1:
?
...............A83
...............9654
...............K4
...............J865
Q972....................KJ6
QJ103...................72
Q2.........................AJ1065
A104.....................K32
...............1054
...............AK8
...............9873
...............Q97
?
The auction seems likely to be uncontested for E-W, with the most likely auction perhaps 1D-1H; 1NT-2NT. East might accept the invitation on the strength of the diamond ten but seems more likely to decline. One N-S pair
got into the auction somehow with a resulting contract of 2C S; other contracts were 1NT E, 2S E, 2S W, 2NT E six times, 3NT E and 3NT W. The last contract was reached via 1D-1H; 2D-2NT; 3NT. Having opened 1D as a catchall, Jim rebid 2D to show that the suit was real.
?
A club lead holds no-trumps to eight tricks. Declarer can guess to knock out the spade ace right away, establishing three spade winners and removing North's entry to a second club winner, but then the West hand gets cut off and there will be no reaching the eventual heart winner; East will have to give South a diamond trick.? Erik took ten tricks in 3NT when North ducked the diamond queen on the first round of the suit. Jeter were N-S top defending 3NT E -1. In the no-trumps partials, only Cinbot held declarer to eight tricks; four declarers took nine; Susan and Erik took ten. 2S could have been held to nine tricks by a club lead; Louise took ten for a good score.
?
3NT E -1
2S E =
2NT E =
1NT E +2; 2NT E +1 (3)
2S W +2
2NT E +2 (2)
2C S -5
3NT W +1
?
2:?
?
...............A4
...............A874
...............AJ10
...............9843
KQ63....................87
10..........................KQJ9
KQ943..................76
AK5.......................J10762
...............J10952
...............6532
...............852
...............Q
?
There seemed a few more possibilities on this hand. Does North act over West's 1D opening bid? If not, 1D-1H; 1S-1NT seems probable and then West has to decide how to proceed - 2D? 2NT? 3D? 2C? If 2NT, does East move over that? This turned out to be the day's only rainbow hand, with contracts of 1D W, 2Hx N, 2S W, 2NT E twice, 2NT W, 3NT E twice, 3NT W thrice and 5Cx W.
?
With East declaring, no-trumps can be held to nine tricks by a diamond lead, but West can force a tenth by guessing to establish a spade trick before a diamond trick. Three of the five 3NT contract made, with Erik taking ten tricks from the West seat. The no-trumps partials took eight tricks twice and ten tricks once. Each suit denomination was played only once. A club lead holds spades to six tricks but declarer in 2S took seven. Larbot 1 were destined for E-W top just for defending 2Hx, which can be defeated two tricks by force. Declarer finished -4 when Eastbot was allowed to draw all the trumps off the top. Diamonds are held to seven tricks by? club lead or switch, with declarer in 1D matching par. 5Cx -2 was N-S top for Gel, although they did not need the extra undertrick.
?
5Cx W -2
2S W -1; 3NT E -1; 3NT W -1
1D W =
2NT E =; 2NT W =
2NT E +2
3NT E =; 3NT W =
3NT W +1
2Hx N -4
?
3:
?
...............AJ9
...............75
...............K954
...............AKQ10
764..........................5
Q984.......................KJ62
J108........................Q763
J74...........................9852
...............KQ10832
...............A103
...............A2
...............63
?
N-S can claim 6NT and have a better than even chance of the thirteenth trick; at absolute worst declarer can finesse the ten of clubs. South has almost the ideal hand for finding a grand slam, as all the hand has to do is show the six-card spade suit and then the high cards will reveal themselves quickly in an asking sequence. South declared in spades every time - 4S six times, 5S, 6S four times and 7S after the auction 1S-2C; 2NT-3S; 4D-4NT; 5D-5H; 6S-7S, 5D showing one or four key cards and 6S showing the trump queen but nothing else.
?
In 7S declarer's best try is to draw trumps, cash one club, ruff a diamond and then run the rest of South's winners. Barring an extreme heart position a squeeze will only operate against West. On the last trump North discards the fourth diamond if it is not good and then declarer guesses whether to finesse or try for the drop in clubs. Here either works. Every declarer but one took all thirteen tricks, giving Jessica the top in 7S =, not the odds one wants for a grand slam but still a reasonable bid as North will never find the club jack in South's hand. The only E-W pair to take a trick was Boric, the difference being just about their margin of overall victory.
