December Commentary by Steve Green and George Cuthbertson
MATCH 1
Hand 1
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Board 1 None Vul - Dealer North |
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Now with added vulnerabilities! As usual Rob and I are NS throughout and third in hand Rob opened a very light 1§, which should be 12-15 balanced. W overcalled 1NT and I had a choice of bids. Earlier in the day we added a new part to the system which meant I could jump to 3¨ to show 5-5 in © and ¨ with 6-9pts. But to play safe I bid a simple 2© to show 6-9 with 5+©. E competed with 2ª, which came back round to me so I continued with 3¨, after which W concluded the auction with 3ª. Rob led a © and we managed to get a © ruff for one down and +50. We were delighted to find that every other EW had made game, so we pick up 30imps.
George I am W and Ian E. I opened 1NT (15-17) and bid 3S over Ian’s 2H to show a max and 4 spades. This encouraged Ian to go to game. I got a trump lead and drew trumps ending in dummy to run the JH to N’s KH. Now N switched to a diamond and S won the KD when I played small (note that N could have led the 10D which will stop me getting 2 diamond tricks). AC and a small club and I won KC to ruff my small club in dummy. Now I had to decide whether to finesse in hearts or in diamonds! I chose diamonds (because N had switched to the 4D) and this proved to be the winning line. So a thin game made by guessing right is a good score surely? In fact it was totally flat! This was going to be a tough match!
Hand 2
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Board 2 N/S Vul - Dealer East |
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W opened an even lighter hand on this board, but it didn’t fare so well. The chosen opening bid was 2§ to show a weak hand with at least 4-4 in ª and a red suit. You need a strong constitution to play this system! I doubled, initially 13-16 balanced, but could be stronger and E must have been delighted, bidding 2¨ to play in partner’s red suit. This came back round to me and I doubled again, this time for penalty. Rob did very well to pass and then lead his trump. During the play I was forever endplayed but 3 down and +500 was worth +36imps when other NS pairs found it difficult to get a plus score. This hand highlights the risk you run if you choose to play these aggressive type opening bids.
George N opened 1D and then 2NT over 1S. S bid 3S (intended as sign off) but N took it to be game going and bid 3NT. I think S should now bid 4S but he passed. I was hopeful after hearing the differing explanations of the 3S bid. Ian got off to the 5H lead to K and A. Now a spade to Ian’s K and my 6 (showing an even number which here had to be 4). Seeing that dummy had no entry Ian felt safe to cash AS too. I played the 3 to suggest clubs and Ian played a club to K and A. Now QD came round to my K and the 9H flashed onto the table. After all Ian should have 5 of these (N could have reversed into 2H if he was 5-4). The 10H was taken by Ian’s J and that was the end of the defence! -600 was a disaster and cost us 35 imps. If Ian ducks the 10H then we beat it but he expected me to have 3 hearts just as I thought he had 5! Horrible.
Hand 3
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Board 3 E/W Vul - Dealer South |
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P-1§(could be a weak NT)-1©-1ª, 3©-3ª-P-4ª. The aggressive opening bid pushed EW into a thin 4ª which on this occasion went 2 down for +200 a 3imps when others did the same.
George S passed and so did I with this dreadful 12 count vul. N opened 1H, Ian overcalled 1S, S 2H, I bid 3H and passed Ian’s 3S. Ian played it well to make 9 tricks losing a trick in each suit - he ruffed out the red suits and played a club to the 10 and J, endplaying N. For this we gained a measly 5 imps.
Hand 4
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Board 4 Both Vul - Dealer West |
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I doubled W’s 1¨ opening and E raised preemptively to 3¨. Rob cuebid 4¨ to show a 2-suiter, W tried to muddy the water with 4ª, E converted back to 5¨ and Rob bid 5NT to pick a slam. I chose 6©, which Rob changed to 6ª and W then found the good save in 7¨. I failed to give Rob a © ruff so we gained just +800, losing 21imps when no other EW pair found the sacrifice.
