MON 02/13/2017 at Nite

EVENT>Monday Night Bridge      |SESSION>Monday Eve   |SECTION> A N-S
------------------------,------ ------------,-------- --------------------------
DATE>February 13, 2017  |CLUB NO.>185264    | 02/13/2017 22:18
---------------------,-- ------------------- -------------,---------------------
DIR> Debbie Wiest    |RATING>Club Masterpoint (100%, 80%, 60% Open)|MOVEMENT>MITCHELL
------------,-------- ,-------------------------,--------- ---------------------
AVE>   84.0 |TOP>   7 |MP LIMITS>None/500/100   |CLUB>Mike's Games At The CBC
------------ --------- ------------------------- -------------------------------
PAIRS IN STRAT A=12/B=9/C=3                      ,---,-------------------------,------,---------,
-------------------------------------------------|   |           Section       |      |Section  |
No Name                   Name                   |Flt|Rnk-A|Rnk-B|Rnk-C| Score | Pct  |Awards   |
------------------------------------------------- --- ----- ----- ----- ------- ------ ---------
 1 Debbie Wiest           John Altman Sr           A    4     .     .     89.00  52.98  0.42(A)
 2 Donald Pollack         Bernice Pollack          B    .     .     .     76.50  45.54
 3 Patricia Burnam        Nancy Hatch              C    .     .     .     83.50  49.70
 4 Pamela Kennedy         Cheryl Endres            C    3     3     .     94.50  56.25  0.60(A)
 5 Liz Lin                Elmer Hubka              A    .     .     .     84.50  50.30
 6 Patrick Hoffman        Robert Roark             B    1     1     .    101.00  60.12  1.20(A)
 7 Ila Mehta              Nalin Mehta              B   5/6    4     .     85.00  50.60  0.25(B)
 8 Richard Magnus         Julian Magnus, Jr        B    .     .     .     59.00  35.12
 9 Terri Mackey           Charlie Kobida           B    .     .     .     69.50  41.37
10 Joanne Earls           Judith Lubow             B    .     .     .     83.00  49.40
11 Betty Murdock          Erin Oblinger            C    2     2     1     97.50  58.04  0.84(A)
12 Doris Kehoe            Lilam Stanley            A   5/6    .     .     85.00  50.60  0.22(A)

                                          Totals                        1008.00


                                    **PAIRS**
BOARD     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10    11    12
  /
   1>     6                             4-     -    2-    2-     -    7     4-
         140   ----  ----  ----  ----  110   -50    50    50   -50   150   110

   2>     7                             3     5-    0     2     5-    4     1
         580   ----  ----  ----  ----  120   150  PASS   110   150   140    50

   3>     7                             6     2-    0     2-    2-    2-    5
        1010   ----  ----  ----  ----  990   480   420   480   480   480   510

   4>     2     2                             4     2     6     6     6     0
         200   200   ----  ----  ----  ----  300   200   650   650   650   170

   5>     0     4                             4     4     4     4     4     4
        -980  -480   ----  ----  ----  ---- -480  -480  -480  -480  -480  -480

   6>     3     0                             4-    6     1     7     2     4-
        -110  -600   ----  ----  ----  ----  -90   -70  -150   140  -130   -90

   7>     2     7     4-                            0     1     4-    4-    4-
        -140   200   100   ----  ----  ----  ---- -620  -500   100   100   100

   8>     7     2-    6                             2-    2-    5     0     2-
         140  -170    50   ----  ----  ----  ---- -170  -170  -100  -420  -170

   9>     5     7     3                              -     -    3     6     3
         100   200  -170   ----  ----  ----  ---- -200  -200  -170   110  -170

  10>     3-    0     1     6                             3-    3-    7     3-
        -630  -690  -650  -620   ----  ----  ----  ---- -630  -630  -600  -630

  11>     5-    3     1-    0                             1-    7     4     5-
         990   490   480   450   ----  ----  ----  ----  480  1020   520   990

  12>     3-    6     6     3-                            1-    1-    0     6
        -140    50    50  -140   ----  ----  ----  ---- -420  -420  -530    50

  13>     7     6     3-    2     3-                            5      -     -
         100   -90  -120  -150  -120   ----  ----  ----  ---- -110  -180  -180

  14>      -    6-    3-    3-     -                            3-    3-    6-
        -450  -170  -420  -420  -450   ----  ----  ----  ---- -420  -420  -170

  15>     4     4     0     1-    7                             1-    4     6
        -420  -420  -800  -450    50   ----  ----  ----  ---- -450  -420  -170

  16>     5-    1-    1-    3-    3-    7                             0     5-
         490   -50   -50   460   460   520   ----  ----  ----  ---- -100   490

  17>      -    2     4-    4-     -    4-                            7     4-
        -300  -100   -50   -50  -300   -50   ----  ----  ----  ----  420   -50

  18>     1     3     5     6     2     7                             4     0
         -90   110   140   150   100   630   ----  ----  ----  ----  130  -100

  19>     6     2-    6     0     2-    2-    2-                            6
        -660  -720  -660 -1370  -720  -720  -720   ----  ----  ----  ---- -660

