Monday 27 January 2025
Blewbury lost to Abingdon A

90 to 219 IMPs
2.24 to 17.76 VPs

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Congratulations to Diane and Shiv for coming top of the Blewbury IMPs!

For what it's worth, only two of Abingdon's four pairs went plus in the cross-IMPs.  Unfortunately, those two pairs scored monstrously.

ABINGDON: Nigel Wilkes & Gillian Lonsdale +2.51 IMPs
ABINGDON: Peter Jackson & Alison Jackson +2.00 IMPs
ABINGDON: Gordon Carroll & David Walton -0.21 IMPs
BLEWBURY: Diane Bell & Shiv Datt -0.50 IMPs
BLEWBURY: Finn Clark & Mike Brown -0.61 IMPs
ABINGDON: Peter Litchfield & John Briggs -0.72 IMPs
BLEWBURY: Ian van Maanen & Matt Wright -1.18 IMPs
BLEWBURY: Dermot Paddon & Nigel Carter -1.29 IMPs

BOARD 1 = -4 IMPs

4♠ everywhere, making 12 tricks except at our table.  Nigel Wilkes doubled Mike's 2♥ transfer, so Gillian Lonsdale led ace and another heart.  I was actually quite pleased to make ten tricks!

BOARD 2 = -52 IMPs

Our heaviest loss. Abingdon bid and made two vulnerable slams, while Blewbury stopped in 3NT+1 and 4♠+2.

I was discussing this hand afterwards with Nigel and Dermot.  I think South should open 2NT, upgrading the 19-count because of the good five-card diamond suit.  That makes it easy for North to blast 6♠.  If the auction starts 1♦ 1♠ and a 2♥ overcall from East (as happened at Nigel and Dermot's table), South's a bit stuffed and has no sensible way of expressing his hand.

6♠ is risky, mind you.  When the defence lead hearts, you've got to cross your fingers.  Swap the East-West hands and this would have been +50-odd IMPs for Blewbury, not for Abingdon.

For what it's worth, my system with Stuart opens all strong balanced hands with a bid that shows your hand type immediately.  1NT is 15-17, 2♦ is 18-19, 2NT is 20-22, etc.  That immediately makes life easy on hands like this...  and that's not just a convention for experts.  On the contrary, I think beginners would gain the most from it, because anyone can reach sensible contracts when partner starts with a super-informative bid like that.

BOARD 3 = -14 IMPs

3NT+2 everywhere except for 3♦+3 by Diane and Shiv. This hand is actually almost identical to Hand 2, in that North-South can make a lucky-but-unbreakable 6♦ that depends on a major-suit king being well-placed. (That said, though, it's only a 24-point slam. As the traveller shows, it's harder to bid than Board 2.)

Conservative bidding (if you're playing a strong 1NT) might go something like 1NT 3NT. North doesn't have the points, but look at those diamonds.

f you gave this hand as a problem to Stuart and me, would we reach the slam?  South have opened a 15-17 1NT, North would reply 2NT (diamond transfer), South might have bid 3♣ (transfer break with maximum points and three card support, although J73 isn't a beautiful holding) and North would then just blast 6♦.  If you're confident of seven diamond tricks and in addition South holds a maximum strong no-trump, why not give it a go?  After all, the opponents don't know what suits declarer has.

For what it's worth, I'm not a fan of 1NT 2♠ to mean "an undisclosed minor". It's okay most of the time, but it makes life impossible when responder has a long minor and slam interest. With all my regular partners, I insist on having a transfer bid to clubs and another one to diamonds.

BOARD 4 = -28 IMPs

Blewbury went minus at all four tables. 1NT-2 by the Blewbury Norths, a successful 1NT by Peter Lichfield and finally 3♣-1 by me. I couldn't bid 2♣ over Nigel Wilkes's weak 1NT because we were playing Landy, so I went for the dodgy and ultra-aggressive option.

Double-dummy, the computer thinks the par result is 1♥+1 by West on a 3-4 fit. That's the last making contract.

