We got off on the wrong foot when our star striker missed the first seven boards after going to the wrong hotel, only noticing the absence of bridge players ten minutes before the event was due to start. This required a last-minute change to the line-up and we lost the first match to Somerset. Then we got hammered by Kent, mostly due to events at our table where the opponents did everything right and I was playing misère. This was the sort of thing that was going on.
With a huge hand for the 2♣ overcall I tried to show my extra strength with a redouble, and when I bid 3♣ I was more worried about missing a vulnerable game than conceding a big penalty. I was soon to be disappointed. Not only had we violated Burn's Law but the trumps broke 7-0. I managed to escape for two down as West was endplayed in trumps so I was able to score five trumps and the two outside aces.
At the other table where Dorset were North-South, Phil bid 3NT on the first round and played there. A club lead must have been a pleasant surprise, but the contract had no hope and drifted two off. On reflection I think that 3NT is a much better bid than 2♣ - you don't need much opposite to make 3NT and how is partner to know that Q x of clubs is enough to make game?
One of the Kent North-South pairs contrived to stop in 2♦, the last making spot, while their other pair had exactly the same auction as at our table, except that West forgot to double 3♣, worried that the opponents might have a better spot in one of the red suits.
This board caused some carnage in the other matches - one North-South pair contrived to lose 1700 in 6♣ doubled, and another was allowed to make 2♣ redoubled.
A loss to Middlesex in our next match left us well adrift at the bottom of the table. Ann and I had refrained from drinking during dinner but a glass of wine seemed called for. Fortified with some very nice Malbec (it needed to be good as the hotel bar charged £10.50 a glass) we returned to play Berks and Bucks. One of the opponents was a bit grumpy and went into Ann's black book, but they lost 400 on a part score hand and let through a rose-tinted 3NT, which was just enough to win the match. It was only by 11-9, but we were grateful for anything at that stage.
On Sunday we started against London, who were well ahead of the field and had won all of their matches. Our international opponents showed that there is hope for us all by butchering a trivial defence to let Ann make a ridiculous 3NT, and they also went astray on this hand.
I led a top spade and switched to a sneaky ten of clubs. Declarer gave this a very long look before going up with the ace and playing a trump to the ten. Now he needs to play ace of hearts and ruff a heart, then ruff a club bringing down the king. Another heart ruff is followed by two winning clubs and a club ruffed with the king. Dummy is left with A J of trumps and a club while East has Q 7 6 of trumps so declarer can endplay East to claim the last two tricks. You can follow the play by clicking 'Next' on the hand diagram. The declarer at our table managed all of this except that he ruffed a spade rather than a heart in dummy, on which Ann was able to discard a club. Now declarer was a trick short and Ann had to make two trump tricks at the end.
Mark and Krzysztof also reached 5♦ after the same auction, but West switched to a heart at trick two. Krzysztof took the club finesse, ruffed a club and cashed the king of trumps. He now ruffed a heart and played winning clubs through East. This led to the same endplay when East was left with Q 7 6 of trumps at trick 11.
Mike chose to open 1♦ and ended up declaring 5♦ as North. The defence led two rounds of spades, so he ruffed with the eight while East threw a heart. He then played a trump to the ten, a club to the king and ace, and ran the winning clubs. East discarded hearts on the last two clubs, but was then forced to ruff a heart and lead away from the queen of trumps.
At the fourth table the auction started as at our table but South chose to bid 5♥ over 4NT, which could have been the right move if North's shape was 1-2-4-6, but was not a success here and ended three down. All that meant that we gained 52 imps on the board, which helped us to an honourable 10-10 draw.
After this we were able to finish on a high note with 16-4 wins in our last two matches against Oxford and Manchester, to finish in 5th place (out of eight), the same position as in our previous appearance in the final.
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