1:
?
...............Q42
...............A109732
...............A
...............Q106
9753..........................KJ106
KQ854......................----
7................................K653
A73............................KJ954
...............A8
...............J6
...............QJ109842
...............82
?
The auction can clearly start 1H-X-2D (limited in HCP after a takeout double for most pairs). Will West come in with spades or be put off by the concentration of values in hearts? How quickly either North or South will give up to the other's suit is also in question. Contracts were 2H N twice, 3D S twice, 3Dx S, 3H N, 3S E, 3S W thrice, 4D S, 4Hx N twice, 4S W and 4Sx W.
?
The kind layout of the black suits makes it impossible to set 4S. The defence can score the diamond and spade aces along with a diamond ruff (or overruff with the trump queen). The best chance for the defence is to go after a club ruff. If, say, in some fantasy North led the club queen to the ace, an immediate spade finesse and second club would force declarer to cash the spade king at once to prevent the club ruff. Then a diamond to the ace, spade queen and third club back would manage the set. Of course, declarer can go wrong by trumping the second diamond low or trying to cash the king, etc. Kathy managed to make 4Sx for the E-W top but only half of the six declarers in spades took the possible ten tricks, Kathy being joined by Mark and George. Ritold and Rurry were a little unlucky not to share E-W top defending 4Hx -3, the expected result against hearts. Cindy and Eileen both took nine tricks in heart partials, Cindy after an opening lead of the spade jack, followed by West's later switching to a low heart when in instead of the king or queen. The heart void is also sufficient to hold diamond contracts to seven tricks, the result posted by Phoebot, although the other declarers in diamonds took eight.?
?
2H N +1; 3H N =
2H N =
3S W -1; 4S W -1
3D S -1
3D S -2; 3Dx S -1; 4D S -2
3S W =
3S E +1; 3S W +1
4Hx N -3 (2)
4Sx W =
?
2:
?
...............74
...............AQ62
...............1062
...............QJ72
QJ1092................K6
K984....................J75
J3.........................AK974
85.........................A43
...............A853
...............103
...............Q85
...............K1096
?
This seemed to be headed for a contract of 2S after 1NT and either a transfer or Stayman followed by 2S for pairs that play that sequence as not forward-going. But 2S was barely the majority contract, played five times by East and thrice by West. Four Easts finished in 2NT, again possible with either initial response from West. 3D E was played twice, possible after Stayman or if East opened 1D; one East got all the way up to 3NT.
?
It turned out that 3NT scored better than the average of 2NT; declarer always went down but N-S were just trying for five tricks against 3NT and did not go looking for more, while 2NT finished -1, -2 twice and -3. N-S should have at least six tricks with even moderate care and should be able to force a seventh. 2S cannot be set; if South gets a heart ruff West gets a long heart; if West is forced in clubs N-S score the fourth club instead of the heart ruff but West can still force a trick in hearts. Three declarers were set in 2S (perhaps after ruffing out diamonds; Harold had the most successful declaring result in 2S E +1; a plausible result if South never leads a club. 3D should have been -2; Conndy were joint N-S top when East ran the diamond jack and allowed a spade ruff for -3.?
?
2NT E -3; 3D E -3
2NT E -2 (2); 3D E -2
2S E -1; 2S W -1 (2); 2NT E -1; 3NT E -1
2S E = (3); 2S W =
2S E +1
?
3:
?
...............K1042
...............A1085
...............K8
...............K105
J875.......................A
KQ73......................J94
Q74.........................AJ2
Q9...........................J87632
...............Q963
...............62
...............109653
...............A4
?
This is the sort of hand on which one can understand the lack of balancing that allowed a contract of 2S S twelve times, although E-W can make 3C. But North opens 1C, which likely silences East, who might bid 3C over 1C-1S; 2S if non-vulnerable. West at unfavourable vulnerability is not likely to want to force the biding to the three-level when holding four trumps. One South was left in 1S, a little pessimistic of North. The other two contracts were 1NT N (perhaps 1C-1D; 1NT) and 1NT E (did East double 1C for takeout? Shades of Martha Hollander!).
?
