1: N-S began with a heart game:
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A
A932
Q952
AK102
?
762
QJ10864
107
Q8
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North opened 1m and South always responded - nobody got left at the one-level - and everyone played 4H S. The trump king was offside doubleton but the contract was still safe - if the opening lead was not a diamond declarer could discard a diamond loser on the third club and make an overtrick. Although it did not matter in this situation, with weaker trumps it would have been a good idea to follow the third club by leading the fourth club and discarding the other diamond loser to prevent East's getting in and leading a fourth club that might give West a trump promotion. Only Cinise held declarer to ten tricks.
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The Blue Club would have a fun auction: 2D-3H; 3S-3NT; 4H. 2D is three-suited 17-24 HCP, 3H shows 5-6 HCP and a moderate six-card suit, 3S shows the singleton and chance of slam (xxx Kxxxxx x Qxx), 3NT shows that the trumps are no better than QJ-high. Change South's hearts to Kxxxxx and South would have bid 4C to show the ace or king but no singleton and North would still have retired to 4H; opposite the ideal hand South would have rebid 4D, followed by 4S-5D; 6H if North felt like risking being opposite a singleton club.
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4H S +1 by Gareth and Zeena
4H S = vs Cinise
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2: West and North had hands against each other:
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...............93
...............AK108
...............AKQ8
...............AJ2
AKQJ2
54
10
87653
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I would open 2S in third seat and make South really uncomfortable over North's inevitable double. Everyone opened 1S. Two Easts took South off the hook with a 2S raise, although North doubled again. South had the sad holding of 654 973 9642 Q94. The South who had to bid over the double of 1S chose 1NT and ended in 3NTx. The auctions that began P-P-1S-X; 2S ended in 2NT S over the second double and 3S W. 3S made, mostly thanks to East's valuable doubleton king in clubs and there being no profitable forcing defence available. Mary was top in 2NT -1 and Jari defending 3NTx -3.
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2NT S -1 by Mary
3S W = by Hank
3NTx S -3 vs Jari
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3: E-W should have been down in 4S on the lie of the cards:
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KQ1052
J864
A4
AJ
?
874
A73
K53
K1065
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With 25 HCP combined and an eight-card major fit it is not to be wondered at that E-W reached game twice, and it had chances. Drury gets the side to game, presumably 4S. 4S was reached twice; one pair stopped in 2S.
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South held AJx in spades, so that 3NT would not have been any more likely after a diamond lead. South led a low doubleton club to give declarer one discard - not quite enough with South also holding KQ92 in hearts. Louise took the normal nine tricks in 2S. Against 4S both Souths erred. Against Hari, after South had led the heart king to West's queen, South discarded down to the bare queen?and there went the second heart loser. The other South switched to the heart nine, letting declarer win the jack but declarer cashed the heart ace and didn't take the discard on the high club in time; South was able to draw West's third trump and cash the heart KQ.
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4S E -1 vs Zeerry
2S E +1 by Louise
4S E = by Janet
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Leaders: Zeerry-Jari 4.5, Maurie-Cinise 3
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4: E-W had a wide-ranging choice of games here and possible slams:
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6
KQJ103
K
AQJ743
?
AKQ832
A6
J96
105
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The best slam is 6H, which makes about half the time against a diamond lead unless the defence follows with a spade switch; a club switch from North is almost as good. Although 6NT can always be defeated unless North or South holds a singleton diamond queen, in practical terms 6NT E may have the best chance of all as South is unlikely to lead a diamond fom ace-queen, ace-high or queen-high. We finished in 4H E twice and 4NT W once.
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North's diamonds were A8743 and South's Q1052. Reverse the hands and a diamond lead would have led to 4NT -2 but North led a low diamond and Cindy took all the tricks. In 4H the declarers presumably got a spade lead or switch (North held K92 in clubs, South J1095 in spades) and missed the importance of finessing clubs before drawing trumps, finishing with eleven tricks each.
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4H E +1 vs Jari and Maurie
4NT W +3 by Cindy
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5: HCP were 11/11/12/6. N-S had nine clubs and E-W nine spades. Clubs looked like taking ten tricks, spades seven.
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I was looking for P-P-1C-2S; X and then either 3S or P-3C with 3S possibly to follow, possibly doubled by North. Spades looked like taking seven tricks, clubs ten. Jari doubled 3S and set it two tricks for N-S top; Zeena was left in 3S -2 for E-W top, with Gareth's 3C S +1 in the mddle.
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3Sx W -2 vs Jari
3C S +1 by Gareth
3S W -2 by Zeena
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6: HCP were 8/12/12/8. E-W had the only fit, 4-4 clubs. North had to choose a rebid holding K7652 K53 Q63 32 after 1D-1S; 1NT.
