1:
?
...............A96
...............A32
...............J9
...............AJ1065
K5432......................QJ8
K865........................J1094
A3............................Q75
73.............................984
...............107
...............Q7
...............K108642
...............KQ2
?
With both sides holding two eight-card fits and with South holding what seems to be invitational values, the real surprise is not that we ended up with a rainbow of contracts but that nobody bid game. 1C from North, 1D from South and then West came in with either a double or 1S. Four auctions ended low with two contracts of 1NT N and 2D S. The high contract was 4D S; the most popular level was the three-level with contracts in all four suits: 3C N, 3D S five times, 3H E twice and 3S W.
?
With the double fit, the hand plays best in diamonds, which can only be held to eleven tricks by a spade lead. A heart lead makes it easy to take twelve tricks; a club lead has to be won in the North hand with the jack or ten for the first diamond finesse. Five declarers in diamonds took twelve tricks; one took eleven and two took ten. Club contracts do one trick worse because the side suit can be neutralized; South can be forced to ruff a heart or spade because a club is the only possible entry to the long diamonds if West holds off on the ace and the ruff stops the diamonds from running. A spade lead holds no-trumps to eight tricks, with one declarer taking eight and one nine. Major-suit contracts could have been held to seven tricks, with a black-suit lead needed to effect this against hearts. Jerik were N-S top defending 3S W -4; West dropped two tricks, one by starting hearts with a lead to the king and the other by later ruffing a diamond low and allowing an overruff. The Easts in 3H had the top scores their way, Bev taking eight tricks and Matt making the contract.
?
3S W -4
2D S +4 (2); 3D S +3 (3)
1NT N +2; 3C N +2; 3D S +2
3D S +1; 4D S =
1NT N +1
3H E -1
3H E =
?
2:
?
...............QJ8
...............987
...............J932
...............AQ9
A532........................10764
105...........................A2
Q1064......................AK87
J64...........................K105
...............K9
...............KQJ643
...............5
...............8732
?
1D-2H ended the auction once but usually West doubled (and I'd expect East for double . 2S E ended the auction once. The battle usually was decided on the three-level, with 3S E outdoing 3H S by a margin of 5-3. That left three contracts of 4H and one of 4S.
?
The Law was spot on this time. The unlucky clubs mean that heart contracts should take only eight tricks. Spades can take nine by force although it may take some sharp play (or a diamond lead). Bev in 2S +1 was the only declarer to take nine tricks, which seems a little on the low side, although it seems possible that declarer can get stuck in the East hand and be unable to lead a second club through. It's not that surprising that heart contracts took nine tricks more often. Jatin and Kalle both posted 3H = to tie for N-S top. Kalle made the contract after two rounds of diamonds were gone with the queen cashed and the king played. West got in with the spade ace and led a third diamond, allowing the ruffing finesse. Carthurl and Heve tied for E-W top defending 4H -2.
?
3H S = (2)
2H S =
4S E -2
3S E -1 (5)
3H S -1; 4H S -1
2S E +1
4H S -2 (2)
?
3:
?
...............J95
...............A106
...............AK7
...............10954
----.........................KQ732
QJ8........................K52
QJ63......................1052
AQJ872..................K6
...............A10864
...............9743
...............984
...............3
?
It looks as if 1C from West kept North out of the auction - a good thing most of the time, although here South ought to do all right in spades. But all the contracts were E-W. After 1C-1S; 2C East might bid 2D or 2NT. Two Easts rebid 2S and West (usually a wise thing to do) left it in. Then we had four contracts of 3C W, six of 3NT E and one of 3NT W, along with 5C W.
?
Absolute par was ten tricks in clubs for E-W. North has three top tricks and no 4-2 diamond split to produce a ruff. All four declarers in clubs took ten tricks to split the middle score. No-trumps depends largely on South's finding the spade lead. Only Phoebe and Cindy produced that lead as South, after which declarer has only seven tricks. Rich, Mark, Matt and Hank (V) all made 3NT to tie for second E-W, Rich after a heart lead to the ace. Had North ducked the first heart, Rich could have established a trick in either spades or hearts, but then N-S, who had four top tricks, could have established their fifth trick in the same suit in which Rich had just established his eighth. Henry's 3NT E +2 was E-W top. Phoebot and Conndy were in a three-way tie for N-S second with Haorge's 2S -2. Glynneth took their eight tricks for 2S -3 and the N-S top.
