Monday 25 September

Playing N/S with Adrianne came second with a modest Butler score of 22.
Started off against Charles & Vi who always make life difficult, as good players should.

 Adrianne opened South 1H, Vi overcalled 2D and I bid 3C.  Charles bid 3D and Adrianne doubled.  We play this promises 15+ points, normally a NT hand (e.g. with 4 clubs and singleton diamond she would bid 5C). So I know we have enough for game but would 3N make? Even if 5 clubs run (and surely there must be distribution about) I would probably need a finesse in a major for a 9th trick. I decided to leave in the double.
I led TH to Q, Adrianne cashed A and played another. I ruffed with 8D forcing dummy's 10.  Vi played a spade, Adrianne took K and played a diamond.  So just 2 down, I needed another heart for a ruff and down 3.  Anyway 0 score as 290 was the average.  3NT can't fail by holding up AD and giving East a club then taking heart finesse, but not everyone bid it.

Against Larry and Felicia Adrianne declares in the obvious 4S. Nine times this was played by South on the lead of 4D, four made it.
What would you have played?  You have 5 spade tricks and could get 2 heart ruffs (though that might not work) plus a heart trick.  KC onside or getting a second diamond can give 10.  However life is so much easier if that lead is from say K764, just run the diamond to J and Q and you can pick up four diamond tricks. So I sympathise with the five who must have let it run. Adrianne made no mistake, up with AD, drew trumps, club towards King.  The Ace was taken and a heart led to Ace, so no problem with 10 tricks.

An interesting bidding problem for John and Rob.  As East John opened 1D, what on earth do you bid with Rob's hand?  ROb chose 3D?! But what can you bid? I suppose you 'know' that partner has at least 15 points as you expect only 4 small diamonds opposite and he hasn't opened a weak NT. Although that isn't certain (e..g. 4-1-4-4 or he has 5 diamonds).  However in those cases the opponents will surely be competing so 3D is not a bad bid as partner will bid 3NT with 15-17.  You might though miss a slam if he is a bit better.  Anyway John just bid 3N and that was a comfortable place to be.  Six pairs are in slam.  I can only imagine they tried 4N over the 1D opening intending to be in 6 if partner shows 2 or more Aces. Maybe some opened East a strong NT, should you go for 6 then? In theory partner needs AK, AK, A in the other 3 suits as otherwise at best it is a finesse.

Against Nat and Raymond we found a good slam on this hand.  Adrianne opened 1S, I bid 2C and Adrianne who strongly favours playing in 6 card majors rebid 2S.  I splintered with 4H and Adrianne despite the heart values really likes her hand now, especially KC and singleton AD so reckons she can stand the 5 level and tries 4N.  Finding I have AK of spades and AC (I don't splinter with AH), she bids 6S.
The play is quite straightforward with spades 2-2 the hearts have 1 loser, 1 winner, 1 discard on KD and 1 ruff.
If Adrianne rebids 2H (as I would have done), then I would have just bid 4S.

Monday 17 September

Playing N/S came first with a Butler score of 68.

This was very nearly a flat board, everyone in 4S making 12 except for us against Nat and Peter.
I opened 1S, Adrianne bid 2D and I bid 3C.  Now this promises 15 points and is game forcing.  If my singleton had been in diamonds, I would have bid 2S, but with the diamond bid I am too strong for just 2S.
Adrianne now bids 3S which is strong in a game forcing situation but I try to sign off in 4S.  Adrianne is undaunted by my failure to cue bid clubs and goes on to the slam.
Nothing to the play, my diamond loser goes on the heart and clubs get ruffed for one loser.

A third in hand opening bid made us the only pair to bid game here. After two passes, John opened 1S which leaves Adrianne with a difficult call.  She made the practical choice of 2NT, Rob bid 3S and I bid 5C.  This went round to John who doubled.
Rob led a club I won in dummy with the Ace and I had no problem, AD, heart, diamond ruff, heart, diamond ruff.  I don't need to try for 12 I just cashed QC and spade exit and can just lose a diamond for 11 tricks.
Everyone else is in 2C making 11 or 12, you can see the bidding going 3 passes, 1D, 1H by North, 2C and passed out.

