K 5 4 2
A Q 8 6 2
A 7 4
7
J 7 — J 9 8 3 2 A 10 5 4 3 2
![[W - E]](../532/t.gif)
A Q 10 9 8 3 J 7 K 6 K 9 8
6 K 10 9 5 4 3 Q 10 5 Q J 6The start of the 4th session saw us no longer among the leaders but still in good position to qualify but there was still plenty of time to move considerably in either direction. We had much more to do this session, so we'd have an opportunity to move up if we played well. Here's a round-by-round recap of the session.
The 1st round was rather tame. We played 2S on both. The former provided a lucky layout for game, and Bill emerged with 11 tricks for a good score. On the latter, 7 tricks were the limit. Down 1 was not a great but the best what I could do. A slightly above average round. Session meter: Average
The 2nd round gave me my first decision. I chose to take the push in a competitive auction and caught Bill with a miserable hand opposite and we were way too high. The opponents had reached their best spot so we were not slated for a good score anyway. This was the 2nd deal:
| 1.
| K 5 4 2 A Q 8 6 2 A 7 4 7
| |
| J 7 — J 9 8 3 2 A 10 5 4 3 2
|
| A Q 10 9 8 3 J 7 K 6 K 9 8
|
| N-S Vul | 6 K 10 9 5 4 3 Q 10 5 Q J 6 |
West 1 NT | North Pass | East 1 2
| South Pass All Pass |
2 by East
| Trick 1. S 2. E 3. W 4. E 5. N 6. S 7. N | Lead Q 3 7 9 2 J A
| 2nd 2 6 4 6 J A 7 | 3rd 7 J A 3 K K3 | 4th K 2 10 5 28 4 |
The 3rd round started with a seemingly innocuous preempt.
| 2.
| 9 6 2 J 10 7 4 A K J 10 8 5
| |
| A 10 7 5 3 A Q 9 2 8 2 6 3
|
| K Q 8 8 6 3 J 5 A K Q 9 7
|
| E-W Vul | J 4 K 5 Q 10 9 7 6 4 3 4 2 |
West Dbl | North 4
| East 5
| South 3 All Pass |
5 by East
The 3D opener was not a thing of beauty but reasonable at favorable vulnerability. I don't have a great fit but the opponents figure to have game somewhere. Pass would give them too much room while jumping to 5D would likely force them to just double us. I chose the option I hoped was just right, 4D. This worked out superbly as East was caught in a tough spot. 5C was reasonable, and is in fact makeable double-dummy. She reasonably chose to play trumps from the top and we had a great +100. The 2nd board was another competitive auction with the opponents landing in a decent spot. The contract was slated to fail but a defensive error allowed it to come home. A missed opportunity but a good round. Session meter: Average
The 4th round was not too exciting. We achieved the par score on the first deal, which was only good for average. The 2nd the opponents reached a hopeless game. We can set it 2 with double-dummy defense but down one was a decent result. Session meter: Slightly over average.
Round 5 was disappointing. We reached the top spot both times and took everything we could. Surprisingly this was a barely above average round -- it was easy to get into trouble our way. Perhaps the defense failed to take their tricks at other tables. Session meter: Slightly over average.
Round 6 began a series of matchups against top pairs. This was our sections top East-West pair, Doub-Wildavsky. The first board they reached their normal, but not best, spot. We defended correctly to beat it for a good score. The 2nd they reached another normal spot. It was frustrating defensively --- we had the tricks to set it but the danger hand could not get on lead in time. We did the best we could holding 3N to 9 tricks for a decent result. There had not been much to the play as yet, mostly bidding problems, that would soon change. Session meter: Above Average
Here was the first board of round 7:
| 3.
