1:
?
...............Q1054
...............K652
...............J107
...............K4
7...........................AK982
J94.......................Q73
AK94....................83
AJ1072.................965
...............J63
...............A108
...............Q652
...............Q83
?
This hand might have been passed out but West opened at every table. Auctions tended to go in pairs: 1C -1S; 2C twice, 1C-1S; 1NT twice and 1C-1S; 1NT or 2C-2S twice. The outliers were 2D W and 2NT W.
?
No-trumps has a reasonably kind lie. Nine tricks are possible if N-S lead hearts, eight otherwise. Lin was E-W top when South returned the diamond queen at trick three when a low diamond or a spade would have held. The other NT contracts took eight tricks. Eugenie took the ten tricks she could in clubs; Ritold held declarer to nine. Judy (P) made 2S but Mryne set it; an aggressive diamond attack may succeed.
?
2D W -1; 2S E -1
2S E =; 3C W =
1NT W +1; 2NT W =
3C W +1
1NT W +2
?
2:
?
...............1087
...............5
...............AQ94
...............QJ975
A3........................J654
J10863.................Q9
107532.................K6
A..........................108632
...............KQ92
...............AK742
...............J8
...............K4
?
One South opened 1H and was left there. Another South opened 1H and left North in 1NT. I don't think anyone opened Flannery. All the other auctions ended in 3NT, with North declaring by a 4-2 margin. Opening 1NT with 5-4 majors seems a little odd. although it might lead to competition from West and N-S's defending a doubled partial. The plurality pattern seemed to be a 1NT response from North and South opting to invite.
?
3NT looks a bit dodgy but has a kind layout. Eubot defeated 3NT N when declarer put off the spade finesse too long; both 3NT S contracts were defeated as well. Three 3NT N contracts made; Tracy took ten tricks after a club opening lead.
?
3NT N +1
3NT N = (2)
1NT N +2
1H S =
3NT N -1; 3NT S -1 (2)
?
3:
?
...............964
...............93
...............Q1054
...............A1076
Q5..........................1083
K542......................AJ876
K98........................J763
Q943......................8
...............AKJ72
...............Q10
...............A2
...............KJ52
?
1S from South, usually raised by North and then it was just a question of whether South invited game or went directly to 4S. One East was allowed to play in 3H after competition; the other contracts were 3S twice and 4S five times.
?
4S can make by force but has to get lucky - declarer needs to drop the spade queen and bring in the clubs; South's heart queen turns out to be wasted and would be most useful in a black suit. Curiously, 4S made three times out of the five. Jeff received a club lead and then led out the ace and king of spades as there happened to be no entry to dummy once he had not played the ten on the first trick.
?
4S S = (3)
3S S +1
3S S -1; 4S S -1 (2)
3H E =
?
4:
?
...............AK632
...............QJ8
...............A43
...............J10
Q10854.................7
K97654.................----
----........................KQJ10986
A5.........................KQ982
...............J9
...............A1032
...............752
...............7643
?
This is the most important hand of the set. Controversy erupted at one table which will be detailed later. First, West had to choose an initial call after South passed. Four different actions were selected; we had three passes, three 1H openings, one 1S and one 2H. Had the suits been six spades and five hearts then 1S would likely have been a majority choice. The 1S opening bid did not have a good result; the auction ended in 5Hx W when East eventually gave up. The 2H opening bid ended in a contract of 4D E. 1H led to 3Hx W, 4D E and 5D E. Passing led to 4D E, 4Dx E and 5D E.
?
I want to discuss the 4Dx E auction for a moment. East has quite a powerful hand but the particular East overcalled 3D after North opened 1S. When asked to explain, East replied, "Diamonds". That is not a proper reply to the question. E-W had weak jump overcalls on their card and a proper answer would have been something like, "Natural, weak". Now, East clearly, despite holding only 11 HCP, does not have a weak hand. But it is acceptable to violate bidding agreements on purpose if one tries to make the auction sound a certain way. East may have been trying to get doubled, planning to start with 3D, then bid 4D and possibly 5D, which under normal circumstances looks like dreadful bidding. Perhaps East did not want to lie and say the bid was weak when the hand was strong. But "weak" was the correct answer because the opponents are allowed to know the agreement but not the hand. As weak jump overcalls are not Alertable and as N-S took the bid as weak when they doubled, there were no grounds for me to adjust the results, but North naturally felt rather ill-used in getting a flimsy answer to the question. Always describe the agreement, which goes equally truly if one makes a mistake. How often does someone click on the wrong bid and then get asked what it means? In such a case the best response is to tell how partner should interpret the bid. Sometimes there will be recourse if an error mars the auction irreparably to the opponents' detriment but many errors are just part of the game.
