1: N-S began with a game made secure by spot cards:
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74
KJ72
103
KJ1083
?
AKQ3
A104
A964
A5
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The auction seemed easy enough, with 2NT from South, some form of Stayman from North and eventually a no-trumps game. Interestingly both Northbots got the contract to 4NT S, perhaps taking a look with a natural 4C after not finding a major suit fit.
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Much depends on the lead and here South had a bit of good luck, as West held J1052 Q953 KQ 642 and the diamond lead was not at all likely. Clubs will probably be finessed through West, losing. But if the play begins with spades, then the club ace finesse, then a second spade, hearts are probably finessed through West and declarer squeezes West for a twelfth trick. Thirteen tricks are even possible if West begins with a club lead, although declarer may be more likely to read a club as from Qxxx and opt to win the ace first. A diamond lead makes eleven tricks the likely outcome, or declarer may choose to finesse hearts the other way around and finish with only ten tricks. Ruise and Boric started well when declarer only took nine tricks while five declarers split the N-S top taking twelve.
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3NT S +3 by Phyllis, Cindy (X), Leigh Ann and Cindy (M); 4NT S +2 by Harold
3NT S +2 vs Jerik; 4NT S +1 vs Jornold
3NT S +1 vs Glynneth and Jevin
3NT S = vs Ruise and Boric
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2: This was a double game swing:
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...............QJ1094
...............AKJ53
...............4
...............93
A...........................7632
----........................108762
J107632................AQ5
KJ10862...............A
...............K85
...............Q94
...............K98
...............Q754
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Almost anything can happen in the auction even assuming two passes to start. Jerik might open their Unusual 2NT; West might otherwise open 1D or even pass. North has the sort of mid-strength hand that likely does better biding both suits rather that starting with a Michaels cue-bid. West is likely to get both suits into the auction. That one table stopped below 3S ssems about right (3D W). Other contracts were 3S N twice, 4D W, 4Hx S, 4S N, 5C W, 5D W, 5Dx W and 6D W.
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In diamonds the combination of 4-2 clubs and 3-1 trumps makes it just impossible for declarer to manage twelve tricks. Eleven can be managed by various means and was the table result at all the tables except against Harob, at which table declarer played 4D =. Study defended quite well against 5C. Declarer has a fair chance of getting out for one down but a forcing defence will give West control issues; Study finished with a three-trick set. Spade contracts have four top losers but East's not leading the ace of clubs can work out badly; a heart lead allows 4S =, posted by Judy (P). Rich and Cindy (M) both made 3S. The 5-0 heart split made 4Hx perilous, but declarer did will enough for -2 against Delen.
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4S N = by Judy (P)
5C W -3 vs Study
3S N = by Rich; 3S S = by Cindy (M)
6D E -1 vs Larbot 1
4D W = by Larbot 2
3D W +2 by Erik
5D W = by Elaine
4Hx S -2 vs Delen
5Dx W = by Lynn and Eric
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3: N-S had a?highly likely 3NT:
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KJ9
108
AQJ10
KQ92
?
AQ8
9632
96
A1087
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Pleasantly, everyone played 3NT N. I am not certain but think there may have been one or two 1m opening bids but the pairs recovered if so.
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Clubs behaved with a 3-2 split and the diamonds were even better, with Kxx onside. It all came down to whether East would find the heart lead. The only East to lead a heart was Louise, a good find from a holding of AQ7. At all other tables the lead was a non-heart and declarers all took eleven tricks.
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3NT N +2 by Mark, Rich, Sarah, Henry, Harold, Connie, Hank, Judy (P), Gloria and Steve (R)
3NT N = vs Ruise
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4: North had a two-suited powerhouse:
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...............Q
...............AK973
...............9
...............AKQ764
AK106......................J843
QJ.............................1082
AQ64........................J532
J108..........................95
...............9752
...............654
...............K1087
...............32
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One of the downsides of the way that bidding over an opponent's 1NT opening bid has become much more destructive over the years is that a genuine powerhouse has trouble. What does North do over West's 1NT opening bid? We had doubles both for penalties and to show a distributional hand of some sort, 2C and 2H bid both naturally and artificially and even some passes because there was no call available that would fit the North hand. If the clubs ran, which they did, passing would at least guarantee that North would score at least +200 off the top defending 1NT and that that would be enough to beat any pair stopping in a partial, who would presumably not be able to score more than +170. The real problem for North was how to get to game opposite essentially any hand with five low cards in clubs and hearts. North had to hope for a second chance to bid and it did not always come to be. Contracts were 1NT W, 1NTx W twice, 2C N, 2H N twice, 3H N twice, 3S W, 4H N and 5Cx N, the last being an unluck accident. North began with 2C, E-W competed and later in the auction was about to bid 4H but clicked on 4S by mistake; South eventually corrected to 5C.
