1:
?
...............3
...............10976
...............J
...............AJ107432
KJ87...........................65
AKJ32.........................Q85
92................................Q107543
K8...............................Q5
...............AQ10942
...............4
...............AK86
...............96
?
This is a tricky one to predict. North may or may not open 3C and then South may or may not bid over that. If North passes East may open 2D. Or South opens 1S and West may or may not overcall 2H. There were contracts in all four suits along different paths: 3D E, 3H W, 4Cx N, 4S S twice, 5C N twice and 5Cx N.
?
E-W need to get trumps going quickly to hold club contracts to the minimum, although declarer is likely not to extract the maximum. Peggy made 5Cx when E-W began with two rounds of hearts; West needed to switch to the low club at trick two to force a set. Henry made 4Cx as well. The undoubled contracts all went down, with Marudy picking up E-W top defending 5C -3. 4S finished -2 both times, declarer having nowhere to go outside of the trump suit for tricks.
?
5Cx N =
4Cx N =
3D E -1; 3H W -1
4S S -1
4S S -2; 5C N -2
5C N -3
?
?
2:
?
...............AK102
...............10765
...............KQ10
...............A2
J9...........................754
3.............................984
AJ9743...................8652
K1097.....................863
...............Q863
...............AKQJ2
...............----
...............QJ54
?
If West stays out of the auction South opens 1H and rebids 3D over North's 2NT response. This discourages North and slam may be missed unless South takes a relatively positive view of the hand. But with West overcalling 2D, North cue-bids 3D and South can cue-bid 4D and follow with 5H to show interest in slam without control in either black suit. North likely bids 6H over that despite the diamond near-wastage. If South opens Flannery North may find the diamond void and sign off, as happened once. Other contracts were 4H S, 5H S thrice and 6H S thrice.
?
With the spades behaving and hearts 3-1, 6H was never in jeopardy. Declarer in 6H can always make an overtrick on a squeeze, but needs careful timing. After, say, a spade lead, declarer draws trumps, takes the club finesse and then runs the spades, ending in dummy, ruffing a diamond along the way if West covers the club queen. The position will be either:
?
----
10
KQ
2
?
----
J
----
J54
?
or
?
----
10
KQ10
A
?
----
J2
----
J54
?
Declarer will then have to read whether West's diamond guard cand be trumped out. If not the club will establish, as West was squeezed on the last spade. Mark and Marjorie took all thirteen tricks in 6H; Leigh Ann took twelve. Spades has perhaps an easier path to thirteen tricks, as South can ruff two diamonds and then discard the third on the fifth heart. (Declarer can also come to thirteen tricks in hearts by negotiation two club ruffs in the North hand but that does run a small risk of defeat.)
?
6H S +1 (2)
6H S =
4H S +3; 5H S +2
4H N +2; 5H S +1
5H S =
?
3:
?
...............K5
...............AKQJ52
...............AJ
...............Q53
A9................................83
1096.............................743
98743...........................Q105
J82...............................109764
...............QJ107642
...............8
...............K62
...............AK
?
This hand depended entirely on the auction, as it was no surprise that all eight declarers took exactly twelve tricks (one originally claimed only eleven by mistake but the claim was corrected. Everyone reached slam, not difficult when South opens the bidding and North holds 20 HCP. The interesting thing is that spades were never trumps. Nor did they ever have to be. Two Norths put the final contract into 6H on the solid suit, but the usual contract was 6NT. Jevin probably had the quickest auction: 1S-3H; 3S-6NT. The disadvantage of playing with an unfamiliar partner was on display here as one pair had a misunderstanding over South's 5S response to 4NT (probably that was the wrong bid) and finished in 7NTx -1 against Karleta. 6S would have been fine as well, but, had the suit been less solid, 6NT would have been vastly superiour for being able to cope with a dreadful break in either individual major so long as the other behaved.
?
6NT N = (4); 6NT S =
6H N = (2)
7NTx N -1
?
?
4:
?
...............9
...............J85432
...............7
...............A10986
K107543..............AQ82
K..........................106
Q94......................A10863
K42......................Q5
...............J6
...............AQ97
...............KJ52
...............J73
?
I hope West didn't open 1S. North is not good enough for Leaping Michaels over a 2S opening if that is the choice, likely resulting in the auction 2S-4S freezing the opponents out. 4S was the most common contract, played thrice. West also played 2S, 3S twice and 5S. One stray North managed to declare 4H.
