Tuesday 9 February

Playing a match Vs GUU we played E/W against Jim Forsyth and Jim McMahon. We won by 1290 giving us a 10-6 victory.

There were quite a few swingy hands with some big distributions.

After two passes Jim M opened 1D.  I have a choice here, punt 4S or double and bid spades to show a strong jump overcall (here I can jump rebid). However I chose 3NT, this seems to me to have better chances all round.
Jim F quite rightly avoided the diamond lead and led QH, I won, crossed to JS and led a diamond.  Jim M immediately went in with the Ace and tried AC, getting an encouraging 2C, that was me down 1, the same as everyone else who bid 4S for a flat board.  I still prefer my chances.  Partner could have had 5 small clubs, the clubs could be blocked.  I don't expect a diamond lead really, but sometimes North is stuck, South has to be alert and jump in with AD, even so he might have AQ of clubs and be unsure what to do.

Gerry opened 1H and our bidding went

1H - 2D - 3C - 3S - 3N - 6C

3C is an overbid but 2H is under, so better choice at teams. However I was hoping for a bit more.
As it happens it is a good slam 3-2 clubs or AH on a ruffable finesse look like good chances.  However both are wrong but a third chance arose after the spade lead, as North was guarding both red suits (as well as needing to keep a spade honour!) and 12 tricks materialised.
Nobody else bid that.

Gerry opened a Lucas 2H, Jim M passed, what to do? Will 4H buy the contract? I doubted it, North is probably a decent two suiter and I'll have to bid 5H anyway, they might even be making 4/5S.  I bid 5H.  We have no agreement, not something that crops up. If it has a meaning, a jump to 5 usually asks for 6 if you have two of the top three honours.Well I knew Gerry didn't have that!
North wasn't so good and 5H was passed out. Jim M led QS and Gerry wrapped up 12 tricks.

Every N/S made 3NT here except against us.
Gerry led 4H and Jim put up the Q from Dummy.  Lucky for me, I have a terrible decision if he plays low, has Gerry led from Kxxx or Jxxx?  I am also aware it can be a three card suit, South had bid spades twice so Gerry is bound to have 4 or 5. BTW, if Declarer had played low and I had taken 20/30 secs to think about it, there is no UI.  Everyone is allowed to pause at trick one, so unless Declarer pauses for 30 seconds, defender can take their time.
Anyway, nothing to pause about, I took the Ace and returned the 5 to the Jack, Gerry cleared the suit.
Jim probably doesn't fancy his chances now, but my hand might be 'safe', Gerry having the hearts, so he ran 10C to my Q and I cashed the hearts.

Very unusual to pick up 7 - 6 in the reds and great news when partner opens the bidding then supports you.
I opened 1S, Gerry bis 2H and I bid 4H.  Gerry now bid 4N and it actually crossed my mind to bid 6H. I must have a very suitable hand and QH might not matter, however it is much more sensible to answer the question, so I showed two without and Gerry passed the 5H.
Only the KH to lose for an easy 12 tricks but Gerry was berating himself, 4N with two voids!  He should of course have cued 5C, I bid 5D and I must be hot favourite for a top heart.

Monday 28 December

Playing E/W with Adrianne in an aggregate tournament we didn't make any obvious mistakes and managed to come first.

This was despite missing a game that 6 out of 12 managed to bid.
I opened East 1S, David overcalled 2H and Adrianne bid 2S (we play normal Acol raises even after an overcall --- it is a 10 loser anyway). This was passed round to David who decided to compete further with 3C. Adrianne bid 3S and all passed.
It didn't really occur to me to bid 4S, Adrianne reckons to have point in diamonds which are of no use, however note that even if her hearts are xx we are still good for 4S.
I got a club lead and thought that's good, David reckons to have singleton AS and other David singleton club, I'm just making 9, unfortunately there was no club ruff and the game was stiff.
Should I have bid 4S? Why did Adrianne bid 3S? Has she got a singleton in one of David's suits?  Do I make 4S opposite:
Jxxx   Qxx   KJxxx  x  ?  Well no.  How about :
Axxx  xxx KQxxx  x   ?  Again, no. though AD instead of KQ, yes I can.  Still think it's difficult not to imagine wasted diamond points in Adrianne's hand.

