservative view. But the only pair to stop in 1NT had North in the declaring seat. 3NT N was played nine times along with 3NT S once, perhaps via 1D-1H; 1S-2C; 2NT-3NT.

?

E-W are rather lucky about which opponent holds three clubs and which holds the doubleton; that allows a club lead from either side of the table to set 3NT because East has the entry in the diamond queen or a heart (declarer needs the finesse). However, there must have been numerous auctions without any bids in diamonds, as 3NT N was only set four times, the par -1 against Boric, Glotin and Lernot, -3 against Larbot when declarer kept trying different measures and dug the hole deeper. Rich made the contract after a diamond lead but not only did two others do the same but Dianne, Henry and Betty took ten tricks in 3NT to share the top, likely after E-W went after hearts.

?

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

3NT N = (3)

1NT N +3

3NT N -1 (3)

3NT N -3

?

12:

?

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

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

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

...............QJ106

Q104.......................A9

KQ96......................A543

K8...........................J109542

K974........................5

...............K8765

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

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

...............A832

?

This seems to give advantage to those who bypass a longer diamond suit to answer in a four-card major. Whether East responds 1D or 1H South overcalls 1S. If West passes then North might raise to 2S and unless West will take a double as showing hearts that suit doesn't get into the auction. After 1C-P-1H-1S; 2H-2S, East can get in an invitation. Even if North passes it may be hard to get the hearts in for some E-W pairs, as shown by some of our contracts: 2D E twice, 2NT W, 3H E four times, 3S S and 4H E thrice. Jerik had an uncontested auction which really helped them as the hearts came in late: 1D-2D; 2NT-3H; 4H after their catchall 1D opening.

?

As North never gains the lead, a heart or diamond contract declared by East can take ten tricks. At most declarer has to be careful to lead diamonds early enough and play to the king first rather than run the jack. Only Heve of all the pairs defending hearts held declarer to nine tricks, and only one other heart declarer was held to the par ten - to hold East to ten tricks South would have to lead ace and another club and push clubs through when gaining the lead with the first diamond. Carol and Mark posted +450 in 4H +1 to tie for E-W top. In diamonds declarer has to lead a club through South before North gets in with the trump queen; one diamond declarer took ten tricks and one nine. Eight tricks are the limit in no-trumps; Ritold were N-S top defending 2NT W -1. Against spades West has to lead a heart to East so that East can lead the club through South and then reach West in time for a club ruff. Lernot did not quite find that exotic defence but still scored well for having pushed N-S to 3S -2 because of the vulnerability.

?

2NT W -1

2D E +1

2D E +2

3H E =

3H E +2 (3); 3S S -2

4H E =

4H E +1 (2)

?

13:

?

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

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

...............AK6

...............QJ83

Q8764....................AKJ

3.............................KQ8

98754.....................103

54...........................A10962

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

...............109764

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

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

?

Here we have a deal that favours pairs who can make a penalty double of a 1NT opening bid. North opens 1NT, and if East cannot double to show equivalent-plus values then we have 1NT-P-2D-P; 2H, over which East is actually more handcuffed than West. 3C could be on a non-fit and is a huge risk vulnerable. West knows that East has to hold at least 13 HCP and is likely stronger and has the distribution to tempt one into 2S; East is at least close to North in values and therefore is almost surely balanced. But it is certainly much easier to find a 2S bid if East can double 1NT. 2H N was left in seven times. 3H N was played twice, more likely after a competitive auction than through a preaccepting 3H from North. Two Easts declared 2S after identical auctions; North opened 1C, allowing East to overcall 1NT, after which West was able to transfer. North was on the same spot as East over a transfer by South - coming in with a balancing double when South had passed up multiple chances to raise clubs or even make a non-forcing bid over 1NT carries considerable risk.

?

All the heart contracts took the same eight tricks after the trumps misbehaved - good luck for Jerik and Conndy who were defending 3H rather than 2H. As simple as 2H is 2S is almost equally complex. Declarer threatens to ruff the third diamond and come to nine tricks but can use the hearts and clubs if N-S allow time. There are numerous different paths to eight tricks; Gloria took eight tricks and Larry (Sh) managed nine for the E-W top.

?

2H N = (7)

3H N -1 (2)

2S E =

2S E +1

?

14:

?

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

...............A1075

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

...............87632

A832......................KQ4

842.........................K963

J10432....................986

9.............................KQJ

...............J76

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

...............AKQ7

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

?

