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November 2008

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December Commentary by Steve Green and George Cuthbertson

 

MATCH 1

 

Hand 1   

Board 1 None Vul - Dealer North

 

 

 

 

♠ 4
K Q 5 4 2
Q 10 7 4 2
♣ 8 4

 

 

 

 

♠ A K J 7
A 9 6
9 8
♣ K J 5 2

 

 

 

 

♠ Q 8 6 5 2
J 10 8
A J 5
♣ 9 6

 

 

 

 

♠ 10 9 3
7 3
K 6 3
♣ A Q 10 7 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

                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   

Board 2 N/S Vul - Dealer East

 

♠ 7
A Q 10 4
A Q J 8 2
♣ A Q 3

 

♠ 8 6 5 3
K 9
K 9 6 4
♣ K 10 8

 

♠ A K
J 7 6 5
10 5 3
♣ J 6 5 4

 

♠ Q J 10 9 4 2
8 3 2
7
♣ 9 7 2

 

 

 

                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   

Board 3 E/W Vul - Dealer South

 

♠ 10
A Q 10 9 4
J 10 9 7
♣ K J 2

 

♠ Q 7 5 3
K 6 3
K Q
♣ Q 10 7 4

 

♠ A J 9 8 6 4
2
8 5 4
♣ A 8 6

 

♠ K 2
J 8 7 5
A 6 3 2
♣ 9 5 3

 

 

 

                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           

Board 4 Both Vul - Dealer West

 

♠ J 6 5 2
A J 6 4 2
3
♣ K Q 8

 

♠ 3
K Q 9 8 3
A K Q 8 7 5
♣ 2

 

♠ 10 9
7 5
J 10 9 6 4
♣ J 9 7 5

 

♠ A K Q 8 7 4
10
2
♣ A 10 6 4 3

 

 

 

                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   

Board 5 N/S Vul - Dealer North

 

♠ Q 7 2
A 9 3
K 2
♣ A K 9 5 4

 

♠ A K 9 8
8 7 5
10 5
♣ Q 10 8 7

 

♠ J 6 4 3
K 10 6 4
Q 8 6 4 3
♣ ---

 

♠ 10 5
Q J 2
A J 9 7
♣ J 6 3 2

 

 

 

                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           

Board 6 E/W Vul - Dealer East

 

♠ K 7
K 6 3
Q J 9 4
♣ Q 5 3 2

 

♠ 6 4
A Q 9 5 4 2
K 10 8 2
♣ 4

 

♠ 8 3 2
J 10
7 6 5
♣ A K 9 8 7

 

♠ A Q J 10 9 5
8 7
A 3
♣ J 10 6

 

 

 

                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   

Board 7 Both Vul - Dealer South

 

♠ A J 8 5 3
Q 8 5
A Q
♣ K 4 3

 

♠ K 10 6 4 2
10 4
J 5 4 3
♣ 10 9

 

♠ 9 7
7 6 3
K 9 7 6 2
♣ A J 2

 

♠ Q
A K J 9 2
10 8
♣ Q 8 7 6 5

 

 

 

                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   

Board 8 None Vul - Dealer West

 

♠ 10 8 7 3
8 7 2
10 9 6 3
♣ 6 4

 

♠ A 9 4 2
A Q J
Q 7
♣ K J 8 3

 

♠ K Q 6 5
10 6 5 4 3
K 8 2
♣ A

 

♠ J
K 9
A J 5 4
♣ Q 10 9 7 5 2

 

 

 

                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           

               

Board 9 E/W Vul - Dealer North

 

♠ K Q 3 2
10 9 6
5 2
♣ 10 9 6 4

 

♠ 6
K Q J 8 4
8 7 6 4 3
♣ J 5

 

♠ A J 5 4
A 7 2
A 10
♣ A Q 7 2

 

♠ 10 9 8 7
5 3
K Q J 9
♣ K 8 3

 

 

 

                Rob overcalled E’s 1§ with 1¨ for the lead, then 1©-2NT-3©-4© for -620 and another flat board.

 

George     Ian opened 1C then 2NT over my 1H. If partner has AH then we probably want to be in 3NT but if he doesn’t then we want to be in 4H. I chose to bid 4H to cover more bases. In the end I made 11 tricks by playing a double squeeze (actually a single played as a double – squeezing N in the black suits but equally S would have been squeezed in the minors if he had 4 clubs) for 11 tricks. We actually gained 14 imps for this.

