Have stopper, will bid. Thursday night February 14, 2008
Board 1
North Deals None Vul | ♠ A J 7 2 ♥ A 3 ♦ Q 4 2 ♣ 9 7 5 2 | ||||||||||
♠ K 4 3
♥ 6 ♦ A 10 9 7 ♣ K J 10 6 4 |
| ♠ Q 10 9 8 5
♥ K Q 9 ♦ K 8 6 5 ♣ Q | |||||||||
| ♠ 6 ♥ J 10 8 7 5 4 2 ♦ J 3 ♣ A 8 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 ♠ | 3 ♥ | |
| 3 ♠ | Pass | 3 NT | All pass |
| 3 NT by East |
| Made 3 — +400 |
Lead: jack of hearts (top of nothing).
North takes the ace and returns a heart to declarer, who know must find his eight tricks to make the contract. South ducks declarer's queen, trying to make it as difficult as possible. South is marked with seven hearts which means North is out. Any finesses need to go to toward North. Declarer takes the king of diamonds then finesses the nine, losing to North's queen, who now is reluctant to lead a spade, so he leads a club (or a diamond). Declarer starts on the clubs and forces out South's entry. South now knows hearts are useless and returns his six of spades, putting North into a pickle. The game is up! All the other teams were in spades going down 1, 2 or 3 tricks.
Nobody bid it! Thursday night February 14, 2008
Board 5
North Deals N-S Vul | ♠ K 5 ♥ 9 8 7 6 4 ♦ A 5 4 2 ♣ 10 4 | ||||||||||
♠ 10
♥ J 3 ♦ 10 9 8 ♣ A Q 9 8 7 6 2 |
| ♠ A Q J 2
♥ A K ♦ Q J 7 3 ♣ K J 5 | |||||||||
| ♠ 9 8 7 6 4 3 ♥ Q 10 5 2 ♦ K 6 ♣ 3 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 2 NT | Pass | |
| 3 ♠ | Pass | 4 ♣ | Pass |
| 5 ♣ | Pass | 6 NT | All pass |
| 6 NT by East |
| Made 6 — +990 |
Lead: six of spades.
Luck is absolutely part of the game of bridge. None of tonight's players went to slam because of the potential two-trick loser in diamonds. But, everybody made 6 or 7 because of the spade lead. North's king is a cooked goose. Declarer gets seven clubs, two hearts and four spades after South discards all of his spades on dummy's clubs. What would you save holding South's cards as declarer starts a relentless pounding of the clubs?
Everyone should have tried this. Thursday night Feb 14, 2008
Board 6
East Deals E-W Vul | ♠ 5 ♥ 8 5 2 ♦ 9 7 6 5 2 ♣ K J 4 2 | ||||||||||
♠ A J 9 8 7 4 2
♥ K 10 ♦ 8 4 ♣ 10 5 |
| ♠ Q 3
♥ A J 6 ♦ A Q J 10 ♣ A Q 8 3 | |||||||||
| ♠ K 10 6 ♥ Q 9 7 4 3 ♦ K 3 ♣ 9 7 6 |
| West | North | East | South |
| 2 NT | Pass | ||
| 3 ♥ | Pass | 3 ♠ | Pass |
| 4 ♠ | Pass | 4 NT | Pass |
| 5 ♦ | Pass | 6 ♠ | All pass |
| 6 ♠ by East |
| Made 6 — +1430 |
Lead: four of hearts
It's really tough to lead against a 2NT opener without giving declarer a trick, which is what happened in this case. The heart pokes around to the jack. Declarer leads the queen of spades which is covered by the king and ace. Declarer tries for the drop, which doesn't work. The king of hearts wins followed by a diamond to the ace. On the ace of hearts declarer drops the board's last diamond, then continues with the queen of diamonds, hoping to establish a trick. The king is played and trumped; back to the hand with the club ace, and the last non-trump card on the board is discarded on the jack of diamonds.
Improbable slam.
Board 21
North Deals N-S Vul | ♠ Q 10 ♥ A J 10 5 3 ♦ Q J 9 4 ♣ 7 3 | ||||||||||
♠ 3
♥ K 9 7 6 2 ♦ A K 10 8 ♣ A Q 10 |
| ♠ A K J 9 8 7 4
♥ 8 ♦ 5 3 ♣ J 6 5 | |||||||||
| ♠ 6 5 2 ♥ Q 4 ♦ 7 6 2 ♣ K 9 8 4 2 |
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 3 ♠ | Pass | |
| 4 NT | Pass | 5 ♦ | Pass |
| 6 NT | All pass |
| 6 NT by West |
| Made 6 — +990 |
Lead: ace of hearts.
The ace was followed by the jack of hearts, South covering with the queen. The queen of spades has to fall, which it does. Seven spades are run then the jack of clubs finessed successfully. Seven spades, two diamonds and three clubs for a 25-point slam!