  20>     2     6-    0     5     6-    4     3                             1
         100   620  -300   300   620   170   140   ----  ----  ----  ---- -100

  21>     5-    0     4     5-    2-    2-    7                             1
         110  -200   100   110    50    50   150   ----  ----  ----  ----  -90

  22>     0     4     5-    2-    7     1     2-    5-
        -800  -630  -620  -650  -200  -660  -650  -620   ----  ----  ----  ----

  23>     1     0     5-    5-    5-    2     3     5-
         600   230   680   680   680   650   660   680   ----  ----  ----  ----

  24>     4-    1     1     1     3     4-    7     6
          90   -50   -50   -50    80    90   120   110   ----  ----  ----  ----

  25>           5-    7     5-    4      -    2-     -    2-
         ----  200   500   200   100  -620  -100  -620  -100   ----  ----  ----

  26>           1     0     5     3     6     3     3     7
         ---- -630  -660  -180  -600  -150  -600  -600   100   ----  ----  ----

  27>           1-    6-    4-    1-    4-    1-    1-    6-
         ---- -400   -90  -150  -400  -150  -400  -400   -90   ----  ----  ----

  28>                 4-    7     6     2-    2-     -    4-     -
         ----  ---- -100  1100    50  -200  -200  -300  -100  -300   ----  ----

  29>                 0     3-    6-    6-    3-    3-    3-    1
         ----  ---- -100   620   650   650   620   620   620   150   ----  ----

  30>                 3-    6     7     1-    5     3-    1-    0
         ----  ---- -100   130   200  -150   100  -100  -150  -200   ----  ----

  31>                       7     2     1     6     0     4     4     4
         ----  ----  ----  730  -100  -150   150  -460    50    50    50   ----

  32>                       3-     -    6-    6-     -    3-    2     5
         ----  ----  ----  400   -50   460   460   -50   400   150   430   ----

  33>                       2-    4-    6      -    2-     -    7     4-
         ----  ----  ----  -50   110   140  -100   -50  -100   150   110   ----

  34>                             3-    3-    6-    3-    1     3-    6-    0
         ----  ----  ----  ----  650   650   680   650   620   650   680   120

  35>                             0     7     1     2-    2-    4-    6     4-
         ----  ----  ----  ---- -790   150  -250  -170  -170  -100   130  -100

  36>                             2     7      -    3     4      -    5-    5-
         ----  ----  ----  ---- -140   200  -300  -100   100  -300   150   150



EVENT>Monday Night Bridge      |SESSION>Monday Eve   |SECTION> A E-W
------------------------,------ ------------,-------- --------------------------
DATE>February 13, 2017  |CLUB NO.>185264    | 02/13/2017 22:18
---------------------,-- ------------------- -------------,---------------------
DIR> Debbie Wiest    |RATING>Club Masterpoint (100%, 80%, 60% Open)|MOVEMENT>MITCHELL
------------,-------- ,-------------------------,--------- ---------------------
AVE>   84.0 |TOP>   7 |MP LIMITS>None/500/100   |CLUB>Mike's Games At The CBC
------------ --------- ------------------------- -------------------------------
PAIRS IN STRAT A=12/B=10/C=2                     ,---,-------------------------,------,---------,
-------------------------------------------------|   |           Section       |      |Section  |
No Name                   Name                   |Flt|Rnk-A|Rnk-B|Rnk-C| Score | Pct  |Awards   |
------------------------------------------------- --- ----- ----- ----- ------- ------ ---------
 1 Steve Messinger        Kevin Henry              C    .     .     1     73.50  43.75  0.12(C)
 2 Joy Singerman          William Cook             B    5     4     .     91.50  54.46  0.28(B)
 3 Daniel Koppenhafer     Steven Simon             B    .     .     .     86.50  51.49
 4 Kimberly King          Michael Purcell          A    2     .     .     98.00  58.33  0.84(A)
 5 Joyce Tedrick          Linda Pretz              B    1     1     .    103.00  61.31  1.20(A)
 6 Joseph Kammer          Gail Zimmer              B    .     .     .     72.50  43.15
 7 Martin Gibler          Susan Stacy Vanstone     B    3     2     .     97.50  58.04  0.60(A)
 8 Stephen Felson         Robert Brown             A    .     .     .     72.50  43.15
 9 Annette Kereiakes      Tom Kereiakes            B    .     .     .     73.00  43.45
10 Nelson Leist           Herschell Levine         B    .     .     .     88.50  52.68
11 Sara Brown             Reggie Moskowitz         C    .     .     .     58.50  34.82
12 Lewis Temples          Richard Koch             B    4     3     .     93.00  55.36  0.42(A)

                                          Totals                        1008.00


                                    **PAIRS**
BOARD     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10    11    12
  /
   1>     1           4-          4-          6-          0     2-    2-    6-
        -140   ----  -50   ----  -50   ----   50   ---- -150  -110  -110    50

   2>     0           7           5           1-          3     4     6     1-
        -580   ---- PASS   ---- -110   ---- -150   ---- -140  -120   -50  -150

