1: Did North open?:
?
...............1072
...............K
...............432
...............Q109853
K5..........................A864
865........................AQ103
Q108765................J9
62...........................K74
...............QJ93
...............J9742
...............AK
...............AJ
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Two Norths opened 3C, left in once and leading to 4C N the other time. When North passed East opened 1C, after which three Souths were left in a 1H overcall. One South passed 1C, resulting in a contract of 1H E. Two auctions apparently went P-1C-X-2D.
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It looks as if E-W ought to be able to take seven tricks in hearts, although N-S might emerge with seven if the fourth spade can be pushed through while North still has the heart king. 2D W could have been defeated by force with heart ruffs, but Elizabeth took nine tricks when N-S did not find a ruff at all. Similarly clubs could have been held to eight tricks by a spade ruff, but both declarers took nine.
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3C N = by Kevin
1H S - by Tracy and Cindy
2D W -1 vs Leighry
1H S -1 vs Owbot; 4C N -1 vs Ritold
1H E = by Eugenie
2D W +1 by Elizabeth
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2:? Was 1NT left in?:
?
...............A104
...............K862
...............Q75
...............J107
Q972.....................J8
54..........................Q973
K1062....................A983
842........................AKQ
...............K653
...............AJ10
...............J4
...............9653
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East opened 1NT, which was left in seven times. The eighth auction did not have a 1NT opening bid, and East was unduly rewarded: 1D-P-P-X; P-2S. South should have remembered that North was making a balancing double and bid only 1S; it was a little surprising that West passed 1D.
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2S did well enough to finish only -2 against Glynneth (Gareth being well known for not liking to open 1NT). 1NT looked like taking six tricks after a club lead, seven or possibly eight after other leads. A spade lead allowed +120 thrice; 1NT -1 was N-S top fro Wendric.
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1NT E -1 vs Wendric
1NT E = vs Jamob, Troward and Jevin
1NT E +1 by Eugenie, Judy (P) and Scott (G)
2S S -2 vs Glynneth
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3: Did West get the clubs into the auction?:
?
...............942
...............J1053
...............AK43
...............107
765.....................AQ10
8.........................KQ764
Q106...................75
KJ5432...............Q96
...............KJ83
...............A92
...............J982
...............A8
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1D-P-1H-P (what else?); 1S-P-2D gets passed around to West, who might well balance with 3C, as N-S really ought to hold eight diamonds. Unfortunately when West did enter the auction East did not stop, leading to 4C W and 4Cx W. Otherwise N-S were left at the two-level: 2D S thrice, 2H N twice and 2S S.
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If the clubs are led early enough against diamonds, declarer seems likely to be held to eight tricks but Bob and Tracy took nine. The 5-1 hearts were too much for 2H and could have doomed 2S but Jeff made the contract anyway (reached after a 1S opening bid). The club contracts could have been held to seven tricks, although Margott had no trouble picking up the N-S top even allowing eight, thanks to the double.
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4Cx W -2 vs Margott
4C W -3 vs Leighry
2D S +1 by Bob and Tracy; 2S S = by Jeff
2D S = vs Marudy
2H N -1 vs Owbot and Elott
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4: Shaky slam:
?
...............A987
...............A843
...............K
...............AKQ3
432.........................Q10
J9...........................KQ52
9743.......................Q10862
9872.......................54
...............KJ65
...............1076
...............AJ5
...............J106
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The usual auction was 1C-1S; 4S. One South was raised only to 2S and one North opened 2NT and was raised directly to 3NT. Slam would have had play had North held AQxx Axxx x AKQx; the Blue Club auction would have begun with the strong three-suited 2D but the pair would have stopped after South found out that North held only one of the three queens in the four-card suits.
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Declarers in 4S had an easy twelve tricks when the spades split 3-2 with the queen onside. The interesting contract was 3NT. Declarer took eleven tricks, but, recognizing that 4S would yield twelve tricks, should have tried for twelve by cashing the heart ace, diamond king and black winners, ending in the South hand after trick ten. Then, as long as declarer reads whether East has bared the diamond queen or not, the queen can be dropped or declarer can get out with a heart and force the defence to allow a diamond finesse. Unfortunately East cannot even unblock the hearts and let West win the second round, as West will have to return a diamond anyway.
