Victory at Olympia

[agh]

Dave Brower, Craig Barkhouse, Alan Epley, and I won the open swiss at Olympia this weekend, out of 54 teams.  Consequently I got my silver life master!

In the penultimate round, our only loss, we Dave and I were playing against the Blusteins, who I always enjoy playing against.  Especially Mary Ruth, she's sharp and honest and fun.  After the match, I conceded that this would probably be our first loss and she said: "yes, I think we got you too."  Refreshing candor.

The most "bridge" hand was this:

KQJ
                Kx
                K
                AKJxxxx
T9x                         x
Jx                           ATxxx
AJxx                       QTxxxxx
Txxx                         -
                Axxxxx
                Qxxx
                x
                Qx

N-S Vul, S deals
P             P             1C           3D
X             4D           6C!         6D
P             P             X             P
P             P

I think partner's 6c bid was brilliant: he explained it as "I knew she was going to bid 6D."  And she did!
Amusingly, both pairs just get to take a pair of aces on defense.

We lost the board: at the other table, North opened 2NT!  Unfortunately, E made a very conservative pass and teammates never got into the auction, and 4S rolled vulnerable.