Hand 1

As you can see, I now have a picture of the hand within the document. If you have any strong views on this addition, either good or bad, then please let me know. Throughout the evening I am N and Rob is S.

I opened 1§ (16+ or a weak NT) and rebid 2© over Rob’s 1¨ negative to show 5+© and 16-18pts, which Rob raised to game. E led ª A and there were no problems in the play for +420 and a flat board. I imagine an Acol auction may go 1© -1ª , 1NT-2© , 3¨ (long-suit trial bid)-4© .

George I am N and Ian S in this match. I started with 1H (5 card majors) and when Ian raised to 2H I decided to just blast into 4H. Ian’s hand was a good fit and I made an easy 10 tricks. One table failed to bid game and we gained 6 imps. This was the first of many thin games on the night.

Hand 2

EW bid 1ª -2© -2ª -4© . Being more traditional I prefer to open 1§ with 5-5 in the blacks, particularly with a good hand such as this, though I realise this seems to be a minority view these days. On this hand it didn’t matter as 4© is a good spot. I led § 9 but even though the © s break badly, declarer was able to come down to © J93 with S holding © K108 to lead a small one and endplay him to make his 10^th trick with © J. We lose 11imps for -420.

George E/W bid 1S-2H-2S-3C-3D-3H-5C. I led JD and declarer thought for a while before rising with AD to find the KD falling under it! It is possible to make 12 tricks but he played carefully to make sure of 11. We netted 3 imps (+1, -10, +12) when one table went off (not sure of the contract) and one table made 6Cx !

Hand 3

Rob opened 1© and after many more relay-bids I found out Rob had a 4531 shape, but missing the ª Q so settled for 6© and +980. Two more adventurous pairs in Div2 bid the grand slam and both found the ª Q to make their contracts. Well done to them, but we lose another 23imps. Not an easy hand to bid in Acol, but once S opens, N will not stop short of 6© , so the only question is how to find out more about S’s hand. I think I would start with 3¨ (game-force) and follow up with 4§ to show my force was based on © support…….using the golden rule "never jump-force on 2-suiters". S will keep signing off so would probably settle for a small slam in the end.

George Ian opened 1H and I held a balanced 21 count with 4 hearts! I decided that the hand would play as well in NT as in hearts and that would get the lead coming up to my hand with those nice black suit tenaces. So I started with 2D to try to encourage a black suit lead. When Ian simply bid 2H (still forcing with us to 2NT after a 2 level response) I leapt to 6NT. E happily led a small spade and that was 13 tricks. This time we netted 4 imps when one table went off (in 7H?) and one table made 7H by guessing spades right.

Hand 4

I opened a thin 1¨ and Rob responded 1ª . This is systemically forcing, but I know Rob would bid 1NT with hands strong enough to game-force, so I passed. We were already too high and 1ª went one down for -100, but at last a gain……of 3 imps.

George This time E/W got into the bidding. After I had opened 1D and Ian responded 1S they got to 3C. I led AD and a diamond, won JC and then slipped by playing KS to give an overtrick. Ian pointed out correctly that he must have values in clubs for my JC to win a trick, and he had also played the 6D not the 9D on the 2^nd round – he would have played the 9D had he held the AS. These are the small subtle clues which are needed for tight defence. We gained 8 imps when one table made game, presumably 3NT, which looks seriously odds against!

Hand 5

By the time we had got to 3§ I knew Rob was 5-5 in the majors with at most 1¨ and 11-15pts. I now thought my ¨ values were wasted and signed off in 4© . But I should have asked more questions to find out if Rob was maximum or not. You will do very well to bid this excellent slam. No-one did in Div2.

George Ian opened 1S and I bid 3NT which shows a raise to 4S with 4 trumps and no shortage. Ian now bid 4H which is an unusual bid in this sequence since we would normally cue over 3NT with slam interest. I knew that we were in the slam zone but hadn’t much idea of Ian’s minor suit holdings. If I bid 5D then Ian will bid 5S and we still don’t get to the good slam. Which suggests that Ian should bid 4C as a cue over 3NT rather than 4H since this lets me cue 4H to get us to the slam. 2 tables bid 6S and we lost 22 imps.

