Report by John Auld
Some progress for Notts as we managed two wins by 14-6 VPs in the Dawes and Porter matches, together with a narrow loss in the Markham.
The teams:
Dawes: Gerry Franklin and John Rolph; Lloyd Eagling and Keith Rodgers; Irene and John Auld; Mark Goddard and David Hodge
Porter: Gordon Fullerton and David Burgess; Martin Mellor and Carol Fisher; Tim Anderson and Bernard Scanlon; Shirley Atari and Ian Dovey
Markham: Frank Turton and David Langdon; Daphne and Mike Coggles; Dorothy and Chris Close; Ray Furlonger and Phil Dale
On this occasion Irene and I were instrumental in the Dawes win together with team mates David Hodge and Mark Goddard. Our foursome delivered 119 imps for and 13 against - despite losing the last set 12-0. The tide was obviously about to turn but fortunately the match ended.
This unusual bounty surprisingly started with a missed opportunity on board 1: |
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As South Irene took the slow road to show a strong hand so I probably should have moved on. However I felt I had bid my values so it was one of those auctions where each player can say they did their bit and partner could have done more.
Everyone had trouble bidding this slam but in the good old days Acol players would have had no problems. South would force with 2H then jump to 4H showing solid hearts.
The next missed opportunity was by our opponents on board 5: |
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I do understand that my North hand was not worth a vulnerable 3S but somehow nothing else seemed to do. Now after East`s double West might have bid 6H , but settled for 5H.
I led a small spade and West soon discovered the trump break. Now he tried a superficially reasonable diamond finesse hoping to later discard clubs; but of course Irene took the diamond King and played a club for one off. Is it sensible to suppose that I would easily duck the Q of diamonds with such as Kx? Zia Mahmood has a famous tip: if they dont cover they dont have it. Not always true but in this case reasonable. Moreover if you play Ace and another diamond and North wins all is not lost. Unless North plays a club which you misguess then you can discard your losers in due course.
Another aproach is to play clubs early to find out about the King; then when North shows club honours he probably does not have the diamond King.
Of one thing I am sure : Zia would have found a way to make it.
Board 19 was another high level heart contract to get the hindsight treatment: |
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East showed a strong balanced hand with 2NT and took her time proceeding to the reasonable slam. This led me to seek a passive lead and I selected a spade. Declarer did the normal thing, cashing top hearts and going one down perhaps unluckily. However there is a better line. Firstly the lead slightly suggests that North has the trump queen because a small doubleton heart may seem safer than a spade lead. Secondly and more importantly there is an endplay available. Cash Ace of diamonds and ruff a diamond. Now play King of hearts and finesse the ten. If that loses South has to open up a black suit or give a ruff and discard. Not 100% but close.
Board 19 was notable in another respect; a missed slam by our famously aggressive team mates. The culprit according to David was their complex Italian system. After half a dozen scientific bids they grew weary and settled for game. A pity because they might have made the slam.
In the Porter match Bernard Scanlon and Tim Anderson had the best score and Mike and Daphne Coggles were best in the Markham. |
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