Oh, that's right, it's a Wednesday.

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1:

?

...............Q1032

...............Q10

...............AQ63

...............753

7.......................AJ84

K93..................8742

KJ109752.........84

104...................AJ2

...............K965

...............AJ65

...............----

...............KQ986

?

Had the diamonds not divided 7-2, we probably would have seen a good many N-S pairs in 4S. In an uncontested auction South would have raised a 1S response to 3S and North would have accepted the invitation. But after P-P-1C-3D; a negative double from North produces 4D from South. If North passes South reopens with a double and North might bid 3S, 4S or 3NT, perhaps even pass. Contracts were 3D W, 3Dx W twice, 3S N twice, 3NT N four times, 4Dx W, 4S N thrice and 6S N.

?

4S and 3NT can both make by force, 3NT is much easier, especially if West has pre-empted. If North ducks the first diamond and wins the second, the suit never runs and then declarer just have to be careful not to get blocked into the South hand. This proved too much at the tables, with -1 posted thrice and Glynneth managing -4 in stages, declarer making two costly discards and then running the heart queen to the king at trick five. 4S is more difficult because declarer must play for the 4-1 split. Declarer usually does not do too badly, especially if the hearts are finessed early, as East has no way to gain control of the hand. The three successful contracts were all in spades, with Barbara posting 4S = for a score of 12/13. When declarer did lose control the penalty was large; Bee defended 4S -4 and Lewbot 6S -5 for the E-W top. Diamonds just manage eight tricks; North's six-spot is not quite high enough to promote. Three declarers in diamonds took eight tricks; Paun bettered par by two tricks for the N-S top. I can see the fifth trick easily enough against inaccurate play, but the sixth remains a mystery. At least only one matchpoint rode on it.

?

3Dx W -3

4S N =

4Dx W -2

3S N = (2)

3D W -1

3S N -1; 3NT N -1 (3)

4S N -2

3NT N -4; 4S N -4

6S N -4

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2:

?

...............54

...............3

...............AQJ8765

...............Q52

A..............................K98763

K64..........................AJ8

10432.......................K

A10983....................J64

...............QJ102

...............Q109752

...............9

...............K7

?

With each side having an eight-card fit in a minor and a six-card major in one hand, the deal was a good candidate for the rainbow we?almost got. If East opens 1S and rebids the suit, West may go into 2NT or even raise spades on the singleton ace. If East downgrades the singleton king and passes, South may open 2H, which may be the only way to keep North's diamonds out of the auction. It probably would have required two passes ever to play in a club contract. We finished with contracts of 2S E, 2NT W twice, 3D N twice, 3H S twice, 3Hx S, 3S E four times, 3NT E and 3NT W.

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3NT was the most interesting contract, providing the rare possibility of three different outcomes from leads in the same suit. After the common lead of the queen or jack of diamonds, West has a second stopper in the hand and can come to ten tricks. A low diamond lead establishes the suit for the defence and declarer cannot touch the clubs; eight tricks will be the maximum. The ace lead gives N-S an extra trick and also puts declarer in hand if North establishes the suit, producing a result of seven tricks. When West declared (notably Eric in 3NT W) the opening lead was always an intermediate honour in diamonds and all three declarers emerged with ten tricks. Loren made 3NT E, although I did not see the lead. Spade contracts yielded a relatively straightforward eight tricks, although of the five spade contracts only Bert took eight tricks in 2S =. Leigh Ann took nine in 3S = (heart lead?) but the other three spade declarers took seven tricks or six.? N-S could not force more than seven tricks in either red suit, although Marcia did get out in 3D N -1. N-S top was Con's defending 3S -3 while Lewbot were E-W top defending 3Hx -5.

?

3S E -3

3S E -2

3S E -1

3D N -1

2S E =

3S E =

2NT W -2 (2)

3H S -2

3D N -3

3H S -4; 3NT E =

3NT W +1

3Hx S -3

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3:

?

...............A5

...............Q105

...............K832

...............K1074

KQ986....................J732

J..............................A6

J1096......................A4

Q96.........................A8532

...............104

...............K987432

...............Q75

...............J

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At favourable vulnerability South may open 3H, which is likely to be raised to 4H. After 3H-P-P or perhaps 2H-P-3H, does East double? If East does, is West content with 3S or does West push ahead to 4S? Contracts were 3H S six times, 3S W, 4H S four times, 4S W, 5Hx S and 5S E.

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In order to take a fourth trick against hearts, E-W just have to knock out the spade ace before South gains the lead. Of the eleven declarers in hearts, only NJ and George took ten tricks in hearts; the remaining nine declarers took nine, George's opponents actually did establish and cash their spade trick; he made an overtrick in 3H when he was given a ruff-and-discard in spades. It seemed more likely that E-W would take ten tricks in spades, as declarer can begin the clubs leading low to the queen and bring in the suit for only one loser. Indeed in order to force a fourth trick N-S have to lead clubs in order to pick up the fourth trick with a ruff in the suit (on a ruffing finesse if West declares). Yet none of the three declarers in spades took ten tricks; two took nine and Kelice were fortunate to hold 3S W to only eight tricks, which kept them off the bottom on the board.

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3H S +1 (2)

3H S = (4)

5S E -2

3S W -1; 4S W -1

4H S -1 (4)

5Hx S -2

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4:

?

...............74

...............Q62

...............AQ754

...............QJ9

KQJ2......................A10985

974.........................AJ85

10832.....................J

62...........................A43

...............63

...............K103

...............K96

...............K10875

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Would N-S be scared out of a balance or pre-balance if E-W raised from 1S to 2S? It turned out to be dead even. East played 2S seven times. One South was allowed to play 3C. Five E-W pairs took the push to 3S and one E-W pair got all the way to 4S.

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It made little difference, but East defending against 3C S missed a sitter after West led the spade king. The line of defence is marked. Overtake the king with the ace to switch to the singleton diamond. When in with the club ace, East can then give West the second spade and set 3C with the diamond ruff. Geoff was allowed to make the contract when East allowed West to lead the second spade. Spades yielded an almost certain nine tricks, the result for eleven declarers. Cindy and Howard took ten, presumably after N-S missed both their chances to establish their club trick.

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3C S =

4S E -1

2S E +1 (6); 3S E = (4)

2S E +2; 3S E +1

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5:

?

...............A7

...............A3

...............KQ5

...............AQJ1076

KJ92.........................1064

KJ84.........................Q10762

AJ987.......................64

----............................854

...............Q853

...............95

...............1032

...............K932

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At least one North upgraded the hand to a 2C opening bid, although 2NT seems likely to lead to game as well and even 1C-1S seems likely to end in 3NT if not 5C. We finished with only one partial; contracts were 3NT N eight times, 3NT S, 4C N, 5C N thrice and 5Hx E (West might come in with a takeout double if the bidding is low enough.

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This is perhaps the anti-Bill hand. Would he lead the five-card heart suit or try a spade instead? The heart lead sets 3NT in a straightforward fashion; any other lead lets declarer establish a ninth and if attempted a tenth trick in diamonds, with the chance of an eleventh on an endplay. West has a much harder time finding the heart lead and then also has to avoid blocking the suit; Marie, one of the declarers to take ten tricks, received the natural lead of a diamond. 3NT actually made five times out of the nine, with a four-way share of N-S top between Peach, Marie, Paul and Vicki. Setting 5C required only that West avoid being endplay with the second heart after trumps were drawn and diamonds cleared. It was not particularly difficult to manage and the three pairs defending 5C all set the contract. 5Hx E -3 could have escaped for -1, although that would have saved only one matchpoint.

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3NT N +1 (3); 3NT S +1

3NT N =

5Hx E -3

4C N +1

3NT N -1 (3); 5C N -1 (3)

3NT N -2

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6:

?

...............87654

...............7632

...............KQ2

...............8

KQ2......................J109

KQ108..................A

A3.........................J1054

QJ109...................K6432

...............A3

...............J954

...............9876

...............A75

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We could have had everyone in 3NT W after a 1NT opening bid and at least an invitation. We were that close - one pair played 3C instead of the 3NT that was the end result at every other table.

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The contract was right-sided declared by West; South might opt for a passive diamond lead, allowing E-W to establish and cash two diamond winners to go with the two black aces. With West declaring, however, even if North led a top-of-nothing spade eight to South's ace, South did not find the diamond switch at any table, understandable enough. When in with the club ace, it was too late. Either a spade continuation or a heart switch was almost inevitable and then it became a question of whether South would avoid giving declarer a second overtrick. By a 7-6 margin N-S managed to post -630 instead of -660; it did not seem that hard. Defending 3C W = gave Janda N-S top; E-W top was shared between Rich, Henry, Martin, Lynn, Tracy and Eric.

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3C W =

3NT W +1 (7)

3NT W +2 (6)

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7:

?

...............A3

...............J965

...............Q1054

...............KQ8

Q107.......................52

AK873....................42

9..............................AJ732

AJ103......................9752

...............KJ9864

...............Q10

...............K86

...............64

?

South has a probable 2S opening bid and West a likely 3H overcall. One or the other ought to be the final contract. Contracts were 2S S four times, 3H W five times, 3S S four times and 3NT.

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?Hearts can be held to six tricks but never were; North has too natural a lead of the club king and may get endplayed into leading a club. Con and Sirbara were the only two pairs to post -2 and tie for N-S top. Spades ought to yield eight tricks. A diamond ruff does no good unless West gets a ruff and then South opts for a spade finesse afterwards. Don (S) had the best declaring result taking nine tricks. Most declarers took the expected eight tricks; Ruise held declarer to seven to tie Leighry's 3NT -2 for E-W top.

?

3H W -2 (2)

2S S +1

2S S = (3)

3H W -1 (3)

3S S -1 (3)

3S S -2; 3NT N -2

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8:

?

...............K3

...............J43

...............AKJ95

...............KQ10

654..........................Q972

875...........................AQ10

Q82..........................764

9532.........................AJ8

...............AJ108

...............K962

...............103

...............764

?

If North upgrades to a 1D opening bid because of the strong suit, N-S should reach 3NT, either by North if East passes or possibly by South if East makes a takeout double. One North opened 1NT and was left there; two more Norths played in 2D and 3D; everyone else played 3NT N.

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East has a grim time of it against 3NT. The layout is exceptionally kind to N-S with almost everything sitting well. Although it is the only lead other than the heart ten to give away a trick outright, a club could work out best; declarer might lead a heart to the king and let E-W escape with a score of -430. East gets squeezed when the diamonds are run early and declarer can always take eleven tricks. +460 was posted five times, by Sarah, Ken, Harold, Paul and Barbara. There could have been a sixth +460; against Conndy declarer had won nine tricks with the good J10 of spades still to cash at trick eleven but misclicked and lost the remaining tricks. Lernot were E-W top defending 2D +1.

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3NT N +2 (5)

3NT N +1 (4)

3NT N = (2)

1NT N +4

3D N +2

2D N +1

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9:

?

...............AJ97

...............9843

...............AK52

...............9

K3..............................10864

KQJ2..........................A76

J986...........................1073

A82.............................J104

...............Q52

...............105

...............Q4

...............KQ7653

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One South passed and West opened 1D, but the opening bid was usually 1D by North. Some Souths responded 1NT and some responded 2C. We had the rare result of contracts with two different denominations played by both sides. Contracts were 1NT S twice, 1NT W, 2D N, 2S E, 2S S, 2NT N thrice, 2NT S, 3C S twice and 3NT N twice.

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Declarer can just manage nine tricks in clubs thanks to the 3-3 split. Spades can also come to nine tricks for N-S, though perhaps with a bit more manouvering. No-trumps were more of a battle, coming out with seven tricks to N-S, also the par result in diamonds. Only three tables matched par: Marie in 3C S =, Judy (X) in 1NT S = and Troward defending 2NT S -1. Paul got out for -1 in 3NT when East gave away a trick with a spade lead. Other declarers ahead of the curve were Dale in 3NT N -1, Henry in 1NT W =, James (C) in 2NT N =, Don (F) in 2S S =, Hank in 2D N = and Vicki in 2NT N =. N-S top went to Kelice for defending 2S E -3; E-W top was shared between Jerik (1NT S -2) and Conndy (2NT N -2).

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2S E -3

2NT N = (2)

2S S =; 3C S =

1NT S =; 2D N =

2NT S -1; 3C S -1; 3NT N -1 (2)

1NT W =

1NT S -2; 2NT N -2

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10:

?

...............KJ932

...............AK85

...............K105

...............4

A4...........................Q105

732..........................J106

QJ643.....................A82

KQ6.........................J872

...............876

...............Q94

...............97

...............A10953

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The likely start was P-P-1D-1S; 1NT. Then what? 1NT E was played four times. Three Souths raised to 2S and that ended the auction. Half the auctions went to the three-level, with contracts of 3D W, 3Dx W and 3S N five times.

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The diamond ten was the key card to N-S's setting 1NT, all four tables producing the par result. Spades and diamonds took the expected sixteen tricks combined at par, with a 9-7 division favouring spades. With both sides vulnerable, defending was bound to score better with sixteen tricks total. Matty posted 3D -2, Ritold 3Dx -3 for the N-S top. Against spades, Boric were E-W top defending 3S -2. One declarer took eight tricks, three took nine and three (Ken, James [C] and Hank) took ten.

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3Dx W -3

3D W -2

2S N +2; 3S N +1 (2)

2S N +1; 3S N = (2)

2S N =

1NT E -1 (4)

3S N -2

?

?

11:

?

...............K109

...............AK109

...............105

...............10852

43..........................A875

3............................862

98763....................AQJ2

AQ643...................J7

...............QJ62

...............QJ754

...............K4

...............K9

?

It looked as if a 1H opening bid would be raised to 3H and likely passed if West did not come in with 2NT for the minors (iffy but not vulnerable). Some Souths opened 2D Flannery, one without a clear explanation when the bid was made. Except for an inexplicable auction that ended in 1NT W, everyone got at least to 3H S, played four times. 4D E was played twice, along with 4H N twice, 4H S thrice, 5Dx E (1H-2NT-4H-5D; P-P-X) and 5H S.

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The hands outperform the Law this time, largely with both sides having a workable side suit. There were eighteen total trumps and nineteen tricks combined, nine in hearts and ten in diamonds with one finesse working for each side. Except for a result of 3H S -1 against Marudy everyone took the expected number of tricks in hearts and diamonds. Rich was E-W top declaring 1NT W +3, which looks just barely possible after a club lead if North unguards the clubs on the diamonds, and even then N-S had a second chance to run the hearts.?

?

The interesting part was almost the possible adjustment, as West at the table where 2D was not explained said he would have bid 2NT for the minors had he known 2D to be Flannery. As the table result was 4H N -1 and E-W could not have forced anything better (except with a double, which would not have happened; East would have been far more likely to have bid 5D) the result was allowed to stand. There were some interesting possibilities, though. It would have been most interesting had hearts taken ten tricks and diamonds nine, which would have made 5Dx -2 the par result. There would then have been grounds for adjustment, possibly to 5Dx -2, possibly to average-plus for E-W.

?

3H S = (3)

5Dx E -1

3H S -1; 4H N -1 (2); 4H S -1 (3)

5H S -2

4D E = (2)

1NT W +3

?

12:

?

...............AKJ

...............A5

...............10986

...............AJ85

863.......................Q94

1062......................QJ983

AKQJ4..................7

107........................Q962

...............10752

...............K74

...............532

...............K43

?

Presumably 1NT from North, and then will either East or West enter the auction? Most did not; 1NT N was played nine times. One North did not open 1NT, the contract being 3NT S. At one table East played 2D, after West balanced over 1NT with a single-suited 2C, then passing 2D when East completed the relay. Two Wests declared 2D and one South came in over 2D with 2S.

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Interestingly, par was seven tricks for N-S in any contract. Five declarers succeeded, four of them Norths in 1NT. East has a tricky time finding discards against 1NT N if diamonds are run before declarer gets into difficulties losing the lead to East more than once. Marcia was the only declarer in 1NT to take eight tricks; three others made the contract. 1NT was set five times, -1 once, -2 thrice and -3 against Jerik when Jim set up the hearts in the East hand and Erik took four diamonds at the end. This tied Jerik for top with Doren, who defended 3NT S -3. All the declarers in diamonds overperformed, 2D W finishing -1 against Saranne and Ritold while Bert played 2D E +1, which requires more than N-S's simply not finding the heart ruff.

