1:
?
...............K106
...............1084
...............765
...............J753
AJ8543..................9
K76........................AQJ952
A108......................KQ3
K............................A94
...............Q72
...............3
...............J942
...............Q10862
?
It seems almost unfair to start with a grand slam before players are warmed up, but this one had a peculiar difficulty in being bid. As I mentioned when the scores were posted this hand was reminiscent of the hand from last week when Bill deliberately responded 2C to 1H on three small rather than bidding his spade suit because he wanted to establish a forcing auction with a trump fit at a low level. West could hardly do that here, and the classic start to the auction was 1H-1S; 3H. After a jump to 3H West can be certain of slam and a grand slam is highly likely depending primarily on East's holding second-round control of spades. Going to an immediate key-card ask with 4NT does not really help, as East will give the same answers with xx AQJ9xx KQx Ax as with the actual hand - although xx AQJ9xx KQ Axx would be likely to work. As a singleton should be as good as the king West wants to cue-bid, but hearts are not even established as trumps and the auction has already reached 3H. What can West do?
?
The best West in the game tried 4D, presumably perhaps hoping it would be taken as showing diamond control for a heart contract, or perhaps hoping to advance over 4H and have that taken as showing controls. Unfortunately East raised to 5D and West had nothing to do but to jump to 6H. West might have rebid 3S, but when the hand would ever get to show the heart support would have remained a plaguing question. The grand slam was only bid twice. Leighry went the hopeful route: 1H-1S; 3H-4NT; 5S-5NT; 6D-7H. The other pair in 7H was Jerik, with Jim taking control from the East side, an advantage of 1C systems. 1C-2D; 2H-2S; 3H-4H; 4NT-5D; 7H. From the 2D response Jim knew the side was missing only one king. Erik was able to raise to 4H with tolerable confidence that the auction would not die with his having shown six controls. Jim might have held Kx AQxxx KQx QJx, though. Jim asked for key cards and over 5D knew that, assuming Erik held five spades, that he was opposite nothing worse than AKxxx Kxx Axx xx, which would need a 4-3 spade split.
?
Lernot's opponents stopped in 4H and Jurcia's declarer in 6H drew trumps too soon, so that 6H +1 scored exactly 50%.
?
4H E +3
6H E =
6H E +1 (7)
7H E = (2)
?
2:
?
...............A542
...............K
...............J10954
...............K65
J98...........................K763
AQ6..........................J1042
AK76........................82
843...........................J72
...............Q10
...............98753
...............Q3
...............AQ109
?
P-P-1D-P; 1H-P-1NT was the majority auction, occurring six times. One East left in 1D and South did not balance(!); another West let East play 1H, again undisturbed by North. That left three auctions venturing above 1NT. One West perhaps opened 1NT and declared 2H, possible after a 2D overcall and a negative double. One South finished in 3C and the most intense bidding war finished in 3H E.
?
Par in diamonds was five tricks, West having just enough time to force North enough in hearts. The one 1D contract escaped for -1 when the clubs were not played early enough, although a spade lead ducked to the queen early in the hand would have led to more than two undertricks. 3C has a delicate balance. Declarer can be held to seven tricks by judicially preventing the diamonds from being run, which requires a careful force in hearts and defanging the ace of spades as an entry. Glynneth still scored 80% when declarer escaped for -1. Heart contracts could have taken seven tricks, although, with the offside singleton king, it was reasonable that declarers all underperformed, two declarers taking six tricks and Lernot posting 3H -4 to tie for top. 1NT could take seven tricks and had a decent chance of doing so, as the entry situation made it quite likely that declarer would begin the hearts by leading the ace. Louise was perplexed as to why Northbot led the heart king, hoping to hit her suit, but it worked beautifully; a confused declarer finished -1 while four of the other five declarers went plus. One declarer, flush from the success of the first board, lost his head and finished -4 in 1NT against Keianne; N-S must have taken everthing possible for that result. Bill and NJ took seven tricks, Eric eight and Phyllis (B) was E-W top taking nine after North won the first spade with the ace and then led the diamond ten next when a low diamond or club would still have preserved a fifth defensive trick.?
?
1NT W -4; 3H E -4
2H W -2
1D W -1; 1H E -1; 1NT W -1
1NT W = (2)
3C S -1
1NT W +1
1NT W +2
?
