1:
?
...............2
...............532
...............K98654
...............J102
J53.........................10986
AQ97......................K86
A.............................1072
AKQ85....................974
...............AKQ74
...............J104
...............QJ3
...............63
?
If South upgrades to a 1NT opening bid, North likely gets the auction to 3D; it's tough for West to compete over that. Otherwise we get P-P-1S-X and then East bids either 2C or 2H and West likely goes higher, but how much? Contracts were 1Sx S, 2C W, 3C E twice, 3C W, 3H E, 4C E and 4C W.
?
Owen had a huge escape. 1Sx could have been defeated two tricks had West found the diamond ruff for the E-W top but he managed to finish -1 to score 6/7. Club contracts are held to nine tricks by a trump promotion after a spade lead, but the layout is remarkably kind for hearts, with the suit splitting 3-3 and South's holding both the jack and the ten. Miyne bettered par, defending 2C W = for the N-S top. Four E-W pairs bettered par and scored +130, behind Steve (Y)'s +140 in 3H E = for the E-W top.
?
2C W =
1Sx S -1
3C W =
3C W +1 (2); 4C E =; 4C W =
3H E =
?
2:
?
...............----
...............AKQ6543
...............53
...............K764
AK1042.....................8753
1082..........................J7
AKQ108....................J6
----.............................J9852
...............QJ96
...............9
...............9742
...............AQ103
?
P-P-1S-2H. Does East bid 3S? If so, West goes to 4S unless North is able to take the bid in 4H. Contracts were 3S W thrice (bad valuation; all West needs is Qxxx of spades and out to have fine play for game), 4Hx N, 4S W twice and 4Sx W twice. West might even open 2C at the favourable vulnerability; if the two suits were both the majors it would likely have worked out all right.
?
Both games look fine seeing only two hands. 4H seems to have a chance at an overtrick. A diamond opening lead or a club ruff followed by three diamonds lets declarer make 4H by ruffing high (if East leads the jack West's best line is to overtake and lead the ten on the third round after the ace or king; if North ruffs low East will know to return a club for the setting ruff); the winning defence is for a club lead to be ruffed and for West to underlead the diamond AKQ, putting East in with the jack for another club ruff. Owen was N-S top after a diamond lead, making 4Hx. 4S can make but was only made by Cindy; whether or not South ruffs a heart declarer has to finesse the spade ten for ten tricks. All the declarers in spades other than Cindy took nine tricks.
?
4Hx N =
4Sx W -1 (2)
4S W -1
3S W = (3)
4S W =
?
3:
?
...............K1052
...............KQ
...............A10943
...............98
AQJ9.......................76
974..........................J1086
J85..........................Q6
K76..........................QJ532
...............843
...............A532
...............K72
...............A104
?
One North did not open in third seat, leading to a passout. Otherwise we had P-P-1D-P; 1H. Had West overcalled 1S that might well have ended the auction if South did not reopen with a flat double. But with careful defence 1S is not a happy contract for West. The most common result was for West to pass, for North to carry on with 1S and for South to try 1NT, ending the auction thrice. Two pairs finished in 2D N, one in 2NT N and one in 3NT S.
?
The contracts in no-trumps took seven tricks, eight, nine and twice took ten. Only Mahn managed an E-W plus, defending 3NT S -1. A club lead is required to hold declarer to eight tricks. As East has no entry to the long clubs, after the second round the defence must shift to spades, in order to have two spade winners ready when declarer establishes the diamonds. Otherwise, as long as South is careful not to leave the heart ace stranded, West will have nothing to do when on lead later in the hand and declarer will come to four diamonds, three hearts, one club and one spade. Jeff, in 1NT, took ten tricks, gaining one trick when West led a spade originally and another when West cashed the spade jack later. Wayne also scored +180 in 2NT N +2. The other two declarers in 1NT S took seven tricks and nine. Both pairs in 2D S took the par nine tricks.?
?
1NT S +3; 2NT N +2
1NT S +2
2D N +1 (2)
1NT S =
Passed Out
3NT N -1
?
4:
?
...............Q96
...............63
...............KJ103
...............J974
54..........................AJ10832
A9872...................QJ5
542........................A87
K102......................Q
...............K7
...............K104
...............Q96
...............A8653
?