1C-1NT and then does either West or North come in? Usually not; 1NT S was played seven times. Two Souths did not overcall 1NT and the contract became 1NT E. One West played 2D, likely after opting to come in after a 1NT overcall with a non-forcing 2D. The last West played 2S; maybe South doubled 1C, West bid 1S and East raised instead of rebidding 1NT.

?

The lead often matters when both sides play in 1NT but here it did not affect the par result of seven tricks for E-W. The declarers as a whole did better than par. Boric, defending 1NT S -2, were the only defending pair to better par, which was matched by Lark defending 1NT S -1 and by Jim defending 1NT E =. At the other tables in no-trumps, declarer overperformed. Tracy, Marie and Judy made 1NT S, Sandi and Sally played 1NT S +1 and Larry (Sh) 1NT E +2 - after four rounds of diamonds and two spades, South on lead led a club instead of a heart or the third spade. Both 2D and 2S could have been defeated, but both contracts were made by Gernot and Doug.

??

1NT S +1 (2)

1NT S = (3)

1NT S -1

1NT E =; 2D W =

1NT S -2

2S W =

1NT E +2

?

15:

?

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

...............9753

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

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

K62...........................5

AK2...........................10864

KQJ10.......................842

864............................K9532

...............AJ10973

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

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

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

?

N-S likely start with 1S-2S whatever West does over 1S (pass, double or 1NT). Does West balance? Usually not, despite the favourable vulnerability. 2S S was left in eight times. Two Souths were pushed to 3S. The one time E-W played the hand the contract was 3D W.

?

The hand is quite kind to E-W with the black aces onside and the heart queen-jack dropping. Nine tricks would be available in either clubs or diamonds; in 3D the best line of play if N-S start with two rounds of spades is to ruff the second spade in dummy, saving the king. If N-S go after trumps East's heart eight is the key card, allowing declarer to finesse on the third round and discard a loser on the fourth. Pally were allowed to set 3D, an important result, as the hand does not play well in spades - after the standout lead of a diamond, declarer has four losers in the red suits and both black suit finesses fail. Eight declarers in spades took exactly seven tricks, giving Larbot and Jerik a tie for E-W top with the magic score of +200 defending 3S -2. Tracy and Steve were both allowed to make 2S, Steve when, after a diamond and a spade, East ducked the club queen.?

?

2S S = (2)

3D W -1

2S S -1 (6)

3S S -2 (2)

?

16:

?

...............J432

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

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

...............AQ1084

A86.........................Q1095

Q.............................K8653

QJ8742...................653

K92..........................7

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

...............A109742

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

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

?

West might open 1D, pass or even open 2D. North might overcall 2C over 1D or pass; if North bids 2C East might make a negative double but likely won't although South likely bids 2H over whatever East does. 1D-P-1H likely shuts out of the auction, so that contracts can range from 2D W to 5C N on only one or two reasonably close decisions. We finished with contracts of 2D W twice, 2H S, 2NT N, 3C N, 3D W, 3H S, 3NT N, 4C N, 5C N and 5Cx N.

?

Diamonds can be held to six tricks by a heart lead - dummy's trumps can be drawn without any club ruffs and West locked in hand until N-S collect seven tricks. Not surprisingly, N-S rarely untangled their trumps in time on defence, so that the diamond declarers all scored at least average, with Lee E-W top in 2D +1 and Jatin second in 2D =. Eric was middle escaping in 3D -1 after South won the heart lead with the ace and returned a heart rather than a diamond. Hearts come to nine tricks if declarer refrains from discarding a spade too soon, but neither declarer in hearts managed to cope in a straightforward manner with the 5-1 split; both took only eight tricks.Clubs can be held to ten tricks; the hearts do not establish and North will have to lead a spade at some point. A ruffing finesse in hearts will provide two discards for one loser but North will still lose two spades; trying to ruff losers allows West an overruff. Two club contracts yielded ten tricks but two yielded eleven, including Howard's 5Cx = for the N-S top. 3NT can make but only if South wins the first heart with the ace. After a diamond lead from East declarer has to be quick and avoid spades. Rich took nine tricks in 2NT while Conndy defended 3NT -1.

?

5Cx N =

2NT N +1; 3C S +2

4C N =

2H S =

3D W -1

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

2D W =

2D W +1

?

17:

?

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

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

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

...............K1087

AJ107...................K985

Q...........................K1063

AKQ976................2

64..........................A932

...............632

...............J97542

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

...............QJ5

?

While a cheeky 2H opening in third seat from South might lead to 3NT E the hand was always declared by West. Usually West opened 1D in fourth seat and rebid 1S after a 1H response. Everyone got to game - 3NT W, 4S W eight times and 5S W twice.

?

