Slams by the sea
Returning to the dual themes of the previous column, of Brighton and the fates, last weekend's competition on the south coast was the teams event. My source, who, though from outside the county, prefers to remain anonymous, offered this deal as indicative of his fortunes a week after a torrid time in the pairs:
| ♠ AK108 | |||||||
| ♥ A74 | |||||||
| ♦ J62 | |||||||
| ♣ 642 | |||||||
| ♠ J75 | ♠ Q963 | ||||||
| ♥ QJ98532 | ♥ K106 | ||||||
| ♦ 5 | ♦ K983 | ||||||
| ♣ 83 | ♣ Q5 | ||||||
| ♠ 42 | |||||||
| ♥ none | |||||||
| ♦ AQ1074 | |||||||
| ♣ AKJ1097 | |||||||
| West | North | East | South | ||||
| 2♥ | Pass | Pass | 3♥* | ||||
| Pass | 4♥* | Pass | 5♣ | ||||
| Pass | 5♠ | Pass | 6♦ | ||||
| Pass | 6♠ | Pass | 7♣ | ||||
| End | |||||||
The auction has a certain charm to it; a remembrance of early stumblings spiced with a modern cue-bid. All was well however - clubs were 2-2, the diamond finesse worked, all the tricks were there. Moreover opponents managed only a part-score, recording an ignominious +190. Alas, despite this deal the match escaped them - perhaps due to using up all their luck on one board.
It is rightly said that you should not bid grand slams unless you can count the tricks. For the contract to be sound the chances have to be comfortably odds-on - even if you are assured your opponents will reach the six level. Another example from the same competition with Suffolk players Maria Allnutt and Debby Sutcliffe in the spotlight:
| ♠ AK83 | ♠ Q10 | ||||||
| ♥ A107 | ♥ 4 | ||||||
| ♦ K9873 | ♦ AQ102 | ||||||
| ♣ A | ♣ KJ10972 | ||||||
| 1♦ | 3♥* | ||||||
| 4N* | 5♦* | ||||||
| 5♥* | 6♣ | ||||||
| 7♦ | |||||||
After three hearts showed a shortage with diamond support, 4NT was key-card and the follow-up asked for the trump queen. The six club response affirmed that together with the club king. Thirteen tricks had to be there with either black queen or five card support and a few clubs to ruff. There is still excitement in reaching the seven level whether world champion or tyro but though this contract was a lock, there was only marginal reward as the opponents subsided at three no-trump when south opened a frisky pre-empt. Still it was fun and despite their overall misfortunes, even my friends had some courtesy of that first deal.
Published Saturday 27.Aug.2005