| K532 QT5432 --- 932 |
AT986 A Q876 AT4 |
Paul Gagne managed to avoid the trap they fell into at the other table here - he avoided opening a weak two in hearts, because his hand was so playable in two other suits. The bidding opened with Diana Harris' 1S bid and he was happy to raise that to game. On the CK lead a cross ruff quickly produced 10 tricks. Meanwhile in the other room, Antonio chose to show a weak two in hearts and that was too high. So Wales started its last match with +11 imps. England gained similarly against Finland. |
| A5 AQ9 AJT64 AQJ |
In the
closed room Jean Hand produced a second in hand 3H preempt (in
place at favourable vulnerability) and their auction ended in 4H-X,
losing just 500. In the other room with a free run, Paul Gagne
got to open 2C and Diana replied with a 3H transfer (showing spades)
and after that introduced and rebid clubs, which Paul in due course
raised to 6C. Made easily on a heart lead. - for +13 imps. The English Seniors also bid 6C but the man found a diamond lead against them and now another diamond when he was in with the CK means one off! The Welsh Ladies lost 13 imps on this hand against France - Laura opened 3H in second seat and ended defending against 4S which made 12 tricks. In the other room South opened 2S and North ended in 6N going one off. |
||
| 64 JT87654 5 T53 |
9832 K32 Q972 K2 |
||
| KQJT7 --- K83 98764 |
| K6542 A4 5432 Q6 |
The
hand was passed out at one table, played 2S at another, 3H at three
tables and 4H at the other 31 tables. Wales was not in that 31,
which is worrying. [A check of 18 tables showed 9 opened the W
hand] But to the play .... Against 4H Tim led D4 to the DQ and Filip diagnosed correctly not the continue the suit (a close call as Tim might have had the DJ). Declarer won the spade, crossed to the CA, and led H2 to HJ and HA. The diamond return was won by the ace and now the HK and three rounds of clubs saw the diamond loser disappear. Curiously the best authorities indicate that optimal play in the heart suit is either leading the HT or running the H8 on the first round - I have only seen two tables where that line was chosen and the incomplete record shows one of those went one off - even though they should have lost just one heart trick while everyone else lost two! [And the other made an overtrick] |
||
| AQT9 KJ65 J76 32 |
7 T872 AT9 AKJ75 |
||
| J83 Q93 KQ8 T984 |
| T762 AQ8 8752 A2 |
Both rooms opened 1S first
in hand and supported diamonds when partner responded 2D. Next came 3H
as a probe and West's most informative noise was 3S, emphasising the
strength of the spades. The Belgian East raised to 4S and
there it rested. But Peter sitting North had been listening and led a
diamond, got back in and led a second diamond and that (with the other
ace) made 4 tricks for the defence. In the other room over 3S Filip continued to explore with 4C and they ended up in the easy 5D, making 11 tricks for a 10 imp gain to Wales. |
||
| KQJ93 J63 J963 K |
A4 K7 AKQT2 Q873 |
||
| 85 T9532 --- JT9654 |
| T7T Q4 T76 AJT832 |
With
EW vulnerable, Tim opened 3C and they cue bi 4C to show the majors and
West (reluctantly) chose 4S. The lead was D7 and declarer's clubs went
away and 10 tricks turned out to be easy. Exactly the same
happened when Paul Hackett was North for England. [Almost exactly half
the field opened 3C] When Mike & John had a free, but informative run, East ended in 4S and South led CK before switching to the S2. John discarded his club, crashed SQ and then over the HA to draw trumps. This was making the game if either spade or hearts behaved well. They didn't but when he exited with the HT to the HJ, South only had H-9, D-K95. The record shows the contract now made, which suggests that South missed the boat - because exiting with a small diamond gives declarer the DQ but means declarer has to force himself while the DK is preserved. Tricky hand. Jason Hackett went off in a similar position but with no clubs played, and South was able to exit with CK overtaken by the CA. |
||
| KQ 7 AQJ842 Q976 |
AJ943 AKT862 -- 54 |
||
| 8652 J953 K953 K |
| T3 AK4 A65 AKQ93 |
AK86542 -- Q982 75 |