It takes a club lead to hold spades to eleven tricks by force, but declarer usually had trouble taking so many. Even after a diamond lead twelve tricks are possible if not probable. Declarer can ruff two diamonds with the nine and eight of spades while dropping the offside doubleton queen and along the way discarding the club loser on the established king of hearts. Erik did manage twelve tricks after a diamond lead but Richard, Lee and Gernot all scored 80% in 4S +1. Three declarers took only nine tricks, with Troward N-S top defending 5S -2. 3NT could take only nine tricks even if declarer guessed the spades correctly (and had a nasty surprise with the diamonds splitting badly); Leighry set it one trick to be one of the three pairs scoring 80% for +100.

?

5S W -2

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

4S W = (3)

4S W +1 (3)

5S W +1

?

18:

?

...............KJ106

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

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

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

Q............................9732

K953......................A6

Q62........................AK8753

AJ1054...................9

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

...............QJ1072

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

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

?

Presumably 1D from East and then most probably some form of game invitation from West. West presumably responds 1H to 1D and then over 1S may bid the aggressive 2C or else choose between 2NT and 3D for an invitation. One West bid only 2D, ending the auction. Of the other partials, 2NT W was played twice and 3D E thrice. Just under half the pairs reached game, all 3NT, four times from the West side and once from the East.

?

3NT has better chances than one might think. Not only is there the 4-4 split that actually exists, but even if spades split 5-3 or 6-2 opening leader must find the lead and even then the suit might block. Here the 4-4 split was all declarer needed. It did not seem to matter whether the lead was a spade or not as declarer was sure to run the nine top tricks. Everyone took nine tricks except for Jatin, who took a tenth in this two-card ending:

?

..........K

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

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

..........Q

----.............97

95...............----

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

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

..........8

..........Q

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

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

?

The no-trumps partials both took nine tricks as well. Eleven tricks were available in diamonds without declarer's being too on point; it was not necessary to take the ruffing finesse in clubs on the third round if two entries to dummy still remain, but there was also the chance of an overruff if declarer held off on drawing trumps. One declarer took eleven tricks in diamonds but Ritold and Troward defended 3D +1 to tie for N-S top.

?

3D E +1 (3)

2D E +3; 2NT W +1 (2)

3NT E =; 3NT W = (3)

3NT W +1

1:

?

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

...............Q987

...............1096542

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

1063.........................AJ

J6.............................AK1052

AQJ..........................87

AKQ62.....................J987

...............KQ98752

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

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

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

?

Left to their own devices, E-W might reach 6C. The auction would start 1H-2C; 3C and then West might bid 3D. If East then bids 3S instead of 3NT the fair 6C might be reached. As the hand is South will come in with 3S or at least 2S over 1H and then West will be pushed. 3S might be too effective if anything. If West bids 4C either East or West may end up driving to 6C just out of knowing that 5C is not likely to score well. Contracts were 3Sx S twice, 3NT E, 3NT W(!), 5C E, 5C W four times, 6C E and 6C W. Pauise were the pair in 6C E after the auction P-1H-3S-X; P-4C-P-6C.

?

Without a spade lead, declarer in 6C needs only one of two finesses to work at worst. If North does lead a spade, declarer will need the heart finesse to work and either the diamond finesse or the hearts to split no worse than 4-2. Here with both red suits sitting kindly declarer can take all the tricks in clubs, which was duly done five times. Louise, in 6C E, did not have to risk the heart finesse. When trumps split 2-2, she had a cold twelve tricks by establishing dummy's spade ten. 3Sx can be set four tricks by force but not quite five. Jacob was E-W top in 6C W +1; N-S top was shared between Fivy and Jemer on 5C = and 3NT =.

?

3NT W =; 5C W =

5C E +2; 5C W +2 (3)

3NT E +4

3Sx S -3

3Sx S -4

6C W =

6C E +1

?

2:

?

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

...............10952

...............AQ108

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

J5...........................AQ97

8.............................K74

KJ643.....................975

K10542...................AQ8

...............K10862

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

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

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

?

1NT from East and then it is a question of how (or just perhaps if) South competes. If South shows both majors, North may well compete in hearts despite the vulnerability, although it may be tempting to leave West in diamonds if that is how West proceeds over South. West gets stuck not being able to show invitational values (except perhaps against a Landy 2C, allowing a 2NT relay to 3C followed by 3D instead of bidding a direct 2D), and East may get pushed into 3NT; the stoppers are there but there are not enough fast tricks. Contracts were 1NT E, 2H S, 2NT E, 3C E, 3C W, 3Hx N, 3NT E thrice, 4D W and 4Hx N (the last auction being 1NT-2D-X-2H; 3NT-4H-P-P; X).