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The play was often simpler than the auction. Every North declaring in either hearts or clubs took ten tricks with ease. Against Carbot declarer played 2C +3 when East discarded a heart but that overtrick made no difference. West in 3S seems to have been able to escape for -2 but did not. 1NT had to go at least two tricks down. Saranne managed a third undertrick; declarer presumably cashed out and avoided the diamonds finesse. Larbot 1 produced the penalty of the day when declarer carelessly discarded a heart from dummy on the clubs, allowing Northbot to win the first eleven tricks.
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1NTx W -5 vs Larbot 1
4H N = by Connie
1NTx W -2 vs Harbot
1NT W -3 vs Saranne; 3S E -3 vs Rindy
2H N +2 vs Jevin and Glynneth; 3H N +1 vs Jerik and Boric
2C N +3 vs Carbot
5Cx N -1 vs Jornold
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5: How East coped with a 2H opening bid made a big difference:
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...............K9
...............AJ10532
...............4
...............10983
QJ106.......................832
9...............................K764
KJ973.......................A102
J76............................AKQ
...............A754
...............Q8
...............Q865
...............542
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Two Easts passed and 2H ended the auction. There were four doubles and five 2NT overcalls (better, although a higher heart spot would have been nice). Double led to 2S W, 3S W and 3NT E twice. A 2NT overcall led to 3D E and 3NT E four times. After 2NT, West ought to get the auction to 3NT.?
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Against 2H E-W might have been able to go plus with a forcing defence, although West's not being able to win a club would probably have been enough to allow a make anyway. The E-W partials had mixed results. 3NT had good enough spots to make after a heart lead even with the 4-1 split, although one declarer finished -2 by leading the low diamond and finessing the jack, blocking the suit. Carole was somehow allowed a tenth trick for the E-W top.
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2H N = by Connie and Gloria
3NT E -2 vs Larbot 1
3S W -1 vs Saranne
2S W +1 vs Leighry
3D E +2 vs Mallys
3NT E = by Gareth, Larry (Sh), Joelyn and Kevin
3NT E +1 by Carole
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6: N-S had to be a little careful in 4S:
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K743
A10764
986
J
?
AQ109
QJ
102
AK764
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I thought there might be a little more difficulty in reaching 4S than turned out to be the case. Only two pairs stopped in 2S S; the other nine Souths all declared 4S. North may have raised to 3S on the second round of the auction or South may have tried any of a number of invitations over 1C-1H; 1S-2S.
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Against a natural diamond lead had there been one, declarer might have run into trouble. If South ruffs the third diamond and draws trumps before starting the hearts, East wins the king from K532, forces out dummy's last trump and then declarer has to remember that the heart 98 dropped doubleton and that the seven-spot will win the fourth round after overtaking the second heart honour with the ace. Larbot 2 defeated 4S, perhaps along these lines. A diamond was rarely led, however, as West held AQ75 and East KJ43. If East did not switch to a diamond when in with the heart king, overtricks entered the picture. Dianne and Martin were both allowed to take twelve tricks, which seems to require a club discard to allow South a length winner in that suit as well.
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4S S +2 by Dianne, Cindy (M), Martin and Larry (St)
4S S +1 by Phyllis and Harold
4S S = vs Janda, Ruise, Jornold and Jevin
4S S -1 vs Larbot 2
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7: HCP were 13/12/9/6. E-W had a 5-3 heart fit.
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North held K53 K K1032 98753. The auction generally began 1D-X and then North was on the spot. One West did not double and North selected 1NT, perhaps playing inverted minor raises. Over the double, three Norths passed, one each bid 1NT and 3D while the remaining five all bid 2D. 1NT ended the auction, whether over a double or not. Over 3D East came in with 3H. After the passes the contracts were 2C N, 2H E and 3C N. 2D ended the auction twice, while also leading to 2H E twice and 3D S.