?
We followed up the two slams with a double game swing - most appropriate. If East leads the club queen against 4H, declarer might fear the ruff and decide to play the ace first, getting doubly lucky when the king drops singleton and North loses only one spade, one diamond and one club. Marian even took eleven tricks when E-W didn't cash out. Spades took ten tricks at all the tables but two. Mahn defended 2S +1 but Breta managed to make 5S by sneaking a heart past the ace.?
?
4H N +1
2S W +1
3S W +1 (2)
4S W = (3)
5S W =
?
5:
?
...............Q1032
...............Q10532
...............K
...............1095
J85.......................AK764
K...........................A4
AQ10973...............2
Q74.......................AKJ83
...............9
...............J9876
...............J8654
...............62
?
Finally an E-W slam, although it was nowhere near so easy to play as the N-S slams. The chance of stopping would seem to be if West decided to downgrade the heart king and respond 1NT to 1S, planning to follow with 3S. I could see 1S-1NT; 3C-3S; 4S, although West might reasonably move on that sequence opposite a jump shift. Two pairs stopped in 4S. If West begins with 2D, after 1S-2D; 3C-3S, East can hardly stop short of slam. This would be a good hand with which to convince players who doubt the utility of asking for the queen of trumps, as in the old days if East thought West might hold four trumps we might have seen players in 7S. Four pairs bid 6S E, one 6NT E and one North doubled 6S. That seems to be rather a dangerous double, although Bill will remember a Mollo hand on which the Rueful Rabbit got a top board by doubling a slam with nothing and convincing declarer to play him for a dangerous trump holding.
?
Any slam ends up coming down to the play of the spades. As declarer is out to lose no more than one trick in the suit, the percentage line is to lead ace or king and then low to the jack, although against the double it is tempting to run the jack through North, planning not to play the king next after jack/queen/ace. When South drops the nine declarer can finesse North for the ten and take thirteen tricks. The ace lead risks losing two tricks if North holds Q109x but, without any indication of length with North (such as a double), remains the percentage play. Here, when South drops the nine, leading low second guarantees bringing in the suit for one loser unless N-S get a ruff. If E-W had found themselves in 7S, playing ace and king would have had the best chance of success. Half the slams made and half failed (against Jevin declarer led ace and king) - weirdly, including the doubled slam, rewarding Liggy for bravery. Jamie made all the tricks after South led the singleton trump - a dangerous lead against a small slam, and here we see why.
?
6Sx E -1
6S E -1 (2)
4S E +1 (2)
6S E = (2)
6S E +1
?
6:
?
...............----
...............K75432
...............Q854
...............Q32
J1083....................KQ642
J9..........................A6
A3..........................K97
A10874..................J96
...............A975
...............Q108
...............J1062
...............K5
?
1S-3S may have started every auction - West is more likely to upgrade the hand to a game force than to raise only to 2S. Maybe a little surprisingly six Easts went on to 4S while only two stopped in 3S. The hand is a little better than average but not by much and contains seven losers.
?
Declarer gets a bit lucky. The club king lead guarantees a ruff or a heart lead establishes a trick but N-S cannot do both. Declarer has just enough time to draw trumps and establish clubs. Declarer can get into trouble by starting the clubs too early before trumps are gone. Scott managed eleven tricks when South played low on the first club and could have forced a ruff by playing the king; Leighry set 3S when declarer drew trumps and started clubs too late. Liggy were N-S top defending 4S -2.
?
4S E -2
3S E -1; 4S E -1 (2)
3S E +1
4S E =
4S E +1 (2)
?
7:
?
...............10
...............K73
...............K9743
...............J763
AQ5.........................J8642
J9652......................8
AQ...........................852
Q84.........................AK102
...............K973
...............AQ104
...............J106
...............95
?
West opens 1NT. This was left in thrice. Three Easts transferred to 2S and left the auction there. One East went on over 2S and the contract became 4S W. The last auction was 1D-X-3D-X, South opening by some accident or other. It took a while to finish, as West wanted to know the strength of 3D, North's original explanation saying "not broke". North eventually provided a range of 7-10; when answering questions, if one has a range, please provide it and be as specific as possible. Also, if explaining a bid after it is made so that the explanation box is not available, please tell opponents privately and don't answer a question in table chat.
?
