Wessex League 2007

Last night’s match against Oxford E was a friendly and well-contested affair. We were leading by 23 IMPs at the interval, but Oxford had the better second half. However, we managed to hold on to win 14 : 6.

In the first half we had a double game swing against us on one board, but made up for it when Tunde and Kati got an 800 penalty three boards later. Also in the first half, one flat board proved interesting, with one pair from each team bidding and making a 6C slam, while one pair from each team did not bid it.

As mentioned above, the second half did not go our way. However, on one board our two pairs managed to bid and make 3NT, while one Oxford pair failed to make it and their other pair only bid to 2NT. It’s nicer to report our successes rather than our failures!

Thanks also to everyone who has played for the B team throughout the season and contributed to making it so successful.

It now looks as though the "B" team is certain to win Division IV and be promoted to Division III for the next season. If the Division tables are correct, there is no other team which can catch them. - KK, 16/3/08

Steven Bliss reports:
 
8 people (in 5 cars I'm afraid) made the journey to Aylesbury for the B
team's penultimate match of the season on Thursday 28th February 2008. 
It was a match we hoped to win, and so it
turned out in the end. But at half time we were losing by 5 IMPs; I'm
afraid the Blisses had a patchy start, missing a slam (see below) and
letting the opponents make a poor game.  But all came right in the
second half, when Holly and John especially put up a storming
performance. We won the match by 49 IMPs, which meant 18-2 on victory
points. It wasn't the most enjoyable match ever - slow and tetchy with
lots going wrong (one of our opponents managed to double her partner's
bid!). But at least it's nice to win, especially as it increases our
lead in division 4. Many thanks to the team: Bridget & Sue, Holly and
John Spencer, Rod and Jeremy, and the Blisses. 
 
The hands were computer dealt, with a few wild distributions. Oddly, one
of the wildest was the only flat board. On board 12 East has 10 spades
headed by KQJT and three singletons.  West (dealer) has the singleton
ace of spades and two other aces, little else, and opens 1C. The
opponents have 11 hearts between them, and compete to at least 3H. Rod &
Jeremy got to 6S, the Blisses only to 4S. Our opponents did the same, so
it was a flat board. 
 
The hand of the night was board 15, below: N/S vulnerable, dealer South.

 
North:   S) AJ98, H) Ax, D) Jxx, C) QJxx
 
South: S) KQxx, H) x, D) Qx, C) ATxxxx
 
East: S) void, H) QJ98x, D) ATxxx. C) Kxx
 
West: S) Txxxx, H) KTxxx, D) Kxx, C) void
 
4S by N/S is an excellent contract on any normal spade break, but.. At
our table we defended 4S and took it one off. 
 
John Spencer was in 5S* and made it!!! Plus 850. As he said, the defence
helped a bit..
 
To rub salt in the wounds, Rob and Jeremy made 5D* by E/W (also helped a
bit by the defence)! Plus 550. The whole board eventually earned us 14
IMPs. 
 
So, not the best bridge we've ever played, but they all count. Our
average is now 14.3 out of 20, so any reasonable result against Oxford E
on the 10th could see us promoted.

I am very pleased to report another victory for the Summertown B team playing Oxford D team last night. We were leading slightly at the interval but we had an excellent second half storming away to win 19 - 1. There were no slams around (one or two pairs attempted to bid them, but none were making!). It was more a night of games and part-scores, although there were plenty of examples of terrible trump breaks. For example, our poor opposition who were playing in 3S with a 6 - 0 trump break against them. As usual, there were some rather odd results - not least, one hand where Steven opened and was allowed to play in 1S sitting North going 2 off, whereas Sue/Bridget, sitting E/W, made 4S*! Thanks to the team who were Rod and Jeremy Tunde and Kati Bridget and Sue Steph and Steven Let's hope we can keep it up in our last two matches of the season.

