Friday 18 July 2014

Thursday 17 July

Playing in a Howell with Gerry came second with 58%.

We got two good boards against Mike & Michele.  Mike opened 1C, Michele 1H and Mike 1N (weak). Michele bid 2H and now Gerry came in with a good Pairs bid of 2S.  This was passed out.
Obviously down on a club lead but that is the great advantage of being Declarer, you can see both your side's hands.
Mike led 2H to Q and Ace. Spade to Ace and Jack. Two rounds of hearts, the second ruffed. Gerry can always get rid of a club loser now on the 4th Diamond (can only be ruffed by a winning spade), to lose a club three trumps and a heart.



All sorts of things could happen on this board.  I could have opened East, Michele could have opened 2S Lucas, Gerry a multi 2D.  That is reflected in all the scores being different.
At our table it was Pass, Pass, 1S, 2C, 2H, Pass, 2S, 3C.
I now double, I know Mike has a hand with a lot of club tricks and Gerry was a third in hand opener, but I have the perfect hand for this.  Singleton in partner's suit (and so hopeful of two trump tricks), and A and KQ in the two other suits.
So 3Cx, I led 9S to A creating two winners in Dummy.  Gerry has a problem with that and sees QH as an entry.  He decides to tackle that rather than anything else and leads back 6H. I take A and return a heart to Q.  Mike plays KS to discard 3D and I ruff.  I now play a third heart ruffed by Gerry and I had a club to come. So we got As, AH and three clubs for 1 down.
If Gerry had cashed AD first, he would never have got his ruff as now there would be no point in Mike playing KS, he would just play a club.

Amazingly this hand started with three passes, then everyone came to life.

 P  -  P  -  P  -  1H
2C - 2D - 3C - 3D
3S - 4H  - P  -  5D   passed out

John's bidding as South is very poor and Gerry's 5D is well judged (4H doesn't feel good on a club lead which Gerry expects to have to ruff especially as it looks like hearts are breaking badly).
I meekly passed the 5D but should at least have thought of and, I think, chosen 6D.
It played like a dream. John unexpectedly led a diamond won in Dummy. I crossed ruff spades and clubs eliminating the suits and getting a good idea that Iain was 6-5 -1 -1, consistent with the bidding.  However neither Iain or John had opened. It looked like maybe singleton KH in Iain's hand, though I thought he might open 1C if he had that, but why did John not open?  Still unsure, I led QH from hand, John covered and my Ace felled JH for 13 tricks.
Double dummy 5S can go 3 off but in reality just 1 down.  However if John bids 5S I might wake up and bid 6D.

This is a straightforward hand, the defence just has to be careful.
Donny opened 2N and Katie raised to game. Gerry led 5D covered by 10D, Q and K.
Donny led a heart to J and finessed spade to Gerry's Q. Now this is the point where poorer players go wrong.  They try to find tricks or certain cards in partner's hand and give away tricks.  At Pairs you have to play canny and avoid that.  Gerry cashed Ace and another heart to safely get off lead.  Donny won in Dummy and led a club to K and A.  Now if I don't have the JC it is no matter, if I do we have the chance of another trick so he exits with a club.  Donny thinks about it (at Pairs you must try for the overtrick) but goes up with Q and just cashes his 9 tricks losing a diamond at the end.

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