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With trumps splitting 4-1, heart contracts were generally uncomfortable and produced the top N-S results for Saranne and Heve, who both posted +300. When Larry (Sh) played 2H the defence never led spades and he had time to get rid of those losers. 2D took ten tricks for Phyllis and Jatin while 3D took eight. Rich made an overtrick in 1NT.
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2H E -3 vs Heve; 3H E -3 vs Sarnny
2H E -2 vs Study
2D S +2 by Phyllis and Jatin
1NT N +1 by Rich
1NT N = vs Glynneth; 2C N = vs Janda
3C N -1 vs Carbot; 3D S -1 vs Chaine
2H E = by Larry (Sh)
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8: E-W needed a tempo to make 4H:
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543
A9876
A104
108
?
A109
KJ5
95
KQJ65
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There seemed to be an outside chance of reaching 4H if West upgraded the hand for the hefty five-card suit and overall good quality of points to open 1NT. East would transfer to hearts and then probably invite game with 2NT based on holding two aces as well as good intermediates. West would likely be content with 3H and then it would up to whether or not East would go knowing there was a fit. Only one pair went to 4H. If West opens 1C the hand likely raises to 2H but East is disinclined to look. Besides 4H W contracts were 1NT W thrice, 2C W, 2Cx W, 2H E, 3C W, 3H E, 3H W and 4Sx N.
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The heart queen was onside but the suit split 4-1 with the Q1043 in the slot. As South also held a doubleton club that was likely to be enough for a set unless E-W were unusually passive and allowed declarer to get discards on the clubs. Conndy posted 3H -2; all the other heart contracts finished -1. 3NT would have made, as diamonds split 4-4 and spades 4-3; declarer could not have afforded to duck a round in either suit lest the defence switch to the other. 4Sx N was -2 against Janda, just beating out Elaine's 2Cx W +1. Next most successful among the partials was Eric's 1NT W +2.
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3H E -2 vs Conndy
2H E -1 vs Saranne; 3H W -1 vs Mallys; 4H W -1 vs Glotin
2C W = vs Study
1NT W +1 by Dee and Carole
3C W +1 by Larry (Sh)
1NT W +2 by Eric
2Cx W +1 by Elaine
4Sx N -2 vs Janda
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9: Both sides bid game again:
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...............K75
...............8543
...............QJ92
...............Q10
AQ9432..................J1086
7..............................K9
76............................K10543
AK95.......................72
...............----
...............AQJ1062
...............A8
...............J8643
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On this competitive hand nobody stopped below game. After P-P-1H-1S; North and East raised, at least one of them with a jump, and South had the distribution to expect at least one game to make. Contracts were 4H S twice, 4S W thrice, 4Sx W, 5H S and 5Hx S four times.
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E-W could take three tricks against hearts by starting with three rounds of clubs, with East overruffing dummy. Spades looked to have nearly as good a chance as hearts of taking ten tricks but the finesses all favoured N-S. Except for one West who managed nine tricks, the others were all held to eight because declarer drew trumps too early. Harold and Martin made 4H, the only successful declarers. Mallys' 4Sx -2 was N-S top, with Jornold E-W top defending 5Hx -3.
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4Sx W -2 vs Mallys
4H S = by Harbot and Marudy
4S W -2 vs Conndy and Glotin
4S W -1 vs Larbot 1
5H S -2 vs Glynneth; 5Hx S -1 vs Jerik, Boric and Jevin
5Hx S -3 vs Jornold
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10: HCP were 7/12/12/9. N-S had a 5-3 diamond fit.
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South held 5 A1065 AK1085 J93. The auction began P-1D-P-1S, producing a rebid situation. One West overcalled 1H on Q10 KQ94 743 KQ106; East raised to 2H, ending the auction. Two of the other ten Wests doubled. OVer the double, one South rebid and played in 2D. The other nine Souths all rebid 1NT, ending the auction five times. The other contracts were 1NTx S, 2D S, 2S N and 2NT S.
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Larry (St) played carefully to make 1NTx and win the Battle of the Larbots. The other contracts in no-trumps all yielded eight tricks to declarer except for Harold, who took nine. West led the heart king to the ace, then came a heart back to the queen and another heart back, not a club switch. Arnold scored well in 2H -1 and Janda were E-W top defending 2S N -2 for the only E-W plus.
