1:
?
...............4
...............AKQ107
...............KQ103
...............KQJ
AJ86........................K1052
32.............................65
96.............................AJ8542
A8543.......................6
...............Q973
...............J984
...............7
...............10972
?
At least one North opened 2C, a marginal decision. One South was left in a 1H opening bid when West decided not to balance. The usual destination of the auction was 4H, played twelve times.
?
The final auction could have come right out of a story by Mr Mollo. North accidentally opened 1S instead of 1H. South made a weak raise to 3S and North then tried to get out of spades, which was going to be tricky with South always putting the contract back into spades. First North tried 3NT, returned to 4S. Then North tried 5H, returned to 5S. E-W doubled 5S. Finally North ran from 5Sx to 5NT, passed around.
?
This hand in hearts could come straight out of an intermediate-level lesson on defence. East leads the singleton club to West's ace. The best card declarer can play is the queen as it turns out; West would then have to decide whether East led a singleton or from KJ6. East would not have led the six-spot from either KQ6 or QJ6. If West knows or guesses the six to be a singleton, the return is obviously the club eight. East ruffs and has been given a clear signal to return a spade. West wins the spade ace and gives East a second club ruff; declarer finishes with only eight tricks. But only four pairs held declarer to eight tricks and three more to nine; five declarers made 4H. But this was not N-S top, as 5NT happened to make. E-W's minor aces were taken early. North discarded her singleton spade on the fourth club in the South hand and then ran the hearts with the diamond Q103 as her last three cards. By that point it was clear that something odd had happened, but East was still - naturally enough - stuck on the 1S opening bid and kept Kx in spades, blanking the diamond jack and giving declarer eleven tricks and the N-S top.
?
E-W could have escaped in 4Sx for -2, better than a making game, but that result would have been lucky to emerge with the near-average -300 would have scored.
?
5NT N =
4H N = (5)
1H N +2
4H N -1 (2)
4H N -2 (4)
?
2:
...............AK7654
...............4
...............K7
...............KJ64
2.................................QJ83
K83............................1062
J8432.........................A965
Q972...........................85
...............109
...............AQJ975
...............Q10
...............A103
?
All the N-S pairs got to game, but to three different games - 3NT, 4H and 3S. South opens 1H and North responds 1S. The next bids are 2H and 3C, which puts South a bit on the spot. 3H might be tried, as the heart nine helps the suit a fair amount, increasing the chance that there will be only one loser opposite a low singleton to over 50%. 3NT is out with no diamond stopper, as is 3S with only a doubleton. 3D could theoretically work if it shows either a partial stopper or nothing else to bid. If South does bid 3H, does North try 3NT, raise to 4H or rebid 3S on the six-card suit? If North does bid 3S South can raise to 4S on 109 doubleton. Contracts were 3NT N thrice, 3NT S thrice, 4H S and 4S N six times.
?
One of the puzzling things was why 3NT did better from the South side than from the North, as West had a more natural diamond lead, though there was no reason for either hand not to keep going in diamonds after West gains the lead with the heart king. There is an outside chance that West might lead the diamond jack on the third round and East might not unblock the nine, but the three Souths in 3NT (Margarita, Venky and Bill) all took eleven tricks to share the top board. Against Bill West switched to a club when in with the heart king, even though two rounds of diamonds had already been played. North declaring took eight, seven and six tricks, all depending on how desperate declarer got after two rounds of diamonds. Glotin's +300 was E-W top, followed by Pally's +200. 4H makes easily; West has to lead the singleton spade to hold declarer to ten tricks. 4S will require a correct guess in either clubs or hearts when the 4-1 trumps give declarer a second loser in the suit. Rita did take eleven tricks in 4H; 4S made thrice and was -1 against Cliborah and Paun.
?
3NT S +2 (3)
4H S +1
4S N = (3)
3NT N -1; 4S N -1 (3)
3NT N -2
3NT N -3
?