Another lucky score against Jack and Robert.  After 3 passes Adrianne opened 1D, I bid 1H and Jack came in 2C.  Adrianne doubles which promises at least 15 points and not a natural 2NT bid.  I left it in.
Jack had no chance after KD, getting count, cashing a spade to show the position and AD, ruff, no way to avoid 2 hearts and another spade loser as well as KC for 3 off.
800 isn't so great if we make our vulnerable game, but who will play in 4H or 4S? 3NT by North goes off on a natural club lead and even if South plays it, West might find the club lead on the bidding.

Monday 10 September

Playing N/S with Adrianne did not excel with a Butler score of -5.  Our opponents seemed to do the right things against us and it wasn't going to be our night.

Against Ian and Bobby we got a good score for being in the right contract.  However it shouldn't be that difficult.
After two passes I opened 2N, Adrianne transferred to hearts then bid 3S which I raised to 4S.
Bobby led KC, Adrianne took Ace immediately, tried two rounds of trumps then switched her attention to hearts.  Ian won the third round and exited with a diamond.
Adrianne just draws trumps now for 10 tricks.
One person managed to go off (did they duck KC?) and only one other pair was in 4S though one pair made 4H

 Adrianne is very fastidious about having a good hand with at least 17 points for a reverse.  Unfortunately she broke her rule here.  So rather than a simple 3NT I went looking for a slam and tried to stop in 4S.  Adrianne doesn't like playing in 4-3 fits so as I had got us into this pickle she decided to let me play it in 5C.  Derek led a singleton diamond to Alan's Ace and he returned the three.  I discarded the 2S and Derek, sleeping on the job, played 3S! So I won in dummy with the 7 and led 10C to Queen and Ace. I crossed to KH and ran 7C successfully.  I then played QJ of diamonds, but ruffed the 10D (you have to reduce your trumps or I will be left ruffing a later winner and having to lead away from J8 into Alan's K9). I cashed KS, crossed to AS to play the winning two of diamonds, Alan discards his third spade, I throw AH. Now  Alan has K9 of trumps left and I have J8, so when I lead from dummy it is one trick each. It was worth the bidding shenanigans to pull off a trump coup, however even better if I had ruffed Alan's diamond return at trick two with 8C (which shows up the trump situation) and then played it the same way.

 Knowing we weren't scoring well I over extended myself by bidding a slam against Bill and Norman.  Adrianne opened 1S (we don't play checkback), I bid 2H and Adrianne 4H.  I went through RKC to find 3 Aces and bid 6H.
Norman led a small club to J, Q and K.  I crossed to AC and led a spade, Bill rising with Ace.  Bill exited with an intriguing 10D.  I took the King and played a second diamond to see what pops up and Norman played the Queen which I beat with the Ace. Now surely Norman started with QJ3, so if I ruff a diamond I have 9D to throw my spade loser on.  No luck, I ruffed with the 9 but was over-ruffed and 1 down.

So looking at an even worse score I thought I might as well pile it on here.
We played this rotated so Adrianne opened the North hand 1C, I bid 1D and Adrianne 3D.  She probably has a major singleton (surely a spade) to choose this rebid rather than No Trump, so I gambled on 5D.
A heart lead will defeat this, but Norman led a club, I just had to knock out AD and the heart loser went on a club for an easy 11 tricks.

Monday 3rd September

Playing N/S with Adrianne just above average with a Butler score of 10.  Not a lot to the hands we played which mostly went as they should.  Except for one silly mistake by me when I thought I was opening a pre-empt of 3D, I hadn't noticed the 1S bid on my right.  At red vs green this is strong.  I played in 5Dx for -800 against the normal -420 for their 4H.

 We were among the unlucky 5 out of 15 pairs who bid this excellent slam.  Against Peter and Willie I opened 1S, Adrianne 2H and I raised to 3H. Adrianne soon bid 6H via RKC.
Peter led a club taken in dummy and after a heart to Ace to get the bad news, Adrianne cashed Ace and another club ruffed.  She took another 2 rounds of hearts and tried spades but was one down.
6S is of course basically the same.

