EVENT>Monday Night Bridge      |SESSION>Monday Eve   |SECTION> A N-S
------------------------,------ ------------,-------- --------------------------
DATE>December 26, 2016  |SANCTION>ST1701082 | 12/27/2016 13:02|EVENT CODE>03OP
---------------------,-- ------------------- -------------,---------------------
DIR> Mike Lipp       |RATING>STAC, CLUB>185264            |MOVEMENT>MITCHELL
------------,-------- ,-------------------------,--------- ---------------------
AVE>  108.0 |TOP>   8 |MP LIMITS>None/2000/750  |CLUB>Mike's Games At The CBC
------------ --------- ------------------------- -------------------------------
PAIRS IN STRAT A=9/B=8/C=7                       ,---,-------------------------,------,--------,---------,
-------------------------------------------------|   |           Section       |      |        |Section  |
No Name                   Name                   |Flt|Rnk-A|Rnk-B|Rnk-C| Score | Pct  | Adjust |Awards   |
------------------------------------------------- --- ----- ----- ----- ------- ------ -------- ---------
 1 Joy Singerman          William Cook             C    2     1     1    127.50  59.03          1.25(A)
 2 Patrick Lammers        Judy Barron              C    .     .     .     84.50  39.12
 3 Deborah Cummings       Paul Pschesang           A    1     .     .    131.00  60.65          1.78(A)
 4 Patrick Hoffman        Louise Wolf              C    .     .     .     98.00  45.37
 5 Liz Lin                Elmer Hubka              C    .     .     3    104.00  48.15          0.42(C)
 6 Pat Lindeman           Peggy Jervis             C    3     2     2    118.50  54.86          0.89(A)
 7 Pam Heckel             Margaret Decker          C    .     .     .     90.50  41.90
 8 Julian Magnus, Jr      John Ramsay              C    .     .     .    101.50  46.99
 9 Martin Petersen        Michael Lipp             B    4     3     .    116.50  53.94          0.62(A)

                                          Totals                         972.00           0.00


                           **PAIRS**
BOARD     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9
  /
   1>     1-    6-    0     4     6-    1-    4     4     8
        -120   100  -140  -110   100  -120  -110  -110   150

   2>     6      -    7     2     4     4      -    4     8
          50  -400   100  -150   -90   -90  -400   -90   110

   3>     7-    0     7-    3     5     1-    1-    4     6
         200  -100   200  PASS   120   -50   -50    90   140

   4>     6     1     2     6     0     3-    8     6     3-
         200  -120  -110   200  -140   -90   300   200   -90

   5>     8      -    5-    5-     -    5-    3     2     5-
         660  -100   620   620  -100   620   180   140   620

   6>     5-    2     2     4     8     5-    2     7     0
         -50  -100  -100   -90   110   -50  -100    90  -150

   7>     8     3-    3-    3-    7     3-     -     -    6
         100  -140  -140  -140    90  -140  -170  -170  -100

   8>     5     7     1-    7     1-    7     1-    4     1-
        -110    50  -430    50  -430    50  -430  -400  -430

   9>     5     1-    0     5     1-    5     8     5     5
        -120  -150  -600  -120  -150  -120   200  -120  -120

  10>     0     1     3     5     6-    8     6-    3     3
        -720  -690  -680  -650  -630  -200  -630  -680  -680

  11>     1     7     5-    2     3-    5-    3-    8     0
        -430  -100  -130  -400  -150  -130  -150    50  -500

  12>     6     3     8     6     0     6     3     1     3
          50  -110   100    50  -200    50  -110  -130  -110

  13>     2     2     5     4     8     0     6     2     7
        -200  -200    90  -100   630  -800   140  -200   620

  14>     2-    7-    7-    5     5     0     1     5     2-
         -50   100   100    50    50  -150  -120    50   -50

  15>     2     2     6-    6-    6-    6-    4     2     0
         300   300   650   650   650   650   620   300  -130

  16>     4     7-    4     4     4     7-    1     0     4
         400   430   400   400   400   430   140   130   400

