1:
?
...............A95
...............K9764
...............1063
...............J2
Q743......................108
Q............................AJ82
K875......................AJ92
K643......................1075
...............KJ62
...............1053
...............Q4
...............AQ98?
?
South opened 1C in third seat and North responded 1H. Some Souths passed and some rebid 1S. Contracts were 1NT N seven times, 2H N twice, 2S S and 3H N.
?
None of the three denominations could produce a making contract. 1NT should have produced six tricks, 2H or 2S seven. Jerik and Larbot did one trick better than expected on defence.
?
1NT N -1 by Gareth, Harold, Paul, Ron, Arthur and Livingston; 2H N -1 by Rich; 2S S -1 by Lee
1NT N -2 vs Jerik; 2H N -2 vs Larbot; 3H N -2 vs Louff
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2:
?
...............4
...............A1042
...............6542
...............K763
AK93.......................QJ10872
QJ85........................96
J97...........................Q83
98.............................J4
...............65
...............K73
...............AK10
...............AQ1052
?
At least one East did not open 2S, as South opened 1NT and was left in that contract. Most Easts did open 2S, resulting in competitive auctions with contracts of 3S E, 4C S twice, 4S E twice, 4Sx E and 5C S four times. If West bids 4S right away over 3C from South, North probably ought to do something, and can cause trouble for South if not doing it in tempo.
?
Against spades, N-S had six top tricks in the side suits. Larbot did one trick better than expected. 5C can make. It's easy if West leads the heart queen or even if East leads a heart. Otherwise, declarer can choose to lead up to one ten or the other, then play for a 3-3 split in that suit if it loses and a squeeze if the first red suit splits 4-2. That would make it better from the entry point of view to play diamonds first. The trap into which one can fall is that of cashing ace and king of hearts first. In the end only Mike made 5C, although both declarers in 4C took eleven tricks.
?
5C S = by Mike
4Sx E -3 vs Paun
4C S +1 by Rita and Lee; 4S E -3 vs Livinj
3S E -2 by Louise; 4S E -2 by Larry (Sh)
1NT S = vs Delen
5C N -1 vs Haorge; 5C S -1 vs Geoel and Jerik
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3:
?
...............KQ742
...............A64
...............A7
...............843
83...........................J105
KQ53......................82
QJ9542..................10863
A.............................J976
...............A96
...............J1097
...............K
...............KQ1052
?
South presumably opened, there was some sort of competition and North almost always drove to game. E-W occasionally competed as high as 3D but only one pair forgot the vulnerability and ventured higher. Contracts were 3H N, 3S N, 4Dx W and 4S N eight times.
?
All Lark had to do for the N-S top was not crash the top two trumps. They did manage this. 4S looked set to take eleven tricks. Twelve tricks were possible on a non-heart lead but were unlikely, as declarer would have had to duck the first club. Most declarers in spades did take eleven tricks but two were held to ten. There might have been more variety had West held Ax in clubs, as then West could duck the first club and give declarer a guess on the second round.
?
4Dx W -2 vs Lark
4S N +1 by Gareth, Harold, Paul, Ron and Rich
4S N = vs Delen and Boric
3H N +2 vs Lernot; 3S N +2 vs Haorge
4S N -3 vs Saranne
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4:
?
...............AJ3
...............KJ76
...............J986
...............102
K75........................964
AQ543...................----
AK.........................10754
KJ3........................Q98654
...............Q1082
...............10982
...............Q32
...............A7
?
Jerik opened their strong 1C; at the other ten tables 2NT was chosen over 1H by an 8-2 margin. 1H was left in once. The other time it was opened the auction was long and competitive, finishing in 3S S. Jerik finished in 2H W. 2NT was passed six times. One East took a shot at 3NT and one other chose to pull to 4C W via a 3S transfer.
?
