thursday 26 August

Playing N/S with Adrianne we came second with 56% despite a few stupid mistakes mainly by me (too embarrassing to describe).




We got the best score we could on the first board against Bobby & Willie, yet got a big fat 0.
I opened 1D, Adrianne bid 1H and Bobby doubled, I bid 2D, Willie bids 3C, Adrianne 4H and Bobby 6C.
What is going on?? Well Adrianne needs very little if she has say 8 hearts. Bobby might be 6-6 with AH and diamond void. I certainly trust the fact that he expects to make 6C, the QS might be the only defensive trick and that might be ruffed away.
So I bid 6D, doubled. It loses 2 spades, a club and a heart ruff for 800, better than the 920 for 6C. Unfortunately nobody else bid 6C.




Against Issy and Gerald 1 Opened 1C, Adrianne bid 1S and I can't see any other sensible bid than 3S. Adrianne brings out RKC and is soon in 6S. After QD to Ace, she takes the heart finesse and easily makes 12.

Only other pair in 6S were Charles & Vi.








This board was against Brian & John where a bit of my woolly thinking came into play.
After opening 2NT, Adrianne wisely decided through a transfer that 4S would be the best contract. Brian led QH and I thought clubs were the priority and I would chance my luck in trumps. So I finessed QC, then for some unexplicable reason I cashed KH throwing a club.
Anyway I played Ace and a small spade, so got away with one trump loser, but now John returns a diamond and I took Ace, cashed QS but cannot return to dummy to take another club finesse (I could have ruffed that KH and made 12 tricks). However the play of the diamonds made me suspect Brian was sitting with a singleton diamond honour, so I exited with a diamond rather than risk cashing AC, so came to 11 tricks.

Monday 22 August

Playing N/S with Adrianne we came 4th with 58%.


We got an extremely fortunate top on this board. After 2 passes I opened 1D and East overcalled 2C, back to me I bid 2S, Adrainne bid 3D.
Now there are pointless hands Adrianne can have (e.g. with doubleton spade and 3 diamonds) where with very fortunate breaks I can make 5D. She might even have 3 spades to a Queen and nothing else and I can make 4S. Anyway I though I was worth one more and if Adrianne can see anything in my suits she can maybe bid game. So I bid 3S. Adrianne doesn't really see much but thinks if he can bid 3S on his own, he might as well be in 4!
So AC, ruffed, AK of Diamonds, AK of spades, ruff a diamond, played a heart, ruffed a club and ran diamonds, they can trump when they want, 10 tricks.
Apologies to Ronnie & Celia.



6 people in 3NT on this board, 4 made it. I didn't. Against Barry Cooper and Lester Cram a heart lead goes to the King. Being in dummy I led a diamond, Lester pounces with the Ace and the hearts are cleared before I have knocked out East's AC.

It is probably Lester's good play that ensures I go down but even so will I make it? If he plays small and my King wins, I will know that Barry can only have AC as a sure entry, so will play club to the King. Now I might try spade to Queen and King, Barry will exit with diamond to Ace and now the hearts are cleared, still 1 down. Of course if I just play another diamond, Barry will eventually be end played in spades, but I wouldn't have found it.


Got a great score here. May N/S are in 3NT which is very adventurous. many in 3D going down.
I however am the only one in 2S. I opened 1NT, Adrianne transferred and 2S is where I played.
The QD was led and after Ace and another spade I avoided a defensive cross ruff just losing 2 spades, a heart a club and 1 ruff.

Men's Pairs 17 August

Playing N/S with Russell we came 3rd with 54%.




Had a good score against Jim Mcmenemy and Ian Mcintyre.
After 2 passes and 1H by Ian I decided to bid 4S directly. What is Jim to do? Double looks like the sensible option even with the heart fit, so 4Sx.
jim leads a heart, I ruff. KD, AD, ruff a diamond high (though the 3 is high). Run 9S, ruff heart exit, play QS and claim for +1







Against Nat & Paul, Russell opened 1NT and I am sure 4H is best keeping out the opponents, lots of times you gain a trick by letting North play it, so 2D transfer. this let Paul in and I went to 4H and they went to 4S which Russell doubled. Very reluctantly I passed.
I can't remember the exact sequence but in the end we got 1 spade, 2 hearts (the 4th diamond was inaccessible), 2 clubs and a diamond for down 3.
I think it went AH, JC overtaken, small spade, heart ruff, but no quick way back to hand and Russell gets in to play Ace and another spade. Good defence Russell.