As I said earlier, 3C can make, although declarer is put to the test by a heart lead. If dummy ducks, South rises with the ace on the first club, resumes hearts, ruffs the third round, returns a spade and now dummy is cut off, forcing East to lead a diamond from hand. To make 3C declarer must win an early heart in dummy and lead a low diamond to the jack while it is possible to do so. 2S cannot be stopped by force although declarer can easily go down - indeed declarer did go down in 2S half the time and even went down in 1S. Diane and Leigh Ann took nine tricks, Diane when West overruffed a club at trick nine only to get over-overruffed by the king when the jack would have scored anyway. Top scores came to both Glotin and Carthurl for defending 1NT, which failed from either side, -2 played by North and -3 played by East.
?
1NT E -3
2S S +1 (2)
2S S = (4)
1S S -1; 2S S -1 (6)
1NT N -2
?
4:
?
...............J107
...............AQ3
...............AK1084
...............KJ
A86......................K3
82.........................J1097
93.........................762
A107642...............Q953
...............Q9542
...............K654
...............QJ5
...............8
?
This hand should have been played in game at every table. North opens 1D and rebids 2NT over South's 1S response and then either 3NT or 4S should be reached. Perhaps West came in with 2C, which ought not to have proven an insurmountable obstacle, but one N-S pair stopped in 2S S while three other Souths left North in 2NT. Games were 3NT N six times, 4H N, 4S S only thrice and 5D N. It ought to be easy enough to find the 5-3 spade fit and finish in 4S.
?
Weirdly (looking at the clubs) 3NT is the better contract. After a club lead and continuation declarer has to cash out for nine tricks. A heart lead gives declarer a tempo that turns out to be irrelevant - indeed it offers the chance of a set if West wins the first heart and switches to a low club, after which declarer will come to either nine tricks or six. Results were evenly divided between = and +1, the overtricks coming when E-W neither led nor shifted to a club after the first spade. The hand really ought to have been a bit of a trap, as 4S can be defeated, but never was. Phyllis (B) made 4S when West ducked the first round of trumps. West must lead a heart (or switch to a heart after a diamond lead if South plays a club at trick two). West wins the first round of spades and plays the other heart; declarer cannot stop a heart ruff when East gains the lead with the spade king. But nobody found the ruff. Hank (V) was N-S top in 4S +1 when the club ace was not cashed. Haorge and Jonj split the E-W top defending 5D -1 and 4H -1.
?
4S S +1
3NT N +1 (3)
4S S = (2)
3NT N = (3)
2NT N +2 (2)
2NT N +1
2S S +1
4H N -1; 5D S -1
?
5:
?
...............98
...............Q84
...............10953
...............J854
654.........................AQJ7
J763........................952
KQ87.......................A6
97............................AK103
...............K1032
...............AK10
...............J42
...............Q62
?
This auction seems headed for 2NT E, although that was only the contract five times. 1NT E was played four times, likely after a takeout double from South and a pass from West; East likely rebids 1NT after 1C-X-P-1D, just as well for South. Two Easts rebid 1S instead of 2NT over 1C-1R and were left there; one South somehow finished in 1NT. There were three three-level contracts: 3S E, 3NT E and 3NT W.
?
No-trumps ought to have come to eight tricks. Neither side can do a whole lot; N-S have a good chance to hold declarer to seven tricks by pushing diamonds before declarer can establish hearts. Trick counts were seven tricks once, eight tricks seven times and nine tricks thrice, with Mike E-W top in 3NT E =. Spades could have been held to eight tricks had N-S cashed their heart tricks off the top; Jim made 3S E after a diamond lead.
?
2NT E -1; 3NT W -1
1S E +1 (2)
1NT E +1 (2); 2NT E = (4)
3S E =
1NT E +2 (2)
1NT S -2
3NT E =
?
6:
?
...............J1074
...............AJ5432
...............K9
...............8
952........................KQ83
Q1097....................6
Q75432..................A10
----.........................AQJ1095
...............A6
...............K8
...............J86
...............K76432
?