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1NTx S = by Larry (St)
1NT S +2 by Harold
1NT S +1 by Phyllis, Leigh Ann, Steve (G) and Jatin; 2NT S = by Dianne
2D S +1 vs Delen and Jerik
2H W -1 by Arnold
2S N -2 vs Janda
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11: HCP were 5/11/15/9. N-S had a 4-4 spade fit.
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This was Mark's triumph. North held KJ104 KQ7 KJ72 Q7 and downgraded the hand out of the 1NT range. One other North opened 1D and was left in; the other Norths all opened 1NT (one bid 1NT as an overcall over a 1D opening bid from West; East raised to 2D and the auction ended there) and played the hand there. Mallys finished in 2S S.
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Phyllis was the only successful declarer, playing 2S =. This just beat out Conndy, who defended 2D -2. The other nine scores were all 1NT going down, even divided between -1, -2 and -3. The finesses were all good for E-W except in hearts, where North's KQx were behind West's ace.
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2S S = by Phyllis
2D W -2 vs Conndy
1D N -1 by Hank; 1NT N -1 by Rich, Harold and Judy (P)
1NT N -2 vs Jornold
1NT N -3 vs Delen, Larbot 2, Carbot and Boric
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12: To transfer or not to transfer:
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...............KQ98
...............A98
...............J98
...............1085
A1062....................3
QJ102....................653
A6..........................Q105432
AJ4........................K97
...............J754
...............K74
...............K7
...............Q632
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West opened 1NT and then it was all down to whether or not East transferred into diamonds. By a 6-5 margin East moved from 1NT to 3D. Remarkably nobody went on over 3D, but then the pairs who have been caught either bidding 1NT-2S; 3C-3D with a good hand, or with opener going on to 3NT expecting a good hand, were not playing.
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Three of the five declarers in 1NT made the contract. Seven tricks seemed the logical result whether the opening lead were a high or a low spade. 3D took ten tricks every time, all the declarers guessing the trump position as it was to hold the trumps to one loser.
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1NT W -2 vs Rindy
1NT W -1 vs Marudy
1NT W = vs Conndy, Heve and Larbot 1
3D E +1 by Jim (U) and Bob; 3NT W +1 by Larry (Sh), Carole, Arnold and Jeff
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13: E-W had twelve top tricks but some auctions still had competition:
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...............J10542
...............KJ983
...............94
...............8
8...........................AK3
A2.........................Q76
AKQJ763..............10852
AK4.......................753
...............Q976
...............1054
...............----
...............QJ10962
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West had a 2C opening bid in fourth seat, the hand's being genuinely within one trick of game. Sadly fewer than half the pairs reached the six-level. Indeed, two pairs played in 5D, one on a 5D opening bid. Four tmes the contract was 3NT E. If West showed a diamond suit, it was incumbent on East at least to look for slam, as West was supposed to have ten winners for a 2C opening bid backed by a diamond suit and East had two top winners and the heart queen besides, which might have been useful. I accordingly hold East primarily responsible for the four 3NT E contracts. The shortest auction that reached slam was Delen's 2C-6NT, with Carbot's 2C-2NT; 6NT not much longer. Jevin had some competition: P-P-P-2C; 2S-2NT-3S-6D; P-6NT. In the other two slam auctions, West knew that East held an ace and a king. Both Wests, knowing there were twelve sure top tricks, bid 7NT hoping that there would be a thirteenth trick off the top (move East's queen into clubs, say) or that the defence would discard helpfully.
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7NT can actually make if the opening lead is not a spade. Suppose the opening lead is a safe diamond. West cahes the eight red winners bringing the position down to:
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...............J105
...............K
...............----
...............8
8...........................AK3
2...........................Q
----........................----
AK4.......................7
...............Q9
...............----
...............----
...............QJ10
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South had to unguard the spades on the last red winner to keep three clubs. Now declarer cashes the top clubs and squeezes North. A spade opening lead from either side would have killed the double squeeze by cutting communication in the most important suit guarded by both opponents, although, had West held xx A AKQJxxx AKx originally, 7NT would have made against any lead - IF declarer had chosen the correct squeeze. Against a diamond lead, declarer might have opted for the simple squeeze of finding the same opponent guarding both hearts and clubs. The five-card end position would be the same, but declarer would then lead the spades. For the double squeeze to work, South must guard the clubs and North the hearts (unless only one opponent guarded the spades, so unlikely we can overlook that), as East gets squeezed on the last club from West but the squeeze works because North has to discard first. This is where the competition in the auction comes in. Had South made the perfectly solid lead of the queen of clubs, that would have given any Easts declaring a good idea of which opponent would be the only one guarding that suit; then it would be a question of who held the heart king. If South holds five clubs and therefore the only club guard, North is more likely to hold the king of hearts. Of all the Easts declaring, Kevin would presumably have pulled off the double squeeze, but Jevin's auction included a spade overcall and raise, so that Kevin likely received the spade lead, which, given West's singleton, is remarkably effective at killing off any squeeze.
