Got the timing wrong

After concentrating hard in the SOL match last night I thought I'd relax in tonight's 12 board matchpoints with Anna. It turns out playing relaxed isn't a very good idea, and without proper concentration I made a lot of mistakes.

Things didn't go well for either of us and after bad scores on the first five boards we were both on the tilt. This lead to some aggressive actions, which all surprisingly seemed to work.

This was our best score, a 4♥ I misplayed but got away with:

After Anna's double I am worth a raise to 3♥, and with all her points working I like Anna's raise to game.

After a Diamond lead my plan is to lead up to take my ♥AK, lead up to the ♠K, and ruff some Diamonds. Hopefully losing just one Heart, one Spade and one Club. But what order to do it in?

I went for taking out the Hearts first, then lead up to the ♠K. To my surprise this held. I lead a Diamond back, ruffed a Diamond, and lead a Spade from dummy. I'm now stuffed - as whichever defender has the last trump can win this Spade and draw dummy's last trump. Luckily for me, after East played the ♠Q West overtook with the Ace, and had no trump to return. So I made 4♥=.

As Anna pointed out to me afterwards, I should play two rounds of Spades immediately. I win my King, then play another round. Now if the defence play trumps I'm still in control.

Depsite 94% on the board we finished as badly as we started and ended up on 46%.

SOL3: Faben vs Chow

After a rather disappointing first half we were 12 IMPs down. It could have been worse, but Paul and Jun produced a good card at the other table to limit our losses.

In the second half I came out all guns blazing. On the first hand the opposition crept to 4♠, which I doubled. This might have made but went down two. The other table was also 4♠-2 but not doubled so that gained us 5 IMPs.

Then when I got a good hand I bid it to the max.

I opened 1♣, and it came back round to me at 4♠. I had been considering 3NT, and now thought about 4NT, natural. However, 4NT definitely would not have been natural, it would have been two places to play, which I suppose I sort of have with some Heart support for John. I also have plenty of strenght to double, but in the end went for a simple 5♣.

East doubled this immediately, and why not with the ♦AK. She lead the ♦A, and we all had a look at dummy.

It looks like the only chance is Clubs 2-2 (unlikely after the double) and dropping the singleton King of Hearts. At this point I realised how many tricks down 4♠ would be and wished I'd doubled instead.

After cashing the ♦A East understandably paused, not wanting to play another round and set up my Queen in dummy. She probably thought I had a singleton Diamond too, to justify my bidding. So, she safely switched to a Spade. This was fatal to the defence.

I drew trumps, realised I was about to make it, played an extra trump for no reason, then lead a Diamond. East won, but whatever she plays gives me access to dummy and all the remaining tricks. 5♣x= for +750.

On the other table after the same start South responsed 2♥, and North pushed to 6♥-2. That was a 14 IMP gain.

On the last board of the match I picked up another good hand, and bid it to the max:

I opened 1♠ and despite my partner's silence went up to 4♥. This was promptly doubled, and I corrected to 4♠, doubled again. John had a think but then thankfully passed. And fortunately the defence lead a Diamond, so I could ruff, draw trumps and make 4♠x=.

On the other table Jun and Paul bid diamonds aggressively and North-South again pushed to 6♥-2. That was another 14 IMPs.

In between those good scores our opponents punted a couple of good games too, so there were scores flying in both directions. In the end we won the second half by 17 IMPs, for a 5 IMP win overall.

Glasgow League: Team Ruffians vs Team Rowan

Last night Anna and I got the kids to be early and settled down for a 24 board match. Things started calmly with a series of one level contracts. I think we defended these well, but this was total points so they didn't matter too much.

Later on things picked up and we bid aggressively. This caused the opponents to miss a couple of games, but also pushed them in to games that they might not have got to otherwise.

This was a frustrating one:

At favourable vulnerability I thought I was worth a 2♣ overcall, showing at least 5-4 in the majors. West bid his Clubs naturally and East did the right thing bidding 3NT.

The contract makes or goes down depending on my lead. A heart gives declarer a free Heart trick, which turns out to be his ninth, alongside six Clubs and two Diamonds. Anything else, and declarer is stuck on eight tricks. As soon as he touches Spades Anna can win and fire through the Jack of Hearts. Best of all is if I lead Spades, in which case we get the first six tricks.

I lead a Heart, conceding 3NT=. My heart lead failed here, but could be the right thing to do if declarer has something like ♥KJx and we need to play the suit twice to set it up.

What about the other tables? 3NT was played twice more and also made, once with a similar Heart lead from South, once when North lead Diamonds then kept leading them. Sheena and Colin were on defence against 5♣, which needs excellent defence and got it, the defence getting their Spade ruff for one off. So overall the board was a win for Team Rowan.

