Round 1: Flight B opposition
-
| A73
J7654
Q98
J8 | |
|  | |
| 10842
A108
AJ5
A96 | |
I opened 1
, rebid 1NT over 1
and
got to play there. Opening lead was the
4.
Plan the play.
Hop Queen from dummy and play a small heart to
the ten. Win the club return and clear hearts.
Today hearts are honor doubleton onside. Big
win. I mucked it up and only made 1 instead of 2.
-
K85432
10
AQ92
A5
Partner | Me |
1 | 1 |
2 | 2 (forcing to game) |
2 | 2 |
3 | ? |
3NT. What's the problem? The problem is that partner
has
Q10
AQJ932
x
KQxx. Hearts plays a trick better
than notrump when hearts break 5-1. Spades is terrible.
End Round 1: Two averages, though I blew a couple of matchpoints
on the first one. Lucky.
Round 2: Unknown opposition
-
A6
Q6
AJ109
KQ862
Dealer. What is your plan?
I'd open it 1NT. It didn't go that way, luckily for
us, because partner has
AJ tight and has
to play notrump from his side.
-
---
J984
QJ8654
AK10
Both Vul, RHO deals and opens 2
. What now?
I doubled. They are booked for 800 when partner,
who has a stack, passes. We only got it for 500
but that was only one extra matcpoint. 4
is cold,
but no one played there. I have no idea why, since
we have 9 hearts, 25 HCP and are off three aces.
3NT is cold, too. RHO has a normal 3
opening bid.
Maybe my hand passed over that. Partner is
KQ1097
KQ1053
K2
J.
End Round 2: Tow more dead averages, though we
blew one more matchpoint on hand 4.
Round 3: Jim Leary on my left, weak partner.
-
A very interesting hand, but all roads lead
to an average. Leary's partner misbid horribly,
but they ended up in the normal 3NT from the
wrong side. In the middle of the hand, partner
had a choice of squeezing me or endplaying me.
He chose the endplay. Leary made it. We got
an average.
-
Leary's partner butchers the play at trick one
in this combination:
He covered my 9-spot lead with the ten and lost
to stiff King on his right. He could never recover
the lost trick. 11 matchpoints.
End Round 3: finally we are above average, but not
on the board.
Round 4: Unknown opponents
-
Partner held:
KJ74
KJ
A9753
A10
The bidding began
Pard | RHO | Me | LHO |
1 | 1 | Pass | 2 |
Pass | 2 | 3 | 3 |
? | | | |
He passed. I'd do so, too. The winning call is double.
They have to guess everything right to hold it to down 1.
-
I held
K864
A
AK53
AK103 as dealer.
What's your plan?
I'd open 1
, jump reverse into spades and try
to bid clubs. 2NT is 2nd best. Not important,
though. Partner forces to a cold 6NT, which makes
seven when hearts are 4-3. There is a club hook
in reserve, too, so seven is over 80%. Pard has
Ax
KQJ8x
QJ10
J8x. How do we get to seven?
How do we get to 7
???
End Round 4: A 12+ and a 6+ put us into
9th with our 2.8 carryover. The event is
very close at this point. We have had six
averages and two good scores.
Round 5: Opponents are Ed Davis and his wife.
-
I held
AKQ9
AK8653
Q
A9. I opened 2
. We
are playing 2
shows a double negative and
partner found one. 3
would not be forcing
here. 2
would be. What's your plan?
I bid 4
. With my hand exposed, the defense
was harder and they only beat us 1. Partner
held
x
x
Txxx
QJxxxxx. 5
is on.
-
Wife errs. They play the 5-2 major after Ed opens
2
(two in one round!) instead of 3NT. Both
make five.
End Round 5: A 10 and a 7+ keep us in our
cozy ninth.
Round 6: Alan LeBendig and Partner arrive.
-
Partner held
Q76
62
AK108532
2, no one vul as dealer
The bidding went
Partner | RHO | Me | LHO |
Pass | Pass | 1 | 1 |
1NT | 2 | Pass | Pass |
? | | | |
Do you pass in 1st seat?