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4S S +2 by Bob, Tracy, Henry, Wendy, Breta and Jeff
3NT N +2 vs Eubot
2S S +4 vs Study
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5: Could N-S stay out of game?:
?
...............K642
...............AJ93
...............K7
...............K54
A985.........................Q103
85..............................Q
10862........................AQJ95
832............................AQ97
...............J7
...............K107642
...............43
...............J106
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The auction often began 1C-1D-2H, which sometimes saw N-S getting pushed into 4H. 4H was played once from each side undoubled and once doubled by South. 3H S was played thrice, along with 2H S and 2D E.
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Reasonable care defending against hearts (given the favourable location of the minor kings) allows E-W to come to five tricks; only two declarers were allowed to take nine. 2D made but unluckily for East N-S were vulnerable, so that even -1 would beat 2D =.
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3H S - by Wendy
2H S = by Henry
2D E = vs Cinise
3H S -1 vs Mahn and Study; 4H N -1 vs Elott
4H S -2 vs Ritold
4Hx S -2 vs Owbot
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6: Heart game for South:
?
...............J109872
...............QJ8
...............J9
...............K6
K3............................654
3...............................97
A108543..................KQ62
AQ84.......................J752
...............AQ
...............AK106542
...............7
...............1093
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One South opened 4H in second seat, which was a bit direct, but everyone reached at least 4H, usually after something like P-1H-2D-2H; 3D-4H. E-W had a profitable 5D sacrifice but were usually scared off by the vulnerability. Contracts were 4H S six times, 4Hx S once and 5Hx S. Neither double was good. The double of 5H was likely worse, as having pushed N-S to 5H had already done most of the work of the hand; the double only risked turning an average into a bottom.
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Declarer had to lose one diamond, one club and one spade; seven declarers took ten tricks. The eighth ran into yet another brilliant ruff-and-discard offered up by Owen: diamond ace, diamond ruff, heart ace, heart to queen, spade to queen and king. Owen played a third diamond, making declarer quite pleased not to have to risk leading a club to the king. A club was discarded from dummy. But declarer then forgot to unblock the spade ace first, leading a club and allowing dummy's last trump to be removed before the spades could run. This was not quite so good as the time Owen gave declarer a ruff-and-discard that was the only way to allow declarer to take a losing finesse, but it got Owbot the same top score that he had achieved on the earlier occasion.
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4H S - by Bob, Tracy, Scott (R), Henry, Wendy and Jeff
4Hx S -1 vs Owbot; 5Hx S -1 vs Eubot
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7: Possible sacrifice:
?
...............1087
...............432
...............A109
...............QJ108
Q32......................4
Q..........................KJ865
KJ86432..............Q7
A3.........................97654
...............AKJ965
...............A1097
...............5
...............K2
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This one went three ways. Half the?tables played in 4S S, with two N-S pairs stopping in 3S and two E-W pairs continuing on, playing 5D W and 5Dx W. South has good enough distribution to make 1S-2D-2S-P; 4S reasonable, although a game try would not be a huge underbid either.
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Declarer in 4S got lucky despite the bad trump split. If West led the heart queen there was no entry to the East hand to cash the other winners in the suit. The only chance of being held to nine tricks would seem to be if West led a diamond, declarer played two rounds of trumps right away and then West ducked the first club. Glynneth held 3S to nine tricks; Scott (R) took eleven somehow. Both declarers in 5D scored well, Elizabeth for being only -2 and Eugenie for not being doubled. N-S can force -3 with two early rounds of trumps.
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4S S +1 by Scott (R)
4S S = by Tracy, Wendy and Jeff
5Dx W -2 by Elizabeth
5D W -3 vs Leighry
3S S +1 vs Study
3S S = vs Glynneth
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8: Two big doubles:
?
