1: Opening lead made a world of difference when N-S declared:
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...............92
...............75
...............J104
...............AKQ1063
65.................................KQ
AKQ8...........................5432
732...............................AK98
9843.............................J75
...............AJ108743
...............J109
...............Q85
...............----
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I suppose N-S have a chance of stopping in 2Sif North opens 1C and rebids 2C, although even then South might invite with 3S. If North passes, we have a spade overcall at some level by South and a negative double by West. North bids clubs. East has the worst heart suit possible but bids them anyway and then it's just a question of who gives in first.
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Despite the lack of entries to the North hand it made surprisingly little difference to the heart contract who declared as declarer had no useful discard and five clear losers. In spades however, while E-W could cash four tricks off the top and wait for the sure trump trick, the lead did matter. West either led or switched to a club, which is not always a bad idea. Sometimes the only entries to a long suit in dummy are in that suit itself and leading it to run declarer out of the suit early is the best defence. Here, however, it backfired. South had three club winners and cheerfully discarded all the hearts, losing only two diamonds and a spade to make 4S while 3S was defeated.
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4S S = by Bob
4H E -2 vs Cinbot
3S S -1 vs Maribot
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2: N-S had intervening bidding to overcome:
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...............AJ
...............AQ6
...............KJ53
...............A543
Q1095432........7
J.......................K109852
9.......................Q107
9762.................KJ10
...............K86
...............743
...............A8642
...............Q8
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East opened 2H and West might have considered some number of spades at some point but resisted even the temptation of favourable vulnerability to come in with 4S. It was just as well as, barring poor defence, 4Sx will result in a score of -800. I wonder what might have happened had West tried a cheeky forcing 2S; if N-S were not using 2NT over a double to show a discouraging hand the auction might become discombobulated. As it was, N-S found their way to 3NT at every table, twice by North (2H-P-P-X; P-3D-P-3NT?) and once by South, likely P-P-3S-X; P-3NT, rather better than ending up in some number of diamonds. In the play all three declarers took ten tricks; the trick gained if East leads a heart turns out to go away when there is not time to lead up to the queen of clubs.
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3NT S +1 by Hank; 3NT N +1 by Harold and Cindy
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3: HCP were 11/14/10/5. N-S had 7-1 clubs and E-W 4-4 hearts with a 4-1 split. The hand was a tricky one if South opened, as North held seven clubs. If 2C was game forcing, North probably had to respond 1NT, which looked like taking seven or eight tricks. If North could respond 2C and rebid 3C, that contract rated to make for a fair result. Two Souths apparently did not open with a 4=4=4=1 hand pattenr and 11 HCP, despite the 2.5 Quick Tricks. North overcalled 2C and played the hand there, South opting not to try 2NT. Hank pulled 3C to 3NT and could have been defeated, as E-W could have taken four spade tricks as soon as they got in with a club. But with the spades AQJx opposite a doubleton king, West was hardly going to find the low spade lead needed and Hank wrapped up the contract.
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3NT S = by Hank
2C N +1 vs Loubot and Maurie
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Leaders: Harob-Maurie 3.5, Heve-Maribot 3
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4: N-S had a chance to get busy to good effect:
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...............32
...............4
...............J973
...............J109854
AJ10986...............Q75
10752....................AKJ86
842.......................A6
----........................732
...............K4
...............Q93
...............KQ105
...............AKQ6
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If West opens 2S, East may well just decide to bid 4S rather than poke around for information with 2NT, as even AJxxxx in spades and out will offer some play for game. 2S-P-4S likely gets a double from South and then it's just a question of whether North finds the successful pull to 5C, 5Cx only being -2. If West passes, East opens 1H, South doubles and West makes some sort of raise - 4H dreaming of 4S from North? something fit-showing in spades? At least the hand is too weak for a splinter raise. I could see the auction ending in a weak jump raise to 3H, but the one partial was 2H E, along with 4H E and 4S W.
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4H is a mildly better spot than 4S. A club lead against 4H lets declarer bring in twelve tricks instead of eleven, losing only a trump. In 4S, there is only one discard available, which does not help declarer avoid a diamond loser. Against 4H South did well to find the diamond lead, saving half a matchpoint by tying 4S +1. 2H took twelve tricks against Heve.
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2H E +4 vs Heve
4H E +1 by Cindy; 4S W +1 by Mary
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5: North's 1S opening bid made this potential E-W game interesting:
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K
J73
Q872
Q8652
?