Hand 7

W opened 1© , I overcalled 1ª and E jumped to 3© . Rob passed and W coninued to 4© . I thought I was too good to just Pass and so Doubled for takeout. Rob took this out to 4ª , which ended the auction (E should probably Dbl). -200 was worth a hefty 30imps for us.

George Ian passed (he rightly decided he wasn’t good enough to open a weak 2D vul), W opened 1H, I overcalled 1S, E 2H, Ian 2S. Now W made a game try with 3C and unusually I also made a game try with 3D. E bid 3H (which shows a reasonable raise to 2H but not good enough for 4H – there is some logic for me to bid 3H instead of 3D to prevent E bidding this but I didn’t want to force E to bid 4H!), and W raised to 4H. Nicely bid by E/W and 10 tricks were easy. One table had gone off (in 5Hx I think when N/S bid to 4S) and we lost 13 imps. Both 4S and 5D are saves since they cost only 500.

Hand 8

EW bid 1¨ -1© -2© -4© and Rob led a ª . After that, suffice to say our defence was generous and we were pleased to see that -420 was a flat board.

George It looked like a fairly boring 4H. Ian was on lead and chose a spade after which 11 tricks came in with the fortunate diamond position. A club lead makes life a little tougher but 10 tricks at least should still be made. We lost 12 imps, however, when one table went off.

Hand 9

Time for a relay sequence. EW were silent. P-1§ (16+), 1ª (9-10pts, 4+ª )-1NT(asks), 2§ (4+§ )-2¨ (asks), 3¨ (5314 shape)-3© (aces & kings?), 3© (1 Ace or 2 Kings – we ignore singleton kings)-6© (hoping not too many points in ª ). Rob carefully avoided trying to cash ¨ A before trumping his small ¨ s and that was +980. No-one else had bid the good slam so we pick up 33imps.

We win our first match 42-18.

George We bid Pass-1H-1S-2D-4H-5C-5D-5H-6H. Having passed I could give free rein to my good looking hand opposite a 1H opener (5 cards). Ian did well to see the potential and we got to the good slam. The distribution is a bit tricky but careful play ought to see 12 tricks. Ian got the 9H lead and ruffed 2 diamonds in dummy, returning to hand with AC, a spade ruffed low and a spade ruffed high. This was worth a huge 38 imps in when one table stayed in game, one table went off in slam and one N/S somehow only got +200.

It has felt like a pretty good set except for missing the slam on board 6 and we win 39-21 made up of 17-3, 17-3 and 5-15!

Hand 11

EW bid 1© -1ª -3ª -4ª for a flat board.

George Now I am W and Ian E. We bid 1NT (15-17)-2H-3S-4S. A trump lead and the losing club goes on the 4^th heart for 12 tricks. No interest but 2 imps in for the extra trick.

Hand 12

EW bid 1¨ -1© -2¨ -3NT and Rob found the only lead to give declarer a problem ie.§ 2. I think the practical thing to do is win in dummy and lead ¨ s from the top hoping the 9 comes down in 4 rounds. But our declarer won the first round of ¨ s with the K and crossed back to § K to run the ¨ s. Now discards are a problem for everyone at the table. With 5 cards to keep I came down to ª KJ5 and © A5, declarer to ª Q9 © KJ § A, and Rob to ª Ax © Qx § J. In fact I should come down to one more ª and one fewer © , though then declarer can also keep one more ª and one fewer © , so maybe it’s the same thing. Anyhow declarer played a ª from dummy, which ran round to the A. Rob now erred by playing a § for declarer’s 9^th trick, but would probably have guessed © s correctly in the endgame. We’ll never know……We lost just 4 imps for -400.

George I opened 1D (yes it is very light but the suit is very good), Ian 1H, me 2D and Ian 3NT. A spade lead to KS, JS back to pin dummy’s 10 to Q/A and now 8S back to make Ian’s lowly 9 and 7 both winners! This was 11 tricks and we gained 5 imps again for overtricks.