...............3
...............KQ63
...............Q109865
...............98
76..............................AJ10985
7542..........................109
AKJ74.......................2
A10............................7543
...............KQ42
...............AJ8
...............3
...............KQJ62
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It was perhaps just as well for North that nobody opened 2D, as that might have become the final contract. Only one N-S pair played the hand after South opened 1C, doubled later and North eventually declared 3H. Usually East opened 2S, which was left in half the time. One East played 3S and another 3Sx. At the last table the auction began P-P-1C-1D; on the next round West went to 2D, which North doubled for penalty.
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3H could have been troubled in a number of different ways. If the lead was a diamond, a second round of the suit would have allowed East to ruff and force South's jack of trumps; it may have come down to the less active side's prevailing in the end. The seven of clubs could have become quite a significant card. 2S made thrice, which seems a bit much; any sensible defence ought to result in -1. The doubled declarers both tried desperately to escape for a low penalty, which allowed the extravagant 3Sx -4 and 2Dx -5, both of which could have been at least two tricks better.
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2Dx W -5 vs Cinise
3Sx E -4 vs Jamob
3H N +1 by Kevin
2S E -1 vs Wendric; 3S E -1 vs Troward
2S E = by Harold, Eugenie and Gareth
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9: Almost all spade games:
?
...............AQ1076543
...............4
...............----
...............Q953
2...................................J
KQ103..........................A85
Q96532........................AJ87
102...............................KJ876
...............K98
...............J9762
...............K104
...............A4
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North often opened 4S, which usually ended the auction. One North was content with 3S and South did not venture the sensible raise. Two Easts ventured a double, with one West passing and the other going to 5D. The double was a brave action at unfavourable vulnerability, but both pairs had not started particularly well and might have been looking to shake things up.
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With 1-1 trumps spades are always taking eleven tricks and a club or diamond lead allows a twelfth, which happened twice. In 5Dx the club guess (not much of a guess with a pre-empt) would have mattered a good deal but declarer in 5D undoubled, Mark, was getting the top board either way.
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4Sx N =1 by Eric
4S N +2 by Louise
4S N +1 by Jamie, Leigh Ann, Eric and Kevin
3S N +3 vs Ritold
5D W -1 by Mark
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10: E-W game:
?
...............97653
...............AK8
...............75
...............AQ8
AKQ4.......................J
964...........................3
A98..........................KQJ1063
963...........................KJ742
...............1082
...............QJ10752
...............42
...............105
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?I saw one East open 2D, a big underbid. The playing strength of the hand is well out of the 2D range; game is plausible opposite a fit and two aces. The trap here is that West is likely to want to rebid 3NT, hoping that East will be able to cover hearts and clubs after a 2D rebid. 1D-1S; 2C-2H then leads likely to 3C-3D and eventually the theoretical top spot of 5D, although the spade duplication reduces the chance of success. Contracts were 2C W (for which I cannot devise any sensible explanation), 2H S, 3D E, 3H S, 3NT W thrice and 5D E.
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3NT W was at least right-sided in that North was less likely to find the heart lead. Had East? declared South would probably have led the heart queen and then North would have had to find the unblock. Two of the three Norths on lead did not find the heart lead but Louise did for -3 and the N-S top to Cinise. Scott (G) nicely made the well-reached 5D. Jeff made 3H, suggesting that West began with three top spades and then switched to a club. Owbot managed a better defence and defeated 2H. Maybe a little unfairly, 3D did not outscore 2C, as both declarers took eleven tricks.
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3NT W -3 vs Cinise
3H S = by Jeff
2H S -1 by Bob
2C W +3 by Martin; 3D E +2 by John
5D E = by Scott (G)
3NT W +1 by Judy (R) and Eugenie
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11: Half in 1NT:
?
...............A9842
...............A53
...............Q4
...............Q96
J106.......................KQ
974.........................KQJ8
K872.......................AJ63
KJ7.........................542
...............753
...............1062
...............1095
...............A1083
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East opened 1NT, which was left in thrice. (At least) One East opened 1D, leading to 1NT W. Higher contracts were 2S N, 3D W twice and 3S N.
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West declaring got the nice lead of a spade, which allowed?Martin to take nine tricks with both red suits behaving. Eugenie and Steve took nine tricks as East, which would have been prevented by a club to jack and queen followed by a club return, ducked. Mahn took the seven tricks available to them to tie the +150 for E-W top.