3:
?
...............K94
...............AKQ95
...............865
...............76
103........................762
J1064....................87
4............................A1032
KQJ532.................A1084
...............AQJ85
...............32
...............KQJ97
...............9
?
Here we had the one hand on which everyone played the same contract (of 4S S). North can make a 2/1 response in hearts and then support spades. South might initiate control showing (North could easily hold Kxx AKxxx Axx xx or such) but the side can stop in 4S, as South will not go beyond 4S.
?
Today must have been National Lead Your Singleton Day, as a diamond lead here nets West two ruffs and results in 4S -1. Inexplicably only two pairs, Linj and Matty, found the relatively easy set. Two pairs scored remarkably we for holding declarer to ten tricks, while an astonishing nine Souths posted +450 in 4S +1. Vulnerability prevented 5C from being a worthwhile sacrifice, although, as was the case with Board 1, the game wasn't making anyway.
?
4S S +1 (9)
4S S = (2)
4S S -1 (2)
?
4:
?
...............AQJ954
...............J9
...............6
...............J865
K732..........................106
A842..........................KQ1076
10972.........................AJ
Q................................K1042
...............8
...............53
...............KQ8543
...............A973
?
North opened 2S. Most Easts overcalled 3H; when East did bid 3H only one West passed; the others all raising to 4H. Contracts were 2S N four times, 3H E and 4H E eight times.
?
We had yet another singleton lead, although at least this time it was not necessary and there weren't any ruffs in the case. But if South did lead a spade against hearts, North?should have returned a spade at once. Otherwise declarer would have had a shot at an endplay, although South could have circumvented that later by giving East an extra club winner, which would not have been enough to discard all the spade losers from the West hand. Larry (Sh), Linda and Rich all made 4H to share E-W top; Glynneth were N-S top when East finessed the diamond jack at trick two, resulting in 4H -2. Half the declarers in 4H finished the regulation -1. 2S could have been held to six tricks, with the four spade contracts evenly divided between six and seven.
?
4H E -2
4H E -1 (4)
2S N -1 (2)
3H E =
2S N -2 (2)
4H E = (3)
?
5:
?
...............743
...............K10632
...............Q76
...............K8
A10985..................KQJ
Q............................A9
AKJ104..................952
Q3..........................A9764
...............62
...............J8754
...............83
...............J1052
?
East opens the bidding and West is very close to a slam inquiry once the 5-3 spade fit is uncovered. Move either of the minor queens into diamonds and slam would be fine. As it was a minority of Wests moved for slam, but everyone who did so bid it. Contracts were 3S W, 4S W eight times, 6S E and 6S W thrice. Perhaps the East to declare opened 1NT.
?
Against 6S W North has to avoid giving away a trick. Fortunately if the E-W hands are shown to be balanced North might find the trump lead. Larry (Sh) made 6S W after a spade lead; he drew trumps and finessed in diamonds, after which North switched to a low heart, after which Larry had the presence to run it to his singleton queen, a play which could not cost and in this case gained. More impressively Phyllis (H) made 6S E, as South does not have a bad lead and it's easy for North to find a good continuation when in with the diamond king. Except for an inexplicable 4S -1 against Leighry that gave them a three-way share of N-S top with Bota and Rurry, both of whom set 6S, all the other E-W pairs took eleven tricks.
?
4S W -1; 6S W -1 (3)
3S W +2
4S W +1 (6)
6S E =; 6S W =
?
6:
?
...............J109843
...............AQ1097
...............----
...............J6
Q6.............................2
82..............................KJ6
K7543........................Q10862
KQ103.......................9842
...............AK75
...............543
...............AJ9
...............A75
?