 

Hand 10         

Board 10 Both Vul - Dealer East

 

♠ A 9 5
A Q J 7 6 5
2
♣ A 5 2

 

♠ J 6
K 10 4
A K J 5 3
♣ K Q 8

 

♠ K 10 8 2
9 3 2
9 8 6 4
♣ 9 4

 

♠ Q 7 4 3
8
Q 10 7
♣ J 10 7 6 3

 

 

               

                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.

 

George     After I opened 1D N/S bid  Dbl-1S-3H-3NT. I led KC and declarer ducked in dummy. Ian played 9C and I had to decide what to do. I decided that Ian must have the JC and continued QC to the A. Now with hearts splitting declarer actually made 10 tricks. Again horrible and another 33 imps in the out column. Should Ian play 9C – we play K for count normally but here I think we should play encourage discourage – a tricky conundrum!

 

                 This has been an awful start to the night and we are lucky to end up with 5 VPs when Ben and Brian had a good card. We have had some bad luck but a couple of games snuck through which shouldn’t have. Hopefully we can recover a few.


 

 

MATCH 2

 

Hand 11 

Board 11 None Vul - Dealer South

 

♠ 10 8 6 3
K 7 4 2
Q 10 5 2
♣ A

 

♠ J
10 6
A K J 9 8 6 4
♣ J 3 2

 

♠ A K 9 4 2
A J 8
7 3
♣ 9 7 5

 

♠ Q 7 5
Q 9 5 3
---
♣ K Q 10 8 6 4

 

 

 

                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 

Board 12 N/S Vul - Dealer West

 

♠ K 10 9 8 3
A 9 8
Q 8
♣ Q 10 5

 

♠ J 4 2
Q 4
A 9 5 4 2
♣ J 4 2

 

♠ Q 7
K 5
J 10 7 6 3
♣ A K 8 3

 

♠ A 6 5
J 10 7 6 3 2
K
♣ 9 7 6

 

 

 

                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 

Board 13 Both Vul - Dealer North

 

♠ K 9 5
A 7 2
J 9 5
♣ A 9 6 4

 

♠ A Q 8 7 6 4 2
J 6
Q 7 3
♣ 3

 

♠ J 10
Q 10 8 5
8 4
♣ Q J 8 7 2

 

♠ 3
K 9 4 3
A K 10 6 2
♣ K 10 5

 

 

 

                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 

Board 14 None Vul - Dealer East

 

♠ Q 3
Q 6
K Q 9 8 4 3
♣ 9 6 2

 

♠ K J 5
K 10 9 7 4 2
5 2
♣ J 4

 

♠ 10 9 2
5 3
A J 10
♣ Q 10 8 5 3

 

♠ A 8 7 6 4
A J 8
7 6
♣ A K 7

 

 

 

                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 

Board 15 N/S Vul - Dealer South

 

♠ Q J 2
K 8 7
8 2
♣ A 10 7 6 4

 

♠ K 5 3
Q 6 5 2
10 9 7 6 3
♣ 3

 

♠ 8 4
A J 10 4 3
K Q J 4
♣ Q 5

 

♠ A 10 9 7 6
9
A 5
♣ K J 9 8 2

 

 

 

                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 

Board 16 E/W Vul - Dealer West

 

♠ A J 8 4
A
10 9 7 5 2
♣ 9 6 4

 

♠ 9 5
J 9 6 3
A K Q 6
♣ Q 5 3

 

♠ K Q 10 2
K Q 10 8 7
4 3
♣ J 10

 

♠ 7 6 3
5 4 2
J 8
♣ A K 8 7 2

 

 

 

                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 

Board 17 None Vul - Dealer North

 

♠ 8 7
Q 10 9 8
9 8 7
♣ Q 9 8 5

 

♠ J 6
6 4 3
A Q J 10 5 3
♣ 7 3

 

♠ 10 9 2
A 5 2
4 2
♣ K J 10 6 2

 

♠ A K Q 5 4 3
K J 7
K 6
♣ A 4

 

 

 

                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.

 

George    Ian opened 1S in 3rd seat and played there. 9 tricks seem to be the limit but all 3 other tables made game (one in 4H!) so we lost 21 imps. The S hand is tricky to bid – one option is to open it 2NT and the other is to open 1S planning to rebid 3NT (showing a long running spade suit in our methods). The latter seems a reasonable choice although it may cause 3NT to be played the wrong way up with a diamond lead through the K.

 

Hand 18 

Board 18 N/S Vul - Dealer East

 

♠ 9
Q 6 4 2
J 10 5
♣ A J 7 6 3

 

♠ Q J 8 6
J
Q 8 4 3
♣ Q 10 5 4

 

♠ A 5 3
A K 9 8 7 5
A 9 2
♣ 2