| Board 25 North/EW |
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Board 25
This set was rather dull, but there were some interesting moments. On this board, we found a reasonable defence against 1NT. Ed led the 4 of hearts as West and I chose to win the king at trick one to switch to a diamond. Declarer ducked this round to the ten and Ed persisted with a heart to the 9 and jack. North now ran the
J round to my queen and I perhaps erred here by unblocking the hearts rather than a second diamond. Still, a heart set up the 7th trick for the defence as we now had 2 hearts, 1 spade, 2 diamonds and 2 clubs. Both declarers in 1NT for the A team here made 7 tricks on a nice endplay (exploiting a lapse from the defence). Over to Michael Clark again:Heart to the King and another heart. Then the
I gather that Alan Wilson made 1NT on a similar line too — good stuff. Joe Clacey gave me a convoluted ramble about how he made 120 — a combination of brilliance and uncertain defending if I recall correctly. I’m sure Joe can fill us in on the glorious details.
| Board 26 East/Both |
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Board 26
This was a really interesting hand which we didn’t quite managed to get right. Defending 2
following a weak no trump and a transfer, I found the good lead of the 
K. Ed correctly unblocked the J. Declarer blundered here by taking the first round of diamonds to play a heart to the ace and a heart back. Surely it’s right to cash the KQ of clubs and pitch a diamond on the A after crossing to the A? Still — that gave us a chance when Declarer simply crossed to the A and returned a heart. Ed flew in with the K and then played the 8. Declarer had a bit of a think and then correctly ducked. I looked at this and realised that I know partner had a big spade or a big club. I suspected that if declarer had the 
AQ, then she would finesse, and so I decided to duck the diamond expecting Ed to play Ace and another spade if he had it, or a small spade if not. That way, I could get in and then play on diamonds for a trump promotion if partner had the J. As it happens, I can actually overtake the diamond and switch to a small spade to achieve the same thing but at this point, I’m still in the dark as to which high card Ed holds. Irritatingly for us, the 3 looks like I’m signalling for a club switch, so Ed found a club. This allowed declarer to cash out for 8 tricks. A chance missed!This was flat in any case where after the same lead to the same contract, the defence switched to a trump. Looks a bit easier now!
| Board 27 South/None |
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Board 27
Our opponents rather oddly got all the way to 3
here which doesn’t make. A surprising plus for a small swing out when our counter-parts found a super-aggressive diamond overcall allowing them to get to 3. The normal contract though was 2.| Board 28 West/NS |
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Board 28
I can’t confess to playing this too well. Our auction was a little risible when we forgot to raise hearts early in the auction, but we still stopped safely in 4
. On a small diamond lead round to the king, I doubt that my line of playing ace and another heart and then later taking the spade finesse will win any awards. An imp out anyway, when Luke realised his only chance to beat this when in with the K was partner to score a spade ruff. Not this time, that just leads to 12 tricks — still worth a shot with just an imp or two at stake.| Board 29 North/Both |
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Board 29
Glad I opened this hand in 4th — my heart sank when I opened 1
and North overcalled 1 but we were able to get to 2 rather simply which made an easy 9 tricks. Our counterparts made 8 tricks in no-trumps so that was a mighty one imp gain.3NT proved to be a step too far for Smith and Wilson’s opponents as they quickly cashed the first 5 tricks. Fourth from your longest and strongest... works well sometimes!
| Board 30 East/None |
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Board 30
What a hand this is. South opened 1
against me and I found a takeout double as I’m far too strong for 1. North had a bit of a think and jumped all the way to 5. I knew what to do with this and applied the axe. I led the A (great start... I don’t think) and declarer ruffed before a diamond to the jack and my queen. I couldn’t think of much better than persisting with spades. Declarer ruffed this and tried a club which I won to play a third spade (oops!). This gave declarer the impetus to eliminate clubs and spades and throw me in with the A. I nonchalantly exited with the 7 of hearts to Ed’s king and declarer’s ace. Mindful of Ed’s signal at trick one, she eventually crossed to the last trump and finessed the 9 of hearts for 2 off and 300. Phew!This was actually a comical flat board when Luke and Michael reached 3NT by N/S. No double strangely but it did slide 6 off. Lets just say — not the best spot and leave it at that.
A silly auction was seen in the C team where after 1
X, Joe Clacey found a psyche of 1. Eventually, they were allowed to settle in 5 undoubled after a ridiculous sequence of bidding. Phew!Dickinson and Southcombe managed to get away with 5
X-1 when the defence opened up hearts (and then guessed better than our opps) but strangest result must be Gascoyne and Quainton who were allowed to play in 2. Looks like someone was a little conservative here!!!!Nick Smith’s final tale of woe was this one. After a precision 1
opening, the auction careered off into the sunset:P 1
1 P2
P 4 PP X end
A diamond lead was a rather painful 590. Don’t really know what to say... bad luck doesn’t really do it justice.
| Board 31 South/NS |
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Board 31
Our enterprise wasn’t rewarded here. I suspect we were the only pair to get to 3NT by E/W! North opened 1
and Ed overcalled 1. South passed and I felt worth one bid of 2. Ed bid 2NT and I found an aggressive (ok, ok a stupid) raise to 3NT but then — 2NT is rarely the right spot. No double from South though, so all was well. The 7 was led and Ed found the fine play of the T at trick one. It should never work, but this persuaded North to rise with the A and return a small club allowing Ed’s 9 to hold the trick giving him a glimmer of hope. He put the Q on the table and was surprised when it held the trick as both defenders ducked. He was now up to 8 tricks and looked like 9 if the spades split 4-2 or better. So time to cross to the A and K to get the bad news. He now exited with the J, but South won this to play a diamond through. Now there was no happy ending and North had a safe exit in hearts. Just 8 tricks then... So close!Still, we were gaining imps though when against Luke and Michael, North opened 1
(natural in 3rd) and East overcalled 1. West now found a 3 bid — explained as “weak and preemptive”. Erm — wow. Lets just say this didn’t make and leave it at that.At some tables, the auction was:
P P 1
1P P X end
I have to say that the pass of 1
X was extremely ill advised — it was extremely fortunate there were no overtricks. I would suggest that 1NT is a much better call than pass here. You need good trumps to pass out low level takeout doubles and Txxxx isn’t close. Still — Wilkes and Webley will have been pleased to score an unusual 160, no doubt!| Board 32 West/EW |
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Board 32
Our opponents managed to miss 4
and land in 3NT. This is bizarrely cold as the diamonds are blocked. Still, on a spade lead, there were no difficulties at all. Flat against 4 on the other table. Dull in the extreme this one.Anyway — that’s it for another season. Many thanks to those who’ve contributed stories and helped me write these commentaries. On this occasion thanks are due to Michael Clark, Tim Dickinson, Nick Smith, Alan Wilson, Chris Wilson, John Williams, the Talbots and Clive Keep for their interesting analysis. Thanks to you all and if any of you want to add any comments — please feel free.
1 comment:
On Board 2, I'm impressed that the relay bids to 7C can cope with 14 cards in responder's hand.
Malcolm Currie
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