Falling to Pieces

In our almost-weekly Tuesday night game Anna and I got off to a cracking start this time. The children were all nicely in bed, and the first hand was Passed Out, giving us time to settle. Even better, we got 85% for it. At the end of the first half we were at about 60%, the only two bad results coming from when the opponents bid and made something that everyone should have bid and made.

The highlight was Anna bidding this 6♠, and employing a little deception to make it:

I have a balanced 14 count and a five card major. I could have opened 1NT but am fed up missing the major fit, so decided to open 1♥ prepared to make an uncomfortable 2♥ rebid. When Anna replied 1♠ I switched tack and rebid 1NT, showing 15-17 (which I don't have), as that makes it easier to find a Spade fit if there is one. As tends to happen when I upgrade my hand, Anna launched us into slam.

6♠ needs trumps to be 3-2 (or 4-1 the right way) and something good to happen in the other suits. Anna got this good thing straight away with a crafty ♦Q on the first trick, after South lead a low Diamond. North really shouldn't cover this, as he knows from the bidding that declarer has the ♦A, but couldn't resist and that was the 12th trick sorted.

Of the 22 tables, seven bid 6♠ (making six times), someone went down in 6♣ and two bid 6NT (making once). 6♠= was worth 82%.

In the second half things began to slide a bit. We didn't compete enough, and suffered a 0% when our opponents bid and made 6♥ (most other tables in 4♥+2).

The lowpoint was when I wasn't sure if Anna's bid was forcing or not, so bid on, and found myself in a hopeless 4♠. The most common result was 2♠-1, I recorded 4♠-4, which could have been a respectable (but still very low scoring) two off. The worst part of my game is when I am playing a bad contract, when I just fall to pieces. The full debacle is recorded below:

We finished in 15th place with 54%.

Festive Pairs

Anna and I started rather slowly, as is often our way. On Board 1 Anna missed my encouraging signal of the Seven of Hearts (we play reverse attitude but the 2,3,4,5,6 were all visible so the 7 was actually an encouraging low card). It's quite understandable that she missed this, as she was upstairs seeing Zoe who had lost Mini-Monkey. On Board 2 I could have been more competitive in the auction, but was helping Alex who had dropped Bunny over the side of the cot.

At the half way stage we had only two positive boards, one of which was when everyone passed and that gave us +1.1 IMPs.

Things picked up a bit after that, but mostly through the good fortune of the opponents underbidding. They played 3♦+2 (giving us +4.8 IMPs), 4♠+2 (+7.8) and 3♠+1 (+4.9). So our good scores were mostly lucky, our bad scores self-inflicted.

This was a very strange board:

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Anna opened 1♥ and after the double I have a fairly automatic 4♥ bid. I don't really like it, but it's got to be done. When that got passed around to East he doubled, with four tricks in his own hand, probably expecting his partner to pass. West had four Spades he hadn't mentioned though and removed the double to 4♠.

I thought about doubling this - I do have quite good Spades, but for all I know Anna has ♥AKQJxx and not much else and 4♠ is making with an overtrick. I passed, but with expectation of beating it.

In fact, we have four trump tricks. Declarer drew these, played some Clubs and finally lead a Diamond up. This finesse was bound to win, but as a bonus for declarer both Anna and I were hanging on to a Heart for some reason so came down to a doubleton Diamond, meaning declarer won the last trick with dummy's ♦5.

Our score of 4♠-1 was worth -2.4 IMPs, 4♠-2 would have been about 0. The reason we don't do better is that, rather surprisingly, 4♥ actually makes. With East on lead declarer can discard two Diamonds from hand on dummy's Spades.

The good thing about doing quite poorly at the start of the evening is that it takes the pressure off. On the last board I decided to try a manoeuvre I've read about in a book by Ely Culbertson. You overcall in your second best suit, get doubled, then remove to your best suit. The opponents of course double you again, but now you go ahead and make the contract.

When East opened 2NT (20-22) I decided not to be put off and swung into action, "Six-five, come alive".

I overcalled 3♣, and West doubled. I wasn't not sure what his double showed, and I'm not sure him or his partner did either. When it came back round I duly bid 3♥, doubled again. I was praying that Anna wouldn't have the sort of hand to correct me back to Clubs (that is the flaw in Culbertson's plan), but luckily it was passed out.

3♥x has at least five losers: one Heart, two Spades, two Clubs. So there's a chance of off one. As it happens Clubs are 4-2 and Hearts 3-1 so I can do no better than two down, still a good saving (-300) to their making game (4♠+1 for -450). My antics gained us 1.4 IMPs. Needless to say we were the only North-South pair declaring the contract.

Overall our IMP score of +6.95 was good enough for 15th out of 36.

Norfolk and Norwich Bridge

After another day quarantining Anna really fancied a game in the evening. Our local Buchanan club were having their Christmas party, so we looked further afield. On the recommendation of some locals we were put onto the Norfolk and Norwich Bridge Club. I looked at last week's results and it looked like there was a good standard.

The event was on Real Bridge, starting at 1915 but login from 1850. We have got better at getting the kids to bed early (dinner just after five helps, bath before dinner too), and were comfortably sitting down ready for this game.

The first few boards were competitive. I was pushed to 3♥, doubled and off one, for a good score against their making 2♠.

We were warned about Bogdan being a good player, and were slightly nervous on joining his table. It didn't help that they played a Polish Club system, where the 1♣ opening has three meanings (weak NT, 15-17 with Clubs, any 17+). We do actually have a defence for this (double is majors, 1NT is minors), but not surprisingly in the two board round it didn't come up anyway.

On the first one Bogdan propelled himself into an uncomfortable 5♥. We were unable to extract our three tricks and it made, giving us 30%. On the second I pushed to game with a distributional 10 point opener, and ended up making +2 when I managed to sneak a Spade through, giving us some matchpoints back.

One thing about Real Bridge is after every round you get to see the current standings. At the half way point we were in the lead, with Bogdan lurking in second.

In the second half I was mostly dummy. Anna played most of the hands, including these two with a similar theme, where you have to hold off ruffing in dummy so that you can establish the side suit.

The first was not a triumph:

Danny Anna W N E S 1♦ - 1♥ 1♠ 3♥ - - -

I open the West hand 1♦ and when Anna responds 1♥ I decide I am good enough for 3♥. It's not sensible for me to bid an immediate 4♥ as if Anna has four weak trumps and wasted Club honours it's got no chance. As it is, Anna has a very suitable hand, with the crucial fifth trump and King of Diamonds (my suit). It's a textbook hand that is weak in points but strong in tricks, but Anna chose to pass.