?

N-S can take eight tricks by force against no-trumps, although six was quite a fair outcome. With East marked with the majority of high cards, it is not shocking that the layout allows a make of 4H, although declarer has to be dedicated to the correct line of ruffing spades as quickly as possible, especially against a trump lead (declarer can bypass the diamond finesse - with 3-1 trumps South just gets back to hand in time to draw the last trump and cash the thirteenth spade for trick number ten). Homer made 4Hx for the N-S top; E-W top was Wendric's defending 3Hx -1.

?

4Hx N =

4D W -3

2H S =

3NT E -2 (2)

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

1NT E =

2NT E =

3Hx N -1

?

3:

?

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

...............KQJ94

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

...............KJ85

976........................J10854

A82........................1063

J10863..................97

Q4.........................A93

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

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

...............AK54

...............10762

?

N-S could easily have reached 3NT S at every table. If North rebid 2C instead of 2NT after P-1H; 1NT, there was a chance of finishing elsewhere. 3NT S was played eight times, along with 2C N, 3H N and 4C N.

?

Declarer can take eleven tricks in no-trumps by force, although West can give declarer a little anxiety by ducking the first two rounds of hearts. Also the play is complicated by the entry difficulty to the South hand; declarer needs to lead a low club to the jack early in order to benefit from the onside doubleton queen. Fay, Jeff and Jeanne took eleven tricks to split the N-S top. The other five declarers in 3NT took ten for the middle score. Jamob were one of the pairs defending 3NT +1; declarer was still in with a chance at the end of the hand, not having touched clubs, but cashed the spade king at trick eleven instead of taking the club finesse.

?

3NT S +2 (3)

3NT S +1 (5)

4C N +1

3H N =

2C N +2

?

4:

?

...............Q643

...............K2

...............AK87

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

A5..........................J109

AQ65.....................J87

J1063.....................942

KJ7........................A862

...............K872

...............10943

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

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

?

West's 1NT opening bid should save North from doing anything to get N-S into trouble. We could have seen 1NT W at almost every table and it was the contract eight times. One North declared 2S one way or another and East declared twice, once in 1NT and once in 2NT.

?

N-S can take seven tricks against no-trumps by force. If West declares it is harder; North must lead a diamond to South, who must return a spade through the ace, giving N-S three tricks each in spades and diamonds with at least a heart sure to come. This one fell out half and half, with four Wests in 1NT being set and four making the contract. East took six tricks in both no-trumps contracts declared and Henry made 2S N. Jemer, who defended 2NT E -2, were N-S top; E-W top was Pauls's in 1NT W +2. N-S began with three rounds of diamonds, the second and third rounds each giving up a trick, followed by North's club switch to give Paul his second overtrick.

?

2NT E -2

2S N =

1NT E -1; 1NT W -1 (4)

1NT W = (2)

1NT W +2 (2)

?

5:

?

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

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

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

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

KJ942.......................Q1063

2................................AQ63

J963..........................84

A76............................Q94

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

...............K109874

...............KQ107

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

?

The auction seemed likely to start 1C-P-1H-1S; P-3S, putting South under a good deal of pressure. The hand is low on HCP but has the loser count to bid 4H. If East bids 2H instead South can bid 3H and then let 3S go knowing that the hand has at least showed some values. A few tables stopped below 3S and there were more contracts doubled than undoubled: 2S W, 3Dx S, 3Hx S, 3S W twice, 3Sx W, 4H S twice, 4Hx S, 4Sx E and 4Sx W.

?

Only three contracts made. In hearts East can duck two leads through from North and, with the diamonds also splitting badly, even a correct guess in clubs does not allow declarer to force more than nine tricks. All declarers in hearts were defeated, with two taking nine tricks and two eight, a good thing for Ritold, who had doubled 3H. Jacbot could not force more than -1 against 3Dx but were allowed -3 for the E-W top, beating out the three declarers who were allowed a ninth trick in a spade contract. One of these, Victoria, received a heart lead instead of the needed spade or diamond. N-S top was shared three ways on +300 by Jarilee and Glynneth, who defended 4Sx, with Jevin, who defended 3Sx. Declarer in spades starts with only four sure losers but, even if North does not draw East's trumps, declarer will still need to avoid a club ruff or an overruff in a major.

?

3Sx W -2; 4Sx E -2; 4Sx W -2

4H S -1

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

3Hx S -1; 4Hx S -1; 4H S -2

3Dx S -3

?

6:

?

