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Competition Results

Congratulations to Steve Aucherlonie and Daniel Miller who both got 100% in the expert section. In the Non-Expert section Jeremy Wray won with an excellent score of 90%. All 3 winners are invited to choose free entry to a Romsey event of their choice (barring special events).

In general the standard was high with the most errors coming on Q5, the safety play of leading the first from dummy being missed by many contestants. I thought that Q3 would cause the most problems however I was pleased to see how many of you worked out the unusual play in the trump suit

A Q 9 x

K x x x x x

A x

N

S

K J 10 x x
A Q
K
A x x x x

1) Playing in 7, you:-
-Win the lead with the K
-Cash the K everyone following
-Cash the A everyone following
-Lead a to the Queen, West showing out.
The contract is now certain, which card do you play from dummy to guarantee making 7?

Score -A =10, K=5

K followed by ruff fails if East has a singleton. To ensure the contract play A if East follows discard Q, you can now ruff good returning to dummy with trumps, If East ruffs, overruff draw the last trump and set up the

K 6 3

N

S

Q 10 8 5 2

2) Playing in 4 (teams) with plenty of entries to both hands you can only afford to lose 1 trick, what play gives you the best chance of making the contract?

Score - Low to the King then finesse the 10 = 10
Finesse the 10 immediately = 5
Low to the Queen then finesse the 6 = 1

Nothing is certain however the 1st option is markedly better as it gains when East has a singleton A or J

K 6 3

N

S

Q 10 8 5 2

3) This time you can afford 2 losers.How do you plan to play the to avoid losing 3 tricks in the suit.

Score - Low to the King then finesse the 10 = 5
Finesse the 10 immediately = 5
Low to the Queen then finesse the 6 = 10

Strangely if you can afford to lose 2 tricks the 3rd option is best. If the trumps are 3/2 it doesn't matter.
If East has 4 it doesn't matter. If West has 4 this play gains when East has a single A,J,9 or 7.

4 3

J 10 5

A 10 9 6 5 4

J 6

N

S

A K 2
K Q 2
Q J 2
A 10 5 2

4) Playing in 3NT (teams):-
-West leads the Q which you duck
-West plays the J (East following suit).

score - K=10, Q=5

If the finesse is right you always has 9 tricks. If wrong you must make 1 trick before the A is knocked out. assuming West led from length you make no matter whether are 4/4 or 5/3. Playing the K keeps you in the right hand to take the finesse if the trick is ducked.

9 8

Q J 10 9

J 9

A Q 10 9 2

N

S

A Q J 10 7 6 5 4
A
Q 3 2
8

5) Playing in 4 (teams):-
- West leads the 2

score - cross to A and lead 9 = 10
2 finessing the 9 = 5
2 finessing the J = 1
Your aim should be to ruff a , the danger being that East wins the 1st trick and leads a forcing you to finesse. By leading the first from dummy you almost guaruntee the contract as if East wins you have a natural trick, if he ducks East cannot attack (unless they are 3/0). Finessing the 9 only gains if West has the 10

6)Which famously acerbic bridge player is quoted as saying:-
"Don't give me signals. After a few tricks I will know what you've got better than you know yourself" ?

Score - Rixi Markus = 10

7)What country did the "Blue Team" represent, who reigned supreme from the 50's to the 70's

Score - Italy= 10

8) Which Hampshire county player is probably England's most prolific bridge author?

Score - David Bird= 10

9) Which author created the character of the Hideous Hog (a player we all seem to partner at one time or another)?

Score - Victor Mollo= 10

10) Who or what is the Merrimac Coup named after (where a player sacrifices a high card to deny the opponents an entry)?

Score - An American Ship = 10

(Scuttled by the US Fleet in Santiago Harbour to trap the spanish fleet in Harbour)