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Day 2 started with the final two rounds of the first-round robin. There was a North Island revival. In the Open, Otago-Southland suffered two losses with Wellington finishing ahead of Auckland-Northland, Waikato Bays and then Otago-Southland.

The Otago-Southland Women also suffered one loss but had a 7 vp buffer on the followers, Wellington, Waikato Bays and Auckland-Northland, all within one vp of each other.

Canterbury Seniors suffered two small losses but still led Wellington by 13 vps. Meanwhile, Wellington consolidated their leading position in the Intermediate competition, having won all their matches except for one 1 imp loss. They led Canterbury and Top of the South.

This all left Wellington (46) with a comfortable lead in the Dougal Maclean competition from Otago Southland (33) and Canterbury (25).

                        Dressed and Ready for Action

  that's the Waikato Bays team, always nicely kitted out

Time for some action.

25 high card points for game…don’t you believe it!

John Skipper certainly does not believe it and Board 16 from round 6 rather proved his point:

It was a little surprising that Barry Palmer did not find any heart overcall but our focus is on North-South. John Skipper’s 1NT denied a major and was in the 10-12 hcp range. Eagle-eyed readers will note that John had a 13 count but his hand had little to recommend it in term of shape or middle cards. Facing a maximum 12hcp, Jane (North) saw no reason to disturb this contract…and so they played 1NT with a combined 25hcp.

Neil Stuckey made an excellent start for the defence by leading his shorter major. John won to play a diamond won by Neil’s ace. A second heart was played. Back came a second diamond and Barry could win and cash his 4 heart tricks to hold the contract to …1NT. Had John taken the club finesse, he would have recorded a minus score.

Out of 24 tables, one North-South pair bid and made 3NT. 2 others recorded plus scores by not being in no-trumps but the other 19 tables saw 3NT defeated. John and Jane were the only pair in 1NT.  

On the next board, Jane opened 1with a miserable flat 11 count (she seems to excel in such hands!). John bid 1 with a flat majorless 8 count (systemic)and Jane closed the auction with 1NT. This duly failed by one trick. At the end, a kindly kibitzer turned to John and advised him that when playing with Jane, you need to provide 13 hcp for your partner to actually make 1NT.

5-1 or 5-2. Which fit would you prefer as your trump suit?

There is no bid that creates more confusion in the world of bridge than the Multi Coloured 2 opening. Sometimes, the problem is with the side that did not open the bidding and sometimes it is with the side that did!

Here is a test for you…part of an auction. The question is: did West have hearts or spades for their 2 opening?

West              North             East                South

2                   2                Pass             3
Pass                4                 Pass             4
Pass                Pass                4              5

The auction had not yet finished but I am sure you can work it out. The auction ended very soon after with a double…from West who thought his trump suit would be good enough to defeat 5

 

It is hard enough to defend against the Multi when you know your system but add on a memory lapse (or called in polite company “a Senior moment”), it can become impossible. Before the start of play, Otago-Southland’s Phil Hensman had suggested to his partner they bid a major after an opponent's 2 with a shortage in that major and 4 cards in the other major.

Hence, systemically, 2 showed spade shortage and 4 hearts. “Memory lapse number 2” was that Phil forgot to alert 2…until his partner bid 4… a late alert but early enough for Barry Palmer to work out that his partner had a 6-card spade in the West seat… hence 4!

Not a good move, but Phil to the rescue of his opponents, buoyed on by his supposed 6 -4 heart fit. Life is full of disappointments like the double that came on his left and the resultant -800 from being 4 down. With North making 4 at the other table, that was 15 imps to Auckland-Northland.

Dealing with disaster                                                                   Loving being here

                                                     
a senior moment..15 imps out but                                                 that's Auckland-Northland's Intermediate
 still smiling and good mates...that's                                             team: Sandra Pearce,Annette Martin,
Otago-Southland's Philip Hensman                                              Barbara Imlach and Takaya Yanagisawa
and Hamish Ryan

Another East-West pair were not so lucky:

West              North             East                South

2                   x                   2                   4
Pass                Pass              4                  Pass
Pass               x                    All Pass

More deduction about West’s suit but this time, South was not there to save East. North had just a little defence to 4….+1400.

So, the 5-2 spade fit did not play too well. What then of the 5-1 fit?

West              North             East                South

Charles Ker  Alan Grant    Mark Noble  Anthony Ker
2 1                 2                   Pass              3
Pass                  4                    Pass             4
Pass                  4                   All Pass

1 4+clubs and 4+ major 0-10 hcp

Alan Grant manoeuvred himself into 4 where he had great strength but not great length. He won the opening club lead and decided to test trumps. After 4 rounds, there was still one outstanding. He then played a diamond to the 10 which scored and a second diamond to the queen. A second club saw Alan win and play his third club winner, discarding his heart. He then lost to the A. East could only force with their fourth club. Alan ruffed to play diamonds leaving Mark with just a trump at trick 13 for the third defensive trick. +420, an excellent result but just 1 imp to Wellington as 3NT made at the other table.

That just proves that a 5-1 trump fit can be better than a 5-2 fit..and the Multi will continue to confuse those play against it and those who use it too!

Hamish Ryan, he who had one of those Senior moments, had a much happier result on the next board played at his table:

 

4 was going to make for East-West, with a bit of guesswork in the spade suit. Therefore, Philip Hensman’s shot at 4 would probably have not cost too much even if two or three down. It worked out a lot better than that.

East led a heart and the contract would have been well defeated with a diamond switch. However, West chose their singleton club. The defence would still have prevailed on the low spade from North had East taken their spade king and given their partner a ruff..but East ducked and Hamish and Philip had a nice 590 to go with +50 when 4 did fail by a trick at the other table.
    Time to talk

All four teams from each region are very much a unit working together to
score well in the Dougal McLean. This camaraderie is important between
matches. Here we have the Central Districts table with just a few hand records.
Paperwork..... excuse the mess!

A Critical Lead

The last match of the day produced a neat board. Picture the auction from a rather uninspiring South seat. Everyone else seemed to be having a bit of fun:

 

2 showed at least 4 clubs and at least 4 cards in a major, 0-11 hcp. 2 showed interest in game and wanted to know more about opener’s hand. North joined the fun by bidding 3 showing both majors.

You bid as required (3) after which the auction took off. You are left to decide what to lead to 7x.

What’s the double about? It could be that partner has the A (hey, but you have the king!..let’s discard that option). It should be lightner style telling you to find an unusual lead, not a spade (but partner did not know you held that ace) and often dummy’s first bid suit, except dummy did not bid any other suit naturally than clubs.

Yet, it was dummy’s first bid suit that you had to lead as this was the full lay-out: