1:
?
...............K76
...............AK6
...............AKQ
...............KJ63
Q10954..................32
5.............................Q97
J962.......................1087543
Q85........................104
...............AJ8
...............J108432
...............----
...............A972
?
North opens 2C and rebids 2NT or perhaps raises a natural heart bid if South makes one. The South hand is good enough to go to slam over that. Most tables did reach slam. Two pairs stopped in 4H S, one reached 5H S and the rest all went to slam, 6H N, 6H S twice and 6NT N twice. Lin raised Louise's 2NT rebid directly to 6NT.
?
Everyone took twelve tricks, North's diamonds turning out to provide a resting place for three low black cards from the South hand, eliminating the need to guess which finesse to take.
?
6NT N = (2)
6H N =; 6H S = (2)
4H S +2 (2); 5H S +1
?
2:
?
...............AKJ3
...............KQ
...............Q106
...............AJ94
Q109854..........62
85.....................A9764
8542.................J9
K.......................Q872
...............7
...............J1032
...............AK73
...............10653
?
N-S ought to finish in 3NT. If West opens 2S in third seat, North should bid 3NT at once rather than give South a chance to pass. If West passes North opens 2NT and plays 3NT after Stayman. One North only overcalled 2NT and was left there. Another North somehow ended up in 4H but the rest all went to the solid 3NT.
?
Eleven tricks are there without much trouble if declarer has patience. If E-W withhold the heart ace on the first two rounds declarer does just as well to switch over to clubs; the trap is that East can win the third heart and return the fourth or even duck the third heart to have a third winner ready to go when in with the club queen. Wendric were one of three pairs holding 3NT to ten tricks after declarer played the third heart too soon. Kevin, Louise and Jamie took eleven tricks to share N-S top with the only above-average N-S score.
?
3NT N +2 (3)
3NT N +1 (3)
2NT N +3
4H N -1
?
3:
?
...............54
...............Q9873
...............AK62
...............K2
KJ108732.........A6
J6......................K104
84......................Q103
93......................J10864
...............Q9
...............A52
...............J975
...............AQ75
?
Does West come in after South opens? A 3S overcall leaves North with little to do but make a negative double. Then what for South? Two Souths left the double in. A 2S overcall may have worked out better in that North had just enough for a 3H bid and 4H was reached twice, as was even 5H. A couple of Wests disliked the vulnerability and passed, letting one N-S pair stop in 3H while another blundered its way into 3NT S. The last contract was 4D S.
?
Heart contracts can take nine tricks by force. Declarer can bring in the hearts for one loser via an intrafinesse - low from the ace finessing the seven to East's ten, then running the queen from the North hand and pinning West's jack. This is a line one might try if West has pre-empted, making East likely to hold three trumps, if not four. This is partly psychological as well, as West might well win the first heart with the king from Kx. The four declarers in hearts were split 2-2 between nine tricks and eight. 3NT S was doomed on a spade lead and declarer dropped a trick along the way to finish -4 and give Charole the best defensive result. Rather like hearts 4D could have taken nine tricks but declarer took only eight. N-S can take the first five tricks against spades. Jamob did so for N-S top, but Bettina was E-W top playing 3Sx +1 when North began with the top two diamonds, then followed with a heart to South's ace and then South tried to give North a diamond ruff. Oops.
?
3Sx W -1
3H N -1; 4H N -1 (2)
4D S -2
5H N -3
3NT S -4
3Sx W +1
?
4:
?
...............J872
...............K
...............AJ643
...............A63
Q93.................K5
AQJ10963.......87
7.......................KQ985
109...................J742
...............A1064
...............542
...............102
...............KQ85
?
This one confused me quite a bit. West had a relatively clear 3H opening bid, which I'd have expected to end the auction most of the time. But 3H W was played only once. Apparently North doubled most of the time, leaving us with 3S S five times and 4S S twice, which, given the double, I'd have expected to see the other way around.
?