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All three Norths passed. 1NT could have been set with sharp defence - club to queen and king, spade, spade, heart to the ace, diamond switch, club back through - but the defenders went wrong in various ways and all three declarers emerged with an overtrick, Mary two for the top.
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1NT S +2 by Mary
1NT S +1 vs Cinise and Heve
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Leaders: Jari 8.5, Cinise 7.5, Zeerry 7, Maurie 6.5
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7: E-W had a 3NT assisted by South's 2D opening bid:
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KQ42
753
4
KQJ95
?
763
AJ10
QJ97
A102
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After 2D-P-P-X; P, I like either a pass or 3NT. North held the spade ace and the heart honours were divided, so that even avoiding diamonds entirely would not save the defence. Alas, E-W played in clubs every time: 2C after South did not open, 3C and an ambitious 5C. The lower the contract the better the result; South held a singleton spade. diamond, spade, to North's ace, spade ruff, heart back resulted in 5C -3 for Jari. Steve was able to make 3C and Harry 2C +2.
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5C E -3 vs Jari
3C E = by Steve
2C E +2 by Harry
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8: HCP were 5/11/16/8 with no fit. I expected East to open 1NT and West to transfer to 2H.
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This happened twice; one West left 1NT in. 2H was the better contract, with eight tricks and a possible ninth, while 1NT did not rate to make more than the contract. Laurie did manage the overtrick in 2H for the E-W top; Cinise set 1NT for the N-D top, although making would have been just as good.
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1NT E -1 vs Cinise
2H E = by Steve
2H E +1 by Laurie
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9: N-S had some kind of?shot at 6D:
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K9
K102
KJ975
AK6
?
A8642
A64
Q106
J4
?
There was no practical chance of finding 6D unless North upgraded the hand to worth 1D followed by 2NT and even then South cannot quite visualize slam opposite the lack of a spade fit. All three tables finished in 3NT after 1NT-2H; 2S-3NT. As spades were 3-3 all three declarers took eleven tricks for a flat board.
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In 6D, a heart lead probably means spades will have to be 3-3; declarer might as well ruff a spade at once with the nine, planning to use the last trump as the entry to the good spades if the heart ace is gone. On a different lead declarer has the time and entries to try to ruff a club and cater to 4-2 spades.
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3NT N +2 by Gareth, Louise and Hari
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Leaders: Jari 11.5, Cinise 10.5, Zeerry 10, Maurie 9.5
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10: E-W had a cozy 3NT, but would North or South get busy?:
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...............84
...............Q6
...............J7
...............QJ106532
QJ76...........................1052
AK75...........................8
K9...............................AQ10862
984.............................AK7
...............AK93
...............J109432
...............543
...............----
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N-S cannot compete higher than the two-level with safety. 7-2-2-2 is not the most satisfactory hand pattern; here North's clubs are not quite good enough to withstand a third heart through after E-W have cashed their diamond winners. Two E-W pairs reached 3NT easily enough, once from each side; the third stopped in 3D E.
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With the diamonds running, declarer in 3NT had ten top tricks and a chance of an eleventh depending on the lead. Curiously it was 3NT E that produced eleven tricks for Hari, while Mary was held to ten in 3NT W, despite the heart lead's being better for the defence than the club lead. Garbot were N-S top defending 3D E +2.
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3D E +2 vs Garbot
3NT W +1 by Mary
3NT E +2 by Hari
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11: This one had numerous possibilities:
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...............J75
...............K92
...............102
...............96432
Q8......................AK10962
Q107654............J8
9765...................KJ
J.........................1087
...............43
...............A3
...............AQ843
...............AKQ5
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N-S could not quite make 5C; three rounds of spades promote a trump trick for the defence. 3NT lacks a spade stopper, although North could skate if East were to lead a high spade. E-W have too many losers for a game and even the three-level is dangerous if North or South is in a mood to pull out Big Red. Although I thought most auctions would lead to South's playing in some number of clubs, we ended up with contracts in the other three suits: 2D S +1 against Zeerry, who were E-W top for staying out of trouble, 4Sx E -3 against Heve for the N-S top and the middle score in 3Hx W -2.
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4Sx E -3 vs Heve
3Hx W -2 vs Cinise
2D S +1 vs Zeerry
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12: HCP were 9/10/11/10. N-S had eight spades and E-W nine diamonds. I was looking for P-P-1D-1S; 2D-2S-3D and maybe on to 3S. Diamonds looked like taking six or seven tricks, especially with a heart lead or switch; spades seemed set to take nine tricks.
