Buchanan Congress Pairs 2015

It's congress season and last Saturday Anna and I were at the Buchanan. This is our home club, even though we don't play there that often, and so it was a bit embarrassing when some other members asked us where we usually play.

Last year at the congress we bombed in the qualification, then bounced back to win the consolation final (report here). This year we did our best to repeat that, by again failing to qualify for the main final.

It was a hectic start. I had ambitiously entered a running race at Pollok in the morning, while Anna went to get a big picture framed. We met at the event in separate cars. She made it on time, but I didn't, so Horst demoted us to the sit out table on the top floor. Once we got going things went rather well, give or take the odd mishap. An early highlight came when I discovered that there was tea and coffee outside the playing area, for those who missed the pre-start tea.

I like to bid a slam on the final round (ideally the final board), and got my wish here:

Anna Danny W N E S 1♥ - 4♦* - 4NT* - 5NT* - 6♥ - - -

I have the East hand and opened 1♥. South passed and Anna splintered with 4♦ showing Heart support and short Diamonds. We recently agreed that you only splinter with weak hands, or strong hands, or any hands. I couldn't remember which, and thought Anna probably couldn't either. So even though I have an awful holding in Diamonds opposite a shortage (♦KJxx) I decided to press on anyway. I bid RKCB and Anna bid 5NT, showing a void and two keycards. This bit of the system we did remember. For Anna's benefit, it's documented here (apparently we play Exclusion Blackwood too).

Against 6♥ South cashed the ♠A and I was able to draw trumps and quickly claim.

At the end of the qualification event I figured that we had finished on at least 60%, but I must have had too many teas, got too excited and wildly over-estimated, as we only got 53%. This wasn't quite good enough, so we only qualified for the consolation final.

In the break we had an excellent lunch. Anna wrestled with the problem of how many sandwiches she could fit on her plate, both physically and following etiquette. We went for a short walk into Kelvingrove Park and then came back raring to go (but rather rather tired and not concentrating as much) for the consolation final.

The relaxed attitude paid off, and we had five 100% Boards in the session. This one was the most pleasing:

Anna Danny Anna W N E S 1♥ - - 1NT - 2NT; - 3NT - - -

1. What would you open the North hand?

We play a weak NT and are allowed to open on 5422 shape if the doubletons are strong, as they are here. However, I've got the majors and opened 1♥, ready to rebid an awful 2♥ if I had to. This was passed round to West, who overcalled 1NT. East raised to 2NT as she wasn't sure if this showed a normal 1NT overcall or a slightly lighter one in the pass out seat (we play 12-15 here, right Anna?). West liked her Hearts and bid 3NT.

2. What would you lead as North?

I picked out the ♥9, as we play second highest from only small cards. Declarer won this in dummy, and lead a Club to her ♣K and my ♣A. Now I had a bit of a think. I really want to play Spades but it won't work if lead them from the North hand. I've got to get partner in. To make things tough for declarer, I lead my ♦7. Declarer made the very reasonable guess of putting in dummy's ♦J, which Anna sitting South was able to win.

Anna then had a think before emerging with exactly the card I wanted to see, the ♠9. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton were in perfect harmony. She had managed to avoid leading a Heart (the suit I opened) and a Diamond (the suit I switched too) and found a Spade, and by leading the ♠9 declarer is pickled.

We ended up with three Spade tricks plus a few more, for 3NT-3, and a top. Surprisingly, despite having 25 points and all suits stopped only three tables in our event were in 3NT (and none at all in the main event final). Most played in Clubs.

On the very next board we also got 100%, as Anna loves a double fit:

Danny Anna W N E S 1♦ - 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ 3♥ 3♠ 4♣ 4♠ 5♥ - - x - - -

East opened 1♦ and Anna sitting South passed. At favourable vulnerability she could have made a 3♣ weak jump overcall but didn't fancy it (or forgot about it). West introduced Spades and I overcalled 2♥. When it got round to me again I decided to show my Club suit, which hit the jackpot for Anna and she competed to 5♥, doubled.

East lead the ♦A then switched to a Spade. I drew trumps and played a Club. East won and had a dilemma. Should she try and cash a Diamond or a Spade? She wrongly chose to play a Diamond, which I could ruff and win all the Clubs to make 5♥x=. As 4♠ was making on every table it was played we would have got a good score even for one down.

Those were two great results. Would I get carried away? Yes indeed. A couple of boards later I had this marginal hand. Vulnerable against not, with three passes to me:

3. Would you open this? ♠A ♥J75 ♦T82 ♣KQJ632

The Rule of Fifteen says you should only open fourth in hand when your points plus number of Spades is 15 or more. This hand has 11 points and one Spade, so is a definite pass. The thinking is that the points are evenly split and since you don't have Spades the opposition do, so opening the bidding just helps them to a Spade part score. And so it proved. I recklessly opened 1♣, and after a competitive auction our opponents bid and made 3♠ for -140 and 30%. Passing the hand out would have got 60%.

Later Anna had this one, with both sides vulnerable and also fourth in hand:

4. Would you open this? ♠KQ32 ♥52 ♦8742 ♣AJ9

This one's got only 10 points, but four spades. Anna followed the rule and passed it out. This got us 55%, beating the one pair who did open and ended up overboard in 3♠-1, which shows another danger of opening light.

As the afternoon turned into evening we fell into a nice groove. It was nice and warm upstairs and a packet of Fruit Pastilles melted in my pocket. The only hiccup came when twice we were undone by the Multi 2♦. That's one to work on. In the end we finished on a decent 57.9%, which was good enough for 5th.

The consolation final winners were Iain Taylor & Andrew Symons with 61%.

In the main final the top three were:

1	Iain MacIntyre & Bobby Moore	61.67%
2	Ronald Gaffin & John Di Mambro	60.32%
3	Norman McGeagh & John Faben	59.04%

Full results from the consolation final here and main final here.

Party at St Andrews

High times at St Andrews Bridge Club in Glasgow last Friday at the annual club party. We missed the sandwiches but arrived in time for the bridge.

Here's one where I had a tricky decision, and steered my way out of it with 0% of the Matchpoints.

Danny Anna W N E S 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ - 3♣ - - -

I have the massive North hand, 21 points. I'm ready to open 2♣ when Anna opens the bidding with a weak NT. I have a few options but decided to delicately start with Stayman. When Anna denied a Major I showed my Clubs. I thought this was probably forcing, but wasn't sure, so decided to find out, by bidding it. Anna passed. 3♣+4 was not a good score. I thought I kept a poker face as I thanked Anna for the dummy and claimed at trick one, but she informed me afterwards that I looked a bit upset.

1. So is 3♣ forcing?

Our opponents at the table thought not. They would transfer to Clubs (via 2♠) then bid Spades. But for the record Anna and I have now decided that Bidding Stayman then bidding at the three level is forcing. Also for the record, we decided two other points of system:

• Bidding Stayman and getting a positive response you bid the other Major to set trumps (e.g. 1NT-2♣; 2♥-2♠), so a direct 4NT (e.g. 1NT-2♣; 2♥-4NT) is quantitative not Blackwood..
• After 1NT-3♣ which is strong opener bids: 3NT - weak doubleton in Clubs, 3♥/3♠ - natural with 5 card major, anything else - cuebid agreeing Clubs (e.g. 1NT-3♣; 3♦)

After this I had a couple more 20 point hands. I've never opened a 20 point hand at the one level before, and now I did it twice:

2. What would you open these hands?

♠8 ♥AQJ3 ♦AQ98 ♣AK52

♠AJ8532 ♥AK ♦AQ3 ♣Q5

On the first I opened 1♣ (and ended in a doomed 3NT), on the second I opened 1♠ (and ended in 2♠=).

Apart from this excitement we mostly had very poor hands. Anna only got to play two all night. Here's one where we defended against Norman and John. I did two foolish things and one clever thing (not a bad ratio).

John Danny Norman Anna W N E S 1NT - 2♥* x - - 3♣ - 3NT - - -

East opened a weak NT and West transferred. I decided to get active and doubled, for the lead. This was a bit risky, and I got worried when East passed really quickly. He would have bid 2♠ with three card support, but also could have redoubled to play. That could have been embarrassing, but hopefully Anna could have saved me by bidding Diamonds. As it was we defended 3NT, and following my double, Anna lead a Heart. Then I did my second foolish thing, and covered the ♥J with my ♥K, giving declarer an extra Heart trick. But now for my one clever thing - when declarer lead the ♠J I ducked with my doubleton King. Declarer finessed again and now I was able to win my ♠K, and now declarer can't get to dummy. As it is, he made 9 tricks anyway (three Spades, four Hearts, one Club and one Diamond) and so we only got 36%.

