SOL3: Faben vs Maiolani

This was our last match of this league. The whole league has been tight, and despite not being much below average, this was in fact a relegation battle.

Things started well when John found an excellent switch to beat their 3NT, then navigated a tricky 4♠. At this point we were about 20 IMPs up, though didn't know it at the time of course. It wasn't until Board 8 that I had something to regret:

I had the good 11 point hand and opened 1♥. After the double John was between several bids and chose 3♥. I took this as pre-emptive, was expecting them to bid 4♠, so thought a 4♣ bid would be useful. With his fitting Clubs John bid 5♥, passed out, and we were in trouble.

Not only is 5♥ almost hopeless, but it looks like we've got plenty to beat their 4♠ (probably two off).

5♥ is almost hopeless, as it makes if the Spade finesse works and I can play trumps for no losers. That requires either a singleton King with West, or singleton Jack with East. Given the double East having the singleton is more likely, so I decided to play for that.

But something strange happened. After cashing one top Diamond East switched to the King of trumps! This was clearly a misclick, but under the rules of the league Undos are allowed only in the bidding and not in the play. This makes sense, for several reasons, but did feel harsh here. East did actually ask for an Undo but I refused, on the grounds that plenty of other people in the league (including me) have misclicked and not even asked for an Undo, as they know they are not allowed.

The contract now depends on the Spade finesse, which failed, so it was one down anyway. This was flat with the more reasonable 4♥-1 on the other table.

Near the end of the first half we had a gain bidding a making 5♦, a bit of a guess from me but turned out to be the perfect contract here:

When John ruffs the third Spade high he can claim once trumps are 2-1. Even better, 3NT would be down. The other table was in 3♦+2, so that was +6 IMPs.

At the end of the first half Team Faben were up by 16 IMPs.

At the start of the second half I checked with my opponents on the policy for Undos, and they confirmed they were for bidding only not the play. I was pleased to hear them say that, but not much else went right.

When the opponents got to 4♠ I needed to find a lead. I would have liked to lead a trump, but didn't have any. I guessed to lead a Heart. This couldn't give declarer a finesse he couldn't already take, but did make things easier for him. He took two Hearts and eight trump tricks for 4♠=.

On the other table East opened, so South was on lead against 4♠. He did lead a trump. Declarer has eight trump tricks and the Ace of Hearts, so needed one more. He tried leading up too the King of Clubs, then the Jack, but both failed. The last thing to try is the Heart finesse, but instead I think he tried to drop the King of Hearts in three rounds, which worked, but used up all his trumps so he couldn't draw them and enjoy his ♥Q. One off.

This one I misbid but it turned out fine - still a mistake I think:

The North hand should correct to 4♠. The suit can play opposite a singleton, and it's quite likely that partner's double stop in Hearts won't be enough as you'll have to lose the lead twice setting up Spades.

As it happened there were enough tricks outside Spades that if the defence set up their Hearts declarer is up to nine tricks without having to set up the Spades, so John made 3NT=. Similar auction and result at the other table.

The match was still tight but we had a poor finish. We conceded 3♦x= then I made a lead-directing double which John followed to let a contract make. On the last I played 3NT with seven top tricks and finished down two; a poor effort as it's not too hard to set up an eighth (or maybe even make it if the cards lie nicely).

We lost the second half by 29 to lose the match by 13 IMPs. That meant just 7/20 VPs. This is the table with four teams still to play one match:

Congratulations to BShenkin for winning the league and comiserations to Smith finishing bottom. It looks like we will finish second last assuming Chow get some points on their last match.

SOL3: Faben vs Outred

After a heavy loss last week we were looking to bounce back. It was a fairly quiet night, with some low scoring. In the first half John and I defended some part-scores well (which still made), lost an unlucky swing wrongsiding a game, and got one back when John made this 4♥ that went down on the other table:

My 1♣ followed by 2♦ shows 18-19 balanced, and John's bidding shows at least 5-5, so I had an easy raise to 4♥.