   3>     0           7           4-          4-          4-    1     2     4-
       -1010   ---- -420   ---- -480   ---- -480   ---- -480  -990  -510  -480

   4>     5     5           1           1           1           7     3     5
        -200  -200   ---- -650   ---- -650   ---- -650   ---- -170  -300  -200

   5>     3     3           3           3           3           3     3     7
         480   480   ----  480   ----  480   ----  480   ----  480   480   980

   6>     1     7           6           0           5           2-    2-    4
          70   600   ----  150   ---- -140   ----  130   ----   90    90   110

   7>     0     6     2-          2-          2-          2-          5     7
        -200   500  -100   ---- -100   ---- -100   ---- -100   ----  140   620

   8>     4-    4-    1           2           7           4-          0     4-
         170   170   -50   ----  100   ----  420   ----  170   ---- -140   170

   9>     0     6-    4           4           1           4           2     6-
        -200   200   170   ----  170   ---- -110   ----  170   ---- -100   200

  10>     3-    6     3-    1           0           3-          3-          7
         630   650   630   620   ----  600   ----  630   ----  630   ----  690

  11>     5-    5-    0     7           3           1-          1-          4
        -480  -480 -1020  -450   ---- -520   ---- -990   ---- -990   ---- -490

  12>     5-    1     5-    3-          7           1           3-          1
         420   -50   420   140   ----  530   ----  -50   ----  140   ----  -50

  13>     3-    2     5     6-    3-          6-          0           1
         120   110   150   180   120   ----  180   ---- -100   ----   90   ----

  14>     3-    3-    3-    3-    6-           -          6-           -
         420   420   420   420   450   ----  170   ----  450   ----  170   ----

  15>     7     5-    5-    3     0           1           3           3
         800   450   450   420   -50   ----  170   ----  420   ----  420   ----

  16>           3-    7     3-    1-    0           1-          5-          5-
         ---- -460   100  -460  -490  -520   ---- -490   ----   50   ----   50

  17>           2-    0     6-    2-    2-          6-          5           2-
         ----   50  -420   300    50    50   ----  300   ----  100   ----   50

  18>           1     3     5     7     0           6           4           2
         ---- -150  -130  -100   100  -630   ----   90   ---- -110   ---- -140

  19>     7           4-    1     4-    1     4-          4-          1
        1370   ----  720   660   720   660   720   ----  720   ----  660   ----

  20>     2            -    6     3     5     4            -          7
        -300   ---- -620   100  -170  -100  -140   ---- -620   ----  300   ----

  21>     1-          4-    6     4-    1-    0           7           3
        -110   ----  -50    90   -50  -110  -150   ----  200   ---- -100   ----

  22>           0           6     7     4-    3     1-          1-          4-
         ----  200   ----  660   800   650   630   620   ----  620   ----  650

  23>           1-          5     6     4     7     1-          1-          1-
         ---- -680   ---- -650  -600  -660  -230  -680   ---- -680   ---- -680

  24>           4           2-    2-    0     6     1           6           6
         ----  -80   ----  -90   -90  -120    50  -110   ----   50   ----   50

  25>     3           6-          4-    1-    6-    0     4-          1-
        -100   ----  620   ----  100  -200   620  -500   100   ---- -200   ----

  26>     4           1           4     6     4     7     0           2
         600   ----  150   ----  600   630   600   660  -100   ----  180   ----

  27>     5-          2-          5-    5-    5-     -     -          2-
         400   ----  150   ----  400   400   400    90    90   ----  150   ----

  28>           4-          4-          6-    2-    2-    0     6-          1
         ----  200   ----  200   ----  300   100   100 -1100   300   ----  -50

  29>            -          3-          3-    7     3-    3-    6            -
         ---- -650   ---- -620   ---- -620   100  -620  -620  -150   ---- -650

  30>           5-          2           3-    3-    5-    1     7           0
         ----  150   ---- -100   ----  100   100   150  -130   200   ---- -200

  31>     6           1           7           3     0     3     5     3
         150   ---- -150   ----  460   ----  -50  -730   -50   100   -50   ----

  32>      -           -          6-          3-    3-    5     6-    2
        -460   ---- -460   ----   50   ---- -400  -400  -150    50  -430   ----

  33>     1           6-          4-          6-    4-    0     2-    2-
        -140   ----  100   ----   50   ----  100    50  -150  -110  -110   ----

  34>            -          3-          6           3-    3-     -    3-    7
         ---- -680   ---- -650   ---- -620   ---- -650  -650  -680  -650  -120

  35>           6           4-          4-          2-    7     1     0     2-
         ----  250   ----  170   ----  170   ----  100   790  -130  -150   100

  36>           6-          4           3           6-    5     1-    0     1-
         ----  300   ----  100   ---- -100   ----  300   140  -150  -200  -150
Monday Night Bridge, Monday Eve, February 13, 2017

