Monday 14 July

Playing N/S with Adrianne came 3rd with a Butler score of 30.

As North I was in 3N on a spade lead.  Half the field went down but there seemed to be only one line to me.
I ducked Jennifer's spade lead and won John's continuation in hand followed by a successful heart finesse.
It seems I have 8 tricks, 2 spades, 3 hearts, 2 diamonds and a club.  A heart break will give 9 or an extra diamond trick. The extra diamond trick can come home in lots of different ways and is well odds on as Jennifer is holding in both majors.  My problem is when Jennifer gets in she will clear the spades and if she has the club Ace I'm off.  However there is no other way I can see, AC will have to be with John.
So at trick four I led and ran 7D which held!  Now I don't care who has AC, 10D to King, heart finesse and club to Q for 9 tricks.  If John had split his honours I would still have 9 tricks.  If Jennifer has singleton or doubleton diamond honour (even J8) I still make as when the 8 wins, I win spade return and play AD, 10D for the extra diamond trick.

After 1H -2D - 2H, Adrianne bid 4H
Katie led QS and I cashed AK to discard a club. With seven running diamonds you have tricks galore but, how do you play the hearts?  Can I make it against a 4-1 break. Can I go wrong against any 3-2 break? Don't think so, even KJ10 over the Q I don't see how I lose more than two hearts and a club.  Just don't play AH first as then West can draw my trumps and cash two clubs.  So I played a small heart to the Q at trick three, as it was there were no worries, Katie has to rise with the King and it is all over.
KJ10x over the Q would have been too much. 4-1 the other way should be OK, only a singleton King with West would have been a killer.

Thursday 10 July

Playing N/S with gerry came joint 1st with 60%.

Gerry got us off to a cracking start.

I opened 1C, Gerry bid 1H and Bobby came in with 1S.  I bid 2C, Ian (Howie) bid 2S and Gerry 3D.  I bid 3H, Gerry 4N and over my two Keycard response Gerry went for a top with 6N.  He needn't have bothered 6C or 6H would have done the business as nobody else bid the slam.
Bobby avoided the spade lead and led a deceptive 2C.
Gerry soon cashed six clubs and when led AH and another claimed 13 tricks.

We did not have a good set against Danny and Helen.  I chickened out of bidding a good slam.  Gerry could have found the right line to make a game that went down. Then a real disaster when I opened 1N, Helen bid 2D to show a single major and Danny with six diamonds and heart void has an easy pass.  This leaves them in a making contract compared to the inevitable deficit in hearts.
Then there was this hand where Danny brings in 11 tricks.  Danny had shown 18/19 on the way to 3N.  I led 10S and could see immediately partner has nothing. Danny won JS and finessed a heart.  I reckon I just have to avoid being end played to keep this to 10 tricks.  I played back a heart taken in dummy.  Now a club finesse to my Q and another heart exit. Danny took his hearts, AD, diamond to my Q and K.  he now knows all about this hand.  Gerry had let a spade and diamond go on the hearts. Now Danny leads a spade from Dummy to his Ace and Gerry has to surrender.  Let a club go and Danny has all the clubs, same with diamonds.  What I really liked about this hand was the necessity of keeping the KC entry to Dummy.  Normally you cash KC before finessing the J in case QC is singleton.  If Danny had done that he would have had no entry to Dummy and Gerry could just let a diamond go and keep his clubs.  You don't mind a bottom against such fine play, pity about the other three boards.

Monday 30 June

Playing N/S with Gerry came third with a Butler score of 30.