?

1NT N +1

1NT N = (3)

2D W -1 (2)

1NT N -1; 2S S -1

2D E +1

1NT N -2 (3)

1NT N -3; 3NT S -3

?

13:

?

...............Q873

...............KQ84

...............AJ

...............AQ4

54........................A

96........................AJ10732

KQ10984.............32

K105....................J832

...............KJ10962

...............5

...............765

...............976

?

East's choice of overcall could play a significant role here over a 1C opening bid. After 1C-1H, South has an easy 2S if played as weak and a reasonable 1S otherwise; N-S are then likely to reach 4S. A 2H overcall probably quiets South and leaves North with an uneasy call, especially if South has passed out of tempo. One auction ended in 2H E. At least three Norths opened 1NT either on a range that goes to 18 or on a downgrade; they declared 2S once and 3S twice. One contract was 2NT N, which suggests the auction 1C-2H-P-P; 2NT and a pass from South. South declared in spades at all the other tables, 3S thrice and 4S six times.

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Heart contracts can be held to eight tricks; North either covers the nine on the first round or plays the eight if West leads the six and declarer cannot bring in the trumps for one loser. Just playing the hand should be enough to win the board anyway; Howard would have been E-W top in 2H +1 without the overtrick. No-trumps is the most interesting denomination. North can be held to eight tricks by force, but only by a strange line. East must lead a diamond, which obviously North must duck. West then cannot lead a second diamond, as there is no entry, and must switch to clubs to establish two club tricks to go with the diamond and the two major aces. Even though the heart six to queen and ace and a second heart to the nine must be ducked, that does no good as North's ninth trick has been established in hearts before the fifth trick for the defence. Boric scored well enough for -150 defending 2NT N +1 and not finding the arcane line only cost one matchpoint, as only one declarer in 3S took nine tricks. Ten of the twelve declarers in spades took ten tricks with the club finesse succeeding. Jerik were second E-W defending 4S S -1 when declarer discarded a diamond on the second heart instead of a club.

?

4S S = (5)

2S N +2; 3S N +1; 3S S +1 (3)

2NT N +1

3S S =

4S S -1

2H E +1

?

14:

?

...............AK62

...............10952

...............AJ

...............973

10975....................J8

A4.........................KQJ76

963........................8752

AJ108....................Q2

...............Q43

...............83

...............KQ104

...............K654

?

Those Easts who bid 2H on strong five-card suits are likely to play the hand there. Otherwise the most likely start to the auction is with a fourth-hand opening by North, although Daeff-Jerik passed the hand out. A 1S opening bid likely leads to 2S N if South is allowed to bid Drury, perhaps a higher contract if East overcalls 2H, as South is on the spot. P-P-P-1C; 1H often led to South's raising clubs, a most unpleasant development for North. Contracts were 1D S (I am thankful to report that the East who left 1D in was not a player of whom I had any knowledge), 1NT S (still strange), 2C N four times, 2D E, 2H E, 2S N twice, 2NT W and 3C N twice for a full rainbow and with two denominations played by both sides.

?

None of the thirteen contracts bid should have made. In both diamonds and no-trumps the advantage of the opening lead allows the defence to take most of the tricks. Both declarers in diamonds finished -1, but both declarers in no-trumps took eight tricks, as either West or North would have had to begin with the doubleton ace, not often a standout lead against no-trumps. Defensive speed was the overall theme of the hand. Heart contracts offer declarer eight tricks on gaining the lead, but N-S can take a sixth trick by playing four rounds of diamonds before East gets in; the fourth round promotes a trump trick for North. Defending spades is a bit tricky, though less so with North declaring. Were South declarer the defence might start with three rounds of hearts, letting South ruff low and declarer cannot be hurt after that. A club lead or switch from East and declarer is in deep trouble. Only club contracts don't rely heavily on early play; E-W have at least six tricks and perhaps more if declarer gets unlucky in the trump suit. The club contracts all failed, with declarer taking five tricks once, six thrice and seven twice. Along with the two no-trumps contracts all three major contracts succeeded; N-S did not find the trump promotion to set Judy (P) in 2H E and against both 2S contracts West won the second heart and it was too late for the killing club shift from East. Ken as N-S top playing 2S N +1; Lewbot took E-W top defending 3C N -4.

?

2S N +1

1NT S +1

2S N =

2D E =

Passed Out

1D S -1; 2C N -1 (2)

2C N -2 (2)

2H W =

2NT W =

3C N -3

3C N -4

?

15:

?

...............109743

...............10

...............A76

...............J932

K.............................J652

Q973.......................AJ

943..........................J10852

108654....................A7

...............AQ8

...............K86542

...............KQ

...............KQ

?

Did North respond to South's 1H opening bid? It seems safe to say that North passed 1H at least thrice, as three Souths played 2H, not at all a likely rebid if North responds. Two pairs reached game, which probably requires a response from South. The other eight contracts could go either way. Whatever happens on the first round of the auction, South does not have a happy rebid on the second after either 1H-P-1S-P or 1H-P-P-2D. Over 1S, a 2NT rebid may be as good as anything else. It does make me wonder whether it is worth playing 3NT over 1H-1S as showing a hand willing to commit to game with exactly three spades, as otherwise one would have to manufacture a jump shift into 3m and hope not to be raised. The 3NT rebid after 1m-1M shows a hand with a source of tricks, but after a 1H opening bid declarer can just bid 4H if the suit is that good. Contracts were 2H S thrice, 2NT S, 3C S (did North really pass a jump shift?), 3H S seven times (1H-1S; 3H? the hand is likely worth a downgrade out of being a game force with the KQ doubletons but the heart suit is dreadful), 3NT N and 3NT S.

?

3NT makes by force on a strange line. With the spade king singleton, declarer can establish nine winners but has a nasty time unscrambling them. After a diamond lead, play might go something like diamond to king, club king to ace, diamond to queen, club queen, spade ace, spade queen, spade eight to nine and jack. East cannot return a diamond or the fourth spade and therefore must get out with ace and jack of hearts. But South ducks the heart jack. If it wins, East must put North in. If West overtakes, West must either give North the balance by leading a club or give South the balance by leading a heart. 4S makes on a similar line, only after the spade ace South leads a heart to East's jack. Eventually North ruffs a second heart and finesses spades through East, losing only one heart, the club ace and one spade, either on a ruff or East winning the fourth round with the high jack.

?

At the table only three contracts made - 2H S = by George, 2H S +1 by Linda (R) (the only par-beating declarer) and 3NT S = by Alice for the N-S top. -1 was just above average for N-S; four E-W pairs posted +200, Ruise against 3C S, Lewbot and Bee against 3H S and Troward against 3NT N. Against Troward declarer began the spades leading low from the South hand at trick five instead of leading the ace.

?

3NT S =

2H S +1

2H S =

2H S -1; 2NT S -1; 3H S -1 (5)

3C S -2; 3H S -2 (2); 3NT N -2

?

16:

?

...............K1053

...............862

...............J98

...............854

976.........................QJ84

KQ1075..................J4

106.........................AK752

QJ2........................K3

...............A2

...............A93

...............Q43

...............A10976

?

1D from East in third seat. South might pass, overcall 2C on the poor suit or upgrade the hand to a 1NT overcall. 1NT S might be left in or West might come in with a non-forcing 2H. West might declare 1NT if South stays quiet; over 1NT W East might come in with 2D again and West could give preference back to 2S. South could play 2C or 3C and we did in fact, get another rainbow. Contracts were 1NT E(!), 2C S, 2H E(upgraded to a 1NT opening bid?), 2H W four times, 2S E, 2NT W, 3C S thrice and 3D E twice.

?

Against clubs, it does not really matter whether or not West gets a diamond ruff, as it just cancels out the second trump trick. Declarer comes to seven tricks, although Randi picked up one extra trick on defence against inexact play. A spade ruff does make the difference against a diamond contract, giving N-S six tricks, both 3D contracts finishing -2. Eight tricks are straightforward in either no-trumps or hearts (both NT contracts yielded eight tricks as did all four 2H W contracts; curiously it was only in 2H E against which South did not get the spade ruff; South did not lead a spade against Jim (U) and ducked the first heart. 2S is the most interesting contract. N-S have four top tricks and can pick up a fifth either by drawing West's trumps and preventing the hearts from running or else by aggressively playing clubs and forcing East to ruff. Lewis, the only declarer in 2S, managed a ninth trick to tie for E-W top with Jim in 2H E +1. Saranne and Ritold shared the N-S top defending 3D E -2.

?

3D E -2 (2)

2C S -2; 3C S -2 (3)

2H W = (4)

1NT E +1; 2NT W =

2H E +1; 2S E +1

?

17:

?

...............Q653

...............Q53

...............QJ84

...............109

----.......................AK108

AJ1092................874

A1073..................96

AK84...................Q632

...............J9742

...............K6

...............K52

...............J75

?

We could have had the auction 1H-2H; 4H at every table. Even if West were not to go directly to game but were to invite, East would have a clear acceptance. That there were ten contracts of 4H W has to be considered too low. Partials were 2H W twice, 2NT E and 3H W.

?

Declarer has eleven tricks in hearts with little trouble. The trickiest lead is a club; if declarer wins in the East hand and finesses a trump at once, North leads the second club and then declarer gets stuck leading the trump ace from hand, but that get lucky when the king drops. The only pair to hold 4H to ten tricks was Vioebe; declarer never finished drawing all the trumps and eventually surrendered a club ruff. No-trumps can be held to ten tricks by a diamond lead. A club lead is not quite tricky, as East's six-spot serves as a second entry. 4H W +1 was posted by Tracy, Ruth, Eric, Connie, Erik, Rich, Henry, Gernot and Lewis. N-S top was Sirbara's defending 2H W +2.

?

2H W +2

2H W +3

2NT E +3

3H W +3

4H W =

4H W +1 (9)

?

18:

?

...............QJ

...............962

...............Q1092

...............QJ94

1087642.............9

AK......................J10743

J7.......................K6

A63....................K10875

...............AK53

...............Q85

...............A8543

...............2

?

South opens 1D and West overcalls 1S. Then comes 2D by North (not always) and perhaps more. East might have a light responsive double or a 2H bid; West might reopen with a double or even 2S. Contracts were 1S W, 2D S, 2S W thrice, 3D S thrice, 3Dx S, 3S W, 4D S, 4H E twice and 5D S.

?

E-W cannot quite set 3D by force, but can force declarer to guess if West gets a heart ruff off the top; declarer must then run the diamond queen to pin West's jack. Four of the seven declarers in diamonds took nine tricks (Dianne and Don [F] tied for N-S top in 3D S =); Boric were a little lucky to post 3Dx -1 to tie for E-W top with Bee (5D -2) and Glotin (4D -2); South led a low diamond at trick five when a spade, heart, or the diamond ace would still have allowed the make. East can technically force nine tricks in hearts and both 4H contracts yielded the par nine tricks; clubs can come in with one loser and the diamonds are frozen. In spades declarer has four trump losers if N-S don't crash honours. N-S can collect their trumps and the diamond ace and then wait for the club trick, or defend actively, push three rounds of clubs early and then after South's last trump is gone force West with the heart queen and make West break the diamonds. Declarers in spades took seven tricks three times, eight once and nine once.?

?

2D S +1; 3D S = (2)

2S W -1 (3); 4H E -1 (2)

3D S -1

1S W +1

3S W =

3Dx S -1; 4D S -2; 5D S -2

1:

?

...............AK1052

...............K54

...............A

...............QJ62

QJ6..........................7

AJ2..........................Q8

KJ972......................108543

98............................K7543

...............9843

...............109763

...............Q6

...............A10

?

1S from North and a raise from South even if East comes in with 2NT (bleah!). North is good enough to go to game, especially if South shows four trumps, but might just invite instead. One E-W pair found the sacrifice in 5Dx W, one N-S pair stopped in 3S and eight N-S pairs played 4S.

?

Any lead but a heart allows N-S to collect +500 against 5Dx but Elizabeth escaped for a good score in 5Dx -2; if North starts with a top spade, the defence must follow with one round of clubs to South and then a heart back through West. Declarer could technically finesse West for the spade QJx and take eleven tricks but only Kunal and Steve (Y) took eleven tricks in 4S. Jevin were E-W top defending 4S -1; declarer not only led the top trumps early but led a diamond at trick five instead of a heart and could not do everything necessary.

?

4S N +1 (2)

4S N = (5)

5Dx W -2

3S N +2

4S N -1

?

2:

?

...............A3

...............J832

...............KQ1084

...............J2

QJ1042....................985

65.............................AKQ109

762...........................A95

987...........................K4

...............K76

...............74

...............J3

...............AQ10653

?

We not only got a rainbow out of this but a fully balanced rainbow, with two contracts in each denomination. East may open 1NT, but seems more likely to declare in no-trumps after 1H-2C-P-P; X, while North might also declare no-trumps after 1H-2C-P-2NT. One West declared in spades as did one East; hearts were also declared by East at one table and West at another after a misunderstanding about whether transfers were or weren't on in competition. North declared twice in diamonds at 2D and 4D; the only contract played twice by the same declarer was 3C S.

?

Henry took the expected nine tricks in clubs; Diane took ten. Diamonds can be held to eight tricks; East leads a low diamond and gets to draw South's trumps, then cash three hearts and give West a heart ruff, or North can play clubs before trumps are out and give East a club ruff instead. Steve (Y) managed ten tricks in 2D, but Still were E-W top finding -2 against 4D. 3H W was the expected -3 but Gernot made 3H E; the opening lead was the club ace and then North led the heart jack at trick nine instead of a diamond. Ritold held declarer to the expected seven tricks in 2S E but Jeff made 2S W. Declaring no-trumps by East and North gave both sides a useful positional stopper. Glynneth did well enough posting 3NT E -3 but could have managed -5 with a diamond lead; Roman could have been held to eight tricks in 2NT N but managed nine.

?

2NT N +1; 3H W -3; 3NT E -3

2D N +2; 3C S +1

3C S =

2S E -1

2S W =

3H E =

4D N -2

?

3:

?

...............Q10

...............10

...............Q10765

...............K8765

AKJ9.....................7432

K72.......................AQJ96

9............................AK4

QJ1032.................A

...............865

...............8543

...............J832

...............94

?

This was the E-W slam. 6NT was almost a guaranteed make; hearts would have to split 5-0 with South holding the five and even most of those splits would let declarer get home with four club tricks. West's 1C opening bid kept North from any ideas of a 2NT overcall for the minors; after 1C-1H; 1S, East could consider slam but the weak spades might have been off-putting. Finding three-card support for hearts might allow East to head for 6H instead, a spot which would better 6S in a bidding competition. 6H is also almost guaranteed to make nearly as often as 6NT. Contracts were 3NT E, 4S W, 4NT W, 5S W, 6H E twice and 6S W four times. Jevin played in 6H after 1C-1H; 1S-2D; 3H-4NT; 5H-6H.

?

A spade lead reduces the chance of a thirteenth trick in 6H as declarer cannot draw trumps and then take the ruffing finesse in clubs. E-w top was a tie between Kevin in 6H E +1 and Willis in 6S W +1. Everyone else took twelve tricks, the limit in no-trumps. Willis had to drop the doubleton spade queen offside for the overtrick.

?

4S W +2; 5S W +1

3NT E +3; 4NT W +2

6H E =; 6S W = (3)

6H E +1; 6S W +1

?

4:

?

...............QJ86

...............942

...............7643

...............J10

K2...........................A1073

Q1085.....................AJ6

AK2.........................Q1095

A543........................96

...............954

...............K73

...............J8

...............KQ872

?

We got almost everyone into 3NT W. One pair played 4H W instead.

?

A key point to the auction was whether or not South doubled East's Stayman 2C for a club lead. Without such a double, a spade lead from North allows declarer eleven tricks and even a heart lead allows ten. After a club lead declarer has to resort to an endplay to make the contract if South keeps the heart Kx, and then declarer must guess to throw South in with a club, which could backfire if South began with four spades and two hearts and discards one card from each major on the diamonds. Lynn and Cindy doubled 2C and received the winning lead for a score of +100. The 4-3 heart fit plays neatly here with 3-3 trumps; it takes a heart lead to prevent an overtrick. After a spade lead Jeff was E-W top in 3NT +2, followed by Elizabeth in 4H +1; 3NT +1 was the middle score.

?

3NT W -1 (2)

3NT W +1 (6)

4H W +1

3NT W +2

?

5:

?

...............AJ73

...............10

...............K984

...............J1032

2.......................Q10954

AK....................Q962

AQ107632........J

987...................Q65

...............K86

...............J87543

...............5

...............AK4

?

After 1H from South and 2D from West, then next non-pass was usually a double from either North or South. West bid diamonds again if necessary and usually played the hand. Contracts were 2D W, 3D W thrice, 3Dx W twice, 3H S, 4D W twice and 4S N.

?

With exact defence N-S can come to six tricks against diamonds - North must lead a club to finesse dummy's queen and get a heart ruff as well. Willis in 4D -2 was the only declarer in diamonds not to take exactly seven tricks; South lead a third round of hearts at trick six and Willis was able to discard the spade loser. Either hearts or spades could have taken eight tricks. With all the E-W contracts going down declarers had to go all out for a make, resulting in 3H S -3 against Jevin and 4S N -5 against Gerlin for the E-W top.

?

3Dx W -2 (2)

4D W -3

3D W -2 (3); 4D W -2

2D W -1

3H S -3

4S N -5

?

6:

?

...............A7

...............A

...............AK1093

...............AQJ86

64...........................QJ9853

KQ762....................543

J76..........................Q2

1072........................K3

...............K102

...............J1098

...............854

...............954

?

Left to their own devices, North would almost surely have opened 2C and likely South would have declared 3NT, which was played twice. But a 2S opening bid from East made game a bit uncertain. 3NT N was played thrice but four pairs stopped in partials (2NT N, 3C N twice and 4D N) and one finished in 5C N. North has an uncomfortable hand with too many HCP opposite who knows how few South will hold; the difference between not having good play for game and having tolerable play for slam is smaller than one might think.

?

It takes a major-suit lead to hold either 3NT or 5m to game without overtricks, although a spade lead must be low against 3NT to prevent declarer's being able to get three tricks without the suit's blocking. After the normal lead of the queen, Gareth, Eric and Leigh Ann shared the N-S top on a score of +460. Then came a three-way tie between Kunal and Cindy in 3NT = with Roman in 5C N =. Declarer in 2NT also too eleven tricks to save a score of 3/9; the minor partials all scored -150 to split E-W top between Dallis, Gerlin and Nary.

?

3NT N +2 (3)

3NT S = (2); 5C N =

2NT N +3

3C N +2 (2); 4D S +1

?

7:

?

...............Q95

...............96

...............AQ65

...............J932

K742.....................J1086

QJ7.......................108543

1084......................92

AQ7.......................54

...............A3

...............AK2

...............KJ73

...............K1086

?

If N-S are left to themselves they are almost sure to reach 3NT from one side or the other. South opens 1m and North might well respond 1NT even over a double from West, or else raise to 2m. East will almost surely pass and South can invite game with 2NT, an invitation North can accept. Contracts were a bit wider-ranging than they should have been: 2NT S thrice, 3D S, 3NT N thrice, 3NT S twice and 5D N.

?

Diamonds by North turn out to be wrong-sided; E-W can get a club ruff off the top to hold declarer to nine tricks. Otherwise it all hangs on the club finesse, which does not succeed, although even making 5D won't score well against 3NT N with the club finesse working. 3NT might be at risk after a heart lead; when South declares a spade could be even trickier. Here, though, the layout is kind, as the hand with the club ace has only three hearts and the spades lie well for declarer. E-W have nowhere to go for five tricks but there could be some interesting moments. A spade lead from East results in nine tricks for declarer, as does a heart lead from either side. Even a spade lead from West allows defenders the timing to take their fourth trick before declarer takes the tenth. Both diamond contracts took ten tricks, East not finding the club lead. Myrne defeated 3NT S, which I suspect resulted because of North's holding the spade nine. If West leads a spade and North ducks, East can lay a cute trap for declarer by not playing the eight-spot. Say the ten forces the ace and West, in with club queen, plays another spade. Now declarer has a guess - did West lead from J8xx or K8xx? If East plays the eight on the first round declarer has no option on the second round but must play the queen. This gave Myrne a tie for E-W top with Still's 5D N -1. Roman and Steve (Y) shared the N-S top in 3NT N +1. Roman did it in an interesting way after a heart lead. West won the first round of clubs and established the hearts, Roman ducking the second round. Then West ducked the second club, allowing Roman to cash the diamonds before giving West the third club, which left West nothing to lead but a spade from the king. The queen scored and Roman had his overtrick.

?

3NT N +1 (2)

3NT N =; 3NT S =

2NT S +3 (2)

2NT S +1

3D S +1

3NT S -1; 5D N -1

?

8:

?

...............7652

...............AK3

...............A

...............KJ743

QJ1098...............K

J2........................Q106

9762....................KQ10853

105......................Q62

...............A43

...............98754

...............J4

...............A98

?

Does P-1C-1D-1H promise five? If it does, North can raise to 3H and N-S can reach 4H S. If not a 3D raise from West puts N-S under the gun. Support doubles don't generally go to the three-level; N-S could get stuck. Curiously, an uncontested auction could be trickier if it starts 1C-1H; 1S. What does South rebid - 1NT with no diamond stop? 2H on a poor five-card suit? 2C and risk playing in a minor? 2S and play in the Moysian fit? I suppose either 1NT or 2C would likely win out and then North has to find an advance in hearts, which should put South into Go Mode. Contracts were 3C N, 3D E, 3H S, 4D E, 4H N (1NT opening bid and transfer), 4H S four times and 5C N.

?

4H is not bad looking at the two hands. South will be able to ruff the diamond loser and then even after a spade lead, assuming 3-2 trumps, can play for 3-3 spades before committing to the club finesse. E-W cannot force the issue in both black suits, and not attacking spades lets declarer home on a 3-2 club split or a successful finesse, even better. Here the clubs have a loser but the spade block saves declarer - West never gets in. Declarer can even force an overtrick by winning the first trick, although that is on the Not Recommended list, as East could well be unblocking the king from Kx or West could hold the third trump. Roman had a relatively easy time of it in 4H N after a non-spade lead and was able to ruff South's second diamond and make the overtrick in comfort for the N-S top; one for the 1NT opening bid with the singleton ace. Haorge and Nary defended 4H -1 to tie Gerlin's 5C -1 for E-W top. Against Nary declarer played the third club too soon before drawing East's last trump; the suit got cut off. East took the expected seven tricks in diamonds; Jevin's reputation helped them escape with a decent score in 4D -3; a double would have given N-S the top score.

?

4H N +1

4H S = (2)

3H S +2

4D E -3

3C N =

3D E -2

4H S -1 (2); 5C N -1

?

9:

?

...............A102

...............K7

...............AK763

...............1084

J8.....................Q976

AQJ9832..........6

Q42...................J98

K.......................AJ532

...............K543

...............1054

...............105

...............Q976

?

This turned into a Battle of the Majors. There was a chance of a diamond contract if North upgraded the hand to a 1NT opening bid if South turned out to be willing to risk a double after 1NT-P-P-2H; P-P. Otherwise we usually began with 1D-P-1S-2H and then North might have made a support double. West might push on to 3H. Neither North nor South should probably push over that but a few pairs did and then it became a battle of which side could stop first. Contracts were 2H W thrice, 3H W thrice, 3S S twice, 4H W and 4S S.

?

Defensive ruffs were the order of the day. N-S had an easy six tricks against hearts after the fairly obvious diamond ruff. Gernot was the only successful declarer, making 2H after South either did not signal the doubleton diamond or North took the upside-down signal as being from Qxx and tried ace and another spade after the two diamonds. All the other declarers in hearts took seven tricks, giving Ritold the N-S top defending 4H -3. E-W can take seven tricks against spades if the club king is taken early to get ruffs in both clubs and hearts. Two of the three declarers in spades took a trick more than they could force but the E-W pairs had essentially won the hand by defending, with +150 sharing the top between Nary and Myrne.

?

4H W -3

3H W -2 (3)

2H W -1 (2)

3S S -2

2H W =

3S S -3; 4S S -3

?

10:

?

...............K865

...............73

...............A108

...............Q1087

QJ1093................7

KQ5.....................AJ102

----.......................K5432

AJ943..................652

...............A42

...............9864

...............QJ976

...............K

?

Had I been to predict a rainbow hand this might have been my choice. There are numerous possible starts to the auction: P-P-1S-P; 1NT-P-2C and then East may risk either a pass or 2S; South may come in with 2D or a double over either 1NT or 2C. 1C can go many different ways: 1C-1H; 2H, 1C-1R; 1S-1NT, 1C-1R; 1S-1NT; 2C; 1C-1R; 1S-1NT; 2S with South potentially coming in with 2D again if East responds 1H. But we were able to avoid no-trumps and hearts. Contracts were 2C W twice, 2D S twice, 2Dx S, 2S W, 3C W twice, 4C W and 4S W.

?

An opening heart lead holds spade contracts to seven tricks as North can ruff the third round and cut declarer off from dummy, although both declarers in spades took eight tricks. Clubs can force nine tricks despite the bad trump layout; if North preserves the three trump winners West establishes the spades for one loser with a good guess and South only gets the lead once by winning the first spade and setting up the ruffing finesse, which compensates for any good done by leading a diamond through from that side. Anne, Willis and Jeff took nine tricks in clubs; Marudy and Stindy held declarer to eight. Diamonds are easily held to seven tricks by force, most easily with spade ruffs; two declarers took seven tricks and one took six. Scoring +200 tied for top in both directions; Romel and Leighry N-S, Haorge and Nary E-W.

?

4C W -2; 4S W -2

3C W -1

2D S -1

2C W +1 (2); 2S W =; 3C W =

2D S -2; 2Dx S -1

?

11:

?

...............AK109

...............982

...............97

...............AKQ2

76...........................5432

A1076....................K43

AK52......................863

1075.......................J86

...............QJ8

...............QJ5

...............QJ104

...............943

?

This was a fun little hand. Those Wests who open everything with three Quick Tricks (in memory of Kate Weil) start with 1D, North doubles and then South likely bids 1NT, perhaps reaching 3NT after a move from North. Otherwise North opens 1NT and it's up to South to invite. The division was almost an even split, with contracts of 1D W, 1NT N thrice, 1NT S, 3NT N four times and 3NT S.

?

There could have been siding considerations had the red kings been switched; then a heart lead through South could have been repeated to good effect. As the cards lie the fate of 3NT comes down to the club suit, which declarer must try as soon as getting a heart trick. If E-W avoid hearts entirely, declarer wants to go after diamonds before cashing the black winners and squeezing the South hand in the red suits. Kunal, Roman and Eric tied for N-S top taking ten tricks in 3NT N when E-W avoided hearts entirely for a little too long and never took their two tricks. Elott were E-W top defending 1NT N =, followed by Jeff's taking the expected five tricks in 1D W -2. The trick distribution in no-trumps was seven, eight, nine (4) and ten (3). Myrne's 3H -1 came about after the lead of a high diamond and then a heart switch; after winning the third heart declarer thought it better to try to find the diamond ace and fourth heart in opposite hands rather than resort to clubs. Had E-W ducked the first or second heart in a classic entry-preserving move declarer would not have had that losing option.

?

3NT N +1 (3)

3NT N =; 3NT S =

1NT N +2; 1NT S +2

1NT N +1

1D W -2

1NT N =

?

12:

?

...............AK

...............KQJ63

...............64

...............AQJ8

8642.......................Q95

2.............................1054

QJ32.......................K98

K742.......................10953

...............J1073

...............A987

...............A1075

...............6

?

Can N-S reach their slam? Three pairs did by completely different routes. One North opened 2C and showed hearts, after which any South not to drive to slam would have been assigned the Chicken Dance. Grand slam would be more likely than stopping in game. The second slam auction was 2NT-3C; 3H-4NT; 5S-6H, reasonable enough if South did not have a good way to invite slam (especially if 3C was Puppet or Muppet Stayman rather than the normal variety). Kunbot were the one pair to reach 6H after a 1H opening bid after the auction 1H-3H; 3S-4D; 4NT-5H; 5NT-6H. A fourth pair looked for slam but stopped in 5H N; everyone else played 4H.

?

South's holding the spade ten hurt chances of declarer's to take all thirteen tricks, as it provided a losing option in the unsuccessful ruffing finesse. A diamond lead is the only way to hold declarer to twelve tricks by force; it will then be impossible to ruff two or three clubs, establish the fourth spade, draw trumps and reach the spade for the discard. After a trump lead play might go: heart to seven, club to ace, club ruff, spade to king, club ruff, spade to ace, club ruff, spade ruff (high), heart king, heart queen, diamond ace, spade jack and ruff the last trick. There were not many diamond leads but only two declarers took all thirteen tricks, Judy in 6H after guessing to ruff the third spade instead of running it and Harold in 4H. Everyone else took twelve tricks except for Elott, who were able to hold declarer to eleven.

?

6H N +1

6H N = (2)

4H N +3

4H N +2 (3); 5H N +1

4H N +1 (2)

?

13:

?

...............K763

...............KQ63

...............Q92

...............83

AQ8......................J1094

875.......................104

AJ106...................8

AK6......................QJ9754

...............52

...............AJ92

...............K7543

...............102

?

A surprising number of Wests opened 1NT, which turned out to be the majority contract, as East did not insist on clubs. Indeed, 1NT W was played six times, a bit of an upset. Given the presumed 1D opening bid, this was far from the hand I would have chosen for everyone to be playing in no-trumps, although 1D-1S; 2NT certainly seemed plausible. 2NT W was played thrice and 3NT W once.

?

Par on the hand was taking ten tricks in clubs. Declarer had eight top tricks in no-trumps. With the 4-4 hearts there was no chance of a sixth trick for the defence that might have occurred had hearts split 5-3 without a heart lead, had declarer gone for nine tricks. -120 gave seven N-S pairs a share of top. Three Norths ither led a spade or shifted to one after the hearts, as happened for Elizabeth in 3NT =. North could well have worked out?the danger of?the spade switch; give West 18-19 HCP and South cannot hold an ace, but neither a diamond nor a club is completely safe either. Best would be for South to win the fourth heart - take the first four tricks either in the order king, ace, queen, jack or ace, queen, king, jack depending on what the partnership leads from KQxx.

?

1NT W +1 (5); 2NT W = (2)

1NT W +2; 2NT W +1

3NT W =

?

14:

?

...............7642

...............Q3

...............KQ103

...............QJ6

Q.............................AK95

J42..........................K65

A8742......................J

K1082......................A9753

...............J1083

...............A10987

...............965

...............4

?

West has multiple possible calls over East's 1C opening bid that may reflect how one values the spade queen. West might answer 1D or else raise to 2C either Standard or inverted. Game may be reached after an immediate invitation or after 1C-1D; 1S-3C, with East probably choosing 3NT. Some Wests either responded or rebid 1NT, which was played twice, along with 2D E twice, 2D N (interesting), 3C E thrice, 3S N and 3NT E.

?

3NT makes after a heart lead because the suit blocks if North keeps the queen and declarer gets a second stopper with the jack otherwise. A diamond lead puts N-S in the driver's seat while a spade lead also suffices because it gives nothing away and declarer cannot time the hand properly. Leighry defeated 3NT for the only N-S plus score. Eleven tricks are possible in clubs if declarer is careful about timing the ruffs, taking one round of clubs at most. Three of the five declarers in clubs duly took eleven tricks; one took ten and one nine. Kunbot had the most successful defence, holding 3C to nine tricks. Declarer played clubs too soon and in the end position missed the chance of a heart trick. Myrne duly took their eight tricks against 3S N for the E-W top. Eric could have been -3 in 2D against a trump or low spade lead but escaped for -1; -2 would have been just as good. The 1NT contracts both yielded nine tricks, creating a five-way tie for second E-W on +150.