3:
?
...............J642
...............982
...............Q86
...............KJ5
AK87.....................105
J764......................AK1053
K10........................942
Q32.......................1097
...............Q93
...............Q
...............AJ753
...............A864
?
This looked as if it would be straightforward enough: 1D-X-1S/1NT-2H and finishing in 2H or 3H. But hearts were only played six times, 2H E and 3H E thrice each. One South was allowed to play 2C (what sort of offshape takeout doubles do E-W play that a hand with AK10xx in a support-implied major would not venture even the two-level?); other N-S contracts were 2S N, 3C S, 3D S and 3Sx N.
?
With reasonably good breaks declarer has nine tricks in hearts, losing one diamond and three clubs. Four declarers took nine tricks, Heve defeated 3H and Eileen was E-W top in 2H +2 when North rose with the king on the first club, eliminating one loser in the suit. Only in diamonds did N-S match par of eight tricks, losing the trump king, one heart, two spades and a spade ruff. Clubs could have gone essentially the same, but Jerik defended 2C -1 and Conndy 3C -3. Spades could have been held to seven tricks but both declarers took eight, saving Ken from the bottom in 3Sx and giving Betty N-S top in 2S =.
?
2S N =
3H E -1
2C S -1; 3D S -1
3Sx N -1
2H E +1 (2); 3H E = (2)
3C S -3
2H E +2
?
4:
?
...............AKJ865
...............52
...............6543
...............Q
9743...........................Q102
J643...........................7
1087...........................KQ92
AK..............................J9652
...............----
...............AKQ1098
...............AJ
...............108743
?
If North does not devalue at least the high-card value of the club queen and opens 1S, South is sure to get to game. If North opens 2S, does South dare either pass or bid? Either could be disastrous. 3H more or less commits to 4H unless South is prepared to pass 3S. The hand is fairly sure to be played in one major or the other; North would need to hold four clubs for there to be a chance that suit would provide more tricks. Contracts were 2S N, 3H S four times (a tough stop to find, one would have thought), 3S N twice and 4H S four times.
?
This may be the most unfair hand of the whole game for the defence. When dummy has begun with a pre-empt in another suit the best opening lead is often a trump, but expecting West to find a trump opening lead from Jxxx to hold declarer to eight tricks seems an unreasonable ask. Bill, alas, was sitting East. Rich was sitting West but Sandi was on lead against 3S N. On any lead other than a trump, dummy gets a club ruff and then declarer can discard two clubs on the spades, finishing with nine tricks after a diamond lead, ten after a club or spade. Louise, Jeff and Don tied for N-S top in 4H =. Conndy, defending 4H -1, were the only E-W pair to go plus defending against hearts. In 3H there was an even split between taking ten tricks and nine. Spade contracts had difficulties of their own despite the relatively friendly lie of the trumps with the queen coming down on the third round. Declarer could take eight tricks but managed only seven against Randi and Leighry, giving Randi E-W top on +200.
?
4H S = (3)
3H S +1 (2)
3H S = (2)
2S N -1; 3S N -1; 4H N -1
3S N -2
?
5:
?
...............92
...............32
...............9874
...............K8654
K653.....................J84
AQ864..................KJ109
5............................Q102
Q97.......................A103
...............AQ107
...............75
...............AKJ63
...............J2
?
As South opens 1D before West, we did not get to see Flannery in action. Two Wests doubled while nine overcalled as, for the second time in the game, all the contracts were played in hearts. After a double, East jumps to 2H if North passes. With a minimum double a raise from West would only be based on the fifth trump; East's going on would be a matter of favouring high-card points over losers. After an overcall, does East invite or settle for a heavy single or mixed raise? The loser coverage and possible wastage of the diamond queen argue in favour of going low, although the high-card points and good intermediates may suggest a limit raise. If North passes 1H, though, E-W may be able to stop after an invitation, as West likely makes a counter-invitation and then East likely stops. Contracts were 2H W twice, 3H E twice, 3H W four times and 4H W thrice, a reasonable distribution.
?