This time we missed a slam which 2 pairs bid and one stopped in 5S.  Didn't occur to me to go higher.
Our opponents didn't come in and our bidding went 1C - 1S - 2S - 4S.
QS dropped, easy 12 tricks.  Should I have tried something over Adrianne's 2S? Well 3D would be a long suit trial bid, Adrianne would bid 4S but really I would be none the wiser because she bids 4S with a) a solid 14 points, b) a singleton diamond or c) reasonable opener and diamond honour.  We have no way of finding singleton heart and that all our points are in our suits.  Could Adrianne have bid 3S instead of 2S with singleton heart? I think 12 points and none in spades is a bit light for that. No, we'll never find 6S, anyway, if we had, there would have been Qxx in the South hand.

I am sure everyone at some point has suffered something like this.
Green against red partner open 1S, RHO overcalls 2H.  This is passed round to partner who with their void in hearts doubles and you with KQJx of hearts leave in. As you chalk up -670 you vow never to double a part score into game just because you expect it to be one down.
Repeat, you VOW, NEVER to do that again, I know because I've made that vow often.
Adrianne opened the West hand 2S (6?-10 points), Victor overcalled 3H, I doubled. Well I expect to make 4 tricks, Adrianne must have a spade trick, down one?!?
I led KC and couldn't believe dummy, has Adrianne just KQJ of spades and singleton heart?  If she has three clubs I am in big trouble. I could switch to Ace and another diamond, Victor will cash AK of hearts and lead up his second club but I can duck ensuring two spades for Adrianne, we can still get this off, I hope.
Adrianne plays 6C and Victor the 8.  If that is genuine ---- I follow with AC and 4C from Adrianne.  Xmas has come, I play 2C for Adrianne to ruff, she obediently returns a diamond to my Ace and I play a 4th club. Adrianne has the magical 9H, Xmas and my birthday in one.  I now have two heart tricks and with a spade to come that is 3 off, +500 from panic to joy in two minutes. Remember now, NEVER at teams/aggregate double expecting one off.  You'll never catch me doing that, I've been caught out before.

Thursday 5 November

Playing N/S came first with 67%.  Some gifts of course but managed to do the right thing mostly and found some luck as below..

Here was a bit of luck. Elizabeth opened a multi 2D and I overcalled 2S.  Sheila bid 3H and this was passed round to me. Now at teams I pass of course but hate to have our contract stolen at Pairs. Partner surely has some points and therefore at most 2 spades. He has at most 3 hearts.  So worse case scenario 2-3-4-4 and if I double he chooses 4C. A good rule in bidding states : 'You shouldn't bid games/slams in the hope Partner has the perfect hand', the Macdonald Corollary states 'Don't not bid in the expectation Partner has the worst hand'.
So I doubled.
Gerry bid 4C (oh no, I hope he doesn't just have 4).  11 tricks later we had a top as Gerry managed to set up a long spade to give 6 clubs, a heart ruff, 2 diamonds and 2 spades.

The Strange Case of the Missing Diamond
We all make mistakes, some stupid, sometimes we are still suffering from jet-lag having returned from San Fransisco the week before.

Ivan East, opened a weak NT and, after Stayman, Helen passed 2H. This prevented me coming in as Helen could be expected to be 4-5 in the majors and so, luckily, I don't get to push them into 4H.

As we can see 10 tricks are stiff, however, Gerry led JH and I ducked to Ivan's Queen.  Ivan decided to take an immediate diamond finesse and ran the Queen to my King.

So I gave this a little thought and reckoned partner can have at most QC or, twice as likely, one of the top spade honours.  I can see a chance of keeping this to 9 tricks, I returned a diamond.

Ivan played a trump from table, I jumped up with AH and under-led my AS, the 9 in fact (possible diamond preference?).  Ivan covered the 9 with the 10 (The dog that didn't bark in the night, Ivan didn't take the Ace, so he doesn't have it). Gerry won the King and returned a club.
To rub salt in the wound Helen remarked, 'oh, no diamond ruff then'.

What do you open the North hand? 3C is out of the question, no top honour and an AK outside, that is not a pre-empt.
I hate to pass, I opened 1C.
So 1C - 1S - 2C - 3N.  What now?
Gerry could have a great 17 count, equally a 12 count and some hope of a great club suit opposite. The failure to bid hearts made a heart lead look certain, so even with an excellent hand 3N might have no chance.  I bid 4C and Gerry bid 5C.