?
7S S =
6S S +1 (4)
5S S +2
4S S +3 (5)
4S S +2
?
4:
?
...............1053
...............AJ63
...............K854
...............J8
QJ72.....................4
10975....................KQ84
732........................AJ106
Q4.........................K762
...............AK986
...............2
...............Q9
...............A10953
?
P-P-1D-1S; P-2S and then East and South both have to decide whether or not to act. If East opens 1H in third seat instead, West may well push to 3H and perhaps N-S will go higher. South might look after a raise to 2S; North will be happy to carry on to 4S if South tries with 3C. Contracts were 2S S five times, 3H E, 3S S thrice, 3NT N and 4S S twice.
?
4S is doomed by the 4-1 trump split. Of the ten declarers in spades, it was hard enough taking nine tricks. A majority of declarers took eight tricks, with one taking seven, Ken and Sally taking the par nine and Tracy managing a tenth when West unnecessarily ruffed a club with a middle trump, allowing an overruff and the dropping of the queen. Cinbot took the expected six tricks defending 3H for the N-S top, while Besan tied Pharah and Candy for E-W top by taking their par six tricks against 3NT.
?
3H E -2
3S S +1
2S S +1 (2)
2S S = (2)
2S S -1; 3S S -1 (2)
3NT N -2; 4S S -2 (2)
?
5:
?
...............J6
...............A52
...............QJ4
...............107653
AQ542.....................107
Q63..........................KJ8
K87..........................A532
A4............................KQJ9
...............K983
...............10974
...............1096
...............82
?
This hand looked as if we'd see everyone in 3NT E. One pair appeared to have a system mixup, playing 2C W. 3NT E was played nine times, along with 3NT W once and 4S W once.
?
3NT is set for eleven tricks, the eleventh coming on a diamond if declarer goes for it. A spade lead can establish a winner in the suit, but with a doubleton spade North cannot reach South's good spades whether the hearts or diamonds are played first. Nobody found the line for eleven tricks (it would have been a bit of an ask), but there were nine scores of +430 posted to tie for E-W top. Martle were N-S top defending 2C, as everyone else made game. Gel scored 10/11 defending 3NT E; declarer was in position to cash ten tricks but gave South the fourth round of spades and let South cash the thirteenth heart as well. With 4-2 trumps 4S could do no better than ten tricks, a good score for Troward on defence.
?
2C W +2
3NT E =
4S W =
3NT E +1 (8); 3NT W +1
?
6:
?
...............A76
...............J87
...............J9
...............KJ854
KQJ10854.......9
AQ...................K1093
1043.................AK6
3.......................Q10762
...............32
...............6542
...............Q8752
...............A9
?
1C-1S and then either 2C or 1NT from East and West might just as well go directly to 4S; there are too many top losers for East to be able to cover enough of them in a minimum opening bid. Contracts were 3S W twice, 3NT E, 4S W seven times (a little low), 4NT E and 5S W.
?
Eleven tricks in spades were par, but after a diamond lead declarer needs to unblock the hearts. A heart lead forces N-S to cash the club when in with the ace of spades to avoid a score of -680, but that was never posted. Seven of the ten declarers in spades took the popular eleven tricks, while Glynneth, Gel and Larbot 2 held declarer to ten. With the club jack onside, par in no-trumps was ten tricks, duly take against Pally, but Marcia was E-W top in 3NT +2 when North discarded a heart at trick eight, allowing the queen to be overtaken by the king to turn a near-bottom into E-W top.
?
?
?
3S W +1
3S W +2
4S W = (2)
4NT E =
4S W +1 (5); 5S W =
3NT E +2
?
7:
?
...............96
...............10984
...............Q1042
...............752
Q754......................3
AQ765....................KJ2
853.........................976
10...........................AQ9843
...............AKJ1082
...............3
...............AKJ
...............KJ6
?
Does South open 2C? I would hope not, with that hand full of tenaces - AKQ10xx x AKx Axx would be quite acceptable. Note the difference between the solid winners and needing to lead towards the South hand multiple times. If South opens 2C there is a reasonable chance of stopping in 3S. A 1S opening bid should be passed around to East, who should balance with 2C. South will then bid some number of spades again and likely end the auction. South did declare in spades at all twelve tables - 1S once, 2S and 3S four times each, 4S thrice.
?