  17>     5     5     2     0     2     2     5     7-    7-
         100   100    50  -140    50    50   100   140   140

  18>     6-    2-    5     0     2-    6-    8     2-    2-
         600  -100   180  -200  -100   600   620  -100  -100

  19>     6     3-    6     0     8     6     1-    1-    3-
         450   150   450   -50   480   450   100   100   150

  20>     1-    6     6     1-    1-    1-    6     6     6
       -1440 -1430 -1430 -1440 -1440 -1440 -1430 -1430 -1430

  21>     3-    1     8     3-    3-    6     0     3-    7
          50  -100   650    50    50   100  -170    50   300

  22>     7     3-    7     3-    1     7     3-    0     3-
         460   430   460   430   150   460   430   110   430

  23>     5     1     2-    4     2-    6-    6-    8     0
         140  -130  -100   110  -100   170   170   620  -200

  24>     6     1     7-    1     3-    3-    1     7-    5
         -90  -140   100  -140  -120  -120  -140   100  -100

  25>     6     0     7-    3-    5     3-    1     2     7-
         300  -850   420   -50   140   -50  -650  -300   420

  26>     4     4     4     4     4     4     4     4     4
        -100  -100  -100  -100  -100  -100  -100  -100  -100

  27>     7     4-    7     4-    3     1-    0     1-    7
        -420  -450  -420  -450  -460  -480  -490  -480  -420



EVENT>Monday Night Bridge      |SESSION>Monday Eve   |SECTION> A E-W
------------------------,------ ------------,-------- --------------------------
DATE>December 26, 2016  |SANCTION>ST1701082 | 12/27/2016 13:02|EVENT CODE>03OP
---------------------,-- ------------------- -------------,---------------------
DIR> Mike Lipp       |RATING>STAC, CLUB>185264            |MOVEMENT>MITCHELL
------------,-------- ,-------------------------,--------- ---------------------
AVE>  108.0 |TOP>   8 |MP LIMITS>None/2000/750  |CLUB>Mike's Games At The CBC
------------ --------- ------------------------- -------------------------------
PAIRS IN STRAT A=9/B=8/C=6                       ,---,-------------------------,------,--------,---------,
-------------------------------------------------|   |           Section       |      |        |Section  |
No Name                   Name                   |Flt|Rnk-A|Rnk-B|Rnk-C| Score | Pct  | Adjust |Awards   |
------------------------------------------------- --- ----- ----- ----- ------- ------ -------- ---------
 1 Ralph Terbrueggen      Herb Behr                B    .     .     .    107.00  49.54
 2 Robert Brown           Stephen Felson           C   2/3   2/3    2    123.50  57.18   -2.00  1.07(A)
 3 Nalin Mehta            Arun Gupta               C    4     .     .    109.50  50.69          0.62(A)
 4 Larry Newman           Dennis Schultz           B   2/3   2/3    .    123.50  57.18          1.07(A)
 5 Yauheni Siutsau        William Higgins          A    .     .     .    106.00  49.07
 6 Joseph Kammer          Gail Zimmer              C    .     .     .    103.50  47.92
 7 Mike Burns             Charlie Kobida           C    1     1     1    127.50  59.03          1.78(A)
 8 Carla Runda            David Elliott            C    .     .     .     75.00  34.72
 9 Lewis Temples          Richard Koch             C    .     .     .     94.50  43.75

                                          Totals                         970.00          -2.00


                           **PAIRS**
BOARD     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9
  /
   1>     6-    6-    1-    4     8     4     4     0     1-
         120   120  -100   110   140   110   110  -150  -100

   2>     2     4     7-    7-    1     4     6     0     4
         -50    90   400   400  -100    90   150  -110    90

   3>      -    6-    8     6-     -    4     5     2     3
        -200    50   100    50  -200   -90  PASS  -140  -120

   4>     4-    7     0     6     2     2     4-    8     2
          90   120  -300   110  -200  -200    90   140  -200

   5>     2-    7-    5     2-    6     2-    2-    7-    0
        -620   100  -180  -620  -140  -620  -620   100  -660

