Tollemache Final

Last November Dorset managed to qualify for the final (eight teams out of an original 36) of the Tollemache Cup for county teams of eight.  This was our first appearance in the final for over 20 years, so our targets for the weekend were suitably modest - to win a match or two, and to finish above local rivals Somerset.

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.

A great hand from the Camrose

Usually when you are watching top level bridge on BBO Vugraph you have a pretty good idea of what might happen in the play. It's a much easier game when you can see all four hands. But occasionally someone comes up with a great play that you never saw coming, even with a sight of the full deal. This was such a hand. It comes from the Camrose match between England and Ireland, where Tony Forrester found a brilliant deceptive defence to defeat a cold game.

In the other room David Gold and Mike Bell had played in a safe 3♣, so it looked as if the Irish were set for a big gain when they bid well to reach a Moysian 4♥, the only makeable game contract. Forrester opened with the king of spades and when this was ducked he switched to the queen of diamonds – necessary if declarer’s singleton was the jack. John Carroll played a trump to the king which was ducked, ruffed his losing diamond in hand and played another trump to the ace. David Bakhshi returned a diamond which Carroll won and drew the remaining trumps.

Declarer had a choice of playing for extra tricks in either black suit, but Bakhshi had given false count by playing the 8 on the first spade, so it looked as if the spades were not breaking and Carroll discarded two spades from dummy.

Now Carroll played a club to the ace. The hand looked an easy make but Forrester had other ideas and dropped his king of clubs under the ace. If this was a true card, the contract could still be made if Bakhshi had started with a 3 3 3 4 shape, so Carroll cashed the ace of spades, ruffed a spade and exited with a club, hoping to endplay Bakhshi who would now be down to J 10 x of clubs. No such luck; Bakhshi won and led a diamond so that Forrester could take the last two tricks with the 6 and 7, earning a beer in the process.

Tolly 2016

What a difference a year makes. In last year's Tollemache qualifier Dorset just avoided the wooden spoon and scored MINUS 503 imps (on the cross-imp scoring with four results on each board). This year we were PLUS 348 imps and qualified for the final in second place.

Why the change in fortune? Mainly because, after some high-powered transfer negotiations by the captain, we were able to field some of the county's strongest players. But also because the rest of us played rather better than in previous years. And we had more than our share of good fortune, such as opponents revoking to concede a cold game, or not bidding a grand slam with 17 top tricks.

Even with a stronger team, our realistic hopes were for mid-table respectability, as our group included three very powerful teams in Middlesex, Surrey and Cambridge, as well as a Hampshire squad that included the EBU chairman, a Dorset resident playing under a flag of convenience.

Dorset last qualified for the Tollemache final about 20 years ago (with a team that included four of this year's selection) and on that occasion our group also included a Hampshire team with a Dorset resident who had unwisely chosen to play for the opposition. That proved to be a good omen, as we were always near the top of the table, in first place overnight and still leading with one round to go. Ann and I were sitting out and watching anxiously on the rolling scoreboard as Middlesex overtook us and Cambridge closed to within 1 VP, but we held on to second spot and a place in the final.

This freak was a key hand in our match against Cambridge, for we gained 31 imps.

This was the auction at our table where we faced Paul Barden and Jon Cooke.  The bids up to 4♥ seem fairly automatic. West might now punt 6♣ and hope partner has two aces, but 5♣ was the right action on the actual hand. North's double was not alerted but was intended as some sort of action double, asking partner to bid 5♥ unless he has enough in his own hand to want to defend. My 5♦ was a bit dubious, but worked well when it encouraged South to double rather than bid on. With the ace of spades onside, 5♦ was cold and we scored up 550.

At the other tables Daphne and Mike played in a sensible 5♣, while Janet and Alan sacrificed in 5♥ for -300. At the fourth table the Cambridge East chose to bid 5♦ at his first turn. West bid 6♣ which went one down.

This  hand from our match against Hereford had challenges in both bidding and play, but I failed on both counts.

That was the bidding at our table, playing 2-over-1 game forcing. I think that I should have bid 4♠ at the end of the auction, as my hearts are not good enough for 3NT opposite a singleton, and maybe Ann should also have bid 4♠.  Looking at the North-South hands, all game contracts are dubious but 4♠ is the best of a bad bunch.

Against my 3NT West kicked off with a heart and East showed an odd number, so I ducked the first two rounds and won the third, discarding diamonds from dummy.  3NT can be made by crossing to dummy in a minor suit and leading the 10 of spades. If East covers you set up spades and make four spades and  two clubs to go with your three top tricks in the red suits.  If East ducks you give up on spades and play a club to the 10, instead making three spades and three clubs.

I'm not beating myself up about missing this line - and nor should I as West is more likely to have a doubleton honour than a small doubleton in spades. I just played spades from the top and went down. I might have done better by ducking the second round of spades to try and endplay East, but dummy has been squeezed on the third round of hearts and forced to come down to two cards in one of the minors. East can defeat the contract by exiting in that minor.

4♠ would have been an interesting contract to play. It seems as if you have four losers - two spades, a club and a diamond but you also have ten winners - two spades, ace of hearts and two heart ruffs, two diamonds and three clubs. There are several winning lines, but say you win the heart lead, ruff a heart, cash the king of spades and duck a spade. East will return a red suit which you win in hand and play a club to the 10. Eventually, one of declarer's losing diamonds goes on a club winner and the other falls on the same trick as East's trump winner - a trump elopement. That would have been a great play to find, and maybe not impossible as West's take-out double had given a clue to the distribution.

At the other tables both Hereford pairs went down in 3NT. Mike played in 4♠ and made it, though only after a mis-defence.