After a pass or a weak 2H from North, most Easts bid 4S after which their partner took control. Too often the void showing response to Blackwood failed to show the lack of the trump queen and 9 tables played in a grand slam. Since the spades broke 4-0, this had zero chance. Nevertheless only one defender chanced a double (and got 1100 for it). Flat board for Wales with 7N-3 and 6S-3. [The Enlgish ladies played 7S-xx losing 1000, while Sheila Shea played 6S-x and made it when South led a heart and North failed to cover ST. |
| AKJ92 -- K2 AKQ985 |
--- J98432 A762 J42 |
Adrian opened the strong hand with 1C (some tables chose 2C) and got a response of 2H, showing a weak two in hearts. Not good news, but he continued with 2S and then 3S over the preference to 3C. Peter jumped to 5C now and that was encouraging enough for Adrian to bid 6C. In the other room it had started 1C-<1S>-X and the negative double was passed out and Mike Tedd had to play 1S-X. It went well done, but Wales still gained on the board. |
| Q8 AT9842 2 KQT9 |
AK64 Q6 AT4 A762 |
We had another good slam bid here by Adrian & Peter after a 1N opener from the balanced hand. All four tables who bid 6H went one off when the hearts split 4-1 with a singleton K behind the ace. Three of the eight tables which bid 6C found a way to make that. With the Belgians stopping in 4H, Wales lost an unlucky 13 imps. |
| T762 AQ8 8752 A2 |
Both rooms opened 1S first
in hand and supported diamonds when partner responded 2D. Next came 3H
as a probe and West's most informative noise was 3S, emphasising the
strength of the spades. The Belgian East raised to 4S and
there it rested. But Peter sitting North had been listening and led a
diamond, got back in and led a second diamond and that (with the other
ace) made 4 tricks for the defence. In the other room over 3S Filip continued to explore with 4C and they ended up in the easy 5D, making 11 tricks for a 10 imp gain to Wales. |
||
| KQJ93 J63 J963 K |
A4 K7 AKQT2 Q873 |
||
| 85 T9532 --- JT9654 |
| Q83 J AQ86543 Q8 |
Against
Adrian & Peter North opened 1D, and over 1H South bid 3D.
This makes it very difficult for West who chose to raise to
4H. In the other room Tim opened 2D which shows diamonds or both minors and Filip raised pre-emptively to 4D. After 4S-5D-P-P, West tried 5H but his partner didn't understand it as natural and retreated to 5S. Most of the field bid a slam, and Sweden had a good sequence to reach 7H. |
||
| AKJT74 AKT7 KJ 2 |
52 Q98643 -- AJT63 |
||
|
|
96 52 T972 K9754 |
| 3 42 AKT7532 QJ6 |
AJ76 AKQT7 QJ A9 |
All pairs started with a strong opener and some gave a positive response in diamonds but for our guys it was a multi-2D and 2N rebid to show 20-21 balanced. Now 4D showed the suit and after cue bids of 4H and 4S, East rolled out Blackwood. The 5S response showed the queen of trumps but East did not pick up the implications of length which that implied and they stopped in 6D. Flat board. Half the field bid the grand, but - as always seems to happen - one pair stopped in game! |
| Q5 AKQ6 AKQT53 3 |
A943 JT52 876 A5 |
This set also featured and excellent grand slam, but this time only one of 18 tables bid it (The Irish, in an unopposed auction). Most tables started with 3C before the bid hand and proceeded X-5C. All the next hand could do is double (showing values) and that led to 6D at both tables. Six tables failed to bid the slam at all, so well done to Adrian & Peter on this hand. |
|
|
AT24 -- Q98 A76532 |
|
In
one room Tim Rees overcalled 1H with 2C ; his partner raised to 5C and
when West doubled, East removed to 5H which South was happy to double.
He escaped for -500. In the other room North passed and heard his partner jump in his 6cd suit! He too pushed to 5C and this time Adrian-Peter played in 5D. The match with the smallest swing featured 6C-X making for 1090 and 5C-XX making plus one for 1000 - only 3 imps apart! The match with the largest swing saw 5H-X in one room and 4S in the other - where South had jumped in clubs but North declined to support him! |
| QJ85 AKT72 AK6 T |
K763 653 JT7543 --- |
||
|
|
9 QJ984 2 KQJ984 |
|
|
|
K9 AT7 K986 9542 |
|
This hand produced the biggest swing yet on the Welsh scorecard. Both Easts opened 1H but then paths diverged. Adrian bid 2N to show moth minors and over 4H Peter bid 5D, duly raised to 6D. The lead was the KH and now the spade loser vanished and there was no club ruff.
