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 Seven regions, four grades (Open, Women, Seniors, Intermediate) and plenty of excitement throughout the country over the weekend..a few regret, too. There were a few regrets on this board from the Auckland- Northland heat, too. Could you resist taking action with this hand after your right-hand opponent started the action with 4?

KQ

AT

AJ73

AK754

 Not a bad 21 count some days. Guess the winning action this day....

Firstly, let's salute the successful partnerships from the weekend:

OPEN		INTERMEDIATE
Auckland-Northland		Auckland-Northland
David Dolbel & Denis Humphries		Takaya Yanagisawa & Sandra Pearce
James Yang & William Wang		Barbara Imlach & Annette Martin
Waikato-Bays		Waikato-Bays
Tom Henwood & Tom Winiata		Ted Cliffin & Barbara McFarlane
Yuzhong Chen & Noel Grigg		Judith Howard & Joanne Swanwick
Central Districts		Central Districts
Arthur Bennett & Mark Noble		Garry Hodge & Laura Griffin
Dennis Apperley & Charles Ker		Cindy Lowndes & Debbie Marcroft
Wellington		Wellington
Alan Grant & Anthony Ker		Jeremy Morley & Tegan Bennik
Karl Hayes & Nigel Kearney		Simon Louisson & Mariusz Tumilowicz
Top of The South		Top of The South
Adrian Abraham & Wayne Smith		Kerry Roberts & Gill Webby
Rebecca Osborne & Jana Bott		Ann Baker & Kathy Dowling
Canterbury		Canterbury
Les Frater & Dave Mikaera		Cath Preen & Anne Marie Paveletich
Jenny Wilkinson & Shirley Newton		Liz Duke & Jenny Shore
Otago-Southland		Otago-Southland
Brad Johnston & Matt Blakeley		Jo Smith & Jeff Elton
Ernie Sutton & Ross Sherwood		Sandy Buzzard & Jen White
WOMEN		SENIORS
Auckland-Northland		Auckland-Northland
Christine Wilson & Fuxia Wen		Barry Palmer & Neil Stuckey
Andi Boughey & Carol Richardson		Mark Lynn & Pru Robertson
Waikato-Bays		Waikato-Bays
Jenna Gibbons & Christine Gibbons		Ella Gray & Michael Neels
Judy Pawson & Kate Terry		Julie Sheridan & Karen Martelletti
Central Districts		Central Districts
Anita Thirtle & Maree Cudby		Robyn and Don Nightingale
Sandra Wright & Anshu Prasad		Noel Woodhall & Ken Bateman
Wellington		Wellington
Anna Herries & Mindy Wu		Pete Benham & Pat D'Arcy
Anne- Maie Russell & Annette Henry		Johnny Davidson & John Luoni
Top of The South		Top of The South
Sheila Beggs & Pam Dravitzki		Maurice Carter & Jim Jessep
Sita Monaghan & Sally Moore		Steve Gray & Lindsey Guy
Canterbury		Canterbury
Margaret Burgess & Pam Tibble		Jane Skipper & John Skipper
Kay Nicholas & Lesley Andrew		Paula Gregory & Michael Johnstone
Otago-Southland		Otago-Southland
Frances Sheehy & Ann Wood		Wyn Jones & Kevin Farnden
Donna Ruwhiu & Kristen Collins		Philip Hensman & Hamish Ryan

 

   Chefs De Mission

Auckland-Northland                     Douglas Russell

Waikato-Bays     

Central Districts                        Colin Carryer

Wellington                                   Lynda Rigler

Top of The South                       Chris Marshall

Canterbury                                  John Kruiniger

Otago Southland                        Philip Noye

 

 

                                                                      Waikato Bays Representatives

       

Open: Noel Grigg, Tom Winiata, Tom Henwood and Yuzhong Chen

Seniors: Michael Neels, Ella Gray, Julie Sheridan and Karen Martelletti

Intermediate: Ted Cliffin, Barbara McFarlane, Judith Howard and Joanna Swarbrick

So, back to our 21 count. The good news is that your partner chips in with a trick in the defence to 4x . (You did double, didn't you?). Oh, if you think that bidding 4NT for the minors would be a winning action, you are correct as long as partner chooses their worse minor!

So, you are, of course, waiting for the "bad news" and that is your hand was worth just two tricks:

 While really bad heart guessing from South would present the defence with four tricks, 790 was a very common score. That is better for the defence than playing 5x which costs 800! The best score East-West can achieve (other than an unlikely +100) is conceding 500 in 5x. Any West who passed out 4 deserves never to hold an opening hand again! All that those who conceded -790 can be grateful for is that the opposition did not play the heart game....-990!

                                                                              Auckland- Northland Teams

                                                    

Women Fuxia Wen, Christine Wilson, Andi Boughey, Carol Richardson

Intermediate Annette Martin, Takaya Yanagisawa and Barbara Imlach (Sandra Pearce missing)

Seniors  Neil Stuckey, Barry Palmer,  Pru Robertson and Mark Lynn

It was nice to see our top internationals, Michael Whibley and Matthew Brown, play in Auckland where they recorded 12 wins and a draw from 13 x 8 board matches. They go about their business in a very efficient way. Watch them collect 500 from a part-score deal here. Nothing flash but very solid defence:

 You can make a penalty double of 1NT a little lighter in the pass-out seat as Matt demonstrated. East retreated to their "safer" haven which drew a negative double from Mathew. Michael's diamonds were sufficiently good to pass that, as we shall see. "Never mind the quality,'tis the length!"

Matt led a high spade with Michael contributing the queen to show the jack. Next came a low spade to the jack and a third spade to the king. Matt switched to a low heart. Declarer won to play Q to Matt's king. Another heart to dummy's king and another diamond won by Michael's ace. A third heart forced declarer to ruff. Declarer could draw trumps but still add to concede a trick to the K and then lost a heart trick as well. ...two down and a very simple 500. 

                                                                                  Central Districts Teams
            

Women Anita Thirtle, Maree Cudby, Sandra Wright and Anshu Prasad

Open Arthur Bennett, Mark Noble,  Dennis Apperley and Charles Ker

Intermediate Garry Hodge, Laura Griffin,  Cindy Lowndes and Debbie Marcroft

Richard Solomon

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