Mixed Pairs Final Session Two

Kit and Sally Woolsey started the second session of the final in fifth place. For our first two deals they faced the formidable Maria Erhart of Austria, partnering J B Terettaz of Switzerland.

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

Maria opened the South hand with a weak 2© and Kit overcalled 2NT. Terettaz competed with 3© and Maria, who is a law unto herself when it comes to the rules of bidding, judged to go on to 4©, though partner's 3© is not normally considered to be invitational. Kit doubled that but Sally pulled to 5§, doubled by Terettaz. Erhart led the ace of spades then switched to ¨Q then ¨J. Terettaz allowed that to hold so Erhart switched to a heart. Sally won and drew trumps but still had to lose another diamond for down two; -500.

What would have happened to 4© doubled? On two rounds of clubs, declarer can ruff, unblock the diamonds and play a heart to the king. The low spades go away on the diamonds and there are just two trumps to lose; +590. Ace and another heart takes out the dummy entry prematurely but costs a trump trick, so it looks as though the only winning defence is to cash a top club then switch to the eight of hearts while the diamonds are blocked. Now the defence comes to two trumps and an eventual spade trick.

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

West	North	East	South
Kit W	Terettaz	Sally W	Erhart
Pass	1§	2¨	2ª
4¨	4ª	Pass	4NT
Pass	5ª	Pass	5NT
Pass	6¨	Pass	6ª
All Pass

The East/West pre-emption did not cause too many problems for North/South. There was apparently a slight mix-up with the responses to 4/5NT but the final contract was a normal one. Kit led the queen of diamonds and Erhart won dummy's ace and played a spade to the ace then back to the king. Her next move was to cash the top clubs and, when the queen appeared, to cash the remainder of the clubs. Finally, she picked the heart suit correctly to make 13 tricks; +1460.

Not a good round for the Woolseys.

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.
	ª 10 9 7 6 © K J ¨ A K Q 9 § J 4 2
ª 5 4 3 © 10 9 8 7 3 ¨ 5 3 § A K 7		ª A Q 2 © A Q 5 2 ¨ 8 2 § Q 9 8 6
	ª K J 8 © 6 4 ¨ J 10 7 6 4 § 10 5 3

Going into Session two of the final, Steve Robinson and Beth Palmer were lying in a handy fourth place. We start with a pair of boards where they faced Benito Garozzo and Lea Dupont.

After two passes, Robinson opened the North hand with 1¨ and Dupont doubled. Palmer made a pre-emptive raise to 3¨ and Garozzo bid 3©, ending the auction. Robinson led the ¨Q, collecting the jack from Palmer, then the ace, on which palmer played a suit-preference ten. Robinson duly switched to the ten of spades but Garozzo rose with the ace and crossed to hand with a club to lead the ©10 to king and ace. He returned to hand with a second club to repeat the heart finesse and, when the jack appeared and the clubs broke, had ten tricks; +170.

Board 12. Dealer West. N/S Vul.
	ª 6 4 © Q 10 8 7 2 ¨ 8 6 2 § A Q J
ª A K © J 5 4 ¨ K Q 10 9 7 3 § 5 2		ª Q 10 9 7 3 © K 6 3 ¨ A § K 8 6 4
	ª J 8 5 2 © A 9 ¨ J 5 4 § 10 9 7 3

West	North	East	South
Garozzo	Robinson	Dupont	Palmer
1¨	1©	1ª	Pass
2¨	Pass	2©	Dble
Pass	Pass	Rdbl	Pass
2ª	Pass	3©	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Garozzo/Dupont had a careful auction to 3NT. Robinson led a heart to the ace and back came the ©9 to ten and king. There was little option but to cash the ace of diamonds and cross to a top spade. Garozzo cashed the diamonds then the other spade but that was all, nine tricks for +400.

Board 13. Dealer North. All Vul.
	ª 10 5 © K 4 2 ¨ 10 6 5 4 § 10 5 4 2
ª A Q © J 10 6 ¨ K 9 2 § A J 9 8 7		ª K 9 8 3 2 © A 9 5 ¨ A Q 8 7 § Q
	ª J 7 6 4 © Q 8 7 3 ¨ J 3 § K 6 3

Next up were Andy Robson and Rita Shugart. Robinson/Palmer sat and watched as their opponents had the uncontested auction: 1ª - 2§ - 2¨ - 2© - 3NT - 4ª - Pass, where 2§ was game-forcing but 3NT showed extras anyway. Palmer led a low heart to the jack, king and ace. Shugart cashed the ace and queen of spades then led a diamond to hand to cash the ªK. She continued with a heart and Palmer took the queen to cash the jack of spades. She switched to a club and Shugart won the ace and cashed the ¨K then ran the nine of diamonds, trusting in restricted choice. That worked very nicely for her; +650.

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª Q 6 3 © K 4 3 ¨ 9 5 4 2 § K Q 9
ª A J 9 7 2 © A 10 9 ¨ A 3 § J 3 2		ª - © Q 8 6 5 ¨ K Q J 10 7 § A 10 8 7
	ª K 10 8 5 4 © J 7 2 ¨ 8 6 § 6 5 4

Robson/Shugart again had an uninterrupted auction to game. This time it went: 1¨ - 1ª - 2§ - 2© - 3© - 3NT - Pass. Robinson led the queen of clubs, showing the king. Robson ducked that so Robinson switched to a diamond. Robson thought about that for a good while before winning in hand and leading the nine of hearts. When Robinson played low, Robson ran it to the jack. Palmer returned a heart and Robson ducked it to the king.

obinson switched to a spade now but declarer had the rest; +430 but, one imagines a poor score for East/West.

