1:
?
...............K9542
...............AQ643
...............93
...............6
Q3..........................A876
K7..........................109
AQJ42...................K105
KJ83......................10974
...............J10
...............J852
...............876
...............AQ52
?
Jim (U) took full advantage of the limited range of Jerik's 1S, 1H and 1D openings by opening 1S, eventually declaring 3H N. Curiously that does not seem to matter much - if North passes, West opens 1D and North can bid 2D. Louise declared 3H S?after such an auction. One West competed to 4D over 3H and the fourth ended in 3NT, perhaps after a 1NT opening bid.
?
Jim (U) and Louise both took ten tricks in 3H with the layout so benign. Even so there might have been difficulty had North been forced to ruff a diamond early as declarer might not work out the need to finesse the spades before the hearts. All four tables produced the double dummy result in the play, with Owen E-W top in 4D -1.
?
3H N +1; 3H S +1
3NT W -2
4D W -1
?
2:
?
...............A65
...............962
...............Q632
...............K64
KQJ1072...........83
K........................AQ83
AKJ109..............5
10.......................AQ9853
...............94
...............J10754
...............874
...............J72
?
West has the playing strength for a 2C opening bid and East opens the bidding. That ought to have gotten everyone to slam but the only slam auction was 1C-1S; 2C-2D; 2H-3S; 3NT-6NT. Two Wests played 4S and the fourth auction ended in 4NT E.
?
The difficulty in 6NT is that the entries to the East hand can be cut off by an early club lead. Steve made 6NT after an opening heart lead; a club lead restricts declarer to four tricks in hearts and clubs when East needs five. 6S can always make; declarer can ruff a diamond if N-S begin with a club lead or make 6S the way 6NT makes if North begins with ace and another spade. Mary took twelve tricks in 4S; Miken and Jerik best expectations defending against 4S and 4NT.
?
4NT E =
4S W +1
4S W +2
6NT E =
?
3:
?
...............Q1098732
...............1065
...............872
...............----
5.................................J64
AJ...............................98742
KJ63...........................Q5
KJ8743.......................1092
...............AK
...............KQ3
...............A1094
...............AQ65
?
South opens 2C and North drives to 4S, likely via a transfer. One pair got dangerously up to 5S but two played in 4S, once from each side. One West disregarded the vulnerability and the 2C opening bid, getting all the way up to 4Cx.
?
4S is fine when declarer discards a diamond on the club ace; either the fourth diamond establishes or in this case the heart jack drops. All the declarers in spades took eleven tricks. Defending 4Cx Miken always had -2 available but they managed a three-trick set when West did not ruff the diamond loser.?
?
4Cx W -3
4S N +1; 4S S +1; 5S N =
?
Leaders: Jerik 6.5, Maurie 6, Heve 5.5, Miken 5
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4:
?
...............KJ86
...............AK43
...............92
...............AQ6
42........................AQ10
J2........................10975
KJ1053................876
9543....................KJ8
...............9753
...............Q86
...............AQ4
...............1072
?
1NT from North was left in twice. One South moved over a 15-17 1NT opening bid and North finished in 3NT. In the last auction North rebid 1NT with a minimum of 17 HCP instead of a maximum and South naturally drove to 3NT.
?
Erik, who was dummy, remarked to me during the hand that he'd never seen so many losing finesses in one hand and there were a good many. Heve enjoyed their defensive result of 3NT -4; one of the declarers in 1NT also took the same five tricks. Declarer could take seven tricks, mostly by forcing East on lead as often as possible at the key points during the hand. Mike managed 1NT = for the N-S top. Louise bettered par in 3NT -1 for a good score; East could have secured -2 by throwing her in at trick ten with a heart but led a club instead into her AQ and her hand was high.
?
?
?
1NT N =
3NT N -1
1NT N -2
3NT N -4
?
5:
?
...............853
...............A1072
...............82
...............10543
94..........................A762
QJ865....................4
KQ964...................1053
A............................KJ976
...............KQJ10
...............K93
...............AJ7
...............Q82
?
