Thursday, 6 October 2016

Crockfords Plate Final

What is the best hand that you have held and passed throughout? This deal from the Crockfords Plate final set a personal record. At favourable vulnerability I held

♠ 4    A 10     A K 8 4 2   ♣ A K 7 3 2

Right hand opponent opened 4NT, asking for specific aces. There didn't seem to much point in bidding so I passed and the bidding continued 5♣ (no aces) - pass - 6♠. My vulnerable opponent must have some sort of giant major two-suiter, so 6♠ is unlikely to be more than one off and may well be cold, so I passed again. The full deal was




and 6♠ had to go one down. At the other table South opened 1♠, West bid 2NT to show the minors and South rebid 6 on the next round. West doubled and North now made the costly decision to convert to 6♠. West doubled this and we lost 3 imp on the board.

Looking back at our auction, I think that I should trust my opponent and assume that his choice of contract is likely to be making. So I should have bid 5over 4NT and 7♣ on the next round. It's not often that you sacrifice against a slam holding three aces and two kings.

This deal showed why we punters were messing around in the Plate final, as only one table out of eight found the cold 6. Meanwhile, in the real final four tables out of six played in 6 doubled and the other two found the par contract - two off in 7♣ doubled to gain 16 imps.

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