?

3NT E -1

2D N -1

3C E =

3C E +1

1NT W +2 (2); 2C E +3 (2); 3C E +2

3S N -4

?

15:

?

...............Q64

...............AK4

...............A32

...............Q974

82.........................AKJ73

Q63.......................107

KJ64.....................Q5

AK106...................8532

...............1098

...............J9852

...............10987

...............J

?

Whichever minor West opens North overcalls 1NT. This is were various pairs displayed unfamiliarity with the sequence, as East has a clear double of the 1NT overcall for penalty. Three Easts, however, bid 2S over 1NT and played the hand there, West interpreting the bid as showing a hand too weak for a double and passing. One West perhaps took a double as negative, resulting in a contract of 2C W. Three E-W pairs correctly followed the penalty usage. South tried to escape, resulting in 2Hx N, 2Sx N (misunderstanding of whether 2H should or not have been a transfer over East's double) and 3Hx N. The other three contracts were 2NT W, 4H S (undoubled!) and 4S E.

?

Against spades North has three top tricks but is powerless to avoid being endplayed in clubs due to the flat distribution. Mary (R) made 4S and two of the three declarers in 2S took ten tricks as well. Jevin, defending 2Sx N, played carefully to secure their top board rather than going all-out for the maximum penalty; they finished with -3 instead of -5, just enough for sole top. Hearts can be held to six tricks; a diamond lead sets up the defence for the lead of a fourth diamond through North to good effect, and drawing trumps earlier gives West a trick with the queen. Roman, though, was allowed a make of 2Hx N when East began with two top spades and gave West a ruff, which leads to -1 unless West, as was the case, refuses ever to lead the diamonds. Haorge were second E-W defending 3Hx N -2, Leighry second N-S defending 2C W =.

?

2Hx N =

2C W =

2S E +1

2NT W +1

2S E +2 (2)

4H S -3

4S E =

3Hx N -2

2Sx N -3

?

16:

?

...............J65

...............AKJ763

...............103

...............J6

Q32...........................K94

Q109.........................85

A72...........................96

A954.........................KQ8743

...............A1087

...............42

...............KQJ854

...............10

?

If West passes, North opens 2H and it may well go around. If West opens 1C, North overcalls 2H and East raises to 3C. South may come in with either 3D or 3H, East may push on but may also fear pushing N-S into a making 4H. Contracts were 2H N, 3C E, 3H N four times, 4C W twice, 4D S and 4H N.

?

The hand is a golden one for N-S in hearts. E-W don't have the time to draw South's trumps to come to two club winners and establish their spade trick. South's spade ten prevents a profitable attack on that suit and the diamonds establish quickly. Ten tricks in hearts cannot be stopped; Harold gilded the lily and made an overtrick in 4H for the top score. Roman also took eleven tricks in a heart partial; two declarers took ten tricks and two nine. Still were one of the pairs scoring -140; needing to get back to the North hand to draw East's last trump, declarer had to lead the spade ten from dummy at trick seven when South had only spades and diamonds left - low to the jack would have let East win and return the last spade to stick South on lead again, but the ten would either force the king and give North an entry with the jack or East would duck, take the jack with the king and then be unable to force South back on lead. Elott bettered par by one trick defending 4D -1; clubs could have been held to eight tricks but Willis saved half a board's worth of matchpoints getting out in 4C -1.

?

?

?

4H N +1

2H N +3; 4C W -2

3H N +1 (2)

3H N = (2)

3C E -1; 4C E -1

4D S -1

?

17:

?

...............K5

...............J1076

...............AJ73

...............A86

73.........................AQ42

Q98......................32

Q10986................542

K104.....................J532

...............J10986

...............AK54

...............K

...............Q97

?

With 26 HCP all the N-S pairs reached game, either 3NT or 4H, North declaring every time. I was a little surprised that 3NT was chosen over 4H by a 7-3 majority. Presumably when South checked back over 1NT North did not mention the four-card heart suit more than thrice, although that would be the expected course.

?

3NT fails to a club lead, which lets E-W get their fourth trick established and cashed before South can pull off any sort of endplay - especially if North declares the ninth trick can be established but never cashed, though East should lead a diamond after taking the long club before South gets to run the spades; if South is allowed to keep ---- AK5 K ---- opposite North's diamond AJ West is squeezed. 4H can also be set at a more leisurely pace, East having more opportunities to find the club lead before the spades are established and run. Only three declarers succeeded, with Eric playing 3NT =, Roman 4H = and Marcia 3NT +1 after a spade lead and later a diamond from East instead of the club that could have held declarer to the contract. E-W top went to a four-way tie on -2 and +100, Myrne's result against 4H while Eubot, Dallis and Still posted two-trick sets of 3NT.?

?

3NT N +1

4H N =

3NT N =

3NT N -1 (2); 4H N -1

3NT N -2 (3); 4H N -2

?

18:

?

...............KJ54

...............K1096

...............Q103

...............63

AQ1073...............982

A2........................QJ73

52.........................J97

J1054...................A97

...............6

...............854

...............AK854

...............KQ82

?

It looks as if we all began P-1D-1S-1NT; 2S.? Then what? 2S ended the auction four times, but South or North often pushed on; higher contracts were 2NTx N, 3D S3S W twice, 3Sx W and 3NT N.

?

Declarer in no-trumps is held to eight tricks if E-W go after diamonds early enough to cut communications. Declarer gets stuck in one hand or the other and cannot cash the ninth trick. Steve (Y) made 3NT after a spade to the ace and spade return - a diamond at trick two would have discombobulated him just enough. Harold in 2NTx was always going to be N-S top. He was heading for one overtrick when East unblocked the club ace at trick eleven in the hope that West could win the last two tricks; instead Harold emerged with two overtricks that he did not need anyway. Diamonds took the expected nine tricks for Kunal. A club lead from North holds West to six tricks in spades, which was the result?five times out of seven; Leighry better par by one trick on defence and George by one trick as declarer.

?

2NTx N +2

3NT N =

3Sx W -3

3S W -4

3S W -3

3D S =

2S W -2 (3)

2S W -1

1:

?

...............Q64

...............QJ62

...............108

...............QJ83

J1093...................852

A107.....................K93

AKJ6....................7432

K6.........................1095

...............AK7

...............854

...............Q95

...............A742

?

This was a tame beginning, the most interesting aspect of which was that we could have seen the same contract played from any of three hands. South opens 1C in third seat and West usually doubles, although a 1NT overcall is possible. North might bid 1NT over the double, or North might bid 1H and then South will likely rebid 1NT. Contracts stayed extremely low (for good reason): 1H W (don't ask me how), 1NT S twice, 1NT W eight times and 2C S four times.

?

Although the auction makes more sense if North plays 1H, I can see either side taking seven tricks in hearts. N-S might take eight if the E-W trumps are drawn early, especially if East has never led a diamond. E-W have five top tricks, easily pick up a sixth after a club lead, and can come to a seventh if the spades are cashed early enough to allow a promotion for the nine of hearts. Whoever declared, E-W had seven tricks in no-trumps, but there was a big advantage in declaring; the contract was never defeated whether played by West or South; either East never led a diamond through South or West eventually shifted to a club. Two Wests beat par as declarer as well, Sandi playing 1NT +1 and George 1NT W +2 (a heart lead puts at least one overtrick in play). With such even suit divisions all around 2C (or 2D, which was never played) could have been made. Conndy and Heve set 2C, although not for that good a score, Conndy after declarer didn't begin the hearts in time. George's +150 was E-W top; Doug and Leigh Ann tied for N-S top on +90.

?

1NT S = (2); 2C S = (2)

2C S -1 (2)

1H W =

1NT W = (6)

1NT W +1

1NT W +2

?

2:

?

...............Q4

...............9752

...............AQ632

...............43

AK952...................J876

J4..........................1083

J94........................85

1085......................KQJ9

...............103

...............AKQ6

...............K107

...............A762

?

1NT from South and then West and North had decisions. Would West come in over 1NT with a balanced hand? Would North trot out Stayman on 8 HCP, even with the good five-card suit? Contracts reflected various viewpoints: 1NT S four times, 2S W, 3H S, 3S W and 4H S eight times.

?

Both red suits behaved. South had an easy ten tricks in hearts. Lee, Phyllis and Andrzej took eleven, Andrzej after West began with three spades. Nobody led a low spade against 1NT; that would have allowed declarer to win the spade queen and take eleven tricks. Linj, Haorge and Tasnot held declarer to the par eight tricks; one pair blocked the spades and allowed declarer a relatively irrelevant ninth.?

?

4H S +1 (2)

4H S = (6)

3H S +2

1NT S +2

1NT S +1 (3)

2S W -1; 3S W -1

?

3:

?

...............8763

...............A62

...............K1074

...............83

1094...................AJ

J843...................1097

A.........................QJ93

AK1096..............Q754

...............KQ52

...............KQ5

...............8652

...............J2

?

1C from West and then East may respond with 1D, 1NT or a 2C raise, whether or not playing inverted minors (an invitational 3C seems unlikely). If clubs are raised, North or South may come in with double, although North will know E-W clearly have the balance of power. Contracts were 1NT E six times, 2C W thrice, 2NT W, 3C W twice, 3Dx S, 3S N and 3NT E.

?

E-W have nine tricks in clubs, although two declarers took only eight. Randi took their par six tricks against 3Dx S to score 13/14. Matt saved two matchpoints posting 3S N -1 instead of the par -2. No-trumps by East can be held to seven tricks if South leads a heart and North takes the first or second round and returns a spade. On a low spade lead declarer can force nine. Betty made 3NT for the E-W top; Margarita and Nancy took more than nine tricks in 1NT. Against Nancy N-S were on their way to a score of -120 but North led the wrong suit at trick twelve.

?

2NT W -1; 3C W -1

3S N -1

2C W =

2C W +1 (2); 3C W =

1NT E +1 (2)

1NT E +2 (2)

1NT E +3

1NT E +4

3Dx S -2

3NT E =

?

4:

?

...............A10763

...............8

...............AK6

...............7643

----........................KQJ

Q97542.................AJ63

J1053....................987

952........................AQ10

...............98542

...............K10

...............Q42

...............KJ8

?

If West squeezes out a 2H opening bid East raises to game. Otherwise North likely opens 1S, East likely overcalls 1NT and South has to decide how high to raise. When the bidding reached 4S East had a reasonably safe double, as defending 4S = if it makes is not likely to score much of anything. Contracts were 2S N, 3S N thrice, 3Sx N, 3NT E, 4H E, 4H W twice and 4Sx N six times.

?

4S looks not too bad viewing the declaring hands, although the likely two club losers make a make improbable, but the 3-0 trumps turned out to ring the death knell. All the pairs defending 4Sx posted +200 except for Matty, who managed a second undertrick and the E-W top. Hearts could have been held to seven tricks, although two defending pairs were content with five tricks for +200. The spade ace lead would have allowed declarer to escape for -1. Matt was N-S top playing 3Sx =.??

?

3Sx N =

4H W -3

4H E -2; 4H W -2

3NT E -1

2S N +1; 3S N = (2)

3S N -1

4Sx N -1 (5)

4Sx N -2

?

5:

?

...............A42

...............A82

...............J8

...............J10743

Q10653................J9

J7.........................Q964

Q10642................973

8...........................Q965

...............K87

...............K1053

...............AK5

...............AK2

?

We almost got everyone into the same contract. Almost all the auctions began with 2NT from South and ended in 3NT, although Norths playing Puppet or Muppet Stayman will not go there directly. One pair playing a 16-18 range for 1NT do not open 2NT with 20 HCP, so that North ended up declaring instead. The last pair (not Haorge, who were sitting E-W) went to Gerber and eventually played 6NT S.

?

Had the clubs split 3-2 with the queen onside the heart position would have allowed 6NT to make; declarer takes the king and ace, then leads up to the ten for three heart tricks whenever the suit splits 3-3 or West holds queen and/or jack singleton or doubleton. With the 4-1 club split, eleven tricks were possible and taken by seven declarers. It did not occur to me at the time, but the North who had an emergency and had to leave was the partner of the South who contrived to go down in 3NT against Matty. Boric were E-W top defending 6NT S -2.

?

3NT N +2; 3NT S +2 (6)

3NT S +1 (5)

3NT S =

3NT S -1

6NT S -2

?

6:

?

...............873

...............KQ

...............J874

...............7643

Q..........................AKJ1062

J109852...............A6

932.......................K

KJ9.......................AQ85

...............954

...............743

...............AQ1065

...............102

?

East is close to a 2C opening bid (AKJ1062 A6 5 AKQ8 would be fine) and perhaps some Easts opened 2C anyway despite the broken values in the side suits. Everyone managed to get to game. Contracts were 3NT W, 4H W thrice, 4S E ten times and one 5NT W after an aborted slam try. After 1S-1NT; 3C-3H; 3S, West's singleton queen is likely at least as good as a low doubleton.

?

On hands like this with a singleton king, no-trumps contracts often turn into a sort of finesse; does the hand on lead hold the ace?? 3NT E would likely have been an easy top but West declared in no-trumps both times. Eric got lucky that the lead was a club and not a diamond; he took eleven tricks for the E-W top. N-S top was Keianne's defending 5NT W -3 on a diamond lead. Hearts had a very lucky layout, declarer being able to take the same eleven tricks that were available in spades. All the declarers in spades took eleven tricks but only Rita managed the feat in hearts.

?

5NT W -3

4H W -1 (2)

4H W +1; 4S E (10)

3NT W +2

?

7:

?

...............109

...............AQ106532

...............10

...............AK5

AK8.............................43

87.................................J4

K9865..........................QJ732

864...............................J973

...............QJ7652

...............K9

...............A4

...............Q102

?

This hand was a bit of a trap for N-S, though one likely to catch the better pairs. North has a fine hand with five losers. Slam does not require more than a minimum opener; AKxxxx Kx xx Qxx would do quite nicely. Unfortunately the two spade losers were hard to diagnose; of the Norths who made the reasonable look for slam, four were unable to stop. Contracts were 3S S, 3NT S, 4H N five times, 4S S thrice, 5H N and 6H N four times.

?

All three denominations yielded eleven tricks. No-trumps had the easiest time of it - unless East held all four hearts, of course. Spades needed North's spot cards and still could have been vulnerable to a 3-1 heart split had it existed. That hearts took eleven tricks every time is a bit lucky; had E-W begun with three rounds of spades North would have had to guess to ruff high and then drop the jack rather than finesse. Two declarers took twelve tricks while the rest all took eleven. Steven was N-S top in 3NT +3 while Matt, in 5H, took twelve tricks on a pseudo-squeeze; West took one spade but not the other and later unguarded the suit.

?

3NT S +3

5H N +1

4H N +1 (5); 4S S +1 (3)

3S S +2

6H N -1 (4)

?

8:

?

...............108

...............AQ652

...............87

...............Q1098

AKQ4.....................96

J983.......................K4

6532.......................K109

7..............................AKJ652

...............J7532

...............107

...............AQJ4

...............43

?

East's rebid could have been crucial here. A rebid of 2C could have allowed E-W to stop nice and low. West might just venture 2NT on the second round even over 2C; East would accept an invitation. An aggressive North or South might sneak into the auction, although the N-S chance of declaring was quite low. Contracts were 2C E twice, 2S W, 2NT W twice, 3Cx E, 3D N, 3D W, 3NT W and 6Cx E.

?

Very kind clubs might have brought in 3NT, but declarer would have had to play sharply to get out for -1. Hank (V) and Eric made 3NT to tie for E-W top but the other 3NT contracts took eight, seven, six and five tricks. Glotin posted 3NT -3 when West, in with a chance to make the hand as late as trick eight, led a diamond instead. 2NT took eight and nine tricks. Paun's 3D W -4 tied Phoebot's 3NT W -4 for second N-S behind Lark's 6Cx -3. E-W could take eight tricks in no-trumps, clubs or diamonds, seven in spades; declarer overperformed by a margin of 7-5.