Steven Bliss reports: The B team won a roller-coaster of a match against Witney on 6/12/07. At half time we were leading 96-32 on IMPs - everything was going right for everyone, and even our slightly dodgy bids came off (see 1 below). But the second half went the other way: a slam made against us (see 2 below), a couple of games missed, a making game going off, and some overbidding by the Blisses. We conceded 53 IMPs in the second half. So at the end we won by 11 IMPs which was 13-7 - good enough, but at half time we'd been hoping for more. It leaves our average little changed, and I think we're currently 2nd in a very close division. _ Anyway it was an enjoyable evening against a pleasant team. Thanks to everyone who played: Bridget & Sue, Kati & Tunde, Sara & Neil, and Steph & me. There were some swingy hands, and mishaps and lucky bids by both sides. Here are two of them: 1. At favourable vulnerability your partner opens 3C, which will be 4-9 points and often only a 6-card suit. The next hand doubles. Your hand is 5 small spades, AKQTx in hearts, diamond void, and KTx in clubs. What do you bid? You could pass and hope they bid 4 of a major (especially hearts!), but if they bid to 5D you won't be sure what to do. Anyway, I decided to bid 5C: it might make, it shouldn't cost much, and it makes it harder for the opponents. There are, as it happens, two top spades and the ace of clubs to lose, but they led a heart! So Steph could cash three top hearts, discarding her two spades, cross-ruff the next six tricks, and still come to two tricks in trumps at the end. That was the luck we were having in the first half! 2. This was the slam where we lost points - you might try bidding it with your regular partner. West has AQxxx in spades, singleton heart, ATxxx in diamonds and two small clubs. East has singleton spade, AJxxx in hearts, KQxxx in diamonds and AK of clubs. West is dealer, which makes it harder to find the diamond fit: at our table the opponents bid 1S-2H-2S-3NT. One pair from each team got to 3NT without ever mentioning diamonds. Our other pair was in 5D+1, and their other pair was in 6D. That's pretty much how the second half went!

I’m sorry to have to report that the B-team lost its match against Bicester C
on Thursday 22nd November.  The final score was 2-18.  A friendly team, but they 
got the better of us!  In the first half they bid two slams.  One of these could 
have gone off if the person on lead chooses to lead a spade.  His partner has AK 
and dummy and declarer each have two little ones, but he can’t know that.
   The second half was similar: the Bicester pairs bid and made a rather thin vulnerable 
game which neither of the Summertown pairs (including yours truly and her partner) 
thought was biddable.  All in all too many difficult decisions combined with bad luck!
  Many thanks to the team who were:
Irina Woods and Sean Terry
Sue Savery and Bridget Watson
Holly Kilpatrick and Jeremy Mitchell
Erica and Christopher Sheppard

Here’s the only hand I can remember, where we came a little unstuck on the bidding.  
I’m not sure I want to repeat our bidding sequence!  Suffice it to say that the final 
contracts were 3NT, 3H, 4H or 4S.  How would you have bid it?
Everybody is vulnerable.  South has the following hand and is first to bid.

♠  Q J 10 x
♥  A K Q J 10 x
♦   x x
♣  x

His partner’s hand is

♠  A x x
♥  x
♦   K x x x
♣  K Q J 10 x

Steph Bliss reports: I am very pleased to report an 18 - 2 victory for our B team against Frilford B on Tuesday 30th October 2007. We had a most enjoyable evening against friendly opposition and, happily, achieved the result we wanted. There were not too many dramatic swings, although on one board one of our pairs did manage to bid and make 3NT, when elsewhere it either went off, or was passed out, as at our table. There were also a couple of slams around, one bid by their team in the first half, and one by our team in the second half, so honours were divided there. Thank you to the team who were Sandra Nicholson and Holly Kilpatrick Kati di Gleria and Tunde Scott Sue Savery and Bridget Watson Steph Bliss and Steven Bliss

Steph Bliss reports: The B team had their first match of the season on Thursday 4^th October and I am very pleased to report that we have got off to a fantastic start, winning the match 16 - 4. I gather from Holly that it was very close at the break, but the team had a storming second half pulling away to a great win. Many thanks to the team, who were : Holly Kilpatrick and Rod Cook Tunde Scott and Kati di Gleria Sue Savery and Bridget Watson Paul Stevenson and Roger Heath-Brown