A club was led. There are several losers in trumps but possibly nothing else. John cashed the ♥A then played on Spades. The defence scored their ♥KQJ separately but they were the only tricks for the defence, 4♥ making.

At the other table declarer didn't cash the ♥A and went one down, suffering four ruffs instead of three.

On the last board of the first half I threw away a chance for glory:

I don't like my 3♣ bid, but felt I needed to act with the short Spades. When John doubled I thought at this vulnerability I had to try 3NT, even though I knew on the expected Spade lead I'd need nine running tricks.

East lead the ♠4 and I surveyed dummy. I needed the Clubs to come in, which is unlikely, but at least it's got a chance. What I didn't realise was that the defence have now blocked Spades, so I can afford to lose one Club, and still make it. But I decided it was prudent to cash some Diamonds, to limit the expected undertricks and also to put some pressure on the defence. In doing so I inadvertently sealed my fate, as when I took the Club finesse and it lost, although the defence couldn't cash their Spades they could cash the ♦J though for one off.

My 3NT-1 could have been a good result vs 3NT-4 (if East leads a top Spade), but actually on the other table at the same point in the auction South bid 4♣ instead of double. They made 4♣ to give us a 6 IMP loss. I like our auction better, even if it lead to a bad game here.

At the half way point we were 10 IMPs down.

In the second half there were two high-scoring boards.

When John opened 3♠ I had a clear raise to 4♠, expecting it to make (perhaps losing one Club and two Diamonds). But East doubled and West bid 5♣. I passed this without much thought and lead my top Hearts.

When we won the first three Heart tricks that was good news, but it became a little too good once we took two more Club tricks. 5♣-3 was worth +300, against a likely 4♠= or 4♠x=. In fact on the other table when West passed the double it was 4♠x+1, and we lost 9 IMPs.

Although it didn't occur to me at the time, I now wonder if I should have doubled 5♣. I'm not expecting any Club tricks from partner, but there's an excellent chance of three Hearts and maybe the Ace of Spades.

The other high-scoring board was this one:

John opened 1♠ and playing five card majors I have good support. I could have splintered with 4♥, though I think that's wrong here as my hand is too weak to be happy passing if John signs off in 4♠, and too good to go on too. I decided to bid 3♥, which shows a good three card Spade raise.

What I didn't realise was that it's a limit raise, showing 10-12 points. I thought it was unlimited.

Opposite my limit raise John went to 4♠, showing a good hand. It was now time to catch up. I bid Blackwood, which obviously confused partner but he dutifully showed two keycards. I could now investigate a grand slam, but thought it couldn't be that good and signed off in six.

Obviously everything split nicely (and John carefully ruffed a Heart too) for 6♠+1. This was duplicated on the other table.

We lost the second half by 9 IMPs, for an overall 19 IMP loss and just 5.92 VPs.

Next week it's our final match - a relegation battle.

SOL3: Faben vs Freimanis

I was really focused for the first half of this match, and have never concentrated so hard. A lot of effort went into trying not to mess up Board 1. Why do I always get dealt big hands when I'm still trying to find the charger and make a cup of tea?

After John opens a strong NT I know that we're probably heading for 6♥. With my void it's going to be hard to investigate a grand slam, but I have a try by transferring then splintering. After John signs off I jump to 6♥.

South makes a sneaky Diamond lead and that holds John to 12 tricks. Later I remember his fondness for underleading and use this to eke out an overtrick in an excruciating 3♠+1. At the end of the 12 boards I apologise to the opponent's for my slow play, but as I said, I was really concentrating hard.

The board above was 6♥+1 on the other table, for a 1 IMP loss. After that we lost a couple of game swings from Alex and Derek making games, a bit more when I pushed to 2NT-1, then got a game swing back when I made 3NT. I'd like to say it was my careful play, but actually I think it was mostly our team-mate Paul's good lead on the other table:

In my 3NT I got a friendly Diamond lead and am up to seven tricks. I decided it was safe to try Spades first, then fell back on the Club suit to make 3NT=. The other declarer got a tricky ♣7 lead from North, which convinced him to get that suit wrong.