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7NT E -1 vs Rindy; 7NT W -1 vs Harbot
5D W +1 vs Saranne and Larbot 1
3NT E +4 by Chiss, James (C), Larry (Sh) and Joelyn
6NT E = by Helen, Carole and Kevin
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14: Which side if either would make game?:
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...............54
...............J9743
...............AQ98
...............J3
KQJ....................63
AKQ10652.........8
7.........................J10542
97.......................KQ1085
...............A109872
...............----
...............K63
...............A642
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?Had West been dealer players might have been tempted to open 2C as there are nine winners with normal breaks, within one trick of game. The unfortunate part is that the hand does not have sufficient controls - five are required. With East dealing, South opened 1S and West then had a choice between 2H, 4H and double to be followed by hearts. One West played 2H, making me unsure whether to prefer a 2H overcall and no balance from South or a takeout double followed by 2H, which South might leave in, but then it feels a bit feeble of East to pass as well. The only other auction not reach the four-level ended in 3Hx W. An immediate 4H is a pressure bid. If North does not double (I can see North passing out of fear that a double would induce South to pull it) South may well bid 4S, thinking something ought to be done but not liking to reopen with a double lest North pass on a hand with less defence than the actual one. Higher contracts were 4H W four times, 4Hx W twice, 4Sx S twice and 5Hx W.
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4H looks fine seeing just the two hands. It ought to have been easier for N-S to take eight tricks than it proved. I shall guess that N-S did not take their diamond winner early enough at the four tables where declarer took nine tricks; spade to ace, spade to king, heart ace, club to king and ace, spade ruff and now there is no reason for North not to cash the diamond ace except the habit of not wanting to break a suit from the ace-queen with no king in dummy. A club back lets declarer discard the diamond loser on the club ten. East's hand pulled its weight defending spades, although the defence mattered a good deal. Erik opened with the king of spades, allowing the drawing of dummy's trumps and a two-trick set. Harold made 4Sx when E-W allowed club ruffs (whether West ruffed high before dummy did not matter, although on one line doing so would allow a one-trick set) by not leading trumps in time.
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4Sx S = by Harold
4Hx W -2 vs Conndy; 5Hx W -2 vs Larbot 1
3Hx W -1 vs Saranne; 4H W -2 vs Leighry, Heve and Marudy; 4Hx W -1 vs Glotin
4H W -1 by Larry (Sh)
2H W +1 by Carole
4Sx S -2 vs Jerik
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15: HCP were 10/12/11/7. E-W had nine hearts, N-S two eight-card fits in the minors.
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This began the Balancing Round. West opened 1H. Unless East made some sort of Bergen raise that got the side to the three-level, North had a chance to balance over 2H. I am sad to report that, by a margin of 7-4, 2H was allowed to play. Four Wests declared 3H, whether voluntarily or after taking the push.
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Nine tricks in hearts seemed almost certain, so that the non-balancers were not punished this time. Against Glotin declarer took only eight tricks, mis-clicking on the second round of hearts and taking the ace instead of repeating the finesse. Eric took a crucial tenth trick when North never took the second club winner. Everyone else took the nine expected tricks.
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2H W = vs Glotin
2H W +1 by James (C), Helen, Larry (Sh), Jim (U), Joelyn and Kevin; 3H W = by Elaine, Carole and Ruth
3H W +1 by Eric
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16: HCP were 12/10/8/10. N-S had 5-3 clubs; E-W 4-4 hearts.