At the end of the night me and Anna crept to 50.9%. Standout winners were Trish & John Matheson (North-South) and Kerry McGee & John Gorton (East-West).

New Melville Bridge Congress 2015

Despite living in Glasgow I've become something of a regular at this Edinburgh Congress. In 2013 me and Anna played together and thanks to a generous Novices handicap we finished 3rd overall (read my blog report here). Then in 2014 Anna was working a night shift so I paired up with John Faben and we handicapped ourselves by playing a ridiculous Culbertson system (report here).

This year I was back with Anna, and we were well prepared. For the first time that I can remember Anna agreed to look at a couple of practice hands in advance, so for any auction that required a 1NT response we were more ready than ever. We were also well prepared in arriving early, to enjoy a relaxing tea in the New Melville. The club has great facilities and was also totally full, with 58 pairs competing for the Pairs Trophy.

I started well with a series of Passes, which is a bid I often find difficult. When I finally got a good hand I showed admirable restraint:

Anna Danny W N E S - 1♥ - 1♠ - 2♥ - 3♦ - 4♥ - - -

I have the 17-point 3-loser East hand. Anna opened 1♥, and I replied 1♠. She rebid 2♥, and I was still dreaming big. I tried 3♦, which is game forcing. Anna showed her minimum with long Hearts by jumping to 4♥. At this point I still expect we have a slam, as all it needs is Anna to have a doubleton honour in one of my suits. However, I figure it will be too hard to find so ruefully pass out 4♥, and put down my monster dummy with a trump-void. What a waste. North leads a Spade and Anna soon collects 4♥+1 for 64%.

And on the other tables? You can see that 6♠ or even 6♦ make, via a lucky ruffing finesse in Hearts. However the one pair in 6♠ went down, and the several pairs in 6NT also obviously failed.

And how about John Faben & Martin Stephens? Their auction was the same as ours until East's final Pass, where John instead bid Blackwood and got a 5♠ reply. He thought about passing that but bid 6♥, which could make on a favourable lead but went down when the defence cashed their Aces.

1. Would you have bid on over 4♥?

After that excitement things settled down again. On one hand an opponent opened the bidding, and Anna started making faces to me. Finally I realised that she was gesturing towards my cup of tea. I passed it over, just as my right hand opponent invited game. Anna sipped the tea, decided she didn't like it and passed it back to me, while the opponent's bid on. We took them down two, then Anna informed me that the tea was stewed.

Then we fell away a bit. I had two big bodges. Once I forgot to cash a winner in defence, allowing it to disappear and give an overtrick. Then I played an easy 2♥ contract and was thinking to myself how we should have been in game. But I had a Diamond suit of ♦6542. I wasn't too worried about it but then found myself with no trumps left in dummy and the opponents cashing Diamonds.

So going into the last few boards we needed a bit of luck. On our last board of the day I had a 6-5 and came alive:

Danny Anna W N E S 1NT - 3NT 4♠ - - x - - -

East opened a weak NT. Anna sitting South could have overcalled 2♦, which for us shows a six card Major, and 8-15.

2. Would you have bid as South?

Anna went for a quick pass, and West bid 3NT. I decided with it being the final hand I should push the boat out, and so I pulled out a 4♠ bid.

3. Would you have bid as North?

I figured worst case I would lose three Spades, one Heart one Diamond and one Club, and when Anna turned up with ♠Q I lost only five tricks for 4♠x-2. Even though they can comfortably make 3NT my sacrifice only got 36% of the Matchpoints. This is because lots of East-West pairs were in 5♦-1 (which supposedly can be made but nobody did). And what of John and Martin? They played 6♦-2.

At the end of the day me and Anna finished on 54.9%, good enough for 12th out of 58 pairs. Way out in front with 64% were Archie Leith and Diana Drysdale. Unfortunately, since we didn't win Anna didn't let me go to the zoo so we just drove back to Glasgow.