Board 21 I'm not sure if we made life difficult for the opponents or helped them:

After Anna opened 1♠ and the next hand overcalled I went straight to 4♠. I think this is the right bid, though Anna says she would only have bid 3&spadees;. Here, where West has lots of Clubs, he has an easy 5♣ bid, but if he had for example a big Diamond suit with only two or three Clubs they're probably going to miss their game.

Anna was restrained in not bidding 5♠, which could go three off doubled for -800.

My trump lead was ineffective and declarer wrapped up 12 tricks.

In the other half of our match our team-mates missed out (playing 4♣+1), after East bid an unusual 2NT and South passed. In the other match Jill and Barbara had no trouble making 5♣+1 (again after an unusual 2NT and South passing). On the last table South found a 3♠ raise then North bid 4♠ then 5♠. That sounds suicidal to me but it was undoubled and in fact lost only two tricks for -200.

There may also have been a hand where I leapt to 6♣ missing two Aces, and both Anna and I apologised to each other afterwards.

But the good news is, overall we won the match by 2150 points, for a flying start to the season!

SOL3: Faben vs Smith

Last night I was up for the game, and determined not to underbid this time. It didn't work out too well though, and on the first board I made five overtricks. It doesn't really matter what the contract was, +5 is never a good result.

I had a maximum overcall, John had a maximum pass, and everything lay nicely. On the other table Harry Smith overcalled 1NT and played in 3NT. It's not a great contract but made here. So on another day our cautious bidding would have won a game swing.

This was the most exciting board in the first half:

John opened 4♥ passed to West who felt obliged to double. East chose the least-worst option of passing. I had the nice South hand, and would have doubled any contract they bid. But since we have two ways of opening 4♥, and this is the weaker way, I didn't feel confident redoubling 4♥, and when I saw John's hand expected it to go down. But trumps were 2-2 so we made 4♥x= for +590.

That was an 11 IMP swing ... to them! On the other table after the same start East bid 4♠, which was duly doubled. They escaped to the equally bad 5♣, also doubled, and off four. At the end of the first half we were down 13-32 IMPs.

In the second half we did better. The only big swing out was when the opposition bid a poor 3NT with ♣854 opposite ♣T92. This turned out to be an adequate stopper when the suit split 4-3.

Near the end I remembered my plan to bid boldly, and picked it up for this one:

I have a fairly average 5-5 hand, but we play specific-suit Michaels, and that emboldened me to make the 2NT overcall. John has a great hand for me, with four Hearts and some good Clubs, and with the Club finesse working he made nine tricks.

In theory North-South can make ten tricks in Spades, and in fact did so at the other table (although they were only playing in 3♠). After a Diamond lead the threat of a ruff forced declarer to play trumps from the top. Their 3♠+1 combined with out 3♥= was a 7 IMP gain.

We won the second half 37-18, to bring the final scores to 50-50. A draw? Not quite. A corrected claim gave one IMP back to them. Paul had claimed 3♦+1, when actually only 9 tricks were there. Personally I think if both defenders accept the claim it should stand, but the rest of the team were more generous and so we ended up with a narrow 1 IMP loss.

A post-script - one hand I messed up I didn't notice at the time. I didn't even notice when I went throught the boards afterwards. It was only when John emailed me with some comments, I saw he'd written for Board 8 "Why didn't you return a Spade?". It's a good question:

John lead a Spade to the Ten and King. Declarer immediately took a losing Heart finesse to my Queen. Now it's time to return a Spade to partner's probable 5-card suit and beat the contract. However, I doubted the Spades and liked my Clubs, so made a useless Club switch. The simple defence would have worked here.

Taking gifts

Last night Anna and I played in EBU evening tournament. There were plenty of gifts from our opponents. On the first board they had a Gerber auction, discovered they had all 4 Aces between them, then signed off in 5♠. How many Aces were they hoping for?

On the hand below Anna opened 1NT and I had a rubbish hand with short Clubs. I started Stayman (best to get out of 1NT) and we found our 4-3 Heart fit. As expected the opposition had points and got into the auction too, surprisingly ending up in 3♥. This actually nearly made:

Anna did well to start with her two top trumps. When she switched to a Spade I had to be careful. Declarer does actually have enough tricks to make the contract (just losing three Hearts and one Club), but needs to unblock the Diamonds. If I covered this Spade switch with the Queen declarer can later unblock the Diamonds and has a Spade entry back to dummy to discard Clubs.

As soon as the first Spade trick was completed the hand timed out. The score was recorded as A==, then a few minutes later the director adjusted it to 3♥-1. This is quite a big call, as there was still the chance for us to misdfended and let the contract make, but felt justified to me as they had bid and played it very slowly.

After the adjustment we scored 88% on the board. In fact, even conceding 3♥= would have scored 70%, as there were lots of North-South pairs making 3NT, or beating 1NT doubled.