?
2S E -3
2S E -2; 3NT E -2 (2)
5C W -1
3C W +1 (4)
3NT E = (3); 3NT W =
3NT E +2
?
4:
?
...............K76542
...............QJ2
...............KQ
...............Q7
J..............................AQ1098
10975......................5
107642....................853
642..........................AKJ3
...............3
...............AK864
...............AJ9
...............10985
?
This time North opens 1S and shuts East out of the auction. South responds 2H and then the side gets to game, usually 4H but occasionally 3NT. The one partial came about after North opened 2S (the hand certainly justifies a downgrade, but that's a bit extreme), which was left in. Games were 3NT S twice, 3NTx S and 4H S ten times.
?
Carthurl did quite well defending 3NTx S -1; the double calls for the lead of dummy's suit, spades. After a spade lead even if dummy ducks East can cash the first five tricks. On any other lead South just plugs away at clubs and East is helpless, unable to reach West's good diamonds or avoid having to give away the ninth trick in one black suit or the other. Jatin and Del both made 3NT, Jatin after a diamond lead. 4H is held to eight tricks by a spade lead with careful defence. It was a popular result, posted seven times. 2S could have finished -1 for a nice result, but declarer did not expect the bad trump split and finished -3 against Leighry, giving them the E-W top, a result which I have to call an overall example of Justice being done for the 2S opening bid.
?
3NT S = (2)
4H S -1 (3)
3NTx S -1; 4H S -1 (7)
2S N -3
?
5:
?
...............Q6
...............AK8632
...............87
...............1095
KJ83.......................A10974
J5............................Q10
J10962....................KQ53
86............................K4
...............52
...............974
...............A4
...............AQJ732
?
I expected the auction to start 2H-2S-3H-3S, with South perhaps bidding 3C instead. Half the auctions ended on the three-level, with one contract of 3H N and six of 3S E. Half the auctions reached game, with contracts of 4H N, 4S E five times and 5C S.
?
The layout was quite kind to N-S, the only positive thing for E-W being that the diamonds split 2-2 to prevent any inconvenient ruff. Par in spades was eight tricks for declarer. In clubs or hearts declarer takes eleven tricks against a spade lead but can pick up thirteen against the lead of any other suit. All three N-S pairs to declarer took all thirteen tricks: 4H +3 for Jim, 5C +2 for Geof and 3H +4 for Phoebe. The natural lead for East was the diamond king; West might have opted for a diamond as well. At this vulnerability even the partial outscored the undoubled sets. The eleven spade contracts resulted in seven tricks thrice, eight tricks six times and nine tricks twice. Rich was E-W top in 3S =, with a six-way tie on -1.
?
4H N +3
5C S +2
3H N +4
4S E -3 (3)
4S E -2
3S E -1 (5); 4S E -1
3S E =
?
6:
?
...............A942
...............QJ1086
...............7
...............A96
8..............................KQ1063
A975........................42
10843......................QJ92
8432........................Q5
...............J75
...............K3
...............AK65
...............KJ107
?
This looks like 3NT or perhaps 4H after a 1NT opening bid from South. North might transfer, use Stayman or even start with 2C followed by 3S Smolen to show the 4=5 majors. One pair had a bit of luck. East opted to come in with 2S after P-1NT-P-2C. This was passed around to North, who doubled. Other contracts were 3H N, 3H S, 3NT N, 3NT S nine times and 4H S.
?
Declarer can take eleven tricks in hearts or no-trumps. This depends on playing East for the club queen, but declarer can be assisted by not wanting to lose the lead to East if there are spade tricks ready to cash but West cannot lead the suit. Pharah were N-S top defending 2Sx -4, the par result. Declarer in 3NT posted +460 six times, +430 thrice and +400 once. Randi held declarer to nine tricks in 3NT when two heart losers were left stranded in dummy. 4H and one of the 3H contracts took eleven tricks; Leighry were E-W top defending 3H S =.
?
2Sx E -4
3NT N +2; 3NT S +2 (5)
4H S +1
3NT S +1 (3)
3NT S =
3H N +2
3H S =
?