?

6Cx E -4

3D W -4; 3NT W -4

3NT E -3

3Cx E -1; 3NT E -2

3NT W -1

3D N -2

2C E +1 (2); 2S W =

2NT W =

2NT W +1

3NT W = (2)

?

9:

?

...............543

...............10965

...............AK96

...............106

K...............................QJ2

AJ.............................K87542

J7432........................10

K9853.......................742

...............A109876

...............Q

...............Q85

...............AQJ

?

South opened 1S or overcalled 2S if East began with a 2H opening bid; North likely raised. One East played in 4Hx and another in?5C after West came in with an Unusual 2NT despite the loaded short suits. At the other thirteen tables South declared in spades: 2S once and the other twelve tables evenly divided between 3S and 4S.

?

E-W have four tricks possible against spades but East has either one or two chances to find the club lead through the ace. Phyllis, Jatin and Andrzej made 4S, Phyllis after West led the heart ace and followed with the jack; first a ruffing finesse in hearts supplies one discard and then the marked diamond finesse supplies the other, although declarer needs to be careful not to let East in twice in spades. The declaring results matched the auctions - eight tricks once, nine tricks and ten six times each. Paun were N-S top taking their par five tricks against 4Hx -2. A trump lead, often an excellent idea against an Unusual 2NT, would have held clubs to six tricks for a N-S tie for top. Leighry settled for -2, but it matchpointed as well as -4 would have done.

?

4Hx E -2

4S S = (3)

5C E -2

3S S +1 (3)

2S S +1; 3S S = (3)

4S S -1 (2)

4S S -2

?

10:

?

...............A10

...............K62

...............Q9754

...............985

QJ63......................875

4.............................AQ1097

8632.......................J

K764.......................Q1032

...............K942

...............J853

...............AK10

...............AJ

?

?We got most of the field to 3NT, but only just. South opened 1NT, North invited and South accepted by an 8-6 margin. The last table had a bidding misunderstanding. North used Stayman and then went to 3NT. South, after replying in hearts, carried on over 3NT to 4S and eventually declared 5H.

?

Nary were E-W top defending 5H S -4. No-trumps could have been held to eight tricks had West led a club or heart. A spade or diamond lead gives declarer time to establish a third spade. Lee was N-S top in 3NT +2 after a heart lead to the nine and then a defensive error at trick twelve. Don took ten tricks in 3NT. Four of the other 3NT contracts yielded nine tricks while Marbot defended 3NT -1. Four of the 2NT contracts took nine tricks while two took eight.

?

3NT S +2

3NT S +1

3NT S = (4)

2NT S +1 (4)

2NT S = (2)

3NT S -1 (2)

5H S -4

?

11:

?

...............A63

...............J3

...............AJ1093

...............KQ6

7542.........................KJ108

Q864........................52

Q854........................K

2...............................A109543

...............Q9

...............AK1097

...............762

...............J87

?

North's doubleton heart jack really helps the side along; after a 1NT opening bid game is almost sure to be reached even if East interferes (P-P-1NT-2C; 3H-P-3NT seems as likely as anything).?Only one pair?opted for 4H S - just as well. The expected 3NT N was reached ten times with four partials - 2H S, 2NT N, 3H N and 3H S.

?

4H would have had trouble enough even without the club ruff, which allows E-W to force a two-trick set, which Haorge duly produced. The 4-1 diamond split provides a chance for 3NT to be defeated if dummy does not win an opening club lead (a spade lead allows E-W to hold 3NT to nine tricks). Ken took ten tricks in 3NT after a club lead (as did Paul and Larry [St]) - although club to jack, diamond to nine and king, club ace and third club should hold whether declarer runs the heart jack to West or finesses twice more in diamonds, but a diamond immediately to the ace will hold. Declarer attempted to endplay West against Tasnot, who posted 3NT -3 for the E-W top. In the end, 3NT had results of -3 once while seeing -1, = and +1 thrice each.

?

3NT N +1 (3)

3NT N = (4)

2NT N =

2H S -1; 3H S -1; 3NT N -1 (2)

3H S -2; 4H S -2

3NT N -3

?

12:

?

...............AKJ75

...............J103

...............10

...............A754

10962...................Q83

AKQ86.................52

KQ5......................876432

10..........................Q2

...............4

...............974

...............AJ9

...............KJ9863

?

We had two failures to Alert after a Flannery 2D opening from West. Both times North overcalled 2S. One South bid 3C over that and the other left 2S in; the latter result was adjusted to average-plus for N-S and average for E-W. At the 3C table, as a normal result in the auction was reached I left it there, particularly as I was called by South and not North. While a 2S overcall is still natural after a Flannery opening, the North hand can wait, planning to bid 2S if East 2H. East might bid 2H, bid 2S or even gamble on a pass, There were apparently five Flannery openings in all (or else West doubled South's balancing 2C overcall for takeout), as three Easts declared in spades, 2S thrice and 3S once. One North played 1S after an overcall over West's 1H opening bid was left in. The other contracts were all in clubs: 3C S four times, 4C N, 4C S thrice and 5C S.

?

E-W have their three heart tricks to take against club contracts and everyone took them - ten tricks. Against spades declared by East a trump lead would have allowed North to draw East's trumps and then West's, running the clubs afterwards and allowing declarer no more than four tricks. A heart lead would have allowed declarer a decent fighting chance at taking six tricks instead. Leighry and Keianne both took their par nine tricks defending against 3S E and 2S E for the top N-S scores. Tasnot were E-W top defending 5C S -1, followed by Nancy, who escaped in 2S -1 (-2 would have scored just as well).

?

3S E -5

2S E -4

2S E -3

Ave+/Ave

3C S +1 (3); 4C N =; 4C S = (4)

1S N =

2S E -1

5C S -1

?

13:

?

...............K43

...............A62

...............Q76

...............KJ83

QJ95.......................A72

8.............................K1094

KJ85.......................A1094

Q642.......................A10

...............1086

...............QJ753

...............32

...............975

?

Does East double 1C or overcall 1NT? Double seemed the more likely call, but West declared only five times, in 1S, 2S thrice and 3S. Ten contracts were in no-trumps by East - 1NT, 2NT five times and 3NT four times, although 2NT or 3NT might be reached if East doubles and West bids 2S.

?

The hand lies well for E-W in spades despite the 4-3 trump suit. Declarer can take ten tricks in relative comfort, especially as South never gains the lead. It is not the easiest hand to play, although North's opening helps a good deal. Still, Mary was the only spade declarer to take ten tricks, wih one taking eight and three taking nine. (Against Keianne, for instance, declarer ruffed a club at trick four when leading a major was needed.) No-trumps contracts are a little similar, except that South can lead a heart and get a second heart trick along with a trick in each black suit. Leighry and Rurry both defended 3NT E -2 to share the N-S top but there is not much declarer can do to go wrong, as it is unlikely declarer will break the clubs and the diamond queen ought to be finessed the right way. One declarer in 2NT took eight tricks; all the other declarers in no-trumps took nine, giving Bob and Tas a tie for E-W top.

?

3NT E -2 (2)

2S W =

1S W +2; 2S W +1; 3S W =

1NT E +2; 2NT E +1 (4)

2S W +2

2NT E +2

3NT E = (2)

?

14:

?

...............Q93

...............A9

...............AKJ10753

...............6

A85..........................K42

K65..........................J1043

2...............................64

AK9842....................QJ53

...............J1076

...............Q872

...............Q98

...............107

?

After 1C from West, North has the playing strength to double before bidding the diamonds. Somehow one auction ended in 2H S (P-P-1C-X; 1NT-2H? why would North leave that in?) but it seemed almost a sure thing for E-W to compete to at least 3C and North to at least 3D. Indeed usually the auction reached at least the four-level, with contracts of 2H S, 3D N, 3H E (1H over the double and West then raising), 4C W twice, 4Cx W, 4D N twice, 4H E (West must have taken East's 1H for five), 5C W, 5D N thrice and 5Dx N twice.

?

E-W can force a fourth trick defending against diamond by getting a heart lead in time from East. Declaring West can come to a tenth trick in clubs by ruffing the second diamond, drawing trumps and playing the spades to force N-S to break the hearts or provide a ruff-and-discard. Par in hearts was eight tricks for E-W. Diamond contracts were divided 4-4 between nine and ten tricks, with Dave and Mark making 4D to tie for N-S top, Dave when East gave a ruff-and-discard in clubs. Gareth was the only declarer to take ten tricks in clubs, a lucky escape for Roven defending 4Cx -1. Tasnot, in the heart of their streak of 69.5/70 matchpoints for a five-board stretch, had E-W top defending 5Dx -2.

?

4D N = (2)

3D N =

4Cx W -1; 5C W -2

3H E -1; 4C W -1; 4H E -1

2H S -1; 5D N -1

5Dx N -1; 5D N -2 (2)

4C W =

5Dx N -2

?

15:

?

...............K109

...............J42

...............K1087

...............Q63

Q765.....................2

AQ6.......................K953

96..........................A532

J1054.....................AK72

...............AJ843

...............1087

...............QJ4

...............98

?

East opens 1D or perhaps 1C in fourth position. If South overcalls 1S West bids 1NT (or perhaps raises if East opened 1C). North may raise to 2S; East may carry on, perhaps with a double, appealing at this vulnerability if West is inclined to leave it in. Contracts were 1NT E twice (South passed and East opted for the 1NT rebid over a 1S response), 1NT W, 2C E, 2S S five times, 2NT W twice3CE twice, 3C W and 3NT W.

?

Most?declarers took the par number of tricks - ten in clubs, nine in no-trumps and six in spades. One declarer in clubs was allowed to negotiate two diamond ruffs with the low trumps and emerged with eleven tricks, but the usual extra trick came in no-trumps if declarer was allowed a trick with the spade queen to go with the nine tricks in the other three suits. N-S top was a tie on -130 between Phoebot, Pharah and Marudy. 2S -2 scored 11/14 for the defenders. Tasnot were E-W top in 3NT +1 after the auction P-P-P-1D; 1S-1NT-2S-3C; P-3NT.

?

2C E +2; 3C E +1; 3C W +1

1NT E +2 (2); 2NT W +1; 3C E +2

1NT W +3; 2NT W +2

2S S -2 (5)

3NT W +1

?

16:

?

...............Q73

...............AQ643

...............K108

...............KQ

4.............................1092

K9852....................J7

AQ932....................6

93...........................AJ108765

...............AKJ865

...............10

...............J754

...............42

?

There are almost surely systems in which West opens 1H but they have not quite reached us yet. Even so it matters little if West does open. If so, North bids 1NT, which is likely to be the opening bid anyway. South has the values for game and 4S is reached. There may not have been any 1H opening bids, as that would be an easy way to stop in a partial. There were five contracts of 4S S, but that could be over interference from East, which for many pairs would negate a transfer. Nine Norths declared 4S and there was one accident, East presumably bidding something over 1NT and South expecting North to take 4H as a transfer.

?

The whoopsie gave Linj E-W top defending 4H -3. 4S can take eleven tricks after a spade or heart lead if declarer finesses everything in sight, or can be set after ace and another diamond if North rises with the king and then mishandles the eventual squeeze to recover. Both declarers to go down played from the South side against Heve and Boric. Ken, Paul and Phoebe took eleven tricks from the North side, Paul after a heart lead from East. 4S = was posted nine times.

?

4S N +1 (3)

4S N = (6); 4S S = (3)

4S S -1 (2)

4H S -3

?

17:

?

...............764

...............A875

...............AQ1064

...............K

QJ95.....................K108

Q6.........................J10943

5............................KJ98

J109865................3

...............A32

...............K2

...............732

...............AQ742

?

Again we nearly got everyone into the same contract. 1D-2C from North and South and then it's just a question of who bids no-trumps first, eding in 2NT once and 3NT thirteen times. It came out rather lopsided, with an 11-2 margin of South declaring instead of North. The last auction ended in 5D N after East snuck in a 1H overcall and South misclicked, jumping to 3H on the second round, which was presumably a splinter. Fortunately North did not carry on to slam and East did not double.

?

A spade lead is required to hold 5D to nine tricks; North discards two spades on clubs and just loses three trump tricks to East, although that also requires two heart ruffs in dummy with the trump ace taken before the second ruff, if not the first. But the horrid diamond split sinks 3NT as well; every contract was defeated, with -2 the par result on any lead but a diamond. Matt and Andrzej escaped in 3NT -1 to join Paul (P) in 5D -1 and Martin in the psychic-friend-inspired 2NT -1 to tie for N-S top. Declarer was headed for -1 against Boric, but gave them the E-W top by misclicking at trick twelve.

?

2NT S -1; 3NT S -1 (2); 5D N -1

3NT N -2; 3NT S -2 (8)

3NT N -3; 3NT S -3

?

18:

?

...............A6

...............J9873

...............A9

...............J963

KQJ82......................7543

A65...........................KQ4

874............................J2

K10............................A875

...............109

...............102

...............KQ10653

...............Q42

?

West opens 1S or overcalls 2Sif South begins with 2D. Over either beginning East invites or at least raises. Do E-W get to game? Contracts were 2S W four times, 3S W six times, 4S W four times and one final accident when West passed East in a Bergen raise of 3C.

?

The accident gave Mattbot the N-S top defending 3C -3. In spades, the six and seven of spades made it completely irrelevant whether Nor found a diamond lead or switch. Had North held A7 and East 6543, North could ruff a third round of diamonds high and take a fourth trick for the defence. As the hand was, everyone in spades took ten tricks, making E-W top a tie between Gel, Jerik, Ritold and Marbot. Ritold's auction was P-2D-2S-3D; 4S, Harold being robbed of his clearly invitational 3D and choosing to go high rather than low. Sometimes when opponents have to guess they guess right.

?

3C E -3

2S W +2 (4); 3S W +1 (6)

4S W = (4)

1:

?

...............764

...............Q753

...............A973

...............93

A102...................KQJ3

8.........................AK102

QJ65...................K4

Q8652.................KJ7

...............985

...............J964

...............1082

...............A104

?

We began with a 2NT opening bid from East. Only one East did not open 2NT and only one auction went anywhere other than 3NT. Contracts were 3NT E seven times, 3NT W and 6NT E.

?

No-trumps was right-sided played by East if declarer guessed to knock out the club ace before the diamond ace. A heart lead from South required North to play the queen to force the king and then South could not lead the second heart without losing a trick. North could lead a heart and declarer would come up with only ten tricks instead of eleven. The only West to declare, Judy, received a diamond lead instead and scored +460 along with six Easts. Linise held declarer to ten tricks to score -430 and Elott were N-S top defending 6NT E -2.

?

6NT E -2

3NT E +1

3NT E +2 (6); 3NT W +2

?

2:

?

...............A9

...............92

...............A962

...............KQ1075

KJ87........................Q1043

AJ654......................1073

KQ............................10875

AJ.............................96

...............652

...............KQ8

...............J43

...............8432

?

If North had not interfered over West's 1H opening bid that might have ended the auction. But everyone did, usually with 2C. West came in again and then it was a question of vulnerability against number of trumps and how people rated those factors. Contracts were 2S W, 2NT S, 3C N twice, 3S W, 3NT N, 4C N, 4H W and 4S W.

?

The friendly lie of the heart suit allows declarer to come to nine tricks in either major. Both games produced nine tricks for declarer while both partials produced only eight. Clubs could take nine tricks as well if declarer picked up the diamonds for one loser. All three declarers in clubs finished -1. Declarers overperformed in no-trumps, which could have been held to seven tricks. Nancy was N-S top in 3NT N =; after two rounds of hearts gave her one trick, she ran the clubs and East discarded a spade on the last one to surrender the set.

?

3NT N =

2NT S =

3S W -1; 4H W -1; 4S W -1

3C N -1 (2); 4C N -1

2S W =

?

3:

?

...............K7

...............98742

...............Q95

...............964

QJ86....................1053

6...........................A5

10843...................KJ62

AKQ7....................10853

...............A942

...............KQJ103

...............A7

...............J2

?