George I opened 1D (I decided I was good enough to reverse into hearts because of the distribution and suit quality), N doubled (only 11 points but nice shape), Ian passed (we are vul and his only bid is 3D which overstates his hand), S decided that slam was where he wanted to be but checked on aces first with 4NT. So we defended 6S and managed to stop the overtrick. 2 tables didn’t get to slam and we lost 26 imps. If I decide to open 1H then N/S will find it hard to get to slam (N will pass) so it is better if I value my hand as weaker!
Hand 5
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Board 5 N/S Vul - Dealer North |
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I failed miserably in the declarer play of this hand. Rob raised my strong NT to game and E led ¨4. Without thinking I put in the J and now there is no way back once §s break 4-0. I should put in the 9 to try and encourage W to cover, but then win with the K, whatever W plays. I can then cash §A, get the bad news and play a § to the J. If W now cashes a top ª instead of playing the 8, which he did, I can get the ªs right, then finesse the ¨, cash the ¨A and finesse the § for 9 tricks. We lost 19imps for -200.
George N/S got to 3NT by N. Ian led a heart to the Q. Now a club to the K and then a club back to J and Q. A small diamond now to the J and a club to the 9. AC and another club and Ian was feeling squeezed. Counting declarer’s tricks will let him come to the right conclusion – if he has 4 clubs plus 3 diamonds and 2 hearts then the game is over. So he has to play declarer for a 3325 shape with Kx in diamonds. Sadly Ian pitched all of his spades on the clubs, so declarer was able to cash KD and exit with a heart to come to 9 tricks. This was another disaster and cost 36 imps.
Hand 6
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Board 6 E/W Vul - Dealer East |
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P-1ª-3©(Weak & Risky!)-Dbl, P-4ª. Another thin 4ª failed, but still a small gain of +4.
George S opened 1S, I bid 2H, N 3C (why not a negative double?), S 3S and N passed. With a club lead and continuation we held this to 9 tricks which was bad for us again and it was -13 imps this time.
Hand 7
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Board 7 Both Vul - Dealer South |
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We were a little fortunate on this hand. Rob opened 1© and by the time we reached 3© I knew he had a 1525 shape and 11-15pts. I made a mild slam try by raising to 4© and Rob, with his good trumps (though not much else!) bid 4ª to show a singleton honour. I tried 4NT to see what else he had, but he had nothing, so we ended in 5©. On hearing our explanation W led ªK to pin the ªQ, but with the J in dummy there was no longer a guess between ª and ¨. So +650 for a flat board.
George N/S bid 1H-1S-2C-3D-3H-4H. It wasn’t entirely clear what N’s 3D bid meant and I chose a trump lead. This was -650 and we lost 15 imps (-1, -1, -13).
Hand 8
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Board 8 None Vul - Dealer West |
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EW bid 1NT(15-17)-2¨(transfer)-2©-2ª-4§(cuebid)-4ª for 11 tricks and another flat board.
George We got to the normal 4S (1NT-2D-2H-2S-4S) and made 11 tricks on normal defence. This somehow lost us 11 imps (did someone bid 6H?!). Nothing was going our way in this match!
Hand 9
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Board 9 E/W Vul - Dealer North |
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Rob overcalled E’s 1§ with 1¨ for the lead, then 1©-2NT-3©-4© for -620 and another flat board.
Hand 10
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Board 10 Both Vul - Dealer East |
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W opened a 15-17 1NT and with what looked like 7 tricks in my own hand I doubled for penalty. E passed thinking it showed two non-touching suits and so did W, forgetting the system. It probably does not come up very often that someone doubles a strong NT for penalty! I led ©A, declarer cashed ¨AK when in with ©K and we took it 3 down for +800 and +36imps.
Boards 1,2, & 10 were good, boards 4&5 were bad, but good enough for a large 50-10 win.
Hand 11
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Board 11 None Vul - Dealer South |
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W opened 3¨, over which Rob protected with a Dbl, which I passed. I led §A, then switched to a © and there was no way for declarer to make it. +100 was worth 3imps.