I played this in the obvious contract of 4S and received 9H lead taken in hand. Now most people seemed to have no problem with this hand, making 11 was quite common. What I saw was 9 likely tricks, 4 likely spades, 4 red suit winners and AC.  A club ruff was the simplest way to set up a tenth and so I immediately played Ace and a club to J and K. Back came a heart to my K.  As I planned a few ruffs, cashing AK of diamonds is always sensible first.  Unfortunately the KD is ruffed, heart back, ruff and over-ruff. Another diamond ruffed and over-ruffed by me.  I cash AS and both fall, two club ruffs gives me the rest for 10 tricks Q actually falls). So I made 6 trumps, 3 red suit winners and AC.
Of course winning AH and cashing AK of spades gives you an easy 10 tricks, but where is your 10th if the Q doesn't fall? And what chance have you now if spades are 4-1?

Like most we found ourselves in 4S by Gerry but most went down.  We got the best and worst defence.  Moreen led 9C ducked by Ernestine to keep her AJ over Dummy's King. This is the best defence. Unfortunately when Gerry led a club from hand, Moreen ruffed a loser with a trump trick giving away the contract.
What if West takes AC and gives partner a ruff? East can return a diamond to Q and A, South plays KS which East must take and has to exit with a spade or they give away a red trick. But now declarer can ruff a heart and discard the other on KC for 10 tricks.

I got us a bad score at the end  by bidding the wrong contract.  Gerry opened 1S, I bid 2D, Gerry 2S and instead of the obvious 3N, I tried 3C just in case partner can bid 3D as 6 might be on.  However getting to game is all that Gerry can see with his poor 11 count and he bid 3H.  This is usually Jxx, Qx(x) and I could still have bid 3N but decided on 4S. A heart lead from West set up that trick and three spade losers put paid to that. 3N has 10 top tricks, 11 by North on a heart lead..
Let's say however I bid 3S, Gerry will now bid 4D and say I venture 6D. West might lead a club, win the Ace, Ace and another spade won by the 9. Heart back won by Ace, KC, spade ruff high, AD, diamond to 10, spade ruff high, diamond to Q and two long spades to discard a heart and club for 12 tricks. Minus in spades was not good.

Monday 26 May

Playing N/S with Adrianne came 1st with a Butler score of 44.  Had a poor start but picked up points later on starting with this 4S

Against Raymond & Charles our bidding went:
 P -  P  -   P - 1D
 P - 1S - 1N - 3S
and Fudge raised to 4S, passed out.
Adrianne's 1N is a handy bid we play showing distribution in the other two suits but weak.
Charles was very annoyed about going down in this easy game but it shows how easy it is to be careless in the play.
Adrianne led a small heart to my Jack and I returned 2C to Dummy's King. At this point Charles plays QS from Dummy.  It doesn't look as if it matters as he has the other top three spades minus the Ace, but that was him defeated.
Adrianne won AS and carefully led QH to pin Charles' 10, note how a small heart is wrong  as Charles can duck the King again. Also how Adrianne knows the exact layout of the suit. a) I must have Ace, b) I cannot have the 10 or I would have played it at trick one c) I'm not doubleton or I would have cashed Ace before playing back a club, hoping for a ruff.
So Adrianne's Q goes to K, A and 10. I return a third heart and Charles' mistake is now clear, he has to ruff with a high spade and my 9S is promoted for 1 down.
Good play by Adrianne, careless play by Charles, he can either lead a small spade at trick two (best), or play a diamond to his Q to cash AC, throwing a heart and lead a spade from hand , though he could lose a diamond ruff that way if Adrianne is singleton.

Got a great score here, maybe lucky, maybe good judgement?
Adrianne opened 1H, I raised to 2H and Adrianne bid 2N. Her hand is a perfect example of this bid, though she expects me to revert to hearts whenever I have four. However seeing the possibility of exact duplication and how badly such hands play, even with my maximum I was loathe to bid 4H, however everyone else will be in game, so I chose 3N.
Kate decided to lead a diamond, Adrianne went up with the Jack and cashed 9 tricks. Lucky lead, but as I suspected 4H is a hopeless contract and 2 off is the normal score.
On a club or heart lead you would never expect to make and might just cash your 8 tricks, however, I think West will always be end played to lead a diamond if you avoid cashing the AK, i.e. QC lead, cash four hearts, another club and exit with a club.