87653
AKQ8
A
KJ9
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One West opted not to balance at all. At another table disaster struck. West misread the auction and jumped to 4S after 1S-P-P. East tried 5C and West returned to 5S, doubled by South. The third table eventually finished in the intriguing contract of 4H W.
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4H W needs two things to make - a spade ruff in dummy and to knock out the club ace before drawing trumps. Hearts were 3-3 and clubs 3-2 but N-S could have set 4H with trump leads. Dummy must still have a trump when North's club ace is knocked out and if N-S lead trumps three times declarer only has nine winners. Louise was -1 in 4H but still had the E-W top, as Harold managed an overtrick in 1S N and Maribot defended 5Sx W -4.
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5Sx W -4 vs Maribot
1S N +1 by Harold
4H W -1 by Louise
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6: Which game N-S might best try looked a harder question than it was:
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J985
AK8
KJ7
Q96
?
4
932
A8652
AKJ8
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Everyone played 3NT N. As North had responded 1S to South's opening 1D there was little chance of a spade lead and in this case it would have done no harm, as East held AKQ third.? With the diamond queen-third onside, the heart lead looked like yielding eleven tricks instead of ten, but declarer tried to drop the diamond queen and in the end West did not find the spade switch so that all three declarers took ten tricks. Flat board.
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3NT N +1 by Steve, Laurie and Harold
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Leaders: Maribot 6.5, Cinbot-Heve-Maurie-Harob 6
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7: After West opened 2H, N-S had an interesting time of it:
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K853
KQ98
A5
J93
?
Q1072
----
Q10942
KQ64
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One of the 2H opening bids ended the auction, although South could have made a balancing double, especially as a passed hand. Another auction finished in 3H W. Reaching 3NT after 2H by West might have ridden on a decision from North to upgrade the hand to a 2NT overcall on the likely triple stopper in hearts, although then 4S might well be reached instead. At the thrid table, West stayed quiet throughout, with N-S producing the auction 1C-1D; 1H-1S; 2S-3S; 3NT.
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West held J AJ10654 J8 8752 and took eight tricks in hearts thanks to East's prime asset of the doubleton ace of clubs. 3NT seemed to come down to whether declarer guessed the diamonds correctly, as there were the three aces and king to lose. Louise, who has perhaps more experience playing 3NT than anyone else among our regulars, was not fazed by the situation and perhaps even received a diamond lead.
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3NT N = by Louise
3H W -1 vs Heve
2H W = by Bob
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8: This E-W slam needed only 2-1 diamonds:
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A1053
KJ8
J654
A8
?
Q6
AQ3
AK9732
K2
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After West's 1D opening bid, North came in with 3C. This proved too much at two tables, with a negative double followed by 3NT, ending the auction. Only Cinbot reached slam, with Eastbot bidding 3NT and Cindy jumping directly to 6NT, choosing no-trumps just in case North's overcall was on ace-seventh opposite a singleton. An uncontested auction would begin either 1D-1S; 2NT or 1D-1S; 3D, after either of which responder would be happy to participate in a slam hunt. I wonder if, after a negative double, the best call would be 4NT taken as non-forcing. At IMP scoring one would not object to bidding 4D, but at matchpoints if there is no slam 4NT may be the best one can do without giving up on slam prematurely.
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With diamonds 2-1 everyone took exactly twelve tricks. There was a chance of a thirteenth, as the spade king dropped singleton, but after seeing some spade discards from the other side, declarers all tried running the queen instead.
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3NT W +3 vs Heve and Maribot
6NT E = by Cindy
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9: N-S had a nice solid 3NT:
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AQ42
105
Q6
AKQ95
?
J9
J642
AK32
874
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If the auction were uncontested 1C-1R; 1S-1NT; 2NT-3NT would seem normal enough with the variation being responder's choice of red suit. This time the auction will not go that way as East held AKQ873 in hearts. South might bid 1NT over 1H; a 2H overcall can be passed around to North for a double; South will the bid no-trumps and North will raise to game. Everyone reached 3NT S.
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With East holding the singleton jack of clubs, declarer could easily finesse West for the ten on the third round but could not necessarily manage a free shot at the overtrick in the spade finesse. Unless East took all three high hearts in the beginning, establishing the jack, declarer could not manage the spade finesse without help - a spade lead or switch would be just the ticket. Two declarers emerge with nine tricks and Louise with ten.