| J 5 2 K Q 8 5 4 2 A 7 K 10
| |
| A K Q 6 3 10 3 Q 2 A Q 9 6
|
| 10 A 9 7 K 10 8 5 3 J 7 5 3
|
| None Vul | 9 8 7 4 J 6 J 9 6 4 8 4 2 |
West 2 3 NT | North 2 Pass All Pass | East Pass 2 NT | South Pass Pass |
3 NT by East
| Trick 1. S 2. S 3. E 4. N 5. N 6. N 7. N 8. N 9. E | Lead J 6 3 K 5 4 2 7 10
| 2nd 3 10 4 9 3 5 5K 4 | 3rd 8 Q Q 2 4 8 69 6 | 4th 7 A A 6 9 3 Q2 J |
This round was against a pair of Norwegian internationalists. Once again, our 2 level openers gave the opponents a problem. I don't see anything unreasonable about the auction but 3N was a hopeless spot. Declarer pretty much conceded down 2 when he led a diamond; he could have played on clubs hoping for 4 tricks there; in practiceh that would have led to a quick down 3. Note the trap declarer set for me on the run of the hearts discarding the CQ at trick 7. Here's what remained:
| 3.
| J 5 2 -- 7 K T
| |
| A K Q 6 -- 2 A
|
| T -- K 10 8 J 7
|
| 9 8 7 4 -- J 9 -- |
It's tempting to play a club now to dummy's bare ace (this in fact happened at Sue's table allowing her to go down 2). If declarer has the DJ or even 2 or more spades he has the rest of the tricks no matter what. If not, what will partner discard on the club? He will be squeezed. The diamond return kills the communication leaving declarer with another loser. Down 3 was a nice result, things were looking up. Then came this hand:
| 4.
| A 10 K 9 6 5 A K Q 7 6 4 3
| |
| K 5 3 2 Q J 10 J 9 5 J 8 5
|
| Q J 8 7 4 A 8 10 8 4 2 10 2
|
| N-S Vul | 9 6 7 4 3 2 6 3 A K Q 9 7 |
West Pass Pass All Pass | North 1 NT 2
| East Pass Pass Pass | South Pass 2 4 |
| Trick 1. E 2. N 3. N 4. N 5. N 6. S 7. E 8. E 9. N | Lead Q A K Q 3 2 10 K Q
| 2nd 6 2 4 8 2 Q 3J 3
| 3rd 2 3 6 9A K 84 6 | 4th A 5 9 J 5 A 7 10 8 |
Matchpoints can be a frustrating game sometimes. A normal spot, a normal lead. It looks right to run diamonds for a spade pitch. Now we're at a crossroads. Ruffing a spade to lead a heart is one possibility. I did not want to take out dummy's long trump just yet as if the heart ace was offside they could (potentially) draw 3 rounds of trump. Then if an opponent with the last trump had the long diamond (or clubs didn't break), I'd be down. At MPs, I have to play the HK on the first round. I decided to save four trumps in dummy and cross in clubs. This doesn't look so bad but proved fatal. The heart lost to the ace and LHO played the 4th diamond forcing me to ruff. If RHO had overruffed, I'd have been fine. He discarded and I had 2 losing options. Play clubs letting the short hand ruff and a trump allowing the opponents to draw trump and cash a spade. A disappointing (and costly) down 1. Session meter: Slight Above Average
Round 8 was yet another great pair: Aubrey Strul - Mike Becker members of the team who'd won the Senior KOs prior to the Blue Ribbon and would finish 2nd in the Reisinger. The first board was the talk of the session:
| 5.