 Not a big score on this hand but I at least got the us the best out of it.  Against Dave and Bob I opened 1H, Dave overcalled 2D and Adrianne doubled. So Adrianne has exactly four spades and at most 3 hearts.  I'll assume Dave has 5 diamonds to the AK.  Even if Adrianne has 9/10 points, we are not making 3NT, in fact are we even going to make 8 tricks?  This is the problem with aceless hands, they aren't worth as much as you think.  However I reckoned we could defeat 2D and maybe get lucky with 2 off.  So I passed.  Adrainne led 10H to Q and Ace.  With the heart pips favourable after the lead of that 10, declarer can get home now after AK and another diamond.  However you would expect trumps to be 4-2 and be worried about going more off if you did that.  So we came to a spade, a heart, a heart ruff, 2 clubs and a diamond for 1 off, +200 against 2NT going one off.

This was an interesting 3NT against John and Jennifer.  I opened 2NT, Jennifer thought about bidding and passed, Adrianne raised me to 3NT.
Jennifer led a diamond to my King, I played AC and Jennifer followed with JC and John with 7C. Looked like both doubleton so I followed with the KC, gave up a club and made 10 tricks.
No problem on a diamond lead, but what about a spade lead?  I need to cash 9 tricks now.  Would I have got the clubs?  Well not if John plays that 7, I'll still go for the drop.  So good illustration of why play cards that are of no interest to your partner but which might help declarer.  Play 6C and I'll always cross to dummy to finesse.

Wednesday 29 August

Playing N/S with Gerry scored a poor 49%. Started badly, failed to recover.
Board 1 was a difficult decision for me, turned out wrong but mainly due to excellent defence.

 Gerry opened South 1D, what is my best bid? 2D will normally invoke some bidding from opponents.  However if partner is strong 1H will get 2N from partner. Probably 2D pays off in this situation, but I did what I always do and bid 1H.  Gerry bid the inevitable 2N and there he played.
Paul led KC and switched to 9H to Nat's Queen.  Nat returned JC to Q and Ace.  Paul led a small heart.  Gerry didn't want to be duped here and tried the King.  Nat took the Ace, played a club and that was 4 clubs and 3 hearts to the defence. Those in 2D scored a joint top though E/W should compete even to 3H forcing 4D down 1 by South.

 One of our few bright spots against Mary and Moira.  Mary opened 1C, Moira 1S, Mary reversed with 2D, 2N - 3N.  I led 9H.  Moira took the Ace. That seems a decent line to me, unblock the Ace now, set up clubs and hope they come back hearts.  Moira now led a small club to the Jack and I took the Queen. I continued a heart to the King, but Gerry can see the lie of that suit and now switches to a small spade.  We cash 3 spades for 1 down.

 On the next board I missed bidding game, though just as well. Mary opened 1C, round to me and I doubled.  Mary bids 1S and Gerry 2H.  I thought about this but with waht looked like 15 plus a singleton I decided I have to give my partner some latitude and passed the 2H.  That was wrong though, I should have bid 3H. Anyway Moira correctly led the spade to Mary's Queen and Gerry dropped the Jack.  Mary led back a club to Dummy's King.  Gerry cashed AK of trumps and led a diamond to Mary's Ace. Mary exits with another club.  Gerry cashes QH and plays diamonds getting rid of his two spades as Moira trumps the 5th.  A club to lose for 9 tricks. Much better than 4H down 2 which probably happens if I bid 3H.

There were a lot of slams going about on the evening, this wasn't one of them, though one pair got away with it.
Gerry opened his monster 1D, Moira overcalled 1H and I bid 1S.  Mary bid 2H and Gerry 4NT.  I showed one keycard and Gerry assuming its colour was black bid 6S.
Moira with 2 Aces doubled.  Mary led ..... KC unfortunately, 1 down.
Margaret McCallum playing with Ann McLeod was in 6D doubled.  Now it doesn't matter which Ace is led, in fact surely anything but a heart defeats this.  What was led? The diamond 4, 6D wins in dummy, AH throw the club, get the spade right 6Dx made.

