Blue's Anatomy Part V

A quick glimpse of the field suggests this will not be easy. The carryover to the final session put us about 2 boards behind the leaders. We'd need to play our best and have a lot of luck to get a high finish. Regardless of what happened it would a great opportunity and experience. Here's a round-by-round recap of the first final session.

The 1st round was pretty flat. The weak NTers would have an advantage on the first board as a 4-4 major fit played better. Responder was not strong enough to bid over a strong 1NT so we played there. It's interesting to note that very few pairs in the final played a weak NT. The second board felt like a good result as we avoided a hopeless game and achieved the maximum result (theoretically). Quite disappointing to get below average on this one. A slightly below average round. Session meter: Average

The 2nd round was against nationally renowned Kit Woolsey - Fred Stewart. The first sign that it would not be our day:

21.	9 9 7 6 5 3 2 A 10 9 6 Q 2
Q J 4 3 10 J 8 3 A 10 9 4 3		A 8 6 5 A 4 K 4 2 K J 7 6
N-S Vul	K 10 7 2 K Q J 8 Q 7 5 8 5

West 1

North Pass 5 !

East 1 Dbl

South 1 All Pass

5 x by South

Woolsey-Stewart play a strong club so 1D was artificial but limited. Bill got in a lead-directing 1H bid. It looked like the opponents had a big spade fit so I made a pressure bid. Unfortunately, I had mis-read the vulnerability on the board. These were the boards without the colors in the slots and a simple marking on the board to identify the vulnerability. Why they decided to make it more difficult to detect I do not know. Since I was dealer, it was even more dififcult to discern. I would have contented myself with 4H had I known. Nevertheless, it might easily have worked out, but not this time. Bill did as well as he could but 500 was too much and a sure zero. The 2nd board was a laydown 7N for the opponents. Woolsey - Stewart got there in 4 bids. A well-below average round. Session meter: well below average.

The 3rd round was against a top Dutch pair. The first board was a pretty normal result. This was the 2nd:

24.	K J 8 3 K 10 K Q 7 6 2 9 4
10 7 6 5 4 Q 4 10 5 A Q 10 6		9 6 5 3 2 J 9 8 4 3 8 7 3
None Vul	A Q 2 A J 9 8 7 A K J 5 2

West Pass Pass

North 1 3

East Pass Pass

South 2 6 NT

6 NT by South

The auction is a little unusual. 3C showed spades and diamonds. Bill made the practical leap to slam. It was all on the heart suit. Bill made the normal play of low to the king and running the ten. If it lost, LHO might not lead a club whereas RHO was certain to. Even then, he'd only be down 1 rather than possibly down two (which would happen on the given deal had the HQ been with East). LHO won the HQ and cashed his ace for down 1. Most of the field was in slam but down 1 was a poor result. Another bad round. Session meter: well below average

The 4th round was against a top LA area pair: Wafik Abdou - Nader Hanna. We got all we could as I made a tough partscore and we defended perfectly to beat 1N. It didn't score as well as I'd hoped but we had our first solid round. Session meter: well below average.

Round 5 was a missed opportunity. Here was the first board:

1.	Q 9 8 7 Q 6 3 9 6 5 A K 5
4 3 10 A Q 10 4 3 J 10 8 3 2		A 10 5 2 7 K J 8 2 9 7 6 4
None Vul	K J 6 A K J 9 8 5 4 2 7 Q

West 4 Pass

North Pass 4 Dbl

East Pass 5 All Pass

South 3 NT Pass

5 x by West

3N showed a long major suit with about 8 tricks. LHO made a calculated gamble to get a diamond lead. I was a little struck, I'd rather pass with 3 small diamonds so Bill could play the hand but with such a huge fit and cards, I had to do something. RHO was not in on the joke and we were slated for a top. A defensive error let them escape for down 2, a huge matchpoint swing. The second board was pretty flat. Another bad round, the session was getting away from us. Session meter: well below average.

Round 6 did not help our cause. The opponents bid to a good slam, making 7 on a very friendly layout. The 2nd board was another flat one. We needed something good to happen soon. Session meter: well below average

Round 7 was against a strong Chinese pair. I made an aggressive opener, trying to make something happen. It didn't affect matters this time as we reached a normal spot. Unfortunately I mis-guessed everything and in a key moment made the opposite play of what I worked out to do. Terrible play for a terrible result. The next board we caught our first break. My LHO opened and RHO started to pull out his response before Bill bid. We called the director and it was agreed that his partner could not have seen the bid so there was no real infraction. However, opener was not entitled to the knowledge that his partner was planning to respond (i.e. wasn't totally broke) so he'd have to bid accordingly. Bill made a preemptive overcall. Responder seemed rattled by his near bid out of turn and made an odd decision to double rather than bid. The opponents had an easy game and Bill was only down 1 for a great score and an average round. Session meter: still well below average