Board 1
North Deals
None Vul

♠	J 10 9 3 2
♥	K 5 2
♦	5 4
♣	8 4 3

♠	5
♥	A Q 8
♦	A Q 10 9 7 6
♣	9 7 6

N
W		E
S

♠	K Q 4
♥	9 7 6 4 3
♦	8 2
♣	Q J 2

♠	A 8 7 6
♥	J 10
♦	K J 3
♣	A K 10 5

S 3♠; E 3♥; N 2♠; W 2♥; E 1N; E 2♦; W 1♦; S 1♣; Par +100: E 4♥×−1

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 NT1
Dbl2	2 ♥3	Dbl4	2 ♠5
3 ♦	Pass	Pass	3 ♠
Pass	Pass	Pass

15 to 17
Alert, showing a single-suited hand
Transfer
If your suit is Hearts, please bid it
Alert, showing 3+ Spades

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♦	W	−3	150		7.00	0.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
2 ♠	S	3	140		6.00	1.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	1-Messinger-Henry
2 ♠	S	2	110		4.50	2.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	10-Leist-Levine
2 ♠	N	2	110		4.50	2.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	11-Brown-Moskowitz
2 ♦	W	−1	50		2.50	4.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 ♦	W	−1	50		2.50	4.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 NT	S	−1		50	0.50	6.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	12-Temples-Koch
3 ♠	S	−1		50	0.50	6.50	10-Earls-Lubow	7-Gibler-Vanstone

West, encouraged by their partner's liking of Hearts, bids 3 ♦. Unfortunately, that would go down two, but neither North nor South are in the doubling mood, so 3 ♠ it is.

N/S lose one Spade trick, one Heart, and two Diamonds, making three. The only way to play the Clubs for no losers is to finesse East for ♣ QJx. Turns out, that works. West may lead the 7 ♣ (MUD) or their stiff Spade.

Board 2
East Deals
N-S Vul

♠	K 6 4
♥	K Q 7 5
♦	J 10 7 4
♣	Q 4

♠	A Q J 10 5
♥	6 4
♦	K 8 6
♣	J 7 3

N
W		E
S

♠	2
♥	J 10 9 8 2
♦	A Q 9 2
♣	6 5 2

♠	9 8 7 3
♥	A 3
♦	5 3
♣	A K 10 9 8

NS 2N; NS 1♠; EW 1♥; NS 1♣; Par +120

West	North	East	South
		Pass	1 ♣1
1 ♠	Dbl2	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 NT	Pass	Pass
Pass

Rule of 20 opener
Negative showing 4+ Hearts

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
1 NT×	N	3	580		7.00	0.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	1-Messinger-Henry
2 NT	N	3	150		5.50	1.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	12-Temples-Koch
2 NT	N	3	150		5.50	1.50	10-Earls-Lubow	7-Gibler-Vanstone
3 ♠	S	3	140		4.00	3.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
2 NT	N	2	120		3.00	4.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	10-Leist-Levine
2 ♣	S	3	110		2.00	5.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	5-Tedrick-Pretz
2 ♥	E	−1	50		1.00	6.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	11-Brown-Moskowitz
Pass			Pass		0.00	7.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	3-Koppenhafer-Simon

N/S take five Club tricks and three Hearts, making two. If East leads the ♠ 2, West will need to switch to the ♦ 6 at trick two. Declarer will split their honors, East will win, and return the ♦ 2. West will win with the ♦ K, and the ♦ 8 back through North's ♦ J7 will gain the defenders two more tricks. If West makes the mistake of leading the ♦ K at trick two (or continuing Spades), N/S will make three.

Board 3
South Deals
E-W Vul

♠	K Q 9 7 5 3
♥	K 6
♦	K 8
♣	Q J 2

♠	J 8 2
♥	A Q J 10 9
♦	J 5 3
♣	6 4

N
W		E
S

♠	6 4
♥	7 5 2
♦	10 9 4
♣	10 8 7 5 3

♠	A 10
♥	8 4 3
♦	A Q 7 6 2
♣	A K 9

NS 6N; NS 6♠; NS 6♦; NS 5♣; NS 3♥; Par +990

West	North	East	South
			1 NT1
Pass	4 ♥2	Pass	4 ♠
Pass	4 NT3	Pass	5 ♦4
Pass	6 ♠	Pass	Pass
Pass

15 to 17
Transfer
RKC Blackwood (Kickback) for Spades
1430 response showing 0 or 3 keycards

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
6 ♠	S	7	1010		7.00	0.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	1-Messinger-Henry
6 NT	S	6	990		6.00	1.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	10-Leist-Levine
4 ♠	S	7	510		5.00	2.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	11-Brown-Moskowitz
4 ♠	N	6	480		2.50	4.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	12-Temples-Koch
4 ♠	N	6	480		2.50	4.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	5-Tedrick-Pretz
4 ♠	N	6	480		2.50	4.50	10-Earls-Lubow	7-Gibler-Vanstone
4 ♠	N	6	480		2.50	4.50	11-Murdock-Oblinger	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
5 ♦	S	6	420		0.00	7.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	3-Koppenhafer-Simon

When your partner opens 1 NT, you'll use a Texas Transfer (4 ♦ to transfer to Hearts, 4 ♥ to transfer to Spades) when you have 6+ cards in your major, game-going values, and
1) No interest in slam
2) Interest in slam no matter what partner holds

If you're in between those bids (picture ♠ KT9753 ♥ K6 ♦ K8 ♣ Q32), you can transfer at the two level and then jump to 4 ♠ to show mild slam interest.