I thought I made a big mistake in defending 4H against Vi.  Nobody made this contract though it is unbeatable, just play on clubs.
Anyway I led JS ducked all round.  I can see continuing spades gives away 10 tricks as spades will get set up and declarer just loses a club, a diamond and a spade.  So I switch to a trump. Vi wins in hand and returns a diamond, I take Ace and play a second trump. Vi cashes KD and plays a club to K and my Ace (playing a third trump and cashing JD to throw a club is no good as there are 2 more spades to lose).  Anyway I unthinkingly returned a club, Vi wins, ruffs a club, back to third heart and club winners to throw the spades. I thought that was a stupid return of a club, if I just play a spade now to Gerry's Queen if Vi ruffs she can cash a diamond and a club but must lose two spades. However she doesn't. Ruff the QS, cash KC, ruff a club, draw last trump and exit with a spade to Gerry's Ace.  Gerry is endplayed with only two small diamonds in his hand to give Vi the contract.

Missed a game here though only two pairs managed to bid it.
Against Issy and Willie I opened 1NT 3rd in hand, Gerry bid 2C and raised my 2H to 3H.  Well I can't see even 3H being straightforward and passed.
Issy led KD and switched to a trump to King and Ace.  I ruffed a diamond, finessed a club, ruffed a diamond, finessed a club.  11 tricks, very straightforward.  Why didn't I see that?

Monday 27 August

Playing N/S with Adrianne came 3rd in our section with a Butler score of 22.

Early on there were two 4S in a row, the first we failed to bid but made four, the second we bid but it goes down!
Against the two Davids, D Cree opened 1D and I bid 2N, D Young did 3D and Adrianne a pass or correct 3H.  I corrected to 3S and there I played. Two diamonds were cashed and Jack of clubs came through.  I rose with Ace, felled QS in two and gave up club for 10 tricks.

The next board was against Steve and Marilyn. After two passes I opened 1D, Steve overcalled a heart and Adrianne doubled showing 4 spades.  Marilyn bid 2H alerting me to the fact that Adrianne has at most two, so I bid 4S.
Steve led 10D and Adrianne put down a singleton which was a bit of a blow.  If the lead is doubleton and AH onside I can lose a diamond, a heart and a club.
I won AD, led a heart to Ace and 4S came back to 10 and King.  I cashed KH, back to AS, ruffed a heart and exited with a club. I ruffed club return but I'm in a pickle now.  I can't ruff a small diamond now with the Queen as that leaves Steve probably with JS and heart winners. I tried KD, ruffed by Jack and Queen but had to lose two diamonds.
I think I have to play a small diamond from hand at trick 2.  I will surely make 9 with a chance of 10.

 Stole a good score here against John and Rob. After 3 passes I opened 1H and John came in 1S.  Adrianne bid 1N, Rob 2S and I ventured 3N.  If Adrianne has 3 hearts she would have raised to 2H unless she had a decent spade holding.
If Rob leads QS then Adrianne will get her two spade tricks. However he correctly led 3S to John's King which Adrianne ducked.  John led back 7S,  Adrianne played small but Rob put up the Queen.  A spade back gave Adrianne her two tricks and 9 altogether.

Disaster for me here.  Adrianne put us into 6D, a decent enough contract and we are the only ones in our section to bid it. A heart lead was flagged by the bidding and Alan led 8H to Myra's Ace and I won the return with my King. A finesse of a club then try to ruff out KC is not a bad line because there will be people in 3N who need that club finesse and you'll get the same score as them if it is wrong.
Or a complete cross ruff is possible, the hand that might be able to over ruff might not have JD. This includes the possibility of bringing down KC in three so that is what I played for. 9C to Ace, QC not covered so ruffed.  Alan played 7 then 8 of clubs. I was sure King was now falling so just crossed to AD, ruffed a club and King fell.  HOWEVER without stopping to think I crossed to QD and Alan showed out.  My only trump left is KD and I still have to ruff a heart leaving Myra with the trump master.  I have to cash KD, play Ace and another spade, ruffed. Ruff a heart, ruff a spade to get back to dummy to draw last trump and cash clubs, BUT Myra will over ruff the spade.  I cannot make this. I needed to finesse 9C!!!