Round 8 was our first breather: David Berkowitz and Larry Cohen. The first board was the first wild hand of the session:

7.	Q 7 5 K 7 4 3 Q 8 6 Q J 10
K 9 8 9 A 9 7 5 9 8 7 3 2		A J 10 6 4 3 2 A Q J 8 4 3 —
Both Vul	— 10 6 5 2 K J 10 2 A K 6 5 4

West Pass

North 2

East 4

South 1 All Pass

4 by East

I faced a decision at my last turn. Bill/I don't open overly light so we had the balance of power. Should I double hoping for the magic +200? With no sure tricks, I was not really tempted; nor was I tempted to bid further. Berkowitz took the normal 11 tricks. I was shocked to see -650 was a near top! Many doubled spade contracts making their way. The 2nd board was another missed opportunity:

8.	A K K Q 7 A Q 8 3 A Q 5 2
10 7 6 4 3 J K J 9 6 5 10 6		J A 9 6 5 4 3 10 7 4 J 8 4
None Vul	Q 9 8 5 2 10 8 2 2 K 9 7 3

West Pass Pass

North 1 3 NT

East 2 All Pass

South Pass

I opened 1C, one of our multi-purpose bids, this one being a strong balanced hand. Berkowitz came into the auction and I just bid what I thought I could make. Berkowitz chose a lead he hoped wouldn't give up anything, seeing little chance to set the contract. I was not too upset to get a club lead though. I won the AQ, happy that dummy's clubs would provide 2 entries to establish and cash spades. I then took SAK, the second on which Berkowitz through a discouraging heart. Now I took stock. One way of thinking was that he pitched a heart because he desperately wanted a diamond switch (i.e. had the King). He'd made a lead from jack third; if he had a similarly weak holding in diamonds, he might have led that suit, also suggesting he had the king. On the other hand, if he had the DK, he might have led a heart hoping to establish the suit with a likely entry. What I should have done, rather than decide which, is lead the HK. If Berkowitz wins, he cannot attack either red suit effectively giving me a good shot at 11 tricks. If he ducks, Cohen probably won't have a heart to return. That would be a slight gamble but the percentages favored it. I crossed to a club and knocked out the spade T and Cohen unerringly returned a diamond. I had to decide, if the finesse lost I'd only take 9 tricks, if it won I'd take 11. I decided to play the bidder for the DK. Wrong. +430 instead of +460. More matchpoints disappearing. Still it was an above average round. Session meter: Below Average

If we had any momentum, round 9 quickly ended it. The first board I made another pressure bid at favorable vulnerability. I caught Bill with a terribly unsuitable hand and in addition, the layout of the opponents cards made it difficult for them to make game (though they could). Bill did well to go down 2 but most pairs were defeating game. The 2nd board the opponents reach their top spot, we took all our tricks to no avail. Two terrible boards moved us back down to well below average.

We were running out of time. Round 10 saw a normal result on the first board, with the opponents avoiding going for a big number at our table (but not others). The next board had a wild auction:

12.	A 10 A 9 K Q 10 5 4 3 Q 6 3
K Q J 8 2 Q 4 3 8 7 6 J 4		9 6 5 K J 8 7 5 2 2 8 7 5
N-S Vul	7 4 3 10 6 A J 9 A K 10 9 2

West 2 Pass All Pass

North 3 6

East 4 Pass

South 5 6

We had to make decisions at a high level. Bill's 5C bid made my hand terrific. Rather than cuebid one major (which I think should deny the other ace), I raised directly to slam. Bill corrected back to diamonds. I had to decide whether to bid the grand. The opponents preemption suggested bad splits so I opted to pass. Either of us might have bid 7. As if often the case in a competitive auction, reaching the right strain was half the battle. There was nothing to the play. I was unsure what to make of this result, +1390 turned out to be a near top. Players were opening 1N with my hand and Bill's just bid 3. Finally a good round moving us to merely below average on the day.

Round 11 was against another seeded pair: Kevin Bathurst - Jaggy Shivdasani. They got to a good spot on the first board and we slipped a trick on a tough hand. The 2nd was flat. Another below average round. Session meter: Below Average

Round 12 was against some old friends of mine from the San Jose area. For a change, they had key decisions to make on each board and got them both wrong. 2 great results. Session meter: Below Average

Round 13 signaled the end of a grueling session. We faced the leaders after the first day: Jeff Hand - Gail Greenberg. They had a confused auction on the first board but landed in a great spot. The play was difficult but it was a makable contract. Declarer took a decent line but one doomed to failure and we scored a nervous +50. The 2nd board we got to the right spot and I made more than the maximum for another good score.

A strong finished moved us to just a tick under average. We hadn't had much luck and had a few costly errors. We'd have no realistic chance to win but a solid game in the evening would give us a spot in the overalls.