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3NT S +1 by Louise
3NT S = vs Maurie and Harob
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Leaders: Harob 10, Loubot 9.5, Heve-Maurie 9
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10: Here was the day's nine-card suit:
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...............KQJ976432
...............Q84
...............9
...............----
108..................................----
J1092..............................A63
10532..............................AKQJ87
652..................................AK97
...............A5
...............K75
...............64
...............QJ10843
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With East dealer, two Easts had a chance to open 2C well before North got to bid 4S, which everyone did. East then naturally bid 5D; only Maurie, whose opponent had opened 1D instead of 2C, took the leap and went to 5S. When the heart ace was not led and did not come down doubleton 5Sx was one down, but the West hand was just good enough to make 5D due to the red intermediates. 6532 in trumps and the hand would have had only one entry - any worse heart holding and there would have been no double finesse. But Cindy and Marian both managed the relatively easy play for the satisfaction of declaring a making game with one jack in the hand.
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5Sx N -1 by Laurie
5D W = by Cindy and Marian
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11: N-S had a fortunate 3NT:
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A964
85
KQ1042
KQ
?
Q72
AQJ103
J3
952
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It seemed as if this one would not reach gaem; two tables produced the reasonable 1D-1H; 1S-2H - a little heavy, but what can South do? Only the intrepid Heve arrived in 3NT, where even Louise declined to tread.
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The club holding looks disastrous for N-S in no-trumps if there is anything that has to be established, but the saving grace was that the clubs split 6-2 instead of 5-3. East held Ax in clubs, the diamond ace and the heart king, even the spade king as well for good measure. Only the 1D opening bid kept East out of the auction. Heve were able to bring home their improbable 3NT despite 5-1 diamonds. In 2H, Louise took ten tricks when the defence missed their chance to bother declarer with ruffs, but Harob held declarer to six.
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3NT N = by Steve
2H S +2 by Louise
2H S -2 vs Harob
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12: Laurie's?choice of opening bid worked exceptionally well on this hand:
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...............QJ
...............AQ8
...............AKQ1062
...............Q4
K10654.....................A9872
42..............................J6
974............................J5
985............................AKJ10
...............3
...............K109753
...............83
...............7632
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Over 1D, East overcalled 1S and one West sacrificed in 4S. Another auction reached 4H S after South bid 2H over East's 1S. Laurie chose a 2NT opening bid, which effectively shut E-W out of the auction and 4H N was reached after a transfer sequence.
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Marian made 4S despite N-S's being able to cash the first four tricks, but it made no difference. 4S -1 would have been E-W top anyway. Hank took ten tricks in 4H and Laurie took eleven. East led a high club, was not sure whether to cash the other club or not and tried the ace of spades, on which West played the ten. Laurie's hidden asset of the running diamond suit made for an overtrick.
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4H N +1 by Laurie
4H S = by Hank
4S E = by Marian
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Leaders: Maurie-Maribot 13, Heve 12.5, Harob 12
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13: E-W had a tough time in this game:
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A10532
AK
Q3
KJ73
?
QJ94
Q6
A542
1096
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4S seemed inevitable and all three Easts arrived there, whether after a single raise and jump, single raise and invitation, or limit raise. Switch West's hearts and clubs, making the queen useful, and 4S should walk in. On the actual layout the game still does not look too bad but the spade king and club queen are both offside and even if North held the diamond king there would be no way to make use of the situation.
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Two N-S pairs duly defeated 4S by one trick. Against Louise, the defence gave away a ruff-and-discard; then when a club was led North rose with the ace and solved the guess.
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4S E -1 vs Heve and Cinise
4S E = by Louise
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14: E-W had 4S if they could bid it but there was a twist:
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KJ95
AJ3
A1082
J10
?
AQ863
4
QJ5
7654
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After 1D-1S; 2S, Bob was the only West to value the hand as worth an invitation, with or without competition. Harob did reach 4S against Heve, but Hank had a 1=6=1=5 hand pattern and sacrificed in 5Hx S while the other two Wests were left in 2S and 3S.
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With the diamond finesse working 2S and 3S?yielded eleven tricks at both tables. Hank lost a diamond, spade and heart, then had to guess whether to play for 2-2 trumps or to finesse East for the jack. After a considerable pause he made the winning guess.
