Oxfordshire vs Staffordshire September 2008 Board 25-32

Board 25 N/ EW	8 5 A T 8 5 4 K T 5 A 8 7
Q 2 Q A Q J 8 6 2 K Q T 2		K J T 9 6 4 9 6 3 2 7 5 4
	A 7 3 K J 7 9 4 3 J 9 6 3

Board 25
Our opponents got all the way to 3S here which we defeated by one trick after yet more soft defence from me. After the HK lead. Bryony then tried ace of spades and another. Declarer took the ruffing finesse in diamonds and I covered. When he now tried a club up, I could do better by playing a low heart to partners king and we can then take all four heart tricks. However, I just woodenly beat the contract again by cashing hearts from the top which actually blocks the suit for just one off. This was a small swing out when Luke and Michael went 2 off in game on a similar defence. After (1H) 2S (3H), there was no room for anything other than bidding game, really.
Apparently Mike Robinson took a defensive safety play here, still mindful of Board 23 to ensure that there was a risk-free defence to take 3S one off… very wise!
Another double swing in the other A team match. +200 from Cope and Piper to go with Murphy and Jones rolling in yet another part-score. Good stuff.

Board 26 E/ all	K J 4 Q T 9 9 5 4 3 9 6 5
T 7 5 3 4 3 2 Q 7 A 7 4 2		A Q 9 6 2 K J 6 K 8 6 2 3
	8 A 8 7 5 A J T K Q J T 8

Board 26
The next few boards were a series of boards where the opponents kept playing in 3S. On this occasion they made a rather fortunate 10 tricks when they divined the spade position. Another small swing out followed when Luke and Michael let them play in 3C which didn’t make. Dull stuff, really.
Do I really need to tell you that, Smith and Wilson’s opponents had another go at doubling a part-score? This time 3HX make 10 tricks for a paltry 7 imps against game bid at the other table. Alan took a decent line here as he didn’t need to rely on the HQ onside to make his 10 tricks. In fact after a double, he suspected that the HQ was wrong, so he ruffed some diamonds and clubs and eventually exited at trick 11 with a club from dummy and discarded a low heart from hand having gone down to KJx at this point. Now the defence was forced to lead away from the ace of hearts (and possibly the queen if he’d held it). Unfortunate that decent technique wasn’t rewarded but I think that 930 was plenty!

Board 27 S/ none	A 5 5 2 Q 9 J 9 8 7 6 4 3
J 9 6 3 K 8 J T 7 4 A 5 2		K Q 7 2 A J 7 4 K 6 3 2 Q
	T 8 4 Q T 9 6 3 A 8 5 K T

Board 27
3S again here making 9 tricks at our table and 10 on the other of our mini-match. I’m starting to remember why I’ve not looked forward to writing this report – these hands really were very dull at my table.

Board 28 W/ NS	9 2 9 7 K 4 3 K 9 6 5 4 2
J 8 7 3 Q J 6 4 A 9 8 2 T		A Q 6 5 K T 3 Q T 7 5 8 3
	K T 4 A 8 5 2 J 6 A Q J 7

Board 28
This time, opps got to ….. 3S. However they mis-played this. Bryony led a diamond and declarer ducked allowing me to win my king. I switched to a heart and partner won to return one. Declarer should now plays spades from the top, but instead he took the finesse. I could now get a heart ruff for one off and a nice swing back to us.

Board 29 N/ all	Q 8 5 A 5 2 J T 2 A K 7 2
A 6 A 9 7 6 4 J T 9 8 6 5		J 4 3 Q J 9 4 3 K 5 3 Q 3
	K T 9 7 6 2 K T 8 7 Q 8 4

Board 29
Interesting bidding problem here. I thought the North cards close to an upgrade to a strong nt, but settled on 1C in the end. Bryony bid 1S in response and I decided to bid 1N rather than raise to 2S. When Bryony bid 2S here, I decided to bid game rather than pass or invite. Why? Well partner could have made a weak jump shift over my 1C opening and my hand is rather suitable for playing in spades. 4S is actually makeable on a non-diamond lead. West actually led a club and so one diamond loser could disappear immediately on the second club. As West is marked with long clubs now, it is probably right to ruff a club and play a spade up to the queen. This works well on the board as West has a stiff ace. When partner tried a spade towards the king, the game was up as there was now two trump losers. A shame but a guess in truth with only limited information. Irritatingly they were not only in game at the other table of our mini-match but made it. This was made worse in the other A team mini-match where Cope and Piper also stayed out of it, but their counterparts motored their way there. Can people find the DA lead? No – I think.
Currie and Murray were a bit unlucky on this one to go for 800. I haven’t heard the full details though, so can’t make too much of a comment.

