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.

Maccabi Bowl

Playing N/S with Gerry, Les & Shirish E/W came 5th of 17.  Feeling a bit miffed as Harry Smith came over at the end to check scores.  Gerry and I don't keep cards but I heard him agree with Les that Stirling had won by 5 imps.  The score had been us winning by 2 imps (11-9), this changed the score to 7-13 for Stirling and moved us from 3rd to 5th.  However as far as I can see we did win the match by 2!??

Anyway, over 28 boards we all did quite well, got a few good scores and could have done better on a few.

I lost us this match by a bad bid, though Myra made it difficult for me.
After two passes Myra opened West 1H.  So what is the best bid with my hand?
With AKJxxx   Ax   AQx   xx  I favour double and then bid spades on the next round, i.e showing a strong jump overcall.  I could have done this here but only have 5 spades.  I decided to overcall 1S.  Alan bid 2H, round to me.  Now what? Well with AKQxx  x  Axxx Axx, double would be perfect.  Unfortunately I chose that here, Gerry bid 3C and this went 1 down while spades will make 9 or 10.
Having chosen 1S the first time, I should just bid 2S the second time.

Made up for it against Cliff and Hugh.  I opened 1N, Cliff bid 2C (majors) and Gerry doubled, either clubs with reasonable points or enough for 2N, either way penalty orientated.
This was passed back to Cliff who bid 2S and Gerry bid 2N.  I don't have a particularly attractive 13 count but with knowledge of the East hand from the bidding decided to bid 3N.
Cliff led KH, I took Ace and led a club to K and A. Cliff led a small heart to Hugh's J and Hugh played QS which I won with the Ace.  I led a third heart, Cliff won, took AS and I claimed. I was relieved Cliff hadn't played a club before cashing a spade, but he didn't have one anyway.

This was a cruel hand.  Nearly all N/S made 3N as did our opponents when Shirish led JC.

Our bidding went 1D - 2C - 2D - 2N - 3N.
Can it go any other way?

Anyway I got the inevitable spade lead now which I won with the King. I decide to play for a singleton J on my right and led QD, no luck and I concede a diamond and 4 spades for 1 down.
I don't know why I played for singleton J like that, it has to be on my right, halving the odds.  Better to play for singleton King and lay down the Ace.  At least that didn't matter.

Festival Teams 25 August

Playing N/S with Gerry and partners Les and Shirish we came 2nd. We won 7 of our matches and lost one  -- by 19-1!
An interesting match against the winners Jim and Paul (Ian and Bob their N/S pair).

Gained a few imps when Paul opened 1H and I bid 2D.  Jim thought and passed.  Difficult to decide on a bid here, 2N even 3N possible, 3H even 4H? but pass is sure to get a re-opening double as partner can't have many diamonds and South can't have points to say anything.
Right enough Paul doubles, I had been wondering why I hadn't bid 3D, so might as well do so now.  Jim decides to double and I made the obvious 7 tricks for -500, better than -650. So 4 imps up.

The next board however is a disaster as we wound our way to 6H.  Great contract on a club, diamond or heart lead, one off on the inevitable spade lead.
-11 imps, so 7 down.

Third board of the match. We play multi and Lucas but don't open a weak two in a major without a top honour. So in theory I have a pass.  However we can Lucas 5-4 green vs red, especially with a good minor so I rated my hearts as 5 cards and opened 2H.  Jim passed, Gerry bid 4H and Paul couldn't find the 4S bid for their making contract and passed.
If our partners make 4S we have won the match, unfortunately they ended in 5S down 1, so we are doomed, or are we?
Jim led KD taken by Ace and I led a small heart. Now I have 5 hearts for my Lucas bid, Paul put up the Ace and crashed Jim's King. Paul took KS and played his second diamond to the Queen leaving Jim on lead. Can't lead a club, even a small diamond doesn't look right as a diamond can be set up to discard my 'second' spade.  So Jim led a spade to Paul's known Ace. Ruff in hand while discarding a club from Dummy, 10 tricks made. 8 imps we won the match by one!

Our final match was against John Di Mambro and Ronald (partnering Sheila and Maida).
Ronnie opened 1H and I ventured 3C leading to an inevitable 5C, down 4, -800 against 680 so 3 imps down.

Ronnie opened 1S and I doubled. John bid 2S and Gerry bid 3D.  3S from Ronnie and I am wondering what is going on.  Has Ronnie really got an opening bid? I'm not sure what to do so temporised with 4S.  Gerry bid 5D obviously, back to me and I gave this some thought, probably shouldn't have thought, there must be play for 6D.  I thought for too long, I reckon if I'm this unsure then I shouldn't bid slam, I let their bidding put me off and passed.
Gerry had no problem just losing a diamond.
3NT at the other table making 10, so flat but you suspect you have a bad score.