In 3♥ dummy has Clubs that can be ruffed, and also a source of tricks in Diamonds. It won't be possible to do both. At the table the defence took two Spades then North switched to a Diamond, which ran round to the Queen and Ace. At this point it's clear to go after the Diamonds, unblocking the ♦A, drawing trumps, then leading the ♦T from dummy and running it. Even if this loses you still have ten tricks (five top Hearts, four Diamonds and a Club ruff). On this layout you get 11 tricks, as North has the ♦J.

Anna followed this then mentally misclicked and ruffed dummy's ♦T, and she now can't set up the Diamonds and 11 tricks became 9. Lucky we were only in 3♥. 3♥= scored 10%, but as it happens even making 11 tricks would still only have scored 30%, as really the board was lost in the auction. It shows the good standard of the club that many were bidding 4♥ despite the limited values.

With two rounds to go we had slipped into second. Could Anna pull it back?

Danny Anna W N E S - 1♥ 1♠ 3♥ 3♠ 4♥ - - -

Anna has the strong NT hand sitting East and opened 1♥. South overcalled 1♠ and I made a pre-emptive bid of 3♥. Although I would like a fifth Heart for this, I have the distribution to play at the three level and it makes life hard for the opponents. My second choice would be 4♥, which (according to Andrew Robson) will often bounce North into 4♠, which goes one off.

Despite her flat nine-loser hand Anna found the raise to game, perhaps recognising her ♠Axx was likely opposite a void. The defence began with a Spade which she took with her Ace.

At this point a weaker declarer would undoubtedly have ruffed some Spades, as ruffing in dummy is so often the right thing to do. But the mark of a good player is to be more circumspect and play the suits in the right order. Anna saw the potential for dummy's Diamonds and so held off ruffing Spades, instead beginning with two top Hearts, catching South's ♥Q. At this point it would have been tempting to draw the last trump, but again the right play is all about timing and often it's best to live dangrously and start on side suits before drawing trumps.

Anna was in dummy, and now lead a Diamond up. North had to take the ♦K. He found the Club switch and Anna rightly rejected the finesse (there's time to set up the Diamonds for a Club discard, and Spade discard. At that point Anna drew the last trump and lead up a Diamond. South paused for three or four minutes, then ducked the Ace of Diamonds. In fact it doesn't matter, the Diamonds are going to be established and declarer makes 4♥+1 for 80%.

Along with that highlight there werew a few dodgy ones, and going into the last round we were sitting in third. Althouh we had a bad round our rivals must have done even worse, and so we ended up rather fortunately in first, with just 56.2%, one matchpoint ahead of Bogdan in second.

Choosing badly

Anna and I played in the SBU Tuesday pairs last night. We didn't do too well, with a score of about 25% after six boards rising to around 50% near the end then falling to 48% when I doubled 4♠ on the last and it made with an overtrick.

I wouldn't say I made any mistakes, but certainly judged lots wrongly. Here's one where on other day we both would have bid:

I have a 10 point 5431 hand as South. Opening 1♣ is fairly safe as I have a 1♠ rebid. However, on this occasion I passed. West opened a weak NT, and now Anna is close to a 2♠ overcall. She chose to pass, and we defeated 1NT by one trick when 4♠ is on our way. +50 was worth just 9.6%. as nearly everyone else North-South is playing in Spades. Although both Anna and I could have bid, really the credit goes to West for a winning 1NT opening (most tables opened 1♦ after which North has an easy 1♠ overcall).

Although opening light would have worked well here, it has it's risks, as partner can no longer assume you have a sound opening bid.

Here Anna opened 1♦, East overcalled 2♣ and I doubled for the majors. When Anna could only rebid 2♦ I passed. I have only 10 points, no fitting Diamond honours, and most of the time whenn we open 1♦ and rebid 2♦ it will be on a shapely 11 or 12 count. Here of course Anna had a full 15 points, a Club stop, and the Diamonds split 3-3, so 3NT can't fail.

In the play of 2♦ East lead ♣A and another (hoping to give partner a ruff), and when Anna managed to get a third Spade trick, that was 2♦+3. Still, most tables were in 3NT so our +150 was still only worth 19.2%. I would say this event has quite a high standard, and that correlates with quite a lot of pairs playing a strong NT, which made it easy for North-South to bid game here. If the Diamonds don't split 3NT is down though so so I'm calling this one unlucky for us.

Here's a good one (before our final catastrophe).

I open 1♦ and after West overcalls 1NT am poised to rebid 2♦ (I've learned it's important not to be put off by their NT bids and plough on). But they have some sort of transfers mishap (you can see the lack of alerts), and finish in 3♠. I lead the ♦A and it's crunch time. We play reverse attitude, so after a very long pause I can work out that Anna must have the singleton ♦5 (with ♦75 she would have discouraged with the ♦7). I could take my winning ♦K, or give her a ruff. I decide to give her a ruff, which here is the winning choice. Even better I lead a low Diamond and Anna returns a Club, developing our winner in that suit.

On this occsaion, if I lead a high Diamond it gives declarer a useful ♦Q discard. On another day that discard might be no use, and the winning defence would be for me to cash two Diamonds and play a third for Anna to ruff high (with a hypothetical ♠J).

Conceding 3♠= on a careful defence gets us 73%, as most tables are conceding 10 tricks.

Our final board is this disaster:

I open 1♣ and North overcalls 4♠. I double this, and await Anna's move. She plays me for a very specific hand that can beat 4♠ but we can't make a game (perhaps all four Aces), and passes. This does not go well, as North has a very solid overcall and South two useful Aces. On seeing dummy I thought Anna must have some decent Spades to have passed the double, but when declarer's ♠9 holds I realise we're in trouble. Conceding 4♠x+1 is worth 3.9%, just losing to the pair who bid and made 6♠.

Feeling sharp

Anna and I played the SBU Tuesday pairs again this week. Unusually, we both felt fairly sharp. In 24 boards we had just four bad results

• Board 2 - I decided to balance and pushed the opponents into a making game
• Board 4 - Opponents bid to a making 7NT
• Board 14 - Poor defence from Anna lets 3NT make, poor defence from me gives the overtrick
• Board 18 - An aggressive 4♥ goes four off

The first of these is pictured below:

Even though I didn't like the vulnerablity I still thought it was right to protect with a double. East had paused for a long time before passing 2♥. I thought that meant he would be sure to push to 3♥; I didn't anticipate West bidding on then East bidding game. With Hearts 3-2 and the Diamond Ace onside 10 tricks can't be prevented. Conceding 4♥ was worth exactly 0%, as on 26 tables we were the only ones to concede game (the other two times it was bid it went down, once on a sneaky low Diamond lead).

If I pass out 2♥ and we concede 2♥+2 we still only get 25%, so in a sense I was right to try and disturb the opponents from their comfortable fit. The good North-South scores were when East took only nine tricks in Hearts, or opened a strong NT and played there.