1S-1NT; 2S looks normal enough.?More than one intrepid South ventured into the auction with a 2C overcall and?luckily avoided entering the 1100 Club through the Minus door. 2S was the most common contract, played thrice, along with 3C S twice, 3H W and 3S E.
?
We could consider that Strict Justice was served to the overcall by Elott. A spade lead allows the forcing of a two-trick set, as West scores the ten of clubs by an overruff of the third spade. Otherwise declarer begins the trumps with ace and another, losing one trick when the suit splits 2-2 or East holds a singleton honour. Elott posted the par 3C -2 for the N-S top but Judy escaped in 3C -1 for a middle score. As so often happens on such hands, communication or lack thereof hurt E-W's declaring chances. East was able to make 2S against a diamond lead because the heart loser went away on the club king, but declarer could not finesse twice in trumps for the overtrick. Heart contracts are also held to eight tricks by a minor lead; even if a diamond loser is discarded on the club king,?West has to ruff the club ten anyway and cannot ruff both, although a major lead allows the ninth trick by giving declarer enough time to use the long spades. Henry made 3H for E-W top; the only other contract making was 2S = by Jim. Karleta set 2S when East did not discard a loser on the club king when in dummy with the heart ace; the chance did not come again.
?
2S E -1 (2); 3S E -1 (2)
3C S -1
2S E =
3H W =
3C S -2
?
5:
?
...............Q872
...............K96
...............76
...............KQJ5
A964..........................KJ5
75...............................42
K94............................AJ10853
9432...........................107
...............103
...............AQJ1083
...............Q2
...............A86
?
N-S have just enough duplication to make a 4H bid plausible, but it should be defeated. P-2D-2H-3D may induce North to go to 4H. If East passes South opens 1H and will likely not devalue the diamond queen after a Drury response from North. A 3D opening may allow a stop if south passes and is content with 3H over a reopening double. There is also the chance for N-S of E-W's going higher. Contracts were 4D E twice, 4H S four times and 5Dx E twice.
?
E-W have nine tricks in diamonds with both diamonds and spades behaving; two declarers in diamonds took nine tricks and two took eight, though there was no significant difference in the scoring. There is a fair case for finessing in diamonds if playing 5Dx. If both North and South hold doubleton spades then 4H will fail if diamonds split 2-2. As both 5Dx -2 and 5Dx -3 will score better than defending 4H = one might as well take the optimistic line and finesse. At equal vulnerability the finesse would have an even better case, as 5Dx -2 would be a phantom sacrifice anyway against a 2-2 split but would be a good score after a successful finesse with 4H making. Strangely only Stindy managed to set 4H; the set is easy enough after a low diamond lead; after winning the king West cashes the spade ace and sees whether East signals for another spade or for a switch. Either East's holding the spade jack discombobulated the signal or West led a high diamond. Mike made an overtrick in 4H after the diamond king lead; Eastbot was so convinced that partner had led from KQx it didn't play the ace on the second round. Dem wascawwy wobots stwike again, as Elmer Fudd might say.
?
4H S +1
4H S = (2)
5Dx E -3
5Dx E -2
4D E -2
4D E -1
4H S -1
?
6:
?
...............J954
...............Q84
...............AJ8
...............953
62.........................AKQ3
10975....................AK6
Q62.......................K5
QJ72.....................K1084
...............1087
...............J32
...............109743
...............A6
?
The only hand on which everyone played in the same denomination saw all the tables in the same contract of 3NT E, usually after a 2C opening bid, 2NT rebid and Stayman.
?
South's natural diamond lead gets off to a decent start but there is no entry to the South hand to cash the fourth and fifth diamonds if West plays carefully. Loubot set 3NT after a low diamond lead to jack and king; on the second round West played the queen and the suit ran. After a lead of the ten it is plausible for North to duck and then declarer cannot fail. An original heart lead to queen and king seems likely to work out about as well but any East wily enough to duck will be in position to force the overtrick. A spade lead is not as much help as it may seem as declarer cannot force North to win the third heart. There is still the chance of an overtrick if North unguards the spades. This ought not to happen if East has shown four spades in the auction. North can reasonably unguard the heart queen on the clubs on any Stayman auction. E-W top was a tie between Harold and Eugenie on eleven tricks; three declarers took ten tricks and two took nine, making par good for the defence.
