Big wins for both the A and B teams, which leave the A team in a more respectable position and the B team 8 VPs clear with 2 matches to go. I am not sure whether Lincolnshire had their full team out but they certainly contained quite a few familiar faces. The four mini-matches were:

The cross-imping within the teams shows:

Mixing the whole room only makes a slight difference with the East-West pairs in the A team improving and the North-South pairs in the B team coming down by a small amount.

The cross-imping shows consistent high scoring. I was very pleased with our own card especially as we managed to bid most of the slams. This is quite unusual for us given my slam bidding policy avoids all those that go down because of the 5-0 trump break. To find everyone else doing equally well or better on the cross-imp suggests that all 8 pairs had an extremely good afternoon. Lincolnshire would probably agree that they did not play well but chances still have to be taken.

Thanks very much for everyone who sent me their opinions on various boards. Apologies to those who I have disagreed with and also anyone whose opinion I have stolen without crediting them.

1. 3N or 4S was bid and made everywhere.
2. Mixed fortunes on the following board:

	ª A K 10 © 9 4 ¨ J 6 5 3 § Q 8 5 2	NS Vul Dealer E
ª 4 © 6 3 ¨ K Q 10 8 § K J 10 7 6 4		ª J 9 7 5 2 © Q J 10 8 7 5 ¨ 9 2 § -
	ª Q 8 6 3 © A K 2 ¨ A 7 4 § A 9 3


Many pairs opened the East hand either showing just hearts or hearts and another. Landy/Walker were able to show both majors by opening 2¨. After this NS usually got to 3NT. What would you lead with the West hand? I have a lot of sympathy with the club that Keith led, after all if I had a heart suit that could be set up then they don’t have any tricks in 3NT. At this vulnerability my heart suit could easily have been xxxxx. Unfortunately a club makes things quite easy for declarer. It is possible to make 3NT on a heart lead but I think on normal play it will go off.

Against the Talbots, Kathy opened 2© showing hearts and another, South doubled and North bid 3§ . Kathy now bid 3© showing better than expected hearts and North bid 3ª which seems a bit peculiar (surely if he must bid a take-out double is right). South raised to 4ª , which went two off. I wondered what North had shown on this auction or in other words what do you do with a 4225 shape and about 10 points? I think I would bid clubs first rather than spades but I wasn’t convinced so I consulted an expert panel, which was divided 1-1.

3. A flat 4ª except they passed it out in 3ª against us.
4. Another fairly flat board as all the partials chosen in NT, § and ¨ make.

 

	ª Q © A 8 6 ¨ A K Q 5 § K Q 10 7 5	NS Vul Dealer N
ª K 10 6 5 © Q 9 5 ¨ J 9 7 4 2 § 6		ª J 9 4 3 2 © J 7 4 ¨ 10 § A 8 3 2
	ª A 8 7 © K 10 3 2 ¨ 8 6 3 § J 9 4

Several pairs played in 3NT with or without a spade overcall from East. At most tables 3NT made on the normal lead of a low spade, however Cohen/Badiani were very unlucky to be playing against an opponent inspired enough to lead ª K. The Fearnheads did well to bid to 5§ which seems a better contract.

6. The East-West cards were:

W		E
ª Q 7 4 3 © K Q 8 6 2 ¨ K J 4 3 § -		ª K J 9 8 5 © A J 9 ¨ 8 6 § J 10 2

In retrospect I made a poor bid on this hand. I held the East cards at red and passed first in. Keith opened the West hand 1© and North was uncharitable enough to come in with 5§ . In our system double could be described as non-penalty and I decided to pass. Not a good choice. I’m not sure what would have happened had I doubled as Keith may have decided that opposite a passed hand we were unlikely to make a 5 level contract and passed. This is what happened at Landy/Walker’s table although I don’t know their precise agreement about double. Some Easts, although none from Oxfordshire that I know of, bid 5© . This seems even worse than my effort and resulted in penalties of 300, 500 and 800.