East's 1C opening bid likely shut South out of the auction, and then much depended on whether West responded 1D or 1H. 1D ran into 2H from North and usually more from East. 1H likely kept North out of the auction and then the bidding could have gone anywhere. We ended with a rainbow. Contracts were 1S E twice, 2S E thrice, 3C E thrice, 3H N twice, 3S E twice, 3NT E twice and 4D W.
?
Most contracts were too high, understandable give the semi-fits abounding and frequent bad trump splits. Red-suit contracts could take eight tricks, other contracts seven. In no-trumps both sides overperformed once, with Louff N-S top defending 3NT E -3. Spades finished with trick counts from six to nine with a 2-4-0-1 split, Mark making the best declaring score in 2S E +1. Glotin defended 3H N -1 as expected, but Elaine played 3H = after the lead of the diamond ace and a switch to the spade king, when any other suit would have preserved the set. Declarer overperformed in diamonds but 4D was still -1. Declarers also overperformed in clubs but still bid too high, all posting 3C -1. The board was to be dwarfed by Boards 14 and 18 for defensive potential.
?
3NT E -3
2S E -2 (2); 3S E -2 (2)
3H N =
3C E -1 (3); 3NT E -1; 4D W -1
3H N -1
1S E = (2)
2S E +1
?
7:
?
...............K98
...............AK85
...............AQJ1053
...............----
A42...........................10853
J42............................1096
K96............................72
Q1072........................AJ53
...............QJ7
...............Q73
...............84
...............K9864
?
North opens 1D in third seat and probably reverses into 2H over South's 1NT response. I expected 3NT S for pairs who are well up on their reverses and possible diamond partials otherwise. Contracts were 2D N thrice(!), 2NT S, 3D N thrice and only eight games: 3NT S seven times and 5D N.
?
?With the diamonds behaving, all declarers but one in diamond contracts took twelve tricks. 3NT looks slightly more interesting, as South may fear after a club lead. The club suit will only provide three winners to E-W barring an extreme layout which will set 3NT anyway, but there is no sensible alternative to diamond finesses if the lead is a club and no reason to avoid them on other leads. But only Tracy and Phyllis (B) took the eleven tricks they could have forced. Presumably pairs that took ten or nine tricks held off in clubs; it makes sense that declarer would not win the second trick after a low club to the ace and a club back, although, if West led the deuce and East returned the trey, South might as well win the second round. One declarer took ten tricks, two took only nine and two only eight against Gel and Nary. I wondered if Gel's opponent misclicked, as declarer won the second club, finessed a diamond and then cashed the ace instead of leading a heart back to hand for a second finesse.
?
3NT S +2 (2)
3NT S +1
5D N +1
2NT S = (2)
2NT S +2
2D N +4 (2); 3D N +3 (3)
2D N +2
3NT S -1 (2)
?
8:
?
...............AKJ1086
...............KQ
...............Q108
...............75
Q97542....................----
943...........................A1076
42.............................K763
94.............................AQ632
...............3
...............J852
...............AJ95
...............KJ106
?
It was just as well that West didn't open 2S! After a pass the classic auction would be P-1S-X-XX; P-P-2C-X, and 2Cx E was played once. If South does not redouble there is danger of stopping in a partial; N-S played three partials and left E-W in two undoubled ones, 3C E and a hilarious 2S W (possibly one West did open 2S after all, after which North had nothing to do but pass and then South didn't think to reopen with a double). One North, whatever South did on the first round, bid 2S on the second round, drew another takeout double from East, and got left in by West. Another West bid 2H (perhaps South passed the double), North rebid spades and East went to 4H, which was doubled. We might have a little sympathy for East if South redoubled 1S, making West's 2H bid voluntary, but bidding 4H after P-1S-X-P; 2H has to take the blame. N-S games were 3NT S four times and 4S N thrice.
?
A diamond lead sets 4S N, as declarer does not have time to discard the third diamond from hand before West gets a ruff of the third diamond, and then the queen of trumps will eventually score. Declarer can go wrong and two of the three declarers in 4S underperformed and finished -2. Jane declared 2Sx +2 after a heart lead and Paul made 4S. 3NT has enough entries for ten tricks; only Leigh Ann produced that number of tricks. Randi's 2Cx -3, the expected result, beat the games but scored only 12/14 behind Jane's 2Sx +2 and Lynnbot's 4Hx -5, also the expected result. 4S -2 split the E-W top between Kathbot and Boric.