Switch East's D Q C 3 for South's D 3 C J and declarer would take ten tricks in hearts when the black suits both obliged. As the hand was, the par nine tricks seemed closer to eight tricks than to ten. Ten tricks can happen if North leads a club, eight if declarer starts clubs low to the queen and then finesses North for the jack; leading the ace first works out all right when the jack drops doubleton. Of the three declarers in 4H only Francine made the contract for E-W top. Only John in a partial took ten tricks. In his case, South began with the diamond ace and then led the ace of spades, setting up an eventual squeeze. Both declarers in 2H took only eight tricks against Pally and Jevin. Matty (4H -2) and Paun (4H -1) had the two plus scores for N-S.
?
4H W -2
4H W -1
2H W = (2)
3H E =; 3H W = (4)
3H E +1
4H W =
?
6:
?
...............A98643
...............5
...............J3
...............A732
K52........................QJ
A104......................Q9762
Q8652....................K94
64...........................Q95
...............107
...............KJ83
...............A107
...............KJ108
?
This looked as if we might have seen all the N-S pairs play in spades by North after 1C-1S; 1NT and then either 2S or 3S on the rebid, depending on North's valuation. The eventual distribution of contracts was 4-3-1 between 2S, 3S and 4S. Other contracts were 2NT S, 3C S and 3NT S.
?
A diamond lead holds spade contracts to nine tricks. Clubs can take ten with good guessing, as there is only one spade loser rather than two. Declarer runs out of resources in no-trumps and finishes with eight tricks. Two of the three declarers not in spades underperformed par by one trick; all were below average, with Jerik and Leighry scoring 80% for one-trick sets of the no-trumps contracts. Six of the eight spade contracts made. Conndy were E-W top defending 4S -2 and Randi defended 3S -1 but Louise, Kevin and Ken took ten tricks, Ken when he received a heart lead, for a score of 90%.
?
2S N +2 (2); 3S N +1
3S N =
2S N = (2); 3C S =
2NT S -1; 3S N -1; 3NT S -1
4S N -2
?
7:
?
...............875
...............K52
...............Q104
...............J982
A......................K10932
AQ10976.........843
J76..................K83
A104................Q6
...............QJ64
...............J
...............A952
...............K753
?
This board joined the ranks of hands on which every table declared in hearts. I thought Lernot might sneak in a three-suited 2D opening bid, but West's hearts are good enough to handle the possibility of South's holding four, although the shortage's being in that suit is highly likely. Without a 2D opening bid, even if South opened 1m, West bid 1H, East raised and then West had the values for a game try. This hand?exemplifies my fondness for Two-Way Game Tries. While West would like East to hold a value in diamonds, it could be even more important that East not hold a wasted value in spades. Here the spade king is not necessarily wasted, as it provides a discard for West's third diamond, but the king opposite the singleton ace is wasted. Give East either 109xxx Kxx Kxx Qx or 109xx xxx Kxx KQx and play for game becomes much better. East will accept a help-suit try of either 3C or 3D, but if West shows a singleton spade East will stop in 3H. Contracts were 2H W twice, 3H W twice and 4H W seven times.
?
Looking at both hands, one can see that either the spade king or club queen will not accomplish much. If the club king is onside, the diamond discard on the spade king loses value, although West hardly cares about where the club king is anyway. With one trump loser (usually the case) N-S can defend either actively or passively. They can establish their two diamond tricks right away or they can go passive and make declarer break the suit. if, say, North leads a spade, West leads a club to queen and king and then South returns a club or heart. West will ruff a club and discard a diamond on the spade king but will eventually have to start the diamonds. Or if N-S play two diamonds right away, their third-round diamond winner is established before West has an entry to the East hand for the discard. The one thing that does not work is a half measure. If North leads a diamond, East's holding K8x means that there is no point in South's playing the nine, as West with J10x has two tricks anyway (if North could have led from Q8x, the nine would have been a reasonable play). But Bill made 4H when North led a diamond to the ace and then South went passive, switching to a heart. That let him discard his third diamond, ruff a club and lose only one trick each in hearts, diamonds and clubs. Phyllis (B) also declared 4H =; Eric took ten tricks in 2H, Lynn and NJ in 3H. Four N-S pairs took their par four tricks to post 4H -1; Jevin were N-S top defending 4H -2 while Jovonne held 2H to eight tricks.
?