Against passive defence declarer can come to ten tricks in spades; it is not the 4-1 trump split that does the harm but the singleton club. From one point of view selecting or arranging hands (random deals are sometimes so close to being highly instructional), the deal is badly constructed, as it does not matter whether West gets one club ruff or two. I think I would exchange one of West's low spades for one of East's low diamonds; then to take four tricks against spades West would need to underlead the heart ace, trusting what I presume would be a strong suit preference signal from East on the second club. As the hand is, after winning the second trick on a club ruff, West might as well cash the heart ace, knowing the setting trick to be secure. A forcing defence does not quite work. South can be forced twice in hearts, but after drawing trumps and running the diamonds, declarer leads a club from dummy and East has nothing but clubs. Eight declarers were held to nine tricks, including all three declarers in 4S. Mary was one of the four declarers taking ten tricks; against 3S West got the club ruff but then returned a diamond, allowing declarer to draw two trumps and then discard the heart loser on the fourth diamond.
?
2S S +2 (2); 3S S +1 (2)
1S S +2; 2S S +1 (2); 3S S =
4S S -1 (2)
4Sx S -1
?
8:
?
...............962
...............1043
...............A10642
...............84
AQ1053................KJ
K...........................AQ752
K8753...................9
A3.........................KQ1075
...............874
...............J986
...............QJ
...............J962
?
This was the most interesting of the successful slam hands. Played by West 6NT makes more than half the time; can it be reached? That only happened once, after a start to an auction players tend to want to avoid: 1S-2H; 3D-4C; 4NT-5D; 5NT-6H; 6NT. The majority choice over 3D was the practical 3NT; 3NT E was played seven times. 3NT W was played twice, along with the slam, 4S W and 5S W.
?
In 6NT declarer has eleven top winners. A diamond lead provides the twelfth. On a passive lead, the usual line from West will be to try the clubs, taking all thirteen tricks if the jack drops doubleton or tripleton and eleven otherwise. There is a path to twelve tricks, given South's guarding both hearts and clubs. The line could even be found at the table, because South will have to discard the diamond queen and jack on the fourth and fifth spades. If this coincides with North's flagging the ace, declarer can just possibly read the position and, having discards a heart and the diamond from East, throw a club on the last spade. With six tricks remaining to play East and South will hold:
?
................----
................AQ7
................----
................KQ10
----
J98
----
J96
?
Declarer can now back the read by leading the low club to the king or queen and then playing the hearts from the top down to force South to lead into the club tenace.
?
In play results we see another instance of the uncertainty surrounding opening leads. The most common outcome on the deal was 3NT E +4 after a club opening lead, posted by Marcia, Jim, Larry (St) and Bob. Jatin made 6NT W for E-W top. Leighry and Paun held the spade contracts to eleven tricks, declarer naturally being disinclined to run the extra trump winners early. West declaring in 3NT took twelve tricks once and eleven once while the other three Easts in 3NT took eleven tricks twice and twelve once.
?
4S W +1; 5S W =
3NT E =2 (2); 3NT W +2
3NT E +3; 3NT W +3
3NT E +4 (4)
6NT W =
?
9:
?
...............QJ105
...............AJ8
...............764
...............K106
A2........................98
1076543...............92
J8.........................A9532
A52.......................Q743
...............K7643
...............KQ
...............KQ10
...............J98
?
South opens 1S in third seat and North responds with Drury if available. South's 14 HCP suggest accepting but at least one South decided to decline the invitation. This was the hand on which a Robot explanation took a player in; Northbot explained South's 2S rebid as showing less than a full opener. West balanced with 3H and had to declare 3Hx. Players need to remember when opposing a human-Robot partnership that the Robot explains all the calls and the explanations will all be the Robot's system/expectations. Other contracts were 2S S twice, 3S S twice, 3NT S and 4S S six times.
?
A minor lead forces the defeat of 4S. A diamond lead allows West a ruff in that suit, while a club lead establishes the queen. Against 3NT a diamond lead does not work, but West has two chances to find the needed club lead. Heart leads allowed 4S to make four times for Jessica, Del, Sally and Tracy, while Don made 3NT after a heart lead and continuation. Larbot 2 were N-S top defending 3Hx -2 (the par result); Heve and Matty defended 4S -1 to share the E-W top.
?
3Hx W -2
4S S = (4)
3NT S =
2S S +2; 3S S +1 (2)
2S S +1
4S S -1 (2)
?