?
4Hx W -5
2Sx N +2
2Cx E -3
3NT S +1
4S N =
3NT S = (2)
2S W -4; 3C E -4
2S N +1 (2); 3S N =
3NT S -1
4S N -2 (2)
?
9:
?
...............AJ52
...............AQ54
...............K7
...............984
984.......................1076
632........................KJ97
J6..........................10943
AJ1075..................K3
...............KQ3
...............108
...............AQ852
...............Q62
?
We finally got all fifteen tables into the same contract of 3NT. If N-S play that 1C-1D denies a four-card major (either entirely or unless the hand is game-forcing) then North can rebid 1NT; otherwise I'd expect to see 1C-1D; 1H-3NT. The final margin was 11-4 favouring South.
?
Unfortunately the hand turns out to be a complete trap. E-W can set 3NT off the top. Worse, if E-W miss the set (a reasonable proposition given North's 1C opening bid; I could easily see Bill leading a spade as West) there is a strong chance of -2 or even -3 if declarer establishes diamonds, finesses hearts or both. Rich, declaring from the North side, was the only declarer to take nine tricks; he received a heart lead and cashed out. North was never set; Elaine took eleven tricks, Geoff and Paul ten. It appears that almost all Wests led a club, as we never saw -2. 3NT -1 created a ten-way tie for E-W top; the one successful declarer was Howard, taking ten tricks.
?
3NT N +2
3NT N +1 (2); 3NT S +1
3NT N =
3NT S -1 (10)
?
10:
?
...............J1086
...............AJ108
...............A953
...............2
Q5...........................AK9
KQ954.....................763
1076.........................K842
K103........................J65
...............7432
...............2
...............QJ
...............AQ9854
?
I did not get to check all the opening bids; there is a good chance that the only hand with more than 10 HCP was the only hand that did not open the bidding at any table, a rare distinction. There were four passouts: Diarcia/Jerik, Giselaine/Haorge, Leighry/Jomj and Pheileen/Phoebot. It appears that the opening side always played the hand. Two Souths declared 3C, at least one after making that opening bid. Three Norths opened 1D in fourth seat against the Rule of Fifteen, with resulting contracts of 1S S twice and 2NT N. The most common opening bid was 1H from West in third seat. It was nice to see so many apparent instances of Drury, as four Wests declared 2H, with only one contract each of 3H and 4H.
?
2H can be set by the opening lead of a low diamond. N-S always have five tricks. As the low diamond lead establishes a sixth trick, declarer has to take a discard right away on the third spade. Dummy is then cut off and then all N-S have to do is avoid having to lead a club from the South hand. North can crash South's high diamond and force West to ruff the third round; west must then eventually either lead the first club from hand or draw all the trumps and allow North a spade winner. Only Randi produced sic tricks on defence, Rich perceiving that club ruffs would do no good. Eric was among the five declarers taking eight tricks in hearts, posting 2H = after a club lead. Spades cannot be prevented from taking eight tricks; even if E-W draw three rounds of trumps the red suits allow enough winners with the diamond ten dropping on the third round and North being able to win two hearts. Tracy could have been -2 in 2NT N but made an overtrick.?I am tempted to guess that East led the top two spades. Glotin and Ritold shared the E-W top defending 3C -2, the expected result.
?
4H W -2
2NT N +1
1S S +1 (2)
2H W -1; 3H W -1
Passed Out (4)
2H W = (3)
3C S -2 (2)
?
11:
?
...............J943
...............Q107
...............A93
...............532
2.........................Q876
96.......................K854
KJ10862.............7
QJ74...................10986
...............AK105
...............AJ32
...............Q54
...............AK
?
South opens 2NT and then we have Carl's favourite bid, a raise to 3NT on a flat hand without resorting to Stayman, although pairs playing Puppet or Muppet will bid 3C, perhaps intending only to go to a major game opposite a five-card suit. We ended with nine contracts of 3NT S, five of 4S S and one of 4S N.