My next featured hand was a good one, as the opponents went down in 6♠:

I thought I might have a trump trick, so lead the ♣A. This turned out to be crucial, as if I don't do it declarer can make easily by playing the top two trumps then Hearts, discarding both Clubs in hand and accepting the loss of one trump. Once I've taken the ♣A she needs to get trumps right. With nine trumps she played the ♠A then lead to dummy. I made sure to play my ♠6 instantly and she duly played the ♠A. 6♠-1 was worth 84%.

Overall we finished on 56.08% for 9th out of 52 pairs.

SBU Winter Congress Mixed Pairs (Bronze)

I've played bridge three times this week, which must be a record. The SBU pairs on Tuesday with John, Team Rowan with Anna on Thursday and last night the SBU Winter Congress Bronze Pairs. Thinking ourselves to be among the better bronze players, we fancied we had a good shot at winning this. Anna was very interested in the first prize of two bottles of champagne.

It turned out not to be. Although we started well, a couple of bad decisions, a couple of mistakes, and some good play from our opponents denied us the good fortune you need to do really well in a pairs event. For example, once Anna chose to open 1NT; holding ♠KQJxx and we ended up in a non-making 3NT instead of a good 4♠; on another day our 3NT contract would be the winner. We finished 10th on 55.8%.

The event was played on Real Bridge, a new website where you can see everyone's face and hear them. It took a bit of getting used to, but actually I think I quite like it. It all worked smoothely, and certainly feels a lot more like actual bridge.

Anna played well as declarer, and her bold bidding got us a few rewards. We were all quite surprised on the first hand when she made a takeout double with 7 points (three Queens and a Jack) but it worked out well. On this one she is declarer in a tricky 1NT contract:

Danny South W N E S 1NT - - -

Anna opened the South hand 1NT. I thought for quite a while about bidding Stayman, then decided to pass. My Stayman bid would only really backfire if Anna had five Clubs, which is indeed the case, so I'm glad I passed (we would have ended up in an awful 2♦).

The prospects in 1NT are good, as you have six top tricks and either the ♠K or ♥Q could be the 7th. After a Diamond lead the defence took the first four tricks, then it was crunch time for West. The lead of either major will allow declarer the 7th trick. But he lead a Club. Anna unblocked the Clubs and lead a Heart up, but East took her ♥K and now the Hearts are blocked. For this reason it's probably better to lead a Spade up to the King, as if that is onside you do actually get a 7th trick. But from my seat in dummy I was also thinking "lead a Heart!", so we were both wrong.

There was no way for Anna to untangle her tricks so 1NT-1 was the result, for a 20% board. Most other tables got the same Diamond lead, but made 1NT. I suspect this is because after West took the fourth Diamond he switched to either Spades or Hearts (perhaps following a signal from partner). 1NT= would have scored 65%.

Team Rowan vs Team Jacobin

Last night Anna and I played our second league match for Team Rowan. It was total points, so that means bidding games (and slams) where possible. We applied this principle, but it didn't pay off. Every time we stretched to bid game, trumps split badly and we couldn't make it. Twice we investigated slam, and ended up going down at the five level. It doesn't matter if trumps split badly when you're in the same game everyone will be in (the result will be the same at the other table), but it's bad luck if you bid an ambitious game and things fall badly.

By contrast our opponents lead rather a charmed life. Once one of them made a transfer into Hearts with just ♥94. Luckily their partner had ♥AKQJ4. Once the responder held ♠AKJ3 ♥AQ5 ♦43 ♣8765, and decided to make a non-forcing bid, which miraculously lead to them avoiding a bad game (opener had a ten count).

And what would you lead opposite 4♥ with ♠AJ62 ♥J3 ♦875 ♣AJT2 ? They found the ♣A lead, then when partner discouraged still continued with a Club to the King, the only way to beat the contract.

We were not without luck ourselves. The hand below was a stroke of good fortune:

After Anna competes with a double I stick my oar in with a risky 3♠ bid. At this point Anna should really bid game straight away (all she needs is for me to have the ♠K and ten tricks are likely). But she passes, then the opponents compete and end up pushing us into a making game.

After they take the first three tricks, South plays another Diamond. I'm now trapped in dummy. I did consider playing for trumps 3-0 (and Diamonds 4-1) and ruffing Diamonds back to hand to take a trump finesse, but decided that playing for a singleton ♠K needed less. When that worked, we made the game. South can make it harder for me by returning a trump at trick four, after which I would have a decision to make.

Our fortunate +620 here was a great score. On the other table in our match East-West also got to and made 4♠, after West bid Spades directly. In the other match our North-South pair did very well to make 4♥, and our East-West pair beat 5♥ by one trick. So overall for Team Rowan +620, -620, +620 and +100, making for a good board.

The next board is my folly (there's always one):

I have a big 21 point hand, but don't want to open 2NT with a weak singleton and didn't think it was strong enough for 2♣. I thought if I open 1♣ someone is bound to respond/overcall (it's more risky opening this sort of hand 1♠). To my relief Anna responded 1♥. I could have bid 2♠ showing a strong 5-4 hand, but kept things simple with 1♠. When Anna now bid 2♠ I thought I'd hit the jackpot.

All I need is for Anna to have the ♠K, and with my controls and Club suit slam is very likely. If she has the ♠K and ♦A I'm bidding seven. There's not much point cuebidding, as she can't have anything, so I just asked for Aces. Sadly, she had none, North doubled and I was in a doomed contract.

The double has told me all of the trumps are onside, so in theory I can get by losing just one trump and the ♦A. But the problem is, I keep having to ruff Diamonds, so North ends up with another trump trick. I realised this too late, and gave away an extra trick trying to draw trumps, rather than gracefully accepting the loss of three tricks and one off. At total points, the -500 for two off doubled vulnerable was not good.

On the other table in our match the opposition West also went off two in 5♠, but undoubled for a loss of only 200 points. In the other match Team Rowan went one off in 5♠ (well played) and defended 5♣, which also went off. So every contract failed, but I failed the most so the team lost points here.

Funnily enough if I open 2♣ that probably keeps the bidding lower.

My last featured board is another sad loss

Anna opened 1♥ and then rebid 2♣, promising five Hearts. I then overbid a bit with a jump to 4♥. Although Anna is weak in points her 5-5 shape mean game has a chance.

Here's my logic to bidding the game, vulnerable, at total points. If it makes we get +620, compared to +170, so a gain of 450. If it fails we get -100, compared to +140, so a loss of 240. The potential gain therefore far outweighs the loss, and in fact game only needs a 38% chance to be worth bidding.

Things looks promising on the ♦A lead. If trumps split and we can avoid a Club loser it's home. Anna goes for the Club finesse, which fails and it's off one. This finesse is not a good idea, as even if it works you still need to ruff lots of Clubs. So I think it's best to lead the ♣J (in case you get a cover) then take a ruffing finesse. That would certainly have worked here anyway.