Monday 19 May

Playing N/S with Adrianne came 1st with a Butler score of 60. Mostly it was just steady bidding and play.
One great gift from Cezary who opened 2N with both minors except Steve was playing the usual 20 - 22 and raised to 6N. We took the first four tricks, though if I don't find a spade lead, Cezary can run 11 tricks and it would have tested our discarding.

We picked up a few points here by not bidding. After two passes Adrianne opened 2H and Ernestine bid 2S.  Now I'm not bidding 4H because a) I don't expect it to make and b) the opponents with a good spade fit and heart shortage will always go to 4S green against red and I 'm not sure I can defeat that. So I passed.  Moreen raised to 3S and although Ernestine has a 6th spade, she quite reasonably passes it out. Ten tricks are unbeatable. At every other table it is either 4S, 5S or 5H going two or three off though only one was doubled.
Note that if 4H makes (e.g. if Adrianne has doubleton diamond and doubleton spade), then 4S still makes. Sometimes better not to compete when you are outgunned by the spade suit, and remember the Law of Total Tricks.

I didn't get us a good score on this second last board and although I was a bit annoyed, I think I actually got it right to go one down! It was just an excellent play by Jim McMahon.
When Jim F and Jim M came to the table for the last round I had put the scrolling results on and we were both leading. We joked we'd better just have two flat boards but this one was never going to be that way. Our bidding went:
1D - 1S - x - P
1N - 2C - 5D - passed out.
Jim F led AC and I ruffed. This looks an easy contract, 4 diamonds, 3 ruffs, 3 spades and AH. I led a diamond to the Ace and Jim showed out. OK, still can get 11 on a double heart finesse. So I ruffed another club, diamond to 10 and K, ruffed a club. Now Jim F didn't bid a Michaels but maybe can't because he is certainly 5 - 5. In fact 6 spades must be likely. I lead a small spade from Dummy, if Jim M ruffs it is with his diamond winner.  Well Jim did ruff and then puts down KH. So East is 6-5, maybe 6-6 in the black suits.  Looks like Jim M has KQxx(x) of hearts. Now I thought it didn't matter if I ducked this and won the continuation, but it would.  Jim could switch to a club and I would lose two hearts and the spade ruff. So I took the AH and led back a heart expecting West to win this, but no.  East wins, plays another spade for West to ruff and I'm down one.
If I had ducked KH I would have made. If Jim McMahon had played a small heart, or exited with a club I would have made. The KH is the only card to give me a losing option and I took it! But still, probably the right mistake to make.

Wednesday 14 May

Playing N/S with Gerry came first with 67%. Just steady play and a little help from our opponents.
Two interesting slam hands our way:

Gerry opened 2N (21-22).  I gave 6C some passing thought. I find these hands with 30 points and a long suit invariably make 12 tricks.  However two Jacks and a Q outside and total reliance on the clubs running puts me off especially as I reckon nobody else will be bidding it.  In fact of course it is 6N I should be bidding if I decide to go for it, to protect partner's tenaces.
Anyway, like everyone else I just raise to 3N. Louis led 9S and Harold ducked the Ace. On the run of the clubs Harold feels the squeeze in the majors and inevitably lets a diamond go, 13 tricks. Bidding slam would have got us 1 more match point.

Gerry berates himself for this hand and it is obvious when you see it.
Russell opened 1S and Gerry bid 4H.  Back to Russell who finds a 5C bid, 5H by Gerry and now Len has no problem bidding 6C.
What should I do? Gerry must have some spades as Len and I don't. Four I reckoned, maybe 8 hearts.  So what can our defence be? It might be nothing. If he is 4-8-1-0 and that is a singleton Ace, we can make 6H.  With 4-7-1-1, he wouldn't have bid 5H.  I reckoned 6H was more likely to be a winning bid than 6Cx, so 6H it was.
Len does well not to lead AD, that would have been lay down. The lead is 10S to Gerry's Ace.
If Russell has AD (more likely), it is also likely to be at most doubleton on the bidding. Gerry won AS, ruffed a spade, led a diamond from table to Russell's Q, ruffed the AC, ruffed a spade, ruffed a diamond, ruffed a spade, ruffed a diamond, had to lose a spade at the end for down 1. However even if Russell has doubleton AD, that's not the right way to play it. As Gerry later realised, if trumps and diamonds break, or AD on side, this hand is easy. Win AS, lead a diamond, even if AD is offside, lose that, win trump return in dummy, ruff diamond, ruff spade, ruff diamond and cross to trump to run the diamonds. Could have been brilliant.