1NT from South and then N-S had a nice slam if they could find it, even with the diamond duplication. Give South AKxx KJx xxx Axx and 7S would be an excellent contract. Only Conndy found the slam after the sequence 1NT-2H; 2S-4H; 6S; if South took 4H as a self-splinter then slam would have been a breeze opposite a fitting hand (Qxxxxx ---- KQxxx Jx, anyone?). Almost everyone else stopped in 4S, with one 3S S contract and the rest all 4S, twice by North (a 3S response showing both majors? although that ought to show some slam interest, so that South must have really disliked the heart holding?) and nine times by South.
?
Except for Pheileen's posting 3S +1 (irrelevant, as they were scoring 11/12 either way) everyone took eleven tricks when the double finesse in hearts failed both times. Alas! It seems to be a sort of justice that Conndy won despite their bad luck on this board.
?
4S N +1 (2); 4S S +1 (9)
3S S +1
6S S -1
?
7:
?
...............1076
...............J76432
...............A93
...............Q
96543......................KJ8
A9............................K5
J42...........................K1086
J95...........................A863
...............AQ
...............Q108
...............Q75
...............K10742
?
We finally got a hand without a game contract. N-S seem likely to bid 1C-1H; 1NT-2H. Reverse the black suits and East would likely have doubled 1H; the hand as is might double 2H with both opponents limited and a fit likely. West could also balance with 2S once 2H is left in; as the hand has already declined too opportunities to enter the auction East should not expect too much. Three tables with intrepid players got the auction to the three-level, though usually it stopped on the two-level. Contracts were 1NT S, 2H N seven times, 2S W twice, 3H N twice and 3S W.
?
2H is at least moderately right-sided when played by North; a lead of either minor lets declarer take ten tricks. The spade lead is interesting; declarer runs out of entries to dummy. Spade to queen, club to queen and ace, spade to ace, club king, club ruff, spade ruff, club ten ruffed and overruffed and now there is no re-entry to the South hand to discard the second diamond loser on the fifth club. Results declaring in hearts were mixed, with two declarers taking eight tricks, four taking nine, two taking ten and Ken taking eleven. Spade contracts can be held to seven tricks if N-S get their club ruff. Louff, the only pair defending 3S, picked up an extra and unnecessary third undertrick when declarer mismanaged a ruff-and-discard late in the hand. Sandi was E-W top in 2S =, a feasible result if a club is not led, as South is unlikely to find the club switch after winning the first spade and all that remains is for declarer to play North for Qxx or 10xx in trumps instead of Axx, easy enough when South has opened the bidding. 1NT S can be held to eight tricks but Erik took nine for a good score instead of a middle.
?
3S W -3
2H N +3
2H N +2; 3H N +1
1NT S +2
2H N +1 (3); 3H N =
2H N = (2)
2S W -1
2S W =
?
8:
?
...............J4
...............AQ32
...............AK1062
...............AK
10965.......................Q82
1054.........................K8
J9.............................7543
J1098.......................Q543
...............AK73
...............J976
...............Q8
...............762
?
N-S had a good slam here if they could find it. It appears that a clear majority of the field opened with 2NT rather than 1D, as contracts were 4H N seven times, 4H S thrice, 5D S (a rogue 2C opening bid that seems to have gotten what it deserved), 6H N and 6H S. The slams were reached in completely different ways: 1D-1H; 4NT-5C; 6H (brave with the spades wide open) and 2NT-3C; 3H-3S; 4C-4H; 5C-6H, produced by Rabbot. Note Bill's 3S bid followed by 4H to put the question of slam into the air. Northbot had almost all prime cards - aces, kings, the trump queen and even a strong five-card side suit into the bargain. Bill's 4H denied a diamond control but Northbot's 5C not only showed the second-round club control but implied diamond control and showed a hand worth going beyond game.
?
Everyone took twelve tricks; the heart finesse lost but the suit split 3-2, allowing for either opponent to hold Jxxx in diamonds. The doubleton jack's dropping gave 5D the same twelve tricks but Randi were already going to be E-W top just for N-S's choice of contract.
?