BOARD 5 = -28 IMPs

A colourful hand. 5♥x-2, 5♥x-1, 4♠-3 and 4♣ making (should have gone off).

The auction's challenging. Let's say North opens 1♣, East overcalls 1♥ and South bids 1♠. Nothing controversial yet. West now holds a mountain. Four-card support for partner's heart overcall, a singleton in North's suit and a good five-card diamond suit on the side (KJ982). If you play fit-jumps, 3♦ is a beautiful bid here, telling partner about all that at once (except the singleton).  East can now look with love at his ♦A106, see a double fit in the red suits and bid the unbeatable 4♥.

North-South, on the other hand, have traps lying in store. They have a double fit in the black suits... but it plays like a drain. Clubs is better than spades because you want North to be declarer with ♥Kx under East's ace. (The 3♦ bid from West is particularly good for another reason, incidentally, because it tells East what to lead if you're defending.)

I got the defence wrong against 4♣. Disliking everything, I led a spade. On eventually getting in with the trump king, I could see that declarer was going to make a million tricks in the black suits as soon as he regained the lead. I played my red aces, on which Mike played the ♥7 and the ♦8. Those both looked encouraging. He'd supported hearts and hadn't bid diamonds. I played a heart... which was wrong and declarer took the rest.

The factor I'd overlooked was that Mike had thrown the ♥5 on the first round of clubs, so careful study of the pips would have shown that the ♥7 was actually the lowest outstanding heart.  (This is one of those occasions when McKinney is a hindrance...  natural signals would make the defence easy, but Mike's spare cards in the majors are all unhelpful 5,6,7 cards that don't send the signal he wants to convey.  And, of course, it's impossible in McKinney to encourage diamonds by throwing a diamond.) That said, though: (a) higher signals were available than the diamond eight, and (b) we'd already underbid by stopping short of 4♥. (The game needs a successful diamond guess, though.)

BOARD 6 = flat

Ten tricks in diamonds by South...  but 3NT makes the same ten tricks and is unbeatable.  (Seven diamonds and three aces.)  It's hard to diagnose, but Nigel Wilkes's reaction as dummy showed that he was unhappy about missing it.

BOARD 7 = +14 IMPs

Blewbury's first good board, thanks to 4♥ from Ian and Matt.  It's only a combined 22 points, but East and West have good suits.

BOARD 8 = -2 IMPs

Almost flat.  Our table could have made another overtrick, but Mike might have been misled by Peter Jackson's (non-jump!) 2♦ overcall on ♠108 ♥A6 ♦J10832 ♣J943.  Even I wouldn't do that opposite a partner who hasn't had a chance to speak yet.  (If partner has a good hand, you're at serious risk of going too high...  but that pair certainly scored well this evening.)

BOARD 9 = -8 IMPs

3♣ came home successfully for three Norths (Diane made an overtrick), but there was also a 3♠-2 from Nigel and Dermot.

BOARD 10 = +29 IMPs

Blewbury's best board, thanks again to a successful 4♥ contract from Ian and Matt.  It really shouldn't have made, but that's how matches are won.

BOARD 11 = -17 IMPs

This was due to me and Mike conceding 570 on a part-score hand from 3♦x+1. Alison Jackson opened a weak no-trump and Mike bid 2♣ (Landy) with ♠KJ974 ♥KQ10984 ♦void ♣53. Peter Jackson made a lead-directing double and I bid 2♦ to ask for partner's longer major.  Mike duly bid 2♥.  Peter Jackson bid 3♦ and I doubled, holding ♦AKxx.  Whoops.

Obviously, my double was unnecessary and expensive. Had I held Mike's hand, though, I'd have made a jump bid of 3♥ in response to 2♦. The hand's enormous, after all, and the jump will do three things. Firstly, it'll make it easier to bid 4♥. (It's unmakeable double-dummy, but North has a horrible lead problem.) Secondly, it'll probably shut out the opponents. Thirdly, it'll warn partner about the distribution and make it easier to get doubling decisions right.