John opened 1C, Gerry doubled and Ronnie bid 1H.  I should really pass but Gerry rates to have 4 spades and I can't resist 1S.  2C from John and 4S from Gerry.  This is a good shot, if I have few point then I will have 5 spades, with 4 spades I should have my points (such a trusting partner).
Anyway John cashes two clubs and I can see they are 5-3. He now switches to 8H and I can't imagine that being singleton (no chance if it is).  So I ducked that to the King and Ronnie has a long pause, this gives me hope, I think he can see this making!  Anyway he eventually exits with a heart and I took the Queen.  AK and a diamond ruff to set up the suit and I have a complete count, spades are 3-3, miracle!
Draw trumps, end in Dummy, cash the winners.
1Nx by East minus 1 at the other table for 11 imps and an 8 imp victory.

Thursday 6 August

Playing N/S with Gerry came second with 56%.

 

Board 1 got us off to quite a good start. Gerry played in 4S after

1D - 1S - 1N - 2C (checkback) - 2S - 4S

Sandra led a small heart and Dummy's Queen held.  Gerry crossed to AS and played a diamond to the Ten and Ace. Gloria returned a heart and Gerry cashed KD discarding a club then ruffed a diamond felling the Queen. He crossed to KS and led TD discarding another a club. That gave him 11 tricks just losing the diamond and the trump.  Very neatly played.
Of course the contract goes down on a club lead but who'll find that lead from KJ2? Strong NoTrumpers will pay 4S by North, now East could find a club lead, just your luck.

In a round about way we managed to settle in 3NT.  As it happens 4S makes with the 3-3 break and that makes 3N straightforward as well for 10 tricks, though that's not how I played it.

Gerry had bid diamonds so Robina favoured a heart lead into my Jack.  Going by the pips clubs were a better bet to provide 9 tricks rather than relying an odds against spade break.  So I played Ace then 9C which Phoebe took with the Q and returned a heart to the Ace.  I crossed to AS and forced out KC, Phoebe returned another heart which  took with the King leaving Robina with QH.
I cashed my clubs giving me 7 tricks.  I had AD and could have led to Q hoping KD was onside, however it is better to exit with a heart which leaves Robina on play. Robina plays a small diamond, now if I go up with Q and it wins I have 10 tricks.  However if Q loses to K and a diamond comes back with the J offside, I am down. If however I play a small diamond I am guaranteed 9 tricks. So I played small, the 10 won and I had AD for 9.

How to misdefend.  This was classic bad defence by me. Phoebe (West) is in 4S.  I didn't fancy any lead and seriously considered each suit (8S lead doesn't cost if West has KS).  However I decided on 2C.  Phoebe went up with the Q in Dummy and lead a spade to J and my Q.
What to do now? I know from Gerry's 3C at trick one that Phoebe has 5 spades and 3 clubs.  If she has 3 hearts then my club is going on the 4th heart.  If she has doubleton heart, then if Gerry has KD he will get it eventually anyway.  I decided to continue clubs hoping Gerry has JC and we have a club trick set up while I have AS.
So I continued clubs, what a disaster! Phoebe won the Jack, gave me AS, no use leading a diamond now, four round of hearts got rid of the diamond loser and 11 tricks made.
I don't mind not finding a diamond lead but should have thought out my second lead when in with QS.  However what about the initial lead.  I did not want to lead 2C and 8S would have been better.

However the best lead is AS and that didn't cross my mind.  Why is it best, well a) you still have 2 spade tricks when the K is on your right and b) you see Dummy and a diamond switch will look best now.  There is a third reason which works when KS is on your left.  If declarer has JTxxx   opposite K9x they will run JS and you will only make 1 spade trick but lead AS then switch and I bet they won't play you for AQx and will cash KS when they get in!

7D, 6H, 6S and 6N all make on this hand.  I went down in 6N.
Gerry opened 1C, I bid 1S, Gerry 2C and I bid 6N.
Issy led 10C and things didn't look good.  How can I make 12 tricks?  If I can find QD ( and I hate having a two way finesse, bound to guess wrong), I then need diamonds and spades to break. Not likely. I would have played that way on a heart lead but the club lead intrigued me as it went 10, 3, 2 and Ace. Has Isssy led from 1098?  It certainly looks that way.  I crossed to KH, played KC and Mike dropped JC and Issy the 8. Surely that is it, I played a third club and that was one down.
I also didn't like trying diamonds first as I reckoned we are all in 6 of something and it looks odds against making so ensuring 1 down rather than 2 down is a good score.  Would I have got the diamonds right?  Well I'm in hand with AC, I tend to favour playing from the hand I find myself in and would have finessed the Jack.