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2S N -1 by Howard
1NT E = vs Jamob
3D W = vs Jevin
3D W +1 vs Cinise
1NT E +2 by Steve and Eugenie; 1NT W +2 by Martin; 3S N -3 vs Mahn
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12: Lots of action:
?
...............9843
...............QJ8
...............AQ843
...............4
KQ106..................J2
A10964.................K5
J1095....................K6
----........................AKQ10953
...............A75
...............732
...............72
...............J8762
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A solid suit opposite a void can wreak havoc and frequently did here. West usually opened and then East was off to the races. Auctions included 1H-2C; 2NT-5C, the shortest auction, and 1H-2C; 2D-3C; 3NT-6NT along with several competitive auctions (why North felt compelled to compete here I really cannot imagine): 1H-2D-3C-P; 3NT-P-6NT, the winning 1H-2D-3C-P; 3S-P-3NT and the strange 1H-X-XX-P; 2H-P-4H. Other contracts were 4C E (West losing heart in a forcing auction and bailing out in 4m, which can occasionally happen), 4NT W and 5C E.
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The popular result was -1. 3NT ought to make, but declarer has difficulty finding more because there's nothing much West can discard on any clubs, especially if the opening lead is a diamond (ducked by North if the lead came from South). 4H really ought to have made but finished -2. One declarer in 6NT escaped for -1 and nearly average, although Margot were N-S top for -3. Study were E-W top in 3NT E = and Ritold's 4C E = was second-best.
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6NT W -3 vs Margott
4H W -2 vs Jamob
4NT W -1 vs Wendric; 5C E -1 vs Karleta and Jevin; 6NT W -1 vs Troward
4C E = by Harold
3NT E = by Steve
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13: N-S partials:
?
...............K
...............A975
...............Q543
...............A984
632..........................Q975
J43..........................K2
J92..........................AK107
KJ32........................Q106
...............AJ1084
...............Q1086
...............86
...............75
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This auction was a plus for pairs willing to rebid 1NT with a singleton. If North does not rebid 1NT after 1D-1S, after 2C on the second round South has to choose between 2S and 2D. A 1NT rebid, however, lets South come back with 2H nonforcing and play in either 2H or 3H. Contracts were 1NT N twice, 2H N twice, 2S S, 2NT S, 3H N and 3H S. Except for Jevin, who presumably had a 1H opening bid, I can only make the depressing assumption that at least one North made a reverse bid.
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2S made for Henry, likely after a low club lead, as West never gets in and East eventually gets stuck and has to establish a trick for declarer in a red suit. Hearts usually took nine tricks, mostly by trumping, although switch the heart king and jack and declarer would have taken eight - at one table, trick eleven was ruffed in the North hand with the heart nine, baring the ace, but East had to overruff with the king and not the jack. No-trumps took a mere six tricks, although 2D N might well have done worse.
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2H N +1 by Margaret and Kevin; 3H S = by Cindy
1NT N +1 by Eric
2S S = by Ritold
1NT N -1 vs Glynneth
2NT S -2 vs Owbot; 3H N -2 vs Eubot
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14: N-S partials:
?
...............KJ10876
...............107
...............Q6432
...............----
A53............................42
532............................AJ984
A10............................K97
QJ975........................K103
...............Q9
...............KQ6
...............J85
...............A8642
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East probably did not open light, as that would have induced South to pass and West likely to start with 1NT forcing followed by 3H as an invitation. Possibly one or two Souths competed to 3S after 1H-P-1NT-2S; P-P-3H, as 3S N was played four times and 2S N only twice. One North left South in a 1NT rebid, an odd choice. The last South was determined to play the hand or took North's bidding as more based on high cards than distribution and went to 3NT.
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Spade contracts were evenly divided between taking eight and nine tricks, on the high side. E-W can always force five tricks with a diamond ruff, although I did not expect that to be found. But declarer would still have needed to lead a diamond through West to the queen and king, then crash the doubleton ace on the second round, a play that feels more natural taken through East. The no-trumps contracts were top and bottom, with Tracy in 1NT S +2 against inferiour defence and Ritold defending 3NT S -3.