Hand 13

I opened our 2-way 1§ and Rob responded 2§ showing 5+§ and 9+pts. I raised to 3§ to show 12-13pts and 3+§ and Rob took a shot at 3NT. W led a ª and Rob judged well to insert the Q. He gave up a § and that was +630 and +12imps.

George N opened 1NT (12-14) and S raised to 3NT (a bold bid). A diamond lead will beat this given the distribution {??-SG} but Ian found the natural heart lead after which we can’t do anything to beat 9 tricks. In fact when I got in with KC I switched to a small spade hoping partner held AJx as the only chance and this gave him 10 tricks. We lost 19 imps for this.

Hand 14

E passed, Rob opened a natural 2§ and W overcalled a frisky 2© . I raised to 3§ and E jumped to 4© . Rob might now try a double or 4ª , but instead chose 5§ , which E doubled. W led a © and the Q won to give Rob a chance. He played a ¨ and E played K then A. Rob then discovered the trump break and can work out W either has 1ª and 4¨ or 2ª and 3¨ . But then who has ª K? W for his overcall or E for his Dbl? In the end Rob cashed ª A and then another for one down. He has to play a small one towards dummy to make it. Very close. But we lose just 3imps for -100.

George S opened 1C and raised N’s 1S to 4S. Personally I would bid only 3S on the S hand but 4S will often make even when N passes this. In my style a raise to 4S here would show a balanced 18-19 hand. If I have a more distributional raise to 4S then I splinter at the 4 level. This N/S play that a jump to the 4 level would be a cue, possibly a splinter, to allow them to bid 4S on this type of hand. Anyway, Ian led AD and switched to a heart to beat 4S in comfort. Rather surprisingly we lost 3 imps on this.

Hand 15

EW bid 1§ (I like! – see earlier 5-5 shape)-1¨ , 1ª (prefer 2ª if systemically natural)-2§ , 2ª -3ª , 4ª . So all worked out in the end (E did well to raise 2ª to 3ª ). -420 was worth 3imps to us.

George We bid 1C-1D-2S-3C-3S-4S. I thought for a while about bidding on needing only AD and QC to make slam a good prospect but decided that this was odds against and passed 4S. Slam was close needing the club finesse but also needing a 3-2 trump break – it got only one of these so 11 tricks was the limit. Totally flat!

Hand 16

I opened a Precision style 2¨ to show 11-15pts, 3 suited with short ¨ , Rob enquired for my exact shape and I bid 3§ to show 4414, after which he jumped to 6ª . W led a © for +980. A § lead makes it trickier, but declarer can still make it by ruffing two ¨ s and leading a © towards the QJ. We pick up +25imps for bidding and making this one. In Acol things may get a little murky after 1§ -1¨ -1© -1ª but N should raise to 2ª showing 4 and S should then take control.

George N/S bid 1C-1D-1H-1S-2S-3NT-Pass. S’s 1S was natural and forcing, N’s 2S could be only a 3 card raise. 6S is a fair contract and indeed 2 tables bid and made it, so we gained 24 imps.

Hand 17

E overcalled my 1ª with 2© and there matters rested. Rob led § 6 and we held it to 8 tricks for -110 and a flat board. I think W should try 2NT over 2© , which E will happily raise to 3NT. So we thought a little unlucky for us not to gain imps on this one.

Hand 18

EW bid 1¨ -1© -2© -3§ -3¨ -3© to reach a rather delicate contract. It was to and fro, but the bare © QJ proved decisive and and we lost 140, this time happy to see it was flat, though with most pairs picking up 130 in ¨ s.

Hand 19

E led a ª against my 1NT and that was 7 tricks for +90 and a flat board.

The slam we bid on Board 16 was the only big board of the set and we win 38-22.

George N opened 1NT and played there. Ian led QD which was a great effort and had he continued we stand a good chance of beating 1NT. He didn’t read my 4D however and switched to a spade. We ended up letting 8 tricks through and lost 2 imps.

This has actually been a good match for us although we expected to lose a lot of imps on board 13, so another 39-21 win seems about right.