Tuesday, May 18, 2010

PP 1st Final Board 26

Board 26
Dlr E
Vul Both
♠ K J 2
J 9 2
A Q J 8
♣ J 9 5
♠ Q 9 8 5 4 3♠ A 10 7 6
710 5 4
10 5 3K 9 7
♣ K 4 2♣ A Q 3
A K Q 8 6 3
6 4 2
♣ 10 8 7 6



Franco
North
Andy
South
1♣2
All Pass

South successfully preempted us out of our spade fit and earned a good board for his choice.

2 by South, +3, -140, 5.5/17


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Monday, May 17, 2010

PP 1st Final Board 25

Board 25
Dlr N
Vul E-W
♠ Q 3 2
J 7 3
A 8 6
♣ A 8 7 3
♠ 10 8 7♠ 9 4
A K 6 5 49 8 2
KJ 5 4 3
♣ K J 5 2♣ Q 10 6 4
♠ A K J 6 5
Q 10
Q 10 9 7 2
♣ 9



West
North
East
South
PassPass1♠
2♥3♥Pass3♠
All Pass

[Auction somewhat of a guess]

Basically the opponents missed a game here.  Declarer did pick up the diamonds for no losers.
3♠ by South +5, -200, 15/17


Below
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Thursday, May 13, 2010

PP 1st Final Board 24

Board 24
Dlr W
Vul None
♠ A Q 9 7 6
J 6 5
10 4
♣ 8 5 3
♠ 10♠ J 5 3 2
A 10 8 7 4 3 2K 9
K J 8 69 7 5 3
♣ J♣ 6 4 2
♠ K 8 4
Q
A Q 2
♣ A K Q 10 9 7




Franco
North
Andy
South
11♠Pass2
Pass2♠Pass3
Pass3♠Pass4NT
Pass5♣Pass5
Pass6♠All Pass

The opponents bid to a fine 6♠.  Andy led K and a heart and later scored a trump trick for +50 and 15.5/17. 

[Andy] This is obviously an example of the kind of hand you need to go your way in order to win one of these things. The result was lucky, but not outrageously so -- a 4-1 break is plenty likely to begin with, and presumably more likely when there is bidding by both sides.

A mildly interesting anecdote on this hand.  After the opening lead, looking at my trumps, I basically immediately knew that I would play another heart.  I kind of hate this situation, because I feel like I should play in my normal (slow) tempo, but I don't want to be seen as trying to deceive declarer with it.  I observed Franco's discouraging signal, considered whether there was any chance it could mean that I was not supposed to play another heart, decided no, and played.  (At double dummy declarer might actually make after a switch.)  Anyway, I then felt guilty about maybe having taken too long.

Later that evening, I was chatting with the expert player who was declarer on this board.  His first comment was "you played another heart so fast I knew the spades weren't breaking." :) Read more!

Friday, May 7, 2010

PP 1st Final Board 23

Board 23
Dlr S
Vul Both
♠ 6 3 2
7 6 4
10 7 4 3
♣ K 4 2
♠ J 8 7 5♠ Q 10 4
Q 10 3A K J 8 5 2
K 8 6J 9
♣ 8 6 5♣ 10 3
♠ A K 9
9
A Q 5 2
♣ A Q J 9 7

Franco
Andy
South
West
North
East
1♣PassPass1
Dbl2PassPass
DblPass2NT3
All Pass

[Andy] South took like several minutes before his last pass. I knew he had a big hand, and I had wondered if I should have bid 3 a round earlier. My actual choice happened to work out a lot better -- South surely would have had to double 3 if it had been bid a round earlier, and only bad things could happen to our side from there.

3 by East -100, 10/17


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Thursday, May 6, 2010

PP 1st Final Board 22

Board 22
Dlr E
Vul E-W
♠ A 10 9 5
J 6 4
Q J 6
♣ Q J 6
♠ K 7 6 3♠ 2
7 5 3A 10 2
A 4 2K 10 9 8 7 5
♣ 10 7 5♣ 9 3 2
♠ Q J 8 4
K Q 9 8
3
♣ A K 8 4



Andy
Franco
West
North
East
South
Pass1♣
Pass1♠Pass4*
Pass4♠All Pass
* minimum GF splinter (3 would have been weaker or stronger)

[Andy] They led the 10 to the A and returned a diamond. I ruffed and from there did not have any trouble drawing trumps and knocking out the A. After the hand, my opponent observed that the K opening lead would have been more challenging.

4♠ by North, +450, 9.5/17 Read more!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

PP 1st Final Board 21

Board 21
Dlr N
Vul N-S
♠ A Q 3
K Q J 2
7
♣ Q 10 6 4 3
♠ 6 4♠ K J 10 2
A 8 6 410 5
Q J 9 8 5 4K 6 3 2
♣ J♣ A K 9
♠ 9 8 7 5
9 7 3
A 10
♣ 8 7 5 2




West
Andy
East
Franco
1♣1♠Pass
2Dbl34♣
4All Pass

Andy made a pushy double and I risked 4♣.  We were slated for 500, but they let us off the hook.


4 by West, +4, -130, 10.5/17


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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

PP 1st Final Board 20

Board 20
Dlr W
Vul Both
♠ KQ1087
A97
3
♣ AQ86
♠ A63♠ J94
K10652Q
KJ8AQ10742
♣ 54♣ J97
♠ 52
J843
965
♣ K1032

Franco
Andy
West
North
East
South
11♠2Pass
3♦ All Pass

[Andy] It's good that we got into the auction one way or another. They defended correctly for down 1, so this was essentially a flat board (9.5/17). Read more!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

PP 1st Final Board 19

[Sorry for the delay in posting]

Board 19
Dlr S
Vul E-W
♠ J96
9752
Q87
♣ AK4
♠ A1075♠ K42
1084AQJ6
10653
♣ Q109753♣ J6
♠ Q83
K3
AKJ942
♣ 82





Franco
North
Andy
South
1NT
DblRdblPass2
All Pass

1NT was some strong range.  Dbl was 4+ major, 5+ minor 2-suiter.   Andy's pass asked for my minor, but South chose to show his minor.

Perhaps fearing that I would have my bid, declarer missed his chances to lead a heart towards the king and got punished.  He won the club lead, drew trumps in 4 rounds, and led a spade to the 9.  Partner won and cleared clubs, the declarer erred by leading a spade to the Q, which I allowed to hold. This killed dummy and allowed us to force a heart lead out of his hand.

They were already getting a bad board for being in the wrong strain (3N is cold), but the missed overtrick gave us an extra 4 matchpoints for 15.5/17.



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