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

...............KQ52

...............J854

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

873..........................KQ64

1064........................987

AKQ97.....................632

A9............................J72

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

...............AJ3

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

...............Q10653

?

?

I thought P-P-1D-P; 1S-P-1NT would be more popular than it turned out to be. West only declared 1NT twice. North declared that contract once on an auction I don't think I'd want to know. There were likely some takeout doubles and perhaps one or two overcalls. Above 1NT, contracts were 2D W twice, 2H N twice, 2S E thrice and 3C S.

?

1NT favoured the defence regardless of who declared. A diamond lead allowed E-W to establish the suit for a fifth trick or even for West to push a spade through North's ace for both a fifth and a sixth. When West declared, a club or heart lead allowed N-S to establish nine tricks and West could force no more. Gareth made 1NT N and Study managed the N-S top defending 1NT W -2, +200 being all they needed for the top score. Jacob received a diamond lead, after which he was head for -1 the whole hand until N-S crashed the club king and queen at trick twelve. Spades could have been held to six tricks but one declarer took seven while Jamie and NJ took eight. This was a little surprising as there was not really much South could do on the hand. Jeff and Karlene took the par nine tricks in hearts. 2D W was also set the par -1 both times. Finally Jeanne, the lone declare in clubs, took the expected nine tricks.?

?

1NT W -2

2H N +1 (2)

3C S =

2D W -1 (2); 2S E -1

1NT N =

1NT W =

2S E = (2)

?

7:

?

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

...............AQ109

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

...............A762

AQ1074.................K82

854........................J762

K82........................Q10943

103.........................5

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

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

...............J76

...............KQJ984

?

If South does not open the bidding, North opens 1C and the side may reach 3NT N if West never gets in a spade bid. This does not bode well for E-W, however, as East?will likely lead a diamond instead without the guidance of an overcall. If West opens 2S East may carry on to 3S or South will balance with 3C and North will likely let it go, or at most make some sort of move to see if South has a spade stopper and let 4C rest. If South opens 1C, West overcalls 1S but North is unlikely to be kept out of game. Contracts were 3C N, 3C S twice, 3NT S twice, 4C S and 5C S five times.

?

3NT is quickly set by a spade lead. 5C can be made by force but will likely be set if the lead is a spade. Marilee and Judy (P) made 5C, and Jeff, who received a heart lead, took the easy twelve tricks. The club partials all yielded eleven tricks; E-W top was split between?Leobot and Pauise against 3NT -1 with Linbot?and Michbot against 5C -1.

?

5C S +1

5C S = (2)

3C N +2; 3C S +2 (2); 4C S +1

3NT S -1 (2); 5C S -1 (2)

?

8:

?

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

...............AKJ64

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

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

87642..................K5

95.........................Q8732

----.......................A109643

1098743...............----

...............QJ1093

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

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

...............KQ52

?

North has a tricky time on the opening bid with a choice between 1H and 2C. If East comes in either red suit can be serious trouble even at the two-level. Slam is likely enough after 2C with South's holding enough values to justify going beyond game, with 3NT the probable destination after 1H. N-S could potentially make game in either major despite the 5-1 suits along with game in no-trumps, and might manage slam in the minors. Usually people managed to stop in time; Contracts were 3NT N thrice, 3NT S thrice, 4S S, 4NT N twice, 6Cx N and 6NT N.

?

With the wild E-W distribution, no-trumps turned out to be the only safe denomination. There was not quite a way to take twelve tricks unless West held Q532 in hearts and covered the ten, but one would not do so if South were declaring, seeing that the whole suit would establish. All the declarers in no-trumps took eleven tricks except for the two results of 3NT = posted against Pauise and Michbot. 4S does not look too bad but the horrendous splits allow E-W to take the first five tricks; Leobot added a sixth trick. 6C has play looking at only the two hands but the layout is grim, with Linbot taking five tricks against 6Cx for +800 and the E-W top.

?

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

4H N +1 (2)

3NT N =; 3NT S =

6NT N -1

4S S -3

6Cx N -4

?

9:

?

...............QJ875

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

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

...............98542

K102.......................A4

A9542.....................KQ87

876..........................AQ95

Q6...........................AJ10

...............963

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

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

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

?

This was the fiendish hand of the set. East opens 2NT and West has a transfer into hearts. There is no serious chance of reaching slam unless East can show a doubleton spade along with four-card support for hearts. We came as close to getting everyone into the same contract here as we would, with 3NT E twice and 4H E nine times. 6H might be reached playing Precision, but would be wrong-sided played by West.

?

