Scottish Schools Bridge Championship 2015

This is a report on the annual schools bridge championship in Scotland. I was there with two teams of four from The High School of Glasgow, making our debut in the event. Several strong teams from other schools have recently finished school, plus the event was not well publicised by the Scottish Bridge Union, so there were only six teams in total. On the upside this meant at least one of our teams was guaranteed a top 5 finish.

My school bridge club only started last November, and we're still very much novices. When we arrived at the Bridge Club in Stirling some of the friendly pupils from Hutcheson's Grammar school came over to say hello, and ask if we play Four Card Majors or Five Card Majors. Our captain instantly replied Four Card Majors, a nice bluff as he'd never heard of this before. The boy from Hutcheson's then demonstrated his roundhouse kick in the car park. You don't see that too often at the bridge club.

The format was everyone playing everyone else in a series of short team matches. My two teams coped brilliantly. A lot of it was new to them. For example, they had never before played with:

• Sitting in seats by Compass Points
• Cards arriving pre-dealt in boards
• Square Tables (not school desks)
• Bridgemates for scoring
• Quiet (ish) at the table
• No Jaffa cakes during play

Very soon after arrival Liz McGowan got everyone organised and playing straight away, and a hush fell on the room. I sat on the corner of one of the tables, kibitzing along with the other teachers and Stirling locals. "This is intense" one of my team said as she picked out her first set of cards, and counted and recounted her points.

In the few months we've been playing we've barely touched on bidding, which means most contracts are very low. This can occasionally lead to a good result, for example in this hand:

Our North-South played 1♦+1. After two passes South opened 1♦ and in our safety-first style North passed too. On the opposing table the hand was passed out altogether. However, there's a limit to how far you can get by only ever bidding at the one level, and we did pay the price for a few missed games:

On this board our East-West played a comfortable 1♥+2, whereas the Aberdeen East-West won the board comfortably by making 4♥= and securing the game bonus.

At the lunch break we went to sit out in the sun and enjoy the delicious Marks & Spencers sandwiches. The team resolved to be a bit bolder in the bidding, except for the one notorious overbidder who was strongly encouraged by his team-mates to be less bold. This was following something of a bumpy patch in the morning when the opposition made 4♦x followed by 4NTx. "He bid it so fast I thought he was bluffing" was the doubler's excuse.

In the second half the bidding improved and I was pleased to see people with good six card suits opening then rebidding their suit. More importantly than the bidding, the card-play improved too. It's no exaggeration to say that the 25 or so hands we played in the tournament were as many as we have played in the rest of the year combined. As a loyal kibitzer I felt the excitement when the kids did well, and of course also felt pain inside every time someone forgot to draw trumps.

Overall, the eight novices did really well to step up and play competitive bridge for the first time, and I was very proud. As one of the organisers wrote to me afterwards: "I thought they were great ambassadors for their school and the game as well.".

And as for the final result? We did indeed finish in 5th and 6th. Here's how I remember it:

1	Hutcheson's echidnas	? VPs
2	Aberdeen	? VPs
3	Hutcheson's dragons	? VPs
4	Hutcheson's ?	39 VPs
5	High School B	37 VPs
6	High School A	22 VPs

Each match was scored out of 20 Victory Points (VPs), meaning an average result would be to draw each of the five games 10-10 and finish on 50 VPs. So well done to both our teams, and particularly 'B' who were close to overtaking one of the Hutcheson's teams.

Thanks to the organisers and hopefully see you again next year!

Scottish Cup Round One

Last year I watched the final of the Scottish Cup (read my report here). As I watched it I thought to myself: this looks easy, Anna and I could win this. So this year for the first time we were part of a four man team, along with John Faben and Adam Dickinson.

In the first round we drew the very tough team of Yvonne Wiseman & Alan Goodman with Anne Symons & Miro Dragic. I thought we were well out of depth but John and Adam were on good form. Here's an example of where they helped us out:

Danny Anna W N E S 3♣ - - -

I opened the North hand 3♣. Me and Anna sometimes open a weak three in Clubs with only six cards (because we can't open it 2♣), and I especially like doing it when you have Diamonds too. It's very pre-emptive. This time it was so effective that everyone else passed. "You pre-empted me" said Anna as she put down dummy. In my eyes she has a clear 3♠ bid. Even though we play this as forcing there's really no risk as she has such good Club support that the worst that can happen is we play 4♣.