N/S lose one Heart trick, making six. 6 NT also makes, but it depends on 3-3 Diamonds--decidedly against the odds. If West doesn't lead the ♥ A, N/S make seven--six Spade tricks, five Diamonds, and three Clubs.....er, that's 14 tricks. Stupid adding.

Board 4
West Deals
Both Vul

♠	Q J 3 2
♥	A 10 9 5 3
♦	8
♣	A 9 4

♠	A 8 5
♥	K 4
♦	A Q 5 4
♣	J 10 7 5

N
W		E
S

♠	9 4
♥	6
♦	K J 6 3 2
♣	K 8 6 3 2

♠	K 10 7 6
♥	Q J 8 7 2
♦	10 9 7
♣	Q

NS 5♥; NS 4♠; EW 4♣; EW 2♦; Par +500: EW 6♣×−2

West	North	East	South
1 ♦	Dbl	2 ♦	4 ♦1
Pass	4 ♥	Pass	Pass
Pass

Pick a major

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♥	N	5	650		6.00	1.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	4-King-Purcell
4 ♥	N	5	650		6.00	1.00	10-Earls-Lubow	6-Kammer-Zimmer
4 ♥	N	5	650		6.00	1.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	8-Felson-Brown
1 ♠	E	−3	300		4.00	3.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 ♥	N	5	200		2.00	5.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	12-Temples-Koch
3 ♥	N	5	200		2.00	5.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	2-Singerman-Cook
3 ♥	N	5	200		2.00	5.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	1-Messinger-Henry
3 ♥	N	4	170		0.00	7.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	10-Leist-Levine

South could have made a responsive double, which would have showed both majors, but their hand is pretty much perfect on the auction (they can picture the singleton or void in Diamonds in partner's hand). If E/W weren't vulnerable, they'd compete to 5 ♦.

N/S lose one Spade trick and one Diamond, making five. East will lead the ♦ 3.

Board 5
North Deals
N-S Vul

♠	3
♥	A K 8 7 4
♦	K J 9 7 4
♣	10 5

♠	J 10 4 2
♥	Q J
♦	A Q 5
♣	A K 4 2

N
W		E
S

♠	A K Q 9 7 6
♥	3
♦	8
♣	Q 9 7 6 3

♠	8 5
♥	10 9 6 5 2
♦	10 6 3 2
♣	J 8

EW 6♠; EW 6♣; EW 2N; NS 2♥; NS 2♦; Par −980

West	North	East	South
	1 ♥	2 ♥1	3 ♥
4 ♥2	Dbl	5 ♣3	Pass
6 ♠4	Pass	Pass	Pass

Michaels cue bid showing Spades and a minor
Loudest bid that West can make
Hand too big to sign off in 4 ♠
What else?

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♠	E	6		480	4.00	3.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♠	E	6		480	4.00	3.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	11-Brown-Moskowitz
4 ♠	W	6		480	4.00	3.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	1-Messinger-Henry
4 ♠	E	6		480	4.00	3.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	4-King-Purcell
4 ♠	E	6		480	4.00	3.00	10-Earls-Lubow	6-Kammer-Zimmer
4 ♠	E	6		480	4.00	3.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	8-Felson-Brown
4 ♠	E	6		480	4.00	3.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	10-Leist-Levine
6 ♠	E	6		980	0.00	7.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	12-Temples-Koch

West, with the biggest hand they'll ever have on this auction, needs to make a strong bid. What's better than a cuebid of the opponent's suit? (cake is better.....so are raisins, but not the yellow ones) East, with a four-loser hand, doesn't want to bid 4 ♠, so they show their suit at the five level. West, with no reason to think 7 ♠ will make, is happy to bid the small slam.

E/W lose one Heart trick, making six. North will lead the ♥ K, and declarer will claim when both players follow to the first round of Clubs.

Board 6
East Deals
E-W Vul

♠	Q 9 3
♥	J 9 8 5
♦	3
♣	A J 10 7 4

♠	8 7 5 2
♥	10 2
♦	7 6 2
♣	K Q 6 2

N
W		E
S

♠	A 10 4
♥	A Q 4
♦	A Q J 9 8 4
♣	9

♠	K J 6
♥	K 7 6 3
♦	K 10 5
♣	8 5 3

NS 2♥; EW 1N; EW 2♦; NS 2♣; EW 1♠; Par +110

West	North	East	South
		1 ♦	Pass
Pass	Dbl	2 ♦	2 ♥
Pass	Pass	Pass

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 ♥	N	3	140		7.00	0.00	10-Earls-Lubow	6-Kammer-Zimmer
1 ♦	E	1		70	6.00	1.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	1-Messinger-Henry
1 ♦	E	2		90	4.50	2.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	11-Brown-Moskowitz
1 ♦	E	2		90	4.50	2.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	10-Leist-Levine
2 ♦	E	3		110	3.00	4.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	12-Temples-Koch
1 ♦	E	4		130	2.00	5.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	8-Felson-Brown
1 ♦	E	5		150	1.00	6.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	4-King-Purcell
3 NT	W	3		600	0.00	7.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	2-Singerman-Cook

North borrows a King to allow them to make a balancing double. East has extras, so they rebid their suit. South, even after loaning North a King, has enough to bid Hearts at the two level. The vulnerability keeps E/W from competing further.