?
3NT E -1
3NT E = (2)
3NT E +1 (3)
3NT E +2 (2)
?
7:
?
...............Q762
...............J96
...............K
...............KQ854
854.......................AJ1093
KQ52....................73
QJ1076.................9
10..........................AJ962
...............K
...............A1084
...............A85432
...............73
?
This auction could go almost anywhere. If South opens 1D we might see 1D-P-1S-P; 2D-P-2NT and then what does South do? North might get conservative and pass 2D. A 2D opening bid likely meets with a 2S balance and perhaps a raise from West. If South passes North might open in third seat and then things can go anywhere. If all else fails East opens in fourth seat and we reach at least 2S. Contracts were 2D S twice, 2S E, 2NT N, 3S E twice, 3NT S and 4C N(!).
?
The opening lead mattered against every denomination played. Not surprisingly against spades, only a trump lead holds declarer to eight tricks by force. All three declares in spades took nine tricks when South understandably declined to lead the singleton king of trumps. Harold, for instance, received a club lead. Diamond contracts are held to six tricks by a black suit lead, though the key is for West to get two heart tricks and nothing to do with ruffs or forces. North is held to five tricks in clubs by a heart lead while South in no-trumps is held to five tricks by a club lead. With both sides vulnerable the E-W pairs declaring spades were unlucky to score only 2/7. Mike was N-S top playing 2D S -1; Jamob were E-W top defending 4C N -5.
?
2D S -1
2S E +1; 3S E = (2)
2D S -2; 2NT N -2
3NT S -3
4C N -5
?
8:
?
...............J4
...............QJ10532
...............853
...............A4
Q9732......................AK85
64.............................K987
K742.........................106
103............................875
...............106
...............A
...............AQJ9
...............KQJ962
?
What does South do after North opens 2H? Nobody passed. Two Souths responded 3C and were left there (if partnership agreement is that a new suit is non-forcing, that is Alertable. One South, perhaps after a feature ask revealed North to hold the ace of clubs, tried 3NT. The remaining Souths went to 4H, either directly or secondarily.
?
4H is set by a diamond switch in time; declarer can be held to eight tricks by a diamond lead if East finds a spade underlead to get a ruff. Clubs took a straightforward ten trick and 3NT a straightforward eight after a spade lead. 3C S +1 tied for N-S top for Breta and Mary. All the heart contracts were defeated with three defending pairs bettering par and Ritold taking E-W top defending 4H -3.
?
3C S +1 (2)
3NT S -1; 4H N -1 (2)
4H N -2 (2)
4H N -3
?
9:
?
...............853
...............AJ
...............KJ5
...............AKQJ3
AK...........................Q974
Q9765......................K3
862..........................AQ1094
542...........................109
...............J1062
...............10842
...............73
...............876
?
If North upgrades the hand to a 2NT opening bid that likely ends the auction (a Mexican 2D opening bid also likely ends in 2NT). Otherwise we start 1C-1D-P-1H; North may then come in again with 1NT but West is likely to show the diamond support next in any event. Contracts were 2D E four times, 2H W twice, 2NT N and 4D E.
?
East can take ten tricks in diamonds easily enough taking the double finesse through North and ruffing one low spade in dummy, although only Harold and John played the hand correctly. The most interesting line of defence against hearts is for North to force dummy to ruff a club at once, which means that declarer cannot draw trumps for two losers. West can force nine tricks, though, by leaving trumps for the end. After the club ruff comes: spade to ace, diamond to ten, spade to king, diamond to queen, spade queen discarding a diamond, leaving West with all trumps and South with four trumps and a spade. West then ruffs a diamond and exits with a heart to North's ace. If North leads the heart jack West ducks and must take the last two tricks with the heart Q9. If North leads a side suit South must ruff with the ten to give West a guess; if West overruffs West must then lead the 9 instead of the 7; if West underruffs South has to lead a heart and then West must play the queen. Eugenie posted +140 for the E-W top. Steve (R) made 2NT, although the -2 that could have been forced would have scored the same. N-S top was Karleta's defending 4D E -3; declarer misplayed the diamonds and then didn't unblock spades by discarding the ace at a point when all East's remaining spades would have been high.