| K Q J 9 6 2 Q Q 10 5 4 7 5
| |
| 8 4 A 4 A 6 3 2 K J 6 4 2
|
| — J 9 8 7 6 5 2 K A Q 10 9 3
|
| E-W Vul | A 10 7 5 3 K 10 3 J 9 8 7 8 |
West 1 Pass Pass | North 2 Pass Pass | East 3 5 6
| South Pass 4 5 All Pass |
The auction did not go well for us. Bill chose a slow route which pushed them into their top spot. It looked like the opponents were guessing and we chose to let them play there (6S X is less than their game). Had they bid it more confidently, we might have bid on. There wasn't much to the play; -1370 was not a good result. On the 2nd board Becker took a gamble and struck gold catching 2 aces, trump support and fit for his side suit (that I opened in) to make game. We could not stop 11 tricks. -650 capped off a miserable round. 3 terrible boards in a row. Could we stem the tide? Session meter: Average
We'd have to do it against another top pair in round 9: Jeff Goldsmith and Mike Shuman. The first board was a simple auction to 3N. My normal opening lead from S Qxxxx blew a trick but seemed normal. -430 was surpringly well below average. The next board was my most frustrating of the day:
| 6.
| A K 9 8 5 2 K 10 7 5 2 J 5
| |
| 10 7 6 8 6 3 A Q 10 9 7 10 9
|
| Q Q 9 K 6 5 3 2 A K J 8 4
|
| E-W Vul | J 4 3 A J 4 8 4 Q 7 6 3 2 |
West 2 5
| North 2 5
| East 1 3 All Pass | South Pass 3 |
| Trick 1. E 2. E 3. W 4. W 5. S | Lead A K 10 2 J
| 2nd 2 4 29 6 | 3rd 9 A 4 J 2 | 4th 5 J 3 3 Q |
I chose to start with the longer, stronger spades, rather than a 2 suited bid; hoping to keep that as a surprise. I could bid hearts later if I felt like it. Once partner supported spades I didn't see any reason to tell them about my side suit. Not knowing who could make what I took the push. A reasonable catch in dummy. I'd have to pick up both hearts and spades to make. The auction was illuminating though. LHO was likely 5-5 in the minors (at least). Since Jeff had not responded 1 of a major, he didn't figure to have 4 of either. Thus LHO was likely 1255. The location of the various queens was not certain since the opponents were bidding on distribution. Entries were a problem. I don't have the entries to finesse RHO for the heart queen unless LHO has the stiff queen of spades. I took what I still think is the best line given the likely distribution. I played RHO to have SQ (75% shot) and LHO to have HQ (admittedly he's likely shorter in hearts but he did open). The HQ was correct but the SQ was singleton for a frustrating down 1. We now had 5 straight terrible boards. If we didn't turn this around, we might drop out of qualifying position. Session meter: Slighly Below Average
Round 10 did not stem the tide. The opponents reached normal spots on each hand and we slipped a trick on defense on each. Session meter: Below Average
Round 11 gave me another tough play problem.
| 7.
| A K J 6 5 4 6 3 J 10 6 3 2
| |
| Q 8 7 3 2 10 9 8 5 2 6 4 8
|
| 10 9 K J 3 A J 9 8 2 K 9 7
|
| E-W Vul | — A Q 7 4 K Q 10 7 5 A Q 5 4 |
West Pass All Pass | North 2 4
| East Pass Pass | South 3 6 |
| Trick 1. E 2. S 3. S 4. E 5. E 6. N 7. N 8. N 9. W 10. W | Lead 3 A K K A K 5 K 76
| 2nd Q 5 4 4 9 10 26 107 | 3rd 2 3 48 7 5 4 6 3A | 4th 6 J A 22 3 3 9 9 8 |
We reached an aggressive spot; but makable on the lie of the cards. As it turns out, 5C would have been high enough, just finding clubs was worth a lot. The auction suggested that I was 6-5 in the black suits. I expected an aggressive lead. The heart finesse seemed like a good bet so I took it. A cross-ruff might have succeeded but looked like it would come up a trick short. I decided to play RHO for the diamond ace. If that worked, I'd be all but home. It seemed a good bet --- LHO might have led an ace on the bidding (I might have had 2 diamond losers and no hearts for example). Once that did not work, I needed some very good fortune. I tested spades and diamonds but nothing good happened (i.e. neither set up an extra trick). I was left with 1 hope; a stiff king of clubs offside (LHO having 2353 pattern). The club finesse would not help me since LHO had 3 clubs; I still needed to ruff my last spade in dummy. That didn't work either and I had to go down one. To make, I believe I need to finesse the heart but not pitch my diamond, relying on the club finesse. I would ruff 3 red cards in hand, take 2 hearts, 1 diamond, 2 spades and 4 trumps in dummy. Given that my line works when DA is onside or CK is singleton (or Kx onside) I don't think my line was bad, it just didn't work. The 3rd time that happened this session. The 2nd board snapped our string; as we took the maximum on defense against our opponents 3N. Session meter: Below Average
Round 12 started with a normal 4H our way. The 2nd board was fortunate, as I'd made an atypical takeout double and declarer misread the position losing an extra trick for a decent score. Session meter: Below Average
The last round would be against a top British pair: John Armstrong - Paul Hackett. The first board presented yet another play problem. I was tired of getting hands wrong (and just plain tired as well) but determined to get as many tricks as I could on this one.
