1:
?
...............AK10
...............J864
...............KJ3
...............1076
J97..........................Q653
K972.......................AQ53
1092........................874
QJ9..........................54
...............842
...............10
...............AQ65
...............AK832
?
It looks as if North?usually opened the bidding. What does South do over a 1C opening bid? Two pairs got stuck in 3C N and missed game entirely; one pair reached 3NT S, presumably after 1C-1D; 1H and then no-trumps from South, although South could just as well bid Fourth Suit Forcing. Five Norths declared 3NT, although that could result from eith North or South opening the bidding. 1C-2C inverted; 2NT-3NT would be a possible auction.
?
N-S need only 3-2 clubs to take eleven tricks, as E-W take far too long to establish their spade trick. Jamob and Ritold both defended 3C +1 when declarer played on spades instead of taking the discard on the diamond. In no-trumps, North's heart eight was just high enough to save the contract; E-W cannot piece together four heart tricks to go with their club trick. If West did not find the heart switch on winning the club declarer took ten tricks. East was probably wise not to lead a heart from AQxx, usually a poor opening lead against no-trumps, but presumably led a spade. Declarer did better to duck the first club to West, as cashing the ace and king first permits East to discard and signal. Declarer does not want this. It is also a good idea to win the first spade with the ace rather than the king, especially if E-W lead fourth best and East's three-spot lets everyone know the lead was from a four-card suit when dummy shows the deuce. The net result of ten or nine tricks was evenly divided 3-3, with John, Eric and Kevin tied for N-S top on +430.
?
3NT N +1 (3)
3NT N = (2); 3NT S =
3C N +1 (2)
?
2:
?
...............A106
...............AKQ74
...............Q42
...............Q5
94.............................QJ
863...........................J95
K9765.......................J83
876...........................AKJ109
...............K87532
...............102
...............A10
...............432
?
East generally opened 1C. South probably does not want to overcall 2S at red vulnerability on such a mediocre six-card suit. Accordingly only one pair reached game, on the auction 1C-P-P-X; P-1S-P-2H; P-2S-P-4S; South might have done a little more but North made up for it. North was right to begin with a double and then bid the heart suit. South can jump to 2S or to 3S over 2H. Three Souths passed 2H N; other contracts were 2S S and 3S S thrice along with 4S S.
?
E-W have to cash their club tricks to hold either major to eleven tricks. There is a chance of declarer doing worse, however, as spades have a Restricted Choice situation. South can lead the king first and finesse the then next if East drops an honour. That will lose a spade trick and might lose a diamond as well if East has switched to a diamond after two clubs. Part of the difficulty in declarer's finding the more probable but losing line is that East can force North to ruff a club, killing the losing line of play. This is an interesting situation; if East knows South began with three clubs, forcing North to ruff is the right thing to do if West's spades are 9xx. Curiously, the only declarer in 4S was the only one not to take ten tricks. This gave Tombot the E-W top defending 4S -1. N-S top was Judy's in 2H +4; East began with a top club but the shifted to a spade.
?
2H N +4
2H N +3; 2S S +3; 3S S +2 (2)
2H N +2; 3S S +1
4S S -1
?
3:
?
...............942
...............AQJ10982
...............7
...............104
QJ1083.......................AK765
76................................3
KJ5.............................AQ103
Q97.............................K83
...............----
...............K54
...............98642
...............AJ652
?
Does North open 3H or 4H in third seat? I like 4H. East doubles and South can apply maximum pressure by raising to 5H, knowing that E-W have a huge spade fit and wanting to make it as difficult as possible for them to find it. Will West bid 5S over 5H? Will East? If West does bid 5S, can East resist the temptation to bid 6S? Despite the kind vulnerability, E-W usually declared; contracts were 4S E twice, 4S W twice, 5H N, 5S E, 5S W and 6H N on the auction P-P-4H-4S; 5H-5S-P-P; 6H (left in undoubled?!?).
?