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This time the usual auction was 1D-P-1H-P; 2H, except that Jevin, who play four-card majors, opened 1H and raised to 2H. North was in the balancing seat holding Q1087 A8 K7 J10865 and selected 2S, likely fearing that South would have bid 3D over a double. This pushed E-W to 3H W. At the other ten tables, four Norths doubled over the raise to 2H, perhaps fearing that South would miss the balancing opportunity if East should pass. The doubles led to contracts of 2S S twice, one weird 3D W and one 3H E. Of the six Souths holding A94 J43 J864 A92 and given the opportunity to balance over 1D-P-1H-P; 2H-P-P, only Leigh Ann balanced, selecting a double that pushed E-W to 3H E.
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Heart contracts looked like taking anywhere from six to nine tricks, with finesses in spades, hearts and diamonds and some of them guesses besides. Louise managed ten tricks, with nine the usual result and Harbot holding declarer to eight. Marudy were N-S top getting to defend 3D -4. The two Norths in 2S did well just to be declaring the hand almost regardless of the outcome; -2 would still have beaten defending. Phyllis finished -1.?Cindy (X) took nine tricks in 2S; I suspect that was the day's great example of declaring legerdemain and regret not seeing how it was done.
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3D W -4 vs Marudy
2S S +1 by Cindy (X)
2S S -1 by Phyllis
2H E = vs Harbot
2H E +1 by James (C), Gareth, Helen and Jim (U); 3H E = by Bob; 3H W = by Jeff
3H E +1 by Louise
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17: Here was an E-W game with a possible sacrifice:
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...............KQ1098
...............A6
...............K64
...............J54
A43..........................75
QJ98.......................K75432
AJ872......................5
7...............................AQ32
...............J62
...............10
...............Q1093
...............K10986
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North opened 1S and South presumably raised to 2S whether East overcalled or not. It feels safe to assume that at least two Easts did not overcall, as there were two contracts of 3D W, which surely had to come from 1S-P-2S-3D, after which only East has a difficult time on the next round in selecting a call. If East overcalls 2H or comes in over West's 3D bid, game is sure to be reached and was at every other table. 4H E was played six times, 4S N once and 5H E twice.
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One can feel a bit of sympathy for the pairs in 3D W, -3 against Mallys and -2 against Rindy. One could say that perhaps West does better to double 2S, as it seems unlikely to matter whether East takes a double followed by pulling 3C to 3D as a stronger hand - if East will even do so; pairs that play Equal Level Conversion should definitely double 2S, with East going directly to 4H. East's passing 3D is more unlucky than cowardly; 3D could easily be the last spot at which the pair is safe. 4S could have been -3 instead of the actual -2, but as Henry was not doubled it made no difference. Heart games had either ten or eleven tricks. Best defence was to begin with two rounds of trumps to prevent declarer from ruffing three clubs, but even then declarer could still establish and cash the fifth diamond. Half the declarers in 4H took ten tricks and half took eleven.?
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3D W -3 vs Mallys
3D W -2 vs Rindy
4S N -2 by Henry
4H E = vs Harbot, Conndy, Larbot 1 and Study
4H E +1 by James (C) and Carole; 5H E = by Bob and Kevin
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18: Everyone played 3NT E:
?
Q75
Q108
AKJ4
QJ9
?
AJ10
A73
865
K1087
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Had Paun been playing they might have had a contract of 3NT W after a 1D opening bid, but even Gareth opened 1NT on this hand and it fell well into Jerik's range as well. It did not seem to matter much whether South used Puppet Stayman or not, as neither major lead was particularly earth-shattering.
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South might have led a heart from J964, a club from four, a spade from 92 doubleton or a diamond from 1095. With the diamonds splitting 3-3 and the queen onside, there is no hope of a set. The only possible defensive triumph is to frighten declarer into cashing out for nine tricks. Unfortunately the only suit that might do that is spades; if that suit establishes the only possible finesse at that point will be in diamonds, which can only lose to South and therefore will be quite safe to take. If South establishes the fourth heart, that would only be the fourth winner for the defence so that declarer could still try the diamond finesse without risk and then the spade finesse. Saranne, Conndy, Marudy and Larbot 1 induced declarer to hold oneself to nine tricks; the remaining decalrers took ten. With the spade king offside there was no hope of an eleventh trick, as declarer always had to play both majors.
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3NT E = vs Saranne, Conndy, Marudy and Larbot 1
3NT E +1 by James (C), Gareth, Helen, Larry (Sh), Jim (U), Louise and Bob
