The J.M.Weston Mixed Pairs Final Part II


The J.M.Weston Mixed Pairs Final is certainly a star-studded affair. Almost every table seems to be occupied by champions. By dashing madly round the room we managed to catch sight of just a few of them. The Hamman's were not firing on all cylinders at the start of the session.

Board 18. Dealer East. NS Game
ª J 10 6
© K 7 5 2
¨ 10
§ J 10 8 5 4
ª 7 4 2 ª K Q 8 5
© Q J © 10
¨ J 9 8 6 3 2 ¨ A K Q 5 4
§ 3 2 § 9 7 6
ª A 9 3
© A 9 8 6 4 3
¨ 7
§ A K Q

West North East South
Siwiec Hamman Pasternak Hamman

1¨ 1©
1NT 3© Dble Pass
4¨ Pass Pass Dble
All Pass

Bob Hamman {short description of image}

West's semi-psychic 1NT worked well when his side stole the hand in Four Diamonds doubled. Petra Hamman had forgotten one of Jeff Meckstroth's golden rules - 'When you have a six card major and partner supports it voluntarily, bid game.'

+100 when the defence dropped a trick was poor compensation for missing a heart contract, especially when a slam is laydown.

The West hand simply begs for something to be done when partner opens 1¨ and the popular choice over South's 1© was the bid chosen here, 1NT. When South preferred to double the situation changed.

West North East South
Harris Gotard Budd Gotard

1¨ Dble
1© 2§ 2¨ 2©
2ª 3© 4ª 6©
7¨ Dble All Pass

Full marks to both sides, East-West for trying to put a spanner in the works and North-South for bidding the excellent slam. They collected +1100 and most of the matchpoints. What's your favourite method of responding to an opening bid of 1NT? Perhaps it depends where in the world you live?

We watched this deal a couple of times and remarkably both the North-South pairs were using similar methods despite the fact that they were separated geographically by a rather large ocean.

Board 20. Dealer West. Game All
ª K 10 8
© K 4
¨ A K 8 7 4
§ Q 6 2
ª Q 5 ª 9 7 4 3
© 10 8 6 5 © 7 2
¨ Q 9 ¨ J 10 5
§ 10 9 8 5 4 § K J 7 3
ª A J 6 2
© A Q J 9 3
¨ 6 3 2
§ A

West North East South
Kejriwal Hamman Sicka Hamman

Pass 1NT Pass 2§
Pass 2¨ Pass 3ª
Pass 3NT Pass 4§
Pass 4© Pass 4ª
Pass 4NT All Pass

Three Spades promised 4ª+5© and a good hand. Time pressure was very relevant on this board as the previous one had used up all but 2 minutes of the allotted time and almost certainly influenced South's final pass.

6NT is not much of a contract on a club lead but that is not so easy to find and here East led a heart and Bob Hamman played on diamonds and soon claimed twelve tricks.

West North East South
Helgemo Quantin Munson Delor

Pass 1NT Pass 2§
Pass 2¨ Pass 3ª
Pass 3NT Pass 6NT
All Pass

Elizabeth Delor did not mess around and her practical approach paid dividends when East led the ¨J. The same twelve tricks were recorded but the score was significantly different. The players competing in the Par contest had received a bye into the final of the Mixed Pairs. The draw produced an immediate clash between two of the prizewinners from that event.

Board 21. Dealer North. NS Game
ª K 3
© A 10 6 2
¨ 9 6 4
§ A Q 4 2
ª J 10 4 ª Q 8 7 6 5 2
© J 4 3 © Q 8
¨ A Q J 10 ¨ 8 2
§ 10 7 5 § J 8 6
ª A 9
© K 9 7 5
¨ K 7 5 3
§ K 9 3

West North East South
Rodwell Rosenberg Reynolds McCallum

1§ 1ª Dble
2ª Pass Pass Dble
Pass 3© Pass 4©
All Pass

Michael Rosenberg {short description of image}

The players were in a relaxed mood and there was some good-natured banter as the bidding tray went backwards and forwards. Michael Rosenberg had left both boards on the tray and this meant the screen had to be lifted at one point. It descended unexpectedly and with speed, causing Eric Rodwell to apologise if he had 'guillotined' anyone. Meanwhile Karen McCallum was busy depositing her hand face up on the floor. Eric gallantly collected them for her, having realised she was about to be dummy. Suggestions that she might have enjoyed a good evening the night before were quickly refuted.

On this layout 3NT will make easily but is hardly a realistic resting-place when you know you have a 4-4 heart fit. Rosenberg won the spade lead in dummy and cashed the king of hearts. He then ducked a heart to East's queen. The play from here has been discussed elsewhere in today's bulletin, but when Leslie Reynolds played a second spade declarer won in hand, drew the last trump and taking East's bid at face value, led a diamond to the king. One down.

Board 22. Dealer East. EW Game
ª A 10 6 2
© K
¨ 6 4
§ 10 9 7 6 5 4
ª 9 3 ª K Q 4
© A J 6 4 © 5
¨ J 10 5 3 ¨ K Q 9 8 7 2
§ J 3 2 § A K 8
ª J 8 7 5
© Q 10 9 8 7 3 2
¨ A
§ Q

West North East South
Rodwell Rosenberg Reynolds McCallum

1¨ 1©
1NT 2§ 2NT 3©
Dble All Pass

Eric explains to Leslie why he doubled {short description of image}

Eric Rodwell clearly had an itchy trigger finger early in the morning, but this was the wrong time to pull it with 5¨ laydown.

The contract failed by one trick.

It seemed logical to visit the other half of the 'Meckwell' combination and we arrived just in time to witness a hot defence against one of the top French pairs.

Board 26. Dealer East. Game All
ª 5 3 2
© A 9 8 5 2
¨ Q 6
§ Q 8 7
ª J 10 8 7 4 ª K 9
© 6 4 © Q J 10
¨ 10 7 ¨ K J 8 3
§ A 9 5 2 § K J 4 3
ª A Q 6
© K 7 3
¨ A 9 5 4 2
§ 10 6

West North East South
Cronier Meckstroth Rossard Chambers

1¨ Pass
1ª Pass 1NT Pass
2ª All Pass

Juanita Chambers {short description of image}

Jeff Meckstroth led the §7 which ran to declarer's ace. He tried the six of hearts from hand and North went up with the ace and switched to the ¨6. Knowing what his opponent was capable of persuaded Phillipe Cronier to go up with the king. South won and returned a diamond to North's queen. Back came a heart to the ace and when South continued with a diamond declarer elected to discard the §2. Now the defenders had seven tricks and the all-important +200.

Results Contents
Mixed Pairs Final Session 1, Session 2
Zonal Mixed PairsSession 1
Continuous Pairs
Mixed Pairs Final I
A meaningful partscore
Old theme revisited
Mixed Pairs Final II



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