7:
?
...............975
...............A854
...............Q92
...............AK8
AQJ86.................K102
KJ3......................Q92
KJ3......................A754
Q2........................J109
...............43
...............1076
...............1086
...............76543
?
This was?nearly as close as we came to everyone's taking the same number of tricks. West might open either 1NT or 1S. Almost everyone reached game, with contracts evenly divided between spades and no-trumps: 2S W, 3S W, 3NT W seven times and 4S W five times.
?
It's?almost straightforward to take ten tricks in either denomination. Declarer is a bit uneasy in 3NT if N-S clear the clubs off the top,?as then there is a choice between knocking out the heart ace and trying the diamond finesse. Ten tricks in spades seem almost a sure thing. One declarer took eleven, but, as the contract was only 2S, it did almost no good. The other declarers in spades took ten tricks. In 3NT, four declarers took ten tricks, one took nine and Haorge were N-S top posting 3NT -1; declarer let South in with the diamond ten.
?
3NT W -1
3S W +1
2S W +3
3NT W = (2)
4S W = (5)
3NT W +1 (4)
?
8:
?
...............643
...............8732
...............AQ73
...............A2
A5...........................KQ8
10964......................J5
J92..........................1086
K954.......................QJ876
...............J10972
...............AKQ
...............K54
...............103
?
This began a run of three board on which 41 of 42 contracts were in spades. Perhaps no East opened 1C in third seat, leaving South to open 1S in fourth seat. One North responded 1NT and South opted to leave it there. Everyone else played in spades, 2S S twelve times, which I shall assume to be mainly after some form of Drury, and 3S once.
?
Spade contracts can be held to nine tricks if West leads a club or a club switch is found after E-W win a round of trumps. Only Larbot 1 and Keianne found the successful line to hold spades to nine tricks. E-W top went to Mattbot defending 1NT N =; declarer had eight tricks but lost one on a misclick.
?
2S S +3
2S S +2 (10)
2S S +1; 3S S =
1NT N =
?
9:
?
...............J95
...............AJ76
...............J106
...............1064
AK874.................Q1062
9843....................10
K43......................Q952
2...........................AKQ7
...............3
...............KQ52
...............A87
...............J9853
?
The Round of Spades (with West always declaring) began. It looked as if we might get everyone into 4S after 1D-1S; 2S and at least an invitation. Contracts were 2S, 3S twice, 4S ten times and 5S once.
?
Declarer had what could have been a routine eleven tricks. There was chance of a twelfth if a diamond jack lead ran to the king. Declarer can discard the diamond losers on the clubs and give up a heart, but South wins and pushes through the fourth club; West must ruff high and North can discard a diamond; after that North will get a trump trick at some point. If N-S are sufficiently passive West might never manage to establish an eleventh trick and come to only ten in the end. Eleven declarers took eleven tricks, two took ten and Kalbot were N-S top defeating 4S - declarer drew trumps after a trump lead and later dropped another trick.?
?
4S W -1
2S W +3; 3S W +2 (2)
4S W = (2)
4S W +1 (7); 5S W =
?
10:
?
...............K4
...............982
...............K7542
...............854
Q10982................7653
A10.......................QJ7
AQ8......................9
J107......................AQ962
...............AJ
...............K6543
...............J1063
...............K3
?
P-1H-1S-2H and then East can make a limit raise. If East also shows four trumps West might go on because of the good intermediates or because the hand could be worse but there were more 2S contracts than 4S, with contracts at the two, three and four level five times, six times and thrice respectively.
?
Declarer has ten tricks somewhat more than half the time and takes ten tricks here with the trumps behaving (2-2 split or at least half the 3-1 splits) and the heart finesse right even with the club finesse wrong. This turned out to be the closest we came to everyone's taking the same number of tricks. Only Glynneth held declarer to nine tricks when West took a diamond finesse at the third trick.
?
2S W +1
2S W +2 (4); 3S W +1 (6)
4S W = (3)
?
11:
?
...............K63
...............AJ76
...............J105
...............872
AQ.......................J1074
KQ10843.............952
K642....................97
6..........................KQ43
...............9852
...............----
...............AQ83
...............AJ1095
?