West was not sure about defending 3Dx, but Ritold were top when they managed a two-trick set. (A heart lead or club lead and heart switch allow a three-trick set.) Spade contracts look like taking nine tricks. Declarer loses a heart and diamond, can ruff the third diamond but will then lose two spades. The spade contracts all took nine tricks. 1NT could take seven tricks, although Jevin set the contract when declarer took the top three clubs and lost to the jack.
?
1NT W -1; 4S W -1
1NT W = (2)
2S W +1 (3)
3Dx S -2
?
8:
?
...............AQJ10
...............Q1092
...............K4
...............KJ3
K6.......................9742
K83.....................7
1098763..............AQ
104......................AQ9852
...............853
...............AJ654
...............J52
...............76
?
Almost every auction began with 1NT from North and a transfer; North declared six times in hearts (along with once in no-trumps) to South's once. South might play in hearts if West opens 2D and North doubles or if system does not include 2D being a transfer after P-1NT-2C. Game was not particularly likely; contracts were 2H N thrice, 2NT N, 3H N, 3H S and 4H N twice.
?
North's declaring makes a big difference as West only get the lead once and there is a finesse in every suit. When South declared West could finesse North is both minors and hold declarer to eight tricks; North declaring could force nine. Marian made 4H?when West missed the chance to lead a club through, John posted 2H +2. The other heart contracts were equally divided between taking nine and seven tricks, Elott and Winne sharing the top defending 3H -2 from both sides.
?
4H N =
2H N +2
2NT N +1
2H N +1
2H N -1; 4H N -1
3H N -2; 3H S -2
?
9:
?
...............QJ75
...............KJ873
...............93
...............K8
K64.......................A10932
1052......................A9
A85.......................KQJ10
J1064....................Q2
...............8
...............Q64
...............7642
...............A9753
?
At least half the Easts opened 1N (unless one North opened, presumably not a light Flannery but perhaps 2H or something showing weaker major two-suiters). 1NT was left in once and South played 2H and 3H, both of which presumably arose after 1NT-P-P and North's bidding 2C or 2D to show both majors. One East played 3NT, which seems likely to come about after a 1NT opening or after an opening bid from North. The other Easts declared 2S, 3S twice and a doubtful 3D, which could have originated with any opening bid.
?
East takes nine tricks in spades with a correct read of the trumps; N-S have plenty of time to establish their heart trick before the clubs are ready to provide discards and declarer has enough top winners not to be too inconvenienced by 4-1 trumps. Marjorian defended 3S E -1 but the other declarers in spades all took nine tricks. A sufficiently early heart lead could have held no-trumps to seven tricks, but the tendency was to begin with and continue clubs. Anne X played 1NT +2 and Harold 3NT +1 after E-W began with and continued clubs. Both heart contracts failed by one trick to score 4.5/7.
?
3D E -1; 3S E -1
2H S -1; 3H S -1
2S E +1; 3S E =
1NT E +2
3NT E +1
?
10:
?
...............A63
...............KQ85
...............K1083
...............106
Q9...........................K1075
10942......................AJ3
52............................74
AJ754......................9832
...............J842
...............76
...............AQJ96
...............KQ
?
Would N-S be able to avoid the dangerous 3NT? Half the pairs found their way there, twice from each side of the table. There were three partials, 2S S and 3D S twice. The last auction was long and meandering, causing poor Gareth agony in the East seat. N-S did find that they did not have good enough clubs for 3NT, winning the battle but losing the war by arriving in 4S S.
?
Gareth was rewarded for his suffering during the auction when 4S finished four tricks down, two more than needed for the top score. 3NT should have been -1 every time. E-W do not need to lead a club originally as South can only establish an eighth trick and not a ninth. Everyone did lead a club against 3NT but only Marudy managed the set. When Lin declared E-W blocked the club suit and against Renee and Marian West discarded clubs on the run of the diamonds, allowing 3NT = all three times to share the N-S top.
?
3NT N = (2); 3NT S =
3D S = (2)
2S S -1; 3NT S -1
4S S -4
?
11:
?
...............AK1087
...............AKJ
...............976
...............Q5
Q43.........................J62
1032........................986
A1053......................K8
K86.........................AJ974
...............95
...............Q754
...............QJ42
...............1032
?
The auctions here followed three distinct paths. Two Norths opened 1NT and played the hand there. Four Wests left a 1S opening bid in; the other two balanced, leading to a contract of 2S N.
?