Talk about lucky, I can only lose 1 club and 1 diamond.

If I had passed 3N Partner would have started a blog entitled
The Strange Case of the Missing Opening Points
And no jet-lag to excuse it.

Wednesday 4 November

Playing a Howell with Gerry we came top with an amazing 69.5%.  Could have done better, there are always mistakes.  However obviously we got some gifts and just did consistently well on the majority.

This was the first board we played and got a top maybe via a little luck. Playing N/S.
Gerry opened 1D and Cathy bid 1S.  I doubled, Gerry bid 2H, Cathy bid 2S.  So what is going on, Cathy plays weak jump overcalls? Not sure, I doubled again.  Gerry bid 3C.
Well Gerry's hand is clear now, Cathy could have all the missing points and some sort of intermediate jump, what do I bid?
First of all I rule out 6NT, then 6H, this is far preferable to clubs at Pairs, however I fancy Cathy bid again because she is not looking at many hearts. A 4-1 (or even 5-0) heart break could make the slam too difficult.  The 9 card club fit looks superior and it might be that a reverse Dummy is the play.  So I bid 6C.
Cathy led a heart so nothing in the play.  Two pairs bid 6H and went 1 down.  Double Dummy this can make but it is a difficult contract. Ideally you would want to knock out AC before getting the hearts right, but you wouldn't want to lose a club ruff.
Cathy of course had made an error with 1S.  If she had bid 2S we would have been in 6H, but Gerry would have made it.

Another top for finding a better contract, though we pussy footed around to get there.
N/S again.
West passed and I opened 1C, Gerry 1H, I bid 1S.  Gerry bid 4th suit 2D and I bid 2N.  Gerry now bid 3S.  Yeas I can only have 4 spades but with doubleton diamond and as I will most probably have only Kx or Ax in diamonds offering the Moysian is a good idea.
Well if Gerry doesn't have anything in diamonds, I don't fancy 3N, however I gave him another choice by bidding 4C.
Gerry opted for the 4S, 5C is unlikely to make if there are 2 spade losers, you could however still make 4S with 2 spade losers if they break.
Anyway QD lead to my Ace and I played small spade. Mary took QS and played another diamond overtaken by Moira who played a third. The ruff and discard is no use to me, in fact it is a nuisance.  I discarded a club and ruffed in Dummy. I now ran JS which held and this is where that diamond ruff proves its nuisance value, I have no trump to play from Dummy (yes I can see I can play AH and heart ruff, play AS and crash both spades, but I don't know that) . I played A then K of clubs.  Moira ruffed with the King and I was home. I felt if AK of clubs held up then I would try to get back to hand with a heart and hope for 3-3, If the defender with a small spade had singleton club then that is OK, I can with the return, get back to hand and claim.  If a defender has two spades, they will possibly be singleton club and they can ruff if they like, as before I'll make the rest.
Of course 3N was a straightforward contract, but 4S scored more!

This was an interesting hand.  We were E/W and Gerry opened East 1C.  Maureen overcalled 1S and I doubled. Victor made a good bid of 4S.  Gerry thought about this and passed.  At Pairs I double here (not at aggregate), certainly not clear after a hesitation but I doubled.
How am I supposed to know what Gerry is thinking? 5C because he has a 10 count and 7 clubs? 5H because he has 4 hearts, 6 clubs and a very basic opener?  I don't see I am using any UI and I always think it damages the opponents not to do what you would normally do, 4Sx could easily be making.  Anyway nobody complained.
I led AC and gulped at the sight of Dummy, however I was rescued by Gerry dropping the KC.  I switched smartly to JH, AH, ruff. Gerry cashed QC, then AD and a third club.  I ruffed with the 9S and Maureen over-ruffed in Dummy.  She played KH, ruffed by Gerry, over-ruffed, ruffed a diamond.  Maureen made an error now and ruffed a high heart to ruff another diamond and went two down instead of 1 down.
5 of a minor makes our way if you guess the diamonds after AD drops the 10 from North.

Wednesday 30 September

Playing N/S with Gerry, came first with 65%.