Against Alec & Raymond we were one of the few who found 4H.
Our bidding went unopposed:
1S - 2H - 3H - 4H

The 2H looks like the only sensible bid with my hand. The 4H though was very dubious.
Raymond led KD, I took Ace, AC, club ruff, AK of spades throwing diamonds, spade ruff, club ruff, AH. Now I can just lose 2 hearts and my last club




Still against Alec & Raymond the bidding went:
P - P - 1S - P
1N -2Sa - x - 3H
x - passed out

The spade lead went to the Ace, AD, Ace and anothe heart. Russell now sets up the clubs (for 1 loser) and makes 9 tricks

Monday 15 August

Playing E/W with Adrianne we did not shine with 45%



We got a bottom score here against Michelle & Ian. Adrianne opened 3S, Ian passed and I though briefly about 4S, but thought we might get to play 3S and get a plus score. However Michelle bid 4C, Ian raised to 5C. Stupid me now has to decide what to do here. I'll bet there isn't a spade trick and there is distribution all round, so 5C looks to make, I bid 5S, doubled by Michelle.
Ian led AH, didn't find the small diamond switch, but played Ace and another diamond. Adrianne played a trump and Michelle gave Ian his ruff for down 2.
Most people got playing in 3S or 4S some making.




Did get one great score against Victor and Brian. Adrianne opened 1D, Victor bid 2C (double better).
I bid 4D and Adrianne put us in 6D.
Now I thought 4D showed this hand, Adrianne thought I had a bit more eg 10 points and a singelton.
Anyway, Victor cashed KC and switched to a trump. Adrianne played TD extracting the Jack from Brian. SO only 6D missing, the cross ruff looks good and so it was. AK hearts and AS just kleft a cross ruff of clubs and the majors for 12 tricks.




On this board against Rhoda & Maurice we also managed 12 tricks. The bidding E/W was 1D - 1H - 1S - 4S. Adrianne is quite good for her bid, but splintering in partner's suit usually causes confusion!
Anyway Maurice led a club, I took Ace and played a diamond to my Ace, Maurice drops the Queen. I played a small diamond ruffed in dummy and with the Jack coming down I have a diamond loser still.
I now played a spade to the Ace, Maurice tried a heart, won in dummy, I cashed a trump and led 8D. Maurice didn't have a spade to I ruffed, ruffed a heart, drew the last trump and claimed.



Our final two boards were against Jim Forsyth & Jim McMahon and were typical of our night.
Adrianne opened 1NT, I bid 2C and passed her 2H. JimMcMahon now find a 3D bid. This comes to me and I bid 3H, round to Jim Forsyth who bids 4D. I doubled, but Adrianne having most of her cards in my majors decided to bid 4H.
This went the obvious 1 off, with the opponents duplication there is no way they can avoid 2 off.
Bottom score.




Finally Jim opened the North hand 1NT, passed out and I led KH. Adrianne played the 3 to show me an odd number. Jim took the Ace and cashed 5D. Adrianne's first discard showed clubs. I then took the view (euphemism for made a stupid mistake) that Adrianne was probably 3 hearts and could hold AQxx of clubs as Jim has 4 - 4 in the reds.
I discarded my 2H, JS and a small club. OOPs
After the diamonds Jim exits with KC to Adrianne's Ace, a heart though now means I have to give Jim 2 clubs.
Pathetic really.

Monday 8 August

Playing with Adrianne, came 7th with 55% in the Festival Pairs. The usual couple of errors which cost dearly.
Managed to bid two Grand Slams, unfortunately in one of them which I bid we are missing a cashing Ace.

However against Cathie and Bob we were one of the few to bid this one.
Jump shifts are unusual these days and some people use them now for weak hands. Like most though, we still use 16+ with a very good 6 card suit. If that is the case when Adrianne South opens 1D, 2S by North, 4NT by South leads to an easy bid of 7NT as only a holding of a singleton AD and AQ of hearts would create a problem.
However, it is never that simple, Bob isn't going to be quiet with a 7 card suit. Our bidding went:
1D - 3H - 3S - P
4S - P - 4N - P
Adrianne showed 2 Aces and 1 King and I am happy to bid 7S. Adrianne might have bid 4H as she is too strong for just 4S, then I might have gone for 7N, but any grand slam usually scores well, which this one did.