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5Hx S -1 by Hank
2S W +3 by Louise; 3S W _2 by Marian
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15: N-S had to work out how high it was safe to compete:
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...............8
...............53
...............KQJ1074
...............A963
K73.............................AQ
QJ9.............................A10842
A9862.........................3
QJ...............................K10854
...............J1096542
...............K76
...............5
...............72
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At least one South opened 2S. One way or another two E-W pairs found their way to game, 3NT W for one and 4H E for the other. At the third table North wandered up to 3D and down came the hammer.
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West's diamond spots were just good enough for 3NT. North had a dilemma on getting in with the club ace - cashing the three diamon winners established declarer's ninth trick while not doing so let declarer play on hearts. 4H took ten tricks but declarer did not need an eleventh. 3Dx only had to be set two tricks for the top board and that was exactly the result.
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3Dx N -2 vs Harob
4H E + by Louise
3NT W = vs Cinbot
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Leaders: Heve 16, Loubot 15.5, Maribot 15
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16: Heve had another sacrifice in 5Hx, this time at favourable vulnerability:
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...............Q
...............AKQ62
...............Q9754
...............Q9
9763......................AK10542
4............................10953
K86.......................J3
AKJ53...................10
...............J8
...............J87
...............A102
...............87642
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West likely opened 1C, over which North likely overcalled 1H rather than 2NT. East got to bid 1S and, after a voluntary raise from West to 2S, could try 4S fairly confident that someone could make game somewhere. Two Easts were left in 4S; Heve pushed on to 5Hx.
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5Hx could have been put into some jeopardy by a forcing defence, but luckily declarer had a trick to burn to avoid going down more than game. The hand wavered between -2 and -3 for a while, eventually settling for -2. Both declarers in 4S took eleven tricks with ease.
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5Hx N -2 by Steve
4S E +1 by Louise and Laurie
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17: This board had the biggest gift and returned gift of the day:
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...............KJ9
...............J2
...............943
...............K8654
754...................Q1082
AQ109864.......53
J.......................Q752
A7....................Q102
...............A63
...............K7
...............AK1086
...............J93
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South opened 1NT and West competed in one way or another. One West bid 2C to show a single-suited hand and played 2H. Another auction got more competitive and ended in 4D S. The third West doubled, edning the auction.
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Declarer in 2H might have taken nine tricks with willingness to commit to the heart finesse, but instead just played ace and another, not wanting to run into 4-2 spades. Eight tricks was a sufficient result for the middle score. Declarer in 4D finished -3 instead of -2 (a possible result had declarer taken the quasi-Restricted Choice trump finesse). The left the play in 1NTx, against which West led a?middling heart. After winning and taking out a high diamond, dropping the jack, declarer had the option to cross to the spade king and run the diamond nine, finessing East for the queen. In the purest sense of the word this is not a true Restricted Choice, as West could falsecard with an honour from QJx. If there were a combination play to make the contract the falsecard could work beautifully but here declarer had nowhere else to go to get to seven tricks, East was given the diamond queen, West discarded a club and a spade, East returned the second heart and I left the table prepared to enter 1NTx -2 and an E-W top. But the next time I was at the table, I saw that West had stopped running hearts, either misclicking or forgetting that the contract was in no-trumps; in the end declarer came to eight tricks after all.
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1NTx S +1 by Bob
2H W = by Mary
4D S -3 vs Maribot
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18: Would anyone reach or make game on the closer?:
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...............J963
...............A1072
...............953
...............A10
10...........................AK52
8543.......................K9
AQJ2......................84
KJ93.......................Q8654
...............Q874
...............QJ6
...............K1076
...............72
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With only 23 HCP combined for E-W game was unlikely but would make given the kind position of the red honours and the 4-3 hearts. Would someone press for glory on the last hand? Two Wests rebid an invitational 2NT on the second round of the auction after a 1S rebid from East. The third table stopped in a conservative 2C E, +3 on the kind layout, a result that could not have been prevented. This might not have played out badly, as 2NT could have been held to nine tricks by a heart or spade lead. But the opening lead was in the unbid diamond suit both times and both declarers emerged with ten tricks when the dust settled.
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2C E +3 vs Cinbot
2NT W +2 by Marian and Louise
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Final: Loubot-Maribot-Heve 18.5, Cinbot 18