N-S can take nine tricks by force in spades, E-W's best chance of a fifth trick coming from a heart lead and continuation followed by a finesse of the spade ten. This proved a rather popular line, with eight tricks beating out seven by a 4-3 margin. Andrzej and Breta shared N-S top on +140 while Owbot defended 4S -2 for E-W top. Lynn, the only declarer in hearts, had a tricky path to nine tricks, as she could always reach dummy with a spade ruff to take the losing trump finesse and likely finish with eight tricks, but she managed ten to score 6/7 instead of 2/7.
?
3S S = (2)
3S S -1 (3); 4S S -1
3H W +1
4S S -2
?
5:
?
...............Q102
...............1052
...............7
...............J109753
KJ983......................65
J987.........................Q6
85.............................KQ632
A8.............................KQ42
...............A74
...............AK43
...............AJ1094
...............6
?
1D from East and then South was a bit on the spot - pass, double or bid either 1H or 1NT? Of the possible choices the one not taken was 1H. A double led to 3C N; a 1NT overcall led to 2D S, likely after a double from West; North might well run to 2C and South correct to 2D. Left to their own devices E-W might also stop in 2D via 1D-1S; 2C-2D. Three Wests, though, perhaps rebid 2S instead and played the hand there. Three E-W pairs just couldn't stop and found themselves in 2NT E, 3D E and 3NT E.
?
All the contracts could have been set by force, the only successful declarer being Lin in 2D S =, although it did not score above average. A club lead attacks the entry to West's hand before declarer is ready to use it and lets N-S take seven tricks by force, although the defenders against no-trumps only took six. Ritold had the only E-W plus defending 3C -1, although a major lead would have netted an extra trick. Robbot tied for N-S top taking their par seven tricks defending 3D E -3. The three 2S contracts all varied in trick results - seven, the par six, and five. Anbot tied for N-S top defending 2S -3; after a diamond lead Andrzej returned his singleton club, at which point West went for a quick discard on a club and found trouble when South ruffed the second club.
?
2S W -3; 3D E -3
2S W -2; 3NT E -2
2D S =
2S W -1; 2NT E -1
3C N -1
?
6:
?
...............1064
...............Q432
...............Q2
...............A762
J83.........................K92
K87.........................AJ106
A643.......................975
KJ3.........................1094
...............AQ75
...............95
...............KJ108
...............Q85
?
It could be that all the Wests resisted any temptation to double 1D, for which I am thankful, as the double is grim and likely to lead to no good. With the humans in the seats with the best cards, we had a passout between Robbot and Owbot, neither human wanting to open the 12-count. The usual contract was 1NT N, played four times. One South declared 1NT, likely making that rebid instead of 1S, although that is more usual after 1C-1D than 1m-1H. One South opened 1S and was raised to 2S; the last South somehow ended up declaring 2NT instead of 1NT.
?
E-W have seven tricks and a fair chance of taking them even if East loses a little time with a club lead, which is still on the right track. They key to a plus score is West's finding a low heart switch when in with the diamond ace. This proved harder than expected; 1NT N was never defeated, with John and Steve taking overtricks to tie for N-S top. Jeff could have been set in 2S but made the contract when West began with a club lead, the only suit to allow a make. The two E-W plus scores were both against no-trumps with South declaring. Charole defended 2NT S -1 and Wendric 1NT S -2, the only pair to match or exceed defensive par.
?
1NT N +1 (2)
2S S =
1NT N = (2)
Passed Out
2NT S -1
1NT S -2
?
7:
?
...............106543
...............K8
...............Q94
...............J108
----..........................972
Q963.......................A2
AJ1065....................K2
Q764.......................AK9532
...............AKQJ8
...............J10754
...............873
...............----
?
South is worth 1S (except, perhaps, to Alvin Roth); does West double? The hand has quality support for any of the other three suits and is worth an opening in support of the other suits; there is low defence on the debit side. Then we get to the age-old question of what responder does with five-card support lacking a shortage. How high does North raise, both with and without a double? Can East be shut out of the auction? Almost certainly not after a double; indeed after 1S-X-4S I think 6C is conservative. Give West a void spade and there could be a loser somewhere but hardly more than one. 1S-P-4S or 1S-P-3S might keep East out of the auction but not only did East almost always come in, N-S only declared twice. Contracts were 4C E, 4S S twice, 5C E four times and 5Cx E.