One off cost us -100, and another -170 when the other table made 3♥+1. In the other match we conceded another 140 for 3♥=, and on the last table the board was passed out, for an overall loss on the board.

Overall our match was a heavy loss, but the other table a big gain so Team Rowan won the match by 10-6.

Finding the Queen

John Di Mambro and I played in the SBU pairs last night. It felt like there were a lot of low level contracts, most of which I was playing, most of which I could have got one more trick.

After they bid 1♦-2♦ John steps in with a double. This is matchpoints so you have to compete, and even if he passes I would still have bid 2♠. As it is, opposite his double I'm pretty confident of making 2♠. When trumps are 3-1 I'm down to eight tricks, nine if I can guess the Heart Queen. Who has it? I really thought about this, then got it wrong.

I know that North has about 12 points (they played a strong NT), and South about 6. From the play in the Diamond suit South has the King, meaning he must have one more honour somewhere. Could it be the clubs;K? After I take my ♣A I lead a Club up from dummy to find out. South ducked this, so I decided they couldn't have the King. Hence I presumed they had the ♥Q, and finessed the wrong way. 2♠= scored 22%, making 2♠+1 would still only have been 39%, as most East-Wests were scoring 200+ from defending when North opened a weak NT.

Could I have guessed better? Later in the play South threw a Heart, which is not likely from someone who has ♥Qxx. Maybe that's the clue I should have been looking for.

By contrast, here's one I played well:

My redouble shows 9+ without good support, and the 2NT is natural and aggressive. John had no problem raising to 3NT with his good suit. I'm expecting to need the Diamonds to make it, but then realise I've four top losers already. So if I play on Diamonds, and they don't split, I'll have five losers. If I can get six tricks outside of Diamonds I can make the contract safely. This turns out to be the case, as my Hearts and Spades get established, and I then play on Clubs instead.

Making 3NT is worth 67%, but this is mostly for bidding it. It would have been a better score (comparatively) if the Diamonds didn't split.

Overall we scored 51% to finish just above half way.

One bad, One good

With our next league match on Thursday Anna and I had another practice game at the Saturday night SBU pairs. This is a cross-IMP'd event, so is closer to the total points used in league matches. I was pretty relaxed about the game, maybe too much so.

In our first three five-board matches we finished slightly ahead, despite missing a grand slam with 14 top tricks. 6♥+1 actually got us +0.00 IMPs, as the same number of pairs got to 7♥ or 7NT as stopped in game. Then against opponents playing transfer responses I doubled a 1♥ transfer to Spades holding ♥JT9xx. Surprisingly this double was left in, as the opponents chose to play 1♥x on a 3-2 fit. They made it with an abundance of high cards, but missed an easy 3NT so that was a good one for us.

My casual attitude allowed me to let the opponents play 5♦-3, which didn't actually get us a very good score. I think I've become too used to Matchpoints, and didn't see the value in doubling. Just for good measure, I also blew a trick in defence, so maybe it could have been 5♦x-4.

That was an example of missing out on a good result. My low point was worse, turning a good result into a bad one. Our opponents bid a very poor 3NT which can only make with some extremely generous defence:

I made a simple 1♠ overcall. North asked about a Spade stopper then bid 3NT anyway, which clearly shows some sort of weak stopper of his own. I missed this inference, and when Anna lead the ♠7 assumed declrarer had ♠AK. Playing partner for the ♦A, I then found a reason to duck the Clubs not once, but twice, upon which a surprised declarer was able to scoop up 9 tricks. Conceding 3NT was worth -6.9 IMPs, beating it (by two) would be worth +4.5 IMPs.

Here's one where we did well - the very next board in fact

Anna doubled the weak 2♦ then passed my 3♣ (we don't play Lebensohl). North lead out the top two Diamonds, then switched to a Heart. I finessed and lost, then South cashed his ♠A and returned a Spade, presumably waiting to get his trump trick.

At this point I lead a Club to the Ace and dropped the singleton King. There is no room for North to have it alongside ♦AK (and presumably ♦Q too). This was the technically correct play, but I was still surprised it worked.

North could have beaten it by leading lower Diamonds (in which case I would have probably finessed the ♣K and lost), or better playing a third Diamond and South then can't be prevented from making the ♣K.

On the last board I sensed a slam and enthusiastically jumped to 5♥. This had three top losers but was allowed to make, which meant we finished just above average on +7.85 IMPs, 23rd out of 56.

Team Strathclyde vs Team Rowan

Last night Anna and I played our first match for several years for Team Rowan. They let us start fifteen minutes later to get the kids to bed, then we kicked off with the first of 24 boards against a friendly pair from Strathclyde.

The first swings came on Board 2:

East opened 1♠ and I had the nice South hand. We play an unusual 2NT, showing both minors, but only for weak or strong hands. This one falls in the middle, so annoyingly I had to settle for a 2♦ overcall. When we ended up defending 4♠ I was a little anxious about not having shown my shape, but at this vulnerability it's unlikely we have a good sacrifice, and I've also not given away too much to declarer.

I lead my ♥Q, which declarer won in hand. She then cashed two top trumps. This is probably the right play in trumps - after I've shown long Diamonds in the auction finessing is a better bet in isolation, but on this deal you don't want to lose the lead with the risk of a defensive Heart ruff. But once declarer has seen I've shown out of Spades she should be able to play off the Hearts, discarding Clubs from dummy. However, she mistimed the play and lead a third Spade to Anna's Queen.

It's crunch time for North. A club switch is required, but this looks risky and she's expecting me to have a Heart trick, so continued Hearts. (I did signal for Clubs though, we play McKenny and I threw a low Diamond). On the heart lead declarer let it run round to her six, an instinctive play but a costly one. Hearts are now blocked, and in returning to hand she has to play a Diamond. I snapped up the Ace of Diamonds and it was my turn to err. Instead of simply cashing the ♣A and across to partner's King, I lead a low Club. Anna did well to take her King and return a Club for one down.

Overall, across the two tables, one of our declarer's and one of theirs made it, for a flat board.

The biggest hand of the night was this one. North's hand is massive, and partner is bidding strongly too.

Our East opened 2♠, a nice compromise with a poor seven card suit. I made a 2NT overcall, showing 15-19 points and a Spade stop. I don't have the points but I've certainly got the Spade stop, plus the potential for tricks in Diamonds. Anna leapt to 4♣ over this, which is a natural bid with slam interest. I have poor Clubs but co-operated with a cuebid of 4♦. At this point, with total faith in our system, Anna could have bid 4NT to ask for Aces, then 5NT for number of Kings and ended up bidding 7♣ or even 7NT.

However, this is a not-very-common auction for a pair who don't play together much, so Anna reasonably signed off in 6♣. As she said after, it would be too sad being left to play in 4NT, if I took it as natural, or invitational to 6NT.

