Monday 12 February 2018

Scottish Mixed Swiss Teams 11th February

Playing with Adrianne, partnered by Allan & Claire Whiteford we ended with a very poor result.  For the first four rounds Adrianne and I had done very well.  We had an excellent card on match one which we won 17-3.  For the second match we didn't have much say as the cards were all E/W, unfortunately our partners made a mistaken call of a card from Dummy and went down in a game losing that match.  We won the third as we bid a slam which was missed at the other table.  In match four we lost as Abi bid a slam which was only found at one other table in the room.  So two wins and two defeats and no luck so far.  In round five Adrianne and I collapsed and we lost 20-0.  Not good.  We lost the last match as well to go down near the bottom.



This is the hand that lost the last match and is a problem for weak No Trump vs Strong.  At the other table playing strong North opened 1NT and South with decent intermediates just bid 3NT despite 4333.  This is not a good contract and I suppose sums up our luck on the day.  East leads a diamond for North to win but you must run 8 further tricks before West gets in to lead another diamond through.  As you can see the spade finesse works and the hearts are 3-3, about an 18% chance.
However, in principle, you want to be in this game at teams.
At our table I opened 1S, Adrianne bid 1NT and I passed, just not quite enough for 2NT I reckoned.  East bid 2D, Adrianne 2S and I passed.  Managed to make 10 tricks.




This had been the previous board and we reached 4H by a roundabout route.
Adrianne decided to open South 2S which was passed round to East who found a 3D bid.  This came back to me and I decided to double. Adrianne thought maybe she should own up to having the other major and bid 3H.  East bid 4D!  What to do?  Clearly Adrianne is void in diamonds and 6-4 in the majors.  Setting up spades shouldn't be a problem and 4H will make OK.  Will I make more from doubling?  Playing is always easier than defending so I chose 4H. No problem making 10 tricks for  flat board.









Here is a previous board that must have been a problem for strong NT as half the field didn't find slam.  At our table Adrianne opened 1C, I bid 1H and Adrianne made the only sensible rebid of 1NT.  I couldn't remember whether we played 4N quantative or Blackwood, so just bid 6H.  No problem in making that.

If you play strong NT though, how do you bid it?  1C - 1H - ? Both 2C and 3C are just plain wrong, but I suppose you have no option but to bid 2C and so 4H will be the likely outcome.  If it is available to you this is a case where a jump shift to 2H would be appropriate however these hands are so rare and it takes away bidding space from more normal openers that hardly anyone jump shifts anymore.


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