4H W -2
4H W -1 (4)
2H W =
2H W +2; 3H W +1 (2)
4H W = (2)
?
8:
?
...............Q743
...............43
...............KJ9
...............J653
----.........................865
AKQJ85.................62
54...........................AQ10832
AKQ98...................102
...............AKJ1092
...............1097
...............76
...............74
?
Three Wests opened 1H but the usual choice was 2C, West holding game in hand barring extremely bad breaks. East answered 2D and not many Souths came in with spades; those who did were outbid in hearts. Only one pair played in spades, which was against Jerik because their auction began with 1C and allowed a lower spade overcall while West was not promising quite so strong a hand. Contracts were 4H W six times, 5H W, 5Sx S, 6H W twice and 6Hx W. All the slam auctions reached the six-level with a jump: 2C-2D; 2H-3D; 4C-4D; 6H-P-P-X by Randi, 2C-P-2D-2S; 3H-P-4D-P; 6H by Leighry and 1H-3D; 6H by Jonj.
?
If North leads a club declarer takes all thirteen tricks in hearts. NJ posted 6H +1 while Eric, Phyllis (B) and Bill all played 4H +3. As the club spots were good and the hearts so-so there was little to be gained by the play of trying to ruff the third club before drawing trumps; it would only gain if the opponent with the doubleton club had no heart higher than the six-spot. In this case it did not matter; clubs were 4-2 and South was able to overruff, but there would have been only one club loser even had the suit split 5-1. Taking the diamond finesse early is an interesting proposition. If it wins declarer can draw trumps at once and know that at worst one club will be lost. If one assumes that North would likely have led a diamond singleton, a losing finesse lets declarer draw trumps and try diamonds before clubs, picking up any layout in which the jack drops doubleton unless South returns a diamond after winning the king. An early diamond finesse would be useful if East's high heart were, say, the nine, as a losing finesse would let declarer know it was worth taking the risk of a 5-1 club split to cater to one opponent's holding Jxxx in clubs and the heart ten. After a winning diamond finesse, as happens here, declarer has no need to take chances and will just lose one club. Everyone else in hearts took twelve tricks, giving Rich E-W top for making 6Hx. 5Sx S took the par seven tricks, losing two tricks in each side suit. +800 scored 70% for Jerik.
?
4H W +2 (3); 5H W +1
4H W +3 (3)
5Sx S -4
6H W =
6H W +1
6Hx W =
?
9:
?
...............J5
...............Q95
...............A864
...............10642
A9...................KQ832
A8...................J1043
7......................1052
AKQ98753......J
...............10764
...............K762
...............KQJ93
...............----
?
West again holds a hand within one trick of game and not far off slam, needing to find partner only with KQx in either major. The trouble is how to find that or anything else that would provide two tricks. Nobody was able to do so, although, had E-W been playing that a 2S response to 2C showed a five-card or longer suit with two top honours declarer would have been all set. As it was the usual auction was 1C-1S; 5C whether South came in over 1S or not. 5C was the contract nine times and 4C twice.
?
After any lead but a diamond declarer had a chance to take all the tricks with a little help. Fortunately nobody got lazy and led the club ace from the West hand. The best try, especially after a heart lead, is to run all the trumps and hope that South will be too determined to keep a diamond guard to hang onto all the spades, but that probably should not work. Keianne were N-S top defending 4C +2; Eric E-W top playing 5C +2; he received a heart lead and South did unguard the spades.
?
4C W +2
4C W +3
5C W +1 (8)
5C W +2
?
10:
?
...............J73
...............KJ6
...............A1097
...............J94
109865................AQ
Q43.....................1075
KQ4.....................852
K5........................108632
...............K42
...............A982
...............J63
...............AQ7
?
It looked as if this hand would end in 1NT N either with North responding 1NT to 1C or on the second round after 1C-1D; 1H. One North somehow left South in 1C. 1NT was played six times, five times by North. Twice South rebid 1NT and finished either in 2NT or 3NT. The other two suit partials were 2D N and 3C S. Did West ever come in with 1S? I did not see anyone do so, but, had that happened, it would rather have discombobulated the auction. North could not bid no-trumps and doubling might lead to a contract in hearts.
?