Board 30 E/ none	3 2 T 7 J 8 4 2 K 7 6 4 2
K Q T A K Q 4 Q 9 7 6 3 8		8 4 J 9 8 5 3 2 A 5 A 9 5
	A J 9 7 6 5 6 K T Q J T 3

Board 30
12 tricks in hearts – not very interesting. Only one pair bid this slam here – well done to Smith and Wilson. The auction was quite revealing.

1H 1S 4N P
5H P 6H end
Easy game?
Slightly bizarrely, Procter and Robinson managed to do better and defeat the opponents here…… well done boys.

Board 31 S/ NS	A 9 7 3 2 J 9 5 T 6 4 A K
6 5 A Q T 3 2 A Q J 2 J 2		T 6 K 8 7 3 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
	K Q J 8 4 K 8 7 4 9 5 Q T

Board 31
A rare good board for us all here. Bryony opened 1S and West overcalled 2H. I bid 2N (good four card raise) and East asked about the bidding. When Bryony now bid 3S to show a minimum (I think bidding game is right here with any hand with 6 spades myself), West now found a mad 4D bid. Inexcusable I think (especially in light of the rather ill timed question from East). I bid 4S and East bid 5D. This was doubled and went one off. Fortunately 4S is one off, so all was well here in the end.

Board 32 W/ EW	Q T 9 5 4 J 8 6 5 T 4 8 5
A J 8 7 6 A T 7 J 8 6 5 Q		K 3 2 K 9 4 3 2 - A J T 9 2
	- Q A K Q 9 7 3 2 K 7 6 4 3

Board 32
To finish – look at that South hand!!! Most of us would just bang down 5D here and see what happens but that wasn’t the case at our table. West opened 1S (could be canapé) and East bid 2H (could be canapé). Bryony bid a quiet 3D, probably expecting to show clubs later. West passed and East now came in with 4C!! I must admit, I’m not sure I would have been able to pass as she did, and especially when West corrected to 4H. Still – all’s well that ends well. A top diamond was led and now East was in trouble. He now tried a top club and then ruffed a club. When he tried a spade back to hand, the roof fell in. Bryony could ruff this with a stiff heart and then play another diamond. Declarer could win in hand but at lost control. He ruffed another club but I could win this and exit in trumps. Declarer was now two off without any option. I had some hopes here but unfortunately not on this occasion. A misunderstanding was to prove costly here. West opened 1H (showing spades) and East bid 2D (showing hearts and not a game-forcing hand). South was in with 5D and West doubled. The problem was that one thought it was takeout and the other (West) penalty. Luke saw a takeout double as East and so simply bid slam in hearts. To make matters worse, South made a Lightner double (!). Oh dear!! That was a swift 800 and a very disappointing end to the match for us. Still, the work was already done on previous boards so we weren’t too disappointed as a four.
At most tables, people overcalled 5D with Bryony’s hand. This was usually doubled and was an easy 500. At Smith and Wilson’s table, the “brave” 6D (!) overcall tempted them into bidding 6S over it.

1S P 4D 6D
?
I think that a forcing pass is the winner myself, but have some sympathy, I guess. Still with a card that good, one can forgive them the odd board!

Anyway, that’s my lot. Well played everyone. Thanks to Michael Clark, Nick Smith, Alan Wilson, Alastair Gidman, Rob Procter, Malcolm Currie, Mary-Ann Sheehy, Andrew Lintott and everyone else for giving me their thoughts on the hands. Sorry once again for the delay in writing this… Of course, I’ll need to recruit a deputy for writing up the Leics match as I’m not going to be playing. Any volunteers?