1:
?
...............1083
...............AQJ7
...............98542
...............J
Q54......................KJ97
K5........................982
KJ3......................A106
Q10985................A74
...............A62
...............10643
...............Q7
...............K632
?
Unless E-W have the good fortune?to play a 10-12 range for 1NT opening bids or respond 1NT to 1C with an extra point or two on the high end of the range, the auction seems almost certain to reach 2NT. West might well respond an invitational 2NT to a 1C opening bid. Auctions went much as expected. Phoebeth and Heve passed the hand out; of the seven auctions with an opening bid, contracts were 1NT W, 2NT W five times and 3NT W.
?
N-S can force six tricks against no-trumps, even with North on lead. Declarer must let South in twice, and with two chances to find the heart switch South is unlikely to go wrong. Unluckily for Steve, who passed the East hand, the defence ran into difficulties. Some defenders led a heart instead of a diamond and thereby sacrificed the fourth trick in the suit. This resulted in 2NT = thrice, making +120 E-W the only repeated score. Kegmar and Jerik were the only N-S pairs to take their six tricks against 1NT = and 2NT -1, giving Jerik N-S top and scoring 5/7 for Kegmar. Larry (Sh) played 2NT +1 and Lynn made her ambitious 3NT. North led a heart and then South surrendered the lead in the race by ducking the lead of the club queen at trick two, letting Lynn shift to spades and cash her ninth trick before E-W could cash their fifth.
?
2NT W -1
Passed Out
1NT W =
2NT W = (3)
2NT W +1
3NT W =
?
2:
?
...............832
...............4
...............K10754
...............J752
KQ9......................J7654
KJ10532...............Q6
Q32.......................6
A...........................Q9863
...............A10
...............A987
...............AJ98
...............K104
?
Every West declared in hearts. South opened 1NT and West intervened by whatever methods were available to the side. Gloria was the only North to compete, which pushed West into 3Hx while everyone else played 2H.
?
3D plays beautifully if North is left in the contract. Clairvoyance yields eleven tricks but nine are essentially guaranteed even without guessing either minor correctly. Hearts looks okay, especially if declarer can knock out the major aces early. But the layout is excellent for the defence if hey can grab it. In addition to the three top tricks, South can draw East's trumps and come to three diamonds and a spade lead even allows a ruff in that suit as well for six defensive tricks total. Nobody found the brilliant line of defence, which would have required South's underleading the diamond ace with a singleton in dummy, not a play we would expect to see every day. Three pairs defending did manage to hold declarer to eight tricks, among them Glotin, giving them the only N-S plus defending 3Hx -1. Jonj and Kegmar scored -110 for 5.5/7 matchpoints. Three declarers took nine tricks; Del and Hank tied for E-W top with ten. Del received all three par-beating tricks right at trick one. North led a diamond instead of a spade and South played the jack instead of winning the ace.
?
3Hx W -1
2H W = (2)
2H W +1 (3)
2H W +2 (2)
?
3:
?
...............KQ109
...............5
...............1085
...............QJ1043
AJ8653..................4
Q42........................AK9
J93.........................AK62
8.............................AK765
...............72
...............J108763
...............Q74
...............92
?
South is too weak to open 2H but West has the strength for 2S. What does East do then? The temptation may be to try 3NT, but that is highly dangerous, as West could easily have no entry. Imagine West to be holding KQJ1098 543 543 2. 3NT could take only six tricks. And yet, improve the West hand to KQJ1098 432 Q43 2 and 6NT can be claimed. East might try asking with 2NT if the side plays some version of Ogust. When shows a hand with a bad suit, East might hope that West can scramble together four trump winners to make 4S, or might try 3NT in hopes of the clubs establishing. Contracts were 3NT E thrice, 3NT W, 4S W thrice and 6NTx E once.
?
East can scramble together nine tricks in 3NT despite the 5-2 club split. The spade ace and heart queen in the West hand each provide a trick and the ninth comes either from the 3-3 diamond split or by leading up to West's jack and finding the queen onside. The three 4S contracts were all perfectly straightforward. West's?third diamond went away on the second club. This left declarer with no losers in any suit but trumps, and North had three clear winners; ten tricks all around. In no-trumps, one declarer took eight tricks, one took nine two took ten and Larry (Sh) was E-W top taking eleven tricks. The only declarer to play from the West side, Larry successfully executed the Bath Coup, ducking the opening lead of the spade king (perhaps he had not opened 2S). This induced North to continue the suit, after which Larry emerged with four spade winners, the spade queen and the ace-kings in dummy.