This turned out to be a double game swing. Either spades or hearts can take eleven tricks. In spades, when N-S do not get a ruff, declarer just draws trumps and discards a club on the fourth diamond. In hearts eleven tricks are there because the defence can prevent the clubs from establishing only by forcing South twice in spades, which then allows declarer to ruff the third spade? Whether East begins with a trump or a spade force declarer ducks a club. E- are helpless. All declarers took eleven tricks, except that declarer against Linn went down in 4S by not drawing trumps. N-S top was Wendric's in 5H =; E-W top was a five-way tie on +650 between Sherry, Jamie, Gareth, Rita and Myrtle.
?
5H N =
4S W -1
6H N -1
4S E +1 (2); 4S W +1; 5S E =; 5S W =
?
4:
?
...............6543
...............Q3
...............KQ62
...............J73
A107.....................2
J54.......................A1082
1098753...............A4
A...........................KQ10982
...............KQJ98
...............K976
...............J
...............654
?
I doubt West opened 2D on a suit headed by the ten with two outside aces, leaving the auction to start P-P-1C-1S. Whatever West does, North raises spades and at least East if not N-S as well compete at the three-level. Contracts were 3C E twice, 3S N (did the auction begin 2D-P-P-X?), 3S S thrice, 3Sx S and 3NT W.
?
3NT W was a favourite to make by a decent amount. The club jack has to drop. It was hard to reach in part because of the competition and in part because the honour values are all very bare bones. Club contracts take ten tricks if East leads a low heart from dummy for the first finesse. Unfortunately with N-S vulnerable the N-S pairs defending 3C won the hand just by getting out of the auction despite holding nine trumps. With optimal defence, E-W can take eight tricks - club ace, heart to East, West discards hearts on the second and third clubs, heart ruff, diamond to East, second heart ruff and spade ace. Tombot produced the optimal defence against 3Sx and took E-W top on +1100. Then came Harold making the cold 3NT, followed by the pairs defending 3S -3 and 3S -2. Linn were N-S top on -130, with Pamla on -150.
?
3C E +1
3C E +2
3S N -2; 3S S -2
3S S -3 (2)
3NT W =
3Sx S -4
?
5:
?
...............9743
...............1093
...............QJ4
...............A65
Q105....................AJ6
KQJ72..................A4
106.......................K982
Q82......................K1074
...............K82
...............865
...............A753
...............J93
?
This looked as if we would see everyone in 3NT East after 1NT-2D; 2H-3NT. That contract was reached seven times. Somehow one pair ended up in 4S E; did West misclick on hearts instead of bidding 2D?
?
4H E would have had a chance of making because of East's diamond spots but careful defence can just hold the line with the finesses all failing. A trump lead is the safest road to a set. 4S is set two tricks by a major lead, although -1 only cost Jevin half a matchpoint. Declarer has nine tricks in 3NT, largely thanks to those highly useful diamond spots. Harold took ten tricks in 3NT after a club lead; Pauise defended 3NT -1 to tie Jevin for N-S top; the remaining declarers in 3NT took the par nine tricks.
?
3NT E -1; 4S E -1
3NT E = (5)
3NT E +1
?
6:
?
...............Q1043
...............AK5
...............K63
...............KQJ
A986......................KJ2
86...........................QJ73
A875.......................QJ
983.........................A1065
...............75
...............10942
...............10942
...............742
?
1C-P-1S-1NT; X was the whole auction twice. Perhaps it was intended as a support double and West left it in on two aces. 1NT N was also left in once undoubled, and East played 1NT twice. Higher contracts (I suspect there was at least one double in all those auctions as well) were 2H S, 2S W and 3NT N.
?
N-S take five tricks in no-trumps either playing or defending with optimal efforts. Judy just missed being N-S top making 1NTx after the opening lead of the spade king followed by the jack. This just missed being E-W top when Pauise bettered par by two tricks defending 2S -2; 2S can make with West declaring as South never gets in to lead a diamond. Jamob were E-W top defending 1NTx N -2; the other no-trumps contracts all saw E-W taking seven tricks. Like 2S W, 2H S and 3NT also finished -2, in each case N-S outperforming par.
?
2S W -2
1NTx N =
1NT N -1
1NT E = (2)
2H S -2; 3NT N -2
1NTx N -2
?
7:
?
...............983
...............K9854
...............K108
...............107
K105....................J762
Q3........................J62
92........................QJ54
KJ9543................62
...............AQ4
...............A107
...............A763
...............AQ8
?