10:
?
...............6
...............976432
...............A2
...............10983
AKQJ102...........543
----.....................AKQ1085
J10763...............K85
A5.......................J
...............987
...............J
...............Q94
...............KQ7642
?
1H from East. If E-W play strong jump shifts, West can reasonably bid 2S. One would normally want to avoid that with a 6-5 pattern, but here the chance is rather low that the hand will play better in diamonds than in spades; partner would need AKxxx in diamonds without the heart ace or club king and then 7D should roll in. 4S W was reached at almost every table; it was played nine times, along with 4H E, 5C S(!) and 6S W after the auction 1H-1S; 2H-4NT; 5H-6S. The auction I might see could be something like 1H-2S; 3S-4C; 6H-6S; East with a vulnerable diamond king would want to declare, but West cannot tolerate hearts.
?
6S makes by force. If North leads ace and another diamond East's king wins and then declarer starts hearts. South ruffs the second heart but then West can overruff, draw trumps, and reach East with a club ruff for the remaining discards. Howard Lawrence might set 6S by underleading the ace of diamonds, a play that can be considered when declarer lacks control in a suit. 4S yielded twelve tricks to declarer most of the time, although Haorge posted 4S -2 (the diamond ace and then a second diamond ducked allows North to ruff the third diamond, but then surely declarer should have had the rest). Louise was E-W top in 6S =. With 4H also -1 on the 6-1 trump split, Paun scored 9/11 for stealing the bid in 5C S -2, the par result. At least the double would have made no difference.
?
4S W -2
4H E -1
5C S -2
4S W +1 (3)
4S W +2 (5)
6S W =
?
11:
?
...............K7
...............A2
...............Q9765
...............10863
J104.....................98532
KQJ953................10
2...........................AKJ104
K62.......................AQ
...............AQ6
...............8764
...............83
...............J974
?
West opens 2H and then East has to decide whether or not to move. The prudent course is to pass and seven times 2H W became the final contract. When East went looking the contracts were 3D E, 3S E twice, 3NT E and 4H W. The game was reached after a 1H opening bid: 1H-1S; 2H-3D; 3NT-4H.
?
4H has a better chance of making than 4S. If N-S do not cash their spades off the top West discards a spade on a diamond and simply loses two spades and a heart. Spade contracts can be held to nine tricks. It is true that, after a club lead, East's heart loser can be discarded and the ruffing finesse in hearts taken, but then, when East leads a third diamond, South can ruff high, after which N-S can draw West's trumps, force East to ruff and then East is locked in hand, forced to allow North a trick with the diamond queen. One declarer in spades took nine tricks, the other ten. Six declarers in hearts took ten tricks, including Larry (St) in 4H. Martle and Gel held declarer in 2H to nine tricks. 3NT is a cakewalk, but Leighry got very lucky. Declarer in 3NT actually has too many assets. If the club queen were the deuce, there would be no error; a club lead would be won with the ace and then the hearts would have been established. But the queen, which has to be overtaken by the king anyway, proved to be a trap. After winning a club lead with the queen, declarer had no entry to the hearts and had to go down in the end. Jeter were N-S top taking the par six tricks for 3D E -2.?
?
3D E -2
3NT E -1
2H W +1 (2); 3S E =
2H W +2 (5); 3S E +1
4H W =
?
12:
?
...............J75
...............75
...............9873
...............A872
AQ84....................1032
A93.......................Q6
Q1042...................AKJ65
KJ.........................954
...............K96
...............KJ10852
...............----
...............Q1063
?
1NT-3NT could have been the auction at every table, or East might have rebid 3NT after using Puppet Stayman. Two auctions went off the rails. One West forgot who had opened 1NT, leading to 1NT-P-3NT-P; 4C-P-5H-X; 5NT. Another East either had a senior moment or misread the auction and bid 2D over 1NT, with a difficult-to-comprehend explanation when asked that it was natural. The pair did have transfers on the card, which I told South when I was called to the table. This can be a knotty online situation, as any explanation of a mistaken bid may well be of what the bidder thinks at the time. If the bid is an error, the opponents may not be told the opponents' agreement about a bid. If not knowing how the partner takes a bid causes damage, that could be grounds for adjustment, but too many people think they are entitled to redress if the bid is a mistake, which is the case only for certain conventions, most notably being a 2C opening bid made on insufficient values. At the table in question, West accepted the transfer and then East bid 3NT, which West, knowing nothing about the error, chose to leave in. South wanted to be able to bid a natural 2H over East's natural 2D, but had the bid been made North would likely have interpreted the bid as takeout.