After West's reverse on Board 2, we finally had a hand with the right range and distribution for Flannery. At least one South opened 2D, to which North responded an immediate 4H. When the auction began 1H-X half the Norths went directly to 4H; otherwise it became a battle of the red suits with contracts of 2H S, 3H S twice and 4D E.

?

As declarer in hearts had nowhere to go for a tenth trick, that result was only posted when East led away from the king of diamonds, whih allowed Wendy and Elizabeth to make the contract to tie for N-S top. The other three 4H contracts finished -1, taking the same nine tricks as all the heart partials. 4D finished -2 against an aggressive forcing defence in hearts. Had declarer been aiming for -1 to beat any pairs defending a partial, that result might have been managed by playing on spades before drawing trumps. North can be allowed one ruff, which does not help the defence, and N-S's simply forcing in hearts again lets West take a second ruff in hand and retain control of the hand. It is possible to pick up trumps with one loser if declarer is psychic and runs the ten and eight of diamonds through North.

?

4H S = (2)

4D E -2

2H S +1; 3H S = (2)

4H N -1; 4H S -1 (2)

?

4:

?

...............1053

...............KQJ103

...............4

...............KQJ8

KJ9..........................872

A86..........................542

KQ92.......................AJ8

942..........................A1075

...............AQ64

...............97

...............107653

...............63

?

The East hand gives a good reason for why some pairs play that a negative double of a 1H overcall denies four spades. After 1D-1H East is well positioned if that agreement is in force for the pair; East can double in comfort. If a negative double implies spades, East can: pass with 9 HCP, double with only three spades, bid 1NT without a stopper or raise to 2D with only three-card support. None of those options are particularly appealing. 1H N was left in three times. Had any West answered a double in spades expecting a 4-3 fit we might have had a rainbow but nobody tried that. If 1NT was ever bid by West it was not left in ; the higher contracts were 2C E twice (a little strange), 2D W twice, 2NT W and 3H N.

?

With the spade ace-queen nicely placed, declarer can take eight tricks in no-trumps. Gerbot posted 2NT W -1 when declarer didn't try the spades early enough. A little strangely, the 5-1 trumps do not prevent 2D from taking the same eight tricks, assuming holds off the heart ace exactly once. Still it is not very surprising that the bad trump split was enough to throw both declarers off. On the auction hearts were likely to split 5-2, which declarer likely ought to have played for, but it happens. Declarer could take seven tricks in clubs but both only took six against Jevin and Ritold. Heart contracts can be held to seven tricks if E-W lead trumps in time to prevent a club ruff but not right away, or declarer can establish an eight trick on a spade. That happened in 3H for -1; the declarers in 1H all made the contract on the number and regretted the vulnerability.

?

2C E -2 (2)

2D W -1 (2); 2NT W -1

1H N = (3)

3H N -1

?

5:

?

...............QJ75

...............AK54

...............107

...............873

109643.....................AK

J10973.....................Q86

654...........................A3

----............................AQJ962

...............82

...............2

...............KQJ982

...............K1054

?

How much does East upgrade for the powerful six-card suit? 1C is definitely too little, although it would have worked well here. 2NT is conservative; East could open 2C planning to follow with 2NT. South is unlikely to compete at unfavourable vulnerability, although 2D over 2C is possible. East's starting or following with no-trumps could and did lead to contracts in both majors, clubs and no-trumps. Contracts were 2NT E, 3C E (West either taking a position after a 3C rebid or else reaping the benefit of a double negative first response and an agreement to allow a pass of the rebid), 3H E twice, 3S E, 3NT E, 4C E, 5Cx E and 5NT E.

?

Maybe a little strangely East can only take five tricks in no-trumps, the result at all three tables, despite the contracts at different levels. Clubs can be held to seven tricks, taken twice by declarer while Marcia bettered par in 4C -2. In the majors spades could take eight tricks and hearts nine. Ritold defended 3S -3. Jamie took ten tricks in 3H; Jevin held declarer to eight when East led out the top spades in the middle of the hand instead of taking the ruffing finesse in clubs. All told the eight contracts that failed were down a total of 25 tricks.

?

5Cx E -4

5NT E -6

3NT E -4

2NT E -3; 3S E -3

3C E -2; 4C E -2

3H E -1

3H E +1

?

6:

?

...............852

...............Q732

...............A96

...............932

A43.....................Q109

K4.......................AJ98

QJ2.....................10875

K10876...............54

...............KJ76

...............1065

...............K43

...............AQJ

?

After the excitement of the previous hand, we could have had everyone in 1NT, which was played eight times. The fun part is that 1NT was played in three different table positions, once by West, twice by South and five times by North (likely after 1C-1H; 1S-1NT with West silent). The one different contract was 2C W.

?

With N-S both holding flat distribution, West can make 2C in sufficient comfort. The 3-3 diamonds are especially helpful. But Jevin snuck in with a -1 result to steal the N-S top. The lead does not seem to matter in no-trumps; with any of the three possible declarers E-W can take eight tricks by force. Diane picked up two tricks to post 1NT W +3 for E-W top. North led a club at trick three instead of either major; then South discarded the spade jack at trick eleven instead of the diamond king. Three pairs of defenders matched par defending 1NT S -2 while Jamob went one better and posted -3. Gareth was able to make 1NT N, matched by both Louise and Jim in 1NT S. I'm not entirely sure why it played so well from the South side. West can afford a club opening lead.

?

2C W -1

1NT N =; 1NT S = (2)

1NT N -2 (3)

1NT N -3

1NT W +3

?

7:

?

...............AK10

...............10432

...............K1096

...............96

J832........................9765

KQ9.........................J876

J852.........................----

K2............................QJ543

...............Q4

...............A5

...............AQ743

...............A1087

?

Here we have a slam of tolerable play that seems almost impossible to bid if not playing Precision and even there it would be a bit of a leap of faith for South to look for more than 3NT. If South opens 1NT slam flies out the window at once. After 1D-1H; 2C, North will presumably make a game invitation with either 2NT or 3D, the former suggested by the strength of the hand being primarily in the unbid suit. 3D can give South a bit of a headache; one opener left it there. Everyone else finished in 3NT, thrice by North and five times by South.

?

In no-trumps declarer has ten easy tricks with little prospect of an eleventh unless East discards carelessly on the diamonds. Jeff took eleven tricks and Jim took twelve; against Jim on the run of the diamonds East discarded down to QJ in clubs and let declarer establish two extra winners in the suit. One declarer took only nine tricks after starting diamonds with the king instead of ace or queen to cater to either opponent's holding all four. Diamonds can take twelve tricks thanks to the star asset of the doubleton club, but only if declarer commits to playing West for the diamond jack, which entails not drawing even one round of trumps. If declarer does, we get heart king to ace, diamond ace, spade queen, spade to ace, spade king, club to ace, club to king, heart ruff. Now when declarer leads the third club for a ruff West discards the last heart and the diamond jack scores. Without a round of trumps South can ruff both remaining hearts high and then finesse in diamonds at trick twelve. Declarer is almost sure to prefer drawing trumps, playing for a 2-2 split, the singleton jack, or at worst the chance of a ruffing finesse in clubs if East holds three trumps and Hx in clubs. Stindy were guaranteed the E-W top when their opponents stopped in 3D but were able to hold declarer to ten tricks anyway.

?

3NT S +3

3NT S +2

3NT N +1 (2); 3NT S +1 (4)

3NT N =

?

8:

?

...............J53

...............Q962

...............64

...............K852

K964.........................A72

AJ85.........................K1043

108............................KQJ953

A106..........................----

...............Q108

...............7

...............A72

...............QJ9743

?

This hand raises a particular bidding issue for E-W. If the partnership bypasses longer diamonds to respond in a four-card major, does that still apply on slammish hands such as this, especially when the diamond suit is so strong? East has ample values for a reverse and 6D can make by force, but the trend seems to be to respond 1H; 4H was declared six times by East and only once by West. One pair might have misunderstood each other and finished in 3NT W, the auction likely being 1C-1D; 1NT-3NT, East perhaps thinking that they avoided bypassing on strong hands, West thinking they always bypassed and then East not expecting West to rebid 1NT with a four-card major. The last contract was 4Cx S.

?

Jim took his eight tricks in 4Cx and was nearly top. Hearts can take eleven tricks but Nary managed to defeat 4H E. After a club lead declarer unwisely ruffed a second club before starting trumps, then led the heart king and another to the ace before taking another club ruff instead of starting diamonds, killing the second discard of a spade from West. Judy, Henry, Steve (Y) and Marcia all took their eleven tricks. Twelve are impossible in hearts even with a neutral lead, as the spots are good enough for North to have a sure trump trick against any line of play. 3NT could have finished -2 by force against a club lead, although letting declarer take nine tricks (a strange result against any lead; did North lead a club only for the suit to get blocked?) only cost two matchpoints. Diamonds can take twelve tricks by force with a little pretty play. Suppose a spade lead; when first in dummy East discards a spade on the ace of clubs. If the spade king has also been taken out, East ruffs the third spade before resuming trumps, eventually crossing to the heart ace, discarding a heart on the thirteenth spade and finessing North for the heart queen.

?

4H E -1

4Cx S -2

3NT E =

4H E = (2)

4H E +1 (3); 4H W +1

?

9:

?

...............KJ9875

...............K84

...............842

...............7

AQ3....................1062

109.....................AQ532

K.........................A103

KQJ9653............A8

...............4

...............J76

...............QJ9765

...............1074

?

Left to an uncontested auction E-W might reach the good slam; 1H-2C and then possibly an invitational 4NT over a 2NT rebid and East is better than minimum. After 2S from North and 3H from East it's tempting just to jump either to 6C or 6NT at once. Trying to go slower with 4C didn't work out all that well; two Wests were left there. Three Wests bid the practical but underwhelming 3NT; the remaining four contracts were split 2-2 between 4H E and 5C W.

?

4H E is very shaky but can come to twelve tricks thanks to 3-3 trumps if declarer is careful to lose the trump trick to South; North never gets to cash the spade king. Both declarers took eleven tricks, but that was still enough to beat the club contracts. Twelve tricks was the maximum all around, more easily managed in no-trumps than hearts while in clubs declarer can take all the tricks unless the lead is a diamond; otherwise declarer can establish hearts and overtake the diamond king with the ace for thirteen tricks; the four club contracts were evenly split between twelve and thirteen. The practical 3NT came out on top, taking eleven tricks twice and all thirteen for Bob after a spade lead.

?

4C W +2

4C W +3

5C W +1

5C W +2

4H E +1 (2)

3NT W +2 (2)

3NT W +4

?

10:

?

...............103

...............AJ54

...............J4

...............KQJ86

AK972....................86

Q6..........................K109872

AQ73......................62

A3...........................952

...............QJ54

...............3

...............K10985

...............1074

?

A Marge Fiedleresque 2H opening bid from East leads to 4H; a pass from North over West's 1S opening bid likely lets the auction conclude there; both 4H E and 1S W were played twice. Most auctions began P-P-1S-2C. Three Souths raised to 3C and West was too unenthused by the vulnerability to continue. Two Souths bid 2D instead of raising and declared 2D and 2NT, completing the rainbow.

?

E-W have five top tricks against clubs and can force a sixth. Going too aggressively for a trump promotion can be foiled; declarer will either go for heart ruffs or try to establish dummy; the defence can then counter along the other line. Leighry were E-W top defending 3C -3; Eric had the best declaring result in 3C =. West ducked a second spade lead from dummy. In the end position Eric was down to K86 in trumps at trick eleven when West held ---- ---- AQ A and East was on lead with ---- 109 ---- 9; West could have trumped the heart lead and then promoted East's club nine but discarded a diamond instead and Eric had his make. Stindy had seven tricks against 2D on a major lead and took them. 4H can make; declarer must duck a club lead and then will either get to ruff a heart or will be able to establish the fifth spade for a discard of the club loser if N-S play two hearts to kill the ruff. Winning the first club and leading the second right away lets North play ace and another heart, then discard a diamond on the third spade to cut off the last entry. Jimbot defended 4H -1 and Gerbot 4H -2. Spades can always take seven tricks by force; N-S can cut E-W off and force West to lead diamonds from hand but West can eventually force a trick with the diamond queen, although that may entail discarding a diamond on the third club. Kunal took the par seven tricks and Judy an eighth. 2NT finished -1 as expected for the middle score.

?

4H E -2

3C N =

4H E -1

1S W =

2NT S -1

1S W +1

2D S -2; 3C N -2

3C N -3

?

11:

?

...............J732

...............AQJ8

...............K73

...............106

Q6.........................AK95

96542....................10

98..........................AQ54

AJ54......................K873

...............1084

...............K73

...............J1062

...............Q92

?

We nearly had another rainbow here. I assume Kevin opened 1H in third seat (East doubled) but Jeff let it go for 2C W, a very good thing as 2Hx N, a highly plausible result if West is in an aggressive, top-hunting mood, can be set three tricks by force. N-S did declare twice. One North opened 1D in third seat and declared 2D; another North passed and then doubled later, leading to 2S S. E-W contracts were 1NT W, 2C W, 2NT E, 2NT W, 3C E and 3NT W twice.

?

The hand falls beautifully for E-W, who declaring can force nine tricks in no-trumps or eleven in clubs; defending they can hold diamonds to four tricks and spades to three. +150 E-W became the majority score, recorded in five different contracts. Nary were N-S top defending 3NT -1 when declarer began the clubs by leading the jack for no discernible reason. Bob made 3NT for the E-W top; all the E-W partials scored +150 except for Leigh Ann's 2NT W +2. Both N-S contracts did a trick better than expected; Harold joined the pack at -150 in 2D -3 while Stindy's 2S -4 gave them the same score as if they had forced -5.

?

3NT W -1

1NT W +2; 2C W +3; 2D N -3; 2NT E +1; 3C E +2

2NT W +2

2S S -4

3NT W =

?

12:

?

...............A8765

...............J63

...............873

...............KJ

K102.................J3

AK10852..........974

J........................A1062

A104.................Q752

...............Q94

...............Q

...............KQ954

...............9863

?

One East took a strong position and passed West's 1H opening bid; South let that go as well. Otherwise E-W began 1H-2H with or without any competition from N-S, finishing in either 3H or 4H with a 4-4 division between the two. West might just invite and East has a little something opposite either help-suit try and no wasted values opposite the short-suit try.

?

4H is pretty much on the edge with two of three suits needing to behave and varying chances they would. The likely diamond lead seems neutral, as declarer would likely play the hand the same way by attacking spades first. Breaks are good enough for par to be ten tricks, the result at seven of the nine tables, with one declarer taking eleven and one taking nine. Kunal was E-W top taking the overtrick when North surrendered the trump trick by leading a heart in an attempt to stop the spade ruff. Ritold set 4H for N-S top.

?

4H W -1

1H W +3; 3H W +1 (4)

4H W = (2)

4H W +1

?

13:

?

...............83

...............AJ64

...............1032

...............9763

J10965...............K7

Q........................1052

Q5......................KJ987

AKQ54...............1082

...............AQ42

...............K9873

...............A64

...............J

?

Here was another Flannery hand, although at least less difficult for those who did not ply Flannery, as South could open 1H and rebid 2D over 1NT forcing. When South did open 2D the contract finished as 4H N, perhaps with North bidding a competitive 3H over a 3C overcall and South's thinking it might have been at least partly forward-going. After a 1H opening bid West might have tried 1S, 2C or 2H; I rather like 2C with the intent to follow with spades. In competition it likely behooves North to get the auction to 3H quickly. 3H was played thrice, along with 3C W four times and 3S W once.

?

4H almost makes on normal play when trumps behave and the spade finesse works, but the fourth spade will either be overruffed or not be able to be ruffed at all when trumps split 3-1. Ten tricks are possible if declarer has a psychic flash and trades a spade ruff for a diamond ruff. Diamond queen to ace (ducking the first diamond works even better), heart to ace, spade to queen, spade ace, third spade discarding a diamond from dummy. West can lead a diamond to East and East can lead a second round of trumps, but, when declarer has to lose a club to get back to hand, East cannot win the first club to play the third and fatal round of trumps. Who knew the club jack would be of such value? Of course nobody at the table found the winning line and all the heart contracts took nine tricks. Defending against clubs the best N-S can do is to force in heart but West just establishes spades and diamonds before touching trumps and South can never lead more than one club. In the end West can just push spades through North, overruffing if North ruffs in and then drawing trumps, or else just cross-ruff. Only Cindy made 3C, while Ritold, Nary and Elott posted -1. 3S -2 could have been forced; declarer tried to avoid the -200 and went down an extra but irrelevant trick against Linise.