Glasgow League Division One: Maccabi vs Team Rowan

Our last match of the season and we finally got that famous win, clinching an 8.5-7.5 away victory against an understrength Maccabi team. It's a morale booster that has unfortunately come too late in the season, as we are already relegated. "If only we hadn't suffered all those big losses at the start of the season," a team mate suggested, "We'll know what to do next time".

In my first featured hand a tiny gap in me and Anna's bidding system was cruelly magnified to cause a missed grand slam:

Game all S deal ♠ K Q ♥ Q J T x ♦ K x x x x x ♣ x ♠ A x ♥ A K x x ♦ A Q T ♣ A Q x x

Anna Danny W N E S 2♣* - 2♦ - 2NT - 3♣* - 3♥ - 4NT* - 5♥* - 6♥* - - -

Raymond Tom W N E S 2♣* - 2♦ - 2NT - 3♦ - 4♦ - 4NT* - 5♣* - 7♦ - - -

I opened the 23 point South hand 2♣ and Anna replied 2♦, showing 5+ points. I showed a balanced hand then after Stayman showed 4 Hearts. Me and Anna have previously agreed that an artificial 3♠ from her now sets Hearts as trumps, and 4NT is quantitative. However, she didn't remember this or possibly thought I wouldn't remember this so bid 4NT as Blackwood. She was right that I wouldn't remember, as I did indeed take 4NT as Blackwood. At least we are on the same wavelength, having both forgotten our system. In response to Blackwood I have all five keycards. What do you bid with all five? You bid the same as if you had two. So I bid 5♥, showing two or five keycards and no Queen of Trumps. Anna was baffled by this. She didn't realise I was showing five keycards, couldn't believe I only had two and still had a niggling doubt that maybe I was replying to a quantitative 4NT . She settled for safe 6♥. I passed, feeling pretty confident something had gone wrong but not quite able to bid 7♥ myself.

6♥ made all 13 tricks. On the other table for Team Rowan Tom & Raymond bid and made 7♦ with the auction above. With that good score at the break we were about 2000 points up, an unprecedented postimargin

In the second half Maccabi clawed back some points. On our table our opponents Peter and Willy bid all of their available games, and you can't do more than that.

Here's one where I was faced with two tough decisions:

Love All W deal ♠ x x x ♥ A x ♦ J x ♣ T x x x x x ♠ Q J 9 8 x x ♥ x x ♦ T x x ♣ x x 5 11 3 21 ♠ T ♥ K Q J x ♦ A x x x x ♣ J x ♠ A K x ♥ x x x x ♦ K Q x ♣ A K Q

Danny Willy Anna Peter W N E S - - 1♦ x 1♠ 2♣ - 3NT - - -

Anna had the East hand and went for a rather bold 1♦ opening. Peter Cohen sitting South has a balanced 21 count so doubled.

1. What would you now bid as West?

We hadn't discussed what 2♠ by me would have been so I decided that was too risky. I went for 1♠, which I am too light for but have six of them and some Diamond support. North stretched to bid 2♣ and South now bid 3NT.

2. What do you lead against 3NT?

I went for a safe Spade lead, which was no problem for Peter who quickly wrapped up nine tricks. The killing lead is of course a Heart, which kills the entry to dummy before he can unblock the Clubs. That would have been a tremendous lead on this layout.

At the end of the second half we nervously waited for the final table to finish. When the scores were all in we had retained a tiny margin for a famous win!

Glasgow League Division One: St. Mungo vs Team Rowan

Team Rowan have enjoyed a strong second half to the season. We've had some promising results, even though we've still not actually won a game. Last Tuesday we had another shot at glory against the strong St. Mungo team from the Glasgow Bridge Centre. It was another close match, and another narrow loss.