?
4D E -3
2NT N =
2D E +1 (2); 2H W =
2D E +2 (2)
2H W +1
?
10:
?
?
...............AK5
...............K42
...............K1092
...............K43
Q............................72
76...........................AQJ10983
QJ54......................A83
AQJ1098................2
...............J1098653
...............5
...............76
...............763
?
1H from East. South likely will avoid coming in vulnerable on the first call. If West responds 2C, North probably is content to pass. East has extra playing strength and reaches 4H without much trouble. If West responds 1NT North may well double and South gets into the action. Or of course some brave Souths may overcall 2S or 3S over 1H and North will almost surely get the bidding to 4S. This became our second Battle of the Majors, with five contracts of 4H E and three of 4S S. That nobody either doubled or ventured to the five-level is not what I'd have predicted.
?
N-S can?force eight tricks in spades even if East gets a club ruff. Suppose West starts with the club ace and East ruffs out North's king, then shifts to a trump. South runs all the trumps to leave a four-card ending. If East parts with the heart three and keeps two cards in both red suits to match North, declarer throws East in with a heart and East will have to give North the last trick with the diamond king. Blanking either ace means South can duck to that ace and score both kings. East's best effort is to come down to A3 in both red suits (the diamond spot East keeps does not matter). If West keeps 76 in heart, declarer cannot endplay East. But West gets squeezed. West must keep a good club (South still holds one) and therefore must unguard the second round of one of the red suits. South can then lead to that king - easily done. If West tries a diamond queen opening lead North just ducks; when trumps are drawn then South just leads a diamond to the ten-spot and East must lead a red suit to North. Only Eubot held 4S to eight tricks (Louise took nine after a club lead and heart switch; Owen also took nine tricks to tie Louise for N-S top) but N-S won the board just by taking the bid. 4H can force eleven tricks. If N-S begin with two spades, forcing dummy to ruff and establishing a trump trick for North, the diamond queen is led. If covered, declarer takes the ruffing finesse in clubs and the diamond jack is the entry. If ducked, declarer draws trumps - North can do nothing useful when in with the heart king - and North is squeezed in the minors. If the opening lead is a trump declarer runs seven trumps off the top, keeping Q ---- QJ5 AQ in dummy. North must keep the same pattern or surrender a trick in a minor, and then North is endplayed in spades. North can put West in in diamonds but then North gets endplayed in a minor. Not running all the trumps lets North keep A5 or K5 in spades and exit safely to South. Jim and Gareth took eleven tricks in hearts - a bit easier to do after a diamond lead; the other three declarers in hearts took ten tricks.
?
?
4S S -1 (2)
4S S -2
4H E = (3)
4H E +1 (2)
?
11:
?
...............K32
...............J10962
...............Q95
...............A4
J865.......................A10
Q53.........................A87
KJ64.......................A87
83...........................KQ1092
...............Q974
...............K4
...............1032
...............J765
?
If North opens 1H in third seat (a marginal idea, as a heart lead might well not be best) East may be content with a 1NT overcall, which should go around. If North passes, the East hand is clearly worth an upgrade, with three aces and a hefty five-card suit. But nobody upgraded. I did see one North open the bidding and get a double out of East, resulting in 2C E as a contract while all other Easts declared 1NT.
?
2C is held to eight tricks by a diamond lead, a spade lead must come from North before trumps are drawn. Elott allowed a ninth trick defending 2C but it only cost half a matchpoint. E-W take eight tricks in no-trumps comfortably enough whatever suit N-S attack, and spade or diamond leads are likely to allow more tricks. Karleta were N-S top defending 1NT E? =. Three declarers took the par eight tricks, two took nine and John was E-W top taking ten; he received a spade lead, then on trick four North played the diamond queen instead of the nine.
?
1NT E =
2C E +1
1NT E +1 (3)
1NT E +2 (2)
1NT E +3
?
12:
?
?