Against spades E-W can always take a diamond ruff off the top and come to six tricks. Otherwise North can force eight tricks with trumps and hearts both splitting 3-3. Five declarers took eight tricks in spades, Henry among others after the opening lead of a heart. Only Myrne managed the set. 1NT can be defeated off the top but it is not necessary for East to find the diamond switch after running the clubs. Both Karleta and Marudy posted 1NT -1 to tie Myrne for E-W top.
?
2S N =; 1S N +1 (4)
1NT N -1 (2); 2S N -1
?
12:
?
...............4
...............A1054
...............Q8653
...............QJ6
A3...........................KJ7652
J73..........................Q96
J1042......................A9
8542........................103
...............Q1098
...............K82
...............K7
...............AK97
?
2S from East in third seat ended the auction thrice. South has the values for a 2NT overcall, with Q1098 in East's suit having particular value as a nearly certain double stopper; there is almost no way the suit will run. 2NT ended the auction once; the other four Souths declared 3NT.
?
3NT takes nine tricks comfortably enough, especially if West leads the ace of spades and continues the suit. If E-W avoid spades entirely or cash only one round, one trick establishes in hearts and the diamond ace doubleton in the East hand can be crashed. Jeff took ten tricks after E-W began with three rounds of spades. Ritold got lucky on the same defence - declarer either got the bidding reversed or misclicked, winning the third spade with the queen. This allowed a two-trick set. 2S finished -2 twice and -1 for Myrtle.
?
3NT S +1
3NT S = (2)
2NT S +1
2S E -2 (2)
2S E -1
3NT S -2
?
13:
?
...............AJ643
...............94
...............----
...............K108532
KQ985....................1072
53............................1072
AQ863....................J9542
Q.............................AJ
...............----
...............AKQJ86
...............K107
...............9764
?
Unless North gets aggressive and opens, South starts with 1H and then West overcalls either 1S or 2H. One South accidentally passed a 1S overcall (naturally North passed, presumably hoping for a reopening double). The contracts were evenly divided between South's in hearts and E-W's: 1S W, 3D E, 3H S twice, 3S W, 3Sx E and 4H S twice.
?
4H needs a heart lead to hold declarer to ten tricks; with clubs 2-1 declarer has the timing to establish clubs while dummy can still ruff a diamond. Marjorie made 5H after a spade lead; Peggy also took eleven tricks in 3H while the other two declarers took ten. N-S top naturally went to Jevin, who defended 3Sx -3, the first of their two top boards defending a doubled partial (one of their specialties). Wendric posted 3S -4 and Rekenee 1S -4 (barely possible but after three rounds of hearts with the third overruffed, then a club to the ace it looks just doable) for 50%. Judy was top E-W playing 3D E -1.?
?
3Sx E -3
4H S +1
4H S =
1S W -4; 3S W -4
3H S +2
3H S +1
3D E -1
?
14:
?
...............Q65
...............A83
...............Q865
...............Q106
73............................AJ1082
9652........................KQ104
1097.........................J2
9542........................K7
...............K94
...............J7
...............AK43
...............AJ83
?
This would have been an excellent time to have been playing a canape system on which East would have opened 1H. After the natural 1S, South overcalled 1NT and North usually took it directly to 3NT. 1H might have kept N-S out of 3NT entirely; South may double and then North may bid diamonds instead of no-trumps; the auction could stop in a partial quite easily. Along with 3NT S five times contracts were 2Hx E, 2NT S and 3H E.
?
3NT took ten tricks four times after a spade lead, though there was likely a little help in the clubs; declarer CAN force four tricks in the suit but is not likely to run the eight from hand after queen/king/ace. Renee took eleven tricks for the N-S top although declarer can be held to nine; Ritold were allowed a two-trick set. The other contracts were all in the middle, both heart contracts finishing -1 and 2NT +1 being the only time no-trumps took nine tricks.
?
3NT S +2
3NT S +1 (3)
2NT S +1
2Hx E -1
3D E 1
3NT S -2
?
15:
?
...............AQ8652
...............653
...............10
...............854
J104.........................K7
AQ7..........................J10982
98632.......................AJ4
97..............................1062
...............93
...............K4
...............KQ75
...............AKQJ3
?
If N-S play weak jump shift responses, how weak is weak? I believe at least one auction began 1C-P-2S, but the jump shift was never left in. At least one North responded 1S, as East declared 3H, surely after a (grim) 2H overcall raised by West. Everyone got to the three-level, with contracts of 3C S twice, 3H E, 3H W, 3NT S, 4S N twice and 5C S.