The next board wasn't as good as it could have been some N/S got good scores e.g. 5S doubled. Alan opened 1C and Adrianne overcalled a strong 2S, Myra doubled. Now any sensible person would bid 4S with my hand but inexplicably I decided to pass to see what happens.  Alan bid 5C is what happened.  Adrianne pauses a little and passes but I am sure, even red against green that I have a 5S bid.  Alan bids 6C and Adrianne doubles. I still think seriously about bidding 6S (this is the guy who passes 2S).  If Adrianne has 6 spades and 4 clubs (and 16 points) all the better, but decide to pass.  Adrianne leads AS and Myra amazingly puts down 4 clubs. We got our heart and 2 diamonds for 300.  Adrianne wasn't tested with the diamonds in a 6S contract.  On the bidding, knowing Myra has exactly 4 hearts and at most 4 clubs, then discovering 1 spade, she will certainly know where the diamond length is.

Missed an opportunity for a game at the end.  Adrianne opened 1D and Jack overcalled 1H.  I bid 1S, Robert 2H and Adrianne 2S.  I tried 2N but Adrianne with minimum passed.
Heart lead to Ace, small heart back taken with my 10. I played the spades wrongly Ace then finesse Jack. Robert played another heart to Queen and King. I ran the spades, Jack letting go a heart, cashed another heart.  Took AD for my 8th trick, exited wwith QD.  Defenders only had clubs left and I made King.  So despite getting diamonds and spades wrong I made 9.

Friday 23rd August

Playing N/S with Gerry came 1st with 60%.  Didn't have a great start especially when I put Gerry into an unmakeable slam. 

Having scored a zero against Colin and Helen with a poor defence we got back with this board. Helen opened 1C, I passed and Colin bid 1S.  Gerry came in 1N, this is take out for the other two suits, not good enough for a double, more distributional. Helen bid 2S, I bid 3H and it was passed out.

Spade lead to Ace followed by spade to King.  I played club to K and A.  Helen tried Ace and another diamond (I'll get the suit right anyway as Helen needs the Ace for her opener). That was me with 10 tricks after a spade ruff.

We had a good set against Paul and Bob.  Paul opened 1D, Gerry doubled, Bob passed and I bid 2C round to Gerry who bid 3NT.  Bob led 9S and Gerry immediately led QC.  Paul took this and attacked dummy's heart entry.  However Gerry cheaply won 8H and when the next club was ducked simply played on diamonds for 10 tricks.

On the next board Paul opened a strong NT and through Puppet Stayman Bob raised him to 3N.
Gerry found the great lead of 7C, small from dummy and I carelessly put on the 8 for count (I read the lead as 97x). Surprised to hold the trick I switched to a spade.  Paul won, knocked out AD, I tried another spade which went to Gerry's Queen, club back and Paul has his 9 tricks exactly.
Most South's led a spade won by the Jack in dummy.  Our score was a top.  We would have got our 4 tricks a lot quicker if I had just followed with the 6C at trick one.

An interesting hand against Victor and Elizabeth.  We were pushed into 4S when Elizabeth twice used a takeout double and I could show a good hand with spades and diamonds and allowing Gerry to show some support.
Victor led a heart to 9, Q and A.  I played KS to Ace.  Elizabeth cashed KH then KC then tried QC which I ruffed high.  I played high spade to the Queen, cashed JH to throw a diamond.  I now ruffed a club to fell the Ace and crossed with a small spade to the 7.  Cashed JC throwing a second diamond and finessed QD for 10 tricks.
Of course all the time Elizabeth had doubleton KD and a simple finesse would have given me 10 tricks by ruffing my 4th diamond, but I didn't know that until the end!