6H N =; 6H S =
4H N +2 (7); 4H S +2 (3)
5D S +1
?
9:
?
...............108
...............872
...............8642
...............J1072
954......................AKJ2
AJ1096................K4
AK3.....................Q1097
Q3........................AK9
...............Q763
...............Q53
...............J5
...............8654
?
After East's 2NT opening bid West is sure of slam but should not expect grand slam to be in the picture, although it is possible opposite something like AKxx KQxx xx AKx or even the ideal 17-count of Axx KQxx xx AKJx. But finding an ideal hand is unlikely when it will entail partner's holding the right doubleton. At IMP scoring West might just raise directly to 6NT, which should be safe even from a nasty heart split, but at matchpoints the could be hands with enough of a good play for thirteen tricks in hearts to make 6H preferable. The auction should reach 6NT when East has no heart support; 6NT E was played eight times. One West kept the hand in hearts for a contract of 6H E while two pairs each went both higher and lower than par to 3NT and 7NT, the latter always a possibility when a side holds all the aces and kings.
?
Steve and Howard both made 7NT, giving their opponents reasonable grounds for being a little salty. The normal way to finesse the hearts was through South, although West's holding the nine-spot greatly reduced the advantage of doing so, for with AJ10xx one could not score five tricks after catching North with Qx. Eleven declarers took all the tricks. Only against Marbot (-1440) and Glynneth (+100) did declarer fail. Against Glynneth in 6NT the diamonds and club queen were played first and then declarer went up with the ace on the second round of hearts, being left after that with no way to recover.
?
6NT E -1
3NT E +4 (2)
6NT E =
6H E +1
6NT E +1 (6)
7NT E = (2)
?
10:
?
...............A1063
...............QJ6
...............Q1086
...............K5
KQ85.......................9742
K10732....................5
AJ3..........................942
A..............................87432
...............J
...............A984
...............K75
...............QJ1096
?
If South opens, we could have something like 1C-X-XX-P; P-1H-P-1S; P-P-X-P and then South may or may not take the double out with a disappointingly low amount of defence. Otherwise West opens 1H which South may leave in (I suppose North might double playing Equal Level Conversion but I cannot recommend it). South may balance with 2C, likely to be doubled by West; E-W may play in either major while N-S may play in clubs or no-trumps. Contracts were 1H W twice, 2S W, 2NT N, 2NT S twice, 2NT W(the outlier?), 3C S, 3Cx S, 3S W, 3NT N and 3NT S twice.
?
?With their favourable distribution E-W can scramble together seven tricks in spades (and both declarers in spades did, although I would not have expected that, especially given North's being positioned to overruff the third club. No-trumps can take nine tricks for N-S. If East begins with a heart to West's king declarer has three heart winners to go with four clubs and comes to a ninth trick before E-W can come to a fifth; if E-W attack spades declarer has time to start diamonds. Only Judy made game in no-trumps, however; Heve posted 3NT -1 and Linj 3NT -2, Linj after declarer did not finesse in diamonds in the middle of the hand. Clubs similarly offered nine tricks as par, Dianne taking ten in 3C but Cliborah managing to defend 3Cx -1. A club lead holds West to four tricks in hearts, mainly because it's important to set up South's being able to ram good clubs through West for overruffs. Conndy produced 1H -3, matched by Louff's defending 2NT W -3, to score 10.5/12.
?
3NT S +1
1H W -3; 2NT W -3
2NT S +3
3S W -2
2NT S +1
3C S +1
2NT S =
1H W -1; 2S W -1
3NT S -1
3Cx S -1; 3NT N -2
?
11:
?
...............A875
...............AK42
...............76
...............Q109
32..............................J9
10986........................QJ5
AJ3............................KQ102
K632..........................Q854
...............KQ1064
...............73
...............9854
...............A7
?