2NT from South, 3D and then 3NT from North; will South stay in 3NT or go back to 4H? The margin was 5-3; 3NT won out. I think 3NT definitely has the edge at IMP scoring. Give partner xxx KQ9xx xx xxx (three diamonds and a black doubleton would be even better) and 3NT is probable while 4H is iffy. It's a reasonable thought at matchpoints that the denominations may be likely to have the same trick yield but less clear-cut.
?
In either contract West is endplayed on opening lead. Declarer CAN take three diamond tricks by force but may well not find one of the two winning lines. A black-suit or heart lead gives declarer a trick at once wile a diamond just takes the right line for declarer - nine/ten/jack/ace and then the spots establish a trick for South on the fourth round. 3NT was never defeated; Mark, Wendy and Jeff made an overtrick to tie for N-S top. In 4H West gets endplayed later in the hand. After the diamond lead declarer takes two rounds of hearts and then knocks out the diamond queen. Whether East returns a club or a spade, declarer lets West win (covering the spade jack with the queen, ducking otherwise) and then West has only black cards to return - ten tricks. North's spade nine is the key card. Cindy and Paul made 4H but Derry set the contract for E-W top when declarer drew the third trump early and gave East an extra entry while allowing West to get off lead in diamonds if need be.
?
3NT S +1 (3)
4H S = (2)
3NT S = (2)
4H S -1
?
8:
?
...............KJ2
...............J876
...............Q107
...............K92
10986...................73
AQ........................K42
AJ86.....................K432
1075......................AQJ4
...............AQ54
...............10953
...............95
...............863
?
1m from East in third seat, 1S from West, 1NT from East. One West followed with 3D, ending the auction. Another passed 1NT. The rest raised to 2NT and there was East right in the middle of the minimum range with 13 HCP. The distribution was 4-4-3-2 instead of flat, but the spot cards are dismal. Five Easts passed 2NT - only Eugenie's Robot in the East seat accepted the invitation. Curiously Tommy's Eastbot passed. Gareth left in 1NT and did not put his Eastbot to the test.
?
In the end the 4-4 minors carried the day. N-S could cash four spades off the top but no more. As declarer needs the club finesse to come to nine tricks and will not get there without clubs, the correct line is to lead low clubs through North twice in case North holds the doubleton king. Alas, here running the ten serves just as well when the suit splits 3-3. If South drops the eight or nine on the first round, 98 doubleton yields to running the ten next, but it is easy to play the 9 or 8 from 98xx to give count even if one is not thinking of trying to fool declarer. No-trumps took the par nine tricks five of seven times, with Eugenie posting 3NT +1 and Jamie 2NT +2. Eugenie played the diamonds first and could have gone down had North switched to a high spade but North retuned South's heart lead and Eugenie was safe. Marudy were N-S top defending 3D +1 when declarer took the par ten tricks.
?
3D E +1
1NT E +2; 2NT E +1 (4)
2NT E +2
3NT E +1
?
9:
?
...............AKQ43
...............Q1098
...............Q43
...............4
J953........................----
743..........................KJ62
106..........................A987
KQ92.......................AJ1085
...............10876
...............A5
...............KJ32
...............763
?
1S-X and then South has to choose a raise. If South chooses only 2S East likely doubles again; E-W compete in clubs and N-S almost surely go at least to the three-level in spades. 3S N was played three times; 2S N was left in once. Two Norths ended in 4S, one after South bumped up the hand slightly to a 2NT response showing an invitational-or-better raise. One East competed to 5C over 4S; one North finished in 5S after misclicking on 3S on the second round.
?
Spades are held to nine tricks by a minor-suit lead; if declarer draws trumps after a diamond lead declarer will lose two hearts; otherwise West gets a diamond ruff to go with the minor aces and a heart trick. A club force eventually promotes a spade trick. A heart lead eliminates a loser in the suit and then declarer trumps two hearts, losing the two aces and a spade whether it is taken by length or on an overruff. Kevin made 4S after a heart lead. E-W top was a three way tie on +50 between Jamob against 5S, Myrne against 4S and Eubot against 3S. Par in clubs was nine tricks for declarer; Marudy got an unneeded third undertrick when dummy led away from the hearts late in the hand istead of ruffing a diamond and leading the suit from the West side.