Overall we played fairly well, with just one bidding misjudgement and me playing foolishly for a second overtrick (and not getting my first overtrick). We finished on 60.64% for 7th out of 74 and a trickle more EBU masterpoints.

SOL3: Gipson vs Faben

In a rescheduled Friday game we played Team Gipson, who won the last iteration of the league. The Gipsons play a very complicated system, and the other pair, Peterkin-Punch are known to be very aggressive in the bidding. So I was determined not to be pushed out, and to bid confidently.

In the first half we played Paul and Alex Gipson. Things went fairly well, as we found a 24 point slam, and benefitted from a rare mix-up on the other side. However, there were a couple of times they made 4♠, both tricky hands that went down on a different defence on the other table. So we lost the first half 30-19 IMPs.

In the second half I followed the rule of pre-empting to the max.

After they bid 1♥-1♠ it's the perfect time to interfere, as partner has passed and the opponent's don't have a fit. I weighed in with 4♣. After a think North doubled, and South bid a hesitant 4♥.

John lead a Club. This contract is doomed to lose two Hearts, one Spade, two Diamonds and a Club, and duly did, for 4♥-3.

I was pleased we beat the contract, but after we took so many tricks I wondered, could we have made our own game? 5♣ is missing three Aces and 3NT has only eight top tricks, so I felt we were safe. However, on the other table South had passed the 1♥ opening and West overcalled an intermediate 3♣. When East bid 3NT South lead partner's suit and declarer could now make 3NT. Only a Spade lead beats it.

So what I thought was a good board was a 7 IMP loss. Perhaps the Spade lead could have been found to beat 3NT, or John could have doubled 4♥ on our table, or perhaps my 4♣ overcall wasn't as clever as I thought it was.

The other two big swings in this half were my fault:

3NT has seven top tricks, so I just need to establish a Heart and a Spade for 9 tricks. However, North lead the ♠9 and the defence were able to set up the Spades before I got my Heart, and it went one down. Going down in 3NT here is not easy, as it requires a Spade lead, guessing who has the long Spades wrong, and guessing the Heart Queen wrong. It felt unlikely this would happen at the other table, and indeed 3NT made easily there with South on lead playing a low Diamond.

I'm more annoyed at this one:

I opened 1♣ and it came back to me at 4♠. John's double shows 4+ Hearts so I know we have a fit. He is also likely to have a Spade void, with the opponent's probably having 10 between them. I knew my hand was big so bid 5♥, but of course there's no way John can raise that and we played in 5♥, making +2 when the trumps split. I think it's up to me to just bid 6♥, which would be unlucky not to have good play.

On the other table North bid 2♠ and South bid 2NT, perhaps some sort of psyche? This backfired here, as when West doubled East could jump to 4♥. That was enough for West to jump to 6♥. I wonder if the North-South auction went 2♠-4♠ if East-West would find the slam then. Probably, as Jun said afterwards "opps played well".

John and I had a few good boards in the second half but they were flattened at the other table. So the only swings were those three hands above. We lost the second half 34-4, to lose the match overcall 64-23 IMPs. This gets us just 2.45 Victory points.

SOL3: Ash vs Faben

Last night I played my first match in the third edition of the Scottish Online League, partnering John Faben. During the last week I've been learning our system, which is here.

Things went pretty well. On the first hand I overcalled their 4♠ with 5♥ on a borderline hand. The key is not to think about it too long, just do it. It went two off, with 4♠ not making, but at least it got me well into the game. This was actually a gain of 5 IMPs when after a slower auction it was doubled on the other table:

At the end of the first twelve boards we were 22 IMPs up (45-23). We had played quite well, and were also slightly fortunate.

In the second half the boards were a little wilder, and there were mistakes on both sides. For Team Faben, this board was the highlight:

Our auction is all quite new to me. We play five card majors and strong NT, so my 1♣ was only 2+. After John's 1♥ my 2♦ was entirely conventional, showing 18-19. After that things got a little hazy, but 4♥ was never going to be that bad. It was indeed a 4-3 fit, but a strong one, and John wrapped up 12 tricks (4 Hearts, 4 Spades, 4 Diamonds).

Even better, it looks like 3NT could be in trouble, as Clubs split 5-2. On the other table North-South got to the more conventional 3NT. If East was on lead a Club lead would be normal, but West was on lead. Paul found the killer King of Clubs lead, beating 3NT by 1. That was 13 IMPs for the team.

It was a long match, the 24 boards stretching from 7 pm to 1030 pm. It was an effort concentrating for so long, and towards the end I was rather hoping to be dummy. But then I got dealt this massive South hand, and was in the spotlight.

