Ann and I finished just above half way in the cross-IMP table, our performance spoiled by a couple of slam accidents and my letting Gunnar Hallberg make a ridiculous 3NT where the details are too embarrassing to relate. We had a particularly hard time against Suffolk, although this hand was a rare piece of good news.
South's 3♦ was explained as a fit-jump - diamonds and clubs. The contract is easy on a heart lead but fortunately I chose to start with the ace of spades to have a look at dummy. The heart position was now clear so I cashed the king of spades and switched to a club, but declarer was unable to generate a ninth trick and drifted one off. North-South played in 3NT at eight tables; the other seven all made the contract, usually after a heart lead.
The hand record showed that 3NT can be made but when we discussed this hand over dinner we were unable to come up with a winning line. That fine player Mr D P Finesse provided the answer - take two rounds of clubs ending in dummy and lead a low heart, covering East's card. West is now endplayed and has to concede an extra trick in one of the red suits. This line works on any layout, assuming that West started with ace-king doubleton in spades.
We enjoyed these two hands against Somerset, although the first was an outrageous piece of good fortune. South's 3♠ gave me a tricky problem. I considered 3NT and 4NT before eventually doubling, expecting to face another problem over a response of 4♥. When partner surprised me by jumping to 5♣ I could hardly bid less than six, worried that we might be missing an easy grand. I hadn't noticed the rose-tinted specs that she was wearing. Better to be lucky than good...
Now for something more sensible, to show that we occasionally manage to bid a hand correctly. For once I was pleased with our auction on this hand, where we were only pair (out of 12 tables) to bid to 5♦. Everyone else was in 3NT, usually going down although a couple of declarers managed to get home by sneaking a diamond through while South was having an after-dinner nap.
The hand record showed that 3NT can be made but when we discussed this hand over dinner we were unable to come up with a winning line. That fine player Mr D P Finesse provided the answer - take two rounds of clubs ending in dummy and lead a low heart, covering East's card. West is now endplayed and has to concede an extra trick in one of the red suits. This line works on any layout, assuming that West started with ace-king doubleton in spades.
We enjoyed these two hands against Somerset, although the first was an outrageous piece of good fortune. South's 3♠ gave me a tricky problem. I considered 3NT and 4NT before eventually doubling, expecting to face another problem over a response of 4♥. When partner surprised me by jumping to 5♣ I could hardly bid less than six, worried that we might be missing an easy grand. I hadn't noticed the rose-tinted specs that she was wearing. Better to be lucky than good...
Now for something more sensible, to show that we occasionally manage to bid a hand correctly. For once I was pleased with our auction on this hand, where we were only pair (out of 12 tables) to bid to 5♦. Everyone else was in 3NT, usually going down although a couple of declarers managed to get home by sneaking a diamond through while South was having an after-dinner nap.