We were not alone in missing the grand slam. On the other table in our match they had an unopposed auction, got as far as Blackwood, but without agreeing the trump suit, so when North got an impossible 'two keycard' response decided in the confusion to sign off in 6♣. Our team-mates with the North-South cards had to deal with East opening 3♠, after which North bid 5♣ and South passed. On the fourth table South overcalled the 3♠ opening with 4♦, North bid Blackwood then signed off in 6♣ opposite one Ace. Missed opportunities all round!

In the rest of the early boards we missed a couple of games, but so did they, and I thought we probably had the better of it. Then the opponents went on a run of bidding and playing quickly, making six of seven rapid fire contracts. Anna admits to feeling a bit dazed during this stretch, and although we defended accurately, it was a lot of points in the minus column.

On the very last board we finally picked up some cards:

After three passes I opened 1♠ and Anna jumped to 4♠, showing a weakish hand with seven losers. I should almost always pass this, but could see that with my controls if Anna had any sort of decent second suit in Clubs or Hearts we might have a slam, and I always like to bid a slam on the last board. I didn't quite know how to explore this though, and just bid Blackwood. Anna showed no keycards (the most she could have had is the Ace of trumps), and I signed off in 5♠. In fact, her not having the Ace of trumps probably makes her hand bettter, as what I don't want is too many points wasted in trumps with something like ♠AQJxx, in which case even the five level might be too high.

As it happens Anna's hand kings make for a decent fit, and there are 11 easy tricks. I got a nice low Heart lead for trick 12, not needing the Club finesse.

In retrospect a better bid to explore the slam would have been a cuebid of 5♣, hoping Anna could bid 5♥ (bypassing 5♦ showing she has nothing wasted there), after which I can have a punt at 6♠.

The other table in our match had a misunderstanding and played 3♠+3 after West muddied the water with a Michael's 2♠ overcall. In the other match both pairs bid 4♠, so overall the board was a gain for Team Rowan.

Although the slam is not great (and bidding past 4♠ is dangerous), I'm pleased to say when I gave the hand to my school bridge club today they enthusiastically bid up to 6♠, making on the Club finesse.

Overall Team Rowan gained 2090 in our match and lost 1840 in the other for a narrow win, translating to 8 1/2 - 7 1/2 victory points.

Warming up

Before our first league match next Wednesday Anna and I had another go at the Saturday night SBU pairs. There are some very good pairs playing, but you also get given a few gifts (and we give plenty too).

On the very first board Anna and I defended 3NT in such a way to concede 12 tricks, when at every other tables 9 tricks was the limit. That means W we were at least three tricks worse than every other pair in defence. Some even defeated 3NT; we conceded 3NT+3. Fortunately (as I discovered at the end of the round), it was cross-IMPs rather than matchpoints, so it was only a bad score and not a zero.

We also seem to do badly on the first board. And the first match in fact. After that we recovered, with some good defence steady bidding (meaning I underbid and we missed some slams, but so did everyone else). The hand below was a missed opportunity:

I sat West. North opened 1♣, passed round to me. Rather than let it get passed out I bid 1♠. This seems the obvious bid, but I was slightly nervous as on the hand before when I did that Anna raised me straight to game (which made, to my surprise). But this time Anna just made a raise to 2♠ and there I played.

The chances look good. Clubs and Spades should be onside, leading me losing possibly just little as one Heart, two Diamonds and one Club loser. I got the ♣K lead.

My first thought was to duck the opening lead, thus creating a finesse position (North surely holds the ♣Q too). That will put North off continuing Clubs. But instead I played the ♣A of course, then had to lose six tricks.

Overall we finished on +26 IMPs for 5th out of 56 pairs.

Tuesday night SBU

Ted and I had another game together on Tuesday. In felt very tired, and made a few errors in the endgame. Once I could have ruffed my partner's winner and returned a trump to put declarer two down; I sort of knew this was right but couldn't bring myself to do it and settled for one off, which turned out to be a bad score. I put that down to a missed opportunity to play well, rather than a mistake.

There was one highlight - the hand below is the first one I think I've ever opened a Strong Two:

We play Standard Benji so my 2♣ showed a strong suit (or strong and balanced), then when I showed Hearts Ted passed with his minimum hand. I thought this was a textbook Benji Two bid, a 'strong suit with 7 1/2 to 8 winners', but apparently it's actually too weak, and I should have opened 1♥. On this occasion it worked well as a sort of pre-empt, with my strong opening keeping them out the auction. Even better, once they lead Spades my 7 1/2 th trick became my 8th and 2♥ made.

Misclick!

Anna and I played in the SBU pairs last night. We had a few poor ones but lots of good results too, and finished joint 6th out of 56 pairs, on 58.18%. The highlight was a couple of boards were we took them off three, with some very satisfying defence. Strangely, both those boards were played with me kneeling on the kitchen floor with the laptop next to the kettle, trying to make a cup of tea.

The lowlight was a real low - me misclicking to cost a game contract. I've never done that before, and up to now sort of assumed other people 'misclicking' was actually them changing their mind. I have more sympathy now.

I've got to a reasonable 3NT, though it's going to be tricky. I probably should have ducked the Heart lead, but didn't. You can see at Trick Two I make the highly unusual play of the ♠T from hand. This was the card next to the ♥A I'd just won, and my finger must still have been down on the track pad. Unfortunately my ♠T lost to South (meaning the Spade finesse would have worked), and now there's no time to set up the Diamonds.

Before the misclick my plan after I won the ♥A was to run the ♦Q, which probably would have been ducked, then crossed to dummy for a Diamond finesse. Not a great plan but would have worked here. Across the tournament all 28 tables were playing 3NT by West, which can't happen very often. My score of -2 was worth just 15%.

A losing action

John and I made another poor start to the Tuesday SBU pairs, and kept that going to finish on just 40.9%. I made a couple of mistakes. On one board I miscounted trumps, meaning I played an embarrassing extra round once everyone else was out. That meant I had one fewer entry to set up another suit. My only defence was that both opponents were messaging me to ask what my bid meant (a bid I'd already alerted), and the still-awake two-year old upstairs was asking for a hug from his Daddy. I tried to ignore the distractions, but evidently failed.

On the hand below we had a doubly poor result. Not only did the opponents take a lucky punt on a making 6NT contract, but I found a lead to give them an overtrick.

Against 6NT I lead a low Heart, which went round to the King. Declarer needed the Diamond finesse so took it, and when that worked ended up with all 13 tricks. In fact there are always 13 tricks outside Hearts, so any lead except the ♥A leads to 6NT+1. A few tables found the ♥A lead, but I'm not convinced it's a good idea as it might let declarer get to 12 tricks without needing the Diamond finesse. And since you're getting a poor score for conceding 6NT anyway (21%) you might as well try to beat it.