N/S lose one Spade trick, one Diamond, one Club, and two Hearts, making two. West will lead the ♦ 6 (MUD).

Board 7
South Deals
Both Vul

♠	J 4
♥	Q 9 6 2
♦	A J 6 2
♣	K 10 8

♠	8
♥	A K 10 5 4 3
♦	Q 8 4 3
♣	A 6

N
W		E
S

♠	A K 10 7 5 2
♥	J 8 7
♦	10 7
♣	Q 4

♠	Q 9 6 3
♥	—
♦	K 9 5
♣	J 9 7 5 3 2

EW 3♥; NS 3♣; EW 1♠; NS 1♦; Par −140

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠	Pass
3 ♥1	Pass	4 ♥	Pass
Pass	Pass

A bit aggressive, but West has a pretty good hand

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♥	W	−2	200		7.00	0.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	1-Messinger-Henry
4 ♥	W	−1	100		4.50	2.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
4 ♥	W	−1	100		4.50	2.50	10-Earls-Lubow	5-Tedrick-Pretz
4 ♥	W	−1	100		4.50	2.50	11-Murdock-Oblinger	7-Gibler-Vanstone
4 ♥	W	−1	100		4.50	2.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
2 ♥	W	3		140	2.00	5.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	11-Brown-Moskowitz
5 ♣×	S	−2		500	1.00	6.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♥	W	4		620	0.00	7.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	12-Temples-Koch

E/W lose two Diamond tricks and two Hearts, down one. North has a tough hand to lead from--maybe the ♠ J? On a Spade lead, declarer wins in dummy, cashes the other high Spade, pitching a Club, and leads leads a Diamond towards the closed hand. North wins with the ♦ J, and exits with a Club. Declarer wins in hand with the ♣ A and leads a second Diamond. South wins with the ♦ K and plays a Spade. If declarer pitches a Diamond or ruffs low, North can ruff and still take a second Heart trick. If declarer ruffs high, North simply discards, again guaranteeing a second Heart trick.

Board 8
West Deals
None Vul

♠	Q J 3
♥	Q 9 8
♦	K 9 7 2
♣	J 4 2

♠	K 8 5 4
♥	J
♦	A J 8 6 5
♣	9 7 5

N
W		E
S

♠	A 10 9 2
♥	A 2
♦	10 3
♣	A K 10 8 6

♠	7 6
♥	K 10 7 6 5 4 3
♦	Q 4
♣	Q 3

EW 4♠; W 5♣; E 4♣; EW 3♦; NS 1♥; Par −420

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	1 NT1	Dbl2
2 ♣	Pass	2 ♠	Pass
4 ♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

15 to 17
Alert, showing a single-suited hand

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 ♥	S	3	140		7.00	0.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 ♠	W	−1	50		6.00	1.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 ♥	S	−2		100	5.00	2.00	10-Earls-Lubow	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 ♠	E	4		170	2.50	4.50	2-Pollack-Pollack	1-Messinger-Henry
3 ♠	E	4		170	2.50	4.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	12-Temples-Koch
3 ♠	E	4		170	2.50	4.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	2-Singerman-Cook
3 ♠	E	4		170	2.50	4.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♠	E	4		420	0.00	7.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	7-Gibler-Vanstone

E/W brush aside South's interference and sail to the good Spade game. E/W lose one Spade trick, one Diamond, and one Club, making four. South may lead a trump. Declarer's best line is to duck the first trick, win the trump continuation, pull a third round of trumps, and play off ♣ AK trying to drop ♣ QJ doubleton. When Clubs split, declarer can table their hand, giving N/S a Diamond trick at the end.

Board 9
North Deals
E-W Vul

♠	7 3 2
♥	K 10 8 5
♦	Q 10 7
♣	5 4 2

♠	K Q 9
♥	A 9 7 4
♦	8
♣	K Q J 7 3

N
W		E
S

♠	J 10 8 6 4
♥	Q J
♦	5 4 3
♣	A 10 6

♠	A 5
♥	6 3 2
♦	A K J 9 6 2
♣	9 8

EW 4♠; EW 4♣; NS 1N; NS 2♦; EW 1♥; Par −500: NS 4N×−3; NS 5♦×−3

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 ♦
Dbl	Pass	2 ♠1	3 ♦
3 ♠	4 ♦	4 ♠	5 ♦
Dbl	Pass	Pass	Pass

Showing 9-11 HCP

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 ♥	W	−2	200		7.00	0.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	1-Messinger-Henry
3 ♦	S	3	110		6.00	1.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	7-Gibler-Vanstone
3 ♠	E	−1	100		5.00	2.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 ♠	E	4		170	3.00	4.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 ♠	E	4		170	3.00	4.00	10-Earls-Lubow	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 ♠	E	4		170	3.00	4.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
3 ♠	E	5		200	0.50	6.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	12-Temples-Koch
3 ♠	E	5		200	0.50	6.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	2-Singerman-Cook

North's hand gets much better on the auction when partner is able to show a good hand with 6+ Diamonds, so their 4 ♦ bid is obvious. South, with favorable vulnerability and no hope of beating 4 ♠ is happy to sacrifice in 5 ♦.