?
In the play, we see how a solid suit does not need support. Even if forced right away, West can draw trumps and come to eleven tricks when the clubs behave. I was afraid some pairs might play in clubs, where declarer cannot take eleven tricks if N-S force early ruffs. East loses control of the trump suit and cannot run the diamonds unless clubs split 3-3. But even a 5-1 split does not sink 5D. All the diamond declarers took eleven tricks except for Louise, who took twelve after the lead of the ace of hearts. Jevin defended 3Hx -4 for +1100 and, unusually, were only second best for a four-figure penalty; Jamob scored +1400 defending 5Hx -5.
?
5Hx W -5
3Hx W -4
4D E +1 (3)
5D E =
5D E +1
4Dx E +1
?
5:
?
...............94
...............K1064
...............54
...............QJ972
AKQ753..............J102
87........................J95
3..........................KQJ98
10864..................K5
...............86
...............AQ32
...............A10762
...............A3
?
South opens 1D and West overcalls 2S (the "good 14" crowd may want to upgrade the hand to 1NT if they can live with two doubletons when one is xx). Does North come in with a negative double? If so East raises to 3S and then it is hard to keep South from bidding 4H. If North passes East might raise. 3S likely ends the auction; if East passes South may balance. Eventually 3S or 4H seems likely. Contracts were all in spades: 2S twice, 3S four times and 4S twice. possibly as a sacrifice.
?
4H gets very lucky unless E-W are sharp. Suppose West cashes two spades and switches to a diamond. Declarer draws trumps ending in dummy. If the club queen is run next, East must duck and declarer comes up a trick short; covering allows declarer to finesse the nine next and run the suit after one ruff, for which there is not another entry if East ducks first. In spades, East's honours are wasted if N-S defend reasonably - they take two hearts, two clubs and a diamond and declarer comes to only eight tricks. But N-S had a problem. The opening lead was usually a diamond and then South had to guess who had the singleton. Robert and two other declarers in partials took ten tricks after a diamond return at trick two. Both the 4S contracts were only set one trick. Lin made 3S. Kenbot/Eubot were the only table to produce the expected result of eight tricks; Troward set 2S when declarer drew trumps too soon and could only ruff one club as the diamonds were not established first.
?
2S W -1; 3S W -1; 4S W -1 (2)
3S W =
2S W +2; 3S W +1 (2)
?
6:
?
...............2
...............AKQ1065
...............72
...............J873
9864..........................AK53
7.................................J9843
J1085.........................964
AK102........................6
...............QJ107
...............2
...............AKQ3
...............Q954
?
Looking at just the N-S hands 3NT is reasonable, thanks to the heart ten. The suit will behave a little more than half the time and E-W cannot take more than the black ace-kings. 1D-1H; 1S-3H; 3NT would be a fair auction. 4H is rather shakier double dummy; E-W are almost sure of a club ruff, although the bid often works out in practice. Contracts were 2H N, 3H N, 3NT N(!) and 4H N five times.
?
Heart contracts are held to eight tricks by a black-suit lead, the result posted by Eubot and Glynneth against 4H as well as by Study against 3H and Myrtle in 2H, which was N-S top as the only plus score. Three declarers in 4H escaped for -1, a higher number than I'd have expected. Tracy, for instance, received a club lead and spade switch; East eventually got endplayed in trumps and had to give up the second undertrick. 3NT is interesting; if declarer can cobble together three black-suit winners then the 5-1 hearts are no problem. Trying two hearts at once may fail; declarer has communication trouble and will have to be careful to start spades rather than play clubs too early and let West cut the N-S hands off too soon. An initial diamond lead may be enough to set 3NT, at least in practice. Harold finished -1 but that was still above average opposite all the heart contracts.
?
2H N =
3H N -1; 3NT N -1; 4H N -1 (3)
4H N -2 (2)
?
7:
?
...............85
...............Q9873
...............K6
...............AJ76
AJ10962..............Q43
K54......................A10
107.......................Q83
Q7........................K10432
...............K7
...............J62
...............AJ9542
...............95
?
If South opens 2D, E-W may get pushed into 4S if West squeezes out a light 2S overcall, although East may downgrade the diamond queen and only invite. 3S seems the most likely spot if West passes and East balances with 3C, or if South cannot open 2D and West opens 2S. contracts were 2S W, 2Sx W, 3S W thrice, 4H N(!) and 4S W twice.
?