Looking at only the N-S hand, it does not seem that nine tricks in no-trumps are all that likely, but East's AQ doubleton in spades lets declarer force ten tricks. South declaring should come to at least nine tricks after two rounds of spades, while a club lead when North declares seems if anything likelier to lead to ten tricks. With South declaring no-trumps took seven, eight and nine tricks; Jatin's 3NT = good for N-S top. With North declaring one declarer took seven tricks against Jerik (dropping a trick each on the first and second round of hearts, the third by discarding a heart), one took nine and three took the par ten. Par was usually underperformed. In the suit contracts nine tricks were par. Two declarers took eight tricks; Randi posted 3C S -3 for the E-W top.
?
3NT S =
1NT N +3 (3)
1NT N +2
1NT S +1
1C S +1; 1NT N =; 2D N =
2NT S -1
3C S -3
?
11:
?
...............J
...............AJ5
...............K1082
...............AK764
K982......................Q107654
Q873......................K1092
76...........................QJ
1093.......................5
...............A3
...............64
...............A9543
...............QJ82
?
?This was a close slam for N-S as the diamond queen was missing. Slams in which each partner holds a five-card suit opposite support tend to be making on fewer HCP than usual and are often difficult to find. Here getting to game was difficult enough, suggesting that very few Souths opened. Only five pairs reached game, and only Jevin reached 3NT, on a bit of a gambling auction P-1C; 3C-3NT. Had East overcalled 2S Kevin would probably not have reached 3NT, although there is a chance Jevin would have gotten to 6C instead. P-P-1C-2S puts South in a somewhat difficult position. Either 3D or 3S commits the auction to 4C but a 3C raise is pretty clearly on the low side. Throw in a raise to 3S from West and N-S have a tough time of it. Contracts were 3C N, 3S E, 3Sx E twice, 3NT N, 4D S twice and 5C N four times.
?
It can be taken as a bit of a general rule that a side with two 5-4 fits do better if the trumps are the long suit of the hand with a 5-4-2-2 pattern as opposed to 5-4-3-1, as the discard is more likely to be helpful. Here it can be seen that discarding from the North hand is of no particular value as neither discarded card is going to be a loser anyway. 3NT and clubs took twelve tricks; diamonds took thirteen. Par against spades was seven tricks, which required a heart ruff. Paun scored +300 defending 3Sx for the middle score. Steve (Gre) scored 90% playing 3Sx -1, very plausible. Bob made 3S (most implausible, especially with 4-4 hearts) for E-W top.
?
3NT N +3
5C S +1; 5C N +1 (3)
3Sx E -2
4D S +3 (2)
3C S +3
3Sx E -1
3S E =
?
12:
?
...............K7
...............Q54
...............AQ1065
...............AJ10
AQJ65....................109842
9.............................10632
742.........................K83
K762.......................8
...............3
...............AKJ87
...............J9
...............Q9543
?
Whether West opened or not, E-W got the spades into the auction most of the time. If West passes, North opens 1NT and South will not sell out, ending with North declaring 3NT or 4H if E-W do not find their way in and sacrifice. After a 1S opening bid much may depend on North's choice of call: 2D? double? 1NT? pass? East likely goes right to 4S and at least a couple of Souths were on the spot. After a double or 1NT South could continue on in hearts; after a 2D overcall South had available 4NT to play the hand somewhere at the five-level and let North choose where. Everyone got to game: 3NT N twice, 4H N twice, 4H S, 4S W thrice, 4Sx W, 5H N and 5Hx S.
?
Heart contracts are right-sided when played by North; as East cannot lead a diamond, North has time to establish the spade king for a discard. North can force twelve tricks in hearts, South eleven.?With both trumps and clubs 4-1, however, declarers in hearts often missed the follow-up of taking the ruffing finesse in diamonds. Both declarers in 5H and 5Hx finished -1 and nobody took more than eleven tricks, Ken and Louise scoring 85% on +650. N-S top went to Larry playing 3NT N +2; E-W could have held the contract to ten tricks with a spade lead and even for that declarer would have had to guess which minor to finesse; Boric defended 3NT -1. Spade contracts could have been held to eight tricks by a red-suit lead but only Paun produced the par defence, giving them 50% on both boards with a score of +300 for 4Sx -2 to go with 3Sx -2 on the board before. NJ was only -1 after two hearts and two spades when North led C A at trick five instead of a red card. Lynn was even allowed to make 4S for the E-W top in another result that required more than plausible help.