?
4S N =
5C W -3
2S N +1; 3S N = (2)
3S N -1; 4S N -1; 5S N -1
?
10:
?
...............3
...............KQJ1074
...............Q82
...............J82
AQJ97......................K542
A63...........................9852
973............................64
93..............................1074
...............1086
...............----
...............AKJ105
...............AKQ65
?
?After P-1D-1S, whether North doubles or bids 2H, it is doing South a hgue favour if East jumps to 3S, as that flags North's shortage. Three low cards in a suit bid and raised by the opponents is much better than a doubleton. If East remains silent North likely get a chance to jump to 4H to show a semi-solid suit; North's suit is good enough to play opposite a void. Mark, Pam, Wendy and Jeff all sat for partner's 4H bid. The other four pairs all finished in one minor or the other in 4C S, 4D S twice and 5C S. Which partner should have reached game? If East raised spades (especially with a weak jump to 3S) I put it mostly on South; otherwise mostly on North, who can upgrade the hand when South bids both minors.
?
Slam is not a bad proposition in either minor. West has to lead a trump to stop slam from making. If West does find the trump lead declarer, unable to trump two spades in dummy, will have to revert to the ruffing finesse in hearts, which will fail. Cindy was the one declarer in a minor to take twelve tricks after the opening lead of the spade ace, allowing two ruffs. 4H yielded declarer eleven tricks every time it was played, the 4-3 trumps split holding the losers to one although 4H = would still beat 5m =. N-S top was shared between John, Paula, Eric and Kevin.
?
4H N +1 (4)
5C S =
4D S +2
4C S +1; 4D S +1
?
11:
?
...............J8642
...............AK104
...............53
...............A5
K5..........................Q97
Q8.........................J975
KQ1062.................J94
Q843.....................K97
...............A103
...............632
...............A87
...............J1062
?
Assuming West opens 1D, North has a choice between 2D, 1S, double and pass. The hand is good enough for 1S although the suit is poor. There are those who make Michaels cue-bids on 5-4 in the majors, although it is more usual with five bad hearts and four good spades, as partner will generally choose hearts with equal length. Double is possible if the pair plays Equal Level Conversion. Pass leads to 1H from East and then either 2C or 1NT from West; North might come in with 2S then. Everyone played in either diamonds or spades and usually above the two-level: 2S N thrice, 3D W, 3Dx W, 3S N twice and 4D W.
?
As declarer can always restrict club losers to one by leading low to the king and then crashing the ace, diamond contracts can be held to seven tricks by force only via a club ruff to go with five top tricks. Pauise found their six tricks against 3Dx for the N-S top; 4D -2 and 3D -1 scored just below average for the defence. Spade contracts can be held to eight tricks by a diamond lead. Declarer's chance at a ninth trick is to lead ace and another club at once. Hearts are a possible try but won't work. The key is for West to cash the second diamond and then lead the third round of clubs. Declarer can guess the spades for one loser by running the jack (playing West for Hx; low to the ten would play East for Hx), but if the third club has been played after the second diamond has been cashed West can lead a fourth club and East will get a ruff with the queen. Against, say, a heart lead, declarer can discard the diamond loser on the fourth club and East's ruffing does not gain anything. Steve and Lynn scored 5.5/7 playing 2S +1; Judy made 2S as well. Jamob and Eubot tied for E-W top defending 3S -2. Against Eubot North won a heart lead but then led a low spade to the ace and another spade when a second heart would have preserved -1.
?
3Dx W -2
2S N +1 (2)
2S N =
4D W -2
3D W -1
3S N -2 (2)
?
12:
?
...............1092
...............Q1098
...............KJ
...............QJ93
KQJ.........................8753
KJ654......................A73
9432........................Q10
K..............................10874
...............A64
...............2
...............A8765
...............A652
?
If West does not open we have P-P-P-1D; 1H-1NT-2H and then perhaps N-S competing to 3m. After 1H-P-2H, South has a choice between double and 2NT, as passing will likely lead to North's leaving 2H in should West pass, and South does not want that. 2H was left in thrice. One South ended up in 3D (alas never clubs); three Wests played in 3H. One East apparently responded 1S to 1H and eventually declared 3Sx.