Despite that gain at the break we were 19 IMPs down.

In the second half we were against familiar opponents John Di Mambro and Gints, from Team Wanderers. There was a flurry of accidents and misjudgments from me, culminating in a 66 IMP loss. I expect that's 0 VPs overall.

These were two more boards where I jumped to slam, with considerably less success than Board 1 above:

John's 1♦ opening is almost always 5+, which is a great surprise looking at my hand. When the opponent's got to 5♠ I decided that since they are bothquite sound bidders they must have 11 trumps between them. Hence John has a void. I didn't want to miss out on the grand slam, so popped down 7♦.

The bad news was that we both have a losing Spade. The good news was, East led a Club. He respected our bidding enough to think I must have a Spade void (but not respected it enough to sacrifice in 7♠). The contract was alive, and just needed the Heart finesse to make it.

The Heart finesse failed, and it was two off. If it was going to be our day, that would have made.

I'm expecting a 10 IMP loss aginst 6♠ doubled but it's even worse, as the other table conceded 6♦= for a 17 IMP loss on the board.

Luckily, I soon get dealt a great hand to generate a swing back for Team Faben!

I opened 1♣, and it felt a bit funny to be alerting it as 2+. When John bid 2♣ I figured he must have some support, as I've only shown a few Clubs myself (afterwards we thought he could have bid 1NT on the second turn). I didn't consider that he's just given false preference, and was now pushing for slam. I messed around with a splinter then bid the 6♣ I'd been itching to since I got dealt the hand.

The trumps in dummy were something of a disappointment. Gints led the ♣A and any hope of making it disappeared. With Spades 3-3 it was only one off, and with any other lead apart from trumps I could have made it.

To add to the disappointment the other table played in 2♠+3, so just bidding 5♣ would have won the board.

Not our night.

SOL3: Faben vs Goodman

I've been enjoying playing in the Scottish National League, against players who I normally just read about or watch on Vugraph. I think it's made me slightly nervous and prone to underbidding, which I'm trying not to do anymore. What I've found is that even good players make mistakes, not least in the claims of which I've seen several incorrect ones.

Another thing I've noticed is that results are more often duplicated. So if the cards lie badly, the game will go down on both tables and it's a flat board. This is different to playing in a fairly weak matchpoint event, where any sort of good score will beat most people.

I'm awaiting John's feedback (where he usually reveals at least one game I gave away), and so far am only aware of the two mistakes below. In both of these we got a good score, but it was duplicated at the other table. I should have pushed for a really good score.

I've got almost the perfect hand for a six-card Weak Two, with a solid suit third in hand and some shape. Plus a few surprise high cards which declarer will get wrong in the play. After the double John raised to 4♠ and West bid 5♦. With my ♦AJT9 I'm almost certain of we're beating this, but was afraid to double. It's just about possible the ♦KQ lie over me or I could be endplayed into only two trump tricks. Also, I thought, they could run to 5♥, but actually with my singleton Heart it's likely partner has a stack and 5♥ would get doubled too.

I quietly passed 5♦. Declarer of course got trumps wrong and with a Spade and Club trick too that was 5♦-4. Even if I double the best declarer can do is 5♦x-3, and 5♥ is at least as bad. On the other table North opened 1♠ and after West showed Diamonds East tried 3NT, which was also not a success. This was only three off though, for a 3 IMP gain for Team Faben. Could have been more though.