Is 1NT sane?
Hell, no. I don't like the amount of defense on this
hand, but this looks like a solid 3
call to me. It'd
probably end the auction. At the point in question,
I'd bid 3
. Jim did. It went all pass. 3NT is a lucky
make on
Jx dropping. (Partner has stiff Q.)
-
The bidding goes by them 1
-1NT; 2
-Pass.
1NT was forcing.
| K106
3
KJ965
J743 | |
|  | QJ84
K6
A108
K965 |
| | |
Partner leads the
Q. What's your plan?
Don't know. At the table, the winning defense
is to win and return the
8. Partner will ruff
and return a club to your King for another ruff.
That holds it to 3. Otherwise, they make 4.
Tough call.
End Round 5: a 5 and a 3+ put us back off
the board. This was our first bad round.
We must maintain concentration.
Round 7: A flight A women's pair whom I can't stand.
-
Partner held:
A9
AQ108763
---
Q983
The bidding began:
Me | LHO | Partner | RHO |
1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
3 | Pass | ? | |
What's your plan?
I'd cue bid 3
. Lots more cue-bids later
if pard has the
AK, and either the
A or
K, I'd bid a grand. He doesn't; we stopped
in six. Right.
-
Partner held:
874
85
J843
AKQ2.
Partner opens 1
, you bid a forcing NT,
he rebids 2
. Over to you.
I'd try 2
, good club raise. On the actual
cards, that gets us too high because partner
bids game on his 16 count. Jim passed. Right.
+110 won the board.
End Round 7: Two tens get us back to 9th. Happy 9th.
Round 8: Two foreigners, unknown country
-
They reach the wrong slam after massive preemption.
We double and collect 500 against air. We misdefended
and failed to get 800, but that was only 1 matchpoint.
-
You hold
10987
A10
5
AKJ1096.
The bidding proceedes:
YOU | LHO | CHO | RHO |
1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Pass | 4 | 5 | 5 |
? | | | |
2
was Michaels, 3
was undiscussed. 2
would have
been non-forcing. 2
would have shown diamonds and
been forcing.
What's your plan?
I doubled and led a diamond. +200 is a win. You
can do better. Double and lead a spade. You get 500
vs. air.
End Round 8: These were friendly opponents. A 9 and
a 12+ put us in 3rd place. It is very close. We are
4 matchpoints out of first, who is LeBendig, evidently
due to our generosity.
Round 9: vs. Steve Cohen and Ron Feldman
-
You hold
92
108653
2
AKJ85. What do you do as dealer?
Assuming a pass, the bidding continues:
YOU | LHO | CHO | RHO |
Pass | 1 | Pass | 1NT (forcing) |
? | | | |
You have no agreed methods.
2
, of course. They then worked out that clubs were not
stopped and bid 5
, down 1, rather than 3NT, down 1. We
got a near top for that; again, I don't know why.
-
You hold
AQ
98532
K987
J9.
The bidding goes: 1
-1
; 2NT-?
3
would check back for 3-card heart support.
What is your plan?
3NT. What five-card heart suit? I don't see one.
Not with 30 HCP, I don't. 6NT is a lucky make.
End Round 9: A 13 and an 8+ are good enough to
put us into the lead. It is still very close, but
we are the leaders.
Round 10: vs. recent Flight B graduates
-
They let me play 2
making 3 for a 9+
when they can make 3
or come very close. We
are unlikely to go to 3
with an 8-card fit and
better defense than offense.
-
Partner held:
K75
AK7
AJ52
AQ10
Partner opens a 15-17 1NT. What is your plan?
5NT seems right. Partner will quit in 6. 7NT is on
a finesse (or stiff queen from 7.) It was off.
We bid the grand. 4+.
End Round 10: Disaster strikes. We get only 4+ on
board 20 and drop to 3rd.
Round 11: vs. Mike Passell and Gene Freed, who
are one place behind us.
-
You hold:
J10532
8
A7532
J5.
Partner opens 2NT (20-21). What is your plan?
I transferred to spades and rebid 3NT. 6
is
better than 50%, but not much. It makes on this
hand. Partner passed 3NT.