1NT from South and then it was a question of how West would compete with the 5-5 red suits. 2H W was played twice and 3D W twice, likely after a 2H overcall showing hearts and a minor, 2NT from East to suggest playing in the minor and West's correcting to 3D.
?
3D works out a bit better, finishing only -1 against good defence. 2H can be set two tricks. Everyone produced the expected result except for Hank, who did one trick better in 2H -1 after a diamond opening lead.
?
2H W -2
2H W -1; 3D W -1 (2)
?
6:
?
...............J53
...............J97542
...............9
...............QJ6
AKQ2......................106
AK...........................Q1065
KJ7..........................AQ1084
K954........................102
...............9874
...............8
...............6532
...............A873
?
2C followed by 2NT from West and East has reason to go looking for slam, likely in diamonds, bidding 4D after Stayman does not reveal a fit. But our players were a bit on the timid side, finishing in contracts of 3NT W thrice and 4H E.
?
3NT can always take twelve tricks but all the declarers cashed out for eleven, Stayman having told South not to discard a spade. 4H could never make; Doul picked up a second undertrick when East, down to Q10 in hearts, rose with the queen on North's heart lead. 6D would have been interesting, making if declarer drew trumps and led to the club king, failing if declarer tried to ruff a heart before drawing trumps, a reasonable line that runs into the bad luck of the 6-1 split.
?
4H E -2
3NT W +2 (3)
?
Leaders: Heve 12.5, Miken 12, Maurie 11
?
7:
?
...............K742
...............10
...............AKQ8
...............Q765
Q...........................A10865
K952.....................AQ6
J10742..................5
J104......................AK92
...............J93
...............J8743
...............963
...............83
?
For some reason two Wests passed East's 1S opening bid and the hand was played there. One North did even worse, balancing with 1NT and eventually playing 2H. The one normal auction was uncontested for E-W, 1S-1NT; 2C.
?
1S takes eight tricks after a diamond lead and does even better against other starts. Loubot were N-S top holding 1S to seven tricks when East led a club to the jack at trick eight when it was necessary to lead a heart to endplay North. Charlette took eight tricks in 1S as did Laurie in 2C. Owbot were always getting E-W top defending 2H N and eventually finished -4.
?
1S E =
2C E =
1S E +1
2H N -4
?
8:
?
...............KQ964
...............KQ764
...............J3
...............K
3...........................AJ1052
J10.......................----
AQ85....................K764
AJ9864................Q1075
...............87
...............A98532
...............1092
...............32
?
West opens 1C, North bids either 1S or 2C and then it's just a question of how high which side gets pushed. E-W don't have strong HCP count but the fit is gorgeous. Two N-S pairs were able to get out of the auction when West was still only at 4C. One E-W pair got pushed to 5C and another to 6C: 1C-2C-X-2H (not 4H?); 3C-3H-5C-5H; P-P-6C.
?
Club contracts gave declarer either twelve or thirteen tricks depending on wether declarer took the club finesse or made the anti-percentage play of dropping the offside singleton king. Jim (L) and Owen took thirteen tricks, Ken and Mary twelve.
?
4C W +2
4C W +3
5C W +2
6C W =
?
9:
?
...............KQ7653
...............Q5
...............753
...............84
10............................J84
J76432....................K
K109........................QJ82
KQ10.......................J9632
...............A92
...............A1098
...............A64
...............A75
?
After a 2S opening bid from North South really ought to think mainly of 3NT, especially if South can learn that North's spades are headed by KQ. But everyone fell into the 4S trap, usually via 2S-4S. At least at matchpoints there is a chance of getting something going in hearts that declarer would not get in no-trumps, but 3NT would be where Bill's mind would go first.
?
The good heart spots mean that 4H takes ten tricks after a diamond lead and can take eleven after any other - after a club lead, declarer wins, draws trumps and runs the heart queen; it's actually better not to drop the singleton king in such a layout. 3NT picks up a lucky tenth trick after a minor lead, eleven after a heart lead. Jim (U) took eleven tricks in 4S after the heart king opening lead; DoDo took ten tricks; the other two declarers didn't go after hearts in time at all and managed to go down.
