1: Both sides attempted game, with E-W getting a little unlucky:
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...............KJ107652
...............A106
...............A75
...............----
A................................Q84
Q84............................KJ53
KJ104.........................6
A10643.......................K9872
...............93
...............972
...............Q9832
...............QJ5
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North opened 1S and West likely doubled whatever South did, either passing or bidding 1NT. North was easily able to rebid spades and East was able to compete as well. One North took the bid with 2S, one East went to 3H and that ended the auction, two Norths went all the way to 4S and one E-W pair found itself in 5C.
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5C was rather unlucky. Even with the duplication of values in diamonds, KJ104 opposite a low singleton, 5C still had good play. It needed just 2-1 trumps. But trumps were 3-0 and South's club winner set the contract along with North's two aces. Against spades, sufficiently passive defence by E-W brought the pair that eventually became Jores the E-W top. The most interesting result may have been Harold's 3H E =. That was a tricky one but Harold had a spare loser with which to work; he was able to draw trumps without worrying about whether North took a trick with the spade king or not.
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2S N = by Jim
5C E -1 vs Zeerry
4S N -2 vs Heve
3H E = by Harold
4S N -3 vs Jores
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2: It turned out to make a difference who declared:
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...............876
...............QJ8
...............1076
...............QJ87
95.......................QJ42
7.........................AK643
AK94..................Q53
K109632.............4
...............AK103
...............10952
...............J82
...............A5
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One East bid Flannery but the pair was not playing 2NT as an asking bid and East passed West's 2NT response. Nobody else ended in 2NT, although West did have a likely 1NT response and invitational values. The only table not in no-trumps had the auction 1H-1NT; 2D-3D. Contracts were 1NT W, 2NT W, 3D E, 3NT E and 3NT W.
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3NT E went two down against a normal lead from South. 3NT W presumably received a lead of the club queen, letting declarer establish the suit for two losers and four winners. Ken finished with ten tricks in 3NT W, as did Hank in 2NT W. 3D finished -1, at least off the bottom.
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3NT E -2 vs Charlim
3D E -1 vs Maurie
1NT W +1 by Marcia
2NT W +2 by Hank
3NT W +1 by Ken
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3: Erik got away with one here:
?
...............K109865
...............42
...............Q4
...............K84
AJ2...........................7
AK107.......................J98
K10763.....................J98
6................................AQ9752
...............Q43
...............Q653
...............A52
...............J103
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West opened 1D and North overcalled 2S. East was a bit light for 3C, though a negative double risked West's attempting 4H. South could have bumped the auction up to 3S; the hand was played there twice. Two Wests went on to 3NT, not an unreasonable attempt but the hand is grim on a spade lead. The fifth contract was 4C E.
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4C E looked like a straightforward make with the 3-3 split and the king onside. Declarer likely went against playing trumps early. The spade contracts took five tricks at one table, six at the other. One of the declarers in 3NT managed a decent escape for -1 but Erik had a spectacular result of taking eleven tricks. In their auction South had not raised to 3S; North did not lead a spade. As the 1D opening bid was a catchall, North instead tried leading the diamond queen, which South overtook with the ace. Then South led the spade queen and Erik had a bit of timing if he needed any.
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4C E -2 vs Zeerry
3NT W -1 vs Charlim
3S N -3 vs Marbot
2S N -4 vs Harob
3NT W +2 by Erik
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4: We saw the perils of interfering over 1NT with a balanced hand:
?
...............53
...............982
...............86532
...............KJ6
1084....................9762
A10643................KQ
Q10......................A94
A105....................9832
...............AKQJ
...............J75
...............KJ7
...............Q74
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South opened 1NT, which went around four times. At the fifth table West came in with 2H and played the hand there.
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1NT was an easy -1 for E-W, with -2 occurring at one table to give Harob the E-W top. 2H was also an easy -1. The one point of interest is that, if South led all four spades at the start of the hand, West should discard a club on the fourth spade rather than attempt a ruff.
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2H W -1 vs Zeerry
1NT S -1 vs Heve, Marbot and Jerik
1NT S -2 vs Harob
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5: Everyone played 4S E:
?
...............A7
...............76543
...............J8
...............K987
KJ942....................Q10853
Q8..........................A1092
A972.......................Q4
Q3...........................A10
...............6
...............KJ
...............K10653
...............J6542
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After 1S from East, South does not want to bid 2NT with such shaky suits. West would bid 3D over 2NT and presumably bids 2NT if South passes. N-S have the wrong vulnerability for a sacrifice; E-W ought to arrive in 4S E, as everyone did.