Every South played in spades. I thought there might be more than one pair in 4S. Bill got there after opening 2S and then not accepting Northbot's signoff (he was in a mood for action after being on the receiving end of the grand slam the round before): 2S-2NT; 3C-3S; 3NT-4S. Three pairs played in 3S and nine stopped in 2S. Had I been South I'd have inclined to an invitation with 3D after a raise to 2S from North. With the low doubleton North would have accepted the invitation.
?
With 2-2 trumps everyone took ten tricks. Nobody led a club from the king as West - or, if any West did, declarer did not rise with the queen.
?
4S S =
2S S +2 (9); 3S S +1 (3)
?
12:
?
...............K87
...............1064
...............K94
...............K432
AQ542..................J10963
AQ2......................93
AQ........................J1063
J108.....................Q6
...............----
...............KJ875
...............8752
...............A875
?
1S from West and then East might have bid 4S, bid 2S or possibly even passed. The last seems the most sensible way to reach the contract of 2S W, which was played once after the auction 1S-P-P-2H; X-P-2S. Everyone else played in 4S W; if East responded 4S West did well to recognize the lack of slammishness about the hand; it would take Kxxxx Kxxxx xx x or something similar to make 6S.
?
4S fails against normal defence. Had declarer been allowed to choose which of the three finesses would succeed, hearts would not have been selected, as declarer has a chance to discard a heart from the East hand on the third club. Larry (Sh), NJ, Don and Geof were allowed to make 4S, almost surely on an underlead from North of the diamond king.
?
4S W -1 (8)
2S W +1
4S W = (4)
?
13:
?
...............J109
...............AJ1083
...............852
...............42
632..........................Q84
7652........................Q9
A7............................Q1064
K1065......................AQJ8
...............AK75
...............K4
...............KJ93
...............973
?
East opens 1D and South may upgrade the 14-count based on the presumably well-positioned diamond honours. If South passes East presumably plays 1NT. If South overcalls 1NT it appears that South will likely play 2H. A 1C opening bid instead may have West take the contract back into clubs, which ought to be an eight-card fit after 1C-1H; 1NT. The last and least likely possibility is that South will overcall 1S, perhaps over a 1C opening bid, leading to 2S. Contracts more or less fell in line: 1NT E seven times, 2C E, 2H S thrice, 2S S and 3C E.
?
E-W were favoured to beat par in 1NT and perhaps in 2H. We could not expect anyone to find the lead of the doubleton heart king against 1NT. A club or high spade could lead to -2, although after a spade South had to be careful not to give East a sixth trick with the queen, which usually happened. Playing standard signals, North's dropping the jack on trick one would deny the queen; the danger would be that South might read it as being from J109x and try to drop the queen doubleton. 1NT -1 was the popular result and became part of an eight-way tie for E-W top with the two declarers in clubs. Only Conndy posted 1NT -2, which was good for N-S top at the vulnerability. In 2H declarer could take ten tricks by dropping the offside heart queen. This could become easier in a couple of ways. If East's heart nine is not from 9xx declarer might play the ace next trusting East not to toss the nine indiscriminately, but the more likely hint may be from the high cards. If West leads the diamond ace and switches to a club, East's play of the club ace and queen may clue South in to West's holding the king. With the play's implying seven HCP for West in the minors, East becomes a strong favourite to hold the heart queen. West's leading ace and another diamond would even allow for a possible eleventh trick. Henry was the only South to take ten tricks in hearts. Against Larbot South was on the path to ten tricks but discarded the fourth spade from hand late in the play rather than a diamond. 2S took the expected nine tricks for a good score.
?
1NT E -2
2H S +2
2H S +1 (2); 2S S +1
1NT E -1 (6); 2C E -1; 3C E -1
?
14:
?
...............Q108
...............Q84
...............7
...............AKJ943
J92.......................A765
K953.....................J
KJ10843...............AQ965
----........................862
...............K43
...............A10762
...............2
...............Q1075
?