7. North was faced with an interesting decision holding ªAQ6 ©J9 ¨K4 §AQJ1095. Partner opens 3¨ first in at game all and East overcalls 3© . Just opposite a good diamond suit the hand has chances of game so I think it should bid. In e-mails this week a few people have suggested 5§ as a fit-jump but this cannot be right unless you want to invite partner to bid 6¨ and expecting him to have good diamonds, § K and a stiff heart seems a bit much. You can’t be too worried about defending at the 5 level with two aces, a probable diamond trick and a possible spade trick.
8. After three swingy boards we picked up a quiet 800 after North decided to make a take-out double of 1¨ on ªQJ105 ©AK1096 ¨7 §853 (quite how he was going to get hearts in the auction was unclear). Most other tables played in notrump partials.
9. After South opened some number of clubs (holding ª2 ©84 ¨AQ53 §AJ10743 at love all third in, I think three is right), East-West bid to either 3NT or 4ª at seven tables (the Duttons’ opponents missed out). 3NT is easier given the likely club lead but 4ª should make if declarer plays carefully by playing a diamond to the king relatively early. 4ª went off against the Talbots.
10. We were the only pair to bid slam on this board. Given that my usual policy on slam bidding is don’t, it was surprising that if anyone overbid their hand it was me. Unfortunately the curtain cards are missing and I can’t remember Keith’s precise hand.
11. In the A team two pairs bid 3NT and two stayed in 2NT, with one of each from both sides. Unfortunately this was not a great success for Oxfordshire as the West hand with ªA987 ©J ¨9743 §K743 had to guess which black suit to lead. Against me they led a spade which gave me no chance. I assume Richard or Stuart led a club which gives declarer a tempo and helps him avoid two club losers. In the B team things were different, all four pairs bid 3NT with only Kathy or Denis making it after playing it the other way up on a heart lead.
12. Slam was bid by all four Oxfordshire pairs, and missed by two Lincolnshire pairs, against the Fearnheads, who did well to pre-empt them up to the four level, and against Claridge/Williams, who pre-empted to the three level and stopped their opponents finding out about their heart fit until the four level.
13. Badiani/Cohen were the only pair to bid to slam on the following hand:

W				E
ª K Q 7 © K Q J ¨ A J 5 2 § J 7 5				ª 9 8 3 © A 10 8 4 3 2 ¨ K Q 6 4 § -
North	East		South		West
Pass	1©		1ª		2¨
Pass	3¨		Pass		3ª
Pass	4©		Pass		4ª
Pass	5§		Pass		5©
Pass	6§		Pass		6¨

I feel it is right to open the East hand even second in vulnerable. After that Suzanne did well to bid 2¨ rather than show a heart raise. The bids from 4ª onwards were all cue-bids and at the point where he bid 6§ , Amit was quite hopeful of making a grand providing partner had the ªA.

14. Another slam hand and lots of imps in. This one was bid three times by Landy/Walker, the Talbots and us. The North-South hands were

N		S
ª A Q 10 8 3 2 © Q J 8 4 3 ¨ A § A		ª K J 9 © K 10 9 7 ¨ 10 7 § Q 10 8 6


Against both the Talbots and us West opened 1¨ . North’s first decision was whether to bid spades or show both majors. Both Dennis or Kathy and Keith bid 2¨ showing both. East now bid 3¨ and South bid 4© . I think this 4© bid has a lot going for it, not least that 4© might actually make opposite quite a weak hand. North could now force to slam. Landy/Walker had an uncontested auction where Abbey opened 1ª , Sandra raised to 2ª and Abbey could bid 3© showing slam interest with both majors. When Sandra showed interest Abbey bid 6ª . This is not quite so good a contract as 6© as it can go off on ©A and a heart ruff but fortunately this defence was not found.

15. We finished off another quiet set with another 800 when West decided that ªQ105 ©Q7 ¨KQ §AK9653 was too good to overcall 2§ and felt obliged to come back in with 4§ . Luckily for her we were making game as did most other pairs.
16. A flat 3NT/4© .
17. Five pairs made normal games. Two Lincolnshire pairs tried to make up for missing slams in the previous set and went off. We were doubled in 4NT which made with an overtrick.
18. Normally played in 1NT and quite an interesting play problem but the curtain cards are missing.
19. A flat 3N making up one or two except against Claridge/Williams where Lincolnshire went one down in 6§ .
20. Normally played in 4© down one or two after a weak 2ª opening.
21. Mostly played in 4© . Unfortunately at our table Keith held ªJ4 ©52 ¨KQJ653 §942, and after two passes and a one heart opening on his left, bid 3¨ . This seems quite reasonable at green and opposite a passed partner but unfortunately went for 1100.
22. 3NT was cold with K62 of diamonds onside but a couple of pairs got to 4© with a 4-3 fit. However this was doomed because of a bad trump break.
23. Four pairs bid 6§ , and Claridge/Williams opponents went off in 6NT.
    The East-West hands were:

W		E
ª K 10 9 6 3 © Q ¨ A 5 § A K Q 10 6		ª - © A K 9 7 4 ¨ K J 6 3 § J 7 3 2

Against Claridge/Williams, West opened 1§ and rebid 1ª over 1© . After his partner bid 3NT, he was a bit stuck and potted 6NT. Had he opened a spade, life would have been easier. Our auction was as follows

	West				East
	1ª				2©
	3§				3NT
	4§				4¨
	4NT				5¨
	6§

I held the East cards and felt unsure about what to do over 3§ since I held a reasonable hand but it wasn’t at all clear that our club fit was particularly good. I think I was lucky that Keith chose to bid on. Landy/Walker had the same start but passed out 3NT. Kathy and Denis felt unhappy about missing the grand. West had bid 4NT and at this point East knew that West held 16-18 points, 5125 shape, ªK, ¨A and §AK. East could have bid 5§ and would have found out that West held two queens not including the spade queen. It still seems quite optimistic to bid the grand now, as it is not clear where all the tricks are coming from.

24. Six spades was made at most tables, but Landy/Walker managed to take it off on a small diamond lead but I don’t know how.
25. 3NT and 5¨ were the popular contracts here. 3NT requires a heart lead which is all the more reason for opening 2© on the North hand, ª10962 ©AQ8732 ¨4 §103.

 

26. The Talbots did well to bid to 6§ here. Unfortunately I don’t have the auction.
27. Usually played in 5§ and needing a diamond lead to extract the maximum penalty.
28. I don’t have many bidding records for this one. West opens 1NT and North may or may not double on ª652 ©AKJ7 ¨853 §AK2 (I chose not to). I would have thought that would be it, but three East-West pairs in the B team bid game although I don’t know how.
29. Three pairs bid to slam on this one.

	ª Q J 4 © 10 6 5 3 ¨ 10 5 4 § 8 7 6	Game all Dealer N
ª A K 8 6 2 © Q ¨ A K Q § A 9 5 2		ª 10 7 5 3 © A 2 ¨ 9 8 7 2 § Q 10 4
	ª 9 © K J 9 8 7 4 ¨ J 6 3 § K J 3

Against the Fearnheads, South opened 2© , West doubled and East bid 2ª . West now bid 4© showing the heart splinter. Now East bid 4NT. As Amit suggests I think this might be a bit too much since the only minor suit card is the queen of clubs although I think it is close. Slam is pretty poor needing trumps to behave and something friendly to happen in clubs.


30. Two Lincolnshire pairs bid slam and went off. Surely this should make.

	ª 8 © 9 7 3 2 ¨ 10 8 5 3 § K 8 7 4	Love all Dealer E
ª K J 9 6 4 3 © 8 4 ¨ 9 § J 10 9 6		ª 10 5 © 10 6 ¨ A Q J 7 6 4 2 § 5 2
	ª A Q 7 2 © A K Q J 5 ¨ K § A Q 3

East opens 3¨ and you play in 6© . One line is to take the spade finesse which I assume was the line chosen by the Lincolnshire pairs, but surely after the diamond pre-empt you should play West for the spade king (especially as you know East’s diamonds must be good). Now you can succeed on a black suit squeeze. I admit I didn’t play it this way at the table, as I was only in 4© but I would hope to get it right in 6.

31. At green you hold ªK1087643 ©- ¨AQ2 §AJ9 and RHO opens 1© . You bid 1ª and LHO bids 3© . Now partner passes and RHO bids 4© , over to you. I’m sure I would have got this one wrong, bidding 4ª over 4© since this generally seems the right thing to do when in doubt. My second choice would be double showing a good hand with more of a take-out than penalty double shape. In the A team Brian Claridge took this view and went for 500, the other Easts passed (I think). In the B team Amit Badiani and the two Lincolnshire pairs bid 4ª . Fortunately Amit was not doubled and only went for 150 but the Lincolnshire pairs were both taken for 800. Alex Fearnhead found the winning view, which is to double. Partner has a void spade and ©K62 and is happy to pass.
32. 4© was the popular contract here and requires a spade lead to defeat it. Of the pairs whose bidding I know on this hand, only Badiani/Cohen overcalled 1ª on the West cards holding ªKQ963 ©7 ¨J763 §Q52 after the auction Pass (1§ ) Pass (1¨ ). The 1ª overcall ensures a spade lead although you might get one anyway.