This week saw three major events, not including a session at Ellon. I say major - I only really gave a brass monkey about two of them; the first was just A-N-Other tournament to compete in. Were these events not played out on consecutive nights, they may have merited a blog post of their own. But having played Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I was not going to find time to blog in between.
Here, they come, in order.
Norvite Simultaneous Pairs
This event I had no aspirations for. It is a simultaneous pairs event played throughout the North District. All the hands are pre-dealt, that is to say, fixed. The Convener spends all year finding/composing hands to use, so I'm reliably informed. This is a major departure from Simultaneous competitions run by the SBU, where the computer dealt boards may seem fixed, but they are not. The second difference is that scoring is by aggregate, with a limitation on penalties in place. This requires more of a Teams mentality. Played on a Wednesday night, I was playing with McLeod Senior again. The partnership harmony didn't last long, although in fairness it never does.
A K J 3
10 8 5
5 3 2
9 8 5
Playing the Asking Club (if you know it), Partner opens a Strong 2 Diamonds - 20+ points or a hand as good as, with at least 5 Diamonds. What is your bid here?
My bid (and my subsequent claim that I will do the same again) caused my partner to state that we are going to stop playing together. Which is why I'd like to know if I'm the only person in the world who'd bid what I did here? (Do not guess at what I bid; give me YOURS).
The response structure (for those that want to advise what I should've done in this situation) is as follows:
Bid a 5 card suit or
Bid 2NT to show cover in the other three and some values, and wrong-side 3NT.
Bid 3 Diamonds to show support with no extra values.
4 Clubs is Gerber
Partner had:
5 4 2
---
A K Q J 10 7 4
A Q 2
What do you think partner's rebid should be?
Next up; your hand is:
K
J 7 6 3
A Q 8 6 4 3
7 5
RHO opens 1 Spade, and you intervene with 3 Diamonds. LHO says 4 Clubs, and after RHO agrees clubs, RHO ends up in 6 Spades. What do you lead?
I reckoned our score was a paltry +1000 at the end of the night, but I can't count.
Phoenix Teams of Four Finals
The Phoenix Teams of Four is the club's most prestigious event. Going into the Semi-Finals, we were third, which meant we played 1st place in a knock-out sixteen board match - the unbeaten ROSS team. I think Lessurl and I can be pleased with our efforts.
Things didn't start well; our opponents stopped well in a 3 Heart contract for 140. We traded "misplayed" (or Mis-defended at the other table) game contracts for a +12 and -12 on consecutive boards. 12-17. The next board was flat; my Counterpart and I both made 13 tricks in 4 Spades when the defence didn't cash two top tricks. Then we took over.
Do you want to be in 7 Hearts when you have nine solid tricks from trumps and the minors (trumps drawing easily and no chance of a ruff against you), and your spade holding is J x x x opposite A K 10 x? Thought not. We were, but the queen was singleton (offside), so we got away with +1510 and 11 IMPs.
On the next board, RHO intervened with 4 Diamonds while Lessurl and I were bidding to solid vulnerable Game. We were red, they were White. Bidding 4 Diamonds for a lead might've seemed like a good idea to RHO at the time, but unfortunately for him, his partner sacrificed in 5 Diamonds and we collected 1100.
Next, I made one more trick than I was entitled to in 3NT, giving us a 34-17 lead after seven, eight and nine boards. A mutual disaster for our team saw that lead cut to 34-30 on board ten, and then another -5 and a missed Game cost us dearly, leaving the score at 34-45.
Board 14, in my view, was the crucial board. I held:
A J x x x
A K Q x x
---
x x x
Do I open this 1 Heart or 1 Spade? I opted for 1 Spade. LHO overcalled 2 Diamonds, and partner raised to 4 Spades. RHO bid 5 Diamonds. I considered 5 Hearts, but opted for 5 Spades, which was crucial. It went one down, for -10 IMPs. Had I opted for 5 Hearts, I would have found partner with J 10 x x x x of Hearts, and I'd have made 5. However, our team-mates should have bid and made 6 Diamonds, so our -100 should've been enough to win the match. We lost 40-63.
The other Semi-Final (which played the same sixteen boards) was between the 2nd placed HAY team, and the only twice-beaten team in the Semis, the revamped POMEROY team, sporting a substitute pair. On paper, the Pomeroy team had been weakened, but on paper only. After what I'm sure was a fascinating match, they drew 40-40. It was decided the fairest thing to do, in the spirit of the tournament, was play a two board play-off, which the Pomeroy team won.
Only 73 IMPs were shed in the Third Place Play-Off, as opposed to 103 in our Semi. After taking a 500 and 100 for two beaten Game contracts (the first Doubled), on boards 22 and 23, I would've thought, with reasonably tight play, that would've been enough. Unfortunately, our team-mates had a disaster on Board 24, and in the end we lost by 9 IMPs.
In the end, I'm happy with 4th place. (Disappointed in that it was the worst we could've done going into the last night, but we weren't among the top 4 seeds.) We exceeded expectations, and hope to be regular semi-finalists/ finalists/ winners; one day.
The final was keenly contested. ROSS took the title by the margin of ONE IMP. What a great advert for the Phoenix Club; it is going from strength to strength.