Wednesday 23 April

Playing N/S with Gerry we came 1st with 63%.  There wasn't much in the play of the hands but quite a few bidding problems.

Gerry opened South 2H Lucas. I bid 2N asking and Gerry replied 3C showing 6-8 points hearts and clubs.  Now we are vulnerable and should be 5-5, but being minimum I am confident of 5-5, probably singleton spade. So, I bid 6C.
Amazingly Gerry made 11 tricks and we got an average as people are in all sorts of contracts.
4S of course goes off on a trump lead, 3N is the making contract and not impossible to bid if you discount a slam. However if I give my partner 5 clubs to the Q, singleton spade and doubleton diamond (or other way round), you would want to be in 6C.
If you don't play Lucas I suppose the bidding goes 2C - 2D - 2S - 3H - 4S (though again 3N isn't impossible to find here).

Two bidding problems both followed a 3D pre-empt by me.
Our bidding went:
3D -  P - 3S - 4H - all pass

This goes the obvious one down whereas 4S always makes. I must confess I didn't give any thought to 4S.  Partner will bid 3S with a good hand, five spades and a doubleton diamond -- i.e. can stand 4D. I need three spades to support, if partner is forced in hearts early, and as West obviously has seven hearts and spades likely 2-4 at best, 4S just doesn't seem right despite my maximum diamond suit and singleton club. However partner had 6 spades, c'est la vie.

After West's pass I again open 3D and Gerry takes an age to eventually pass. A number of people bid 3N, this is fundamentally wrong.  On a good day you'll get away with it with a doubleton diamond, ideally you need doubleton honour or 3 small.  A singleton is a definite no-no unless you have the 9 tricks in your own hand.
Gerry was of course thinking of bidding 3H, unfortunately he has only one diamond and didn't like to force me into a 4D contract.
The problem of course is really how good are your pre-empts? I'm green against red and will own up to some very ropey bids in that situation. However 2nd to bid I think you should have a decent suit, it is 50-50 you are pre-empting partner, so even at favourable vulnerability you should agree to always have a decent suit in second seat. That way partner can bid 3H here as 4D shouldn't be bad.  Also you can go for 3N with a small doubleton.

Another big diamond suit and a shot in the dark that I was lucky with.
Gerry opened South 1C and Myra bid 2S, I bid 3D and Gerry 3N.  Round to me.
Well I reckoned everyone and their Granny will be in 6D, I have no way of knowing if Gerry has the correct two Aces for 7D (exclusion Blackwood anyone?).  I did my usual punt and bid 6N.  Myra led a heart, Gerry forewent the club finesse reckoning everyone else is in diamonds and we are getting a top so just took the 12 tricks.
Lucky partner din't just have QJxx in spades.

Our bidding went:
1N - x(a) - 3N - P
 P  - 4H - 4N - all Pass
Double was single suited hand and Ian made it very difficult with his 4H bid. Gerry again had a very difficult decision, eventually settling for 4N rather than double. Gerry reckons he would have led a spade against 4Hx so that would only have been 2 off, so right decision.
Ian led 8D which went to Jack and King, if it's singleton I'll settle for 9 on the heart finesse as I can't give Bob a diamond and let him play a spade through. I tried a second diamond and with them being 2-2 I claimed 12 on the heart finesse.