Someone please tell me that the heart jack did not convince any Easts to open the hand. I can live with a pair's deciding to open seven-loser hands with 2.5 Quick Tricks but anyone who opened "because the heart jack made the hand 11 HCP" is more than I can bear. As East declared more often than West I must presume several 1D opening bids but I am going to cling to the belief that they would all have been opened had the jack been the ten or even the deuce. If the auction starts 1D-1H it seems unlikely to stop below game whatever West does. 1D-P seems likely to lead to clubs if West is willing to sell out. Otherwise we start P-P-2D-3C and the hearts can come into the auction if East leaves South room. Contracts were 3D E, 3H S twice, 4D E twice, 4D W, 4H S, 4Hx S, 5C N, 5D E twice and 5Dx W twice.
?
Club contracts should lose one spade, one diamond and one heart; diamond contracts one heart and two spades. All the minor contracts took ten tricks except for Cliff's making 5Dx W, most likely after South's letting the heart jack run to the king. Hearts can be held to eight tricks if East wins a diamond or spade lead and finds the club switch to give West two ruffs. Trying a forcing attack will promote a trick for the heart nine but South can get out of serious trouble by forcing West in clubs at any point. Phyllis (B) took ten tricks in 3H for the N-S top but the declarers in 4H and 4Hx both finished -1. 4H -1 was interesting.?When I began watching one diamond and two spades had been played, West's jack being high.?South then began the hearts with the ace. When this dropped East's jack, the follow-up was a?heart towards dummy (jack from J9 would have made for an interesting falsecard had that been East's holding), taken by West's king. West then had a chance to cash the spade jack and then lock declarer in the North hand with a heart to the queen. Dummy would have had to lead a club, allowing West a ruff. West led the low heart instead, which gave South a chance to out West on lead with the third spade, forcing an entry to the South hand with a diamond ruff and allowing the last trump to be drawn.
?
3H S +1
3H S =
5Dx W -1
5D E -1 (2)
4H S -1; 5C N -1
4Hx S -1
3D E +1; 4D E = (2); 4D W =
5Dx W =
?
15:
?
...............85
...............QJ98
...............J102
...............9654
AQ92.....................1064
1072.......................AK43
AQ6........................743
J108.......................AQ7
...............KJ73
...............65
...............K985
...............K32
?
This seemed to be mainly a question of whether, after 1C-1H; 1S, East would bid no-trumps with the flat hand or 2D to allow West to show the stopper. 3NT was reached ten times, with a 6-4 margin favouring East. One West stopped in 2NT and one North, after (apparently) a second-round double from South, was left in 2C. The last auction ended in 1NT E after an unfortunate loss of connection from West at the start of the auction, which began P-1C-P-1H; X-XX before West returned and was reseated. I did point out that the replacing Robot had opened 1C and redoubled in hopes of avoiding any misunderstanding, but to no avail. The redouble simply showed three hearts, but East likely assumed it showed extra values, hence the 1NT rebid that ended the auction.
?
The E-W hands do not look terribly appealing despite the 26 HCP and fair share of intermediates. Two flat hands opposite each other will have to play many suits. Fortunately for West the spade honours and diamond king were onside to counter the 4-2 heart split and offside club king, allowing a par result of nine tricks. Maybe a little surprisingly nobody was held to only eight tricks. Eight declarers took nine tricks and four - Eileen, Larry (Sh), Steve and Paul - took ten. Larry's overtrick came when South led the spade trey to East's six-spot on the third round of the suit when leading high would have let the trey overpower the deuce on the fourth round. Jean had the happy escape on the hand, playing 2C -3 and being extremely grateful not to be doubled.
?
2NT W =
1NT E +2
2C N -3
3NT E = (4); 3NT W = (2)
3NT E +1 (2); 3NT W +1 (2)
?
16:
?
...............7
...............KQ10
...............974
...............Q98643
K843.........................AJ1052
82..............................9763
AJ106........................5
KJ7............................A52
...............Q96
...............AJ54
...............KQ832
...............10
?