?
Playing in spades, a club lead forces declarer to start hearts right away. Otherwise South gets forced at once and likely loses control of the hand, although just playing the hand give N-S a high score; Andrzej were N-S top in 4S -1 and Breta scored 5/7 for 4S -3. In clubs declarer can take all the tricks, although the 3-0 trump split makes twelve tricks more likely, as taking all the tricks requires finding the diamond queen with North. Twelve tricks are easy enough. If the lead is a spade declarer can ruff all three spades in dummy; after a heart lead declarer can plan for the ruffing finesse in diamonds and settle for one ruff with two discards. Two declarers in clubs took eleven tricks, three took twelve and Charlie in 5Cx took all thirteen for E-W top, likely after a diamond lead.?
?
4S S -1
4C E +2
4S S -3
5C E = (2)
5C E +1 (2)
5Cx E +2
?
8:
?
...............1063
...............J9764
...............KJ52
...............10
Q.........................K8742
AK.......................Q853
AQ10974.............86
Q732....................84
...............AJ95
...............102
...............3
...............AKJ965
?
This was our Doublepalooza, with five of the eight contracts doubled and there would likely have been a sixth. The auctions occasionally turned into a Battle of the Minors, with one N-S pair smart enough to stop. The five doublers were John, Bob, Leigh Ann, Wendy and Rita. Lynn might have doubled 3S but took Northbot's explanation of South's bidding as a self-Alert. 2S S and 3NT W were also played undoubled. The auctions with doubles were: 1C-P-1H-2C (1C was 15-21 with any shape while 1H showed spades); 2D-P-P-3C; 3D-X, N-S probably helped by the artificial start, 1D-1H-1S-2C; 3NT-P-P-X (exuberant of West), 1D-P-1S-2C; 2D-P-P-3C; 3D-P-P-4C; X, 1D-P-1S-2C; 2H-P-P-3C; 3D-3S-P-4C; X and the faster 1D-P-1S-2C; 3D-P-P-4C; X.
?
The eight contracts were set a total of 22 tricks, with no declarer finishing better than -2. Club contracts could take eight tricks by force, diamonds and spades seven, no-trumps six. No declarer bettered par; it was only matched by Bettina, Robert and Mary, although declaring was not a ticket to success. N-S top went to Jamob defending 3NTx W -4 (picking up an extra trick when East discarded a diamond instead of a spade at trick nine on the last club. Leighry and Ritold tied for E-W top defending 4Cx S -3.
?
3NTx W -4
3Dx W -2
3NT W -2
2S S -2
3S S -3
4Cx S -2
4Cx S -3 (2)
?
9:
?
...............J76
...............3
...............A95432
...............A72
943.........................KQ1082
K107.......................A52
J10..........................KQ7
KQJ94....................105
...............A5
...............QJ9864
...............86
...............863
?
1S from East and then does South come in with 3H at the vulnerability? It happened at least once and scared West out of the auction. As it uses up so much bidding room, the overcall really sticks both East and West on the spot. West can go to 3S on this hand; is it competitive or invitational? Really the invitational sequences tend to get cut in half, with lesser invitations blending down into competitive raises while the greater invitations tend to get bumped up into game bids. If West does bid 3S, East has extra values but cannot really be comfortable either bidding 4S or passing. Not everyone took the invitational route with the West hand; two Easts played 2S (did South overcall 2H and then feel able to pass? it's hard to imagine anyone not balancing at favourable vulnerability). One pair had an accident in the bidding and finished in 3D E. One South pushed E-W out of the bidding and declared 3H; 3S E was played thrice and only one E-W pair went on to 4S. Reaching 3NT feels vaguely possible in an uncontested auction; after 1S-1NT; 2D-3S East might offer 3NT, or West might theoretically try 2NT over 2D.
?