1C-1H-1NT and then East likely raises to 2H or perhaps passes. South does not want to sell out but does not want an excited North to go to game. The Good-Bad 2NT allows South to show a competitive club hand by bidding 2NT as a relay. West is almost sure to compete to 3H. North might go for a matchpoint double; the bidding does not seem all that likely to go much higher. Contracts were 1H W, 2D S, 3H W six times, 3Hx W twice, 3S S twice, 4H W and 4Hx W.
?
This time the hand performed below the prediction of the Law. N-S could take eight tricks in either diamonds or spades. Larry (Sh) matched par in 2D S = but 3S proved too difficult for the opponents of Ribot and Troward, who both posted 3S -3 to tie for E-W top. Heart contracts could have been held to seven tricks by the lead of the ace, seven or six of trumps. This ensures that declarer gets locked out of dummy when there is anything useful to do there. Heart contracts took eight tricks eight times. Jerik were the only N-S pair to hold declarer to seven tricks. Dianne and Carl were the only two declarers in hearts to take nine tricks, both posting 3H = for the best declaring result on the hand. Dianne received a diamond lead and continuation; a spade switch would still have allowed N-S to force -1.
?
4Hx W -2
3H W -2; 3Hx W -1 (2); 4H W -2
2D N =
3H W -1 (3)
1H W +1
3H W = (2)
3S S -3 (2)
?
12:
?
...............J10853
...............A5
...............986
...............Q52
42..........................KQ
107643..................KJ2
Q10........................AK42
K1097....................A864
...............A976
...............Q98
...............J753
...............J3
?
East opened 2NT. West almost always bid 3D and followed with 3NT, with East almost always correcting to 4H. East always declared. Contracts were 2NT, 3H, 3NT and 4H eleven times.
?
With a second heart loser, 4H looks rather iffy, even though it cannot be set by force. With a second heart loser, declarer could need the diamond finesse, but the odds are against N-S's being able to cash their three tricks and get off lead without having to break a minor. The opening lead for South most likely to succeed would have been a low trump. That would have forced declarer to find the diamond finesse. But leading either minor gives the contract away at once, while ace and another spade gives declarer a chance to force an endplay against one opponent or the other. In the end 4H finished -1 six times (including against Phoebot when declarer declined the diamond finesse), = four times and +1 for Ken, who presumably received a diamond lead and a club shift, or the other way round. No-trumps could have been held to eight tricks but both pairs of defenders overperforming, with Pharah posting 3NT -3 for the N-S top.
?
3NT E -3
2NT E -1; 4H E -1 (6)
3H E =
4H E = (4)
4H E +1
?
13:
?
?
...............J8
...............AQ974
...............2
...............108532
107542...................63
62...........................KJ105
K105.......................AQ98763
AK4.........................----
...............AKQ9
...............83
...............J4
...............QJ976
?
A heavy 3D opening bid might end the auction. Over a 1D opening bid, a diamond partial or an adventurous 3NT could be in play if South passes. A 2C overcall could get the auction very high, depending on North's style. Contracts were 2D E, 3C S, 3D E twice, 3H N, 3NT W twice, 4C S, 4D E four times and 5Cx S twice.
?
Club contracts take nine tricks, ten if E-W do not cash their diamond winner before declarer gets in. Larbot 1 had the best defensive result for E-W, posting 5Cx -2. With South's having a natural spade lead, diamonds took the par ten tricks six times while Bev took an eleventh. 3H could have been held to seven tricks by a diamond lead but Kalle escaped with eight, no insignificant thing opposite the wall of E-W partials. The fun contract was 3NT; could N-S find their five top tricks? Howard and Lee both took ten tricks to tie for E-W top, Howard after a low heart lead.
?
3C S =
3H N -1; 4C S -1
2D E +2; 3D E +1 (2); 4D E = (3)
4D E +1
5Cx S -1
5Cx S -2
3NT W +1 (2)
?
14:
?
...............Q1065
...............----
...............AQ1085
...............J754
J74............................AK92
A105..........................KQJ97
K976..........................32
1083...........................Q2
...............83
...............86432
...............J4
...............AK96
?
