Andi Boughey and Carol Richardson won a tense battle to win the South Island Pairs, held at the Crockfords Bridge Club over the past weekend. They survived five sessions to win by 5% from Blair Fisher and George Masters. Of the three pairs in strong contention after four of the five rounds, Andi and Carol were the only one to post a good score in the final session, so critical to their success.

42 pairs played 3 boards against each other barometer style. That created a huge amount of dealing by the host club which put on an excellent event, excellent catering and organisation and well directed and scored by Allan Joseph, John McKenzie and Carolyn Wiggins. One small criticism was the lack of prizes, with only the top three getting acknowledgement along with two grade prizes.

On then to the top 10:  

		Av %
1	Andi Boughey and Carol Richardson	59.98
2	Blair Fisher and George Masters	58.99
3	Tim Schumacher and Tony Fitzgerald	57.03
4	Johnny Davidson and Sam Coutts	56.88
5	Moss Wylie and Anne Somerville	56.69
6	John Luoni and John Patterson	56.65
7	Grant Jarvis and Richard Solomon	56.29
8	Shirley Newton and Jenny Wilkinson	56.02
9	Glenn Coutts and Michael Ware	54.54
10	Richard Lapthorne and Bruce Anderson	53.83

 

Top Pair under 700 Rating Points	Top Pair with 2 Intermediates or 1 Intermediate/1 Open Player	2nd Overall
Richard Lapthorne/ Bruce Anderson	David Sewell and John McDonald	George Masters and Blair Fisher

When asked for a couple of hands from the event, Andi gave two with a common theme which is a little contrary to what we advise beginners. We tell beginners not to underlead aces against suit contracts (and that definitely holds true) but also to avoid leading aces when you do not have the king of the suit if you can avoid it. Carol could have avoided it, twice, but each time she was glad she disobeyed this piece of advice.

 

With the strong hand on her left, Carol decided to start with A and Q. This was covered and Andi ruffed. She tried to get back to Carol’s hand by leading a club. West ducked hopefully with Carol winning to cash the J and play a fourth spade, Declarer ruffed high to draw trumps but still had to lose a diamond for one down.

While the declarer may have struggled after a passive trump lead, an initial club or diamond lead would not have helped the defence. A was a certain way to defeat the contract.

The ruff did not come at trick 2 on this next board….but two tricks later and even more devastating:

 

 

This time the lead was very very important. If Carol had led a heart or a club, making 10 tricks would not (and did not for many declarers) prove very difficult. However, Carol, whose 2 had shown spades and a minor, decided on the A and then a second spade to Andi’s king. Andi tried A and for the declarer, the roof fell in!

Diamond ruff, spade ruff and over-ruff, diamond ruff and again spade ruff and over-ruff…and the poor declarer had to follow suit throughout….down 3…and a triumph for leading an unsupported ace.

"Ace" Raiders from the North

   Carol Richardson and Andi Boughey

They Open at the 1 level: We bid Grand Slam.

How often does that happen? Not that often. Unfortunately, I have to report it did not happen in this event…but it should have done.

 

Light openers can be a successful approach but this particular 1 opener should have back-fired big time for North-South. East overcalled 2NT for the minors and with South silent West jumped to 4. East made a very good bid next, 5, Exclusion Key Card Blackwood (asking for the 3 aces “excluding” the A, and the trump king). West answered honestly (6) showing the 2 key cards but should have really bid 7. If East can make such an aggressive bid, showing a heart void (that's what the bid showed), then that K must be a really good card, just what East was looking for.

It is not so easy if North opens a Weak Two. If East bids 4NT for the minors, West has the opportunity to shine and bid 6 (that vulnerable 4NT must be a pretty serious bid) but grand would surely be too hard.

Alas only 9 pairs reached 6 with one enterprising North-South pair risking all by sacrificing in 6H, -1100, a good dive as long the opponents do not bid grand….and even 7x -1400 would not stack up very well against those in small slam, -1390.

So, every dog has its day. These two days were for ace leads and perhaps not for a light 1 opening!

Richard Solomon

 

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