The layout is kind to 4S - the spade finesse works and the suit splits 2-2; declarer can even be careless and get away with taking the heart ruff first without an overruff and there is no club ruff. The one snag allowed Ritold to defeat 4S; West did not ruff the third diamond high and Harold got an overruff with his eight-spot. Declarer could have spared the nine. Everyone else in spades took the expected ten tricks, Judy (R) picking up the top in 2Sx +2. Cinise defended actively to set 4H two tricks instead of one, useful at this vulnerability.
?
4S W -1
2S W +2; 3S W +1 (3)
4H N -2
4S W =
2Sx W +2
?
8:
?
...............AJ87632
...............J5
...............5
...............AQ3
Q..............................K1095
K4............................Q62
KJ832......................A1076
KJ1087....................65
...............4
...............A109873
...............Q94
...............942
?
After 1D-1S, whether East raised diamonds or bid 1NT, E-W rated to find their diamond fit and compete to 3D; would North carry on and allow East to double 3S? would hearts get into the picture? One East was left in 1NT when West opted not to show the clubs and North was disinclined to continue. North declared 3S and 3Sx. The remaining contracts were in diamonds: 3D twice, 4D, 5D and 5Dx.
?
Diamonds could take nine tricks by force, although that would entail guessing the trumps correctly. If North competed in spades with vigour, that would not be unlikely as 3-1 diamonds would make bidding high more appealing to North with a singleton. Kenbot defeated 3D when West spurned the finesse but all the other declarers in diamonds took nine or ten. 3S and 3Sx both finished the expected -2. In 1NT Kathy took ten tricks after a spade lead and continuation. Had South led a heart it would have been necessary to duck the lead in both hands to make 1NT at all.
?
5D W -2; 5Dx W -1
3D W -1; 4D W -1
3S N -2
3D W =
1NT E +3
3Sx N -2
?
9:
?
...............953
...............A10742
...............J10
...............972
62............................AQJ8
KJ93........................85
875..........................AKQ642
Q854.......................6
...............K1074
...............Q6
...............93
...............AKJ103
?
P-1D-2C-P; P and East comes in again with 2D, 2S or double. The hand has fine playing strength, justifying 2S - game needs only Kxxx in spades opposite and, if there is no spade fit, 3D is highly unlikely to be dangerously high. west likely goes back into diamonds, although one West proved quite intrepid. Contracts were 2D E, 3D E thrice, 3H N, 3NT W and 4D E twice.
?
3NT is defeated after a club lead unless South foolishly wins the first two rounds or wins the first round and switches. Forcing the queen while there is still communication in clubs will just do. If declarer wins the queen and runs the diamonds, South comes down to K10 in spades and four good clubs; because there is no second club in dummy there is no endplay! Diamond contracts all took ten tricks except against Myrne; declarer played the third trump and was unable to ruff the fourth spade. 3NT was the expected -1 against Ritold; 3H N finished -4, one trick more than Study needed for the top board.
?
3NT W -1; 4D E -1
2D E +2; 3D E +1 (3); 4D E =
3H N -4
?
10:
?
...............8765
...............8653
...............AK8
...............109
3...........................J104
AQ7......................J42
Q76.......................109532
AKQ874................J3
...............AKQ92
...............K109
...............J4
...............652
?
South opens 1S and West either overcalls 2C or doubles. Double seems fine; if East can reply with 1NT then 3NT should have reasonable play. North may go or at least eventually get the auction to 3S over either 2C or a double; that likely ends the auction. Contracts were 2S S, 3S S thrice, 4C W thrice and 4Cx W; Wests were largely feeling frisky.
?
Clubs can be held to eight tricks by force, although only by a weird sort of ping-pong. If N-S take the diamond ruff off the top West can draw trumps ending in dummy and use the two long diamonds. If N-S start passively, the club jack is the only entry to the East hand to run a diamond intermediate through South's Jx, but N-S can take the diamond ruff then and there will be no entry to the East hand to cash diamonds. Myrne produced 4C -2, tying Jevin's 4Cx -1. Spades are held to eight tricks by an overruff on the third round of clubs. All four spade contracts took eight tricks.
?
4Cx W -1; 4C W -2
2S S =
4C W -1
3S S -1 (3)
4C W =
?
11:
?
...............10742
...............KQ107
...............874
...............K7
AQJ965.................K83
86..........................J4
93..........................KJ652
832........................QJ6
...............----
...............A9532
...............AQ10
...............A10954
?
1H-2S-3H-3S and then South is worth at least 4H. If South knew North held four hearts and more or less invitational strength then there might be a look for 6H, as opposite four-card support a helpful club holding gives 6C some play. Contracts ranged widely: 3S W, 4H S four times, 4Sx W, 5H S and 5S W undoubled after the auction 1H-1S-2H-3H; 4C-4S-5H-X; P-5S (I suspect South misclicked).