4C could have been defeated by a rump lead, as South could then have come back with the queen or ten of spades and let N-S bank four tricks. After a different defence Dianne made 4C. No-trumps all rode on the lead. A lead in either major allowed declarer nine tricks while a lead in either minor held declarer to eight. The most important lead was at the table in 3NT; the opening lead was a heart and Geof had nine tricks. Paul and Livingston both led a diamond to post -120 for an above-average score. Hearts should have been held to five or six tricks but both declarers took seven. 3S had a serious trick differential, -4 possible against a red-suit lead and = against a black-suit lead. Lernot split the middle, posting a sufficiently good -2 after two rounds of diamonds and a club switch, with a little help from declarer.
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2H W -1 vs Glynneth
1H W = vs Lark
2NT W = vs Paun and Livinj
4C W = vs Carthurl
2NT W +1 by George, Larry (Sh), Geoff and Eric
3S S -2 vs Lernot
3NT W = by Geof
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5:
?
...............J
...............KQJ7
...............AKQ832
...............KQ
86............................K972
109862....................A53
97.............................J105
AJ106......................854
...............AQ10543
...............4
...............64
...............9732
?
Here we had a bit of a semi-fit. North generally opened 1D and reversed with 2H. Two Norths went to 3D after South's 2S rebid and were left there but the others all got at least to game; 3NT five times, 4S thrice and 6NT once after the exuberant auction 1D-1S; 3NT-4S; 6NT.
?
The saving grace for 3NT was that the diamonds ran; North had plenty of tricks in hand. A club lead could get four tricks for the defence but that was all, although only Jane in 3NT made an overtrick. A club lead worked equally well against 4S by letting East force North to ruff a club and allow the defence two trump tricks to go with the two aces. Ron, who apparently opened 2C and declared 4S from the North side, took twelve tricks after a diamond lead, the presumed result if East covers the spade jack at trick two. When South declared after a diamond lead declarers went wrong and finished -1 against Delen and Jerik, who split the E-W top with Geoel (3NT -1) and Boric (6NT -1 after a club lead and heart switch).
?
4S N +2 by Ron
3NT N +1 by Jane
3NT N = by Harold, Paul and Rich
3D N +2 vs Conndy and Louff
3NT N -1 vs Geoel; 4S S -1 vs Delen and Jerik; 6NT N -1 vs Boric
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6:
?
...............K106
...............AJ5
...............953
...............AKQ6
Q3..........................875
Q73........................K1084
K742......................AQ10
J1082.....................543
...............AJ942
...............962
...............J86
...............97
?
This was almost all in 2S N. Everyone opened 1NT and South responded 2H. One North pre-accepted with 3S and was left there; everyone else was allowed to play 2S.
?
Declarer had three fast diamond losers and two slow spade losers; one loser would go away on a club. That made the two-way finesse in trumps especially important. Seven declarers guessed correctly and took nine tricks. One declarer took a losing finesse in trumps before taking the discard on the third club against Louff and finished -1. The other three declarers scored +110 in 2S =.
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2S N +1 by Gareth, Harold, Paul, Mark, Ron and Gloria; 3S N = by Rich
2S N = vs Jerik, Leighry and Geoel
2S N -1 vs Louff
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7:
?
...............AQ7643
...............75
...............QJ84
...............Q
KJ8.........................52
K4...........................Q10863
A10963...................K
A32.........................108654
...............109
...............AJ92
...............752
...............KJ97
?
1NT from West was followed by competition from North in one form or another. 2S was left in six times. This is a little surprising, East knowing that the HCP are evenly divided or slightly in favour, with a good chance of finding a fit. None of the pairs playing lebensohl employed the convention. During the five auctions that went higher than 2S, only once did East do anything other than pass 2S, bidding 3H and playing the hand there. One North overcalled 3S instead of 2S. At the other three tables West balanced over 2S, being left to play 2NT and?twice bidding 3D drawing 3H from East and either passing or rebidding 3NT.
?