?
This time the 4-4 fit can do a trick better than no-trumps. Even with North declaring, declarer can pick up three hearts, one diamond, two clubs and a heart ruff along the way of drawing trumps for a forced eleven tricks.? Jerik were allowed to set 4S S, but eleven tricks declaring were taken by Martin, Doug and Lynn. In 3NT S, Gisela, Phyllis (B) and Don took eleven tricks to share N-S top after a diamond lead. There were likely more diamond leads, but declarer has an interesting decision whether to play spades or hearts out of hand next. The spade queen is more likely to drop but the hearts do not guarantee four tricks if the finesse works. At IMPs there would be no question; one would play hearts to be sure of nine tricks, but matchpoints could go either way, with a slight edge to playing hearts first if one is committed to the spade finesse. Besides the three 3NT +2 results, four declarers took ten tricks and two took nine.
?
3NT S +2 (3)
4S N +1; 4S S +1 (2)
3NT S +1 (4)
4S S = (2)
3NT S = (2)
4S S -1
?
12:
?
...............Q6
...............AKJ8
...............J9
...............AQ1042
1032......................K987
Q109753................6
10...........................AK765
K76........................985
...............AJ54
...............42
...............Q8432
...............J3
?
Not every West opened 2H, as there was one weird contract of 2D N. One 2H opening bid was left in. One Soth balanced with a double, left in by North. The other twelve contracts were evenly divided between 3NT N (likely if North opted for a 2NT overcall or opened 1NT if West passed) and clubs after a 3C overcall - 3C four times, 4C and 5C.
?
West takes only four tricks in hearts; Lynnbot posted their second big penalty of the day in 2Hx -4. Pheileen picked up an extra but irrelevant undertrick against 2H undoubled. With all the finesses working and clubs splitting 3-3, 3NT could not have been prevented from taking eleven tricks, as posted by Judy (P) and Tracy, but ten was more usual. Strangely, both clubs and diamonds could yield ten tricks to N-S. In diamonds North's clubs take care of South's low spades and if East ruffs a club or heart it's only with a forced trump trick anyway - declarer in 2D took ten tricks. In clubs E-W have to defend sharply for the hold. Henry made 5C after a high diamond lead and heart switch, but a low diamond ruff thwarts declarer. West can even get out with a heart. Even if North finesses, trumps must be drawn before a second heart is played and then there is no way to get rid of the fourth heart. Henry was able to win the second heart and lead the spade queen. If ducked, the finesse is repeated and a loser discarded on the spade ace before trumps are started. If the queen is covered, dummy wins, trumps are drawn and then a second diamond establishes South's queen while the spade jack is still there as the entry to cash it.
?
2Hx W -4
3NT N +2 (2)
3NT N +1 (4)
5C N =
2H W -5
3C N +3
2D N +2
3C N = (2)
3C N -1; 4C N -1
?
13:
?
...............1097542
...............1043
...............Q6
...............98
KJ8.........................Q
AQJ.........................K96
87............................AK109
AKJ73.....................Q10542
...............A63
...............8752
...............J5432
...............6
?
Finally we get our slam. East's spade queen singleton makes the hand much more interesting for matchpoints, as it means that 6NT can be claimed while 6C does not need the queen at all. The West hand has a solid slam invitation; East has enough extra to accept even without the queen, especially once West shows club support. One E-W pair had an accident over raises and stopped in 2C E. four finished in 3NT W, five in 6C E, three in 6C W after a 1D opening bid rather than 1C, and two in 6NT W. Boric reached 6NT after 1C-2C; 2D-2H; 3C-6NT.
?
It seems to make 6NT easier to reach if 2C is game-forcing. Then we may get 1C-2C; 2D-2NT; 3NT-4NT; 6NT if West is matchpoint-minded, although that might risk missing 6C. Everyone took twelve tricks, giving Carthurl the N-S top and providing a tie for E-W top to Rurry and Boric.
?
2C W +4
3NT W +3 (4)
6C E = (5); 6C W = (3)
6NT W = (2)
?