...............KJ9853
...............3
...............A1096
...............K5
76...........................A2
KQJ10....................A64
Q7...........................J854
AJ1064...................Q987
...............Q104
...............98752
...............K32
...............32
?
1C-1S and then what from East? 2S might keep N-S out of the auction; if South cannot double to show a raise, West's 3C rebid may well end the auction. If south gets to show a raise North can compete to 3S. One North began with a 2S overcall, which worked neatly when East, with limited options, went to 3NT.Contracts were 3C W twice, 3Sx N, 3NT E, 4C W thrice and 4Sx N.
?
North's diamond spots make everything easy in 3Sx, which Louise made in comfort for the N-S top. She lost only one trick in each suit. Mahn were E-W top defending 4Sx -1. Club contracts can be held to nine tricks if the spade winner is established in time, which ought to be before N-S lose the lead. By a 3-2 margin declarers in clubs took ten tricks, with only one minus score. 3NT could take six tricks by force; Nary picked up an extra undertrick for -4 that did not affect the scoring,
?
3Sx N =
3NT E -4
4C W -1
3C W =
3C W +1; 4C W = (2)
4Sx N -1
?
13:
?
...............86
...............AQ9
...............KJ7
...............Q9654
10...........................KJ9753
KJ1073...................542
Q854......................109
1087.......................J2
...............AQ42
...............86
...............A632
...............AK3
?
After 1C from North, N-S seem pretty well destined for 3NT, likely played mostly by North, although South mar bid 3NT if East sneaks into the auction. One 2S overcall let N-S find their way to slam: 1C-2S-X-P; 3C-P-4NT-P; 5D-P-6C. A couple of pairs had accidents in the bidding. Contracts were 3C N twice, 3NT N thrice, 3NT S, 4NT N and 6C N.
?
Clubs can take all thirteen tricks with all the finesses succeeding; declarer has to ruff the third heart in the South hand before drawing trumps. In no-trumps, all the tricks can be taken either by squeezing West in the red suits or playing for either of two double squeezes.?Taking the three finesses and cashing the second spade early would work; saving spades for the end to try to squeeze East would fail. Wayne was N-S top in 6C +1. Scott and Judy both took thirteen tricks in 3NT for +720, leaving Louise and Kevin in the middle on +690. Mahn were E-W top when declarer lost a trick in 3C +3.
?
6C N +1
3NT N +4 (2)
3NT N +3; 4NT N +2
3NT N +1
3C N +4
3C N +3
?
14:
?
...............A8
...............Q8
...............A75
...............A98542
KJ97532...............10
9...........................AJ10532
K3.........................J1082
K106.....................QJ
...............Q64
...............K764
...............Q964
...............73
?
2H from East. Does West bid (forcing East to bid again)? If so, it looks as if the contract will end up being 3S. If West passes, North balances with 3C which could well end the auction. Contracts were 3C N four times, 3S W twice and 4H E twice.
?
This is one time when coming in with spades can work, as 3S makes if declarer guesses the diamonds correctly, although both declarers went -1, probably by losing a spade to the queen early and then South's getting a club ruff - or possibly North's managing to score the eight of spades. Hearts are held to seven tricks and clubs to eight. All eight contracts were defeated, with none of the E-W contracts matching par. Jevin, for instance, defeated 3S after two clubs, a heart and a spade from dummy instead of the diamond jack or ten. N-S top went to Owbot for defending 4H -4, E-W top to Jamob for defending 3C -3.
?
4H E -4
4H E -2
3S W -1 (2)
3C N -1 (3)
3C N -3
?
15:
?
...............A9654
...............7
...............KJ3
...............J765
K107........................J32
J1083......................A96
Q1064.....................752
A8...........................KQ42
...............Q8
...............KQ542
...............A98
...............1093
?
Three Souths opened 1H. When South passed the hand was passed out every time. North did not want to open 2S at the vulnerability or 1S and get stuck if South responded 2H. The three contracts reached were 1NT S, 2S N and 2NT S.
?