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Normally aces opposite queens may not play terribly well but here, with East declaring, South's only safe lead was a trump, and singleton trump leads often work poorly. Jim (U) and Steve both took eleven tricks after a diamond lead. Mary led a club, which could have been just as helpful, but declarer chose to play dummy's queen and dropped another trick along the way to give Maurie the N-S top. The other two Easts made 4S on the number.
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4S E -1 vs Maurie
4S E = vs Zeerry and Miken
4S E +1 by Steve and Jim
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6: Almost all N-S pairs played 1NT:
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...............K732
...............Q5
...............KJ932
...............K6
AJ986..................Q4
A84......................10963
1065.....................Q7
97.........................AQ853
...............105
...............KJ72
...............A84
...............J1042
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West declined to open either 1S or 2S in third seat because of the vulnerability and only one West overcalled of the second round, playing 1S. The other auction appear to have had a 1D opening from North in fourth seat followed by 1H from South, 1S from North and 1NT from South. The last auction ended in 1NT N, but it does not appear that West overcalled.
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Had West bid spades a spade lead from either side would have given E-W an easy seven tricks. As 1NT was made by Joan, Mike and Mary, it seems clear there was no spade lead at any of those tables. Jerik were the only pair to set 1NT, with Erik leading a spade as West. I suppose it is a positive sign that nobody finished -2; there is no point to declarer's taking an early diamond finesse as even with five diamond tricks there is no better result to be forced than -1. Bob made 1S W with the same tricks as in the setting of 1NT for the E-W top.
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1NT N = by Mike; 1NT S = by Jim (L) and Mary
1NT S -1 vs Jerik
1S W = by Bob
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7: The lead determined how many tricks declarer could make:
?
...............KQJ10964
...............----
...............AQ95
...............107
75.................................A3
A8542..........................KQ109763
4...................................8
KQ984..........................J65
...............82
...............J
...............KJ107632
...............A32
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With East in fourth seat there was a chance that the E-W twelve-card heart fit might be shut out of the auction entirely. South could open 3D and North respond either 5D or 4S. West does not have enough strength to come in over a three-level opening and East would likely not want to bid vulnerable at the five-level not having spoken before. A few auctions did get competitive when North took things a little slower, perhaps with 3S, But N-S never let E-W play the hand despite the nearly even HCP and the twelve-card fit. Par on the hand turned out to be 6Hx -2 but sacrifices at the six-level are not easy to find. Contracts were 4S N twice, 5D S and 5S N twice.
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?Play was simple - would East or West lead a club? Against 5D West led a club and Cinise took two tricks, although they would have had the top score anyway. Three Easts did not lead a club against the spade contracts and declarer took twelve tricks. Steve found the inspired lead for a good score.
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4S N +2 by Harold; 5S N +1 by Dolores and Charlette
4S N +1 vs Heve
5D S = vs Cinise
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8: Again 1NT was the majority contract:
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...............K82
...............Q98
...............AKQ9
...............K105
AJ6.....................10954
J10542................A6
3..........................10742
AQ94...................763
...............Q73
...............K73
...............J865
...............J82
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It seemed that 1H-1NT might be universal. One West decided not to sell out and pressed on with 2C, which East corrected back to 2H at least to be in a 5-2 fit. South liked the hand enough to double and North did not take it as balancing, which was probably just as well, as 3D would have played much the same way as no-trumps for rather less reward. One South declared 2NT after North began with a double and raised 1NT to 2NT.
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After the heart ace lead, 1NT?N looked sure of eight tricks with a decent chance at a ninth, as West has to discard thrice on the diamonds and has both the black suit guards as well as the long hearts; something has to give and it is easy for declarer to pick up a ninth trick?- the clubs indeed yield two tricks on their own and after East has shown the heart ace West is almost sure to hold all the other high cards. In 2NT S Ken took nine tricks as well?and he did not have to crash the heart ace doubleton to do it. Any heart lead from West turns out to be just as helpful; the jack sets up a finesse against the ten and a low lead forces East's ace. Ken and Charlette split the best declaring score of +150; declarers against Jerik and Heve fared less well. 2Hx was terrible to play with only the one entry to the East hand and diamond forces giving N-S easy exits. Harob were careful to make sure of -2; they did not need any more to beat any partial and +100 for -1 would not have been to their liking.