Bridge Club Nova v Phoenix II
The playing of this match went into some doubt as both teams struggled to field teams, and in the end neither side could play eight players from their own pool. (Long live the new substitution rules!) Lessurl and I, having played once for Phoenix II already, were eligible for one more match, and the Captain required it to be this match. I sincerely hope the team does not need subs for their remaining two fixtures.
Bridge Club Nova needed a substitute too, and called in - my Dad. It so happens that one of his pick-up partners is in Nova. My Dad was, of course, happy enough to help, when the phone call came, so both McLeods were subbing for opposite sides.
Boards 1, 2 and 3 (the first three boards we played, although not in sequence) all saw the same contract - 1NT. Lessurl thought he was in 2 and made 8; I ran for 7 in mine, and RHO came down in his. Lessurl and I were not in charitable mood. So, we were edging ahead, and then I had this 3NT:
Q x x
K 7 x x
10 9 x
A x x
A K x x
A 9
A Q x x
x x x
I got a small diamond led, and I tried the 9 from dummy. LHO had indeed led from KJxx, so it held. I next tried three rounds of spades, finishing with the queen, so I could lead away from the ace of clubs, but the spades broke 2-4. LHO pitched a heart on the queen of spades and won my club, returning a heart. I won with the ace and cleared the suit, RHO getting in with a heart. For reasons best known to himself, RHO decided not to cash his two hearts and a spade, and played the Queen of clubs. This I won in dummy after seeing the card LHO played, and ran the ten of diamonds. LHO won with the Jack, but now holds this:
---
---
K x
K
All he can do is cash the club before giving me the AQ of diamonds. 9 tricks.
By all accounts, the boards were against us in the first set, so our team-mates were delighted when we offered +760, leaving us a little over 1700 ahead after six boards.
The second set was not as productive. The boards were against us here too, and our opponents were apt to cash in. They bid two good games. One was solid and the other needed a trump lead to beat it, which I don't blame Lessurl for not finding. We also had the dreaded +170 on a vulnerable board, although I'm not saying Game was cold there. The team was 1190 up at half time.
Playing at Table 3 all night, the third round was against the Nova Captain and his partner, one of Lessurl's regular partners. They started well, bidding a thin but cold vulnerable Game. I then failed to make a 4 Spades which wasn't there. This was the turning point:
K x x x
J
K
K Q 10 9 7 x x
A x x x
K Q x x
x x x x
2
Contract: 4 Spades Doubled by the bottom hand; AC lead.
This was the situation Lessurl faced. Immediately he knows he is hoping for a mis-defence. He gets it. His LHO, looking for the big penalty, leads a small heart to trick 2, underleading the ace. After overcoming his surprise when the Jack holds, Lessurl cashes the Ace and King of spades, with both opponents following both times. He now ruffs a small club - a necessary precaution as LHO led from a singleton. He plays the King of hearts, covered by the ace, and ruffs. He can now run clubs until the final spade appears, collecting +590, and +260 on the set overall.
It is always satisfying to get a plus score for a set where the boards are against you. However, this always requires luck. This was especially true on the last set, where the boards were so skewed against us that "par" would probably have been around the -2000 mark. But Lessurl managed to tempt a mistake from his RHO when playing a 4 Spades contract, and I played the following collection in 3NT:
K x
A 9 x x
x x x
J 9 7 4
A J 6 x
K 10 x
x x
A 6 5 2
You might well ask what on earth we are doing in 3NT. My RHO (McLeod Senior) opened 1 Spade (5 card suit), and Lessurl made a protective double. I failed to deduct 3 points from my hand, and blasted 3NT.
LHO dutifully led a spade, and I beat my Dad's queen with the ace. I have to take the view that if they find a diamond switch at any stage, I'm dead, so I better play as if they're not going to. I play the ten of hearts to set them up, as a minimum of three tricks are required from this suit. LHO plays small, and to my surprise, the ten holds the trick. So that's three spade tricks and three hearts now. I need three from clubs. I cash ace and another heart, and then play the 9 of clubs. Queen appears on my right. I cover with the ace and collect the three from LHO. I now play the 2, and the 8 appears from LHO. I play the 7, and the King comes down. RHO now plays a spade, and I have nine tricks.
My Dad felt that we'd been very "lucky" all night. Yes and no. Yes, there were some clear errors from his side. But then, we had to get ourselves in position to take advantage. That's what people mean when they say good players make their own luck. Mind you, I suppose the addage it is better to be lucky than smart also applies.
Not that we got it all our own way. Going into the last board of the night with a double game swing in the bag, we had +930. We were hoping to offer another "plus that should've been a minus". Unfortunately, our opponents bid the solidest of solid slams, so no such luck. We were -440, our Table 1 team-mates somehow were -190, which meant we were destined for a massive swing. It was enough to win 18-2.
That's it for Lessurl and me playing for Phoenix II this season. Next week, it's back to Phoenix Rising. But, as Lessurl joked, "we should have kept Phoenix II away from relegation". Phoenix I and II sit happily at 1st and 2nd place in Division 1 respectively. Certainly it was our most successful (and luckiest) night of the three.
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