Against 3NT a spade lead from South holds declarer to ten tricks at most. Any other lead allows an eleventh. Hearts played by East can take twelve tricks but requires sparkling play against a passive lead. Declarer has to ruff the third spade after taking one high trumps from the East hand then draw trumps in two rounds ending in the West hand. At this point either minor queen will lead to twelve tricks (or thirteen) three-fourths of the time, but the double dummy line is to finesse a lower diamond. South is endplayed and has to lead into dummy, and then declarer can find a squeeze of South in the two minors, winning South's return in the East hand and cashing the ace in the other minor, then returning to the West hand with the heart nine to run the last two hearts, keeping either the diamond eight or club queen as one threat and club AJ or diamond Ax as the other. It's not an easy squeeze to find, as North could easily hold the club king. A diamond or club lead from South gives declarer an easier twelve tricks; four declarers posted +680. Jacob was E-W top in 3NT E +3 after a low diamond lead and then diamond continuation from South after winning the club finesse. Mahn were N-S top wen East took only ten tricks in 4H.

?

4H E =

4H E +1 (4)

3NT E +2

4H E +2 (4)

3NT E +3

?

10:

?

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

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

...............AK9876

...............K72

KQJ62....................109854

Q10965...................8

4..............................Q53

Q10.........................AJ85

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

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

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

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

?

Does West open in third seat? It would be nice for pairs with an opening bid to show both majors. North will overcall in diamonds if West opens anything and then it is off to the races. If West stays quiet once we start P-P-P-1D; P-1NT, after which another pass could well lead to 3NT S. If spades ever make their way into the auction E-W get to 4S and then it will be a question of whether N-S go on to 5D or not. We finished with a 6-5 split, contracts of 4S W four times, 4Sx W, 5D N four times and 5Dx N twice.

?

Either suit yields ten tricks. Spade contracts are straightforward, making or failing on the club finesse. Diamonds are a little trickier; declarer comes to ten tricks with North declaring, as there is no way to prevent a discard of a club on the spade ace and then ruffing the fourth heart without East's being able to draw South's third trump. Gareth made 5D and Mike made 5Dx after East led the club ace either right away or when in with the diamond queen. Two declarers somehow missed the timing and lost a fourth trick. Everyone in spades took ten tricks except against Jarilee. Their double of 4S could well have backfired but worked to their advantage, as a nervous declarer went down after the infamous lurker check, drawing trumps but then playing another round just to be sure.

?

5Dx N =

5D N =

4Sx W -1

5D N -1

5D N -2 (2); 5Dx N -1

4S W = (4)

?

11:

?

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

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

...............Q103

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

K9842....................Q7

AK52......................J10

J4...........................K972

Q4..........................AJ753

...............A1053

...............Q764

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

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

?

With South dealer, this looks like one of those hands destined for 2NT via the E-W auction 1S-1NT; 2H-2NT. (Had East dealt and passed, West might prefer to take the side's chances in 1NT.) We could consider this a sort of Goldilocks hand with four conservative Easts giving preference to 2S, three optimistic Wests accepting the invitation and going to 3NT, and four invitations declined with a contract of 2NT E.

?

for the most part this was a resounding win for the conservatives. A heart lead holds no-trumps to seven tricks because it kills the entry situation for E-W to be able to establish the spades. Declarers in no-trumps took six tricks twice, seven tricks four times and ten tricks once - by Linda. Play began diamond, club, diamond, diamond, with each diamond lead costing N-S one trick. Linda was E-W top and Minn N-S top defending 3NT E -3. Spade contracts can take nine tricks by force, mostly because North is more or less endplayed on opening lead. Three declarers did take nine tricks; Fivy were allowed to hold declarer to eight.

?

3NT E -3

2NT E -2; 3NT E -2 (2)

2NT E -1 (2)

2S W =

2S W +1 (3)

2NT E +2

?

12:

?

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

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

...............A1097

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

K2............................J1075

A1063.......................97542

QJ63........................85

KJ10.........................64

...............Q983

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

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

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

?

I find this one puzzling. Is there a plausible alternative to 1D from West, 1NT from North and South's eventually reaching 3NT? Nothing else makes much sense to me but only six pairs played 3NT N, with lower contracts of 1NT N, 2C S, 2H W (which makes some sense if North is stuck over a weak 1NT opening bid; I strongly advise pairs to use a double of a weak 1NT as strength-showing rather than for some form of takeout)., 2NT N and 3C S; the N-S partials likely resulting from a takeout double?

?