?
3NT N +2
4H N +1; 4H S +1
4H N =
4Sx W -2
4S W -1 (2)
3NT N -1; 5H N -1
5Hx N -1
4S W =
?
13:
?
...............QJ875
...............A53
...............Q8
...............642
104........................K932
KJ72......................Q94
AJ4........................762
KQ105...................AJ7
...............A6
...............1086
...............K10953
...............983
?
This seemed headed to 1NT by either East or West, likely depending on whether or not North overcalled 1S. 1NT was played nine times with a 6-3 margin favouring East. One North balanced with 2S over East's 1NT; West doubled and East came in with 3H. The last contract of 2NT W resulted from a 1NT opening bid on a different range.
?
In no-trumps West can come to nine tricks, as can East if given enough time. An immediate diamond lead holds East to eight tricks, but North cannot lead a diamond to good effect. Curiously, nobody matched par when East declared - Sandi, Steve (Gre) and Gareth took nine tricks, Jevin and Keianne even set 1NT; Heve held the contract to eight tricks after a diamond lead to North and a high spade back covered by the king (allowing N-S to establish four spade tricks); ducking would have allowed declarer the par eight tricks after a second diamond. When West declared results were +1, +2 and +3 for Phyllis (H), good for E-W top. 2NT W took eight tricks. A diamond lead would also have held 3H E to eight tricks but, North having bid spades, the natural lead of the spade ace allowed Leigh Ann ten tricks for a 90% score.
?
1NT E -1 (2)
1NT E =
1NT W +1; 2NT W =
1NT E +2 (3); 1NT W +2
3H E +1
1NT W +3
?
14:
?
...............AKQJ9532
...............8
...............54
...............K5
108.............................6
10952.........................J63
10...............................AKJ872
A107642.....................J98
...............74
...............AKQ74
...............Q963
...............Q3
?
South opens 1H or overcalls 2H if East opens 2D. Then it becomes a question of how high North goes. With a Losing Trick Count of four, slam is highly likely. In auctions when East did not open, two Norths went looking for more than game, at least one after P-1H-P-2S (strong) to start. When South showed only one ace in answer to 4NT, both Norths stopped in 5S; the other contracts were all 4S N.
?
Do E-W cash their three tricks? After East leads a diamond and sees that either West or North holds the thirteenth card in that suit, it becomes a guess. If the other high diamond is led and ruffed, declarer likely takes twelve tricks, but switching could let another diamond loser disappear on the hearts. It was a close decision but by a 6-5 margin most Easts switched (or did not lead a club to the ace after the second diamond, but at that point it should have been easy. Unfortunately West had no second diamond to return after winning the ace of clubs and six declarers posted +450 - Hank, Louise, Peach, Gloria and Ken in 4S +1, a lucky Kevin in 5S =. Five Easts cashed the other diamond and then led a club to West's ace, scoring 75% for Pheileen, Leighry, Jonj and Jerik on -420 while Glynneth finished off a nice round much to Gareth's satisfaction with E-W top defending 5S -1.
?
4S N +1 (5); 5S N =
4S N = (4)
5S N -1
?
15:
?
...............K976
...............QJ8
...............AQ102
...............109
AQ54....................8
AK42....................10753
J985.....................3
7............................KQJ8653
...............J1032
...............96
...............K764
...............A42
?
Lernot were sitting N-S so that nobody opened a three-suited 2D; East would have responded 2H and that would have had a good chance of being left in as there would have been no guarantee of a fit. After 1D-1H; 2H-P from E-W, South has a pretty easy balancing double. Over North's 2S, even if East can bid 3C to offer an alternative contract West will hardly sit for it. 2H E was left in three times. 3C E was played thrice; one of the auctions was 1D-2C; 2NT-3C. The other five auctions all ended in game: 3NT W, 4H E and 4S S, evidently after North doubled 1D. If N-S play off-shape takeout doubles, doubling 1H might work out okay, as a 2C response can be converted to 2D, but P-1D-X-P; 2C seems potentially too difficult; 2H on three is very high risk.
?