?
East's bad spades allow North to ruff two diamonds; Jevin took their par eight tricks to collect the first of their two +800 scores against 3Sx -4. N-S have four top tricks and two trumps winners against hearts. Anne and Bob made 2H, Anne after the lead of the club queen ran to the king. All the 3H contracts finished the par -2; Mahn defended 2H -2 as well. Ritold took their par five tricks against 3D -1 to score 5/7.
?
3Sx E -4
2H W -2; 3H W -2 (3)
3D S -1
2H W = (2)
?
13:
?
...............52
...............K8
...............1053
...............J976532
76.............................AQ943
QJ943......................752
A4............................KQ9
AK54........................Q10
...............KJ108
...............A106
...............J8762
...............8
?
1S from East, 2H from West raised and game reached either in 3NT or hearts. Curiously, 3NT won out by a 5-3 margin. Contracts were 3NT E four times, 3NT W, 4H W twice and 5H W.
?
A club lead holds hearts to ten tricks. A spade lead might do the same, although declarer can discard the second spade on the third diamond and then lead a heart and declarer can always force eleven tricks one way or another. Anne and Bob tied for E-W top in 4H +1; Marudy scored 6/7 defending 5H -1. 3NT E can be held to nine tricks by an intermediate spade lead, even though this lets East score the queen. N-S can establish and cash two spade tricks; otherwise East has the time to come to ten tricks or possibly even eleven, although North is likely to find the spade switch when in with the heart king. Harold, Deanna and Eugenie took ten tricks in 3NT to squeeze out an above-average score, Eugenie after a diamond opening lead. Mahn and Stindy tied for N-S top defending 3NT E -2, probably after East pursued spades instead of hearts.
?
3NT E -2 (2)
5H W -1
3NT E +1 (2); 3NT W +1
4H W +1 (2)
?
14:
?
...............A93
...............AKJ52
...............A63
...............54
Q.............................J86
Q10873...................94
72............................KQ98
QJ963.....................K1087
...............K107542
...............6
...............J1054
...............A2
?
This was a good candidate for getting everyone into the same contract. South might open 2S and be raised to 4S by North, but two Norths asked with 2NT and then stopped in 3S. Possibly the auction began P-1H; 1S and then struggled into 3S after North had to distort the hand on the rebid. If North opens 1NT instead of 1H, South presumably will resort to a Texas transfer with 4H. Somehow Stindy finished in 3NT N
?
The hand has a Restricted Choice finesse in spades if declarer starts with the ace, which happily looks like the natural way to start the suit. A club lead forces declarer to cash out in a hurry, probably for less than the eleven tricks that can be forced. Steve took all thirteen tricks in 3NT, although eleven would have been enough for N-S top. West unguarded the hearts on tricks eight when a diamond was led to the ace after the spades had been run (perhaps West opened 2H in third seat? an enterprising thing to do but unlucky this time). It takes a red-suit lead to hold spade contracts to eleven tricks; either breaks the communication between the two hands. Lin, Mark and Pam scored 5/7 playing 4S +1. Three declarers took ten tricks; Tombot held declarer to nine in 3S for the E-W top.
?
3NT N +4
4S S +1 (3)
4S S = (2)
3S S +1
3S S =
?
15:
?
...............AK52
...............7
...............A1098
...............J1065
8..........................QJ3
AK6543...............J2
QJ43....................K52
A9........................KQ872
...............109764
...............Q1098
...............76
...............43
?
We start P-1H-X-XX; 1S. If West decides the hand cannot sit for a penalty double and rebids 2H (it's really too good for that) East likely passes. If West passes East likely invites with no-trumps and West reverts to hearts. West is really good enough to insist on game as soon as East redoubles unless East opts for a penalty double of spades. Contracts were 3H W, 3Sx S and 4H W six times.
?
4H looks all right but is done in by South's trump holding if?N-S cash their spade trick at the beginning. Otherwise West discards the spade loser on the third club, letting South ruff. The fourth diamond remains a concern but North has the guards in spades, diamonds and clubs and gets squeezed. Only Bob made 4H, after a trump lead. Everyone else in hearts took nine tricks, except for taking eight against Stindy, giving them N-S top. Par for N-S in spades was eight tricks, but Ritold managed a second undertrick against 3Sx; declarer probably went after trumps too soon.