3NT finished -5 against Giselaine; a spade lead established the suit and there was nowhere declarer could go. 3H fared little better, -3 against Carthurl and -2 against Lark. Geoff's 2NT W -1 came out better than it probably felt while he was playing it. When spades were trumps, a red lead could have held declarer to seven tricks (two diamonds, one heart, one club, one trump and a diamond ruff or one diamond and two ruffs). Only Conndy produced that defence; most declarers took eight tricks and Gareth nine.
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3NT W -5 vs Giselaine
3H E -3 vs Carthurl
3H E -2 vs Lark
2S N +1 by Gareth and Livingston
2S N = vs Jerik, Haorge and Geoel
2NT W -1 by Geoff
2S N -1 vs Conndy; 3S N -1 vs Leighry
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8:
?
...............952
...............A953
...............K75
...............KQ6
AKQ64................J7
Q.........................KJ86
AQ98...................643
A82......................J1093
...............1083
...............10742
...............J102
...............754
?
Almost all E-W pairs reached game, although I hope there were not many 2C opening bids. Maybe if the heart queen were a club? One West played 2S (1S-X-P-2H; 2S?) but the remaining contracts were all games: the expected 3NT E seven times, 3NT W and 4S W twice.
?
3NT can take ten tricks but is likely to do so only if West works out that North cannot get back to the South hand after the opening lead. Connie and Gernot managed the feat but the majority of declarers in 3NT had to settle for nine. Dee made 4S, the expected result unless North makes a helpful club lead. Geof was E-W top in 4S +1 after a trump lead; he followed with the heart queen to the ace, but North played a second heart, allowing a key second entry to dummy for two diamond leads through South instead of one, allowing for the first diamond to be lead to the nine if South ducks.
?
2S W +1 vs Paun
3NT E = vs Giselaine, Lark, Rike, Randi and Livinj
4S W = by Dee
3NT E +1 by Connie and Gernot
4S W +1 by Geof
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9:
?
...............Q98542
...............A83
...............AK87
...............----
A........................K73
Q6......................J97
Q65....................J10942
QJ109843..........K7
...............J106
...............K10542
...............3
...............A652
?
Despite only 21 HCP combined in the two hands, nine of the eleven N-S pairs reached 4S and properly so; North is worth an invitation if South makes a single raise and that is the conservative action for the hand, which could reasonably plan a limit raise via 1NT forcing and then 3S, although West will certainly enter the auction. One North stopped in 2S and another in 3S.
?
As E-W could not draw dummy's trumps, there was no way to prevent declarer from ruffing two diamonds in dummy for an overtrick. Louff and Saranne were able to hold declarer to the contract. Delen went one better when declarer drew trumps voluntarily and was not even able to discard diamonds on the hearts.
?
4S N +1 by Gareth, Harold, Mark, Jane, Ron and Rich
4S N = vs Louff and Saranne
2S N +3 vs Leighry; 3S N +2 vs Jerik
4S N -1 vs Delen
?
10:
?
...............J72
...............J106
...............J87
...............AJ103
85............................AKQ1063
KQ932.....................8754
K53..........................A9
982..........................6
...............94
...............A
...............Q10642
...............KQ754
?
Every South id the Unusual 2NT over East's 1S opening bid except for the one 2D overcall. Possible uncontested auctions could go either way: 1S-1NT; 2S, 1S-1NT; 2H-3H; 4H (or possibly 4S), 1S-1NT; 3S-4S or even 1S-1NT; 3S-3NT (oops). 2NT catches West in the middle of the court. Pairs that play the Unusual-Over-Unusual convention can bid a competitive 3H with the West hand (1S-2NT-3C would be a forcing heart bid), but does West want to do that on KQ932? Only two Wests came in with 3H, eventually playing 5H after either a sacrifice or a slam probe (not outlandish from East, as x AKxxxx xxx xxx should make 6H). The 2D overcall led to a contract of 5Dx S. At the other tables West passed, North bid 3C and East pressed on with 3S. This ended the auction six times, with two Wests liking the presumably well-placed diamond king enough to squeeze out a raise to 4S.