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2Hx W -2 vs Harob
1NT N +2 by Charlette; 2NT S +1 by Ken
1NT N = vs Jerik
1NT N -1 vs Heve
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9: Almost all E-W pairs got to game:
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...............J84
...............K1053
...............J103
...............1065
7652.......................AK
A942......................J7
82...........................A654
Q94........................AK872
...............Q1093
...............Q86
...............KQ97
...............J3
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It seemed as if East was determined to get in a bid?in no-trumps after 1C-1H rather than reverse into 2D. I rather wonder whether Bill's hand evaluator likes a 2NT opening bid; the heart jack is wasted but the hand has five Quick Tricks and a good five-card suit. Maybe one or two Easts bid 3NT on the second round, although these days that tends to show a longer suit with too many winners in the hand to risk being passed in 3C. The auction 1C-1H; 2NT got left there; the other Easts all played 3NT.
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Declarer has nine running tricks and that was the result four times. One declarer laboured mightily and produced a tenth - but all to no avail as it was the one declarer in 2NT; good practice but sadly not rewarded.
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2NT E +2 vs Harob
3NT E = by Marcia, Jim and Laurie; 3NT W = by Ken
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10: Would N-S get to 4H (or make it if they did)?:
?
...............A64
...............AQ10874
...............K
...............QJ5
1095........................KJ832
J53..........................K6
Q10963...................AJ2
43............................1098
...............Q7
...............92
...............8754
...............AK762
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Both North and South have in-between hands. East opens 1S which should be passed around to North. The North hand looks just about right for a balancing jump overcall, though North may not care for it vulnerable at the three-level. The bid shows a good six-card suit and a hand that one might describe as wanting to open 1 of the suit and rebid 2.5, which fits the North hand pretty well, though move the singleton king and the hand would be too good. South then is on the cusp. North was left in 2H once and one East in 2S; two contracts were 3H N and only one N-S pair went to 4H.
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East has a natural club lead against hearts. It's an interesting hand against a diamond lead and continuation, as declarer can cross to dummy with the spade queen, allowing the defence to score the king in order to take two heart finesses, try crossing in clubs and hoping one finesse will do and that the clubs will run, or even leading hearts out of hand - ace and low works, ace and queen does not. Eleven tricks are possible if North avoids the spade line and guesses the hearts correctly. Both declarers in 3H took eleven tricks but Harold was quite happy in 4H =l when nobody else bids game overtricks are irrelevant.? ??
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4H N = by Harold
3H N +2 by Dolores and Mike
2H N +1 vs Jerik
2S E -1 by Marcia
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11: 6S could have been made with very careful play:
?
...............1093
...............K9
...............KJ2
...............QJ1076
KJ642....................AQ85
A432......................J10
3.............................A10754
A98........................K5
...............7
...............Q8765
...............Q986
...............432
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West opens 1S and East has a hand better suited to 2NT than 2D with the weak five-card suit and strong trump support. West's 3D rebid shows the singleton and East likes that opposite the ace. Some partnerships have to show the club control here, though I like 4D better if one can show the ace first. West will return to 4S with?no heart control and if West does bid 4H East's 5C next pretty clearly shows the king. Four pairs stopped in 4S; one East recognized that 3D showed a shortage and drove to 6S.
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There are two tries for 6S. One is to attempt to ruff three losers in dummy; the other is to reverse the dummy and establish the diamonds with ruffs in hand. The second line seems cleaner as there is less chance of a trump promotion and it does not harm the line if N-S lead two rounds of trumps. North has a natural club lead; play proceeds club to ace, diamond ace, diamond ruff, club to king, diamond ruff, spade to queen, diamond ruff with the jack, spade king, club ruff, spade ace to draw trumps, then the thirteenth diamond and heart ace bring declarer to twelve tricks. The other attempt - club king, club ace, club ruff, heart to king, spade return sinks declarer if the natural play of the queen is made; North can ruff the third and fourth hearts and East can only overruff once. Even if the eight wins the spade switch or North leads high to the queen, North discards a diamond on a heart ruff and the third round of diamonds lets North force a trump trick. Jores set 6S when declarer did not find the winning line; 4S was held to ten tricks twice and eleven once, with Erik E-W top for taking twelve tricks; I shall assume he found the winning line and was not gifted the trick.