The passouts were Loubot/Stindy, Elott/Ritold, Jevin/Leighry, Study/Eubot and Nary/Jimbot. All the contracts should have been defeated, with spades held to six tricks by a trump lead and no-trumps held to six tricks by a diamond lead. Breta played 1NT +3(!) for the N-S top; West led a spade at trick three instead of a minor suit, then discarded the spade king at trick ten instead of a heart. Glynneth were E-W top taking their par seven tricks defending 2S N -2. Tricks for both sides in no-trumps are rather slow. Jamob defended 2NT S -1, probably after a heart lead instead of a diamond, but they still scored 6/7; the passout scored 4/7 for N-S.
?
1NT S +3
Passed Out (5)
2NT S -1
2S N -2
?
16:
?
...............A6
...............K8
...............Q542
...............98642
KQ842....................J10
97............................J10652
AK10.......................J83
AQ3.........................KJ5
...............9753
...............AQ43
...............976
...............107
?
The auction almost universally started 1S-1NT; 2NT. Two Easts passed. At least two tried to get into hearts. 3NT E was the contract five times and 4H E once.
?
The major intermediates really pull their way - 3NT comes home easily. South can lead a diamond but with the double stopper and no more than three heart losers?the contract is unassailable. Except against Loubot (West finessed the diamond ten and went down in 2NT) everyone in no-trumps took nine tricks, providing a five-way tie for E-W top. Hearts can be held to eight tricks; Jevin posted the par result for N-S top against 4H -2.
?
4H E -2
2NT E -1
2NT E +1
3NT E = (5)
?
17:
?
...............J854
...............Q7
...............A98
...............K1095
Q1032...................9
K98643.................5
653........................KQJ72
----.........................QJ8743
...............AK76
...............AJ102
...............104
...............A62
?
If East and West both stay out of the auction N-S reach 4S via a 1NT opening bid and Stayman. A 1D opening bid from East looks likely to lead to 4S as well: P-1D-X-2S; 3C-4S. If the auction starts P-P-1NT-2H for both majors, North likely doubles, East tries 2NT and the contract could well be 3Dx W. South?might not be deterred if West passes 1NT and East backs in over 2C with 2NT, as South knows there is a 4-4 major fit. Contracts were 3H W, 3Sx N, 3NT N, 3NT S, 4S N and 4S S thrice.
?
4S turns out to be right-sided if played by South. A diamond lead is ducked to East. Even if West then gets a club ruff South is still all right - win a diamond return, ruff the third diamond in hand and lead three spades. West wins and must return a heart; a ruffing finesse in hearts takes care of the rest. East can switch to a heart instead of a club, but South wins the ace and play goes much along the same line. If North declares an immediate club ruff and diamond return force North to win; there is then no way to force West to lead a heart after winning the third defensive trick. Weirdly, though, the only declarer to make 4S was Louise, playing the hand from the North side, after the opening lead of the diamond king. 4S S went down every time. Against Stindy, for instance, declarer led the spade jack from dummy at trick two. 3NT has no trouble so long as declarer ducks the first two diamonds; both Kevin and Judy made 3NT. E-W top went to Leighry defending 3Sx -2. Nary defended 3H W -2 for the middle score; they could have forced two tricks more but, without a double, that made no difference.
?
4S N =
3NT N =; 3NT S =
3H W -2
4S S -1 (2)
4S S -2
3Sx S -2
?
18:
?
...............A1076
...............94
...............107
...............AQ1086
K..............................QJ542
AJ73.........................K8
AQ952......................864
754...........................KJ2
...............983
...............Q10652
...............KJ3
...............93
?
Apparently North did not come in with 2C over West's 1D opening bid. 1NT W was played four times as a rebid over a 1S response. Three Easts played 2S, either via an uncontested 1D-1S; 1NT-2S or P-P-1D-2C; 2S. The last contract was 3D W.
?
The layout was nice to E-W with the clubs perfectly situated and the diamond sitting well also, even the heart queen. Diamonds or no-trumps can force ten tricks and spades nine, even with onlt six trumps. Two declarers in 1NT took ten tricks and two nine. Jim in 3D took the par ten tricks; everyone in 2S made on the number. This gave Loubot, Jevin and Karleta a tie for N-S top on -110while Eubot and Mahn tied for E-W top on +180.
?
2S E = (3)
3D W +1
1NT W +2 (2)
1NT W +3 (2)