   6>     2-    6     6     6     1     4     8     0     2-
          50   100   100   100   -90    90   150  -110    50

   7>     4-    7-    4-    7-    4-    2     1     0     4-
         140   170   140   170   140   100   -90  -100   140

   8>     1     6-    6-    4     1     6-    6-    3     1
         -50   430   430   400   -50   430   430   110   -50

   9>     6-    0     8     3     3     3     6-    3     3
         150  -200   600   120   120   120   150   120   120

  10>     1-    5     5     3     5     1-    8     0     7
         630   680   680   650   680   630   720   200   690

  11>     4-    2-    0     6     8     4-    7     2-    1
         150   130   -50   400   500   150   430   130   100

  12>     5     0     7     2     5     8     2     2     5
         110  -100   130   -50   110   200   -50   -50   110

  13>     3     6     4     1     0     6     8     6     2
         -90   200   100  -620  -630   200   800   200  -140

  14>      -    3     3     5-    3     5-    8      -    7
        -100   -50   -50    50   -50    50   150  -100   120

  15>     1-    6     1-    8     1-    6     1-    6     4
        -650  -300  -650   130  -650  -300  -650  -300  -620

  16>     8     4     4     4     4      -     -    7     4
        -130  -400  -400  -400  -400  -430  -430  -140  -400

  17>      -    8      -    6     3     6     3     3     6
        -140   140  -140   -50  -100   -50  -100  -100   -50

  18>     5-    8     5-    5-    1-    1-    5-    0     3
         100   200   100   100  -600  -600   100  -620  -180

  19>     8     4-    0     2     2     4-    6-    2     6-
          50  -150  -480  -450  -450  -150  -100  -450  -100

  20>     6-    2     6-    6-    6-    2     2     2     2
        1440  1430  1440  1440  1440  1430  1430  1430  1430

  21>     4-    1     4-    4-    2     7     8     0     4-
         -50  -300   -50   -50  -100   100   170  -650   -50

  22>     4-    7     1     1     4-    4-    1     8     4-
        -430  -150  -460  -460  -430  -430  -460  -110  -430

  23>     8     5-    3     1-    7     1-    5-    0     4
         200   100  -140  -170   130  -170   100  -620  -110

  24>     3     4-    2     4-    7     7      -     -    7
         100   120    90   120   140   140  -100  -100   140

  25>     3     2     4-    8     7      -    6     4-     -
        -140  -300    50   850   650  -420   300    50  -420

  26>     4     4     4     4     4     4     4     4     4
         100   100   100   100   100   100   100   100   100

  27>     5     1     6-    3-    8     1     6-    3-    1
         460   420   480   450   490   420   480   450   420
Monday Night Bridge, Monday Eve, December 26, 2016

I like to play East's 1 ♠ rebid as a one-round force. Discuss this with your partner.

E/W will lose two Spade tricks, one Heart, one Diamond, and one Club, making two. If North doesn't lead a Diamond or play a Diamond when they get back in, then E/W might make three. Best way to play the Spade suit (after setting up the Clubs) is to start by playing a small Spade from each hand. When back in, play the ♠ A and leave the master trump outstanding. North should probably lead the ♦ 3 on the auction.

Do you and your partner play "Systems ON" (Stayman, Jacoby Transfers, etc.) on this auction after East reopens with 1 NT? There's no reason not to, so put it on your "Hey, let's talk about this!" list.

E/W will take two Spade tricks, one Heart, two Diamonds, and two Clubs, making one. South will lead the ♠T, although a small Spade would work better.

When your partner rebids 1 NT on an auction such as this one showing 12-14 HCP, and you have sub-invitational values and a five-card major, bid two of your major (to play).

N/S lose two Spade tricks, one Club, and two Spade ruffs if West starts with their singleton ♣ Q (♣ Q to the ♣ A, ♣ 6 ruffed with West's ♠ 4, ♠ 8 to East's ♠ K, ♣ 9 ruffed with West's ♠T, and the ♠ A whenever). Even if West doesn't guess to play a Spade at trick three, East will still get in with the ♠ K while West has trump left.