N/S lose one Spade trick, two Hearts, and two Clubs, down three doubled for –500. Better than –620 for 4 ♠ making for E/W. West will lead the ♠ K.

Board 10
East Deals
Both Vul

♠	9 5
♥	10 9 7 5
♦	K 10 6
♣	Q 7 6 2

♠	A 7
♥	K J 8 6 4 2
♦	8
♣	A 8 5 4

N
W		E
S

♠	K Q 8 6 3
♥	—
♦	A Q 9 5 4
♣	K J 10

♠	J 10 4 2
♥	A Q 3
♦	J 7 3 2
♣	9 3

EW 5♠; EW 3N; EW 3♥; EW 4♦; EW 4♣; Par −650

West	North	East	South
		1 ♠	Pass
2 ♥	Pass	3 ♦1	Pass
3 ♥	Pass	4 ♦	Pass
4 ♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

Showing extra shape or extra values

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 NT	E	3		600	7.00	0.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	6-Kammer-Zimmer
4 ♠	E	4		620	6.00	1.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	4-King-Purcell
3 NT	W	4		630	3.50	3.50	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	10-Leist-Levine
3 NT	E	4		630	3.50	3.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	1-Messinger-Henry
3 NT	E	4		630	3.50	3.50	10-Earls-Lubow	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 NT	W	4		630	3.50	3.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	8-Felson-Brown
4 ♠	E	5		650	1.00	6.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	2-Singerman-Cook
3 NT	E	6		690	0.00	7.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	12-Temples-Koch

East is happy to bid past 3 NT to show their shape. If West wants to play in notrump, they'll bid 4 NT to play. E/W lose one Spade trick and one Diamond, making five. Declarer will be able to finesse against North's ♦ K, ruff one Diamond, and pitch another on the long Club (South can ruff a Club, but it will at the expense of their natural trump trick). If declarer ruffs two Diamonds, they'll end up losing no Diamond tricks, but they'll lose two Spades. South may lead the ♣ 9.

Board 11
South Deals
None Vul

♠	K 9 2
♥	A 5 3
♦	A K Q 2
♣	9 8 2

♠	6
♥	J
♦	J 10 9 7 5 4 3
♣	J 7 4 3

N
W		E
S

♠	Q J 10 7 5 3
♥	8 7 6 4
♦	—
♣	Q 6 5

♠	A 8 4
♥	K Q 10 9 2
♦	8 6
♣	A K 10

NS 7N; N 7♥; S 6♥; NS 3♠; NS 4♣; S 3♦; N 2♦; Par +1520

West	North	East	South
			1 NT1
Pass	4 NT2	Pass	6 NT
Pass	Pass	Pass

15 to 17
Quantitative raise

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
6 NT	S	7	1020		7.00	0.00	10-Earls-Lubow	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
6 NT	S	6	990		5.50	1.50	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	10-Leist-Levine
6 NT	S	6	990		5.50	1.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	8-Felson-Brown
4 NT	S	7	520		4.00	3.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 NT	N	6	490		3.00	4.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	12-Temples-Koch
4 ♥	S	6	480		1.50	5.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♥	N	6	480		1.50	5.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	1-Messinger-Henry
4 ♥	S	5	450		0.00	7.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	4-King-Purcell

North makes a quantitative raise asking South to bid 6 NT with extra values. South, at the top of their range, is happy to oblige. N/S take five Heart tricks, three Diamonds, two Spades, and two Clubs, making six. Why does the hand record say that it makes seven? Here's how:

Let's say that West leads the ♦ J (nothing is better). Declarer can win with the ♦ A and play off the ♦ KQ (pitching the ♠ 4 from hand). East can freely pitch three Spades, and West follows suit to all three Diamonds. Now five rounds of Hearts, declarer pitching two Clubs from dummy. West can pitch one Heart, one Club, one Spade, and two Diamonds. East can follow suit to four rounds of Hearts, but on the fifth Heart, they have to pitch a Club to hold their Spade guard.

At this point, West holds ♦ JT ♣ J74, North holds ♠ K92 ♦ 2 ♣ 9, East holds ♠ QJT ♣ Q6, and South holds ♠ A8 ♣ AKT. ♠ A and a Spade to the ♠ K ruins West. They can discard a Diamond on the ♠ A, but what do they throw on the second Spade? A Diamond is immediate suicide, so they'll throw a Club. With the ♠ 9 and ♦ 2 in dummy both being not so good, declarer has nothing better to do than to play the ♣ 9 to their hand, and the last three tricks are theirs. Nicely played!