?
4S N +1
4S N =
4S N -1 (2)
?
Leaders: Maurie 17.5, Heve 15, Loubot 14, Miken 13.5
?
10:
?
...............K764
...............Q86
...............Q753
...............J9
AJ9....................102
K109..................752
J4......................A1082
A10843..............KQ52
...............Q853
...............AJ43
...............K96
...............76
?
West opens 1C in third seat; East responds 1D, 1NT or 2C. South may come in with a takeout double, likely to get North to compete to 2S. But our Souths, with both sides vulnerable, took a tame course in the auction. Contracts were 1NT E twice and 2C W twice.
?
If N-S compete, spade contracts are likely to take only six tricks, largely due to the near-mirror distribution, making it a good thing for our Norths that they all stayed out of the auction. 2C could have been held to nine tricks by a heart lead and would have done better otherwise. 1NT could have taken nine tricks by force. The results made a Matchpoint Melee with four different scores of 110, 120, 130 and 150. Doul held 1NT to eight tricks when East led a diamond at trick eight instead of taking the spade finesse or running the clubs in order to endplay South.?
?
2C W +1
1NT E +1
2C W +2
1NT E +2
?
11:
?
...............74
...............Q72
...............A1085
...............K542
83.........................Q1052
K6.........................J10853
97643....................KQ
AJ109....................83
...............AKJ96
...............A94
...............J2
...............Q76
?
One South opened 1NT and accepted North's invitation on the basis of the good spades. Two Souths opened 1S and passed North's response of 1NT. The fourth auction had 1NT forcing brought out, eventually producing the normal 1S-1NT; 2C-2S.
?
1NT could have forced nine tricks with some silly-good guessing including the double finesse in spades and dropping the second diamond. But seven tricks was a much more realistic expectation and declarer against Maurie only took six. Hank may well have received a trump lead against 2S, as he emerged with ten tricks, although eight would have been sufficient for N-S top.
?
2S S +2
1NT N =
1NT N -1
3NT S -2
?
12:
?
...............982
...............94
...............A5
...............K98653
AKQ76...................----
J87.........................AQ10653
K863......................J42
2.............................A1075
...............J10543
...............K2
...............Q1097
...............QJ
?
Does East respond 2H to West's 1S opening bid? If the auction begins 1S-1NT; 2D-2H, dies West continue? The answer to the latter question may be Yes, though some pairs play 1S-3H as natural and invitational for just these situations to avoid having to choose between a game force and a signoff. We ended with contracts of 2H E and 4H E thrice.
?
Declarer loses the diamond ace and the trump king, although after a black suit lead East's diamonds go away on the spades and then there is a cross-ruff. Charlette took twelve tricks that way, the two declarers in 4H both took the regulation eleven and Heve held declarer in 2H to ten tricks anyway for a sort of moral double top.
?
2H E +2
4H E +1 (2)
4H E +2
?
Leaders: Heve 22, Maurie 21, Doul-Charim-Jerik 18
?
13:
?
...............J92
...............K104
...............A972
...............K97
K4.........................A108653
A5.........................982
QJ864...................3
J1054....................A86
...............Q7
...............QJ763
...............K105
...............Q32
?
All three Wests given the opportunity to open the bidding in fourth seat applied the Rule of Fifteen and passed the hand out. Only DoDo ventured to open the East hand with 2S, which ended the auction.
?
In 2S, declarer looks like wanting to trump a heart for the eighth trick. N-S can lead two rounds of spades, but neither North nor South can break the trump suit without surrendering a trick. That was too bad for the defence, as neither diamonds nor clubs will allow an extra trick if care is taken.
?
Passed Out (3)
2S E =
?
14:
?
...............Q10754
...............7432
...............Q5
...............A5
AJ863......................9
985..........................AQJ10
K9............................J104
J86..........................K7432
...............K2
...............K6
...............A87632
...............Q109
?
South bids 1D and West bids 1S whether East opens 1C or not. It even seems likely that East rebids 2C either way as well. One auction was apparently P-1D-P-1S; P-1NT to lead to 1NT S; the other auctions all ended in 3C E.