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One East did play 3D -3 against Cinise for the N-S top, just ahead of Hank's 2S S +1. Zeerry again did what they did best, staying out of trouble and letting North play 1NT -1; even +1 would have been E-W top.
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3D E -3 vs Cinise
2S S +1 by Hank
1NT N -1 vs Zeerry
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Leaders: Jari 14.5, Zeerry 14, Cinise 13.5
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13: North and East held hands against each other:
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K6
A984
KQ32
AQ4
...............A10974
...............KJ53
...............A97
...............5
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I was looking for 1D-1S and then North would reopen with a double or possibly 1NT even if South passed. Either one or two Norths opened 1NT; it became the contract twice, once doubled. Steve made 1NTx for N-S top with 1NT = in the middle (there was a chance at an eighth trick). The third N-S pair got too high, with 3NT -2 giving Maurie the E-W top.
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1NTx N = by Steve
1NT N = by Harry
3NT S -2 vs Maurie
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14: South and West had hands against each other:
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K9
KJ10
AK5
Q9853
...............QJ5
...............AQ6
...............Q87
...............AK104
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This time opener again had 18 HCP but the opponent had a 1NT overcall if the opening bid was 1m. One South opened 1NT and played the hand there. Another opened 1C and West played in a 1NT overcall. The third auction began with 1NT S but West did not remain quiet, coming in with 2C - unwise on a balanced hand. Garbot were N-S top defending 3C W -2. 1NT W made to give Janet the E-W top, while 1NT S -1 was middle.?
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3C W -2 vs Garbot
1NT S -1 vs Cinise
1NT W = by Janet
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15: E-W had a tricky slam to bid:
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...............Q8
...............K9765
...............AQ3
...............832
AJ9542..................K1076
J42.........................----
10...........................KJ62
KJ10.......................AQ976
...............3
...............AQ1083
...............98754
...............54
?
E-W can probably reach slam. West opens 2S and East can respond 3C on the way to 4S just in case. West then has a nice resource. With good support for clubs, West can bid 3D to show shortage. This is almost all East needs to know to be able to undertake 6S. We had two 4S W contracts and one 7Sx W when West accidentally opened 2C by mistake.
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Unfortunately for declarer the defender with the diamond ace was on lead and Heve were N-S top. Had Hank been on lead instead of Steve he would have presumably led the ace of hearts and the contract would have made. In 4S, one declarer took twelve tricks after a diamond lead; Janet received a non-diamond lead and was E-W top.
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7Sx W -1 vs Heve
4S W +2 bt Mary
4S W +3 by Janet
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Leaders: Jari 19.5, Heve 15.5, Zeerry 15
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16: HCP were 8/7/9/16. N-S had eight spades and E-W eight hearts. Spades hit a 4-1 break but looked like perhaps taking nine tricks.
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Contracts were in three different suits: 2D N, 2S S and 3H E. Garbot defended 3H -2 for N-S top, Mary played 2S +2 for the middle score and Heve were E-W top defending 2D =.
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3H E -2 vs Garbot
2S S +2 by Mary
2D N = vs Heve
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17: Where could N-S go?:
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...............A4
...............543
...............KQ1085
...............KJ6
J9763.......................5
KJ87........................Q9
94............................AJ7632
A8............................10954
...............KQ1082
...............A1062
...............----
...............Q732
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East probably cannot come in over North's 1D opening bid. The N-S side has a hard time finding a good landing spot. However South chooses to look for game after 1D-1S; 1NT no game appeals. North presumable accepts invitations and one pair did reach 3NT N, -2 against Cinise for the E-W top. Gareth bid 2H and was left there, -1 for the middle score. Zeena left Harry in 1NT; he finished +1 for the N-S top.
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1NT N +1 by Harry
2H S -1 vs Jari
3NT N -2 vs Cinise
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18: Could N-S stop out of game?:
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...............KJ8762
...............AQ10
...............A4
...............J9
A9............................Q3
J732.........................85
J976.........................K10852
A86..........................K743
...............1054
...............K964
...............Q3
...............Q1052
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I thought N-S could stop in 3S after 1S-2S and some form of game invitation but two Norths rebid a direct 4S over 2S. Jari posted 4S -2 for the E-W top and Cinise 4S -1 for the middle score. Zeena's instinct to stay out of trouble paid off yet again, though we really cannot condone passing 1S as she did. Harry took nine tricks and Zeerry pulled back into second place.
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1S N +2 by Harry
4S N -1 vs Cinise
4S N -2 vs Jari
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Final: Jari 22.5, Zeerry 19, Cinise 18.5