East lead a Diamond. Oh well I thought, let's try and make 3♣. West won the ♦A and returned a Spade to get a ruff, then West cashed the ♥K and went into a think. At this point I should mention that this was a 32 Board match in Edinburgh, and Anna and I had driven through from Glasgow and were anxious not to finish too late. I decided not to mess around and claimed the remaining tricks. "Unless there's a ruff", I added. Turns out there was a ruff. West showed me the ♦J that he was planning on leading and I had to concede -1. That's the first time I've ever made a bad claim. The one good news about the ruff is that it means 4♠ is beatable.

And what of the other table? They took a very different view. North passed, and John sitting East opened a weak 2♥. South overcalled 2♠ and Adam sitting West bid an immediate 6♥, apparently following the logic that he was prepared to bid 6♥ over 5♠ so he might as well bid it now. It's a perfect fit and a 17 point slam for 6♥=. Well played guys and that was 14 IMPs in.

Here's an example where both Anna and I were shy in the bidding. You can assign the blame for this disaster:

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

West opened 1♠ and I had a chance to overcall. We play weak jump overcalls but I decided to be prudent and pass with my rubbish Heart suit. East bid an excellent 3♠ showing a weak hand, and now Anna has a chance to make a takeout double. West bid 4♠ and we both passed again so that was that. They made 4♠= whereas on the other table East-West were pushed in to 5♠x-1. Anna and I should have found 5♥ (and actually 6♥ makes too).

Towards the end of the first half Anna got very tired. Luckily she didn't have too many decisions to make in this time. Once when she was dummy she paused before putting her dummy down, because she couldn't remember what the trump suit was. "Four Hearts" I announced to the table, and Anna was able to put her suits down in the right order.

At half time we were still in it, and just 12 IMPs down. For refreshments Miro had some sandwiches and more importantly two packets of Jaffa cakes. Anna and I had two cups of tea each, but I had insufficient change so didn't pay for them all.

For the second half we swapped tables and Anna and I played against Anne Symmons and Miro Dragic.

Our opponents sat North-South. In this hand they avoided the doomed 3NT and bid to the good spot of 5♣. The reason I'm including this hand is because it features my feeble attempt at a false card. Anne drew trumps by leading a Club from the South hand towards dummy, and I smoothly dropped the ♣Q hoping this would convince her to win the ♣K in dummy then finesse back into my ♣T. This didn't work and declarer drew trumps and even got a discard on the Spades for 5♣+1. If I had of done the normal thing and played the ♣T that might have worked better, but I expect she would still have made it. On the other table John & Adam did well to find 4♠ which also made with an overtrick.

My final featured hand is the most embarrassing of the night, but I'm going to include it anyway.

Danny Anna Anna W N E S 1NT - 3NT - - -

I opened an 11 point 1NT (was I on the tilt already?) and Anna raised to 3NT with a big 16 point hand. There was a 10 second pause before South passed. What is there to think about after 1NT-3NT? The only thing I could think of was that she might have been considering a double, as some people play that double of 3NT asks for a Spade lead. North did indeed lead the ♠J, and the defence were able to set up Spades, so when I took the doomed Club finesse the contract went down. I had a niggling feeling that North had made the Spade lead because of his partner's pause before passing out 3NT. I couldn't let it go and asked if they play that double asked for a Spade lead. It was a bit awkward until it was pointed out that the reason that South had paused 10 seconds before passing out 1NT-3NT was because the Stop card was on the table. After that I felt a bit foolish. Apologies again to our opponents (and Anna who thought I was an idiot).

The other reason to mention the hand is that it featured one of John & Adam's only blunders, when their defence let through 3NT (despite North also leading a Spade).

As it rolled past 11pm Anna and I kept it together well and bid a few good part scores. But was it enough? Unfortunately not. In the end we fell agonisingly short, winning the second half but losing the 32 Board match by 89 - 87 IMPs. Looking at the scorecard now there is a general pattern. We gained game swings when Adam & John made a good game that was beaten at our table, and lost game swings when Anna & I made a bodge or were too meek.

Congratulations to Yvonne, Alan, Anne and Miro. In the next round they will crush Iain Sime's team and go on to win the Scottish Cup!

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.