Dealer: E Vul: E/W
NORTH
♠ K2
♥ AQ6
♦ Q62
♣ AK853
WEST EAST
♠ Q105 ♠ AJ3
♥ K108532 ♥ J97
♦ 95 ♦ J107
♣ J7 ♣ Q642
SOUTH
♠ 98764
♥ 4
♦ AK843
♣ 109
“Always dare,” which is the gist of the philosophy of a French revolutionary leader, served Peter Campbell well on Board Six on Friday.
After East passed, Peter (South) opened 2S, a weak bid aimed at upsetting the bidding of East/West. North, probably forgetting that Peter may only have had five spades, jumped to 4S. Peter won the lead of the Jack of clubs and crossed to the King of diamonds. This allowed him to lead a spade to the King. Sadly, East covered it with the Ace. East, expecting partner to hold the ten of clubs, returned a low club. After Peter hand won with the ten he made the correct play of another trump.
All might be well if East/West held three spades each. So far they had followed suit in spades twice. At any point of his choosing Peter could play the Ace of hearts and then ruff a heart and play another trump. East/West would then be void of trumps while Peter had control of the other suits. Two spades, one heart, four diamonds and three clubs made up the ten tricks needed for a score of 420 and a 75% result on this board. There were different contracts at every table, one of those scores being 430 for ten tricks in 3NT. Compared with 4S this was a very dull contract to play. Declarer could pick up five tricks in diamonds and four in clubs, with the Ace of hearts as number ten. Who cared about spades?
Results: Monday, 31/07/23 (5 & ½-table Howell): N. Collins M. Simpson (62.0) 1; C. Thomas G. Thomas (57.9) 2; J. Nankervis P. Kelly (57.4) 3. Handicap: C. Hall D. Dawes 1; W. Milne J. Sipple 2. + Friday, 04/08/23(5-table Mitchell): N/S N. Bonnell P. Campbell (54.6) 1; N. Collins M. Simpson (52.1) 2. E/W T. Hackett J. Hackett (65.0) 1; S. Goddard N. McGinness (54.9) 2.