14:
?
...............AQ87654
...............----
...............1062
...............J103
J102............................K
92................................Q107654
AK84...........................73
K854............................AQ92
...............93
...............AKJ83
...............QJ95
...............76
?
It looks as if either East or South will open 1H. North will respond or overcall spades and it seems hard for the bidding to stop low. The lowest contract was 2NT S, with the only three-level contracts 3S N thrice and 3Sx N. . Higher contracts were 4C E, 4Hx E twice, 4S N thrice, 4Sx N twice and 5C E twice.
?
Every contract failed. Defending hearts, South had four trump tricks to go with North's spade ace. Against spades, E-W can take four tricks in the minors and a diamond ruff; as South can only be reached with a club ruff West can pick up a spade as well. Clubs can be held to eight tricks if South does not get too busy in hearts. E-W have six top tricks in the minors against no-trumps and South has nothing better than to duck the first spade. There was a total of 32 undertricks, with seven declarers overperforming and three underperforming. Marudy had the best undoubled defensive result, 5C -4 when dummy did not ruff a spade at trick ten. 3S -1 or 4S -1 were both above average with only five E-W pairs declaring the hand. Heve were N-S top doing two tricks better than par, scoring +800 against 4Hx -4. Kathbot were?one of?only three E-W pairs to take their six tricks against spades, and took E-W top defending 4Sx -3. Ritold were a trick better than par defending 2NT -3.
?
4Hx E -4
4Hx E -2
5C E -4
4C E -2; 5C E -2
3S N -1; 4S N -1 (2)
3S N -2 (2); 3Sx N -1; 4S N -2
2NT S -3
4Sx N -2
4Sx N -3
?
15:
?
...............J103
...............QJ103
...............532
...............J72
AK86.....................942
K954......................872
Q104......................J87
K9..........................AQ103
...............Q75
...............A6
...............AK96
...............8654
?
This likely ought to have gone 1D-1NT at almost every table; West played 1NT ten times. I suspect that the other auctions had a takeout double instead, leading to contracts of 2C E, 2S W, 2NT W twice and 4H W.
?
With there being no quick entry to the North hand (the only way to reach North at all is if South gets to unblock the spade queen) declarer can take eight tricks in 1NT. Seven declarers in no-trumps took eight tricks, three took only seven and nine resulted in a tie for E-W top between Jatin and Julian. Against Jatin N-S did not establish South's fourth diamond at once; he gave North a spade and then North obligingly returned a heart when any other suit would have kept him to eight tricks. Of the three suit contracts 2C played like no-trumps, with the trump Jxx onside; declarer took eight tricks. 2S also could not be stopped and required sharp defence to be sure of the hold, as, if West could have drawn trumps before N-S were ready to cash the third heart, that loser would go away on the clubs. Any plus would have been good enough to give Marudy the N-S top; they picked up an extra undertrick posting 4H -3. Curiously, hearts could also take eight tricks, as declarer could discard spades on the third and fourth clubs and North's ruff would only be with one of the trump losers anyway.
?
4H W -3
1NT W = (3); 2C E =
2S W =
1NT W +1 (5); 2NT W = (2)
1NT W +2 (2)
?
16:
?
...............952
...............107
...............Q87
...............A10853
QJ3..........................K108
KJ5..........................Q8642
1095.........................642
J972.........................KQ
...............A764
...............A93
...............AKJ3
...............64
?
?This auction could have begun and ended with 1NT from South, which occurred ten times. Two more pairs played 2NT from the North side. Three suit contracts were played: 2H E, 2Hx E and 4S N.
?
1NT can be held to seven tricks if E-W lead hearts early enough. Nine declarers took seven tricks in 1NT, with two taking eight and Phyllis (B) taking nine. Against Phyllis, West led the spade queen at trick four instead of the heart king, then later discarded a club at trick eleven when yet again the heart king could have been played. Marian were E-W top defending 4S N -2. Defending against hearts N-S can force six tricks by ducking one round of clubs after three rounds of diamonds. After East leads a heart to the jack and then leads a spade to the ten, South wins and puts North in with the club ace for the club lead through first. East must ruff with the queen to prevent the nine from scoring' South overruffs and pushes through the fourth diamond. Neither N-S pair found that line to force six tricks, but 2Hx -1 still gave Paun the N-S top and 2H -1 still scored 10/14 for Conndy.