We're not shy about bidding but I don't like opening weak 4441 hands as you often have to lie about your shape (i.e. your rebid is likely to promise 5 in your first suit).  However when the singleton is diamonds it can be good to get into the bidding and find a 4-4 major fit.  This is what happened here as Gerry chose to open South and it was third in hand anyway.

  P   -   P   -   1C   -   1D
  X  -  2D  -   2H   -   P
 3H  -   P   -  4H  all pass.

Morag should have bid more than 2D, I can consider bidding 4H instead of 3H, double fits are worth extra especially if partner is 4-5 hearts and clubs, however it was a third in hand opening, Morag and Susan won't bid without the values and anyway, Gerry isn't shy about bidding games.
How right I was, Gerry loves his singleton diamond and bids 4H.
Susan led QS taken by Ace, heart to K and A and Susan plays QD.  Now Morag just has to overtake this (she knows from the bidding Gerry is singleton) and play a spade for a ruff and 1 down.  However she probably isn't thinking that maybe seeing the lead as from QJx.  Anyway Morag lets QD hold, another diamond ruffed, trumps drawn and Gerry negotiated the clubs for 1 loser, game made.

Another top against Morag and Susan as they went down in 3N while everyone else makes 10.  However it is difficult to say that Morag did anything definitely wrong in the play.  In fact I think it would have been going down at most tables except for our bidding and subsequent lead.
I expect it just went 1N - 3N via a heart transfer at the other tables and a small diamond was led.  With hearts breaking a heart, a diamond and a club are all that are lost.
At our table Morag opens 1D and ends in 3N.  Gerry led 9S taken in hand, A, K and another heart and Gerry plays another spade to Dummy.  Two hearts cashed and now a club, ducked, I took the second club and simply end play Dummy with a spade.  Dummy just has Kxx in diamonds left and Gerry has AQ diamonds and a spade for 1 down.

How to get a bottom, I'm good at this. Playing in the obvious 4S it is well nigh impossible not to make 10 tricks, however at Pairs I am of course looking for more.
Mike led QC which I won with Dummy's Ace. This looks to be a great start if lead is the natural one from QJ9(x).  I played spade to Ace and Katy dropped 10S. Now that really tells you nothing but does make QT more likely, however singelton is a little more likely as well making the finesse essential.  Like I said, the 10 doesn't really tells you anything, you can play it from a variety of holdings. I decided to not play the finesse, cashed KS, back to AH with the intention of finessing 10C, cashing King for a diamond discard and with luck clubs might be 3-3 and another diamond discard.
Oh boy, losing finesse in clubs, two diamonds cashed and QS to come for 1 down
The perspicacious among you will have seen of course that 12 tricks are available.AC, A, J, K of spades, KC, ruff a club, heart to Q, ruff a club, heart to Jack cash a club throwing a diamond, claim all but a diamond. Only an idiot could go down on this hand.

Monday 29 September

Playing N/S in an aggregate tournament came second.

There were two hands in the same set where 6C can be made.  Out of 16 tables only two were bid, possibly in the wrong one!

On this one Adrianne opened South 1S and neither opponent came in so our bidding went 1S - 2C - 2H - 3D - 3N - ?

Adrianne is most likely 5-4-3-1 with Ace or King of diamonds.  Can I make slam?  Well not opposite KQJxx  KQxx Kxx x.  Unfortunately we have no way in clubs to find if her hand is Aces or not.  After some thought I just decided to punt this, running an 8 card suit can always give defenders problems anyway.  So I bid 6C.

I ruffed the spade lead, ran 6 clubs when nothing really happened until West let a diamond go on the 6th one.  So I bit the bullet, diamond to Ace, small one back and the 9 from West, I put in the 10 and that was it, 12 tricks made.

Shouldn't have bid it, Adrianne had the perfect hand and the diamonds lay well. Only one other joined me and they got the diamonds right as well.

Nobody found 6C on this one.  Our bidding went

1D  -  1S  -  2C  -  2S
 P   -   P   -  3S   -  P
4D  -  P   -  5C  all pass

Can Adrianne bid 6C? The 3S bid helps, I can have at most two Jacks in the black suits.  Give me KQJxx(x) in diamonds then I'll hopefully have 4 points in hearts, KJx(x), that would make it 50-50.  However if West has 3 small hearts are they ever going to lead a heart?  Never, it will be a spade and 12 tricks will be cold with one proviso am I void in clubs, will the clubs run?