Monday Buchanan Pairs

Last night I played in the Buchanan Pairs tournament with John Di Mambro. It was an 1830 start, and the way things worked out, I was still surrounded by children for the first board. Does that excuse my defense?

I was moderately wise not to bid in the auction, and lead a Spade against 4♥. Declarer at our table lead a Heart to the Ace, then on seeing my ♥J crossed back to dummy and gussed well to duck a Heart to my ♥K. Every other declarer in 4♥ finessed the ♥Q and had to lose two trump tricks. We could still have taken two trump tricks, if I'd lead back a Spade for John to ruff. I knew that the last Spade was the Ace and declarer had it, so it was all there for me. I did ponder for a while, but then played a useless Diamond. Conceding 4♥+2 was worth 0%.

After the first ten boards we had recovered to be on about 50%. Then we had a good run towards the end, and finished on 64%, to finish second overall. My highlight was the board below:

I made a pretty poor 2♥ opening (not sure if my partner would approve or not), then accepted defending 3NT. John dutifully lead a Heart, which I ducked, as taking the trick would just set up two tricks for declarer. When he finessed Clubs it was an easy one to duck, as he is certainly going to be finessing again. When he did finesse again I lead a Diamond, setting up my fourth Diamond. I was then able to get a Club, Heart and Diamond and hold declarer to 3NT+1, where he should always be getting 11 tricks.

My fine effort was worth 40%, as the opposition had done well to get to 3NT, and 4♠ was failing badly.

District Masterful play

Ted and I have had a good run in the SBU Tuesday tournaments, finishing 1st, 2nd and 7th. I have therefore accumulated a few masterpoints, and am now up to 25, which promotes me to District Master (the fourth lowest rank). If I get to 50 points I will become a Master.

My play last Tuesday was not especially masterful, but we were reasonably solid. The highlights were beating a few opposition contracts by three or four tricks (just enough non-vulnerable to get a good score), the lowlight deal 23 of 24 below:

I swithered between opening 1NT and upgrading the hand. I finally decided to open 1NT then realised that I'd bid 1♦. Oh well. The auction quickly escalated. After a 2♣ overcall Ted bid 2♥. To me this shows 10+, to him 6+, and we've never really resolved this. When South piled in with 4♣ I felt fairly confident bidding 4♥. North then went slightly overbaord with 5♣ (it goes three off) but it worked brilliantly as Ted was forced into 5♥, a reasonable gamble with his Club void and (presumed) double fit in Diamonds.

5♥ is not a comfortable contract. Even if you have only one trumps loser it hinges on the Diamond finesse, and when that fails it's one off. Double dummy you can make it by winning the King of Diamonds, ruffing out the ♠Q then endplaying South, but that is a bit far fetched. 5♥-1 was a disappointing score when most of the field were in 2♥.

Opening 1NT would have worked a lot better this time.

SBU Pairs

Ted and I had another good result in the SBU Tuesday pairs, finishing 2nd with 63%. This was despite starting with two very bad boards and having a dip in the middle. Unusually, I was actually ready ten minutes before the start and had time to settle and get a cup of tea, which surely helped.

Afterwards I didn't have any particular regrets, and on looking through the hands I still haven't found anything I think I would have done differently.

Here I made a somewhat heavy 1NT overcall, as I have 18 points and not the usual 15-17. But I think that's OK, especially vulernable, and with a not particularly good 18 points. I have likely 5 tricks, but with not much potential to develop more unless partner has something. The idea of doubling then playing 2NT opposite nothing was too much of a worry.

Of course, as it happened Ted had a decent 7 points, so naturally passed my 1NT overcall but would have gone on if I'd doubled. So we have 25 points and a double Club stop but have missed 3NT. This was a risk I was prepared to take.

In 1NT I got a Spade lead. This gives me enough time to set up dummy's Diamonds. In fact, East needs to duck the first Diamond to hold me to ten tricks, which isn't likely to happen. 1NT+3 was therefore worth 71%, beating pretty much everyone who stayed out of game.

Big hand

Ted and I played together the other night. We are largely on the same wavelength, albeit with roughly one mix-up every ten hands or so. Actually maybe that's quite high.

On this one we got it right:

After South opens 1♣ it gets passed around to me. I have a nice 18 point hand so start with a double. Ted isn't quite strong enough to do any more so just bids 1♥. At this point despite having such a good hand I have to be disciplined and only raise to 2♥. This feels a bit strange, as normally if partner responded 1♥ I'd raise to game. But here his 1♥ shows 0-8, so I am only worth a simple raise to 2♥.

Ted recognised that I must have a big hand to be raising opposite potentially nothing, and bid an immediate 4♥. A club was lead.

Despite trumps being 4-1, and the Club finesse being offisde, it's easy to make game. South is known to have all of the points, so eventually is going to have to lead you round a Diamond, or break open Spades.

At the other table they stalled in 2♥ after the same start to the auction.

I thought I was dummy

Ted and I played the SBU pairs last Tuesday. We did well, finishing over 60%, but far from the lead. There were five or six hands where we got a bad score, all self-inflicted. There was one 4♠ where Ted left on seeing I had ten cashable tricks, then came back to see I had somehow gone one down.

The hand below is a more forgivable one:

Ted opened a Benji 2♣, showing a strong suit. My 2♦ was a relay, then he showed Diamonds. I bid a natural 3♠ and he repeated his Diamonds. My 5♣ I think at this stage must be a cuebid. Ted thought so too and bid 6♦.

After the ♥T lead I wrote "brb" and dashed off to make a cup of tea. When I came back the ♥T was still there and the Round Clock had gone negative. I'd forgotten that since I'd bid Diamonds first I was playing it.

The slam has excellent chances. Although slightly wary of the lead, I decided to play for a Heart ruff. I took the two top Hearts and lead a third. This was quickly ruffed by West. With a club still to lose I had no choice but to over-ruff with the ♦J. It now seemed unlikely I could get another Heart ruff, or set up the Spades, so I crossed to hand in Spades and lead a Club up. Luckily the ♣A was onside, and I might now have enough tricks (two Spades, three Hearts, six Diamonds and one Club).

However, I've already ruffed with the ♦J, so am at risk of losing a trump trick if they don't split 3-2. I lead a Spade back to dummy, and cashed the ♣K.

All that remained was to draw trumps. At this point I knew East started with five Hearts, likely two Spades (she dropped the ♠QJ with the ♠T on table), and maybe two Clubs (she played the ♣9 then ♣J under my King. If I trust all of this then I know she started with four Diamonds, so I can gloriously finesse and make the contract

However, I didn't finesse. I just played trumps from the top and went one off. A missed opportunity.

Close calls

Last time Ted and I played I was a bit erratic. I had to apologise to him afterwards for some of my less successful calls. In my defence the matches start a bit too early for me as I'm still trying to get settled. I normally end up praying to be dummy at the start - this time I was declarer for the first four in a row!