Me and Anna had quite a good game against Les and Shirith. My two featured boards are both about ethics. In this first one, I was accidentally unethical by taking a long time to play a singleton. I was thinking about the whole hand and didn't realise until afterwards how misleading it was for me to take two minutes to play my only remaining Club from hand. Fortunately it didn't matter, as my long pause actually guided the defence and they took my down in a contract I could have made. This was the full deal and auction:

EW Vul W deal ♠ 6 2 ♥ K Q 9 4 ♦ K T 2 ♣ K 8 7 5 ♠ K T 8 4 ♥ T 5 2 ♦ 7 6 ♣ A T 9 6 11 7 8 14 ♠ Q 9 5 ♥ A J 6 ♦ 9 8 4 3 ♣ J 4 3 ♠ A J 7 3 ♥ 8 7 3 ♦ A Q J 5 ♣ Q 2

Anna Danny W N E S - - - 1NT - 2♣* - 2♠ - 2NT - 3NT - - -

I opened a 12-14 1NT and Anna went via Stayman then invited with 2NT. I had a maximum so bid the game. I;m in trouble on a Spade lead, but since I'd bid them West lead the ♣T. I won this with the ♣Q then lead a Heart, losing to the ♥A. East then returned the ♣J, and that's when I went into my long think, before playing my now singleton ♣2 from hand and also ducking in dummy. If I had of won this trick in dummy I could have actually made the contract, via two Clubs, two Hearts, one Spade and four Diamonds. I could still have made it if the defence continued Clubs, but because East thought I had another Club in hand he switched to a Spade, beating the contract. It was poetic justice for play both poor and unethical.

"You took a long time to play that singleton ♣2" East said afterwards, and I apologised.

At the half way mark the team was only a few hundred points behind. With everything to play for we all had a lemon tea and sat down for the second half.

Things started badly when I conservatively underbid to miss a slam (very unusual). We had a serious of good results, then on the very last deal I faced this ethical dilemma:

None Vul N deal ♠ J T ♥ J 9 ♦ K Q 7 6 5 ♣ Q 8 6 2 ♠ Q 9 8 3 2 ♥ 3 ♦ J 8 4 2 ♣ 7 5 3 9 3 9 19 ♠ A 6 5 ♥ T 8 4 2 ♦ A T 9 3 ♣ J 9 ♠ K 7 4 ♥ A K Q 7 6 5 ♦ - ♣ A K T 4

Anna Danny W N E S - - 2♣* - 2♦* - 2♥ - 3NT - 4♣ - 4♦ - 4♥ - - -

I opened 2♣ and Anna replied 2♦, showing 5+ points. I showed my Hearts and Anna jumped to a natural but rather pessimistic 3NT. Undeterred, I pressed on with 4♣. It was the end of a long night and Anna didn't fancy raising Clubs either so bid 4♦, which was some sort of generic cue bid without actually knowing what trumps are. We have quite a lot of those sort of bids in our slam auctions, and at some point should really sort out what our bids mean after 3NT.

At this point, most of the other tables had finished, and were milling around near us. While I was thinking about Anna's 4♦ bid I distinctly overheard someone saying "6♥ makes, because the Ace of Spades is onside". It seemed pretty clear they were talking about this hand. The person I overheard was from the opposition team, if that has any bearing. I asked the group to talk elsewhere, but as they walked away I heard someone else (from our team this time) saying that opener only had 19 points. Surely they were talking about this hand too?

I now strongly suspected slam would make, through some very unauthorised information. I'm not sure what I would have bid otherwise, but knowing what I now did I bid a simple 4♥, leaving it up to Anna. I've probably bid enough anyway. Anna passed, West lead a Spade, the Ace of Spades was indeed onside and I made 12 tricks for 4♥+2.

In the end we lost by 600 points, a decent result against another strong team. Of course if me and Anna had of bid 6♥ (or 6♣) the match would have been won.

Glasgow League Division One: Team Rowan vs St Andrews

Without actually winning a game, things have been looking up for Team Rowan. We are still bottom of the league, with eight losses out of eight, but we scored a (moral) victory last Tuesday with a narrow loss to a very good St. Andrews Team.

Me and Anna were on Table 4 as usual, and as usual it also seemed we were playing against the pair with the most exotic methods. They were Gints from Latvia and Billy. Despite not being a regular partnership, they were playing a few gadgets. A couple of times they had a misunderstanding and we were misinformed, but it didn't really make any difference.

In the first half they narrowly had the better of us, thanks mostly to two slam hands. On the first I was third-in-hand but vulnerable with a six card Spade suit to the Ten. I decided to open a Weak Two, and when Anna raised me to 3♠ I got a bit worried that I might get doubled. But the opponents soon weighed in and got to 6♦, which Gints made comfortably. He actually had the ♠AKQ! Luckily Tom & Raymond bid the slam for our team at another table (without any opposition bidding). On the other slam hand I put Anna in a speculative 6♥ which requires precise play to keep all the entries; she worked it all out except for the one extra entry needed to get back to hand to draw trumps and went two down in a contract we probably shouldn't have been in.