One pair opened 2D Flannery as East (with an appropriate hand for once) but the auction usually began 1H-P-2H. 2H E was played three times along with 2Hx E (not a decision from South one could recommend). North's acting, usually with a double, generally pushed E-W to the three-level. 3H E was played seven times and 3H W once. Two auctions went higher, finishing in 4C S and 5Dx N.
?
The lead of either minor against a heart contract lets N-S force East to ruff and holds declarer to seven tricks, although an eighth is possible after the lead of a major. Three declarer is 3H underperformed and finished -3 against Phoebot, Larbot 2 and Haorge. Ken and Larry (St) were the only successful declarers, both posting 2H = to tie for E-W top. East ducked the spade lead against Phoebot. 4C finished the expected -1 against Leighry; 5Dx could have been -3 against the lead of a red suit but finished -1 to save declarer two matchpoints.
?
3H E -3 (3)
2Hx E -1; 3H E -2 (2)
2H E -1; 3H E -1 (2); 3H W -1
4C S -1
5Dx N -1
2H E = (2)
?
15:
?
...............A7
...............----
...............KQJ743
...............AK965
KQ103.................98652
QJ10863..............5
A6........................108
8...........................107432
...............J4
...............AK9742
...............952
...............QJ
?
Whether South opens 1H or 2H, that silences West. A 1H opening bid gives North ambitions.?Four partials were played - 2H S, 3D N twice and 4D N, along with 6D N thrice. The other N-S pairs all finished in games, 5D N outdoing 3NT N by 4-3. Geoel's auction to 6D was 1H-2D; 2H-3C; 3D-6D, North highly encouraged by South's 3D bid even on a preference. It's possible - just - that slam could have virtually no play; South could hold something like QJx AKQxxx xx xx and two rounds of trumps leave declarer stranded in hand. But it's difficult for South to hold none of the three main cards (diamond ace, spade king or club queen), any one of which?could be enough, especially if opener holds three diamonds. But finding the cards one would need for a grand slam seems almost impossible; 6D seems the practical compromise.
?
6D requires careful play because of the 6-1 hearts (and secondarily the 5-1 clubs. Joel and Sarah made the slam, while declarer went down against Randi; of the ten diamond contracts, five saw declarer take twelve tricks. Joel received a spade lead to the ace, crossed to the club queen, discarded a spade on the heart ace and led a trump. As West held the ace there was no club ruff. Against Joel the return was a spade, allowing him to ruff, draw trumps and cross to the club jack for a discard of the low club. A second heart would have found declarer just able to ruff high. But carelessness in either hearts or clubs would have allowed a ruff. Two of the three Northbots steered the bidding into the impossible 3NT, which a spade lead must defeat. Larry (Sh) did not receive a spade lead and finished with eleven tricks; Carthurl's declarer tried desperately to make something out of nothing and finished -3.
?
6D N = (2)
3NT N +2
5D N +1 (2)
5D N =
3D N +3
3D N +2 (2); 4D N +1
2H S =
6D N -1
5D N -2
3NT N -3
?
16:
?
...............Q73
...............AQ8
...............K8764
...............A7
A9652....................KJ10
KJ1054..................972
92...........................J
J.............................K109432
...............84
...............63
...............AQ1053
...............Q865
?
This seemed an unlikely rainbow hand. The vulnerability was likely to scare West off a light opening bid and East off an overcall over 1NT opposite a passed partner. Two Souths left 1NT in, a conservative action if the range is 15 (or 14+)-17, but one of the two Souths was Erik, and Jerik's range tops out at 16. 2NT N was played only once. I thought we might see a contract of 2Cx E (a highly pleasing prospect for South) but the only club contract was 3C N when one of the Northbots took South's 2NT as lebensohl. 3D was played thrice, once by North and twice by South. Three N-S pairs carried on to 3NT one way or another. The highest partial was 4D N. When West got into the auction, E-W got all the way to game despite the vulnerability, West declaring 4Hx and 4S. One intrepid North got all the way to 5D.
?