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6S W -1 vs Jores
4S W = vs Heve and Marbot
4S W +1 by Jim (L)
4S W +2 by Erik
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12: Everyone played 4S S:
?
...............Q1043
...............AKQ106
...............43
...............98
9652........................----
82............................J974
Q1098.....................AK7
K32..........................Q107654
...............AKJ87
...............53
...............J652
...............AJ
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We had another correct Flannery 2D opening - two in one day from the same pair. I am not sure what South's 3S response was intended to mean, but happily North took it as forcing and bid 4S. Everyone else reached 4S after a 1H opening bid. East likely did not overcall 2C, which is a shame for that side, as 5Cx turns out be a fine sacrifice against a game that ought to make.
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Even the 4-0 trumps ought not to have sunk 4S but most declarers fell into panic at the thought of a heart's getting ruffed and drew all the trumps first. Bob was the only declarer to succeed. Presumably his RHO had overcalled, as the opening lead was?the club king. Bob took the ace and played the spade ace. When the suit was 4-0 he then played three rounds of hearts immediately, throwing his club loser on the queen. If West had followed he'd have drawn trumps and made an overtrick. West ruffed the third heart and switched to diamonds. East cashed two diamonds and pushed through the heart jack, but Bob ruffed high, drew trumps and took the last three tricks with the thirteenth heart and two ruffs.
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4S S = by Bob
4S S -1 vs Miken, Maurie and Cinise
4S S -2 vs Jerik
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13: This hand shows why the stronger hand tries not to bid 4NT with one suit uncontrolled:
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...............K832
...............J9
...............Q102
...............KQ102
J1097.....................Q4
10874.....................AKQ532
98...........................AK73
A95.........................7
...............A65
...............6
...............J654
...............J8643
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East opened 1H and West scraped up a raise. 4H was enough for most but one East committed the deadly sin of going to 4NT as the strong hand with a suit containing two losers. The pair reached 6H in due course. Three pairs stopped in 4H.?Jerik finished in 5H; after their artificial beginning of 1C-1D, Erik recognized that his hand was a maximum for the 1D response, especially in support of hearts.
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Spades were avoided until the bitter end but there was nothing declarer could do to keep Heve from posting 6H -1. The other declarers all took eleven tricks, West's doubleton diamond coming in most handy, especially for Jerik.
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6H E -1 vs Heve
4H E +1 by Cindy, Charlette and Dolores; 5H E = by Jim (U)
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14: This was the slam, but nobody found it:
?
...............J543
...............1094
...............53
...............KQ72
A102....................7
AKQ653..............87
92........................AKQ10
85........................AJ9643
...............KQ986
...............J2
...............J8764
...............10
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Three Wests ended in 4H after a 1H-2C start; one pair ended in 3NT W, likely after 1H-2C; 2H-3D; 3NT. Can the good 6H be reached? If so it seems it would have to be after 1H-2C; 3H showing a solid suit, a bid for which West ought properly to have the heart ten. Opposite solid hearts East has all the needed controls and seemingly plenty of tricks and can drive to slam.
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The 5-2 diamond split is almost enough to set 6H if North leads a trump. After, say, the club king, declarer ruffs one spade and draws trumps, with twelve tricks normally and thirteen if the diamond jack drops. But a trump lead means that West cannot ruff a spade and then draw trumps. Declarer needs to draw trumps right away and lead a club, ducking if North plays high and otherwise winning the jack. Communication is just good enough for the make. Three declarers in 4H took twelve tricks; one thought she should have tried for thirteen with a second spade ruff but the hand lacks the entries and the 5-2 diamonds would have led to a worse result. 3NT, alas, did not receive the lead of the king of clubs and took only the top eleven tricks.
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4H W +1 vs Jerik
3NT W +2 vs Harob
4H W +2 by Louise, Jim (L) and Ken
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15: Most pairs played 4S S:
?
...............K7532
...............QJ7
...............Q1054
...............8
Q98........................10
6542.......................1083
J82.........................A976
1054.......................KJ972
...............AJ64
...............AK9
...............K3
...............AQ63
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The hand is close to slam, although, missing a key card and the queen of trumps, it would likely not be bid unless someone were looking for a swing. South opens 2NT and North transfers with 3H. With AJxx AKx xx AKQx South would have a pretty clear pre-acceptance of the transfer, as game has decent play opposite a Yarborough with five spades.?The actual hand needs to have partner lead too often to make it quite worth 4S opposite nothing. One N-S pair stopped in 3NT when South took an interesting viw that even Heve did not share, and one North misread the auction, thought West had opened 2C and passed.