?
A club or heart lead holds declarer to nine tricks in 3NT. If anything, the club lead makes it easier. Declarer probably cashes out for nine tricks. A heart lead and continuation technically allow declarer to win the second heart and force an overtrick by losing a spade to North and eventually getting a club trick as well as a heart, three spades and five diamonds. Larbot 2 were N-S top posting 5NT -3. Keianne and Pally held 3NT to nine tricks; a little surprisingly eight declarers took ten. Our complaining South saw partner lead a club, but was so annoyed over not having bid 2H earlier that declarer finished with eleven tricks and E-W top.
?
5NT W -3
3NT W = (2)
3NT W +1 (8)
3NT W +2
?
13:
?
...............J9
...............AK1052
...............107
...............AQ43
A532.........................K864
J87............................943
QJ52.........................A98
75..............................KJ10
...............Q107
...............Q6
...............K643
...............9862
?
This looks like proceeding 1H-1NT; 2C-2H. If the pair does not play 1NT forcing North might pass 1NT or South might pass 2C, but 2H N was played a reasonable seven times. 1NT S was left in once and 2C N twice. Passing 2C seems iffier, as North could be just under a jump shift and the heart queen could be key to something like 3NT =. Two higher contracts were reached, 2NT S and 3C N.
?
Hearts and clubs take eight tricks with five losers, two clubs to go with the three top losers in spades and diamonds. In a suit contract only Peter in 2H N +1 and Myrtle in 2H N +2 took more than eight tricks; only Heve defending 2H -1 (tying Boric's defending 3C -1 for E-W top) held declarer to fewer. Myrtle received two tricks separately, first on a club lead and then another trick later when West ducked a spade. No-trumps can be held to seven tricks by diamond leads, but attacking spades allows an eighth trick; declarer can pick up five hearts and a trick each in the other three suits. George played 2NT S = to score 9/11.
?
2H N +2
2H N +1
2NT S =
2H N = (4)
1NT S =; 2C N = (2)
2H N -1; 3C N -1
?
14:
?
...............K62
...............10873
...............3
...............A9873
Q5.........................8743
K654.....................AJ2
A10874..................652
52..........................Q106
...............AJ109
...............Q9
...............KQJ9
...............KJ4
?
1NT from South, after which if West can come in it is likely to be with a DONT 2D. A negative double from North will likely get passed for a score that will beat any partials. If N-S play lebensohl, North might bid 2NT to pass South's forced rebid of 3C. If West passes 1NT, North can pass as well or bid Stayman, planning to raise 2H, pass 2S or bid 2NT over 2D and hope the fifth club pulls its weight. Contracts were 1NT S eight times, 2H S (did South take 1NT-2D-X as a transfer?), 2S S, 3C N and 3NT S.
?
The clubs behave perfectly for 3NT and E-W can only manage four tricks before declarer gets in. A correct guess of the two-way finesse in spades is not needed. All declarers in no-trumps took at least the par nine tricks. Don was N-S top as the only declarer in 3NT (taking eleven tricks; as Paun open 1NT on 16-18 Paul had an easier time moving over the 1NT opening bid). Del took twelve tricks in 1NT to score 10/11; 1NT +3 was posted six times. Matty took their par four tricks against 2S +1, Boric their par three against 3C N +1 and Larbot 1 outperformed par by two tricks defending 2H S -1 for the E-W top.
?
3NT S +2
1NT S +5
1NT S +3 (6)
1NT S +2
2S S +1
3C N +1
2H S -1
?
15:
?
...............KJ943
...............Q1054
...............----
...............QJ32
Q7.........................10
A83.......................KJ762
AK2.......................Q10974
AK854...................97
...............A8652
...............9
...............J8653
...............106
?
2NT from West and this seems headed to 4H W after a transfer. N-S had discouraging vulnerability but the right distribution to compete over Jerik's 1C forcing, eventually taking the bid in 3S N. Another pair reached 4Sx N. One E-W pair inexplicably stopped in 2H W but the remaining pairs played game, 3NT W thrice and 4H W six times.
?