?
6NTx E -4
3NT E =
4S W = (3)
3NT E +1 (2)
3NT W +2
?
4:
?
...............J
...............K103
...............KJ1072
...............AQ94
Q84...........................K1076532
J64............................875
A54............................8
J653..........................87
...............A9
...............AQ92
...............Q963
...............K102
?
6D by N-S is nearly a claimer. Can it be reached? It looks most possible if the auction begins P-1D-3S. South probably makes a negative double and, unless North tries a creative 4H, the rebid of 4C will lead at least to game in a minor. 5C or 4S may lead to 6D; the trouble is that both North and South have a little above minimum for their auctions, enough to want to do more but not really enough to have constructive action. Give North South's diamond queen J K103 KQJ107 AQ94 and North might get busy after a double of 3S; slam is quite likely. Not every East bid. One possible auction resulting would have been 1D-1H; 2H with South's likely choosing between 3NT and 4H, perhaps after a Spiral ask. 1D-1H; 2C might result in 6D if South continues with 2S - Fourth Suit Forcing - and then 4D after North advances with 3H on the third round, pinpointing the singleton spade and making 6D look quite possible. Contracts were 3NT S six times, 4H S and 5D N.
?
Connie could have been next to top in 5D, which took twelve tricks in comfort. 4H was the best matchpoint game, with twelve tricks a possible outcome but eleven highly likely or ten at worst if declarer plays with decent care; playing the hand wide open would be what one might have to do in 6H but in 4H there is no great harm in knocking out the diamond ace before drawing trumps and allowing a ruff. Jatin took twelve tricks in 4H for what could have been a top but +450 would have scored just as well. 3NT was in trouble after a spade lead; declarer could just have guessed both hearts and clubs and come to nine tricks. Gel and Ruise posted the normal-looking 3NT -1 and Heve managed 3NT -3 when declarer knocked out the diamond ace early and hoped. While East's not bidding spades may have made it more likely N-S would finish in their worst game contract, there was a corresponding evil that it also made it harder for West to find the winning spade lead. Bill probably would have found the spade lead anyway but three Wests did not and then three Souths (Peach, Erik and Dagmar) took twelve tricks in comfort. Erik, for instance, received the opening lead of a club instead of a spade.
?
3NT S +3 (3)
4H S +2
5D N +1
3NT S -1 (2)
3NT S -3
?
5:
?
...............A76
...............KJ3
...............AQ1087
...............Q9
J9.............................Q84
AQ4..........................10965
532...........................KJ
J7642.......................AK85
...............K10532
...............872
...............964
...............103
?
It seemed as if North would play 2S after a 1NT opening bid and a transfer. E-W can make 3C but don't really have a good way into the auction, especially as it is not clear N-S are bidding on a fit. One West managed to play 2C (South fell asleep) and another played 3C, but 2S N was played five times. One N-S pair was pushed to 3S S after a 1D opening bid, allowing East a comfortable takeout double.
?
With South holding only one entry for a heart lead through, declarer in clubs can delay playing on hearts until finessing South for the spade ten; when that succeeds the queen establishes for a discard of a heart loser. Larry (Sh) took nine tricks in 2C but Phoebeth were able to defeat 3C one trick. Spade contracts looked like getting lucky without there being enough entries to the South hand to take two losing finesses in diamonds. All five 2S contracts yielded eight tricks, producing a five-way tie on +110 for N-S top between Connie, Jim, John, Keith and Gloria. Defending 3S, Heve cunningly helped declarer in the red suits and South was able to take a second diamond finesse, finishing -2 for the E-W top.
?
2S N = (5)
3C W -1
2C W +1
3S S -2
?
6:
?
...............AKJ95
...............1075
...............Q952
...............8
10862.....................Q743
A942.......................Q
KJ...........................A764
753..........................J1042
...............----
...............KJ863
...............1083
...............AKQ96
?
This looked headed for 4H S after a 1H opening bid and an auction likely to resemble 1H-1S; 2C-3H; 4H. One pair went looking for slam and finished in 5H S; 4H S was played six times and one pair faltered, stopping in 2C S when North passed South's rebid (presumably a misclick).
?