3NT would have been interesting; after a diamond lead from North it depends entirely on whether declarer pursues clubs or spades. N-S cannot duck a spade or declarer can then change tack and shift over to clubs. But pursuing clubs at once gets lucky, knocks out the entry to the long diamonds and lets declarer force ten tricks. Spades can be held to nine tricks by a heart ruff, with a 3-3 split. Gareth made 4S for the E-W top after a diamond to the ace, club ace, heart, spade to the ace and then a second diamond from South instead of giving North a heart ruff - South could have counted East's points and known that only a heart ruff would have a real chance of success. Owbot had the middle score taking their par seven tricks against 3H -3 given the even results between +140 and higher. Mahn were N-S top defending 3D E -3.
?
3D E -3
2S E +1; 3S E = (2)
3H S -3
2S E +2; 3S E +1
4S E =
?
10:
?
...............1095
...............852
...............AQ10954
...............7
AK..............................QJ764
QJ7.............................AK106
J876............................K
AJ84...........................Q93
...............832
...............943
...............32
...............K10652
?
This was the only hand of the set with everyone in game and nobody in slam. After 1S from East some Wests had a tricky call. I did see 3NT at least once as a response and I have seen some pairs use 1NT forcing followed by 3NT to show this sort of hand. When West began with 2C and East followed with 2H, three pairs decided the diamonds were too dangerous for no-trumps and settled into 4H E once and 4S E twice. Four pairs ended in 3NT W and one pair in 4NT E after an artificial 1C opening bid showing 15-21, after which West was bound to invite slam and the pair did well to stop as low as they did.
?
Hearts and spades can both take twelve tricks by force thanks to the kind club layout and (in hearts) 3-3 trumps. Lynn took all the tricks in 3NT W after a low diamond lead; she was assisted by North's discarding the singleton club along the way, marking the finesse against the ten after queen-king-ace the round before. Doug also took all the tricks in 4NT E after a club lead, which made it even easier. The other declarers in no-trumps took twelve, eleven and ten tricks. 4H and one of the 4S contracts yielded eleven tricks; Study defended 4S = for N-S top.
?
4S E =
3NT W +1
4H E +1; 4S E +1
3NT W +2
3NT W +3
3NT W +4; 4NT W +3
?
11:
?
...............J32
...............AJ107
...............J964
...............75
A64...........................KQ982
K9.............................Q543
AQ73.........................K5
AJ84..........................96
...............105
...............862
...............1082
...............KQ1032
?
This well could have been another hand with everyone in game, but one pair got all the way up to 6S, one of those contracts that would likely be a fine spot with a ninth trump but with eight has a lot of moving parts. Otherwise most pairs had a 1m opening from West followed by 2NT, with four Easts finding the 5-3 spade fit and playing 4S while three let West play in 3NT.
?
6S can only be defeated by a club lead, not because a club winner cashes but because declarer is forced to cash the three diamonds right away and then North can lead the fourth diamond when in with the ace of hearts to promote a defensive trump trick. After a diamond lead we get: diamond to king, heart to king and ace, club to queen and ace, diamond ace, diamond queen, heart to queen and then declarer can ruff both low hearts - the spade six is a huge card. N-S can try leading two spades, but then the third heart is trumped and North can be squeezed in the red suits for the twelfth trick. Bettina made 6S W after the opening lead of the heart ace, which made the hand a good deal easier. Spades are held to eleven tricks by a club lead; no-trumps are right-sided declared by West and can force eleven tricks thanks to the kindly-placed clubs. Only Lynn in 3NT and Leigh Ann in 4S took eleven tricks; all other declarers took ten.
?
4S E = (2); 4S W =
3NT W +1 (2)
4S E +1
3NT W +2
6S W =
?
12:
?
...............AJ3
...............AQJ1096
...............9
...............973
KQ5...........................10982
84..............................7
QJ1083......................K654
AK6...........................QJ108
...............764
...............K532
...............A72
...............542
?
After 1NT from West, if North passes that should end the auction, which occurred twice. 2H ended the auction twice. East can come in with a negative double if available; this resulted in 3H N twice. West declared 3S at one table, suggesting a negative double taken as Stolen Bid. The last auction ended in 5D W.
?
