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but for which side?

 Happy Ending?

That is what you would hope for as declarer on the deal below. It was indeed the ending for all players as it was the last of the 96 boards played at last weekend’s Taranaki Teams. For most declarers in a standard 3NT, it was not to be a happy one. How about you?

 

 

East’s Weak 2 opening is in the lower end of the range, round about 3-7 hcps. You call your strong 2NT after which partner shows 5 hearts and then leaves you to find at least 9 tricks in 3NT. Actually, 9 would be lovely.

West leads Q. What do you play at trick 1?

Sometimes, the opposition helps their side and sometimes they help the opponents. Without any opposition bidding, declarers had no idea of the true lay-out of the defenders’ hands. Indeed, in the crucial match between Fraser Hoskin and Chen, the lack of an opening bid by North contributed to determining the top three placings. For Fraser Hoskin, Max Morrison had no opposition bidding and received the Q lead. He ducked and South switched to the 2. Max finessed and quickly lost a spade and four more diamond tricks to be 2 down.

 

At the other table, John Wang had a much clearer picture:

 

 

Again, the Q was led. John decided to take the K at trick 1. 5 heart tricks (finesses do work!), three top black cards and the K add up to 9. So, he played A and took the successful finesse, noting the fall of the H8 from East on the second round of the suit. Finesse working but, although Jack could have been false-carding, it seemed likely that the break was not the 3-3 he needed.

So, he took the slightly risky (South might have started with 6 diamonds) line of exiting a diamond…but before he did that, he made the key play of cashing the A. John knew how the spades were breaking.

Jeremy, West, found himself on lead and he could take 4 diamond tricks with John discarding spades from both his and the dummy hand. Jeremy knew the heart exit was fruitless and tried a club… 9 tricks to Chen. Victory to the Richardson team with Chen second.

In the Richardson v Carryer match, neither declarer succeeded. Neither East bid. When Carol Richardson was declarer, she was about to make at trick 10 but exited with a second round of spades instead of a small club. An unlucky guess.

Jenny Millington showed that the board could be made even without interference. She was blessed with a low diamond lead and thus won trick 1 with 9. She played A and took the heart finesse and played a third round, giving West (Judy Pawson) the lead with the fourth round of hearts.

Judy obeyed her partner’s encouraging spade signal and switched to her spade. No finesse for Jenny. Up with the ace and the fifth round of hearts to be followed by J to the ace. Judy could see the writing on the wall. She was about to be thrown in with the third round of clubs. She threw the T under the ace and the Q under the king but it was Jenny who held the all important 9 for her ninth trick.

The key to the deal is knowing that West has only one spade. If declarer ducks an opening Q lead, they must play A at trick 2. Then, they can play four rounds of hearts throwing West in and await the club exit.

Declarer can also make 9 tricks if after winning Q, West exits with A and a third diamond. South can take a losing spade finesse and win the club return. Now, three rounds of hearts to be followed by two more rounds of spades finishing in dummy. West has to discard diamonds. A fourth round of hearts sees West left with just their clubs and three more tricks, 9 in total for South.

So, a happy ending for the declarers? Alas mainly not, with only 7 of the 29 declarers who tried to make 3NT succeeding.

Yesterday saw the ending of three days from the Taranaki Congress with the Swiss Pairs. 80 pairs in total with the top placings being:

1	Graeme	Tuffnell		Pam	Livingston		94.82
2	Jenny	Millington		Barry	Jones		93.84
3	Grant	Jarvis		Bob	Hurley		91.25
4	Dean	Sole		Pat	D'Arcy		88.58
5	Murat	Genc		Arleen	Schwartz		87.62
6	Kate	Terry		Judy	Pawson		87.23
7	Fiona	Temple		John	Kruiniger		86.17
8	Kate	McFadyen		Gwyn	Lobb		86.07

 

    
Pam Livingston

Double Trouble?

Well, you doubled. So, you had better defeat this contract.

 

A fast and furious auction with your partner being a late arrival but then pusing the auction to the 5-level.

You lead 7 taken by dummy’s ace. Declarer plays a second heart which is ruffed in the South hand. Next comes 4 which you win with your ace, partner following with 5. What now?

Richard Solomon

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