2C could have finished -2 had E-W found all three of their possible ruffs - two in hearts and one in diamonds. Gel posted 2C -1 to score 4.5/7. Heart contracts are held to nine tricks if West gets a diamond ruff right away, or perhaps with a second trump trick. 5H finished -1 against Pave. In 4H three declarers succeeded and three failed. Larbot were E-W top defending 4H -2; Erik was N-S top in 4H +1 after the opening lead of the spade ten.
?
4H S +1
4H S = (2)
2C S -1; 4H S -1 (2); 5H S -1
4H S -2
?
7:
?
...............J874
...............Q7
...............J932
...............AK4
K1062....................Q953
AJ52......................K109
K............................A1075
8753.......................Q6
...............A
...............8643
...............Q864
...............J1092
?
?
?South has a pass but any or none of the other three hands might open. Had Lernot been playing E-W they might have opened 2D. North might open in third seat but has to open a minor; if the hand does open I would advise 1C over 1D as directing the better lead (AK74 Q7 J932 J84 would be a clear 1S in third seat to consume the entire one-level and direct the lead) but passing is fine. The East hand suits the Rule of Fifteen, but we still had two passouts, Phoebeth/Larbot and Jerik/Heve. I'm a little surprised that Eastbot passed; it must have devalued the doubleton queen in clubs. If East does open, the auction could die in 1H W, which was played twice. When East rebid 1S, West naturally invited game and 3S E was reached twice. The last two times North opened, finishing in 1NT S and 2D N.
?
N-S can take the first five tricks against hearts with the spade ace, the top two clubs and two spade ruffs. The side cannot force anything better, but declarer may finesse the hearts into North if given the opportunity or give up an extra trick somehow. Conndy went plus, defending 1H-1, while Del took the par eight tricks in hearts. Nine tricks are possible in spades but there are guesses in both majors and a 4-1 trump split; Pally posted 3S -1 and Glotin were N-S top defending 3S -2. Glynneth took their six tricks defending against 2D (declarer cannot quite force a heart ruff; the easiest line of defence is to draw trumps rather than to go for a club ruff) to score 6/7. 1NT S was a wild ride for a middling score. Par was five tricks but an early club finesse made -4 possible. Then E-W crashed the ace and king of diamonds at trick five and East continued a diamond when any other suit would still have led to -3; the result was 1NT = for a score of 4/7.
?
3S E -2
1H W -1; 3S E -1
1NT S =
Passed Out (2)
2D N -1
1H W +1
?
8:
?
...............QJ5
...............J86
...............AQ98
...............AK6
A10983..................K7642
107.........................K9
K754......................J106
94...........................J72
...............----
...............AQ5432
...............32
...............Q10853
?
?North opens 1NT. This is a good hand for Bergenites, who will recognize the potential playing strength of South's 6-5-2-0 hand pattern. Despite the wasted spade honours, North has 14 working HCP in the other three suits with all North's honours in those suits working superbly. Over South's 2D transfer West might sneak in with a cheeky 2S, letting East get the auction to 4S rather quickly, but if anything that might encourage South to bid the slam. If N-S are allowed an uninterrupted auction, it might start something like 1NT-2D; 2H-3C; 3H (to confirm the fit, unless South would take 3D as forward-going with a control, which is a good idea)-3S. West might double 3S; North can bid 4C and then 6H will probably be reached with North having shown control of diamonds. Contracts were a little disappointing: 2D S twice after North missed a transfer, 2H N (perhaps the biggest undervaluation of the day from South), 4H N thrice, 4H S and 5H S. A 2S opening bid from West will presumably be followed by 2NT from North and 4S from East; South can then try 4NT to show two places to play but will likely leave the contract at the five-level.
?
6H is not quite such a favourite as it appeared at first; North's holding the club jack instead of the spade jack or J10x in hearts would have made the hand a big favourite. The diamond ace-queen holding in the North hand is safe from the opening lead but it does not matter here. The layout here was as kind as it could be, with the heart king onside and the suit splitting 2-2 in case the club Jxxx sit with West; the diamond finesse succeeds for the thirteenth trick.
?
Chances for 6H to make:
?
When East holds H Kx (about 20% total) declarer takes thirteen tricks about 9.8% of the time and twelve tricks 10% of the time.
?
When East holds H K singleton (about 6.25%) declarer takes all the tricks about 2.7% of the time and twelve tricks about 3.2% of the time.
?