?
4H W -2
4H W -1 (4)
3H W =
4H W =
3Sx S -2
?
16:
?
...............J10872
...............AKQ
...............Q54
...............73
53............................AKQ94
62............................873
KJ862.....................----
J1095......................AQ864
...............6
...............J10954
...............A10973
...............K2
?
1S from North shuts East out unless East tries 2C or makes an ill-advised double. One West came in with a brazen 2D overcall over South's 1NT response and was left there. North declared 3D thrice after 1S-1NT; 2D-3D. When East did overcall 2C, South doubled, West raised and East eventually declared 4C and 5C. And two Souths got into hearts, declaring 3H and 4H.
?
Heart contracts can be held to eight tricks. A diamond ruff off the top probably helps declarer more than it hurts. Jamob scored 6/7 defending 4H -2 and Tombot made a middle score defending 3H -1. Clubs are held to ten tricks, although Karlene was E-W top playing 5C = when South led the diamond ace at trick three when in with the king of clubs - a heart at that point would have led to -2. Par in diamonds was eight tricks for N-S; all the 3D N contracts finished -1. Stindy were N-S top picking up one unnecessary trick more than par defending 2D W -4.
?
2D W -4
4C E -1
3D N -1 (3); 3H S -1
4H S -2
5C E =
?
17:
?
...............Q653
...............A
...............KQ10
...............AQJ104
A1094.......................8
843...........................Q9762
8753.........................A9642
98.............................53
...............KJ72
...............KJ105
...............J
...............K762
?
At least once East came in over 1C with a cheeky 2NT. Unfortunately this was against Jevin and if there is one thing they know how to do best it is to double for large penalties. Jeff doubled and then passed when Kevin doubled West's runout to 3D. Otherwise almost all the N-S pairs reached game (one pair stopped in 3S). Contracts were 3NT N thrice, 4S N, 4S S and 5D N after a bidding accident.
?
E-W scramble together five tricks playing or defending diamonds; Jevin were N-S top defending 3Dx W -4, one undertrick more than needed. Garbot were E-W top defending 5D S -5. Spade contracts took the par ten tricks. Par in no-trumps was eleven tricks, duly taken by Lynn and Eric, but Eubot scored 5/7 defending 3NT N =. After one round of each suit had been played, North led the diamond queen at trick five when a club or spade would still have kept +2 in the mix.?
?
3Dx W -4
3NT N +2 (2)
4S N =; 4S S =
3NT N =
3S N +1
5D N -5
?
18:
?
...............A86
...............Q93
...............1093
...............A964
5........................QJ7432
AJ10862............7
AQ975...............84
3........................J1075
...............K109
...............K54
...............KJ2
...............KQ82
?
If East opened 2S, South likely squeezed out a 2NT overcall and finished in 3NT. Otherwise South opened 1NT (except for anyone who downgraded for no aces) and West was occasionally carried away by the 6-5-1-1 pattern with two good suits. The rescue operation at one table found itself going all the way up to a contract of 6Hx W. Two other Wests were allowed to buy the contract more cheaply in 4Hx. Otherwise N-S played in game: 3NT N, 3NT S, 4S S, 4NT N and 4NT S.
?
A spade lead from West held 3NT to nine tricks; although ten were possible on other leads, that would have required finding the club J10xx with East (possible perhaps if West had shown both red suits). 3NT N finished -2 against Ritold for a score of 5/7. John was the one declarer to take as many as nine tricks in 4NT N -1, escaping with a middle score along with Jeff in 3NT S -1. Best E-W scores were +300 for Tombot defending 4S S -3 and +400 for Karleta defending 4NT N -4. All eight contracts were defeated. Par in hearts was six tricks for declarer. Pauise and Wendric tied defending 4Hx -2, while late in the hand Stindy picked up a seventh undertrick against 6Hx when West did not ruff at trick twelve and lost the final trick as well.
?
6Hx W -7
4Hx W -2 (2)
3NT S -1; 4NT N -1
3NT N -2
4S S -3
4NT S -4
