As SBU Magazine subscribers (and contributors) we were invited to play in this special event in the new St. Andrew Bridge Club. It was a high quality field of 14 1/2 tables. Me and Anna were one of only three Bronze Pairs, meaning we had a decent chance of finishing with a prize.
We started with three boards against John Di Mambro and partner Douglas. Sitting East-West they navigated this one to a tricky 3NT:
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Anna sitting South lead the ♣2, the unbid suit. As we play fourth highest leads this showed a four card suit. I found this quite surprising sitting North as it meant East has six Clubs, though he'd never got to bid them. I took my ♣Q and ♣K, declarer ducking, and it was crunch time. The defence are due five tricks - three Clubs a Heart and a Diamond, but we've got to get them before setting up declarer's Clubs. I really thought about a bold Heart switch, but couldn't bear to lead into such a strong suit in dummy. So I chickened out and played a Diamond. Anna won her ♦A and had her chance to switch to Hearts, but she bottled it too and cashed the ♣A. Declarer now has all the tricks.
Our defence was helpful for declarer in setting up his Club suit. If he's left on his own he can still get nine tricks - six Spades, two Diamonds and a Heart, but it could be awkward. No one else managed to defeat 3NT, so it would have been a good defence from me and Anna if we'd have managed it. The tables playing in 4♠ or 4♥ all went down.
We bounced back and were doing fairly well at the break, above 50%.
After two cups of tea came our only 100% Board, where we bid and made a splendid 7♠. It's the first time I can remember that me and Anna have bid and made a Grand Slam. Unfortunately the hand doesn't appear on the St. Andrew's website, but since we did so well on this Board I've taken the trouble to copy it in here:
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I had the North hand and passed, so did East. Anna's got a monster hand sitting South, and opened it 2♣. West now made a fine vulnerable overcall of 3♦, further raised to 4♦ by East. This is good bidding, and they actually would only go one trick down in 4♦. Anna has an easy 4♠ bid, and now it's over to me. All the Diamond bidding has made my hand, with it's Diamond void, very powerful. I've only got three small Spades but I know Anna's going to have a very good suit. The only question is, how high to go? I decided that if Anna had the ♣A then we'd have all the controls, and plenty of tricks for the Grand Slam. Cue-bidding to find the ♣A is awkward as the bidding is already so high, so instead I bid Blackwood. Anna bid 5♣ to show four keycards, so we've got them all. I then bid 5♦ to ask about the trump Queen, as I was worried about a bad split in trumps, and Anna's 6♠ response shows the ♠Q and no other Kings. I could now bid 7♠.
When dummy comes down 7♠ is a bit tricker than you'd hope for, but has excellent chances. Declarer needs dummy's Clubs to get rid of the Heart losers. If Clubs are 3-2 it's fine, or if trumps are 2-2 you've got time to set up the Clubs. You can still make if neither Spades nor Clubs split, but you'll need to leave a trump out as an entry to set up the Clubs, and hope the person with long trumps isn't able to ruff a Club (as is the situation here).
West lead the ♦Q and Anna has an immediate decision where to win the trick. She wisely won it in hand with the ♦A, saving a key entry to dummy. She played two round of trumps, and when they didn't split followed the plan above and ruffed out the Clubs. It was a bold play, as it's a bit nerve-wracking to leave the last trump out. There were only two pairs who bid to 7♠, and the other declarer went one down (probably drew all the trumps and played for Clubs splitting), so 7♠= and +2210 was a top.
After this triumph I got a bit hot sitting next to the radiator and went seriously on the tilt. I could feel it slipping through my fingers and was perhaps guilty of trying too hard to get a good score. Here's my low point, on the final Board, where I collected just 4% for my effort:
I'm sitting West and was dealt a great hand. That's the last thing you want when you're on the tilt.
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I opened 1♠ then eagerly bid 4♠ on my next turn. All I need is a couple of good cards from my partner and there's an easy ten tricks. Anna's got nothing useful in dummy though, except maybe the chance of a Diamond ruff. North lead the ♣K, then paused. He wisely switched to a trump, specifically the ♠J. I won this and desperately tried Ace and another Diamond, on the wild chance that a defender had ♦KQJ and no more trumps to lead. It was not to be. South won the second Diamond and returned a trump. I had a decision to make here, whether to take the finesse in trumps or go up the ♠K. The Principle of Restricted Choice says to finesse, but I was suspicious of the crafty way North selected to play the ♠J the first time, so played him for ♠QJ. I got this right, so duly made the nine tricks I was dealt in my own hand. 4♠-1 scored poorly as nearly every other pair stayed low.
Me and Anna finished on 48%, not a great score but good enough to be the top Bronze Pair.
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