Perhaps a little curiously, all the suit contracts play well. Heart contracts can only be held to nine tricks by forcing East in diamonds right away; a spade lead can be won with the ace and then declarer has time to draw two rounds of trumps and then play the clubs. Bob and Connie both made game in the East seat, 4H = for Bob and 4H +1 for Connie, although Matty tied for N-S top posting 4H -3 when East did not follow up correctly. Club contracts have a straightforward three losers, although Jevin were able to hold 3C to nine tricks. The 2H contracts all took ten tricks. Rabbot scored 80% defending 4S -3 (par was nine tricks); declarer passed up the spade finesse and later a diamond finesse. No-trumps was a disaster, as E-W had wide open diamonds and no way to run the clubs in time. Pally could have taken eight tricks on defence but settled for seven and a tie for N-S top.
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3NT W -3; 4H E -3
3C E =
3C E +1 (2)
2H E +2 (3)
4S S -3
4H E =
4H E +1
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16:
?
...............98
...............9753
...............Q106
...............AKQ8
Q105....................KJ743
4..........................A82
AJ75432..............----
62........................J9743
...............A62
...............KQJ106
...............K98
...............105
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West opened 2D or 3D. One 2D opening saw South balance with 2H and play the hand there(!). Two 3D opening bids were allowed to end the auction. Eight tables saw North support hearts and finished in game, 4H S seven times and 4Hx S.
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Looking at only two hands 4H looks fine, set to lose a spade, heart and diamond. But with South declaring a diamond lead holds declarer in hearts to eight tricks. Jatin, in 2H, did manage to take ten tricks, but all the 4H contracts failed - although seven were only -1. The only E-W pair to produce the optimal defence was Pharah. After a diamond lead, ruff, and spade return, South tried to discard a spade on the club queen at trick six, allowing a third undertrick and giving Pharah the E-W top. N-S top was a tie between Pally and Jurcia, who both left 3D in and took the par six tricks for -2.
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3D W -2 (2)
2H S +2
4H S -1 (6)
4Hx S -1
4H S -3
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17:
?
...............AQJ105
...............96
...............J7
...............KQ95
9............................7432
AQ1053.................872
542........................A108
A632......................1084
...............K86
...............KJ4
...............KQ963
...............J7
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1S-2D from N-S leading either to 4S or to 3NT, whether or not West enters the auction. The margin was 8-3 in favour of 4S N.
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The play was quite simple. 4S was -1 when the heart AQ were behind the KJ. 3NT finished -2 every time after a heart lead; Pheileen, Jerik and Boric all scored +100. The only pair to differ from par was Randi, who defended 4S -2 when South led a low diamond at trick ten instead of the queen or a club to the king.
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4S N -1 (7)
3NT S -2 (3); 4S N -2
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18:
?
...............K86
...............A987
...............J9
...............K742
A4.........................Q9532
QJ62.....................K104
A653.....................KQ8
A83.......................106
...............J107
...............53
...............10742
...............QJ95
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We almost had everyone in the same contract. West opened 1NT, East showed spades with a transfer and rebid 3NT and West passed. This happened at ten tables out of eleven. The eleventh contract was somehow 2C E - another of several inexplicable things that occurred during the game.
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There were multiple leads that would have set 3NT - a club, a diamond or even the ace of hearts would have done the trick. N-S needed to establish clubs in time, as they could score three club tricks to go with the entry in each major. But the usual opening lead was a low heart, which gave declarer enough time to make the contract. Only Jevin were able to post a set, temporarily given away by a low heart lead. West won the heart ten and played on spades but dropped a trick by finessing the nine instead of playing the queen. Jeff won the second spade and switched to clubs, ensuring -1. West took the ace, then took the top three diamonds, played a heart to the ace and Jevin cashed out for -3 and the N-S top, as declarer in 3C outperformed par by one trick to be only -2. Even getting away with 3NT = was below average for the six declarers scoring +400. Bill and John took ten tricks, and Phyllis (B) was E-W top taking eleven- she won the heart lead, played ace and another spade on which North rose with the king. Then North led the heart ace instead of a club and Phyllis had eleven tricks - four spades, three hearts, three diamonds and one club.
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3NT W -3
2C E -2
3NT W = (6)
3NT W +1 (2)
3NT W +2