Hearts get lucky and take nine tricks thanks to West's holding the spade king-queen. But the unkind trump spots force declarer to use both entries to the South hand for spade leads. Whether all four declarers played the best way or whether any received help in the form of a spade lead I cannot say. There is not quite an endplay against correct defence. But all four declarers in hearts took the par nine tricks. 1NT W finished the par -2 both times but non-vulnerable scored better for the declarers. +140 tied for N-S top; -50 tied for E-W top for Leigh Ann in 3S -1 and Bettina in 5D -1. 5D again received the lead of the heart ace; N-S could have held declarer to nine tricks only with the unlikely underlead of a heart to South for a spade through West.
?
2H N +1 (2); 3H N = (2)
1NT W -2 (2)
3S W -1; 5D W -1
?
13:
?
...............9
...............KQJ2
...............Q84
...............97542
J10.............................K53
A84............................10973
J1053.........................A976
AQJ10........................63
...............AQ87642
...............65
...............K2
...............K8
?
West might come in over 1S with a double, but it ought not to make that much of a difference. South rebids spades and should finish playing the hand in that suit. Contracts were 2S S five times, 3S S, 3NT N and 4S S.
?
It seems as if E-W have five tricks against spades easily enough and eight tricks was the majority result, giving Owbot the E-W top defending 4S -2. But taking nine or even ten doesn't require anything awful. A trump lead, two rounds of trumps, then West wins the first heart with the ace and shifts to the diamond jack, ducked to the king, is a reasonable enough sequence of plays without any outright clear error that allows declarer ten tricks (as taken by Lin). John, though, had the best escape of the game. A diamond lead against 3NT results in -5 by establishing the suit at once to go with four clubs, the heart ace, and E-W can even establish a spade by force if need be. John received a heart lead; for much of the hand the result was going to be -3 but then at trick nine East led a heart to North's hand instead of the killing club.
?
3NT N =
2S S +2
2S S +1 (2)
2S = (2)
3S S -1
4S S -2
?
14:
?
...............K104
...............QJ8
...............Q6
...............A10875
87532.......................AJ96
10..............................954
J1082........................AK4
Q42...........................J96
...............Q
...............AK7632
...............9753
...............K3
?
After East opens and South overcalls 1H, does West come in at all? Even if West does come in, North invites game and South may well accept on the good loser count. Contracts were 2H S twice, 3H S twice, 3S W and 4H S thrice, nobody finding the sacrifice in 4S.
?
West can make 3S with careful enough play - if South gets a club ruff the spades can be double-finessed; if not the spade ace can be taken first and declarer loses one spade, one heart and two clubs. Mahn defeated 3S one trick, but just taking the bid at that level scored 5/7 for Nary. Hearts can always take ten tricks; the even club split lets declarer discard two diamonds. This can be prevented by E-W's forcing North to ruff a diamond right away, but then declarer can ruff the other diamond as well. Here the field rather let me down. Nobody took ten tricks in hearts. Leighry and Boug both posted 4H -1 to tie for E-W top, while both 3H and both 2H contracts just made. I have to diagnose excessive speed in drawing trumps. Jeff posted 4H +1 for N-S top; East finessed against dummy on the opening spade and there was the overtrick.
?
4H S +1
3H S = (2)
2H S = (2)
3S W -1
4H S -1 (2)
?
15:
?
...............963
...............K8543
...............A7
...............K84
KQ108.....................AJ
Q107........................AJ62
KJ10........................Q98432
A96..........................Q
...............7542
...............9
...............65
...............J107532
?
It's very difficult at times to work out the chances for slam after 1NT when the side has a fit in a minor. And here it was essentially a toss-up. Usually West opened 1NT and after Stayman East could not justify going beyond 3NT, the contract sic times. Nancy picked this one up by telepathy and rebid 6NT after Mary showed 4S. The other slam reached, in an artificial auction, had a similar jump: P-1C-1H-2C; P-2NT-P-6NT, East at least knowing that North's hearts were not strong and were finessable.
?
6D would likely have won the bidding contests but here could have been set; after a heart lead a ruff i the suit cannot be prevented. 6NT can be set by force but North has to find the lead of the club king. We have stories of successful leads of a king from suits headed by KJ10 but I cannot recall anyone leading a king from Kxx and catching partner with the J10x opposite. Everyone took twelve tricks. One North led a spade against 6NT and the other led a heart.
?
