Mixed Qualifying Session Three

With one qualifying session to play in the Mixed Pairs, many pairs were fighting to get into the qualifying places while others were secure and looking to maximize their carry-over - a significant factor as it carries the weight of a full session in the final. Having picked a very dull series of boards in the first session, my choice proved to be much more lively this time.

Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
	ª Q © K J 8 4 ¨ J 8 5 § J 9 7 6 5
ª A 10 9 8 5 © 6 5 3 ¨ A Q 6 4 § 2		ª K 7 6 2 © Q 9 ¨ 10 7 3 § A Q 10 4
	ª J 4 3 © A 10 7 2 ¨ K 9 2 § K 8 3

At my first table the deal was passed out by Gary & Jan Soules/Barry Rigal & Sue Picus - not a great start to my day. However, there was more action when I watched the deal for a second time.

West	North	East	South
Thuillez	Forrester	Thuillez	Wei-Sender
			Pass
1ª	Pass	3NT	Pass
4ª	All Pass

Pascale Thuillez's 3NT response to husband Laurent's opening bid showed a balanced four-card raise to game. Not surprisingly, Laurent had no interest in going beyond game. Tony Forrester led the §7 and Laurent won dummy's ace and had to pick up the trumps without loss to bring home his contract, given that the diamond suit was lying favourably. A lot of matchpoints swung on declarer's play. Forrester's opening lead was unclear but looked as though it might be from shortage and it seemed normal to start with the ªA from hand. There was an unavoidable spade loser now and Thuillez was down one for -50.

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
	ª J 3 © Q 9 3 ¨ A J 10 § A Q J 6 3
ª Q 5 4 © A 4 ¨ K 6 4 2 § 10 7 5 2		ª A K 10 9 8 7 2 © 8 7 ¨ Q 9 3 § K
	ª 6 © K J 10 6 5 2 ¨ 8 7 5 § 9 8 4

West	North	East	South
Soules	Rigal	Soules	Picus
Pass	1NT	2§	2¨
Dble	2©	2ª	3©
3ª	4§	4ª	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Thuillez	Forrester	Thuillez	Wei-Sender
Pass	1NT	2©	2NT
3ª	4§	4ª	All Pass

In the first auction Jan Soules' 2§ overcall showed any single-suiter. Two Diamonds was a transfer and the double showed some diamonds and values. In the second auction, 2© was a transfer overcall and 2NT Lebensohl. Forrester's 4§ bid showed willingness to compete in whichever suit his partner held.

Sue Picus led the king of hearts and Jan Soules won the ace, drew two rounds of trumps and played a diamond to her queen. She exited with a heart and Picus won and switched to a club. Rigal won and played back the §J. Declarer could ruff but had no option but to pray for a doubleton ace of diamonds; down one for -100.

Forrester led the jack of spades. Thuillez won the ace and cashed the king, on which Kathie Wei-Sender threw the §9, reverse. Declarer played the §K, Wei-Sender following with the eight, and Forrester won the ace. A heart switch defeats the contract, and perhaps Wei-Sender intended the second club as suit preference for hearts. But if declarer had ©KJ rather than the ace, Forrester did not wish to open up the suit. If partner held the §7, a second club would be safe, and after some thought he played the §Q. Thuillez ruffed that and crossed to hand with a trump to lead the §7. Forrester covered and a few seconds later declarer had claimed ten tricks, the heart loser disappearing on the established club; +620 and a lot of matchpoints for the French pair.

Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª J 6 3 © K 9 7 6 5 4 ¨ 3 § A 10 8
ª K 10 9 5 4 © 8 ¨ A 5 4 2 § K Q J		ª Q 8 7 © Q J 10 2 ¨ J 9 8 § 9 5 3
	ª A 2 © A 3 ¨ K Q 10 7 6 § 7 6 4 2

West	North	East	South
Peel	Rigal	Topp	Picus
	2©	Pass	2NT
Pass	3¨	Pass	4©
All Pass

West	North	East	South
Katz	Lev	Katz	Sokolow
	2¨	Pass	3©
Dble	All Pass

North's heart suit is nothing to get excited about but we would all open with a weak two bid at this vulnerability, as did Rigal and Lev. Picus enquired and, on finding that she faced a maximum hand but with a bad suit, bid game. This looks very aggressive to me and it resulted in a very poor game being reached.

Gretchen Topp found the best lead of a club and Stephen Peel was allowed to hold the first trick with the jack. He continued with the §K to the ace and Rigal played a diamond to king and ace. Peel cashed the club then exited with a diamond. Rigal drew two rounds of trumps and got his spades away on the minor-suit winners, but the two trump losers meant that he was down two for -100.

Tobi Sokolow responded 3©, pass or correct, to Sam Lev's multi. Ralph Katz doubled for take-out and Martha converted that to penalties. The club lead was easier to find with South as declarer. Sokolow won immediately and led the diamond to the king and ace. Katz cashed the §J then §Q before switching to a spade for the jack, queen and ace. Again, declarer could avoid a spade loser, but the bad trump split meant down one for -100.

Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª 6 5 © Q 8 6 2 ¨ A 6 3 § Q J 4 3
ª K 10 © A 9 7 3 ¨ K Q J 5 § 9 6 2		ª A Q 9 8 7 © K 10 5 ¨ 10 4 § K 8 5
	ª J 4 3 2 © J 4 ¨ 9 8 7 2 § A 10 7

West	North	East	South
Peel	Rigal	Topp	Picus
		1NT	Pass
2§	Pass	2ª	Pass
2NT	Pass	3ª	Pass
3NT	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Katz	Lev	Katz	Sokolow
		1ª	Pass
2¨	Pass	2NT	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Topp's 1NT opening was 10-14 and her 3ª bid accepted the game invitation while showing the fifth spade. Picus led a top of nothing diamond and Rigal won the ace to switch to the queen of clubs. That was ducked so he continued with a low club. Declarer has only eight winners even if she guesses to play low on this trick, short of some inspiration in spades. Play was speeded up considerably when Topp rose with the king and the defence cashed out for one down; -50.

With dummy having bid diamonds, there was a serious danger that Sokolow would give a trick on the opening lead - diamonds are the only safe suit to lead. Sure enough, she chose the jack of hearts, and now declarer had a chance. Katz took a long time to play to trick one before finally winning dummy's ace and playing on diamonds. Lev ducked the diamond twice and now Katz decided finesse the ©10 then switch her attention to spades. When the suit failed to behave as required, she played a fourth round to Sokolow's jack. Sokolow put Lev in with the ace of diamonds and he switched to the queen of clubs. When declarer covered the first club, the defence had the rest of the tricks as Lev had kept nothing but clubs; down two for -100.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª 8 © A J 9 8 ¨ A 8 3 § K 10 5 4 2
ª A K 4 © Q 7 5 4 2 ¨ 2 § Q 9 6 3		ª 10 7 3 2 © 10 3 ¨ K Q 7 6 4 § A J
	ª Q J 9 6 5 © K 6 ¨ J 10 9 5 § 8 7

West	North	East	South
Weichsel	Lev	Meltzer	Sokolow
			Pass
1©	Pass	1ª	Pass
2ª	Dble	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Thuillez	Ewashkiw	Thuillez	St. Amant
			Pass
1©	Pass	1ª	Pass
2§	Pass	2NT	All Pass

Both Wests thought that their hand was worth an opening bid despite the vulnerability and lack of intermediates. Peter Weichsel made the normal American rebid of 2ª while Laurent Thuillez made the normal French rebid of 2§ - the French are very keen on four-card support for an immediate raise.

The French auction saw Pascale rebid 2NT, which she managed to bring home after a diamond lead to the ace and a diamond back; +120.

Lev passed over 1© but then made a take-out double when the opposition found a fit in his short suit. Sokolow was happy to pass with her excellent spade holding. She led the jack of diamonds to the ace and Lev switched to his trump. Rose Meltzer won the king of spades and played a club to the jack then cashed the §A and ¨KQ. She ruffed a diamond low next but when she now tried for a club ruff in hand Sokolow could over-ruff and return a trump to the bare king. That was one down for -200.

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

West	North	East	South
Weichsel	Lev	Meltzer	Sokolow
3§	Pass	Pass	3NT
All Pass

West	North	East	South
Thuillez	Ewashkiw	Thuillez	St. Amant
3§	Pass	Pass	Dble
Pass	4©	Pass	5§
Pass	5©	All Pass

When Weichsel's pre-empt came around to her, Sokolow made what looks to be the normal call of 3NT, where she played. Weichsel led a club and Sokolow won in hand and started to run the diamonds. After following to one diamond each, West threw four spades while East threw four clubs. Now Sokolow had a unfortunate physical lapse when she pulled the §2 instead of the last diamond. Of course, although she spotted the error immediately, the card was played. A spade towards her hand would have allowed Sokolow to make no less than twelve tricks, but she had convinced herself that the ªA was offside and instead tried the jack of hearts, the idea being to create an entry to hand with the ©Q. When Weichsel had the heart and could cash a club, Sokolow had an awkward discard and chose the winning diamond as Meltzer threw another spade. Weichsel exited with a heart and Sokolow again went wrong, winning in hand and trying to split the hearts rather than winning in dummy to lead to the ªK. That meant she made only nine tricks for a very poor score.

The play of the ©J looks wrong as if the ªA is with West then surely the ©K will be with East and a spade will come through the king. Better to just play for the ªA to be onside - but it is easy to lose a little concentration after making one of these once-a-year physical slips.

Canadian pair Malcom Ewashkiw and Charlotte St. Amant reached an uncomfortable spot when St. Amant chose to make a take-out double of 3§ rather than overcall 3NT. When Ewashkiw jumped to 4©, St.Amant could see that slam might be possible opposite the right hand - as little as ©AKxxx, perhaps - and made a slam try, which Ewashkiw quickly rejected. Ewashkiw won the club lead in dummy to take the heart finesse and was delighted to find the doubleton king onside. He switched his attention to diamonds now and there was nothing the defence could do; eleven tricks for +650.