When East holds H xx (about 20%) declarer takes twelve tricks about 9.8% of the time.
?
When East holds three hearts or a low singleton (about 41.75%) declarer takes twelve tricks about 17.7% of the time.
?
Totals are about 40.7% chance of taking twelve tricks and 12.5% chance of taking thirteen for about 53.2% total. Five declarers in hearts took all the tricks (Gel held 5H to twelve); Larbot defended 2D = for the E-W top.
?
4H N +3 (3); 4H S +3
5H S +1
2H N +3
2D S +3
2D S =
?
9:
?
...............A82
...............A984
...............J
...............KJ1072
J...............................Q973
Q632........................KJ107
Q32..........................7654
98653.......................Q
...............K10654
...............5
...............AK1098
...............A4
?
After 1C-1S; 2S (the natural choice, although at least the clubs are tolerable if North chooses to rebid 2C on five), South has a good hand for slam but likely stops in 4S after finding via a Spiral ask that North holds only three-card support. 4S is also likely to be reached via 1C-1S; 2C-2D; 2S-4S. Contracts were slightly disappointing: 3S S, 3NT N thrice and 4S S four times.
?
This hand shows neatly the difference between holding eight trumps and nine. Give North Axxx Axx J KJ10xx and 6S is nearly a certainty to make. But with the actual eight trumps the slam is iffy. The layout is kind but requires care; if the lead is a heart declarer likely needs the ruffing finesse in diamonds as well as trumps behaving for one loser. With Qxx onside declarer gets fortunate with only one diamond ruff before finessing the spade ten on the second round when West drops the jack. Cindy, Dagmar and Jatin took twelve tricks in 4S to tie for N-S top; the other declarer in 4S took eleven. In no-trumps the guards lie well for various squeezes and declarer can take eleven tricks even after a heart lead, but ten tricks (the outcome twice; Matty's opponent was in line for twelve tricks but ducked hearts at tricks two and three) and nine tricks once were reasonable outcomes. Larbot were E-W top defending 3S S +2.
?
4S S +2 (3)
4S S +1
3NT N +1 (2)
3NT N =
3S S +2
?
10:
?
...............QJ10862
...............K92
...............A7
...............K8
K94.........................A
3..............................AQJ1054
QJ10842.................K3
AJ7..........................Q1032
...............753
...............876
...............965
...............9654
?
If West responds 2D to 1NT East probably jumps to 4H over North's 2S overcall. After 1H-P-1NT-2S; 3H is probably enough, especially if the pair is using the Good-Bad 2NT, so that an immediate 3H not preceded by a 2NT relay to 3C is encouraging. West can go on over 3H. One conservative pair stopped in 3H E; other contracts were 3NT W thrice, 4H E thrice and 5H E.
?
It turned out that contracts were right-sided if played by West. East declaring in hearts could have been held to ten tricks by a club lead, as declarer must lose a trump trick. Without a club lead at the outset North's king is never established. Jatin was the only South to find the club lead and hold declarer to ten tricks; everyone else took eleven. 3NT can always take eleven tricks declared by West and has a fine chance of a twelfth. North leads a spade and the diamond ace is knocked out. If North then plays a second spade West runs the diamonds and North is caught in a progressive squeeze. If North drops the last spade West's nine-spot is high and squeezes North in hearts and clubs. Baring the club king lets West cash ace and jack and squeeze North in the majors; a heart discard lets the suit run with one finesse. The only safe return after the diamond ace is knocked out is a heart, rendering West unable to reach dummy later and then declarer has to settle for eleven tricks. It might not have been obvious that North held all the honour strength; Henry was E-W top in 3NT W =2 while Pally held 3NT to ten tricks and Lernot to nine. Phoebeth were N-S top defending 3H E +2.
?
3H E +2
3NT W =
4H E =
3NT W +1
4H E +1 (2); 5H E =
3NT W +2
?
11:
?
...............A10
...............102
...............A1053
...............AK754
983.......................QJ76542
AKQ98765...........J4
J9.........................76
----.......................J2
...............K
...............3
...............KQ842
...............Q109863
?
I don't think any South opened except for Erik, who was able to open with an Unusual 2NT. West bid 4H every time. This ended the auction once. One North doubled and it was left in. The others pushed on to 5C; either South bid 5C (twice) or 4NT and North played 5C (thrice). Jerik's opponents pushed on to 5Hx.
?