While 1 NT doubled will likely make, nobody can fault North for pulling to 2 ♣. N/S lose two Club tricks, two Diamonds, and one Heart, making two. Some West players, who falls in love with their hand (Why don't they marry it?), will double 2 ♣ and regret it for weeks to come. West will lead the ♦ K on opening lead, asking for count.

Most N/S pairs will play in 4 ♠, making four. Some might forget that they can look for a 4-4 major-suit fit and end up in 3 NT, making four for all the matchpoints. Stupid matchpoints.

Since North can afford one Spade loser, a nice safety play is to play the ♠ A first and then lead low towards the ♠ Q intending to cover if West plays the ♠ J. This works whenever West has ♠ K, ♠ KJ, ♠ Kx, or ♠ KJx or East has ♠ K, ♠ Kx, ♠ KJ, or ♠ Kxx. It loses to ♠ Kxx with West and ♠ Jx with East. N/S lose one Spade trick, one Heart, and one Club, making four. East may lead the ♣ J on opening lead.

North has to be careful on this hand. They'd much rather hold ♦ AKxx than ♦ AKQ, since they can picture the difficulties in getting to partner's hand. If North bids 2 ♥ over 2 ♦, asking for a stopper for notrump, they're going to get too high (3 NT is painful). Expect to see some +150 scores for E/W.

In 3 ♦, N/S lose one Diamond trick, two Hearts, and one Spade, making three. If East gets a ruff, it will be at the expense of their natural trump trick. The proper way to play the Spades is to take two finesses--the first one to the ♠T, and the second to the ♠ Q. West will lead the ♣ Q on opening lead.

East's 2 ♥ bid is not invitational--it's to play. E/W lose one Heart trick, one Spade, one Diamond, and one Club, making three. South's best lead is the ♣ Q, but that will give pretty much give declarer a complete count of the hand. A small Spade towards the ♠ J will set the stage for a ruffing finesse through North's other high Spade honor in order to pitch declarer's second Diamond loser.

A 1 NT response by East wouldn't be wrong, but 1 ♦ is better. This hand has about a trillion chances to make nine tricks, but none of them pan out. The ♠ Q with South? Nope. 3-3 Hearts? Nope. The ♦ J with South? Sorry. E/W will take two Spade tricks, three Hearts, two Diamonds, and one Club, down one. South even gets away with making the horrendous opening lead of the ♥ 4.

E/W will take three Heart tricks, three Diamonds, and two Clubs, making two. If N/S get frisky with their Spade tricks, they'll gift declarer a trick in that suit, making three. North will probably lead a small Diamond on opening lead.

E/W lose one Spade trick and one Club, making five. If South is stubborn and doesn't cash their ♣ A when in with their trump winner, E/W will make six. Look for that in the results at the end of the game, and make note of all of the South players who gave up +680 to E/W.

East will be a little peeved that their partner didn't pass 2 ♥, since East's penalty double would have shaken the room. That's life.

E/W lose one Spade trick, one Heart, and one Diamond, making four. North may lead a trump, but it doesn't really matter on this hand. If N/S compete above 3 ♣, East will double them for a juicy profit. Some E/W pairs will try to play in 3 NT, but that won't work out very well.

The vulnerability will keep N/S from competing to 4 ♣. E/W lose two Heart tricks, one Diamond, and one Club, making three. North will lead the ♣ 9 on opening lead (top of nothing from a dead suit when you've shown support).

North's 3 ♦ bid is natural, and most often shows 4+ cards in Diamonds, exactly five Hearts, and a singleton or void somewhere in their hand. It can also be used by a slammish hand to sync up on Hearts below game to facilitate control bidding.

N/S lose one Heart trick and one Diamond, making five. The proper way to play the trump suit is low to the ♥ A and back towards the ♥ Q. The proper way to play the Diamond suit is to lead twice towards the honors in dummy. West, with no good lead, may very well lead a trump.