?
Heart contracts take eleven tricks if trumps split 2-2, South has the singleton heart ace or (baring a spade ruff) North has a singleton other than the ace; Larry (St) and Eric in 5H had perhaps a little luck in making. 4S can be held to ten tricks by a heart ruff, the defence found against Delen to reduce their 85% score to 70%. Paun and Glotin tied for N-S top on -170, finding the ruff against 3S. Leighry had a chance for top against 5Dx, which is -3 after a black lead and -2 after a red lead. The idea is that East gets a club ruff, West overruffing the third spade for the entry after East wins the first round of diamonds. The opening heart lead led to -2, still a 60% score with the 2NT overcall having kept most pairs out of game.?
?
3S E +1 vs Paun and Glotin
3S E +2 vs Dane, Rike and Livinj; 5C N -2 by Mark
5Dx S -2 vs Leighry
4S E = by Helen
4S E +1 by Joel; 5H W = by Eric and Larry (St)
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11:
?
...............3
...............K842
...............AK654
...............KJ7
A105......................Q876
Q7653....................AJ10
102.........................87
1064.......................A532
...............KJ942
...............9
...............QJ93
...............Q98
?
Hands with 5-3 minors, four hearts and a singleton spade can be quite awkward, although here at least the diamonds can stand the auction 1D-1S; 2D. Nobody stopped in 2D. If South advances over 2D North might well go on, although only one pair ventured all the way to game. Contracts were 2S S, 2NT N, 3D N five times, 3H W, 4D N twice and 5D N.
?
Diamond contracts were set to take ten tricks, losing just the three aces. Rich managed an eleventh trick one way or another and Larbot were able to hold declarer in 3D to nine tricks but the other five declarers in partials took ten. Lernot posted 5D -2. None of the other contracts made.
?
3D N +2 by Rich
3D N +1 by Gareth, Harold and Paul; 4D N = by Mark and Jane
3D N = vs Larbot
3H W -2 by Cindy
2NT N -1 vs Geoel
2S S -2 vs Louff
5D N -2 vs Lernot
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12:
?
...............K83
...............A72
...............K1085
...............AJ5
J1075....................AQ962
KJ964...................3
J94........................Q32
Q...........................10642
...............4
...............Q1085
...............A76
...............K9873
?
North opens 1NT. As 2NT N was the majority contract it seems that East did not interfere at most tables unless South made a negative double and North just retreated to 2NT, left there. One North even played 1NT, although working out whether South passed a 1NT opening bid, East did not overcall 1S or West did not raise a spade overcall leaves me uncertain. The four contracts above 2NT N were 3S E, 3Sx E, 3NT N and 4H S.
?
Technically 3NT can make against any defence. It is almost easy after a spade lead, as all declarer has to do is start the clubs leading low from the South hand. If East avoids a spade lead, South must also at some point lead a diamond, losing the lead to East to keep the spade king protected while establishing the ninth trick. Mark made 3NT for N-S top; Harold and Ron made the overtrick in 2NT. Leighry posted -3 after some declaring inaccuracy. 4H should have been -2 but finished -4 against Lernot. Bob made 3Sx and Sarah made 3S. Spade contracts should be defeated by trump leads - often the best idea when the defending side has a considerable edge in HCP. If N-S can lead three rounds of trumps without having to break the diamonds declarer can be held to seven tricks, as the hearts will not establish.
?
3NT N = by Mark
2NT N +1 by Harold and Jane
2NT N = by Ron
1NT N = by Arthur
2NT N -1 vs Geoel and Louff
3S E = by Sarah
2NT N -3 vs Leighry
4H S -4 vs Lernot
3Sx E = by Bob
?
13:
?
...............8
...............A108763
...............J9
...............KQ109
AJ6...........................10943
K9.............................Q
Q1054.......................A762
A643.........................J872
...............KQ752
...............J542
...............K83
...............5
?