Hearts can yield ten tricks to declarer only if West can draw trumps and then get N-S to crash the ace and king of spades. Jerik did the best they could defending 5Hx -2 but it still only scored 2/7; Del won the hand just by pushing on, despite the usual hazards of competing five-over-five (dangerous here, as Jim might have gambled and pushed on to the six-level). Hank made 4H and Dave made 4Hx on the crashed spade honours. Clubs had an easy twelve tricks; Glynneth scored 4/7 when North ran the diamond ten to West's jack for some unknown reason.
?
5C N +1 (2); 5C S +1 (2)
5C N =
5Hx W -2
4H W =
4Hx W =
?
12:
?
...............AQ65
...............J875
...............J95
...............A4
K983.......................J72
AQ1043...................2
A832........................K764
----...........................KQ975
...............104
...............K96
...............Q10
...............J108632
?
One West opened Flannery, resulting in a contract of 2S E. Otherwise the auction began 1H-P-1NT. One South overcalled 2C and played the hand there when West passed (although East would surely have converted a takeout double with a penalty pass. One East was left in 1NT E. West rebid 2D and played the hand there thrice. The other contracts were 2H W and 3NT W, the 3NT contract arising after West opened 1D instead of 1H.
?
Diamonds play quite nicely for E-W; declarer can force ten tricks and very nearly an eleventh. After diamond to ace, diamond to king, heart to queen, heart ace, heart ruff, club ruff, heart ruff, club ruff, North has to refuse to ruff the fifth heart at trick nine or the forced spade lead would have let East on lead to cash clubs. Larry (Sh) took his ten tricks in 2D; the other declarers took nine and eight. In hearts declarer comes to eight tricks as South only gains the lead once and can lead either a spade or a club but not both. Dave made 2H for a middle score. Dagmar could have been set two tricks in 2C due to the 5-0 trump split but avoided the disastrous -200 with an escape for -1. Steve took the par eight tricks in 1NT E, the best result E-W could force. Betty was E-W top in 2S +1; a trump lead would have held her to the contract, but South's heart holding looked unappealing for that lead and a club was led instead.
?
3NT W -2
2D W =
2C S -1
2D W +1; 2H W =
1NT E +1
2D W +2
2S E +1
?
13:
?
...............107
...............AQ5
...............875
...............A5432
863............................KQJ95
K1086........................72
J6...............................94
10986.........................KQJ7
...............A42
...............J943
...............AKQ1032
...............----
?
N-S had a gorgeous 3NT; could anyone find it? It seemed possible. After P-1S-2D-P; it would seem that a 2S cue-bid from North would be likely to convince South to bid 3NT with seven running tricks. A 2S raise from West, however, denies North the chance to invite with 2S and will elicit either 3D or perhaps a responsive double. East had to be sufficiently disciplined, though, to avoid bidding 3S. But not only did nobody find 3NT, nobody even got to game at all. Contracts were 2D S, 3D S four times, 3S E, 3Sx E and 4D S. Conndy got to defend 3Sx on the auction P-1S-2D-P; 2S-3C-3D-3S; X, East's 3C probably keeping Cindy from bidding no-trumps but at least she got to make a free bid to show a little extra.
?
3NT walks in unless West holds all four diamonds, and there is an overtrick if South as the time or the inclination to take the finesse. Diamond contracts take eleven tricks on the combined luck of the heart finesse and the 2-2 trump split. Dagmar took all thirteen tricks in 4D, Jatin took twelve, three declarers took the par eleven and Gel held declarer to ten for the E-W top. Against spades N-S take between six and eight tricks depending on how many club ruffs they get. With E-W scoring no more than +190 in diamonds, Pally scored 6/7 for 3S -2 even without any club ruffs. Conndy got both their ruffs which turned out not to be needed, but they did have the glamour of a nice +1100 on their scoresheet.
?
3Sx E -4
3S E -2
4D S +3
3D S +3
2D S +3; 3D S +2 (2)
3D S +1
?
14:
?
...............J98
...............KQ9
...............1072
...............AK105
Q............................K1072
J102.......................7653
J943.......................Q65
J8762.....................43
...............A6543
...............A84
...............AK8
...............Q9
?
This hand had great subtlety in the play. The auction became a question of whether N-S would play game in spades or no-trumps. The hand does not appear to merit an upgrade out of a 1NT opening. North's flat hand may rule out Puppet Stayman. Contracts were 3NT S thrice, 4S S thrice, 4NT N and 5S S.