BOARD 12 = +6 IMPs

North-South normally concedes 200 in either 1NT or 2♥. Mike and I were the beneficiaries of a declarer misclick.

BOARD 13 = -4 IMPs

Mike and I stole the board in 4♣ as East-West (and making it was a miracle)... which cost 4 IMPs when all other North-Souths were conceding 200 in 4♠-2.

BOARD 14 = -2 IMPs

Almost nothing in it. 2♣-2 against Ian and Matt gained Abingdon a trifling couple of IMPs against nine tricks in hearts by North-South at other tables.

BOARD 15 = -20 IMPs

All contracts went off, unfortunately. This was usually East-West in 4♥-3, 4♥-2 and 3NT-2, but Diane and Shiv played 5♣x-2 as North-South. (4♥ would have made easily had the suits broken nicely, but they didn't.)

BOARD 16 = -2 IMPs

4♠-1 twice, or 2♠ making overtricks twice. Ten tricks are cold if declarer drops the doubleton spade queen offside, but of course no one did.

BOARD 17 = -2 IMPs

North-South can make either 4♠ or 3NT exactly. 3NT is scarier, given the clubs, but the twenty point difference between the two contracts' scores is insignificant.

BOARD 18 = +5 IMPs

This board was passed out at Diane and Shiv's table, but all other East-Wests played 2♥ or 2♠. Both of these contracts should fail and usually did, so Mike did well to make his 2♥.

BOARD 19 = +4 IMPs

3NT or 4♥ by East-West, made successfully at all tables. Two declarers made an overtrick.

BOARD 20 = +28 IMPs

Blewbury's second-best board of the evening. Mike and I made 3NT+2 after I made an aggressive 2♣ response to Mike's 1♦ opening. I don't have the points, but I have potential tricks (♣KQ10642) and I'm cramped for room after Peter Litchfield's 1♥ overcall.

Diane and Shiv also did well by taking a plus score with the North-South cards, defeating Alison Jackson's 3♦ contract by two tricks. In contrast, Ian and Mat succeeded in the same 3♦ contract in the East-West seats, which should be impossible. (The defence have more trumps than declarer.)

BOARD 21 = -27 IMPs

Diane and Shiv bid 3♦ and found Peter Jackson sitting with ♦AKQ3 and a strong no-trump. Unlucky. (For what it's worth, I think their auction looks fine.)

BOARD 22 = -1 IMP

The scoreline might suggest a flat board, but no.  North-South can make 4♠.  One pair stopped in 2♠+2 and another let East-West play in 5♥ undoubled for only 200.

BOARD 23 = -8 IMPs

This one's my mistake. I doubled a dodgy 3♥, but then misdefended and let declarer escape for one off. (I only had three points, but I had ♥109854.) They were vulnerable, so two off would have been 500.

East-West can make 3♠, but Nigel Wilkes and Gillian Lonsdale managed to steal the hand in 1NT (and make it!) as North-South. Matt should probably have bid again with the West hand. Never forget to try to push the opponents around!

BOARD 24 = +4 IMPs

North-South bid and made 3NT everywhere, but Blewbury made more overtricks than Abingdon. (Well done, Diane and Shiv.)

So that's that! For what it's worth, we're not bottom of the Wessex League Division One table, or even second-to-bottom. We're lying 5th out of the seven teams in Division One, thanks to our big win against Oxford B and our "only lost by a hair's breadth" result against Banbury. It's mathematically possible that we might even stay in Division One next year, although it's clearly a tough field!

We've one more match to play, on Wednesday 12 February against Oxford A. (NOTE: this will have a later start time of 7:30.) Our team is Finn Clark & Stuart Forsyth, Hilary Strang & Shirley Moore, Matt Wright & Ian van Maanen, Dermot Paddon & Nigel Carter. Good luck!

Many thanks to everyone!