I was unlucky in getting a lot of close calls wrong. That or I have quite poor judgment. The problem is, sometimes I decide to be conservative and end up missing out on a game, slam or juicy double, and somtimes I decide to be bold and overbid or double a makeable contract.

In the hand below my judgment was off by two tricks:

Ted opened 1♣ and I replied 1♥. When the next hand bid 4♠ Ted was under pressure and went for 5♣. I guessed that at that vulnerability he was bidding to make, and I have a great hand (apart from the two small Spades), so topped him up to 6♣. Two down.

But I was not subdued:

When Ted showed 16+ with good Clubs I chanced my arm with 3NT. The ♣K is a great card but we are still a bit light, and it was lucky that Ted had enough Aces to get me up to nine tricks (and that they didn't lead Diamonds). This time I was indisciplined but it paid off.

As tends to be the way with wild bidding we lost more than we gained and overall lost the match by 25 IMPs.

SBU Lockdown Swiss Pairs #2

A 7pm start is a bit tight for Anna and I, as that is also the kid's bedtime. We just made it to the table on time last Saturday, but I feel my head wasn't quite in the game. Witness the first deal below:

East opened 1♣ opening and I thought about how high to bid. I'd actually decided on 3♥ but misclicked and bid 2♥. Close enough I thought, and didn't ask for an Undo. Anna raised and when it came back to me in 4♣ I had a chance of glory. On the bidding partner is likely to have a singleton Club and maybe some Spades, so 4♥ might be worth a go. I passed.

Defending against 4♣, I started with a singleton Diamond and duly got a ruff. We have won the first two tricks and I have two cashing Aces in my hand. What could go wrong? I cashed the ♠A, and got a discouraging signal, so cunningly underlead my ♥A. Then I realised we only needed four tricks in total, and I'd just given the contract as a delighted declarer collected her ♥K.

Conceding 4♣= was worth -5.60 IMPs, worse than any score we'd got last week. Beating it by one trick would have been -1.33 IMPs, and making 4♥ a tremendous score.

After that disaster, things didn't improve. Twice we defended carefully for a ruff, but that actually sorted out the trump suit for declarer. Once I overcalled their 1NT opening, meaning the opponents failed to find their Heart fit. But that meant they made 3NT, while everyone else went down in 4♥. We were unlucky, but also played poorly.

Our final of -34.05 IMPs was good enough for 54th place out of 56.

Stealing a trick

Just for a change here's one I think I played well, playing with Ted in the Tuesday night Wanderers Teams match on Bridge Base. I had to play it well as I'd overbid, and was in 5♥ off three cashing tricks:

Having been starved of good hands I was very exicted by that East hand. I opened 1♥, and when partner raised to 4♥ (showing this sort of hand) I decided to check for Aces. I figured I had some safety in that they were likely to lead Spades. When partner showed only one Ace I was stuck in 5♥.

I got the ♠Q lead, and won the Ace. I crossed to dummy in trumps (actually drawing them all) and lead a Club up to my ♣Q. North ducked, and I was home. I played it quite quickly which was good. On the other table it was 4♥+1 with the same play, and less stress.

SBU Lockdown Swiss Pairs #1

Last night Anna and I played in the SBU Lockdown Swiss Pairs. This is a nine week cross-Imp tournament where they take your best six scores. It was quite a rush getting the children in bed to start at 7pm, so I'm not sure how many we'll make.

It was a nice format, with five rounds of five boards. We had enough time between rounds to have a cup of tea. Once Anna did some yoga.

Anna and I played quite steadily. In fact our biggest swing was only about 3 IMPs. Overall we finished 14th out of 52 pairs, with a modest score of +13.41 IMPs. Here's one where I had a couple of tough decisions (and got them both wrong).

After three passes it comes round to me sitting West. I've a nice 12 points, but considered passing. It's quite likely the opponents can make something in one of the majors, and a score of 0 will be better than that. Passing would have got +1.64 IMPs. Instead I went for a 1NT opening. I thought this would make it a bit harder for the opponents to enter the auction, but North was rather bold and came in with 2♥. Anna bid a nice 2♠, which we play as non-forcing, then South also stretched to bid 3♥, and now we have to beat it.

Anna lead a low Spade, to my Ace. I was worried about declarer ruffing Clubs so returned a Heart. Declarer was now able to draw trumps, taking five Hearts, two Clubs, a Spade and a Diamond when he guessed correctly for nine tricks. Well played.

In fact the best defence is to play Clubs myself, so Anna can ruff declarer's potential Club tricks, and promote her ♥K. But maybe that needs me to know that Anna has only a doubleton Club. Too tough for me. Conceding 3♥= was worth -2.32. I wish I'd passed the hand out.

Also in the tournament were John Di Mambro and Martin Bateman, from the Wanderers Team. They were a bit ahead of us though and we never met. On the hand above North opened 2♥ (Hearts and a minor) and played there, making eight tricks when he guessed Diamonds wrong.

Mid-morning matters

Today I had the rare pleasure of being able to play in the 1030 am Bucnahan pairs, with Ted.

Here's a couple of blunders I made:

I thought Ted's double showed a maximum of four Hearts so bid my Clubs again. He boldly raised me to game.

The opening lead was a Heart. Instinctively, I played low from dummy. Now I had to cross over to the ♠A to finesse trumps. When that worked I had 11 tricks, but when the Hearts didn't split that was the limit.

I should win the first Heart in dummy and finesse trumps. That keeps the ♠A as an entry to dummy if the Hearts are 4-2 and one needs to be ruffed, as is the case here. Getting that right would have meant 5♣+1 instead of of 5♣=, and I would have caught up with everyone bidding and making 4♥.

That was a relatively small error. The next one was more costly:

3♠ promised five Spades and 4♣ was a cuebid (not alerted). I lead my singleton ♥J which declarer won and drew trumps. The crunch came when she lead the ♣T from hand. I thought "what does it matter?" and covered with my Queen. Turned out it did matter, as dummy played the ♣A and partner's ♣K came crashing down. This meant no Club losers and declarer made 6♠+1 instead of 6♠=.

I didn't think many pairs would be in the slam anyway, but they were (several in 6NT). So my blunder turned a 50% board into a 0% board. To make it worse there was then a lengthy delay between rounds for me to ponder my no-win play.

Despite these bodges we finished on a winning 65.2%, earning me another 0.70 BBO matchpoints (whatever they are).

Trick 1

Last night was the final Buchanan Lockdown Teams, as the club now has proper pair's evenings organised. I played with Ted, and our team won 36-7. Of the seven IMPs we lost, six were on the board below:

I open 1♦ and rebid 2NT showing 18-19. Ted bid Checkback Stayman to check for a fifth Heart, and we finished in 3NT. North lead the ♣5.