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Declarer in spades?has a clear twelve tricks if trumps split 2-2 with chances should the queen drop singleton, Here with queen-third offside it was obvious there would be eleven tricks as soon as East turned up with the ace of diamonds, making it impossible for West to draw the third trump. It seems that eleven tricks are possible in no-trumps unless the opening lead is a club. Declarer against Miken took ten, perhaps not risking the club finesse. At matchpoints, however, declarer could have seen that 4S would take an easy eleven tricks and should have been willing to take a risky line in quest of the top board. If there is time for them, both minor finesses work and then one looks like a genius for scoring +660!
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4S S +1 by Hank, Marcia and Louise
3NT S +1 vs Miken
2C S = vs Maurie
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16: N-S had a toss-up 4S:
?
...............K9743
...............Q102
...............102
...............Q109
102........................J
98..........................AKJ764
J98754..................K
A73........................J8542
...............AQ865
...............53
...............AQ63
...............K6
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East opens 1H in third seat (with the vulnerability reversed 4H?would have been tempting).South overcalls 1S and then it is just a question of how?high North wants to go or get pushed. Contracts were 2S S (a little timid of East, though perhaps fortunate), 3S N after South doubled 1H and 4S S thrice.
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South has to ruff high on the third heart but trumps split 2-1 and East is more likely to hold the diamond king. Declarer can try clubs first for free after drawing trumps - heart, heart, heart ruffed high, spade, spade, club to king. Assuming West does not find the nerves-of-steel duck, that almost guarantees a successful diamond finesse. If the king wins, declarer can finesse the ten for free. Had East held a low diamond, a diamond switch after the first heart would have cut down declarer's options. I thought maybe one declarer might take fewer than ten tricks; two seems below par.
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4S S = by Erik and Louise
2S S +2 by Hank
3S S = vs Jores
3S N -2 vs Maurie
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17: Bob found a terrifically kind layout here:
?
...............Q10975
...............9862
...............J
...............AQJ
KJ43..........................A62
AJ4............................KQ10
A6..............................9532
8542..........................K73
...............8
...............753
...............KQ10874
...............1096
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Harold may have been the only East to open the bidding here, as otherwise it seems there would have been more pairs in game, even with South's interfering with a 2D overcall. One East was left in 1NT, which seems a bit feeble from multiple seats. One East played 2H, presumably after P-P-2D-X. What else is there to bid? Other contracts were 2S W, 3H N and Bob's 3NT W.
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Presumably against Harob South did not overcall 2D, although that actually makes the play easier, by emphasizing that declarer should win the first round. Bob received a spade lead into his jack and had the excellent luck to find the clubs 3-3 with the ace onside so that his puny holding produced two tricks. As the defence lacked the entries to establish and run the diamonds 3NT was home. Even with a heart lead 3NT can be made, though it likely won't unless North switches to a diamond at some point. Declarer saves the spades for last after winning the first diamond, two clubs and three hearts and losing the two clubs. Then after a spade to the ace South shows out on the second round and North is endplayed when West ducks. North can cash the thirteenth heart, but West's diamond goes away on that and then North must lead away from the spade queen. This lucky hand proved especially important as the two leaders were battling in the last round.???
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3H N -2 by Laurie
2H E = vs Marbot; 2S W = by Cinise
1NT E +1 by Charlette
3NT W = by Bob
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18: The finishing hand was a bit of a trap:
?
...............K2
...............K83
...............A10753
...............984
A10864.................Q75
J6..........................A1054
J2..........................KQ84
10753....................K2
...............J95
...............Q972
...............96
...............AQJ6
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East opened 1D and West responded 1S. Three Easts rebid 1NT and played it there. The other two tried a spade raise. North would have been forgiven for not balancing at this vulnerability with five of opener's diamonds but South prebalanced with a double. This pushed West to 3S at one table and 4S at the other.
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1NT seems to run into the Sow Tricks problem gain, even if declarer starts the spades leading low to the ten. N-S are lucky enough to get three club tricks on only one lead through East and have the time after a heart lead to get two heart tricks as well, along with one spade and the diamond ace. One declarer in spades managed?eight tricks, though N-S seem to have a fighting chance of holding declarer to seven.
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3S W -2 vs Zeerry; 4S W -2 vs Cinise
1NT E -1 by Mike, Steve and Marcia
