More Gatlinburginess
So we had a great run at the end-- winning the Wed-Sat AM KO bracket 2, and winning the Sat-Sun KO bracket 2. I'm quite proud of my boy Paul-- after five days of awful bridge he sacked up and played as well as I've seen him play. In our last match of the tournament, against Justin Lall, Kevin Bathurst, Shannon Cappelletti, Catalina Robles, and Jenny Wolpert, he showed no fear, and left at the half up 15 imps. We got lucky on the first board out-- I opened a strong NT with a good 2254 16, and when he made a slam-try in diamonds, I wouldn't take no for an answer, and ended up in 6D opposite pard's Qx xxx AKxxxx xx. Down two, for a push against the other table's 3NT.
Here's a hand I'm pretty pleased with from the second half: I was in 3N after a normal Stayman sequence, on Lall's lead of a low club:
Dealer: South Vul: Both Scoring: IMPs
♠ AK72 ♥ 654 ♦ J532 ♣ Q4
♠ T83 ♥ 93 ♦ KT98 ♣ AT82 ♣2 led
♠ QJ65 ♥ QJ87 ♦ Q6 ♣ 965
♠ 94 ♥ AKT2 ♦ A74
♣ KJ73
1N - 2♣
2♥ - 3N
I hopped queen at trick one, holding. I played a low diamond to the six, seven, and eight. Another club came back, RHO following. I won king, cashed DA (Q falling-- sweet!) and played a diamond up, LHO winning king. He got out a spade- I won on the board. At this point all I need is 3-3 hearts or the QJ onside-- so a heart to the ten-- winning. +600, when my expert opponent at the other table was -200 in the same contract. This was 13 of our 14 imp margin.
An amusing occurrence from earlier in the week:
In third chair, all white, I held AT KJT97x J KTxx. I opened 1H, pard bid a non-forcing NT, and RHO (a passed hand) came in with 2S. I made the severely pushy call of 3C. Partner gently lifted to 5C, and when lefty confidently pounded it, he even-more-confidently rewound it. LHO thought about pulling for a while, and eventually decided against it. A trump came out, and I saw
Dealer: North Vul: None Scoring: IMPs
♠ xxx ♥ x ♦ Kxxx ♣ AQJ9x
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♣ led
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
♠ AT ♥ KJT97x ♦ J
♣ KTxx
P (P) 1♥ (P)
1N (2♠) 3♣ (P)
5♣ (P) P (X)
XX (All Pass)
I won in hand to lead a diamond up. LHO jumped on it and led a spade. I won, crossed to a club (3-1), pitched my spade on the DK, and led a heart to my K. LHO won and tried a spade-- no love for him. I ruffed and led the HJ. LHO played low without twitching.... but what could he be doubling on if not a heart stack? I ran it and the next one. They proved to be 4-2. Once I ruffed out the queen, I came back to hand, drawing the last trump, and claimed +800 the hard way.
(1)
Dealer:North
Vul:Both
Scoring:IMPs
♠ Ax
♥ 8xxx
♦ AKx
♣ Axxx
♠ KQxxxx
♥ T9
♦ T9xx
♣ x
1N - 2♣
2♥ - 2♠
P
He opened 1N, and I invited in spades (with the sequence 2C - 2H - 2S = 5+ spades, invitational). He passed. Which (if either) of us should've done more?
(2)
Red/white, 3rd
♠AKQ97
♥AJxxx
♦Q
♣xx
P (2S) ??
Both myself and the expert at the other table passed this, and we pushed at +150. Any thoughts?
Buffalo and I nearly lost a match on this one:
(3)
Dealer:North
Vul:Both
Scoring:IMPs
♠ AKJ9x
♥ Kxx
♦ x
♣ KJxx
♠ xxx
♥ Axx
♦ Axx
♣ AQTx
1♠ - 2♣
3♣ - 3♠
4♣ - 4♦
4♥ - 5♠
6♠ - P
Looking back, I think the auction should've started
1S - 2C - 3D.
6S is on the spade finesse, but so is 7C.
As usual, check out
tyrrhena for a great play-by-play of our tournament.
Here's a hand I'm pretty pleased with from the second half: I was in 3N after a normal Stayman sequence, on Lall's lead of a low club:
Dealer: South Vul: Both Scoring: IMPs
♠ AK72 ♥ 654 ♦ J532 ♣ Q4
♠ T83 ♥ 93 ♦ KT98 ♣ AT82 ♣2 led
♠ QJ65 ♥ QJ87 ♦ Q6 ♣ 965
♠ 94 ♥ AKT2 ♦ A74
♣ KJ73
1N - 2♣
2♥ - 3N
I hopped queen at trick one, holding. I played a low diamond to the six, seven, and eight. Another club came back, RHO following. I won king, cashed DA (Q falling-- sweet!) and played a diamond up, LHO winning king. He got out a spade- I won on the board. At this point all I need is 3-3 hearts or the QJ onside-- so a heart to the ten-- winning. +600, when my expert opponent at the other table was -200 in the same contract. This was 13 of our 14 imp margin.
An amusing occurrence from earlier in the week:
In third chair, all white, I held AT KJT97x J KTxx. I opened 1H, pard bid a non-forcing NT, and RHO (a passed hand) came in with 2S. I made the severely pushy call of 3C. Partner gently lifted to 5C, and when lefty confidently pounded it, he even-more-confidently rewound it. LHO thought about pulling for a while, and eventually decided against it. A trump came out, and I saw
Dealer: North Vul: None Scoring: IMPs
♠ xxx ♥ x ♦ Kxxx ♣ AQJ9x
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♣ led
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
♠ AT ♥ KJT97x ♦ J
♣ KTxx
P (P) 1♥ (P)
1N (2♠) 3♣ (P)
5♣ (P) P (X)
XX (All Pass)
I won in hand to lead a diamond up. LHO jumped on it and led a spade. I won, crossed to a club (3-1), pitched my spade on the DK, and led a heart to my K. LHO won and tried a spade-- no love for him. I ruffed and led the HJ. LHO played low without twitching.... but what could he be doubling on if not a heart stack? I ran it and the next one. They proved to be 4-2. Once I ruffed out the queen, I came back to hand, drawing the last trump, and claimed +800 the hard way.
(1)
Dealer:North
Vul:Both
Scoring:IMPs
♠ Ax
♥ 8xxx
♦ AKx
♣ Axxx
♠ KQxxxx
♥ T9
♦ T9xx
♣ x
1N - 2♣
2♥ - 2♠
P
He opened 1N, and I invited in spades (with the sequence 2C - 2H - 2S = 5+ spades, invitational). He passed. Which (if either) of us should've done more?
(2)
Red/white, 3rd
♠AKQ97
♥AJxxx
♦Q
♣xx
P (2S) ??
Both myself and the expert at the other table passed this, and we pushed at +150. Any thoughts?
Buffalo and I nearly lost a match on this one:
(3)
Dealer:North
Vul:Both
Scoring:IMPs
♠ AKJ9x
♥ Kxx
♦ x
♣ KJxx
♠ xxx
♥ Axx
♦ Axx
♣ AQTx
1♠ - 2♣
3♣ - 3♠
4♣ - 4♦
4♥ - 5♠
6♠ - P
Looking back, I think the auction should've started
1S - 2C - 3D.
6S is on the spade finesse, but so is 7C.
As usual, check out
tyrrhena for a great play-by-play of our tournament.