I think this hand is a better punt at 6C than mine above.

A Lightener double of a slam usually points to partner being void in a suit.  You look for length in your hand where partner might be void. If in doubt you lead Dummy's first bid suit. At aggregate / teams Adrianne and I apply that principle to doubling freely bid games.

Here David opened East 1C, Willy bid 1H, David 1S, Willy 2S, raised to 4S.  Round to me and I doubled.  I want Dummy's first bid suit led and I 'know' Adrianne has 5 spades from the bidding.

Adrianne might think of leading a club for a minute, but a) that is dangerous and if in any doubt, lead Dummy's first bid suit.  b) a moment's thought tells you partner is void in spades!

So 3H was duly led and I cashed AK.  I then failed to fully capitalise by leading JD, I'm afraid I continued 8H, ruffed and over-ruffed. Adrianne doesn't realise her partner's useless and went for the extra trick by exiting with KD so we only put it 2 off.
Good double, rubbish defence.
It is surprising how often this comes up.  Especially when you have say AQ in the suit first bid by Dummy.  Of course sometimes the game makes but at aggregate that doesn't cost too much and it is a great bonus if you defeat a game which might make on another lead.
Can also be used in a competitive auction when you don't want partner to lead your suit.  You need judgement though, if it appears obvious that opponents are sacrificing then the double doesn't ask for a different lead.  If they are bidding expecting to make then double would ask you to find partner's void or lead Dummy's first bid suit.

League Match 22 September

Playing against Civic Gerry and I played N/S against David and Martin.  Our team won comfortably everyone recording a good score.

We did not get off to a very good start as I found a hand very difficult to bid.

This was our first or second board and Gerry opened 1H, I bid 1S and Gerry 2H. I bid 3D and Gerry 3NT, what now?
I bid 4D, Gerry 5D and I bid 5H. Now I see that as passable. I have shown a big hand, spades and diamonds with a doubleton heart honour.  However difficult for partner who must see this as likely forcing to slam and anyway his hand isn't bad for the minimum he's shown, quite good actually. Gerry asked me to pick a slam and I bid 6H.
West has an obvious club lead, so it actually turned on finding the QH but the finesse was the only logical way and so we went down.  Two other tables ended in 6S or 6H, only Ileen for Civic managed the sensible 4H.
Difficult not to get carried with the North hand after partner opens but after 3N some reflection should indicate that partner's clubs points aren't worth anything.

Martin opened West 1C and I Michaeled with 2C, 2D by David, 2H by Gerry passed round to David who bid 3N. Back to me and I'm not sure what to do. David will have a double heart stop but it might be AQ while it is actually Gerry who has the King.  Gerry should lead a spade and perhaps they can be set up while I have AC. I have no idea but am worried that there might also be say a 6 card diamond suit to run.  I decided green against red to take insurance and bid 4H, promptly doubled by David, leaving Gerry to worry about playing it!
A, then Q of diamonds, ruffed, KS to A and a third diamond ruffed. QS cashed then a heart ducked to David who returned a second heart, Gerry took the Ace, ruffed a diamond, ruffed a spade and all David could do is take the last heart. Gerry lost two hearts, a spade and a diamond for -100 rather than -600.

I opened North a Lucas 2H, Gerry bid 2N, Martin asked but passed.  I bid 3C (minimum) and Gerry bid 3H. Martin now bid 4S, passed out.
I find when people bid 4S like this they expect to make it.  I can see that trumps will split and he might well have a good side suit in diamonds. Nor is he worried about a heart lead.
I need diamond ruff(s) to beat this, so I led 2H!
Gerry, surprisingly to him, won KH, tried AD, small diamond for a ruff and AC for 1 down.
Yes a club lead could have defeated it as long as partner can find Ace and another diamond, but not certain. Anyway much more satisfying this way.

We were the only ones to bid and make 6D. At table two Civic bid 6H but went down on a club lead.  The other two stopped in 4H or 5D.
Our bidding went

1H - 2D - 3S - 4N - 5H - 6D

Martin led his singleton Heart which Gerry won with the Ace and AD, small diamond let him claim the rest.
David pointed out a club lead would beat it but Gerry asked who has KS? As David has it he said he always makes it.  AC, finesse QS, AS ditch the club.