?
Spade contracts are quite straightforward; East has three trump winners. Leighry and Pave found an extra trick (probably declarer tried to discard a diamond on a club before playing trumps and on the third club overruffed the spade seven with the ace) and posted 4S -1, tying Gel's 5S -1 for E-W top. Dagmar made 4S. The play in no-trumps was fascinating. With a club lead or finesse declarer has ten tricks, but can only be held to ten tricks by force if West leads the singleton queen of spades. We will look at West's making a neutral lead - say the jack of hearts. Dummy wins and declarer runs the four clubs, finessing the ten on the second round. If East discards a spade, declarer can discard a diamond, then play ace and another spade, establishing the fourth spade for trick number eleven. If East discards two diamonds, South can make the contract in either of the different ways we will see below. If East discards two hearts or a heart and a diamond, the hearts are cashed ending in dummy. East still cannot discard a spade. If East finally discards a diamond South discards down to three spades and then leads a diamond. If East unblocks the queen, South wins and leads a low spade. If West wins the queen West can cash the fifth club but North and South discard spades and West has to lead a diamond, letting North's ten score. If East overtakes the queen with the king the spade ace and jack will score. Finally, if East ducks the first diamond, South wins, cashes the spade ace and then ducks a diamond to East's queen, forcing East to give dummy a trick with the jack of spades. Will declarer find all this? Almost surely not; the normal line is to try for 3-2 spades. Gernot did take eleven tricks in 3NT for the N-S top after a club lead. Two declarers took ten tricks; Glynneth score 4/7 holding 3NT to nine.
?
3NT S +2
3NT S +1; 4NT N =
4S S =
3NT S =
4S S -1 (2); 5S S -1
?
15:
?
...............1097
...............----
...............QJ1085
...............QJ854
Q3..........................J64
AQ1084.................K96532
9432......................K7
A3..........................76
...............AK852
...............J7
...............A6
...............K1092
?
Will either East or West find a heart overcall after 1S from South and perhaps 2S from North? If not N-S may manage to get all the way to 4S unimpeded. After 1S-2S; South will invite with 3C and North can accept. If either East or West comes in with hearts the bidding gets up rather quickly and the side can go as high as 5H with ease. Contracts were 3H W, 3NT S, 4H W twice, 4S N twice, 5H W and 5Hx W.
?
Hearts can be held to eight tricks, although with spade leads declarer can find a ninth. Two of the five defending pairs held declarer to eight tricks, Pally scoring 4/7 for 5H -3. Lynn in 3H -1 joined Hank and Louise in 4H -1 to score 5/7. Hank's South found a club switch after the spade lead but then led the diamond ace at trick six instead of putting North in with a club. Jonj scored 5/7 defending 5Hx -2. Matty had no difficulty taking their seven tricks for E-W top defending 3NT -3. Declarer has eleven tricks in spades whether declarer takes the diamond finesse or knocks out the club ace with the diamond king onside and clubs 2-2. Phoebe and Erik tied for N-S top in 4S +1.
?
4S S +1 (2)
5Hx W -2
5H W -3
3H W -1; 4H W -1 (2)
3NT S -3
?
16:
?
...............J98
...............KQ10
...............A10984
...............QJ
AQ752.....................106
8..............................AJ93
K652........................QJ
K53..........................A9864
...............K43
...............76542
...............73
...............1072
?
West opens 1S and North has the opportunity for a disastrous 2D overcall. East will likely make a negative double; if West passes it 2Dx can be picked clean. If E-W find all their ruffs (spade lead and heart switch is an excellent way to start) 2Dx will finish -4 for +800. I was a little surprised that nobody stopped in 2NT E (1S-1NT; 2D-2NT). The three partials were 2S W, 3C W and 3H S. 3NT was played four times, twice in each direction. The last contract was 4S W.
?