However, at the break we were only 40 points down. Could this be another famous draw, or even a debut victory for Team Rowan?

In the second half me and Anna did a lot better, and most of the boards were good boards for us. The best was this vulnerable Grand Slam:

♠ K Q x x x ♥ J x x ♦ 9 x ♣ A x x ♠ A x ♥ A K x ♦ A K Q J 8 ♣ K Q J

Anna Danny W N E S 2♣* - 2♠ - 3♦ - 3NT - 4♦ - 4NT* - 5♣* - 5♥* - 7♦ - - -

I had the monster South hand and drove us up to 7♦. This came home when Diamonds were 4-2, but we should really have been in 7NT, which has chances even if you are unlucky and the Diamonds are 5-1. We have 37 points between us but surprisingly were the only one of four tables to bid and make a Grand Slam on the hand.

Another good board for us was this curiosity, where oddly East's decision to open light actually stopped his side getting to game:

All vul W deal ♠ J x x ♥ x x ♦ T x x ♣ Q x x x x ♠ K Q x x x ♥ K T x x x x ♦ J x ♣ - 3 9 10 18 ♠ x x ♥ A Q J x ♦ K x x x ♣ x x x ♠ A x x ♥ x ♦ A Q x x ♣ A K J x x

Anna Danny W N E S - - 1♣ x 1♠ - - 1NT 3♥ - - -

West has a big hand but decided to begin with a Pass. This came round to East who opened light with 1♣, playing five card Majors. I was South with 18 points and a fine Club stop, so doubled planning to bid 1NT later. West bid 1♠ over the double, and when it came back round I duly bid 1NT. West now bid 3♥ to try and convey his shape. East has got excellent Heart support, but has also opened with a flat 10 count, so passed. 3♥ made 11 tricks when declarer was able to establish the Spades. I suspect that if East passes then after South opens West will overcall (perhaps with Michaels) and East-West will get to 4♥, possibly even doubled by South.

Although me and Anna had a roaring second half it wasn't enough, and Team Rowan lost by 500 points overall for a respectable 7-9 loss.

Glasgow League Division One: Team Rowan vs Kenmure

Team Rowan had another tough match this Tuesday at the Glasgow Bridge Centre against Kenmure. I'd been watching the experts at the weekend in the Scottish Cup Final (see report here) so felt confident I'd be on excellent form.

However, at the half way stage we were 2000 points down, as has been the story all season. Tonight I'd been bidding boldly to put Anna in a few thin games, which I think is the right thing to do at aggregate, except for the fact that none of them made and we kept going one off for -100. Here's one where Anna had no chance:

All vul W deal ♠ J 9 7 4 2 ♥ 5 3 2 ♦ 5 ♣ A 9 6 4 ♠ Q 6 5 3 ♥ J T 7 ♦ A Q 4 ♣ K Q 5 5 14 8 13 ♠ A T 8 ♥ K ♦ J T 7 6 3 2 ♣ T 8 2 ♠ K ♥ A Q 9 8 6 4 ♦ K 9 8 ♣ J 7 3

Danny Anna W N E S 1♠ - 2♠ 3♥ - 4♥ - - -

The opponents opened and raised Spades, playing four card Majors. Anna weighed in with 3♥, which shows a good suit and good hand just like she has. I have a good dummy for Hearts and couldn't resist topping her up to 4♥. But my dummy wasn't as suitable as I thought and the game had no chance. Anna managed to steal a trick with the ♠K but still went one off.