As expected, 3NT fizzled badly on the spade lead. Declarer could have finished -1 by saving three hearts, four diamonds and a club, after which either red suit could have provided the eighth trick. Glynneth managed -3 and Leighry -2 with Cinbot's -1? following. All three followed the two spade contracts in the scoring. A club or heart start can hold spades to nine tricks but Dianne played 3S +1 and Larry (Sh) 4Sx =. After two rounds of clubs, Larry received a diamond shift when West had to cash the heart ace before South's loser went away on a club - although naturally that would have been easier to see had North been dummy. Heart contracts look close to taking twelve tricks but a spade lead holds 4H W to ten; the splits in the minors prevent an eleventh trick from establishing. Becky made eleven tricks in 4H (twelve are possible if North leads a high club) for E-W top; everyone else in hearts took ten tricks.
?
4Sx N =
3S N +1
3NT W -3
3NT W -2
3NT W -1
2H W +2
4H W = (5)
4H W +1
?
16:
?
...............65
...............KJ875
...............6
...............A8532
J103......................AK9874
Q1062...................A
J84........................Q53
J97........................KQ4
...............Q2
...............943
...............AK10972
...............106
?
1S from East and then either 2D or 3D from South. Opposite a passed partner 3D non-vulnerable seems to suit the hand and auction. East seems likely to bid 3S over 3D, which should end the auction. After a 2D overcall, West might squeeze out a grim raise to 2S, over which East will likely bid 4S. If West passes, North might try 2H, with East bidding 2S and South perhaps then bidding 3H. Contracts were 3H N twice, 3S E five times, 4S E four times and 5Cx S, suggesting a 4NT bid from North asking South to pick a sacrifice, quite a Northbot sort of thing to do.
?
It looks as if 5Dx might have finished only -3, but it did not matter which sacrifice South chose, as nobody made 4S. Heven enjoyed their score of +1400. A lead of either minor causes 4S to finish -1 after a diamond ruff, which was found by Martle, Jeter, Keianne and Troward. Hank (B) was N-S top for making 3H, which should have been -1. He received three rounds of spades, the third round allowing a ruff-and-discard after which there were more ruffs and eventually two more trump tricks. All the spade contracts took exactly nine tricks.
?
3H N =
4S E -1 (4)
3H N -2
3S E = (5)
5Cx S -6
?
17:
?
...............KQJ73
...............J
...............864
...............KJ54
1084......................A2
A7532....................KQ1086
73...........................AQ52
Q109......................A2
...............965
...............94
...............KJ109
...............8763
?
If North opens 1S, East doubles. There seems to be an outside chance that 1S-X-2S-P; 3S as a blocking bid may give East headaches, but otherwise it seems almost certain that E-W will declare in hearts, which everyone actually did. It would appear that at least three Norths opened the bidding, as West declared thrice. Contracts were 3H E, 4H E eight times, 4H W twice and 6H W.
?
The E-W hands just don't mesh really well - both minors contained a queen opposite a doubleton. If the opening lead is not a spade declarer CAN run a club from the West hand and discard East's low spade, but that did not happen. Betty was the only declarer to take eleven tricks, posting 4H E +1 after the opening lead of the diamond jack. Pally were N-S top defending 6H W -2.
?
6H W -2
3H E +1
4H E = (7); 4H W = (2)
4H E +1
?
18:
?
...............5
...............K62
...............A8642
...............KJ73
A76........................J1082
10943.....................AQJ8
107.........................QJ
8654.......................A102
...............KQ943
...............75
...............K953
...............Q9
?
Will either South or North come in over 1NT? East played 1NT seven times. One East opened 1C, South overcalled 1S and North declared 1NT. The other contracts were all in diamonds after interfering: 2D N, 3D N and 3D S twice.
?
No-trumps should lead to seven tricks for N-S, but only Cinbot managed to defeat 1NT E. A spade lead gives East the tempo needed to establish the seventh trick. Betty, Jim and Gloria even managed an overtrick. In 1NT N, Dianne took nine tricks to tie for N-S top. She received two gifts, a heart discard from East at trick five and then a heart lead from East at trick ten. The par result in diamonds was taking nine tricks, with E-W having four tricks that can be taken off the top. Gene posted 2D +2 and Howard 3D +2, Howard tying for N-S top.
?
1NT N +2; 3D N =2
2D N +2
3D S = (2)
1NT E -2
1NT E = (3)
1NT E +1 (3)