?
3C could have made with the loss of two clubs, one diamond and one heart. South could have drawn West's trumps only by winning the first diamond with the ace, which eliminates the diamond loser. But nobody made 3C. Heve were N-S top with a two-trick set when declarer ruffed a spade at trick four instead of starting the trumps. 1NT S was always settable by force, with Loubot picking up a second undertrick for show.
?
3C E -2
3C E -1 (2)
1NT S -2
?
15:
?
...............107
...............J543
...............1043
...............KJ98
A8........................KQJ9542
AK10....................Q2
J852.....................Q7
10754....................AQ
...............63
...............9876
...............AK96
...............632
?
West opens 1C or 1D and East is sure of game. One pair managed to stop in 3S by accident. Happily nobody went to 6S, the 7-2-2-2 pattern and side queens not really combining for the most slamlike mesh.
?
With the club finesse succeeding, declarer takes eleven tricks if South cashes the top two diamonds and twelve otherwise. Owen cashed the two diamonds for a good score, as did Hank, although Heve were already sure of the top when their opponents missed the game. Charlette and Mike both took twelve tricks even though South began with a top diamond - and neither of them false-carded with the queen to convince South to shift.
?
3S E +2
4S E +1
4S E +2 (2)
?
Leaders: Heve 28, Maurie 25, Charim 23, Loubot 22.5
?
16:
?
...............K4
...............AK4
...............Q1095
...............KQ73
J10982.................A763
J109......................52
843.......................KJ76
52.........................J76
...............Q5
...............Q8763
...............A2
...............A1094
?
Jerik finished in 3NT S after a 1C forcing opening bid and a 1NT control-showing response. The other pairs had a standard auction 1NT-2D; 2H-3NT, with two Norths going back to 4H and the last leaving 3NT in.
?
3NT rarely rates to outperform 4M with Kx opposite Qx in a side suit, but here after a spade lead declarer has eleven winners off the top once the clubs and hearts behave reasonably. Either denomination ought to produce eleven tricks. For the third time in the game all contracts yielded the double dummy trick count, giving Erik and Owen a tie for N-S top on +460, Doul and Loubot a tie for E-W top on -450.
?
3NT N +2 (2)
4H N +1 (2)
?
17:
?
...............632
...............Q9
...............K62
...............Q9753
J954.....................AQ10
1043.....................AJ82
85.........................QJ103
J1084...................AK
...............K87
...............K765
...............A974
...............62
?
We got everyone into the same contract with East opening 2NT and ending the auction. West should even resist temptation if East opens 2C and rebids 2NT.
?
Any lead other than a diamond should hold declarer to eight tricks, but everyone took nine for a flat board. Mike received a diamond lead, giving him his ninth trick at once. Louise received her gift on trick three - after two rounds of hearts, south switched to a diamond when a heart or club was needed. Steve received his overtrick on trick four, again with a diamond lead after a heart and two spades, but this time another spade was needed. DoDo's overtrick almost didn't come but, at trick eleven, North discarded the good queen of clubs and kept a loser.
?
2NT E +1 (4)
?
18:
?
...............K97
...............K1082
...............J10
...............KQJ8
QJ865...................A
93..........................AJ764
Q742.....................AK6
75..........................A1092
...............10432
...............Q5
...............9853
...............643
?
A 2NT opening bid from East leads to 3NT E, which was the contract twice. 1H might have been passed around, could have started 1H-1S; 3C ending in 3NT from one side or the other, or even led to 1NTx N. The hand is not suited to a 2C opening bid, which was probably the cause of the two highest contracts, 5H E and 6H E.
?
No game could make, although 3NT might have been close had hearts split 3-3. Steve finished in a sort of style playing 3NT -1, the double dummy result. Maurie picked up a second undertrick when East led a heart at trick six instead of the king of diamonds. Both heart contracts finished -3, letting Jerik pull up into second place.
?
5H E -3; 6H E -3
3NT E -2
3NT E -1
?
Final: Heve 33, Jerik 28.5, Maurie 28, Charim 27.5, Doul-Loubot 27