?
Either 2-2 hearts or 3-3 clubs allow declarer to take twelve tricks if one of the diamond honours sits with East; here, as both rounded suits spit evenly, the king alone is enough for thirteen tricks, taken in three of the five heart games. Cinise and Eubot were able to hold declarer to twelve tricks when declarer was slightly inaccurate. The thirteenth trick mattered when 4Sx was set the appropriate three tricks; +510 beats +500. the undoubled spade declarers both dropped a trick but had the top two scores.
?
4H S +3 (2); 5H S +2
4Sx W -3
4H S +2 (2)
3S W -3
5S W -5
?
12:
?
...............AKJ3
...............3
...............K102
...............AKQJ4
Q106......................52
97652.....................AKQ10
QJ73.......................9865
3.............................1065
...............9874
...............J84
...............A4
...............9872
?
Some Norths opened 2C and some 1C. Two auctions got dropped in 3C N but everyone else found the way to game: 3NT N, 4S N twice, 4S S and 5C N twice.
?
With the spades behaving so kindly both black suits provide twelve tricks. 3NT got both lucky and unlucky - unlucky that East was on lead with the obvious heart lead (had it been 3NT S, would Bill [S] have led a spade had the suit not been bid from Q10x?) but lucky that the suit blocked, saving 2.5 matchpoints for declarer. Limy were E-W top, posting 5C -1 when declarer never played spades until having to lead the suit out from hand at trick ten.
?
4S N +2; 4S S +2
4S N +1
5C N +1
3NT N =
3C N +3 (2)
5C N -1
?
13:
?
...............AJ65
...............J9
...............K65
...............AKJ4
1043........................KQ98
85............................K732
Q102........................AJ7
Q7532......................106
...............72
...............AQ1064
...............9853
...............98
?
This was one hand on which we had everyone produce the same auction. 1NT-P-2D-P; 2H was the auction at all eight tables; not a peep from any East or a look for game from any South.
?
Declarer can take nine tricks by force, although that likely entails having to finesse in clubs, potentially dangerous if the spade ace has been knocked out. East may be able to ruff the third club and give away the trump trick?for the protected king. In practice, East gets stuck on lead quite often and gave declarer ten tricks thrice while only Kill held declarer to eight. Kevin, one of the three declarers to take ten tricks, ducked a spade lead, then received a diamond switch when a heart or club was needed.
?
2H N +2 (3)
2H N +1 (4)
2H N =
?
14:
?
...............KJ102
...............7643
...............A82
...............J4
3........................A965
KJ8....................Q95
73.......................Q1065
KQ97652............83
...............Q874
...............A102
...............KJ94
...............A10
?
Does West bid 2C or 3C over 1D? 2C gets a negative double from North; 3C rides to South who may make a balancing double. Contracts all got higher than 3C: 3D S, 3S N, 3S S thrice, 4C W, 4Cx W and 4S S.
?
A club lead holds declarer to a maximum of nine tricks in spades, though fewer are certainly likely, as the diamonds may not be guessed to lie as they do and the 4-1 trumps are a further complication. Robbot posted 3S -2 when declarer led a spade at trick seven (a heart or diamond was needed at that point) and a second undertrick when the diamond was led at trick nine but to the king instead of the jack. Club contracts would seem to have nine tricks but Kenbot took a fifth against 4C to tie Jamob's 4Cx -1. Howard and Rita made 3S to tie for N-S top.
?
3S S = (2)
3D S =
4C W -2; 4Cx W -1
3S S -1; 4S S -1
3S N -2
?
15:
?
...............J54
...............K832
...............KJ97
...............Q2
Q3.........................A1086
76..........................AQJ104
A543.....................86
97653....................J8
...............K972
...............95
...............Q102
...............AK104
?
At least one pair bids up-the-line instead of majors first, as one auction ended in 1NT W: 1C-P-1D and then East either doubles or overcalls 1H, over either of which West likely bids 1NT, ending the auction unless North opts for a double. 1C-P-1H likely keeps East quiet, likely leading to 1S-1NT on the second round and a contract of 1NT N, played thrice. South's playing 2NT twice may have been after 1C-P-1D-X; 1NT-P-2NT; the other contracts were 2NT N and 3D N. The 3D auction was 1C-P-1D-X; P-1S-1NT-2H; 3D, South likely thinking East's hand to be rather better than it was.
?