?
The games were too ambitious. 4S could have been only one down with a first-round intermediate finesse in trumps, but both declarers finessed the queen and finished -2, although low to the eight does not lose a trick as there is a sure trump lose anyway and gains when West holds J10x or J10xx. Clubs can take nine tricks; Ritold's opponent went all out for a make and finished -4. 3NT depends largely on the lead. Weirdly, a spade lead results in -3, as East cannot be prevented from scoring five hearts, the spade king and the diamond ace. Against Jeff West found the heart lead that establishes the suit but lets declarer establish a diamond trick and escape for -1. The only successful declarer was Mark in 3C S =, finishing ahead of the two N-S pairs to post 3H -1.
?
3C S =
3H E -1; 3H W -1
3C S -1; 3NT S -1
4S N -2 (2)
5C S -4
?
16:
?
...............Q52
...............106
...............AKJ9875
...............9
K10764....................9
92............................KQ874
Q3............................104
AQ87.......................K10652
...............AJ83
...............AJ53
...............62
...............J43
?
This looked like a hand with potential big swings. Either West or North opens and there is a good chance either way that South will finish the auction declaring 3NT. Or so I thought, at least: 1S-2D-P-2NT; P seemed likely to get North to bid 3NT, but the hand was never played there. Perhaps the common auction was P-1D-2NT. North almost always took the bid in diamonds, finishing with contracts of 2D N twice, 3D N thrice, 4Cx W, 4D N and 5Dx N.
?
3NT rides on the lead - ten tricks after a spade lead, nine after a heart, eight after a club. Diamond contracts usually took ten tricks. John and Ken took eleven tricks in 3D when East never got a heart and West allowed a discard on the fourth spade. Winne set 4D when East was allowed a spade ruff. Jevin had four top tricks for the N-S top defending 4Cx -1.?
?
4Cx W -1
3D N +2 (2)
2D N +2 (2); 3D N +1
4D N -1
5Dx N -1
?
17:
?
...............9875
...............942
...............KQ1072
...............5
KQ63.......................A102
Q73..........................65
9...............................J83
AKQJ7.....................96432
...............J4
...............AKJ108
...............A654
...............108
?
South opens 1H in third seat and then West presumably either doubles or bids 2C. North raises hearts and East clubs if they were bid. Then it's just a question of which side pushes the other and how high. 4H has better play than either 5C or 4S. Contracts were 3C W, 4C E, 4C W thrice, 4D S twice and 4H S.
?
Clubs take a solid ten tricks, the only declarer varying being Martin, who took eleven when N-S did not cash out. There should have been nothing terribly wrong with 4D, which, along with 4H, should have been a fairly easy -1, but Winne posted 4D -2 and Jamob 4D -4. Jeff made 4H when West persisted with a second club after getting in with the heart queen, missing the chance to cash the spade winners.
?
4H S +1
4D S -2
3C W +1; 4C E =; 4C W = (2)
4C W +1
4D S -4
?
18:
?
...............A
...............1094
...............AKQ32
...............AKQ6
Q9764...................K85
A7..........................652
84..........................J10965
J532.......................98
...............J1032
...............KQJ83
...............7
...............1074
?
North usually opened 2C and likely followed with 2NT after a waiting bid. A little strangely almost all the auctions finished in no-trumps: 3NT N four times, 3NT S, 6H N and 6NT N twice. Both the auctions that ended in 6NT had a strange 2D overcall from East over 2C (last-board punchiness?). The 6NT auctions were P-P-P-2C; 2D-2S-P-6NT and P-P-P-2C; 2D-2S-P-3NT; P-4H-P-6NT (presumably both N-S pairs were playing either HCP or control step responses). The 6H auction was uncontested: 2C-2D; 2NT-3D; 3H-3S; 4H-4NT; 5D-6H, Jeff driving to slam.
?
No-trumps contracts can be held to ten tricks by a spade lead and declarer gets a little lucky that the heart ace is doubleton so that four heart tricks can be cashed. Rita naturally led a spade against 3NT S. East, however, had a natural diamond lead and then all the declarers took twelve tricks, the clubs all managing to score. 6H makes, but requires care, as, missing the trump ace, declarer must be careful not to try three diamonds too early or allow a defender to draw North's last trump while a spade could still cash. Eric and Henry tied for N-S top.
?
6NT N = (2)
6H N =
3NT N +3 (4)
3NT S +1