At the break Team Captain Jill reassured us that we could easily recoup our 2000 point deficit - it was only 500 points per table. We didn't have to wait long before me and Anna generated a 2000 point swing on our table alone. Unfortunately, the swing was in the wrong direction:

EW Vul W deal ♠ K 9 4 3 ♥ 4 ♦ K J 6 ♣ Q 9 8 6 5 ♠ - ♥ A J T 7 6 5 2 ♦ T 8 5 ♣ K J 4 9 9 8 14 ♠ Q J T 8 7 6 2 ♥ K Q 9 8 3 ♦ 3 ♣ - ♠ A 5 ♥ - ♦ A Q 8 7 4 2 ♣ A T 7 3 2

Danny Anna W N E S 3♥ - 4♥ 5♦ - - 5♥ x - 6♦ 6♥ x - - -

West dealt and opened 3♥, which I passed (in the same position on another table Trish Matheson from our team doubled as North). East bid 4♥, which was either extremely conservative or extremely shrewd. Anna paused for a long time over this, and with my singleton Heart I was willing her to bid. In retrospect it would have been so much better if we had of just let the opponents play in 4♥, like they wanted. Anna came up with 5♦, which I passed. Another option from Anna would have been 4NT showing minors, but it wouldn't make much difference here. I passed 5♦ and East, with his monster Heart support, came back in with 5♥. Anna looked at her three Aces and doubled. I removed the double from 5♥ to 6♦, and was delighted when East bid again with 6♥, doubled and passed out.

We'd pushed them up two levels and doubled, this should be profitable I thought. I led my trump, and declarer was able to cross-ruff, set up the Spades and make a vulnerable 6♥x+1 for 1860. If I lead (and continue) Diamonds that stops the overtrick, and actually means declarer has to play quite carefully to make it, not drawing trumps but playing a complete cross-ruff.

This was a freak deal, so I didn't feel too bad. I remember a hand at the Scottish Cup Final where his opponents bid up to 6♥ and Les Steel paused before passing it out. I asked if he was considering a sacrifice, but he said no, he was thinking about double, and if the opponents then made it that would mean it was a wild deal and would just be one of those things.

However, our result was not replicated at any other tables. Where our team-mates also had the North-South cards Trish and Christine were allowed to play 5♦, and where Team Rowan sat East-West they either defended 6♣ (off one on a Spade lead and ruff) or played 6♥ down one, presumably on a trump lead. So overall the board was a big loss for our team, thanks to us.

After this hand I was possibly on the tilt, and bid up to a very bad slam. I had the big South hand below, and overbid to 6♦. Here's the hands, I'm withholding the auction. As you can see, dummy was not very helpful:

♠ Q 9 7 ♥ J 8 7 6 2 ♦ 4 ♣ A K T 7 ♠ K 8 3 2 ♥ K 4 3 ♦ A K Q J T 7 ♣ -

6♦, had no chance, and went two off. At one point in the auction Anna (North) bid 3NT to play, and delighted afterwards in telling me that it was the only making game contract. She'd bid it, and I'd ignored her and bid on. "Trust your partner" she said.

However, after this, things picked up. We stayed alert in defence and took down a couple of games, then I played an awkward 4♠. I made it via a clever Morton's Fork:

	♣ Q 8 6 5
♣ A T 7 4		&dclubs; J 2
	♣ K 9 3

I lead a low Club up towards dummy. If West took their ♣A I would have just one Club loser, but if they ducked it (as they did) I could then discard both my losing Clubs in hand on some spare winners in dummy. After the game made Anna instinctively scored it up as off one, because we'd gone down in every other contract, and had to be reminded that I'd actually made this one.

Then for the final hand I again had a go at slam, and this time found a much more suitable dummy:

♠ K 2 ♥ K 4 2 ♦ J 8 2 ♣ A T 9 6 5 ♠ A Q 9 7 4 3 ♥ A 3 ♦ A Q 5 ♣ K 4 Anna Danny W N E S 1♠ - 2♣ - 3♠ - 4♠ - 4NT* - 5♥* - 6♠ - - -

West lead a Diamond around to my ♦Q, and when Spades split I had 12 top tricks. I now think correct technique is to test Clubs before drawing trumps, so you have enough entries to set up Clubs if they are 4-2 and Spades are 4-1 so you have a trump loser. I didn't do that though, just eagerly drew trumps. However, to finish with a flourish I did still make an overtrick with a mostly deliberate Heart-Club squeeze against West. This was satisfying, even if it did make Anna slightly nervous as dummy wondering why I hadn't claimed yet.

As far as I know the other tables played this hand in 4♠, so that was a gain for Team Rowan.

At the end of the match the news from the other tables was all good, and we had clawed back nearly all of our deficit for a famous 40 point loss. That means the points from the match are split 8-8, a famous draw for Team Rowan!