CompassMate and X-Club Results ... your place

Your Call 15

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Wed, 20/11/2024 - 15:00

This deal comes from the NZ Wide Loveblock event on Friday 15/11/24. I have chosen it because a deal like that will never come up again but it does illustrate the need for a more intricate bidding system to handle an opening 1NT from the opposition, not just Hamilton (aka Cappelletti or Pottage - ed), which seems to be the most common in current use. Let’s look at the full deal before I make some suggestions.

Board 4 Dealer W All Vul

AKQ862

KQT9432

J4

A75

T943

AKJ5

973

8

AKQJ82

Q83

T5

J6

765

T97642

LoveBlock Pairs a Wrap in Record Time!

Submitted by sitemaster on Sat, 16/11/2024 - 08:34

The scoring team was rapt to head off home before midnight after the last result from Auckland arrived .. something to do with a Scrabble tournament going on, we heard. It seems very strange not to have to spend Saturday morning chivvying the odd straggler along.

On behalf of Richard Solomon and the scoring team I hope you enjoyed your evening too. All results and peripherals are to be regarded as provisional until noon when the Scoring Correction Period closes.

The scoring team: Mike Neels, Jan Spaans, Anna Kalma being guided by Bob Fearn on Zoom from Seattle at 3am of his Friday morning

Bob Fearn - author of Compass Scoring - on Zoom

Loveblock Pairs Coming Up

Submitted by sitemaster on Tue, 05/11/2024 - 10:09

The annual NZ-Wide Simultaneous Pairs is scheduled for the evening of Friday 15-Nov. In previous years about 1000 pairs from 60 clubs have taken part. Results from most clubs are scored across the field before midnight. Richard Solomon is, and has been for yonks, the main organiser of the event which raises money for the New Zealand Bridge Foundation to promote the development of youth bridge in this country. Richard would be very happy for your club - even if not affiliated to NZ Bridge - to run a heat on November 15th.

Your Call 13

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sat, 02/11/2024 - 10:22

This one, from X-Clubs, is not just about bidding but also about opening leads and declarer play.

Board 4 from Tuesday 29/10/24
Dealer West All Vul

A3

98643

92

KT75

K95

T52

KJ7

Q643

JT762

7

Q8654

A9

Q84

AKQJ

AT3

J82

Slams 04

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Tue, 17/09/2024 - 10:18

Before we look at our double dummy problem let’s take another look at the bidding.

Board 9 from Thursday 12-09-24
Dealer N EW Vul

3

Q97

Q975

J8654

KJ876

K83

2

AKT7

AQ

JT652

AKJT

Q2

T9542

A4

8643

93

East opens 1H and West bids 1S. First question: what does East rebid?

Slams 03

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sat, 14/09/2024 - 14:30

These East-West hands were close to a slam, but should a slam have been bid or avoided, and how should the EW hands have been bid? Those are good questions that may not be easily answered, even after you see the full deal. The deal will also provide the reader with an excellent ‘double dummy’ problem.

Board 9 from Thursday 12-09-24
Dealer N EW Vul

3

Q97

Q975

J8654

KJ876

K83

2

AKT7

AQ

JT652

AKJT

Q2

T9542

A4

8643

93

Slams 02

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Thu, 05/09/2024 - 16:20

This slam should not have been a difficult one to bid, and was worth 90% to those NS pairs who bid and made 6NT.

Board 18 from X-Clubs on 3/09/24
Dealer E NS Vul

A962

7

AQJ752

AQ

T83

J98543

T

742

754

AQT2

983

965

KQJ

K6

K64

KJT83

Slams 01

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Sat, 31/08/2024 - 20:42

Welcome to my new series, SLAMS. Slams is almost always part of the conversation after every session of bridge. So it seems, by popular demand, I just have to do this. Hopefully this series will interest slam fans and suggest how to bid them, as well as how not to bid them, and how to make them when you manage to bid them. Board 12 from Wednesday 28/8/24 should provide us all with the inspiration to always look for the Mt. Everest of bridge, the Grand Slam.

Board 12 from Wednesday 28/8/24
Dealer West NS Vul

83

98764

QJ86

94

A5

J2

732

AKJ732

KQT97642

A5

AK5

J

KQT3

T94

QT865

Your Call 12

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Mon, 26/08/2024 - 14:46

The very first board of the session produced a deal where both sides had the opportunity to gain the upper hand with some aggressive, albeit reasoned, bidding.

Board 1 Dealer from Friday 23/08/24
North Nil Vul

JT76

75

A943

T96

Q5

AT8

KQ752

K42

3

KJ943

6

AJ8753

AK9842

Q62

JT8

Q

Your Call 11

Submitted by Vil Gravis on Mon, 19/08/2024 - 13:22

This deal presents a difficult bidding problem, and when the bidding problem was solved, a not so difficult problem for declarer that was nevertheless not solved by every declarer. And when the bidding problem was not solved and the NS pairs ended up in an inferior 3NT, many EW pairs still failed to take advantage of their luck by letting declarer make the unmakeable 3NT.

Board 21 from Thursday 15/08/24
Dealer N NS Vul

4

7

AKT62

AKT852

KT82

KQT5

J975

4

J65

J9832

Q4

Q73

AQ973

A64

83

J96