?
2Hx E -1
1NT S +2
1NT S +1 (2)
2H E -1
1NT N = (2); 1NT S = (7)
4S N -2
?
17:
?
...............82
...............K1087
...............A54
...............10742
QJ1094...............A753
432......................AJ96
QJ3......................K96
AQ........................J3
...............K6
...............Q5
...............10872
...............K9865
?
This could have finished in 4S W at every table. East opens 1D and raises West's 1S response to 2S. West would presumably have opened the bidding, although the loser count of eight (the hand would have had seven losers with AQx in clubs and a low doubleton heart; the hand also is heavy on the quacks) could be considered to justify an invitation. Contracts were 3S thrice and 4S twelve times.
?
Looking at the E-W hands only it's hard to say whether one wants to be in 4S. Both red suits contain a sure loser with three more possible losers in spades, clubs and hearts. As the hearts rate to lose two tricks more often than not, and there are potential complications after a diamond lead, one will expect 4S to make a little less than half the time, although the likelihood of North's leading a heart from an original KQx helps a bit. The black suit finesses are evenly split; the hearts behave kindly. If North tries the falsecard of playing the heart king on the first round, declarer may well guess correctly by reasoning that North might have led the heart king from a holding with king-queen, especially with no inspiring alternative. Five declarers in 4S and one in 3S were not up on their finessing positions and took fewer than ten tricks, nine for most with Lynnbot posting 4S -2 for the N-S top. 4S W = was a seven-way tie for E-W top.
?
4S W -2
4S W -1 (4)
3S W =
3S W +1 (2)
4S W = (7)
?
18:
?
...............QJ9764
...............3
...............952
...............632
AK108532.........----
8........................AK106542
A863..................J104
K........................Q108
...............----
...............QJ97
...............KQ7
...............AJ9754
?
We closed with an exciting semi-fit. When East opened 1H West drove to game and the side usually arrived there if East chose 3H (conservative for the vulnerability). One West was left in 3S, one South ended in 5Cx, and E-W played at the four-level or five-level in a major twelve times: 4H thrice, 4S five times, 4Sx, 5H twice and 5S. John had one of the best bids of the day in the East seat. After starting with 3H and seeing 3S from partner, he made the nice rebid of 3NT and was left there. It is unusual but quite a descriptive rebid. The hand lacks spade support, can play opposite short hearts but isn't thrilled about the idea, and has decent stuff in both minors. 4H looks even better than 3NT, and we could reasonably say that West should have returned to 4H.
?
We saw a total of 34 undertricks, just pipping out Board 14 and its 32 undertricks. There was one successful contract - 3NT! Technically it could have been set. South leads clubs but has to discard clubs on spades and gets stuck having to put East on lead. John made 3NT, though, when South left off establishing the clubs too long and cashed the diamond queen at trick eight. 4H looks fine even with 4-1 trumps but South's hearts are good enough with QJ9x to be able to lead the queen to kill a club ruff and still get two trump tricks. Paun's opponent likely left the spade winners stranded and finished -3 in 4H, but everyone else took the expected nine tricks. The nasty 6-0 spades meant that spade contracts could have been held to seven tricks. Lynn was a little sad that Northbot didn't double 5S, as if she had not had enough big penalties to that point (and it might have thought that 5S undoubled might be down more than 6Hx), but 5S -4 still scored 13/14, bettered only by Leighry's 4Sx -2. Eric was the only other declarer in spades to exceed expectations, managing an impressive 4S -1. Glotin were sure of E-W top defending 5Cx with only -2; they could have forced -3 and emerged with -4 for a nice +1100.
?
4Sx W -2
5S W -4
4H E -3; 4S W -3 (4)
3S W -2; 5H E -2 (2)
4H E -1 (2); 4S W -1
3NT E =
5Cx S -4