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1NT S +2 by Tracy
2S N +1 by Eric and Karlene; 3S N = by Jamie
3S N -1 vs Eubot, Elott and Mahn
3NT S -3 vs Ritold
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15: Did anyone act over South's 2S?:
?
...............9
...............A973
...............K10876
...............AK4
K432..........................Q5
K2..............................J10654
QJ954........................A2
105.............................Q876
...............AJ10876
...............Q8
...............3
...............J932
?
Two Norths could not resist the temptation to move over South's 2S opening bid despite the misfit, resulting in 3S. One East balanced with 3H, which North was happy to double for penalties.
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In spades declarer gets lucky with East's holding the doubleton trump honour. This leaves South with a loser in each suit; East does not get in enough to be able to finesse the hearts and give West a ruff of the fourth club. Trick count ranged from ten for Bob down to seven against Study, with nine tricks the plurality result. 3Hx was always going to give Margott the top board with at least -2; the eventually posted -3.
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3Hx E -3 vs Margott
2S S =2 by Bob
2S S +1 by Breta and Jeff; 3S S = by Cindy
2S S = vs Owbot and Ritold
3S S -2 vs Study
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16: Possible N-S game:
?
...............A972
...............A
...............K863
...............J984
Q8........................K10543
K1084..................J32
92.........................A1074
Q10753.................2
...............J6
...............Q9765
...............QJ5
...............AK6
?
It appeared that an uncontested auction would be 1D-1H; 1S-2C; then either 2NT-3NT or 3C-3NT. It is possible that East often overcalled 1S, with South bidding 2H and North 2NT. 3NT N was played six times, along with 2H S and 3D N.
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Both red suit contracts finished -1. 3NT ought to be defeated; nothing breaks well enough and the cards mesh badly. Jamie, Howard and Margaret all made the contract but Ritold and Study produced two-trick sets. Eubot posted -1, likely the expected result.
?
3NT N = by Jamie, Howard and Margaret
2H S -1 vs Elott; 3D N -1 vs Study; 3NT N -1 vs Eubot
3NT N -2 vs Mahn and Ritold
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17:?Troubled N-S game:
?
...............QJ
...............A875
...............QJ6
...............AQ106
872........................K109643
QJ962...................4
A1097....................53
K............................J543
...............A5
...............K103
...............K842
...............9872
?
A 1NT opening bid seemed sure to lead to 3NT N, although North only played the contract four times. South declared 3NT once. Other contracts were 2H W, 2NT N and 4Sx E.
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3NT could have made if declarer had had enough time to lead diamonds twice to the queen-jack, then switch to clubs. But this is not the case; a spade lead ought to have set 3NT because of the declaring side's 2-2 split. Yet Jamie, Margaret and Kevin all made 3NT, while Glynneth set 3NT S, which ought to have made after a heart lead, either high or low.
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4Sx E -3 vs Cinise
3NT N = by Jamie, Margaret and Kevin
2NT N = vs Ritold
2H W -2 by Judy (R)
3NT N -1 vs Mahn; 3NT S -1 vs Glynneth
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18: N-S game?:
?
...............Q2
...............J107653
...............J92
...............109
J1073........................8654
K4.............................82
AK64.........................10873
QJ4...........................K63
...............AK9
...............AQ9
...............Q5
...............A8752
?
I'm a little surprised 4H was reached four times, though less so that South declared twice, suggesting a 2NT opening bid, as Marudy were sitting E-W. 1C S was left in once and one West was left to play 1NT. The other contracts were 2H N and 2NT S.
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Despite the losing trump finesse, South's working diamond doubleton made 4H cold, with Jamie, Tracy, Scott (R) and Eric all posting +620. 1NT W could have been down a packet but ended up making with the hearts blocking and South's eventually cashing the ace and king of spades, crashing North's queen. Mahn were E-W top defending 2NT S -1, I don't know how.?
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4H N = by Eric and Jamie; 4H S = by Tracy and Scott (R)
2H N +2 vs Study
1C S +2 vs Eubot
1NT W = by Elizabeth
2NT S -1 vs Mahn