South may be tempted to balance when it gets back to them at the end of the auction, but unless they balance with 2 NT (unlikely), they're going to turn a positive score into a negative one. E/W lose one Spade trick, one Club, two Diamonds, and three Hearts, down two. South can afford to lead a small Spade on opening lead, but as long as they hop with the ♣ A when declarer leads the ♣ 4, dummy will be worthless. Stupid dummy.

E/W have a great sacrifice in 7 ♦, and expect at least one pair to play there doubled, down five for –1100. That stomps the merde out of –1400 (pardon my French). N/S don't lose anything, since the only reasonable way to pick up the Heart suit is to lead multiple time through East. Declarer doesn't even have to ruff the Clubs good, when the ♣ QJ fall doubleton.

For those of you who didn't make a cuebid to show a GREAT raise with the South hand.....you are hereby tsked. Tsk, tsk.

Don't ask for a five-card major if you're 3334. N/S take four Club tricks, one Diamond, three Hearts, and a Spade, making three. If East leads a small Diamond on opening lead, declarer will have to hope that Diamonds are 4-4. Phew.

If South doubles 3 ♠, North may pull to 4 ♥. Since South doesn't want that, they grudgingly pass. E/W lose one Heart trick, three Diamonds, and a Club. Good declarers will work their butts off to endplay South, but to no avail. North may lead the ♥ J on opening lead, but it doesn't matter when E/W have mirror hands (i.e., the exact same shape).

Sometimes you have to bid what you think you're going to make. N/S take two Spade tricks, three Hearts, two Diamonds, and two Clubs, making three. If West leads a small Spade on opening lead, N/S will make four. Stupid small Spade.

I always (i.e., almost always) lead my partner's suit on auctions such as this one, because I hate it when they give me the stink eye (i.e., their normal look).

The vulnerability keeps E/W from competing to 4 ♠. N/S lose one Spade trick and one Diamond, making five. West will probably lead the ♠ K on opening lead (asking for count), and switch to the ♣T when partner shows an even number of Spades. Declarer will win with the ♣ K and run the ♥ Q. When that holds, it's a simple matter to pull trump, play off the Clubs, and take a Diamond finesse for a second overtrick.

Once West shows the seventh Heart, East can count 12 tricks if West has two keycards or 13 tricks if West has three keycards. If West shows only one keycard, then 5 ♥ will be a reasonable contract.

E/W lose one Heart trick, making six. South will probably lead the ♦T on opening lead, although nothing matters.

If you play Bergen Raises or standard 1M-3M limit raises, it's reasonable to play that an immediate splinter bid (i.e., a double-jump shift by responder) shows a game-going hand in support point and shortness in the suit bid. If responder's hand gets much better than that, they should find another way to raise partner (Jacoby 2 NT perhaps after partner's major-suit opener or an Inverted Minor raise after partner's minor-suit opener).

E/W lose one Heart trick, two Diamonds, and a Club, down two doubled for –300. This is much better than –650. Much. North will probably lead the ♦ A on opening lead and continue Diamonds when partner encourages.

N/S take five Club tricks, two Hearts, and four pointy-suit tricks (♠ and ♦) when West gets endplayed. West is going to have a heckuva time discarding on the run of five Clubs and three Hearts. When they're down to ♠ QT9 ♦ KJ, declarer can simply exit with ♦ A and another Diamond. If West keeps ♠ QT ♦ KJ7, declarer can drop the ♠ Q doubleton. Heh.

In IMPs (i.e., a team game where the scoring is different), North would bid 4 ♥. In matchpoints? Their values are just too soft to bid game--perhaps if the ♠ Q and ♦ Q were the ♦ A.

N/S lose one Spade trick, two Diamonds, and a Club, making three. West will lead a trump.

E/W take three Heart tricks, one Diamond, and two Clubs, down one. Although it appears as if N/S can take four Spade tricks, there isn't a reasonable way to untangle them (assuming that declarer doesn't help out by putting North back in the lead with a Heart to the ♥ J). North will need to use their Spade entries to lead Diamonds towards their partner.

Notice that Hearts is a frozen suit. Get used to recognizing them.

