The first hand relates to a defensive problem by East when defending 4H

The full deal (I think!) was-

The contact was 4H at three tables and 3N at the other. The problem is in defending 4H on the Ace of Diamonds lead is whether to peter or not as East – whether playing attitude or count at trick 1. As you can see, if you peter and get your ruff then that is the end of the defence, as you have just squandered your natural heart trick. You have to play low and wait for a club switch at trick 2 to beat the contract.

One other hand I remember was the first hand Malcolm and I played (as North/South). It revolves around the bidding.

The hand was-

The bidding at our table was –

                              N                           E                               S                            W
                             1D(alerted)             1S                             double(alerted)        2S
                             3H                          3S                             4H                          pass
                             pass                        pass

This made exactly. The contract at all the other tables was 3S minus 1 by E/W. I don’t know what the bidding was at these tables. Did not South make a negative double? Bid 2C? Or maybe W bid 3S (best), or did N not bid 3H? (understandable!).

 Handicap Pairs at Wallingford on Friday 21 March 1999

There were three hands here – one a technical hand and the other two amusing.

First one amusing one where Harry Freeman and I (sitting north/south) played against John Clifford and Gillian Lonsdale. The hand (rotated for convenience)-

The bidding!!-            N                      E                                S                                     W
                                 1C                    1N                              2H                                   pass
                                  pass                 3C                              pass                               3N
                                  pass                 pass                            pass

This went for a few! Another?-

The bidding!!-                       N                              E                               S                              W
                                            2H(!)                        double                        pass                           3C
                                            pass                         3D                              pass                            4D
                                            pass                         5D                              pass                            pass
                                           pass

Harry led QH and declarer took it and led a low diamond from hand! Harry thankfully played low and declarer now had to go one off!! (he may as well with 11 tricks in no trumps)

Now for the technical bit! You hold as South –

dummy goes down with

Could be worse! You receive the QH lead. How are you going to play? It is pairs of course! Anyhow, I decided that making six would be good enough(!), so I won with the Ace, ditched a club on the KH and then played QS followed by small spade to the Ace and led a small spade towards dummy. What do you ruff with? What is the danger?

The danger as I saw it was that if you ruff with the 10 and then lead a diamond towards your hand, whether you finesse or not, the defence might get in with the KD, lead their 4^th spade for their partner to ruff!! This could be the case whichever opponent gains the lead. I sensed however, that West hesitated before passing 6Ds, so I had actually placed both Ks with him. I ruffed small, East following. Now I am safe as long as I come to hand with a club and ruff the boss KS with the 10 diamonds. The defence only makes the KD now. The full hand was-

Everyone else was in 3N making 11 tricks, or a few in 6N going off (unlucky!).

National Pairs Regional final at Bristol, March 28 1999

Harry Freeman and I bowled up the M4 to play in the Bristol regional final. (I don’t like playing in the Riverside at Reading – too cold in the sports hall!). A few hands from this event-

You hold vulnerable-

Playing Benj. Acol with 5-card majors and a ‘short’ club what do you open? 1D? I chose 1C, planning to rebid 2N over 1H, forgetting the 4 card spade suit (though we had agreed to bid spades ‘up the line’), thereby concealing my strength in the two unbid suits. Harry raises to 3N and LHO goes into a trance. Have we got a club stop I think? Anyhow all is well, LHO leads from four to the Jack in spades, dummy going down with –(HAND NO 2, SESSION 2)

Here we had a disaster, through no fault of our own-- the full hand being (HAND 26,SESSION2)-

They (E/W) end up in 4H. How are you playing the hearts after a spade lead (they opened 2H, showing hearts and a minor, so Harry decided not to lead a minor)? Our declarer wins with the QS, leads QH (covered) and leads a heart back and then goes into a trance, eventually playing the J dropping Harry’s stiff 10, making 12 tricks for all the match points. It was after this hand that I suggested to JHF that he held his cards up!

Here was a better hand for us- you hold as NORTH –

You open 1C which is overcalled with 1S, your partner making a negative double (7-10 with 4Hs or any better hand) and your LHO bids 1N. your turn! I elected to double. Next hand bids 2S and partner doubles for +800. The full hand was (session 2, hand 24)-

The opposition wasn’t speaking after this hand!!

We also scored heavily on the following hand when the opposition played the hand ‘the wrong way round’
(session 1, hand 24)-

The opps ended up in 4H played by East, after Harry had bid diamonds at some stage. The JD lead left them without resource. 4H by W makes if you locate the 10D.

Here is one I got wrong. You have as NORTH, (session 1, hand 4)

And the bidding goes-
                                             N                          E                              S                           W
                                                                                                                                        2H
                                            pass                        2N                           pass                      4H!
                                    ?
I elected to pass like a wimp and the contract drifted 2 off. I open the score sheet and everyone is bidding 4H and everyone is doubling! The full hand is-

Not good! However, we achieved two 56+% sessions to end up 10^th – not quite good enough for the final (the Winners had 58%). Another 1.5 greens in the bag! I’m sure that you do well at pairs by defending well (something that Harry achieved virtually all of the time), bidding what is in front of you and not bothering about slams.

Clive Keep
2 April 1999

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