?

3S W -3

3H S = (3)

3C W -1 (3)

4H N -1

3C W =

?

14:

?

...............82

...............Q4

...............J765

...............KJ862

A1053....................Q74

K106......................J982

10832.....................K9

Q4..........................A1095

...............KJ96

...............A753

...............AQ4

...............73

?

I was looking for 1D-1NT at matchpoints and that did become the contract five times. 2D S was played once. Somehow three Souths declared higher contracts of 2NT once and 3NT twice (did any Easts double 1D-2D?).

?

The layout is friendly enough to N-S for declarer to come to eight tricks in diamonds - one spade, one club, two hearts, the three high diamonds and North's fourth diamond scores on a ruff. Study managed a set when North led the third club both too soon and too late. In no-trumps N-S eventually pick up a second spade trick by force instead of the fourth diamond, although the timing has to be exact. Jim was N-S top taking nine tricks in 1NT, followed by Kevin and Louise taking the par eight. Karleta were the only pair to set 1NT Nl the higher no-trumps contracts yielded from six to eight tricks, with Penj and Leighry tied for E-W top on +100.

?

1NT N +2

1NT N +1 (2)

1NT N =

1NT N -1; 2D S -1; 3NT S -1

2NT S -2; 3NT S -2

?

15:

?

...............86

...............KQJ10954

...............942

...............J

AQJ95........................K1042

A32.............................7

A.................................KQ853

9654...........................873

...............73

...............86

...............J1076

...............AKQ102

?

1S from West and then usually 3H from North. Usually either East or West got the side to 4S, although a 3S response from East over 3H was left in once. 4S W was played six times. One N-S pair had a little accident and left in 2Sx W; one North ventured to 5Hx despite the vulnerability.

?

E-W have six top tricks against hearts; Study only took four but that was still enough to score 7/8. Spades took ten tricks against a club lead and more otherwise. Cindy and Dave took twelve tricks with proper play after a non-club lead; two declarers took eleven when they did not establish the fifth diamond early enough. Diane cruised to the E-W top in 2Sx +2.

?

3S W +1

4S W = (2)

4S W +1 (2)

4S W +2 (2)

5Hx N -2

2Sx W +2

?

16:

?

...............1053

...............K10

...............KJ1082

...............Q102

A98..........................Q742

Q865........................A942

Q54..........................A93

AK4..........................95

...............KJ6

...............J73

...............76

...............J8763

?

E-W seem headed for a rather gnarly-looking 4H (very bare bones) and the contract was duly reached seven times after 1NT and Stayman. Two Easts raised only to 3H and West passed it there.

?

The play of the hand really shows the potential power of the nines and eights. When North drops the heart ten under the ace of trumps, declarer can finesse on the second round (even that turns out to be far from enough). North's most likely opening lead of a spade turns out to be a big help, eliminating one of the two losers in the suit and letting declarer establish the thirteenth spade for a discard of a diamond. The winning line against the best lead of a club is not easy to spot. Declarer endplays North by ruffing the third club at one and then playing two rounds of hearts, finessing on the second round. If North returns a spade, it has the same effect as a spade opening lead. North has a better try in a diamond; declarer takes the top two diamonds and then gives North the third diamond for a second endplay, South discarding a club. Again North cannot break spades. A fourth diamond looks okay, as it is not a ruff-and-discard situation. If East ruffs South overruffs and is safe. But when North leads the fourth diamond at trick nine East discards a spade, leaving South to play from the remaining KJ6 J ---- 8. Discarding a spade is out; West ruff and ducks a spade. Discarding the club lets West ruff, draw the last trump and then, with all the clubs out, run the spade nine (covering the ten if played) to South for a third endplay. Trumping the fourth diamond to preserve the club does not help; West overruffs and runs a spade to South, who just has the choice between a spade lead back and a ruff-and-discard. That five of the declarers took ten tricks was almost certainly due almost entirely to a spade lead. When the hand went wrong it went very wrong; Jevin posted 4H -2, Ritold and Gerbot 4H -3. Leigh Ann, NJ, Bob and Cindy shared the E-W top on +620.

?

4H W -3 (2)

4H W -2

3H W -1

3H W +1

4H W = (4)

?

17:

?

...............K5

...............KQ9542

...............K97

...............85

Q8743.......................A96

108............................A76

A863..........................J1042

J9...............................K76

...............J102

...............J3

...............Q5

...............AQ10432

?

Elott and Penj produced a passout (North usually opened and either East or South might have opened as well). 1H-1NT; 2H was perhaps the most likely auction; West has a tough time balancing on what is not necessarily a fit auction. 2H N was played three times. If East doubled an opening bid from North (or balanced after a 3C opening bid from South) we got a bit more competition, with higher contracts of 3H N, 3NT E, 4H N, 4S W and 4Sx W.

?

Heart contracts threaten to take ten tricks with a diamond ruff. E-W can draw two rounds of trumps easily enough but need to keep control of the timing. A heart or club lead holds declarer to nine tricks by force. A diamond lead does not work because, after jack/queen/ace and the necessary heart switch, East can never lead a second diamond and eventually gets squeezed in the minors. Eric and Jim took ten tricks in 2H; the three other heart declarers took nine. No-trumps by E-W could have been held to five tricks by a heart lead; Henry escaped with seven after the lead of a club. Spades can be held to seven tricks, as the entries to dummy do not allow declarer to do everything and the diamonds must be played relatively late in the hand, at a stage when the needed heart ace will be long gone. As declarer would need to bring down the spade king on a spot card, it is not surprising that at the tables declarer underperformed par, Gerbot picking up a crucial fourth undertrick against 4S, while Jevin's 4Sx -5 was two tricks more than they'd have needed to top 4H = but at least scored a nice +1100.

?

4Sx W -5

4S W -4

2H N +2 (2)

2H N +1; 3H N =

3NT E -2

Passed Out

4H N -1

?

18:

?

...............952

...............AK1043

...............5

...............Q963

KJ86........................AQ103

Q8............................J9765

10973.......................AQ6

J84...........................5

...............74

...............2

...............KJ842

...............AK1072

?

Another Flannery hand, this time for E-W, but also this time with the fun of South's holding the two minors. Over Flannery some play a 2NT overcall as directly for minors; others play 2NT as a hand with tricks and tack the minors onto the three-suited takeout bid of 2H, pulling if partner bids spades. I even came across a method once on which people bid 3C with both minors. If East opens 1H South might not want to come in at the vulnerability, but 2NT is plausible. One South opted to pass 1H, West bypassed the spades to respond 1NT and East ended up declaring 2D. 1H-2D is a plausible beginning; East ended up declaring 3S at one table and 4S at another, possible after a negative double from West. South usually showed both minors; North declared 3C thrice, 4C and 5C. The last contract was the only time South declared, playing 6Cx.

?

E-W have three top tricks against clubs but Kevin made 5C after a heart lead. Stindy were E-W top defending 6Cx -1. The club partials took eight, nine, ten and eleven tricks. Diamonds could have been held to five tricks for a good defensive score but Steve (R) escaped for -1 and 6/8 instead of 1.5/8. A heart lead holds spade contracts to seven tricks; both declarers finished -2 for near-middle scores.

?

5C N =

4C N +1

3C N +1

3C N =

3S E -2; 4S E -2

2D E -1

3C N -1

6Cx S -1

1:

?

...............A96

...............A32

...............J9

...............AJ1065

K5432......................QJ8

K865........................J1094

A3............................Q75

73.............................984

...............107

...............Q7

...............K108642

...............KQ2

?

With both sides holding two eight-card fits and with South holding what seems to be invitational values, the real surprise is not that we ended up with a rainbow of contracts but that nobody bid game. 1C from North, 1D from South and then West came in with either a double or 1S. Four auctions ended low with two contracts of 1NT N and 2D S. The high contract was 4D S; the most popular level was the three-level with contracts in all four suits: 3C N, 3D S five times, 3H E twice and 3S W.

?

With the double fit, the hand plays best in diamonds, which can only be held to eleven tricks by a spade lead. A heart lead makes it easy to take twelve tricks; a club lead has to be won in the North hand with the jack or ten for the first diamond finesse. Five declarers in diamonds took twelve tricks; one took eleven and two took ten. Club contracts do one trick worse because the side suit can be neutralized; South can be forced to ruff a heart or spade because a club is the only possible entry to the long diamonds if West holds off on the ace and the ruff stops the diamonds from running. A spade lead holds no-trumps to eight tricks, with one declarer taking eight and one nine. Major-suit contracts could have been held to seven tricks, with a black-suit lead needed to effect this against hearts. Jerik were N-S top defending 3S W -4; West dropped two tricks, one by starting hearts with a lead to the king and the other by later ruffing a diamond low and allowing an overruff. The Easts in 3H had the top scores their way, Bev taking eight tricks and Matt making the contract.

?

3S W -4

2D S +4 (2); 3D S +3 (3)

1NT N +2; 3C N +2; 3D S +2

3D S +1; 4D S =

1NT N +1

3H E -1

3H E =

?

2:

?

...............QJ8

...............987

...............J932

...............AQ9

A532........................10764

105...........................A2

Q1064......................AK87

J64...........................K105

...............K9

...............KQJ643

...............5

...............8732

?

1D-2H ended the auction once but usually West doubled (and I'd expect East for double . 2S E ended the auction once. The battle usually was decided on the three-level, with 3S E outdoing 3H S by a margin of 5-3. That left three contracts of 4H and one of 4S.

?

The Law was spot on this time. The unlucky clubs mean that heart contracts should take only eight tricks. Spades can take nine by force although it may take some sharp play (or a diamond lead). Bev in 2S +1 was the only declarer to take nine tricks, which seems a little on the low side, although it seems possible that declarer can get stuck in the East hand and be unable to lead a second club through. It's not that surprising that heart contracts took nine tricks more often. Jatin and Kalle both posted 3H = to tie for N-S top. Kalle made the contract after two rounds of diamonds were gone with the queen cashed and the king played. West got in with the spade ace and led a third diamond, allowing the ruffing finesse. Carthurl and Heve tied for E-W top defending 4H -2.

?

3H S = (2)

2H S =

4S E -2

3S E -1 (5)

3H S -1; 4H S -1

2S E +1

4H S -2 (2)

?

3:

?

...............J95

...............A106

...............AK7

...............10954

----.........................KQ732

QJ8........................K52

QJ63......................1052

AQJ872..................K6

...............A10864

...............9743

...............984

...............3

?

It looks as if 1C from West kept North out of the auction - a good thing most of the time, although here South ought to do all right in spades. But all the contracts were E-W. After 1C-1S; 2C East might bid 2D or 2NT. Two Easts rebid 2S and West (usually a wise thing to do) left it in. Then we had four contracts of 3C W, six of 3NT E and one of 3NT W, along with 5C W.

?

Absolute par was ten tricks in clubs for E-W. North has three top tricks and no 4-2 diamond split to produce a ruff. All four declarers in clubs took ten tricks to split the middle score. No-trumps depends largely on South's finding the spade lead. Only Phoebe and Cindy produced that lead as South, after which declarer has only seven tricks. Rich, Mark, Matt and Hank (V) all made 3NT to tie for second E-W, Rich after a heart lead to the ace. Had North ducked the first heart, Rich could have established a trick in either spades or hearts, but then N-S, who had four top tricks, could have established their fifth trick in the same suit in which Rich had just established his eighth. Henry's 3NT E +2 was E-W top. Phoebot and Conndy were in a three-way tie for N-S second with Haorge's 2S -2. Glynneth took their eight tricks for 2S -3 and the N-S top.

?

2S E -3

2S E -2; 3NT E -2 (2)

5C W -1

3C W +1 (4)

3NT E = (3); 3NT W =

3NT E +2

?

4:

?

...............K76542

...............QJ2

...............KQ

...............Q7

J..............................AQ1098

10975......................5

107642....................853

642..........................AKJ3

...............3

...............AK864

...............AJ9

...............10985

?

This time North opens 1S and shuts East out of the auction. South responds 2H and then the side gets to game, usually 4H but occasionally 3NT. The one partial came about after North opened 2S (the hand certainly justifies a downgrade, but that's a bit extreme), which was left in. Games were 3NT S twice, 3NTx S and 4H S ten times.

?

Carthurl did quite well defending 3NTx S -1; the double calls for the lead of dummy's suit, spades. After a spade lead even if dummy ducks East can cash the first five tricks. On any other lead South just plugs away at clubs and East is helpless, unable to reach West's good diamonds or avoid having to give away the ninth trick in one black suit or the other. Jatin and Del both made 3NT, Jatin after a diamond lead. 4H is held to eight tricks by a spade lead with careful defence. It was a popular result, posted seven times. 2S could have finished -1 for a nice result, but declarer did not expect the bad trump split and finished -3 against Leighry, giving them the E-W top, a result which I have to call an overall example of Justice being done for the 2S opening bid.

?

3NT S = (2)

4H S -1 (3)

3NTx S -1; 4H S -1 (7)

2S N -3

?

5:

?

...............Q6

...............AK8632

...............87

...............1095

KJ83.......................A10974

J5............................Q10

J10962....................KQ53

86............................K4

...............52

...............974

...............A4

...............AQJ732

?

I expected the auction to start 2H-2S-3H-3S, with South perhaps bidding 3C instead. Half the auctions ended on the three-level, with one contract of 3H N and six of 3S E. Half the auctions reached game, with contracts of 4H N, 4S E five times and 5C S.

?

The layout was quite kind to N-S, the only positive thing for E-W being that the diamonds split 2-2 to prevent any inconvenient ruff. Par in spades was eight tricks for declarer. In clubs or hearts declarer takes eleven tricks against a spade lead but can pick up thirteen against the lead of any other suit. All three N-S pairs to declarer took all thirteen tricks: 4H +3 for Jim, 5C +2 for Geof and 3H +4 for Phoebe. The natural lead for East was the diamond king; West might have opted for a diamond as well. At this vulnerability even the partial outscored the undoubled sets. The eleven spade contracts resulted in seven tricks thrice, eight tricks six times and nine tricks twice. Rich was E-W top in 3S =, with a six-way tie on -1.

?

4H N +3

5C S +2

3H N +4

4S E -3 (3)

4S E -2

3S E -1 (5); 4S E -1

3S E =

?

6:

?

...............A942

...............QJ1086

...............7

...............A96

8..............................KQ1063

A975........................42

10843......................QJ92

8432........................Q5

...............J75

...............K3

...............AK65

...............KJ107

?

This looks like 3NT or perhaps 4H after a 1NT opening bid from South. North might transfer, use Stayman or even start with 2C followed by 3S Smolen to show the 4=5 majors. One pair had a bit of luck. East opted to come in with 2S after P-1NT-P-2C. This was passed around to North, who doubled. Other contracts were 3H N, 3H S, 3NT N, 3NT S nine times and 4H S.

?

Declarer can take eleven tricks in hearts or no-trumps. This depends on playing East for the club queen, but declarer can be assisted by not wanting to lose the lead to East if there are spade tricks ready to cash but West cannot lead the suit. Pharah were N-S top defending 2Sx -4, the par result. Declarer in 3NT posted +460 six times, +430 thrice and +400 once. Randi held declarer to nine tricks in 3NT when two heart losers were left stranded in dummy. 4H and one of the 3H contracts took eleven tricks; Leighry were E-W top defending 3H S =.

?

2Sx E -4

3NT N +2; 3NT S +2 (5)

4H S +1

3NT S +1 (3)

3NT S =

3H N +2

3H S =

?

7:

?

...............975

...............A854

...............Q92

...............AK8

AQJ86.................K102

KJ3......................Q92

KJ3......................A754

Q2........................J109

...............43

...............1076

...............1086

...............76543

?

This was?nearly as close as we came to everyone's taking the same number of tricks. West might open either 1NT or 1S. Almost everyone reached game, with contracts evenly divided between spades and no-trumps: 2S W, 3S W, 3NT W seven times and 4S W five times.

?

It's?almost straightforward to take ten tricks in either denomination. Declarer is a bit uneasy in 3NT if N-S clear the clubs off the top,?as then there is a choice between knocking out the heart ace and trying the diamond finesse. Ten tricks in spades seem almost a sure thing. One declarer took eleven, but, as the contract was only 2S, it did almost no good. The other declarers in spades took ten tricks. In 3NT, four declarers took ten tricks, one took nine and Haorge were N-S top posting 3NT -1; declarer let South in with the diamond ten.

?

3NT W -1

3S W +1

2S W +3

3NT W = (2)

4S W = (5)

3NT W +1 (4)

?

8:

?

...............643

...............8732

...............AQ73

...............A2

A5...........................KQ8

10964......................J5

J92..........................1086

K954.......................QJ876

...............J10972

...............AKQ

...............K54

...............103

?

This began a run of three board on which 41 of 42 contracts were in spades. Perhaps no East opened 1C in third seat, leaving South to open 1S in fourth seat. One North responded 1NT and South opted to leave it there. Everyone else played in spades, 2S S twelve times, which I shall assume to be mainly after some form of Drury, and 3S once.

?

Spade contracts can be held to nine tricks if West leads a club or a club switch is found after E-W win a round of trumps. Only Larbot 1 and Keianne found the successful line to hold spades to nine tricks. E-W top went to Mattbot defending 1NT N =; declarer had eight tricks but lost one on a misclick.

?

2S S +3

2S S +2 (10)

2S S +1; 3S S =

1NT N =

?

9:

?

...............J95

...............AJ76

...............J106

...............1064

AK874.................Q1062

9843....................10

K43......................Q952

2...........................AKQ7

...............3

...............KQ52

...............A87

...............J9853

?

The Round of Spades (with West always declaring) began. It looked as if we might get everyone into 4S after 1D-1S; 2S and at least an invitation. Contracts were 2S, 3S twice, 4S ten times and 5S once.

?

Declarer had what could have been a routine eleven tricks. There was chance of a twelfth if a diamond jack lead ran to the king. Declarer can discard the diamond losers on the clubs and give up a heart, but South wins and pushes through the fourth club; West must ruff high and North can discard a diamond; after that North will get a trump trick at some point. If N-S are sufficiently passive West might never manage to establish an eleventh trick and come to only ten in the end. Eleven declarers took eleven tricks, two took ten and Kalbot were N-S top defeating 4S - declarer drew trumps after a trump lead and later dropped another trick.?

?

4S W -1

2S W +3; 3S W +2 (2)

4S W = (2)

4S W +1 (7); 5S W =

?

10:

?

...............K4

...............982

...............K7542

...............854

Q10982................7653

A10.......................QJ7

AQ8......................9

J107......................AQ962

...............AJ

...............K6543

...............J1063

...............K3

?

P-1H-1S-2H and then East can make a limit raise. If East also shows four trumps West might go on because of the good intermediates or because the hand could be worse but there were more 2S contracts than 4S, with contracts at the two, three and four level five times, six times and thrice respectively.

?

Declarer has ten tricks somewhat more than half the time and takes ten tricks here with the trumps behaving (2-2 split or at least half the 3-1 splits) and the heart finesse right even with the club finesse wrong. This turned out to be the closest we came to everyone's taking the same number of tricks. Only Glynneth held declarer to nine tricks when West took a diamond finesse at the third trick.

?

2S W +1

2S W +2 (4); 3S W +1 (6)

4S W = (3)

?

11:

?

...............K63

...............AJ76

...............J105

...............872

AQ.......................J1074

KQ10843.............952

K642....................97

6..........................KQ43

...............9852

...............----

...............AQ83

...............AJ1095

?

1C-1H-1NT and then East likely raises to 2H or perhaps passes. South does not want to sell out but does not want an excited North to go to game. The Good-Bad 2NT allows South to show a competitive club hand by bidding 2NT as a relay. West is almost sure to compete to 3H. North might go for a matchpoint double; the bidding does not seem all that likely to go much higher. Contracts were 1H W, 2D S, 3H W six times, 3Hx W twice, 3S S twice, 4H W and 4Hx W.

?

This time the hand performed below the prediction of the Law. N-S could take eight tricks in either diamonds or spades. Larry (Sh) matched par in 2D S = but 3S proved too difficult for the opponents of Ribot and Troward, who both posted 3S -3 to tie for E-W top. Heart contracts could have been held to seven tricks by the lead of the ace, seven or six of trumps. This ensures that declarer gets locked out of dummy when there is anything useful to do there. Heart contracts took eight tricks eight times. Jerik were the only N-S pair to hold declarer to seven tricks. Dianne and Carl were the only two declarers in hearts to take nine tricks, both posting 3H = for the best declaring result on the hand. Dianne received a diamond lead and continuation; a spade switch would still have allowed N-S to force -1.

?

4Hx W -2

3H W -2; 3Hx W -1 (2); 4H W -2

2D N =

3H W -1 (3)

1H W +1

3H W = (2)

3S S -3 (2)

?

12:

?

...............J10853

...............A5

...............986

...............Q52

42..........................KQ

107643..................KJ2

Q10........................AK42

K1097....................A864

...............A976

...............Q98

...............J753

...............J3

?

East opened 2NT. West almost always bid 3D and followed with 3NT, with East almost always correcting to 4H. East always declared. Contracts were 2NT, 3H, 3NT and 4H eleven times.

?

With a second heart loser, 4H looks rather iffy, even though it cannot be set by force. With a second heart loser, declarer could need the diamond finesse, but the odds are against N-S's being able to cash their three tricks and get off lead without having to break a minor. The opening lead for South most likely to succeed would have been a low trump. That would have forced declarer to find the diamond finesse. But leading either minor gives the contract away at once, while ace and another spade gives declarer a chance to force an endplay against one opponent or the other. In the end 4H finished -1 six times (including against Phoebot when declarer declined the diamond finesse), = four times and +1 for Ken, who presumably received a diamond lead and a club shift, or the other way round. No-trumps could have been held to eight tricks but both pairs of defenders overperforming, with Pharah posting 3NT -3 for the N-S top.

?

3NT E -3

2NT E -1; 4H E -1 (6)

3H E =

4H E = (4)

4H E +1

?

13:

?

?

...............J8

...............AQ974

...............2

...............108532

107542...................63

62...........................KJ105

K105.......................AQ98763

AK4.........................----

...............AKQ9

...............83

...............J4

...............QJ976

?

A heavy 3D opening bid might end the auction. Over a 1D opening bid, a diamond partial or an adventurous 3NT could be in play if South passes. A 2C overcall could get the auction very high, depending on North's style. Contracts were 2D E, 3C S, 3D E twice, 3H N, 3NT W twice, 4C S, 4D E four times and 5Cx S twice.

?

Club contracts take nine tricks, ten if E-W do not cash their diamond winner before declarer gets in. Larbot 1 had the best defensive result for E-W, posting 5Cx -2. With South's having a natural spade lead, diamonds took the par ten tricks six times while Bev took an eleventh. 3H could have been held to seven tricks by a diamond lead but Kalle escaped with eight, no insignificant thing opposite the wall of E-W partials. The fun contract was 3NT; could N-S find their five top tricks? Howard and Lee both took ten tricks to tie for E-W top, Howard after a low heart lead.

?

3C S =

3H N -1; 4C S -1

2D E +2; 3D E +1 (2); 4D E = (3)

4D E +1

5Cx S -1

5Cx S -2

3NT W +1 (2)

?

14:

?

...............Q1065

...............----

...............AQ1085

...............J754

J74............................AK92

A105..........................KQJ97

K976..........................32

1083...........................Q2

...............83

...............86432

...............J4

...............AK96

?

One pair opened 2D Flannery as East (with an appropriate hand for once) but the auction usually began 1H-P-2H. 2H E was played three times along with 2Hx E (not a decision from South one could recommend). North's acting, usually with a double, generally pushed E-W to the three-level. 3H E was played seven times and 3H W once. Two auctions went higher, finishing in 4C S and 5Dx N.

?

The lead of either minor against a heart contract lets N-S force East to ruff and holds declarer to seven tricks, although an eighth is possible after the lead of a major. Three declarer is 3H underperformed and finished -3 against Phoebot, Larbot 2 and Haorge. Ken and Larry (St) were the only successful declarers, both posting 2H = to tie for E-W top. East ducked the spade lead against Phoebot. 4C finished the expected -1 against Leighry; 5Dx could have been -3 against the lead of a red suit but finished -1 to save declarer two matchpoints.

?

3H E -3 (3)

2Hx E -1; 3H E -2 (2)

2H E -1; 3H E -1 (2); 3H W -1

4C S -1

5Dx N -1

2H E = (2)

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15:

?

...............A7

...............----

...............KQJ743

...............AK965

KQ103.................98652

QJ10863..............5

A6........................108

8...........................107432

...............J4

...............AK9742

...............952

...............QJ

?

Whether South opens 1H or 2H, that silences West. A 1H opening bid gives North ambitions.?Four partials were played - 2H S, 3D N twice and 4D N, along with 6D N thrice. The other N-S pairs all finished in games, 5D N outdoing 3NT N by 4-3. Geoel's auction to 6D was 1H-2D; 2H-3C; 3D-6D, North highly encouraged by South's 3D bid even on a preference. It's possible - just - that slam could have virtually no play; South could hold something like QJx AKQxxx xx xx and two rounds of trumps leave declarer stranded in hand. But it's difficult for South to hold none of the three main cards (diamond ace, spade king or club queen), any one of which?could be enough, especially if opener holds three diamonds. But finding the cards one would need for a grand slam seems almost impossible; 6D seems the practical compromise.

?

6D requires careful play because of the 6-1 hearts (and secondarily the 5-1 clubs. Joel and Sarah made the slam, while declarer went down against Randi; of the ten diamond contracts, five saw declarer take twelve tricks. Joel received a spade lead to the ace, crossed to the club queen, discarded a spade on the heart ace and led a trump. As West held the ace there was no club ruff. Against Joel the return was a spade, allowing him to ruff, draw trumps and cross to the club jack for a discard of the low club. A second heart would have found declarer just able to ruff high. But carelessness in either hearts or clubs would have allowed a ruff. Two of the three Northbots steered the bidding into the impossible 3NT, which a spade lead must defeat. Larry (Sh) did not receive a spade lead and finished with eleven tricks; Carthurl's declarer tried desperately to make something out of nothing and finished -3.

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6D N = (2)

3NT N +2

5D N +1 (2)

5D N =

3D N +3

3D N +2 (2); 4D N +1

2H S =

6D N -1

5D N -2

3NT N -3

?

16:

?

...............Q73

...............AQ8

...............K8764

...............A7

A9652....................KJ10

KJ1054..................972

92...........................J

J.............................K109432

...............84

...............63

...............AQ1053

...............Q865

?

This seemed an unlikely rainbow hand. The vulnerability was likely to scare West off a light opening bid and East off an overcall over 1NT opposite a passed partner. Two Souths left 1NT in, a conservative action if the range is 15 (or 14+)-17, but one of the two Souths was Erik, and Jerik's range tops out at 16. 2NT N was played only once. I thought we might see a contract of 2Cx E (a highly pleasing prospect for South) but the only club contract was 3C N when one of the Northbots took South's 2NT as lebensohl. 3D was played thrice, once by North and twice by South. Three N-S pairs carried on to 3NT one way or another. The highest partial was 4D N. When West got into the auction, E-W got all the way to game despite the vulnerability, West declaring 4Hx and 4S. One intrepid North got all the way to 5D.

?

The 5-5 diamonds and tenuous spade stopper make 3NT look like a grim prospect, but the contract cannot be defeated when North declares. The spade queen can be trapped but West has no entry to cash the fourth and fifth spades. Declarer has the time to lead a club to the queen to come to nine tricks. Gareth and Sarah took their nine tricks and Joel took ten for the N-S top. He received a club lead to the queen, ran the diamonds ending in the South hand, then finessed in hearts and cashed out. West was on lead at trick eleven with the A9 in spades and one good heart while East held the spade KJ and club king; West cashed the heart, East discarded the spade and then West led the spade ace next to give Joel the last trick with the spade queen. the no-trumps partials each yielded one overtrick, the par-bettering -120 scoring 10.5/13 for E-W while -150 scored only 5/13. Paun posted the expected 4S W -3, but declarer in 4Hx W escaped with only -1 (-2 could have been forced) to save three matchpoints. Of the five diamond contracts, three declarers took the expected ten tricks while two took an eleventh (Heve set the one game to score 12/13). 2Cx E would have been interesting. If South goes for a ruff right away 2Cx is only -1. The chance of -2 and +500 comes if instead N-S begin with two diamonds. If East tries to draw trumps the force is on and N-S get their two-trick set. But East can start hearts instead and just get out with seven tricks. Carthurl were E-W top defending 3C N -3; -2 would have been enough.

?

3NT N +1

3NT N = (2)

4S W -3

4Hx W -1

2NT N +1; 3D N +2; 3D S +2

3D S +1; 4D N =

1NT N +1 (2)

4Hx W -1

3C N -3

?

17:

?

...............10543

...............AKJ

...............Q743

...............82

J2.......................AK98

Q65....................1043

962.....................AK105

A10973...............QJ

...............Q76

...............9872

...............J8

...............K643

?

We came so close. Thirteen Easts opened 1NT and that ended the auction. Who were the jokers in the pack? No prize for guessing it was Heve. Steve opened 1D and raised Hank's 1NT response to 2NT.

?

The club blockage is inconvenient for declarer. The hand is also right-sided when declared by West, though not enough to make a trick difference. The club spots are just good enough in conjunction with the 4-2 diamond split, to let East as declarer force eight tricks. After three rounds of hearts and a diamond switch, declarer passes a club, then cashes both diamond winners, overtakes the second club, knocks out the king and South must put dummy in. After three hearts and a spade switch, declarer passes a club and then cashes the second spade. If South unblocks the queen, then South never gets in; East establishes a trick in spades and another in diamonds. If South keeps the queen, East passes the other club, cashes the diamond and then puts South in with the spade queen, Again South will have to lead a club.

?

It is not surprising that most declarers took only seven tricks, given all the guesses needed to take eight. Tracy and Hank (V) tied for E-W top with nine tricks; Mark and Rita took eight. Boric and Haorge tied for N-S top setting 1NT. Against Boric declarer finessed a diamond to South and was stuck in hand at trick eleven with North and East holding:

?

105

----

Q

----

..........K9

..........----

..........10

..........----

?

South still held a low spade; instead of endplaying North with the diamond queen declarer cashed the spade king and finished -1.

?

1NT E -1 (2)

1NT E = (8)

1NT E +1 (2)

1NT E +2; 2NT E +1

?

18:

?

...............Q3

...............Q9654

...............Q642

...............Q4

A972.......................KJ4

KJ8.........................A2

108..........................K753

AK32.......................J975

...............10865

...............1073

...............AJ9

...............1086

?

It looked as if we would at least get everyone into 3NT, declared usually by East if not always. But we somehow saw one auction end in 1NT W (P-1C; 1D-1NT?) and another in 2C W along with the dozen games. East outdeclared West by a margin of only 7-5; maybe some Easts raised a 1S response to 2S on KJ4 with an outside doubleton.

?

The black suits are beautifully kind to declarer, although some declarers will suspect that the spade queen's dropping on the second round is a falsecard from Q103. Boric closed out a fine finish (alas, to no avail) by managing to defeat 3NT W, suggsting that perhaps declarer ran the club jack and/or played the diamond king early. Ten tricks could have been forced. Eleven tricks were taken by Louise, Sandi, Tracy and Lee to share the E-W top, Sandi after a heart lead from North. The par 3NT +1 occurred six times to split the middle score.

?

3NT W -1

2C W +2

1NT W +3

3NT E =

3NT E +1 (4); 3NT W +1 (2)

3NT E +2 (2); 3NT W +2 (2)