While 5 ♥ by East is going down, South has a reasonable pull to 5 ♠ on the auction. Why? West has shown a boatload of points and no tolerance for Clubs. That says that North's values should be in the black suits, and South's ♠ K and ♣ Q will help immeasurably. Also, any values that North does have in the red suits will be situated behind West.

N/S lose one Heart trick and one Diamond, making five. E/W have a nice sacrifice in 6 ♥, but only if West is declarer. Unfortunately, that's not the case in this auction. East will lead their singleton ♦ 7 (beer card) on opening lead, but North can afford to ruff high at trick two.

See Board #16 for a comment on bidding 5-Card Stayman with 3334 shape. That reference took up more space than actually telling you again. Oh well.

N/S take three Spade tricks, four Hearts, one Diamond, and one Club, making three. If E/W attack Diamonds at any point, N/S will take a second Diamond trick and no Clubs. West may lead the ♠ 9 on opening lead if they subscribe to the "Lead your shorter major on auctions such as this one" theory.

If you use Ogust, it's important to discuss with your partner what you mean by a "good" or "bad" hand and a "good" or "bad" suit. I define a good suit as: two of the top three honors or three of the top five but not QJT. I define a good hand as: 7 loser.

When West shows a good suit and a bad hand, East makes the matchpoint bid of 3 NT. If West had responded "Bad suit, bad hand," East would have been more likely to raise to 4 ♠.

E/W take six Spade tricks, three Hearts, one Heart, and one Diamond, making five. South's best lead is the ♠ J.

N/S are not going to enjoy playing in 2 ♠, but the auction is a reasonable one. They lose three Spade tricks, two Hearts, one Diamond, and one Club, down two. Ouch. West has a difficult opening lead and might resort to the ♠ Q.

West tries to be an annoyance, but N/S simply ignore them and bid on to game. N/S lose two Diamonds and a Club, making four. East will lead the ♠ 4 on opening lead.

West uses 4 NT to ask for keycards to avoid any confusion (4 ♠ would normally be Kickback for Hearts, but Spades has been bid twice by partner). Once East shows ♥ AK ♦ A, it's impossible for West not to bid the grand. It makes if East has ♠ KQ -or- ♠ K and ♣ J -or- ♠ K and ♦ K -or- ♣ xxx. North will lead the ♦ 2 on opening lead.

If North leads the ♦ A and a small Diamond, E/W will be down at least one. If North leads the ♦ Q, declarer can win with the ♦ K and the ♦ 9 will be a second stopper in the suit. E/W can take three Heart tricks, one Spade, one Diamond, and four Clubs if declarer leads through South. Unfortunately, declarer won't be able to get back to dummy enough times to enjoy the Clubs. Rats.

East, with 12 HCP, invites in notrump. West, with a dead minimum, politely (or not so politely) declines. E/W take one Spade trick, two Hearts, four Diamonds, and one Club, making two. North has a hard time getting out of their own way. The only defense that holds E/W to eight tricks is ♣ K, ♣ Q, and a third Club. When South wins the ♣ A, they play the ♠ 7 to North's ♠ Q and North exits with the ♦ J. Declarer now has their eight tricks, and North is happy they didn't get endplayed. Stupid happy people.

E/W lose two Club tricks, making five. North will lead the ♣ K and continue with the ♣ A and a Club to South's ♣ Q.

E/W lose one Spade trick, making six. With the Spade finesse obviously off, declarer is going to have to finesse North for the ♦ Q and the ♥ K. With both of those cards onside, East lands their slam. If South leads the ♠ A on opening lead, declarer will need North to hold the ♦ Q (the ♥ K is irrelevant).

Things to note: West's raise of East's 2 ♣ bid shows 4+ card support. Once East supports Spades at the three level, Spades are trump, so there shouldn't be confusion when West bids 4 ♣ (i.e., they're showing 1st or 2nd round control in Clubs).

E/W lose one Spade trick and one Diamond when the ♥ Q fails to fall in three rounds. Oh well, it's a really good slam.