I have a certain two stops in Clubs. Given time I have plenty of further tricks, likely four Diamonds, two Hearts and a Spade to get me to nine. The problem is I'm missing three Aces, so the defence have plenty of time to set up their Clubs.

On trick one I played the ♣2 from dummy, South the ♣9 and I won in hand with the ♣J. I've still got one Club stopper, but that's not enough. I forced out the Heart Ace, lost my last Club stopper, forced out the Diamond Ace, then South did well to play a Spade across to North, to cash a few more Clubs. In the end I lost three Clubs and three other Aces.

If I play the ♣Q on the first trick it holds. Now my remaining ♣AJ is worth two more stoppers, if I lose the lead to South. As it happens South has the Aces in both the suits I'm going to play, so I'm still down.

My play of the ♣2 on the first trick would only gain if North had lead away from ♣T9xxx, which is much less likely.

The other table played 2NT and made it.

Safety Play

In the Buchanan Teams last night Ted and I took a bit of a beating. Our one higlight was bidding and making a very poor 6♠ contract:

Ted liked this hand and rebid 3♠, so I thought he must be strong enough to have something in Diamonds so launched into Blackwood, and he showed two keycards without the Queen of trumps. The auction so far was identical at both tables. But whereas my counterpart now signed off in 5♠ I ploughed on and landed partner in 6♠.

We have 7 trump tricks, but only 3 outside winners. There are possiblities in Clubs and Hearts, but how best to combine your chances? I like Ted's line of trying Clubs first (playing the ♣A from dummy if North doesn't cover), then reverting to Hearts. But as you can see everything works so that was a lucky 13 IMPs in.

I gave it back on the hand below:

We reached a good 4♠ contract and the defence begin with the ♦K. I was expecting two rounds of Diamonds then a Club switch, which if I got wrong and the trump finesse failed would be one off. But instead North overtook with the ♦A and returned a Heart, clearly a singleton. I've bags of Heart tricks to come so I just need to draw trumps now avoiding a ruff.

Time for a safety play!

I lead the ♠J from dummy but played the ♠A anyway, to avoid losing to a singleton or doubleton King in South and suffering a Heart ruff. But actually, South was void in trumps! So when I tried to keep drawing them North got back in, crossed to his partner's ♦Q and they got their Heart ruff in the end. I think my line was correct (fails only on this layout, finessing fails if South has Kx or K of trumps), but cost the game. On the other table they played in 5♥ and although a Spade ruff is in theory possible the defence are never likely to find it.

Finally, here's one I got right:

Ted's 2NT rebid showed 15-19, and my 3♣ asked for extra length in Majors. He denied this so I know he has exactly four Hearts and at most three Spades. With my Spade void 3NT might be in trouble, so I removed to 4♥. This is a decent contract, especially when Ted happens to have the ♥QT and got the the ♥J lead. I think 5♣ is even better though, so perhaps I should have bid that.

While following the hand as dummy I was hoping the Club finesse would fail, as that would mean only 8 tricks in 3NT. The other table were in 3NT, and did get a Spade lead, but the defence got in a tangle and declarer came home for a flat board (maybe that's an advantage of 3NT I hadn't considered - how often it makes when it shouldn't!)

Overall we lost the match 32-77

Textbook

Playing in the Buchanan Saturday teams I overbid to 4♠:

After the first few tricks I'm in dummy and ready to play trumps. If I can play trumps for no losers I can make it. I lead the ♠J and ... took the finesse. This failed (and in fact there's no way to succeed) but playing the ♠A is the right play. By this point West has shown up with ♦AKJ and so East must have the ♠K, both to give him enough points to double, and because West didn't respond to the double.

It's a textbook hand, which I'm sure I would have got right in a book, but didn't at the table. Nor did the other declarer on the same defence though, but the opponents got other stuff right and we lost the match 21-32.

SBU Matchpoint Tournament

This Tuesday I convinced Ted to play in the Scottish Bridge Union (SBU) tournament. It's matchpoints which he says he doesn't like, but I thought it would suit us. Our cardplay and defence is relatively good, with our main weakness sometimes going for massive penalties.

Over the 24 boards we did nothing clever, but made few mistakes, and finished comfortably top in a large field. We had rather a charmed existence and there were only three boards where we scored below 50%. Once was when the opponents had a misunderstanding and underbid to 3♥ which just made, once was when the opponents bid and made the obvous 1NT and we got 40% (most matchpoints events you suffer loads of these), and once when I made the blunder below:

East opened 1♣ and I made a rather dubious 1♥ overcall. West had just enough to overcall 1♠ (showing five or more) and East optimistimcally raised straight to game. It's optimistic as the hand is good but the ♥K might be useless.

The problem with my 1♥ overcall now became clear to me, as Ted lead the ♥Q. Normally this would promise ♥QJ (or maybe a singleton), but once I've bid Hearts he might just be leading them for that reason. The ♥Q was covered by the ♥K and ♥A and I had the crucial decision. I didn't realise it was the crucial decision though and just played a heart back straight away. We've now lost the chance for a Diamond ruff, and when Declarer lead Spades from hand picking up the ♠A the hand was over.

If I played a Diamond back I would get a ruff when Ted took his ♠A. It would be obvious for him to give me a ruff as leading a Diamond is an odd thing to do with ♦AKTx on the table. There is some danger though that leading a Diamond will let declarer draw trumps and discard a losing Heart (if he started with say ♦Qx in hand), but I think if I'd have thought about it I might have got it right.

Five Diamonds Twice

I was watching some Scotland Lockdown Teams on Bridge Base the other day. All excellent declarers, but they had some blind spots playing these 5♦ contracts.

Put yourself in East's shoes. You've done well to get to 5♦. On the Spade lead you finesse and it holds. You now have good chances of 11 tricks: six Diamonds (assuming they split 4-2), two Spades and three Clubs, if they split 3-2 and the King is onside. They key is that if you're going to get all those Club tricks you need to keep an entry to dummy.

You play a Club back to hand and draw three rounds of trumps. They don't split so there is still one master trump outstanding. You have to leave it out and play on Clubs now, while you still have the spade entry. Declarer here didn't do this and played another Diamond, but got lucky when South didn't knock out the Spade Ace. On the other table declarer was also in 5♦, but inexplicably played low on the first Spade trick so always had to lose one Spade, one Diamond and one Club.

On to the next 5♦:

East lead the ♣2, which looks very much like a singleton. Declarer won, and wisely discarded a losing Heart from hand (on the other table declarer discarded a Spade and then had no chance). After taking the ♥A and a heart ruff it's decision time. The winning line is to cross to hand, draw trumps, then give yourself a 50-50 shot at guessing Spades. Instead declarer tried a second round of Clubs, ruffed by East and one off.

Am I being unfair on these declarers? Perhaps it's all only obvious seeing all the hands.