The hand is remarkably friendly for E-W. 4S makes unless N-S are able to cash the fourth round of diamonds, or unless declarer tries to ruff the third diamond in dummy before starting trumps (South overruffs with the king and North scores the jack as well). Jerik were able to defeat 4S, tying Glotin's 3NT -1 for N-S top. 3NT also makes; N-S cannot make any progress in hearts with North's KQ10 before East's AJ93 and declarer can establish four tricks in either black suit to go with two tricks in the other and three red tricks. Indeed; N-S may need to get going and at least establish a heart trick to prevent declarer from taking ten tricks. Larry (Sh) was E-W top in 3NT W +2 - when he ran dummy's clubs, North bared the spade jack and surrendered two tricks in doing so. Leigh Ann took ten tricks in 3NT and Gene the par nine; only Glotin were able to defeat 3NT. The partials were all one trick off par. E-W could take ten tricks in either black suit. Louise took eleven tricks in 3C, doable if declarer can unscramble all the winners. Spades could have yielded ten tricks but Conndy scored 5/7 by holding declarer to nine. Gernot bettered par by a trick in 3H S -3 for the middle score.
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3NT W -1; 4S W -1
2S W +1
3C W +2; 3H S -3
3NT E =
3NT E +1
3NT W +2
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17:
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...............1042
...............J93
...............1086
...............KQ54
K95........................AQ
87642....................AQ105
AJ4........................K3
102.........................J8763
...............J8763
...............K
...............Q9752
...............A9
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If East opens 1NT South might be more likely to come in than over 1C, as only players who play cue-bids as showing "top and another" (Bill used to play cue-bids that way) can come in with two-suited interference and the suits are weak enough to dislike the idea of, say, bidding 1S and directing a poor lead. We could end in 4H W after 1C-1H; 3H-4H or 4H E after P-P-1C-1S; X-2S-4H. P-P-1NT-2S showing spades and a minor takes away West's opportunity to invite game. It turns out, though, that 1NT passed by South never resulted in game; both times West made a transfer to 2H and then passed. One South was left to play in 2S. Both East and West declared in no-trumps, 2NT W and 3NT E. 4H W was played three times.
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N-S can force three defensive tricks by letting South ruff the third club off the top, but this leads to ten tricks as a certainty. If South does not ruff a club off the top, declarer in 4H perhaps ought to make an overtrick by resorting to the safety play of putting down the ace first. This gives up a better chance of an overtrick from finessing the queen but results in ten tricks or eleven whenever ten are possible. Declarer needs to judge how likely the field is to be in game. Here it turned out to be half and half, putting a premium on making game. Only Hank did make 4H, which gave him the E-W top, as declarers against Conndy and Pally finessed the queen and then put down the ace. 3NT could have taken ten tricks as well, also via starting the hearts with the ace. Against Jerik the hearts were long delayed, declarer discarding East's low heart early, delaying leading the suit and then eventually finessing. Both Easts declaring 2H took ten tricks, South being likely to have begun with the club ace.Gernot had another declaring escape, making 2S when he could have finished -3. Henry took nine tricks in 2NT to score 4/7.
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2S S =
3NT E -2
4H W -1 (2)
2NT W +1
2H E +2 (2)
4H W =
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18:
?
...............AJ8
...............10643
...............AQ
...............K843
K1052....................Q764
KQ95.....................82
J1087.....................9642
Q............................J65
...............93
...............AJ7
...............K53
...............A10972
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N-S ought to reach game with ease, perhaps after 1C-1H; 2H and a Spiral ask from North, revealing that South held three-card heart support and a minimum hand. Or North might reasonably just bid 3NT over 2H directly if that does not carry any slamward significance. But only half the N-S pairs reached game. Contracts were 1H N, 2C S, 3C S, 3NT N thrice, 3NT S and 4C S. West might come in with a light takeout double, which ought to help N-S play the clubs correctly, as declarer can cater to a singleton honour on either side and a double will flag West as more likely to hold an honour singleton than Hxx.
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South in clubs can take eleven tricks easily enough with a correct Restricted Choice guess in clubs. Even if West does not lead a heart originally, which helps South, declarer can draw trumps, discard North's spade on the third diamond and then throw E-W in with the second spade, forcing the defence to break the hearts and ensuring only one loser for declarer. The declarers in clubs underperformed, probably mostly through leading the ace first. Larbot defended 4C -1 for the E-W top; both the lower contracts yielded one overtrick. Par in hearts was nine tricks and Gel bettered par by one trick on defence. 3NT can force eleven tricks as well, as declarer can force two spade tricks. Connie, Erik and Gloria all posted the more reasonable ten tricks to share N-S top; the other declarer in 3NT took nine.
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3NT N +1 (2); 3NT S +1
3NT N =
3C S +1
1H N +1; 2C S +1
4C S -1