Of the 12 North-Souths who got to play this hand, two were 6C by North on the DQ lead (both won, threw spade on HA and the finessed the CT going one off), two were 6D making, by North, two were 6D making by South and six were 6D by South going down. Six times East-West got to play the hand, once in 4S-X, three times in 5H-X and twice in 6H-X - all with 10 tricks. |
| A65432 96542 T J |
QJT3 KJQ83 Q A87 |
||
|
|
7 -- AJ75432 KQT63 |
|
| 43 JT832 K KQJ64 |
-- Q63 AQJ732 AT98 |
Both rooms opened 2H and John enquired and found a maximum with 55 hearts & clubs. When the oppo bid 4S he bid on to 5C against which they led a heart. In the other room they simply raised hearts and had to bid 5H over 4S and against this Tim led his singleton club. Leading hearts against clubs and clubs against hearts was the only way to defeat those contract! At the two tables where North led SA against 6C-X, the result was 12 tricks. |
| AK9 A7 AK762 AK7 |
QJ542 KQ8642 J 2 |
Both pairs bid around a bit and then one or other bid a slam. This left no chance for counting tricks and the slam slam was passed out. Tim & Filip had a good start whereby 2C-2D-2H(Kokish)-2S(forced)-2N showed a game forcing balanced hand. Of the 18 tables, 10 bid the grand slam, while 1 stopped in game! The Norwegians bid 2C-2H-3N-7N but even that is unconvincing. The best offering I can make is to start as Tim & Filip did, and then for South to set spades as trumps and ask for aces. |
|
|
K765 K532 5 KJ76 |
|
The bidding in the other
room has been tame - after West opened 1H it proceeded
1N-2D-3D-end. In the other room it started 1D-P-3D-P-P and now North woke up and doubled. East redoubled to show a robust 3D bid and over 3S West was able to bid 4C showing a singleton. This encouraged East somehow to bid 5D and that was where they rested (doubled). The spade lead set up a second trick in that suit - taking care of the heart loser - and then the defence failed to switch to trumps, and that was 11 tricks. A common piece of advice in long matches is to concentrate particularly on the first and last boards. And in this match the first and last boards represented significant swings. |
| AT4 AJ94 A9643 T |
J2 87 KQJ8 Q9432 |
||
|
|
Q983 QT6 T72 A85 |
|
| JT632 T T852 Q87 |
K85 AJ876 7 AT54 |
After
a 1H opener from John Salisbury, Mike responded with 1S and that froze
out his LHO who was looking at a weak NT hand. When John rebid 2C is
got passed out. [Curiously if East raises to 2S the opposition have a
better chance of getting back in!] In the other room after
1H-P-P Tim Rees was able to bid 1N and now the 3N contract was easily
reached. |
| AKJ832 AT J J982 |
5 Q83 AKQ9743 T6 |
The
bidding started 1S-2D-2S and now responder wants to make a
positive try for game, but how? The 3D chosen ended the
auction
and there were 9 tricks because the diamonds ran and opener stopped the
other suits. Should responder have continued with 3H?
Is 3H
then 4D over 3S non-forcing? There was what seemed to be a
relay
sequence in the other room to reach 3N. This cost 11 imps. |
After that board 6 was the first of only 4 flat boards in the 20 played in this match. and then board 7
| Your partner opens 1H and it goes X and you pass and LHO bids 4S which is passed round to you. Do you bid with void-Q3-KJ643-QT9853 ? Disaster if you do for partner's shape is 4711. In the other room the auction started more slowly 1H-1N-P-2H(transfer)-P-2S and now this hand could bid 2N - thereby avoiding the -1400 penalty which cost Wales 13 imps! |
There followed a misunderstanding after a cue bid of a phoney 1D opening. It got passed out. Luckily 2S went off in the other room but sine 2D was 4 off, that was another 4 imps out. Then came this exercise on board 10
| Q3 AKT98532 -- A63 |
AK85 -- AKJ4 JT872 |
Both
pairs were able to start the bidding with 4C but then what does East
choose? Their man chose 6H and ours chose 4H. |
| AKQT7 -- KQ AQJ532 |
983 72 J9873 K84 |
The open the bidding in front of you (don't they always) with 1H - our man doubled and after 3H-P-4H he reasonably bid 5C and that was it, Making plus one. The other room started with a Michaels 2H-4H and now the weak hand chipped in with 4S - that was all that was needed to get to 6S. And 13 more imps to the Bulgarians. |
| 63 AJ76 K8 KQJ73 |
AKT97 4 T9653 A6 |
The bidding was similar in both rooms to 3N and the fourth best H3 was led t o the king. One declarer won the ace, crossed to the SA (the SJ drops from RHO) and played a diamond to the king. It lost but the heart continuation gave the ninth trick. In the other room, declarer ducked, ducked and won the third heart. Now when the diamond went to the king and ace they cashed hearts. Our man missed another chance as the SQ was also dropping. |
| K7543 AQ742 AJ8 -- |
A KJ85 KT2 AT874 |
The hand was played in
hearts at all 18 tables - thrice in 4H, eight times in 6H and seven
times in 7H. Against the grand slam only 4/7 defenders led a trump from their 3334 3-count. That cost Wales 11 imps. |
It was only after the Home Country Bridge Unions split from the British Bridge League that this became possible. Its ventures to date have been .