The National Pairs

by Jonathan Mestel

The County did well in the Regional Final of this year's National Pairs, coming 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 5th, respectively Sue Oakford & Victor Milman, David Carmichael & William Tunstall-Pedoe, Rod Oakford & Don McFarlane and Alastair Brodie & myself. Sue & Victor are thus Eastern Counties champions for the year. The eight of us duly trekked over to the Coventry Hilton hotel, for possibly one of the last EBU events to be held there, as apparently bridge players do not spend enough in the bar. Each of fifty pairs plays two boards against every pair over the weekend. The event was deservedly won by Pat Davies & Chris Dixon. Alastair & I were 3rd, Sue & Victor 10th, Rod & Don 11th, and David & William in the lower half. William comments that this was his first National event, and that he was impressed by the consistency of the scores on some hands. Not, I imagine, on the following two boards which were the most entertaining round of the event:

E/W Vul 109762 Q 3 AKQ1063 Dealer S AQ83 1087 AQ9742 - N W         E S J5 AK5432 KJ106 J K4 J96 85 987542

At our table the bidding was:

South       West       North       East    3 3* 6 6 P P 7 X

West's 3 was for take-out. Lest anyone suggest my hand was too weak for a preempt ("Loony" - Don), let me point out that To & Rowlands had a similar auction. Against them West led A, so they achieved -500, an excellent score. At pairs, sacrifices against slams only tend to score well if, as here, the penalty is less than the game. Against me a heart was led, J returned, and after two spades, A and a third spade, partner was somewhat surprised to find that his trumps weren't good enough to avoid a loser. -1100 is `Par' on the board, but was clearly bad for us. For example, Sue & Victor took a penalty from 6. David & William had the auction as N/S:

South       West       North       East    P 1 2* X 3 4 P 4 P P P

2 showed the black suits, and South opted for the slow approach, as E/W seemed in some doubt over the meaning of the double. Somewhat confused, West bid 4, apparently not realising it was a jump. Judging correctly that opponents might have a slam, our men settled for -680, which was worth 60%. After the hand West stated she had merely forgotten to use the `Stop' card and East claimed that if he'd realised that he'd have bid the slam, showing somewhat poor ethics. The director's comment was `Oh, this hand again!'

Don feebly passed my hand but Rod psyched:

South       West       North       East    P 1 1NT! 3 P 4 P P 5!! P P X P P P

This outcome seemed more hilarious to N/S than E/W, for some reason, who were somewhat caustic about North's 1NT. This needled Rod into mischievously borrowing a point or two on the next board:

Both Vul A74 K1042 Q2 AJ63 Dealer W KJ10653 AQ5 765 10 N W         E S 982 J986 1083 542 Q 73 AKJ94 KQ987

West       North       East       South    1 1NT! P 2NT* P 3* P* 4* P 4* P 6

Here 2NT was a minor suit enquiry, 3 showed a top honour in both minors, 4 was RKCB for clubs, and 6 was convertible to 6. A good scientific sequence given the overcall, which of course would have been less successful if you swap the East and South hands! We also reached the slam after a pass by North, on the uninterrupted sequence: (1)-P-2; 2*-3; 3-3*; 4-4NT*; 5*-6 as Alastair judged well in the 3NT-zone. Against Sue & Victor, North tried a take-out double, South responded with a non-forcing(!!) 3, North bid 3 and South's 5 ended the auction, for a deservedly poor score. William also doubled but East raised obstructively to 2. Slightly unsure of their methods now, they stopped in 4.

Later on, we held another big hand. You know how even your favourite partner sometimes seems to be on the other side? I've seen him referred to as "CHO" (centre-hand opponent). Well, for once everyone seemed on my side this time - let's call them left-hand partner and right-hand partner.

E/W Vul AKJ762 952 4 Q85 Dealer S - AQJ1084 AQ1052 92 N W         E S 1095 K6 J987 AK74 Q843 73 K63 J1063

West       LHP       CHP       RHP    1 1 X* 2 3* P 4* X XX* P 4NT* P 6 6 P* P 7 P P P

RHP might well have bid 3 on her first turn, and LHP 4 or 5 on his second, but the really helpful bid was RHP's double of 4 enabling me to show first round spade control. CHP's 4NT was forward going, support for all suits. When LHP sacrificed over 6, CHP argued that he wouldn't have done so with a possible trump trick, and hence that if I needed a trump finesse it would be working. He therefore made a forcing pass over 6 and I felt able to bid the grand. This was quite satisfying, but it's worth noting that Sue & Victor only got 50% for defending 5 on the unconvincing auction 1-2-X-3; 5-P-5;

So +800 for 6x was already a big score. Should I really be going against this kind of odds? Well why not - it's fun to bid grands.