3NT W +3 (6)
6NT W = (2)
?
16:
?
...............8
...............K9762
...............KQ62
...............Q94
QJ1074.................A632
Q54.......................A8
7............................J8543
K1053....................72
...............K95
...............J103
...............A109
...............AJ86
?
Here usually South opened in fourth seat, West often overcalled and half the time North played in some number of hearts. We avoided a contract in diamonds that would have given us a rainbow.Contracts were 1H N (had West fallen asleep?), 2H N twice, 2S W, 2NT S, 3S W, 4C S and 4H N. The 3S W auction provided a first for me - a misclicked Alert. E-W were using a method apparently called Roadrunner, with 15-21 1C opening bids and very light openings in the majors. They were Alerting all their bids in a timely manner, apparently having most of them saved in the Chat manager function. West opened 1S but accidentally clicked on the Alert for 1C and never noticed. The auction proceeded to be 1S-2H-2S-3H; P-P-3S.
?
3S can be set two tricks by the lead of North's singleton trump, the way to prevent East from getting two club ruffs. North might not have found the trump lead anyway if properly informed, but I don't think North would have overcalled 2H knowing 1S to be natural. The auction could well have proceeded 1S-P-2S-P; P-X. Presumably East could have bid 3S anyway, although if East did not South might have bid 2NT or possibly found a double. Whether North is more likely to find a trump lead knowing 1S to be natural seemed doubtful. Being able to defend both adjusting and not adjusting, I gave the benefit to the non-offending side and adjusted. Fortunately it made very little difference, as 3S -1 was just on the edge of average.
?
All four denominations had variable outcomes depending on the lead. Either a club or a heart contract would be held to right tricks by a diamond lead, but all declarers took at least nine. John posted 1H N +4 and Andrzej even made 4H after the opening lead of the ace of trumps. Owen was E-W top playing 2S +1. A spade lead should hold declarer in no-trumps to eight tricks, but Leighry picked up one more to post 2NT -1.
?
4H N =
1H N +4
2H N +2
Av+/Av
2H N +1
2NT S -1; 4C S -1
2S W +1
?
?
17:
?
...............876
...............AK1087
...............103
...............QJ9
KJ1092...................Q4
62............................J953
KJ97........................85
65............................AK843
...............A53
...............Q4
...............AQ642
...............1072
?
1D from South in third seat; 1S from West, 2H from North and then what? Who knows? Contracts were 2H N twice, 2S W twice.3C E, 3D S, 3S W and 4H N, anything from 2H to 3D seeming about equally likely.
?
Play potential was fairly straightforward. With the?simonsa sitting well for E-W and N-S holding 3-3 black suits, spade contracts could take eight tricks by force, hearts could be held to six tricks by a club ruff and both minors could give declarer seven tricks. Four declarers bettered par as did one pair of defenders. Carole and Leigh Ann took nine tricks in spades in the only successful contracts. Mahn were N-S top defending 3C E -2Boug E-W top defending 4H N -4. Karlene and Kevin both played 2H -1 when E-W did not start with a club ruff.
?
3C E -2
2S W -1
2H N -1 (2)
3D S -2
2S W +1; 3S W =
4H N -4
?
18:
?
...............AQ86
...............102
...............AQ76
...............KJ8
KJ2........................97543
K98........................6543
K943......................8
A109.......................652
...............10
...............AQJ7
...............J1052
...............Q743
?
One West opened 1NT and played the hand there, North being stuck for a call. Otherwise West opened and North overcalled 1NT. This was left in once but usually finished in 3NT. One North appears to have doubled, leading to a long auction ending in 5Dx S.
?
Diamonds can take eleven tricks with careful play of the trumps, and Andrzej did for N-S top. That is a dangerous double! 3NT can be held to ten tricks by a spade lead but nobody posted ten tricks. Kevin, Louise and Robert took eleven, as did declarer against Owbot in 1NT. Boug and Leighry were allowed four tricks on defence, Boug after declarer mishandled the diamonds. Lynn escaped with E-W top playing 1NT -3.
?
5Dx S =
3NT N +2 (3)
3NT N = (2)
1NT W -3
1NT N +4