| 8.
| Q 3 A 7 2 A Q J 10 8 A K 7
| |
| — J 10 6 4 3 K 7 Q J 10 9 8 4
|
| K 10 8 7 6 4 2 Q 9 5 4 5 3
|
| Both Vul | A J 9 5 K 8 9 6 5 3 2 6 2 |
West Dbl Pass | North 2 NT 3 4 NT | East Pass Pass All Pass | South 3 4 |
4 NT by North
| Trick 1. E 2. N 3. S 4. S 5. N 6. N 7. N 8. N 9. N 10. S | Lead 3 Q 9 2 Q J 10 A 3 A
| 2nd 2 K 7 K 4 6 5 57 6
| 3rd 8 A 8 A 3 5 6 6 9 7
| 4th K 44 2 9 3 10J 48 |
The auction produced a common problem; one that you should discuss with your partner. When the opponents make a lead directing double over a conventional NT response, what do the different bids mean? It's especially tricky after a 2N opener since there is less room to investigate. My 3D bid showed a diamond suit; with no major to respond I would just pass (or XX if I had long clubs). I might have bid 3N directly knowing that Bill would have a problem over 3D since he would be reluctant to bid 3N without a club stopper. Indeed he was stuck and simply raised diamonds. I didn't have any slam aspirations and bid 4N to confirm a stopper. (Remember the partner of the NT opener is always captain; opener's 4N should never be Blackwood). As it turns out slam is odds on; but it was tough to know that for sure. We reached a normal contract. After winning the first trick, I attacked RHOs potential entry by taking the spade finesse. It was an illuminating trick when RHO showed out. When the diamonds finesse worked, there were 12 sure tricks. Squeeze play comes in many forms; sometimes the play is straightforward needing very little preparation, sometimes work is involved. It's not always easy to spot or set up a squeeze. Hands with wild distribution or where one defender has the bulk of the high cards are prime targets. There are numerous articles and books on the subject. It's not an easy topic but is one that an advancer player needs to have at least a rudimentary grasp of. Once the spade situation comes to light and the diamonds come in, 13 tricks are certain with careful play. 5 rounds of diamonds forces LHO to make 4 discards. He can afford 3 spades but his 4th will be fatal regardless of his distribution. His actual club pitch necessitated cashing my high club - this will clarify the position and, in this case, will force LHO to unguard hearts (to protect spades). The proven spade finesse of the 9 and then the spade J squeezes RHO out of his long heart (to protect clubs). Since no one can keep 3 hearts, my last heart is good. A true showman would save the heart deuce for the last trick; I was too tired to think of it but settled for +720. That was a decent board. The 2nd board was a partscore battle; we had an opportunity to collect a great score by doubling but it was hard to do so. A plus score was still above average. We finished pretty well after our late lull; our game would not produce a high score (turned out just under average) but we figured it would be enough to qualify.
We dropped to 70th, with 104 pairs qualifying. Our carryover put us about 3 boards behind the leaders. We'd have our work cut out tomorrow but we had a chance.