If North opens 2H South has less reason than normal to bid an immediate 4H, as E-W are less likely to compete to 4S (too bad, as South would quite like that). Strangely, it looks possible here, as West might just decide to double 2H-P-4H which could well get 4S from East. But we did not have any contract of 4Sx. As South can stand 4H opposite a maximum 2H opener, it is not unreasonable to bid 2NT instead of 3H if one wants to keep E-W out of the auction. 3S E was played twice, likely after the auction 2H-P-3H-X; P-3S. Otherwise it came down to a choice between 3H and 4H as contracts, with 4H winning out by a 6-3 margin. North might also open 1H, which seems more likely to result in stopping, as South has a 3H limit raise which North might reflexively pass on the low combined HCP despite the presence of ten trumps.
?
Here we see the difference between an ace and a king-queen favouring the ace. 4H is easily defeated; all E-W have to do is not crash the heart king and queen. Gareth and Ron, however, both convinced West to cover the heart jack with the king; Gareth even picked up an overtrick when East ducked the diamond ace. Everyone else in hearts took nine tricks. Jim escaped for -1 in 3S, which looks almost impossible without help. Paun, the other pair defending 3S, kept -2 in mind as a target and were careful to secure it, making the difference between above and below average.
?
4H N +1 by Gareth
4H N = by Ron
3S E -2 vs Paun
3H N = by Gisela, Rich and Livingston
3S E -1 by Jim
4H N -1 vs Geoel, Boric, Larbot and Lernot
?
14:
?
...............J10743
...............AQ
...............952
...............J74
AKQ.......................95
10876.....................KJ5
Q63........................AKJ8
853.........................KQ109
...............862
...............9432
...............1074
...............A62
?
Could we get everyone into 3NT? Not this time. 3NT E was played eight times but at least three Easts did not open 1NT. One West played 3NT and the other two auctions finished in the awkward 3H W.
?
3NT can take eleven tricks and did so (surprisingly) every time East declared. A heart opening lead from South makes eleven tricks rather easy, as declarer can pick up three heart tricks. Bill's favoured spade lead might have produced a better outcome, especially as he would likely have ducked the first club and given declarer a guess. It was much easier for Lynn to find the duck against 3NT W; Glynneth did succeed in posting -430. Even the heart partials provided eleven tricks.
?
3H W +2 vs Paun and Livingston
3NT W +1 vs Glynneth
3NT E +2 by Sarah, Joel, Bob, Jim, Hank, Larry (Sh), Connie and Gernot
?
15:
?
...............106532
...............A1074
...............Q4
...............75
J974.......................K
Q98........................J63
6.............................A10985
K9843....................QJ106
...............AQ8
...............K54
...............KJ732
...............A2
?
We could not quite get a majority contract here. N-S would likely have stopped in 2S if they could, but East might have taken a crack at a balance, unluckily with a 3D overcall or more happily with a double or 2NT. Contracts were 2S S five times, 2NT S, 3Dx E, 3S S twice, 3NT S and 4S N. It is possible that South might have upgraded the hand out of the 1NT opening bid range.
?
Spade contracts take nine tricks; E-W may be able to establish a heart winner as well as a club or give West a diamond ruff - but not both. Lee and NJ took ten tricks in spades after E-W missed the diamond ruff and one of the other side suit tricks. Glynneth had a nice +1100 defending 3Dx E -5. Haorge and Jerik split the E-W top scoring +200 against the two no-trumps contracts, in which seven tricks seemed the expected result.
?
3Dx E -5 vs Lernot
2S S +2 by Lee; 3S S +1 by Rita and NJ
2S S +1 by Don, Doug and Jatin
2S S -1 vs Louff; 4S N -1 vs Larbot
2NT S -2 vs Haorge; 3NT S -2 vs Jerik
?
16:
?