Wednesday 15 July

Playing with Gerry came second with 59%.

Got a top following a favourable lead on this board.  Most are in 4S and 12 tricks are always there with a 4th club following a ruff and a second heart.  A favourable heart lead would certainly help and some made 12.
I however opened 1NT and Gerry raised to 3N.  Barry led a diamond and Lester won the King returning a diamond to my Jack.  I crossed to AS and finessed JC then cashed AC, Barry dropping the Q (correct play if you started with three).  I tried KC but Lester has a winner. I now ran my spades and Lester has to find three discards bringing him down to KQ hearts and 10C.  I had 10H, AD and 7C in Dummy and AJ hearts and 9D in hand.  I crossed to AD and what could Lester throw?  He let QH go as keeping the club was essential but I crossed back to AJ of hearts making 12 tricks.
Not that I see this squeeze initially, just the beauty of, you have 11 tricks, you've lost one, run your long suit and watch the discards carefully seeing what happens

Another top here with a favourable layout.  I opened 1H, Gerry bid 1N and I bid 3D.  Gerry is a bit stuck now but has to bid 4D.  I fancied this might be 4 card support and therefore stronger than just bidding 5D.  I cued AS, Gerry bid 5C and I took 6D.
Issy led a spade which gave me a good start, just have to set up the hearts.  Normally you would just cash AH then ruff a heart, spade, ruff a heart to lessen the danger of an over-ruff.  However if I then run QD to Issy's K he might be able to play a 4th heart for Willie to ruff.  Whereas I can cash AK of hearts and ruff the 4th heart with QD for a safer line (assuming a 4-3 break).  So AK hearts (Willie dropped the Q, but I'm not having that), heart ruff. Back to a spade, planning to ruff a fourth heart with QD but in fact Issy shows out and discards, so small heart ruff. Run QD to Issy's King, spade back, ruff, draw trumps, claim.
Issy might have ruffed in with 8D forcing my Q, but no difference.

Friday 10 July

Directing at SBU Summer Congress I was asked to make up a team with Russell Frame.  We did well and came joint second.  Two interesting hands where I was perplexed on where all the hearts were.  The second one was a real blow as I got it wrong.  It was against the eventual winners Bob, Cathy, Peter & Willie and would have won the tournament for us.


The first one was a success.  I held

Russell passed and Derrick Peden opened 1H.  I doubled, Malcolm Copley passed, Russell bid 2D and Derrick passed.
So what is happening with all the hearts? In fact if Russell had bid 1S I would have suspected he had a 3 card suit and 5 hearts but 2D must be genuine.  However he still figures to have 5 hearts, 4 for certain.
I need to try something so I bid 2H, I expect Russell to bid 2N then I'll bid 3D surely showing something like the hand I have.  Russell bids 3NT, brilliant, let's play there.

This is the full hand, Derrick led a small heart to Russell's 10. Club to the Q.  He tries AK of diamonds, so no sure way back to hand and plays KC hoping for a stiff Ace.  However Derrick took the Ace and that was that.  A spade was tried, the King won and 11 tricks chalked up.

I must say I would have bid 1NT with Russell's hand however that gives me a problem.  Will we really have enough for 3NT?  I suppose West would bid 2N and then get there.

I opened 1C and Bob bid 3S.  Russell bid 4C and Cathy 4S.  I bid 5C, passed round to Cathy who thought for a while and passed.
Bob led QS.  Where are all the hearts here?

Now I see Russell's hand, 10 hearts are missing.  I imagine Bob to be 7420 / 7411 / 7321 sort of thing.  I took AS and cashed QC, so Bob is 7411 or 7321, surely Cathy would have bid hearts if she had 8 or more. With her pause I am hopeful that she might have AKx and Bob Qx or even AQxx and Bob singleton King. Either way I believe I can get her to crash Bob's honour. You are not going to duck here especially as I have not given anything away and she will be hopeful of a heart trick.

So I led a diamond from Dummy and Cathy took the Ace exiting with KS.  I ruffed and led another diamond but Cathy produces the Q and exits perforce with a heart.  I win and on the third diamond Bob shocks me by producing the King.  One down and unfortunately our other pair went to 5S going down.

Double dummy we can see this is an easy make.  Win AS, ruff a spade, club across, ruff a spade.  Heart to Ace, cross to a club, ruff a heart and now lead a diamond.  Cathy is end played to give a ruff and discard and Dummy's third diamond disappears.
I just couldn't place Bob with 3 diamonds and he was unlikely to have two honours in the suit.

A long time ago I was playing with Bobby Moore and in a similar sort of situation I failed to bid an 8 card suit and supported his weak two instead.  We missed a good sacrifice in my suit.  After it he asked me what is it you call an 8 card suit?  TRUMPS!