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

West	North	East	South
Krauss	Robinson	Kennedy	Palmer
			1¨
2©	Dble	Pass	2NT
Pass	3©	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Krauss led the king of hearts and, when that held, continued with the jack. With Kennedy following upwards playing standard signals, Palmer was not sure that the hearts were six-two. She took a while to win the second heart then cashed the queen and jack of spades. Next she crossed to a diamond and cashed the remaining spades then the king of diamonds. When she next led the queen of diamonds, she had to decide whether to overtake, correct if the suit was three-three and West held the §Q, or let it hold and force an entry to hand in clubs. She correctly chose the second option so had eleven tricks for +660.

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

West	North	East	South
Krauss	Robinson	Kennedy	Palmer
Pass	1§	1ª	2ª
3ª	All Pass

Perhaps it would have been wiser for Don Krauss to double the 2ª bid - limit raise plus in clubs - but he chose to make the 3ª raise that would make life more difficult for his opponents instead. Palmer found the good lead of a trump to the nine and ten. Betty Ann Kennedy crossed to the ace of hearts and led a low diamond off the table. Robinson went in with the ace and returned a trump. Kennedy ran that to the eight and led a heart. Robinson won the ©K and exited with the ªQ. As declarer won this trick, Palmer made the error as the cards lie of pitching a club. Having done her best to leave the club suit to the defenders to open up, Kennedy had finally reached the point where she had to bite the bullet and lead them herself. She led a club up and Palmer rose with the ace and exited with the §10 to dummy's king. Note that the defence would still have been OK for down two had she instead led a red card while the clubs were still blocked. As it was, Kennedy could win the §K, give up a heart, and ruff the next red card. When the remaining clubs proved to be one-one, she could establish an extra club trick for down one; -100.

Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.
	ª K Q © A 5 ¨ 8 7 4 § K J 10 9 7 2
ª 10 7 © Q 10 9 6 4 3 ¨ Q 5 3 § 5 3		ª J 6 5 4 © J 2 ¨ A K J 2 § A 6 4
	ª A 9 8 3 2 © K 8 7 ¨ 10 9 6 § Q 8

West	North	East	South
Lev	Hackett	Sokolow	Sekizawa
			Pass
Pass	1NT	Pass	2©
Dble	Pass	Pass	2NT
Pass	3§	Pass	3NT
All Pass

Jason Hackett stretched a trifle to open a 15-17 no trump and Miho Sekizawa transferred then invited game with 2NT. Jason suggested that 3§ might be a good spot but Sekizawa showed touching faith in her partner's ability to make bricks out of straw and went back to 3NT.

Tobi Sokolow started with the ace of diamonds but was unable to read her partner's signal and switched to the jack of hearts. Jason won that in hand to lead to the queen of clubs and, when that held, lead back to his ten and Sokolow's ace. That is the best play to attempt to conceal the true club position but the defenders should probably work it out anyway. Now came the critical moment in the hand. When Sokolow continued with a second heart, being convinced that declarer must hold the ¨Q for his opening bid, Jason was home. He won the ©K and crossed to the king of spades to run the clubs. On the last club, Sokolow came down to the bare king of diamonds to keep two spades. Jason cashed the ªQ and exited with a diamond, using Sokolow as a stepping stone to the ªA; ten tricks and a huge +630.

Board 24. Dealer West. None Vul.
	ª J 4 © Q J 8 4 ¨ K Q J 9 § J 6 2
ª Q 7 6 © A 10 3 ¨ 10 7 6 5 § Q 9 3		ª A K 10 8 2 © 9 7 5 ¨ A § 10 8 7 5
	ª 9 5 3 © K 6 2 ¨ 8 4 3 2 § A K 4

West	North	East	South
Lev	Hackett	Sokolow	Sekizawa
Pass	1¨	1ª	2ª
Dble	3¨	3ª	All Pass

Sokolow won the diamond lead and played an immediate club towards the dummy. Had Sekizawa been able to play low smoothly, declarer might well have gone wrong, but it was not easy to do and in practice she rose with the king and played a second diamond. Sokolow ruffed and played a second club up and again Sekizawa went in with her winner. When Jason followed to the second club with the jack, Sekizawa read that as showing heart values and switched to a low heart. That was ducked and Jason won and returned the suit. Sokolow won the ©A and drew three rounds of trumps before unblocking the club; +140 and a good score for the Americans - at least on the traveller.

Board 25. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	ª A Q J 7 © Q 8 5 2 ¨ 10 9 7 2 § A
ª K 10 3 2 © J 10 6 ¨ K J 6 5 § K 4		ª 9 5 © A 9 4 ¨ A Q 4 3 § 10 8 6 3
	ª 8 6 4 © K 7 3 ¨ 8 § Q J 9 7 5 2

The Woolseys came around to face Hackett/Sekizawa. On this deal Hackett opened 1¨ as North and passed the 1NT response. Kit's lead of the ©J ran to declarer's king and Sekizawa took the spade finesse then played a low heart off the table, hoping to drop a doubleton ace. Sally won the ace and switched to a diamond for Kit's jack. He switched to his low club to the bare ace. Sekizawa was not confident enough to lead another heart away from the queen and instead exited with a diamond, hoping that the defence would eventually have to do something to help her. The Woolseys simply took all their winners for down one; -50.

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

This was a triumph for the weak no trump as the Woolseys bid it 1NT - 3NT - Pass. Jason might have bid on the North cards, but it would have been a brave action when vulnerable. On a non-club lead declarer has an easy time. Sekizawa led the queen of hearts and Sally won in hand and took the spade finesse. Jason won and led ace and another club. Sally cashed her winners and conceded the last trick to Sekizawa's ©10; ten tricks for +630.