My 2♥ followed by 3♠ was basically natural. I've now taken up quite a lot of room, so when John bid 4♥ it's hard to know how much support he has. I know from his initial 2♦ response he has at least 4 points, but I'm not sure if he's showing two or three card Heart support (have I shown six, or only five?). I decided that I could well be losing a Heart and two Aces, to the five level isn't safe, so I passed.

On the other table the auction started the same but the South (Robert Ferrari) bid on - with Blackwood then 6♥.

It looks like a pretty good contract, but actually if the defence begin with their Ace of Diamonds you'll lose a trump too and go down. In fact, on both tables there was a Club lead and twelve tricks made.

In the second half we shaded it by 5 IMPs (41-36).

Overall that translated to a 15-5 VP win.

Listening to the auction

Last night Anna and I played the EBU pairs again.

We discussed this board afterwards:

I led the ♠4 and when dummy played low Anna had a decision to make. She knows I have a Spade honour for my low lead, which could be the Jack or King (or both). Against 3NT the right play would be the 9, but I think on this auction the Ace is right. Declarer has shown five Hearts and at least four Diamonds, so has at most four black cards, with three winning Clubs in dummy. So we are getting at most one Spade trick, hence we should take it.

Anna played low worried about setting up declarer's Queen of Spades. On this layout it doesn't cost, and declarer should make 11 tricks either way. Our declarer misplayed by ruffing a Spade in hand, shortening his own trumps, and could no longer enjoy his long Diamond.

So we got 76% for holding declarer to 4♥=, which goes to show that the best way to get a good score is still the opponents making mistakes, rather than defending accurately.

Overall we got 57%, for 13th/76 and a trickle more EBU masterpoints.

British Schools' Championship

Today it was time for my much-improved youngsters to test themselves against other schools across the country in the British Schools' Championship, to be played on Real Bridge. The format was four short rounds of a Swiss tournament, after which the top four would advance. That four included The High School of Glasgow, who were to play reigning champions Haberdashers in their semi-final.

Things started ominously when the opposition quickly recorded 7NT= on the first board. We made the same number of tricks, but in 3NT. But not to be outdone, we bid a grand slam of our own on the very next board:

You can see that there's a problem. In the auction 4NT was Blackwood and 7♦ was forgetting that the responses start with 0 Aces, not 1 Ace.

But, you can also see that if the defence don't lead Hearts there's 13 top tricks. On the other table Haberdashers safely made 6♦, so there would be a big swing one way or the other depending on North's lead. Sadly, he led a Heart, and it was one down and another 14 IMPs away. Despite a good comeback we lost the match 18-37. It sounds like a big margin, but if North had led a Club, Diamond or Spade against 7♦ we would have gained 11 instead of losing 14, and won the match 29-23. One card from victory!

In the 3rd/4th play-off against St Paul's School London it was a close high-quality match. This was my favourite board:

We've been working on bidding 3NT with long minors and it paid off here. 3NT is safe on any lead - when Michael got a Heart he quickly wrapped up 10 tricks.

On the other table our West (Harry) opened 1♥, over which North bid 4♦. East (Alexander) made the pressure bid of 4♥, which unfortunately propelled South to 5♦. This could be beaten, but of course we made the obvious Heart lead and declarer escaped in 5♦=.

Going into the final board, we were 1 IMP behind. I was watching on a delayed feed, and saw a result of 1NTx-5 pop up, but I didn't know for which side. In my experience those sorts of results are normally bad news, but this time we were on the right side of it:

Michael made the double, Kevin passed it and the defence took the first 11 tricks. Only if that result was duplicated would we lose the match. Luckily, on the other table South overcalled 2♥ - he made 11 tricks but lost 14 IMPs.

That meant we finished in 3rd place overall, a great achievement, and we've been invited back to Loughborough to compete in person next year. The winners were Eton College.

Finding an extra trick

Last night Anna and I did a bit better on the EBU 12 board pairs. We finished on 58% which felt about right after a few top boards (1NTx-1 which they could have been made) and a few bad ones (3NT-3 after we had a Multi 2D mix up).

The last board caught my eye:

On the one hand it's a very flat board, with nearly everyone getting to 4♥ and making 10 tricks. That's what we did, for 51% on the board. As long as South makes the obvious ♣K lead the defence get one Club, one Diamond and one Spade.

But the question is, at the table, once you've drawn trumps how can you maximize your chances of getting to discard a losing Club? There is hope in the Diamond suit, but if once you lead the ♦J every defender should take the Ace then cash their Club. A bit better is leading the ♦2 from hand, when it's not quite as obvious you're looking for a Club discard.

But I think the best line is to cross to dummy and take the Spade finesse. If Spades behave you have a genuine chance to get away your Club loser (from dummy), and make 12 tricks. And if the Spade finesse fails you're in the same position as before.