George I am now N and Ian S. Ian passed and W bid 3D back to Ian. Ian decided not to be timid and doubled. I decided that defence looked a good chance and passed. Fortunately declarer could muster no more than 8 tricks after AC and a heart switch. We got 7 imps in for this.
Hand 12
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Board 12 N/S Vul - Dealer West |
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Rob raised my 1ª to 2ª and E protected with a Dbl, though 2NT would have been more descriptive holding both minors. W bid 3¨, and now Rob may have ventured 3©, but was probably put off by E’s Dbl suggesting ©s. W played it well and endplayed me to lead away from §Q for the 9th trick. We lost 6imps for -110.
George I opened 1S (5 card majors), Ian 2S. E protected with 2NT, Ian bid 3H (a nice bid showing 5+ hearts and only 3 spades) and W’s 4D ended the bidding. We would make 3H but not 3S. I led the 8D and this was 2 off losing 2 spades plus a trick in each other suit. Another 6 imps in.
Hand 13
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Board 13 Both Vul - Dealer North |
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I passed my horrible looking 12 count and over Rob’s 1¨ W bid 1ª. I jumped to 2NT which Rob raised to game. E dutifully led a ª, which I ducked, then another to the Ace and a third one on which E discarded a ¨. This didn’t look good and after cashing ¨AK, I resorted to a 3rd § trick for one off and a small 2imp loss.
George I opened 1C, Ian 1D, W 1S passed back to Ian who doubled. I bid 1NT (which will now be minimum since I didn’t bid it direct over 1S) and then 3D over Ian’s 2H. Ian now bid 3NT. On a spade lead ducked then another spade to A and one to my K I was hopeful. W has 7 spades and if he has fewer than 3 diamonds I am making this. Sadly it was not to be and -300 appeared in our out column. Fortunately it was the same at all the tables so completely flat.
Hand 14
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Board 14 None Vul - Dealer East |
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I raised Rob’s 16-18 1NT to game and W led ©10. If Rob wins this in hand and leads a ª up, he may well make 3NT with the favourable ª lie. But it didn’t look unreasonable to play on ¨s and that was 3 off and -9imps.
George Again we got to 3NT by S after W showed a heart suit. W found the killer lead of JC and 3NT drifted 3 off again! This time we lost 8 imps. Enough of these 3NT contracts!
Hand 15
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Board 15 N/S Vul - Dealer South |
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We play Bergen style major raises, so I bid 3¨ over Rob’s 1ª to show invitational values with 3ª. E now did well to double for the lead and W then found the good sacrifice in 5¨ for +300 to us. However, 4ª will in fact go down on the singleton § lead, so we were fortunate to pick up 28imps.
George Ian opened 1S, I bid 2C and E doubled. Ian now bid 3H which is certainly an unusual bid and one we hadn’t discussed (I think Ian is right that it should be a splinter with a club fit) but fortunately I had an easy 4S bid. The 3C was led to the A and a spade finesse to the K. Now a small heart to E and a club ruff will beat 4S but W switched to a diamond and 10 tricks were there. That was 12 imps in when 1 table went off.
Hand 16
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Board 16 E/W Vul - Dealer West |
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W opened a weak NT and I competed with 2¨ to show ª plus a minor. E forced to game with 3© (to invite seems more suitable) and W raised to game. We cashed our four top tricks for one down and a flat board.
George E/W bid 1NT-2D-2H-2S-4H. We managed to take our 4 tricks and gained 6 imps when one table stayed in a partscore.
Hand 17
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Board 17 None Vul - Dealer North |
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Rob opened our 2-way 1§ and rebid 2ª over W’s 2¨. W led a © and E needs to duck this to hold the contract to 9 tricks. But he took it and I was pleased to see other EWs had beaten 4ª, so we pick up 13imps.
Hand 18
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Board 18 N/S Vul - Dealer East |
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