In our first round Crockfords match against a Devonian team we were 31 imp down at half time. This slam hand did not help
It was a perfect hand for a weak 2 Diamond opening. 2NT was an enquiry and I showed a weak hand with a six card suit to two top honours. Unfortunately West led the ace of hearts and, after an agonising pause, continued the suit for his partner to ruff. They stopped in 4 spades in the other room so we lost 13 imp.
At the time I was moaning about our bad luck, but maybe West's 3 Hearts gave us a warning. If North bids 4 Clubs over 3 Hearts and this is taken to be a cue bid with diamonds agreed, South would surely bid 4 Hearts with a singleton or void. On the actual hand this might help us to avoid the doomed slam.
When the opponents then proceeded to make a grand slam on a finesse it seemed as if it was not our night. But the fates were smiling on us for this board in the last set.
In 3NT I won the second heart and had nine top tricks when the jack and nine of diamonds fell. If the diamonds had not come in, I would have needed West to hold the ace of clubs.
In the other room North bid 3 Spades over the double and South ended in 6 Clubs. On a heart lead declarer played three rounds of spades but East was able to ruff and prevent declarer getting rid of the heart loser. Declarer should now settle for one off but he played three rounds of diamonds so East was able to ruff and take the contract two down.
The extra undertrick was crucial; we gained 13 imp instead of 12 and the match ended in an exact tie. Our good luck continued in the extra four boards when our opponents kept Ann and me out of the auction with an emaciated weak two bid which was too much even for Keith. In the other room the opponents reached their cold vulnerable game but misplayed it to lose the match by 4 imp.
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
A Game of Two Halves
The National Inter-County Leagues final is a one-day teams-of-eight event for the champion counties of each division of the five regional inter-county leagues. Although Dorset did not win the A Division of the Western League, we got into the final by the back door as the winners did not want to take part.
In football parlance this was a game of two halves. For the first half we played well and had our share of good luck and we ended with a narrow lead. Sadly it was too good to last - a mixture of bad luck and inferior play saw us fall away to finish in third place - respectable but a bit disappointing after the first half.
We were certainly out of luck on this number
That was the auction where Ann and I sat East-West. North's four hearts was a splinter bid showing spade support and heart shortage, and South's final bid was extraordinary unless he could see through the backs of the cards. Both Dorset pairs bid this 95% slam and went down on a heart lead and a diamond ruff, while both the opposing pairs stayed in game.
On the other hand, the loss on this deal was self-inflicted with all four pairs having a finger in the pie.
South declared 3NT at all four tables, and both Dorset Wests led a high spade. Both declarers then tested diamonds and then ducked a club to establish a ninth trick.
With no sure outside entry, it is much better for West to lead a low spade and that was what our two declarers had to contend with. Both played on diamonds and went down when the suit failed to break.
A far stronger line for declarer is to play a spade back at trick 2. This will lead to egg on the face if spades are 6-1, but otherwise you are much better placed. On the actual hand, West has a choice of losing options; if he cashes all his spade winners he will squeeze East in the minors, while if he does not cash them declarer can afford to duck a club to East.
At first sight it seems as if declarer can play three rounds of diamonds to test the suit and then exit with a spade. The minor suit squeeze will still work if West cashes all of his spades, but West can thwart this plan by exiting with a heart rather than cash the last spade.
A slightly different layout could lead to a more complex squeeze position as there is also a threat in hearts. For example, if the club honours are divided and West cashes all his spades the contract can be made on a guard squeeze.
A further advantage in playing a spade back at trick 2 is that if the spades are 4-3, declarer can afford to duck a club, making if either minor beaks 3-3.
In football parlance this was a game of two halves. For the first half we played well and had our share of good luck and we ended with a narrow lead. Sadly it was too good to last - a mixture of bad luck and inferior play saw us fall away to finish in third place - respectable but a bit disappointing after the first half.
We were certainly out of luck on this number
That was the auction where Ann and I sat East-West. North's four hearts was a splinter bid showing spade support and heart shortage, and South's final bid was extraordinary unless he could see through the backs of the cards. Both Dorset pairs bid this 95% slam and went down on a heart lead and a diamond ruff, while both the opposing pairs stayed in game.
On the other hand, the loss on this deal was self-inflicted with all four pairs having a finger in the pie.
South declared 3NT at all four tables, and both Dorset Wests led a high spade. Both declarers then tested diamonds and then ducked a club to establish a ninth trick.
With no sure outside entry, it is much better for West to lead a low spade and that was what our two declarers had to contend with. Both played on diamonds and went down when the suit failed to break.
A far stronger line for declarer is to play a spade back at trick 2. This will lead to egg on the face if spades are 6-1, but otherwise you are much better placed. On the actual hand, West has a choice of losing options; if he cashes all his spade winners he will squeeze East in the minors, while if he does not cash them declarer can afford to duck a club to East.
At first sight it seems as if declarer can play three rounds of diamonds to test the suit and then exit with a spade. The minor suit squeeze will still work if West cashes all of his spades, but West can thwart this plan by exiting with a heart rather than cash the last spade.
A slightly different layout could lead to a more complex squeeze position as there is also a threat in hearts. For example, if the club honours are divided and West cashes all his spades the contract can be made on a guard squeeze.
A further advantage in playing a spade back at trick 2 is that if the spades are 4-3, declarer can afford to duck a club, making if either minor beaks 3-3.
Monday, 2 July 2012
Torquay 2012
This year we chose to play in the teams rather than the pairs but the result was similar to last year - a promising position spoilt by a heavy defeat in the last round. Ann and I had some mixed results but Chris and Alastair brought back a succession of good cards so that we were second going into the last round against Michael Byrne and three junior internationals.
This was the crucial hand
Three Clubs was a little exuberant but the final contract was a good one. West doubled with an air of 'do these old codgers really know what they are doing?' and although he looked somewhat less confident when dummy went down the contract was doomed on the 5-1 heart break and we lost 800.
In the other room South passed over Two Spades and North ended in Four Hearts, which went one down undoubled for 12 imp in the out column. (It can go two down on the double dummy defence of a club to the ace and a heart switch.)
The correct line in Six Clubs is to ruff the diamond lead, cash ace of hearts and ruff a low heart, and then draw trumps. The contract makes when the trumps are 2-2 and hearts play for 5 tricks, or when trumps are 3-1 and hearts play for 4 tricks, a total of about 60%.
This was the crucial hand
Three Clubs was a little exuberant but the final contract was a good one. West doubled with an air of 'do these old codgers really know what they are doing?' and although he looked somewhat less confident when dummy went down the contract was doomed on the 5-1 heart break and we lost 800.
In the other room South passed over Two Spades and North ended in Four Hearts, which went one down undoubled for 12 imp in the out column. (It can go two down on the double dummy defence of a club to the ace and a heart switch.)
The correct line in Six Clubs is to ruff the diamond lead, cash ace of hearts and ruff a low heart, and then draw trumps. The contract makes when the trumps are 2-2 and hearts play for 5 tricks, or when trumps are 3-1 and hearts play for 4 tricks, a total of about 60%.
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