[Update: John reminded me that after making a Weak Two my double would not be penalties, rather a suggestion of bidding on but giving partner the option of passing. Here he would have bid 5S, which fails. I think I knew a Weak Two couldn't make a penalty double, but often when you are looking at a hand that wants to make a penalty double you can convince yourself double is penalties]

Defending 3NT I found the winning Heart lead (having got two opening leads wrong before). On the first trick Declarer played the King and Queen and John the Jack, so it should be pretty clear to me what's going on. When declarer lost a Club to my Ace I cleared the Hearts, and it's now clear this is going down a lot. But when I was allowed to win a Diamond I could have cashed my now high ♣J, then crossed to partner's winning Hearts. But even though I knew the Heart position with 99% confidence I still couldn't bear the thought of setting up declarer's Clubs, so just played a Heart straight away. John claimed three off.

3NT-3 felt like a good score, but of course the other table found the Heart lead and the result was duplicated. If I'd have cashed that extra trick it would have been a 3 IMP gain.

Apart from that things went quite well. Following my creed of being bold, I opened 4♠ rather light.

I guessed Spades right and went two off. This felt like a good result. On the other table West made what I think is the correct 5♥ overcall, but unfortunately despite 28 high card points the same distribution that inspired me to open 4♠ meant with best defence it went one down, so that was a 5 IMP loss.

If the match was 2x8 boards we would have won comfortably, but losing 20 IMPs at the end of each half meant we lost the match overall by 5 IMPs.

SOL3: Faben vs BShenkin

I was a bit worried about this match, as it was an 8pm start and I don't like playing too late. I also had an icepack on my knee. In the end, neither of those things affected me, and I think John and I had quite a good game. At least, until we went through the hands afterwards and I realised I'd made a few more mistakes than I thought.

The first half was mostly decided by this big board:

I overcalled 1NT with 2♦, showing a six card major. With a seven card suit I could have made a direct 3♥ bid, but decided the hand was too flat. After that things took off. I passed when John bid 5♣, though I was anxious with my extra Heart that 5♥ might play better, and even that John might expect me to correct without support. When it came back to me in 5♦x I was happy to pass, as I have two good defensive cards.

John lead the A♣, and dummy came down. It's a great dummy for declarer, but that is not too unexpected on the auction. Even though declarer got the Diamonds wrong and finessed into my doubleton that was still 5♦x= for -550.

Doubling their making game is never a great score, but we hand't necessarily done too badly. If we bid on with 5♥ say, that goes two off doubled vulnerable for about the same score. And East-West could in theory make 12 tricks in Diamonds or Spades.

On the other table they did get to 6♠, played by West. On discovering all of South's hearts our declarer also finessed Diamonds, so went one off, for a 12 IMP loss.

After 12 boards then we were 10-26 down.

In the second half things started well, as John made a tricky 3NT (repeated at the other table) and we twice caught the opponents overbidding and doubled them. Even better, I made 3♦x. A small hiccup when I played 6♠-1 (but went off two at the other table) then we went down in 1♣ with 20 points, but overall we were well up.

This was the final board:

I thought about overcalling 1♥, thought about doubling the artificial 2♥, but passed twice. This was maybe correct, as with a Heart lead declarer can't fail in 3NT. By keeping quiet there was a chance we could find the killing defence of a Spade across to my Ace then the Queen of Hearts back. It would have been a thing of beauty.

John did his bit, beginning with the ♠Q. Kt was after 11 pm by now and I confess I didn't even consider winning and switching to Hearts. I thought that John couldn't have the ♥AK so there was no chance of setting the suit up. Instead I dreamed up some layouts where we could still beat it with Spade tricks (John leading ♠Q from KQxxx for attitude, declarer having a singleton Club), and ducked the first Spade. After that it was all over, and declarer made 3NT+3.

On the other table after Heart interference they stopped in 4♣+2, so that was 11 IMPs away.

Overall we won the second half 41-28 for an overall loss by just 3 IMPs. That translates to 9.25 Victory Points. A missed opportunity.

A final thing to note, and I mentioned this at the time but no one was interested, I played five contracts where the trumps split 3-0 or 4-0.

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.

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.

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.