After 1D-P-1S-P; 2S, North may come in with 3C, which ended the auction twice. When North passed, three Easts and Souths let that end the auction. When East valued the hand as worth an invitation or exploratory look, 3S E was played thrice and 4S E five times. Rich was among those in 4S after using a Spiral ask and deciding that four-card support was enough to provide play for game. Another possibility, similar to that of Board 11, would have been for an invitation with 3H, accepted by opener with a low doubleton.
?
4S can be made by force if declarer finds the queen of trumps, although it is unlikely, as declarer will probably expect to need two heart ruffs. An opening lead of the diamond king could help, as declarer can then lose a diamond trick to get rid of one heart and one club loser, thus requiring one less ruff in dummy. 4S was defeated one trick every time, by Bota, Louff, Jenky, Conndy and Glynneth, to share the N-S top. Indeed all the spade contracts yielded exactly nine tricks. Rita made an interesting falsecard as South, playing the diamond king on the first lead rather than the queen; had declarer wanted to avoid a loser in the suit that could have been a convincing factor. Ruth and Jim both had good escapes in 3C, finishing in the middle with seven and eight tricks when aggressive pursuit of diamond ruffs would have let E-W hold declarer to six tricks.
?
4S E -1 (5)
3C N -1
3C N -2
2S E +1 (3); 3S E = (3)
?
17:
?
...............102
...............109764
...............97
...............J643
Q8753.....................K
AJ............................KQ82
1032........................AK86
AK7.........................10952
...............AJ964
...............53
...............QJ54
...............Q8
?
I expect Harold would have opened 1NT had he been playing and sitting East; without him that only seems to have happened once, as the contract was almost always 3NT W, played eleven times, probably after 1D-1S; 2C-2H; 3H-3NT or perhaps a direct 3NT from West on the second round. One East declared 3NT and one West an inexplicable 1NT (misclick on the response?).
?
Declarer can take ten tricks in no-trumps, with eight top tricks, one easily established in spades and another in clubs when the queen drops doubleton. Nobody was defeated in 3NT, although there was a 5-5 division between nine and ten tricks in 3NT. Jerik were assured of the N-S top simply for defending 1NT. Marie and Hank split the E-W top in 3NT W +2, Marie coming to eleven tricks when South led a spade at trick four instead of any other suit.?
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1NT W +3
3NT W = (5)
3NT E +1; 3NT W +1 (4)
3NT W +2 (2)
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18:
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...............5
...............QJ7652
...............AQ5
...............AQ10
A10863..................QJ972
98...........................A
102.........................KJ96
J932.......................K85
...............K4
...............K1043
...............8743
...............764
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1S-P and then much depends on whether West raises to 2S, 3S or 4S by partnership agreement. If West raises to 2S only, North comes in with 3H, which will push West to 3S and then may not stop there. Contracts were 3S E four times, 4H N, 4H S, 4S E four times, 5H N, 5Hx N and 5S E.
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Spade contracts always have the variable of whether declarer takes the anti-percentage play of trying to drop the king of trumps. Assuming East goes with the percentages and finesses, then a club lead holds East to ten tricks by establishing the third defensive trick before the entry is gone while other leads allow eleven. Heart contracts take a fairly normal eight tricks, with a chance of a ninth if East ever leads a diamond or just possibly gets endplayed, although West should be able to help prevent that. Spade contracts took nine tricks twice, ten tricks five times and eleven twice, Joel and Phyllis (H) taking eleven (Joel after a diamond lead). Rurry defended 5S -2 for the N-S top. In hearts three declarers took eight tricks, with Paun collecting E-W top defending 5Hx -3.
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5S E -2
4H N -1
3S E =
3S E +1 (3)
4H S -2; 5H N -2
4S E = (2)
4S E +1 (2)
5Hx N -3