E-W can come to six tricks declaring or defending no-trumps. Defending is simple - lead hearts and establish the sixth trick. declaring one just has to duck two rounds of diamonds and West comes to six tricks with two spades, three hearts and the diamond ace or, instead, four hearts and one spade. Bob took nine tricks in 2NT S when West did not hold up the ace and later led a spade when a heart would still have held declarer to eight tricks. 1NT N yielded eight tricks every time but Cinise defended correctly to post 2NT -1. 3D -3 was E-W top for Marudy.
?
2NT S +1
1NT N +1 (3); 2NT S =
1NT W -1
2NT N -1
3D N -3
?
16:
?
...............KJ32
...............Q2
...............AK4
...............AJ107
74................................6
K864...........................J10953
10652..........................873
Q84.............................K652
...............AQ10985
...............A7
...............QJ9
...............93
?
Here was our slam hand, reached at every table. Even if North opens 1NT (I believe one pair did, as their range extends to 18 and they finished in a contract of 6S N) South will at least transfer to 2S and then raise to 4S to show mild slam interest or do something more encouraging with the six-loser hand. If 1NT-4H; 4S-5H is not Exclusion, it accurately lets North know to bid 6S with control of both minors. One pair reached 6NT S, four bid 6S S and two pairs went to 7S on the auctions 1C-1S; 4S-4NT; 5D-7S and 1C-1S; 4S-4NT; 5D-5NT; 6S-7S. I'm not sure what 6S showed, but both Souths seemed to expect better playing strength from North, but I don't think there was room for it if one accepts that North would have splintered with Kxxx AKxx A Axxx or bid 4C with Kxxx Ax A AKJ10xx.
?
Slam turns out to be a question of right-siding. 6S N got unlucky; not only did setting 6S require a heart lead from the hand without the king but East had a natural lead of the heart jack. South always took twelve tricks, losing one club but finessing twice and discarding a heart on the third club. It was unfortunate that the diamonds split 3-3; slam is cold if North had held KJ32 Q2 AK74 AJ10 and grand slam opposite KJ2 Q2 AK1043 AJ7.
?
6NT S =
6S S = (4)
6S N -1; 7S S -1 (2)
?
17:
?
...............A10742
...............93
...............Q83
...............AK9
KJ86...........................53
AJ106.........................Q8752
J42..............................A9765
Q5...............................2
...............Q9
...............K4
...............K10
...............J1087643
?
North opens 1S and then it is a question of whether East comes in with 2S or not. An uncontested auction begins 1S-1NT; 2C-3Cwhich would seem to be enough but was never the contract; the only pair in 3C had South declaring. One pair declared 2NT W, which seemed to indicate a different way of proceeding after the cue-bid. I'm not sure how East declared 3H and 4H; did the bidding begin 1S-P-1NT-X? Contract were varied: 2NT W, 3C S, 3H E, 3NT S, 4C S, 4H E and 4H W, not the same contract and declarer at any two tables.
?
Lin had a happy escape in 2NT W -1, although -2 would not have scored any worse. Both 4H contracts made, Robert after an opening lead of the club ace, although the winning defence is hard to find. North must lead a diamond to the king, then South returns the diamond ten and North DUCKS. If dummy overtakes trumps can be drawn but there are two diamond losers. If dummy ducks North wins a club and gives South a diamond ruff or declarer must play ace and another trump out of hand. When declarer was able to ruff a club before diamonds were played, a low diamond from dummy through South picks up the suit on the lucky layout for one loser. Bob could have been defeated in 3NT S but was home after West led the heart jack, emerging with ten tricks in the end for our double game swing.
?
3NT S +1
3C S +1; 4C S =
2NT W -1
3H E =
4H E = (2)
4Sx N -3
?
18:
?
...............J94
...............A1085
...............53
...............Q962
K87...........................Q
Q...............................KJ9632
J9742........................A108
A743..........................KJ8
...............A106532
...............74
...............KQ6
...............105
?
1H-1S-X-2S; 3H-3S-X might have been possible but never occurred. South overcalled either 1S or 2S. Every auction reached 3H; half the N-S pairs competed to 3S, and half the auctions that went to 3S carried on to 4H, one auction being 1H-2S-2NT-3S; 4H.
?
With South on lead there was no way to force two diamond tricks, allowing East to take nine tricks in hearts. Spades can take eight tricks by force, although there is a chance that E-W can force South to ruff a third heart with the ten if the defence cashes two clubs before leading the third heart through. But all eight tables produced the double dummy result in tricks, scoring 5.5/7 for the Easts left in 3H, 4.5/7 for Jeff and Wendy, who were left in 3S, and 6.5/7 for Myrne and Kenbot, who pushed their opponents into 4H.
?
4H E -1 (2)
3S S -1 (2)
3H E = (4)
