A10x
when LHO switched to...10! We ended up
winning 19-1, which propelled us to table one where we played
last year's winners. We soon fell from grace, making a complete
mess of defending this hand.A disappointing 26 teams gathered at the Bedford Lodge Hotel on 3rd November to do battle in this event. Anyone with any ideas why we were 12 teams down on last year, please let us know so we can take it into account next year.
My own team got off to a flying start with a 20-0 win
despite my partner arriving late which meant I had to play the
first four boards with the director's wife. The second match
was equally uneventful when our teammates pointed out that one
of the boards we'd played had 14 spades and 12 diamonds and the
next had 12 spades and 14 diamonds! None of us had noticed
this, not even declarer holding A10x
when LHO switched to...10! We ended up
winning 19-1, which propelled us to table one where we played
last year's winners. We soon fell from grace, making a complete
mess of defending this hand.
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[Presumably nobody noticed the two 
9s this time - Ed.] South played in 3NT doubled by West
after East had overcalled 1.
West led 6 to the A, 3, 4. East was
giving count but West took it as attitude. The J was ducked and then the 10
went to the K. East continued with the J which declarer took and knocked out the A on which East carelessly pitched the 
2 signalling for diamonds. A low diamond ran to the
king, and after the 10 was led and
held (!), declarer cashed the K and
led a diamond up. West ducked, so declarer had the 
Q plus two club tricks to make the contract.
Not an easy one to explain to teammates!
The best two teams on paper appropriately enough ended up doing battle on table one in the last round. The most decisive swing came from:
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The 2 opener was a multi, and
3 showed extra values (Lebensohl).
West`s 10 met a depressing discard
from partner. Declarer ducked a club, but West discarded a low
diamond, asking for a heart, when he could have thrown the Q, which would have made clear he wanted a
spade switch. Thus East didn't cash the six spades, and that
was 11 imps gone and the match.
The final standings can be found overleaf. Particular thanks must go to David Man for doing the vast majority of the organising.