The 5-5 diamonds and tenuous spade stopper make 3NT look like a grim prospect, but the contract cannot be defeated when North declares. The spade queen can be trapped but West has no entry to cash the fourth and fifth spades. Declarer has the time to lead a club to the queen to come to nine tricks. Gareth and Sarah took their nine tricks and Joel took ten for the N-S top. He received a club lead to the queen, ran the diamonds ending in the South hand, then finessed in hearts and cashed out. West was on lead at trick eleven with the A9 in spades and one good heart while East held the spade KJ and club king; West cashed the heart, East discarded the spade and then West led the spade ace next to give Joel the last trick with the spade queen. the no-trumps partials each yielded one overtrick, the par-bettering -120 scoring 10.5/13 for E-W while -150 scored only 5/13. Paun posted the expected 4S W -3, but declarer in 4Hx W escaped with only -1 (-2 could have been forced) to save three matchpoints. Of the five diamond contracts, three declarers took the expected ten tricks while two took an eleventh (Heve set the one game to score 12/13). 2Cx E would have been interesting. If South goes for a ruff right away 2Cx is only -1. The chance of -2 and +500 comes if instead N-S begin with two diamonds. If East tries to draw trumps the force is on and N-S get their two-trick set. But East can start hearts instead and just get out with seven tricks. Carthurl were E-W top defending 3C N -3; -2 would have been enough.
?
3NT N +1
3NT N = (2)
4S W -3
4Hx W -1
2NT N +1; 3D N +2; 3D S +2
3D S +1; 4D N =
1NT N +1 (2)
4Hx W -1
3C N -3
?
17:
?
...............10543
...............AKJ
...............Q743
...............82
J2.......................AK98
Q65....................1043
962.....................AK105
A10973...............QJ
...............Q76
...............9872
...............J8
...............K643
?
We came so close. Thirteen Easts opened 1NT and that ended the auction. Who were the jokers in the pack? No prize for guessing it was Heve. Steve opened 1D and raised Hank's 1NT response to 2NT.
?
The club blockage is inconvenient for declarer. The hand is also right-sided when declared by West, though not enough to make a trick difference. The club spots are just good enough in conjunction with the 4-2 diamond split, to let East as declarer force eight tricks. After three rounds of hearts and a diamond switch, declarer passes a club, then cashes both diamond winners, overtakes the second club, knocks out the king and South must put dummy in. After three hearts and a spade switch, declarer passes a club and then cashes the second spade. If South unblocks the queen, then South never gets in; East establishes a trick in spades and another in diamonds. If South keeps the queen, East passes the other club, cashes the diamond and then puts South in with the spade queen, Again South will have to lead a club.
?
It is not surprising that most declarers took only seven tricks, given all the guesses needed to take eight. Tracy and Hank (V) tied for E-W top with nine tricks; Mark and Rita took eight. Boric and Haorge tied for N-S top setting 1NT. Against Boric declarer finessed a diamond to South and was stuck in hand at trick eleven with North and East holding:
?
105
----
Q
----
..........K9
..........----
..........10
..........----
?
South still held a low spade; instead of endplaying North with the diamond queen declarer cashed the spade king and finished -1.
?
1NT E -1 (2)
1NT E = (8)
1NT E +1 (2)
1NT E +2; 2NT E +1
?
18:
?
...............Q3
...............Q9654
...............Q642
...............Q4
A972.......................KJ4
KJ8.........................A2
108..........................K753
AK32.......................J975
...............10865
...............1073
...............AJ9
...............1086
?
It looked as if we would at least get everyone into 3NT, declared usually by East if not always. But we somehow saw one auction end in 1NT W (P-1C; 1D-1NT?) and another in 2C W along with the dozen games. East outdeclared West by a margin of only 7-5; maybe some Easts raised a 1S response to 2S on KJ4 with an outside doubleton.
?
The black suits are beautifully kind to declarer, although some declarers will suspect that the spade queen's dropping on the second round is a falsecard from Q103. Boric closed out a fine finish (alas, to no avail) by managing to defeat 3NT W, suggsting that perhaps declarer ran the club jack and/or played the diamond king early. Ten tricks could have been forced. Eleven tricks were taken by Louise, Sandi, Tracy and Lee to share the E-W top, Sandi after a heart lead from North. The par 3NT +1 occurred six times to split the middle score.
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3NT W -1
2C W +2
1NT W +3
3NT E =
3NT E +1 (4); 3NT W +1 (2)
3NT E +2 (2); 3NT W +2 (2)
