Palm Springs '93 Barometer Problems

Round 1: Flight B opposition

1. 	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.

2.  K85432 10 AQ92 A5

   Partner	Me
   1	1
   2	2 (forcing to game)
   2	2
   3	?

   End Round 1: Two averages, though I blew a couple of matchpoints on the first one. Lucky.

   Round 2: Unknown opposition

3.  A6 Q6 AJ109 KQ862

   Dealer. What is your plan?

4.  --- J984 QJ8654 AK10

   Both Vul, RHO deals and opens 2. What now?

   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.

5. 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.

6. Leary's partner butchers the play at trick one in this combination:

   10xx

   AQJx

   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

7. Partner held:  KJ74 KJ A9753 A10

   The bidding began

   Pard	RHO	Me	LHO
   1	1	Pass	2
   Pass	2	3	3
   ?

8. I held  K864 A AK53 AK103 as dealer. What's your plan?

   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.

9. 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?

10. 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.

11. 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?

12. 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?

    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.

13. Partner held:  A9 AQ108763 --- Q983

    The bidding began:

    Me	LHO	Partner	RHO
    1	1	2	3
    3	Pass	?

    What's your plan?

14. Partner held:  874 85 J843 AKQ2.

    Partner opens 1, you bid a forcing NT, he rebids 2. Over to you.

    End Round 7: Two tens get us back to 9th. Happy 9th.

    Round 8: Two foreigners, unknown country

15. 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.

16. 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?

    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

17. 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.

18. 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?

    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

19. 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.

20. Partner held:  K75 AK7 AJ52 AQ10

    Partner opens a 15-17 1NT. What is your plan?

    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.

21. You hold:  J10532 8 A7532 J5. Partner opens 2NT (20-21). What is your plan?

22. 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

23. 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.

24. 	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?

    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

25. 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
    ?

    * limit raise or better in clubs. Do you agree with 3? What now? What would you have done if they had only bid 1?

26. The Big One

    	K1065 Q83 K643 86
    	AQ94 AJ9 Q1097 A3

    Declarer	Dummy
    1NT	2
    2	3
    4	Pass

    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?

    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.