Although the N-S pairs to miss game avoided a trap (3NT is set by a heart lead; West cannot be put under any pressure), four of the six declarers in that contract made it. Mike was even N-S top taking an overtrick after a spade opening lead and eventually a diamond from West at trick seven when a heart would at least have held him to the contract. Ritold were E-W top defending 3NT N -3; against Pauise declarer also went to extremes when the clubs didn't oblige and finished -2. 2H W could have been set but Jacob made it. Clubs yielded the par ten tricks to Jeanne; Linbot held declarer to eight.

?

3NT N +1

3NT N = (3)

3C S +1

1NT N =; 2C S =

2NT N -1

2H W =

3NT N -2

3NT N -3

?

13:

?

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

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

...............KQ97

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

A975......................J86432

A10765..................98

----.........................J8543

K975......................----

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

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

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

...............QJ1062

?

Can spades ever get into the auction here? If East passes and South opens 1NT, West may show both majors and East bids 4S in a flash, this being the sort of hand that could easily have a double game swing.?4S might also be reached after a 1D opening bid and a takeout double. A pass over 1NT from West likely leads to 3NT S, which can also be reached after P-P-1C-1H; 2H. Contracts in either minor are also possible. We ended with 3C S thrice, 3D N, 3Dx S, 3NT S thrice, 4S W, 5D N and 5D S.

?

Diamond contracts look nasty but do better played by North, as West can lead a club and give East three ruffs. Henry made 3D N; Kevin took ten tricks in 5D -1; Vinj were E-W top defending 3Dx S -2. Ten tricks were par in clubs, the result twice with Jamob holding the contract to nine. The nine of clubs was a key card, preventing both 5C and 3NT from making. But 3NT required a spade lead; Fay and Marilee took ten tricks after a heart lead, although Wendric did manage the par -1 on defence. 4S takes eleven tricks but not on the gaudy cross-ruffing. The hearts establish; if the opening lead is a diamond, forcing West to ruff, declarer must suck a heart at once.

?

3NT S +1 (2)

4S W -2

3C S +1 (2)

3C S =; 3D N =

3NT S -1; 5D N -1

5D S -2

3Dx S -2

?

14:

?

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

...............AJ62

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

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

107.......................KQ98

984.......................K103

A1075...................Q42

AQ74....................932

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

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

...............KJ63

...............J105

?

1C from North in fourth seat and then do E-W ever get into the auction? They have half the points but neither has an easy in.?Some?Easts found the suit good enough to come in with 1S, ending the auction twice and leading to 1NT W, a contract also played twice by South and thrice by North. The higher contracts were 2C N, 2Dx W (I have no idea how that happened) and 3H N.

?

The layout favours E-W. No-trumps technically suits the defence; E-W get?eight tricks if West leads spades through North before N-S get hearts started. North or South can be held to five tricks, West to seven. But, as i often the case, all the declarers overperformed. 1NT was never defeated. Jacob took eight tricks declaring as West, as did Mike as North and Lynn (G). Lynn's overtrick came when West led a diamond at trick five instead of a heart or spade. 1NT was the only contract to make; all the other contracts scored +100 for the defence. John bettered par by one trick playing 3H N -2; 1S E could have been made by force.

?

1NT N +1; 1NT S +1

1S E -2; 2Dx W -1

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

1S E -1

2C N -2; 3H N -2

1NT W +1

?

15:

?

...............Q983

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

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

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

AK64....................1052

96.........................KQ72

J8.........................Q64

AK983..................J102

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

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

...............AK752

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

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After last board's Tribute to 1NT we seemed headed for 1NT E via 1C-1H; 1S-1NT unless South were to come in with 2D. We only saw 1NT E twice and 1NT W thrice - did West open 1NT. Two Wests disliked the diamonds enough to go on to 2C over 1NT. One South overcalled 2D and played the hand there. The three higher contracts were 2S W, 2NT W and 3C W, the first and third making some sense after a 2D overcall and the second after a 1NT opening bid and an optimistic response.

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A diamond lead holds no-trumps to eight tricks the easy way, although declarer might manage not to do any better against passive defence. +120 is the highest declaring score that can be forced; nine tricks are straightforward in clubs and eight not so straightforward in spades. 2D S can be -2 for the E-W top if E-W are able to make sure of two heart tricks without allowing declarer a discard. Clubs never matched par; Fivy were N-S top defending 3C W -1 while Paul scored well playing 2C W +2. The no-trumps partials took seven tricks, eight tricks twice, nine trcisk and ten tricks twice. Linda and Jacob tied for E-W top in 1NT +3, Linda from the East side and Jacob from the West. North gave Jacob two tricks, one with a diamond discard at trick seven and the other with a spade lead at trick nine, at both points on which a heart could have been played instead. Martin took his eight tricks in 2S for close to a middle score. Leigh Ann was able to pull out a seventh trick in 2D to save 80%. My guess is that the opening lead was a spade and that Leigh Ann was able to get two discards on the spade queen and nine, East's trumping the nine just using the defence's natural trump trick.