-
They find a defense to beat 4
, which
I would have made on a squeeze if they didn't
destroy a menace. Freed is the one who
had to find the good play, and it was oddly still
worth an 8. They can make 4
, but no one can
get there vul vs. not expecting to go down a
bunch. The same luck that put me down was what
lets 4
make.
End Round 11: Two 8s move us up to 2nd. It's
a dogfight, but we're in the hunt.
Round 12: Unknown opponents
-
Partner finds the killing trump lead
and I fail to blow the defense vs. 4
. +100 is
worth 12. The kibitzers (we have a bunch by now
because the other events are over and Passell
just came by) think I was brilliant, but my play
was easy. Another lead would do as well; we just
have to avoid giving up a trick on opening lead
and then stay in the boat to beat this. There is
a line to make the hand, but our defense and lack
of bidding made a more obvious one look like it
would have worked better, but it didn't.
(The defense in question is failing to cover the
dummy's
10 in this layout:
| 1095
A985
AK85
Q4 | |
|  | Q87
K1032
J963
65 |
| | |
Declarer needs to ruff a club.
-
| J9743
96543
A8
A | |
K86
A10
K10432
KQ9 |  | |
| | |
Declarer | Me | Dummy | Partner |
Pass | 1NT | 2 * | Pass |
2 | Pass | 2 | Pass |
3 | All Pass | | |
1NT was 15-17. 2
showed either diamonds
or both majors.
I led the
K. Dummy won and played a trump
to partner's Jack, declarer's King and my Ace.
Now what?
Diamond, right away. I blew it and continued trumps.
They made five, but should only make 4. 1 matchpoint
is at stake. I am so lucky.
No one ever noticed that there was a lead out of turn.
I have no idea why. I must have the bidding wrong or
something. Maybe I swapped the hands to make the defensive
problem harder (easier?)
Did you notice that I've led out of turn?
End Round 12: A good score and an average leave us in
2nd, less than 1/2 a matchpoint from 1st.
Round 13: vs. Kay Schulle and Jill Meyers
-
I held
J85
---
K10765
KQ1096.
As dealer I passed (do you?) and the bidding went:
Me | Kay | Jim | Jill |
Pass | Pass | 1 | 2 |
3 * | Pass | 3NT | pass |
? | | | |
Pass. That's what I did. We are cold for 7 of either
minor, but how do we get there? If Jill had bid only
1
, I'd bid 3
, a fit bid, showing diamonds and clubs.
Slam is easy now. 6NT is cold too. Pard has
A7
A432
AQ9
A432. 3NT doesn't seem right with a draw
to a wheel in two suits.
* limit raise or better in clubs.
Do you agree with 3
? What now?
What would you have done if they
had only bid 1
?
-
The Big One
| K1065
Q83
K643
86 | |
|  | |
| AQ94
AJ9
Q1097
A3 | |
Kay, West, led the
J and I drew trumps in three rounds,
ending in dummy, West beginning with a doubleton. On the
third round of spades, West contributed the
5, which,
in their methods, is encouraging in hearts. Being agreeable,
I played a heart to the Jack, which lost to the King. She returned
a heart and I played a third round, East showing out this time and
playing the
5, requesting a club shift. Being agreeable,
I cash the
A and play another club. East won this with the
Jack. West followed with the Nine and Ten on the first two rounds.
After a little thought (half a second is an eternity for this pair,)
Jill exited with the
Q. I ruffed in dummy, pitching a diamond
from hand while West played the King. This looked to be a true card,
especially considering the previous spots. I continue with a diamond
to the Queen, which holds, and the
10, which gets the last
small diamond from West.
What now?
I don't know. Convince me, please. I got it wrong.
End Round 13: The first board was an average, but I got 2+ for
going down in four spades. Making it would be an 11. We lost
the event by 8.46 matchpoints. Worse, we dropped all the way to
fifth. Getting the last card right on board 26 was for the event
and was worth 24 masterpoints. Ouch. This is two barometers in
a row that I had a single card decision for lots of points. Each
time I got it wrong.