...............AK9
...............872
...............742
...............Q732
Q864...................105
Q53......................AK1096
AK1065................QJ3
5...........................K104
...............J732
...............J4
...............98
...............AJ986
?
We finally got everyone to game. If West passes East opens 1H in thrid position. The West hand then becomes good enough for game opposite a reasonable first-hand opener, so that West can bring out Drury and go to 4H once East confirms the 1H opening bid was not a Third-Hand Special. The auction one would have expected had West opened would have begun 1D-1H followed by a rebid of either 1S or 2H. Over 2H East would naturally have gone to 4H, while Fourth Suit Forcing would have fit the bill over 1S and led to 2H-4H on the next round of the auction. We ended with four 3NT E contracts against seven of 4H W.
?
Here we saw a slight injustice. 3NT could have been defeated three tricks had South led a spade. North had two entries in spades and could push the clubs through twice to do East out of the K10x. But after the natural lead of a club declarer rattled off eleven tricks. Ouch! In hearts declarer could not do much after a neutral lead, as running the diamonds would have required drawing trumps first while going for club ruffs would have allowed N-S to cash their three tricks. Two declarers took eleven tricks to beat par. Hank was E-W top taking twelve tricks after a club lead and continuation.
?
4H E = vs Ritold, Paun, Rike and Randi
4H E +1 vs Giselaine and Glotin
3NT E +2 by Gernot, Helen, Bob and Connie
4H E +2 by Hank
?
17:
?
...............K
...............K97652
...............AJ32
...............85
QJ105.....................A6
AQ83......................J10
974..........................K65
A3...........................KQ9762
...............987432
...............4
...............Q108
...............J104
?
It hardly seems to matter whether North opens 1H or not. If North does open 1H East overcalls 2C and West at least invites game with 2NT; East may well accept with a little extra, or West may go directly to 3NT anyway hoping that Ax would be enough assistance to make the clubs run (as is actually the case. One pair stopped in 2C E while another E-W pair gotto defend 3Sx S. The remaining contracts were all games - 3NT W eight times and 4NT W once.
?
Declarer in no-trumps had a kind layout. Had the card lay poorly 3NT, especially played by West, could have been defeated. But everything was kind. Only the heart king was offside, and on a heart lead declarer could even take all thirteen tricks on a squeeze or very helpful discards.?Twelve were possible by force on any line of defence, although usually West would have to drop the singleton king of spades. Dee took all thirteen tricks in 3NT while Geof and Larry (St) took twelve for the best declaring results. Saranne were E-W top on +1100 defending 3Sx -5. Declarer's taking eleven tricks was the most usual result in no-trumps games.
?
2C E +3 vs Ritold
3NT W = vs Glynneth
3NT W +1 vs Randi
3NT W +2 vs Carthurl, Livinj and Glotin; 4NT W +1 vs Rike
3NT W +3 by Larry (St) and Geof
3NT W +4 by Dee
3Sx S -5 vs Saranne
?
18:
?
...............KJ8
...............AKQ
...............98653
...............A5
Q62......................105
107653.................94
K...........................Q1042
KQ98....................J10743
...............A9743
...............J82
...............AJ7
...............62
?
Once again we almost got everyone to game but not quite. Whether or not West opened 1H, North presumably bid 1NT and South offered a choice of games between 3NT and 4S. Contracts were 3D N, 3NT N twice and 4S N eight times.
?
Both 3NT and 4S could be held to one overtrick by a club lead. Mark and Paul both received a heart lead and took twelve tricks despite the 4-1 diamonds, as East having either king or queen and ten was enough. Rich and Gloria took eleven tricks in 4S while three declarers took ten and Louff were even allowed a set, suggesting that West was allowed a diamond ruff. Both Gareth and Jane took the expected ten tricks in 3NT.
?
4S N +2 by Paul and Mark
4S N +1 by Rich and Gloria
3NT N +1 by Gareth and Jane
4S N = vs Lernot, Boric and Larbot
3D N = vs Jerik
4S N -1 vs Louff