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3C W -1

1NT W =

2D S -1

2S W =; 2C W +1

1NT E +1

2C W +2

1NT W +2; 2NT W +1

1NT E +3; 1NT W +3

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16:

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

...............AK1086

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

...............AKJ82

K753.....................QJ64

4............................QJ52

AKQ874................J52

63..........................Q4

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

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

...............963

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

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The HCP were about evenly divided. Even at reverse vulnerability the North hand can justify an Unusual 2NT; at favourable vulnerability with so much potential offensively and good defensive potential as well I would favour a double planning to follow with hearts, as North is not especially afraid of E-W's getting the auction to a high level in spades. A constructive game bid is not unlikely and North can carry on over just about any E-W auction, perhaps the trickiest being 1D-X-1S-P; 3S, which is about what the West hand is worth; I'd probably rather bid 4S than 2S if I could be sure partner wouldn't take flight and go for slam. On this layout, if North doubles East bids either 1H or 1NT; the former slows North's ambitions. If North overcalls 1H, East may make a negative double, bid 1S or try 1NT. E-W did not often outbid N-S; contracts were 2H N, 2NT N(oops!), 3C N, 3C S, 3H N twice, 3S W, 4H N thrice and 4S E.

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With clubs 2-2 and the bad trump split, declarer has nine tricks in hearts, the outcome at all six tables playing in that suit. Club contracts take an extra trick, as there is only one heart loser. That happened both time clubs were played. Spade contracts can be held to eight tricks if North gets a diamond ruff. Fivy managed this for N-S top defending 4S -2; Paul made 3S for E-W top. Jamob had a remarkably easy time setting 2NT and picked up another trick for an extra 15% in the score.

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4S E -2

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

3C N +1; 3C S +1

4H N -1 (3)

2NT N -2

3S W =

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17:

?

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

...............A98753

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

...............J1087

J752........................Q1064

Q4...........................J62

K54.........................QJ106

Q542.......................A9

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

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

...............98732

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

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If North opens 2H it probably goes around. Then again, P-P-1D-P; 1H-P-1NT-P; 2H is about equally plausible, although North has the loser count for more. In the end, 2H N was attempted seven times. Higher contracts were 2NT S, 3H N twice and 4H S after the auction P-1D; 1H-1NT; 3H-4H.

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The Losing Trick Count proves to be right on the spot this time; in 4H North loses one trump and two clubs. Ten tricks were taken at seven tables, with JP (2H +3) overperforming as declarer, Jamob and Leobot (2H +1) on defence. No-trumps get interesting; an early diamond lead not only establishes a minimum of five tricks for the defence but at the same time prevents declarer from cashing the three long hearts. After that E-W ought to come to seven tricks. After a spade lead declarer can force an eighth trick, while a club lead and any return but a diamond lets declarer come to nine, the table result in 2NT +1.

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4H S =

2H N +3

2H N +2 (4); 3H N +1 (2)

2NT S +1

2H N +1 (2)

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18:

?

...............AJ10653

...............85432

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

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

984...........................Q7

AQJ..........................109

K10...........................AJ73

KQ973......................AJ654

...............K2

...............K76

...............Q8542

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

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We finished with a trap for E-W. If East opens, West drives to game and may well respond with an immediate 3NT. An inverted raise in clubs gives the side the chance to find they have no spade stopper and then 5C becomes the likely contract - at least there was a good escape available. If East passes West opens 1NT and then it becomes a question of whether North comes in on the 6-5 distribution. If not, East likely just jumps to 3NT. If North does come in E-W have a fighting chance to find their way to 5C. Six of the eleven E-W pairs walked into the trap and declared 3NT W. Other contracts were 3C E, 5C E, 5C W twice and 6C E.

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3Nt is -2 against any spade lead except the ace. Minn, Leighry, Glynneth, Study and Jemer took their six tricks and split the N-S top. Only Michelle did not receive the killing lead and emerged with ten tricks for the E-W top. Club contracts could have been held to eleven tricks by a spade lead. Wendy could have been E-W top in 5C +1, with Elizabeth following in 5C =. Karleta managed to set 5C when declarer unnecessarily ran the diamond ten for a finesse.

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3NT W -2 (5)

5C E -1; 6C E -1

3C E +1

5C W =

5C W +1

3NT W +1

Okay; thanks for letting me know.

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RT

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