Against Charles and Nigel we defend 3C.
Our bidding went:
P - 1S - x - P
2H - 3C - Passed out
I led a club to the 9 and Ten, Charles passed TD to Adrianne who reurned a heart, ruffed. Diamond to Queen and spade finesse. I gave Adrianne a diamond ruff and Charles makes the rest, ruffing out the spade.
When 4S, 3NT, 5C all make (albeit double dummy) you might expect a good score when Charles makes 10 in a minor, but no, below average. Lots of people off in spades, even 2S?!

Thursday 21 July

Playing with Adrianne we came 2nd N/S with 56%.

Two of our good boards were played by Adrianne as South.

Here against Sandra & Gloria our bidding went:

1C - 1S - x - 2S

x - P - 3H - 3S

4H - passed out.

Sandra did well to get the 1S bid in, Gloria could have made life more difficult for us with a 3 or even 4S bid. My double showed 15+ points.

A small spade was led, taken by Ace. QC covered by King and Ace followed, then Adrianne led JH, covered by Queen and Ace, followed by 10H to King. Gloria exited with a spade ruffed , last trump drawn. Now with a small spade led implying an honour and KQ hearts all in Gloria's hand, Sandra surely held QD and so Adrianne picked up the suit for 12 tricks.

On this board against Victor and Willie Hart we were the only pair in 4H. The bidding went:

P - 1D - 1S - 2C

2D - 3C - 3H - 4C

4H - passed out

Victor led his singleton spade won by the 8 and Adrianne lay down her AH. She then cashed JH and QH and played KS, ruffed. Victor exits with QD to King and Ace and that was the last for the defence.

Thursday 14 July

Playing with Adrianne we were exactly middle with 50%

Early on we got two bad scores against Alec and Raymond. Alec put Raymond into a 6NT with a 16 count opposite a 14-16 NT which couldn't be beaten. Then on the next board I let the side down with a bad defence. Our bidding went:

1D - P - 1S - 3H

4C - P - 4S - passed out.

Adrianne led AH. Now she has no idea what the heart position is. With a singleton in dummy we play suit preference. I could have 8 5 and be asking for a diamond, or J 8 and be asking for a club, or a singleton heart. Anyway Adrianne guessed correctly and played KH, Alec ruffed with the 4S and I over-ruffed. Now we play Ace from AK unless we have a singleton when we play the King. So Adrianne has no diamonds. Any idiot can see Ace and another diamond for a possible trump promotion must be the play. Not this idiot, small diamond ruffed by Adrianne, end of defence. I hate bridge.

Redeemed myself somewhat with this boad against Stewart Duguid & Bobby Moore. Stewart showed a 23-24 NT and ended in 4H. Adrianne is a great follower of Andy Robson and in that morning Times he had stated how he hated doubleton leads but showed an example that defeated a contract. This is a case where I think doubletons aren't so bad, when you have a quick trump entry.

Anyway Adrianne chose 8C lead and luckily Stewart gave me a moment to consider and I decided doubleton was more likely. So I ducked, Stewart played JD to KD and finessed a heart. Adrianne cashed AS then another club. I took Ace and gave her the ruff.

Still against Stewart and Bobby only two pairs found the slam here. With no interference, our bidding went :

1S - 2H - 2S - 3C - 5C - 6C (great bid by Adrianne)

Jumping to 5C is a great risk at Pairs, but a) It is the only slam try I can think of! and b) Why didn't Adrianne rebid 3NT or raise spades?

Anyway QD lead, 3 round of clubs ending in dummy, 3 top spades, spade ruff, heart ruff and claim 13.

I got a joint top score here for 10 tricks in 3NT against Elizabeth Maiolani and Victor Goldwater, but I was very annoyed I didn't make more.

Elizabeth led QC, ducked and followed with the Jack. I took Ace, cashed a top heart and noted Elizabeth's 10H. Going by restricted choice, I crossed to QS and finessed a heart, Elizabeth lets a club go. I cashed two more top hearts and Elizabeth let go 8C and 10C. I played another spade to the Ace and Elizabeth had now played 9S and JS. I could only think that Victor has KC and Elizabeth has 4 diamonds and 10S left, so I played KS rather than finesse the 8 for 11 tricks

The last board was against Alan & Myra. Most made 4H but it was quite tricky.

Our bidding without interference was quite simple:

1H - 1S - 2C - 4H

Myra led a club to my Ace and I played a heart to King and Ace. Alan returned a high club, covered and ruffed. A diamond came back to King and Ace, Alan played another club which I ruff in dummy. I have to decide what to do about my losing club. As Myra has a lot more spaces I decide to finesse rather than ruffing finesse. So cash JH, QD, ruff a diamond, draw last trump and finesse QS, cash Ace discarding the losing club.