The Tollemache Final
In the dark days of November Suffolk qualified – for the very first time – for the final of the Tollemache, the national county championship. Last weekend, in the only slightly lighter days of February, they contested that final. Sadly there was no fairy-tale ending; Suffolk came seventh of eight with only the consolation of bettering Eastern Counties rivals, Bedfordshire.
It is indeed tough at the top and we certainly didn't – or perhaps weren't allowed to – play as well as we had in the qualifier. We needed a good start and looked on the draw that matched us with the North East in round one as favourable; we had after all, beaten them in qualifying. At my table they missed game on the first board, this was the second:
| NS Vul. Dealer East | ♠ 9 | ||
| ♥ 72 | |||
| ♦ KJ97652 | |||
| ♣ Q54 | |||
| ♠ KJ87 | ♠ 106543 | ||
| ♥ KQ5 | ♥ 64 | ||
| ♦ A104 | ♦ 8 | ||
| ♣ 763 | ♣ AJ982 | ||
| ♠ AQ2 | |||
| ♥ AJ10983 | |||
| ♦ Q3 | |||
| ♣ K10 | |||
| West | North | East | South | |
| Gobert | N. East | Chambers | N. East | |
| 2♠* | 2NT | |||
| 4♠ | X | End |
My two-spade opener showed 5-9 HCP with five spades and five of a minor. The opponent's calls all look a little skewed, North's double especially so, but it was right to defend. I took a finesse of the ten of clubs for the contract (the auction having marked the trump position), down one and -100. One of our North-Souths sold to three spades for -140 but the other declared four hearts doubled. That was more painful; -500 and Suffolk didn't have the start wanted.
That two-suited gadget seemed more effective in the opponents' hands:
| EW Vul. Dealer West | ♠ --- | ||
| ♥ K8542 | |||
| ♦ J109872 | |||
| ♣ 87 | |||
| ♠ 985 | ♠ K10632 | ||
| ♥ AQ103 | ♥ 6 | ||
| ♦ 5 | ♦ AKQ64 | ||
| ♣ Q5432 | ♣ J5 | ||
| ♠ AQJ74 | |||
| ♥ J97 | |||
| ♦ 3 | |||
| ♣ AK109 | |||
| West | North | East | South | |
| Green | E. Wales | Chambers | E. Wales | |
| Pass | 2♥* | 2♠ | Pass | |
| 3♠ | Pass | 4♠ | X | |
| End | ||||
Two hearts was weak, five-five, hearts and a minor and we propelled ourselves to game. Ouch. I lost an extra trick (taking a naïve view of trumps) and was four down for -1100. It was a litany of disaster; our other East-West declared better in the same contract (and on a favourable lead, a heart from North) and so were only -500. The bold North-Souths got to play heart contracts, one doubled for -800 the other undoubled for -200 and we were left consulting the outer reaches of the IMP scale.
But some perspective; we were against the best in the country and Suffolk has a fraction of the resources of say, Middlesex and Manchester who were first and second respectively. The important test will arrive next November when we seek to prove our position at the top table was not a fluke.
Published Saturday 20.Feb.2010