Board 12
West Deals
N-S Vul

♠	5 3
♥	K Q J 8
♦	Q 10 8
♣	K Q 10 4

♠	J 9 4 2
♥	9 6 5 4
♦	6 5 3
♣	A 2

N
W		E
S

♠	A K Q 8 7
♥	A 10 7
♦	A K 9
♣	5 3

♠	10 6
♥	3 2
♦	J 7 4 2
♣	J 9 8 7 6

EW 4♠; EW 3N; EW 2♥; EW 1♦; NS 1♣; Par −420

West	North	East	South
Pass	1 ♣	Dbl1	3 ♣2
Pass	Pass	Dbl3	Pass
3 ♠4	Pass	4 ♠	Pass
Pass	Pass

All big hands start with a double
Preemptive jump raise
Still takeout
Show the higher ranking suit first in response to a takeout double

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♠	E	−1	50		6.00	1.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	12-Temples-Koch
4 ♠	E	−1	50		6.00	1.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♠	E	−1	50		6.00	1.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	8-Felson-Brown
1 ♠	E	3		140	3.50	3.50	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	10-Leist-Levine
3 ♠	E	3		140	3.50	3.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	4-King-Purcell
4 ♠	W	4		420	1.50	5.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	1-Messinger-Henry
4 ♠	E	4		420	1.50	5.50	10-Earls-Lubow	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 ♠×	E	3		530	0.00	7.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	6-Kammer-Zimmer

E/W lose two Heart tricks and one Club, making four. Why don't they lose a Diamond? Well, they might, but then they won't lose a Club. Let's say that North starts with the ♣ K. Declarer wins in hand with the ♣ A and immediately leads a Heart towards dummy. North has to play an honor, and declarer can win with the ♥ A. ♠ A, Spade to the ♠ J, and a small Heart to North's ♥ Q, pitching the ♥ 7 from dummy. North can take their Club winner and play a Diamond, but declarer can win with the ♦ K and knock out North's last high Heart. North can return another Diamond, but declarer wins with the ♦ A, plays a Spade to the ♠ 9, and throw dummy's last Diamond on the good ♥T. Well done!

If North starts with a Diamond and attacks Diamonds each time they're in, they'll get a Diamond trick, but E/W won't lose a Club. Try it.

Board 13
North Deals
Both Vul

♠	9 6 5 3
♥	A K 6
♦	Q 10 7 5 4
♣	8

♠	10 8 7 4
♥	9 5 3
♦	A 2
♣	K 10 7 4

N
W		E
S

♠	Q J
♥	Q 10 8 2
♦	K J 9
♣	A J 9 3

♠	A K 2
♥	J 7 4
♦	8 6 3
♣	Q 6 5 2

EW 2N; EW 3♣; EW 1♠; EW 1♥; NS 1♦; Par −120

West	North	East	South
	Pass	1 ♣	Pass
1 ♠	Pass	1 NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
2 ♣	E	−1	100		7.00	0.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
2 ♣	E	2		90	6.00	1.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	11-Brown-Moskowitz
2 ♣	E	3		110	5.00	2.00	10-Earls-Lubow	2-Singerman-Cook
1 NT	E	2		120	3.50	3.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	1-Messinger-Henry
1 NT	E	2		120	3.50	3.50	5-Lin-Hubka	5-Tedrick-Pretz
1 NT	E	3		150	2.00	5.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
1 NT	E	4		180	0.50	6.50	11-Murdock-Oblinger	4-King-Purcell
1 NT	E	4		180	0.50	6.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	7-Gibler-Vanstone

Not much to this one. E/W take one Spade trick, three Diamonds, and four Clubs, making two. South may lead the ♠ AK and a third Spade on the go. That works well for the defense. If South leads a Heart, E/W might make three.

Board 14
East Deals
None Vul

♠	2
♥	9 4 3
♦	9 7 6 4
♣	A J 10 5 4

♠	A K 8 4
♥	K Q J 8 6
♦	5
♣	9 7 6

N
W		E
S

♠	Q J 7 5
♥	A 5 2
♦	Q J 3 2
♣	K 8

♠	10 9 6 3
♥	10 7
♦	A K 10 8
♣	Q 3 2

EW 5♠; E 4N; EW 4♥; W 3N; NS 2♣; NS 1♦; Par −450

West	North	East	South
		1 ♦	Pass
1 ♥	Pass	1 NT1	Pass
2 ♦2	Pass	2 ♠3	Pass
4 ♠	Pass	Pass	Pass

No pressing reason to bid 1 ♠
Alert, artificial XYZ bid creating a game force
Showing four Spades without denying three Hearts

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
2 ♠	E	4		170	6.50	0.50	2-Pollack-Pollack	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 ♠	E	4		170	6.50	0.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	7-Gibler-Vanstone
4 ♥	W	4		420	3.50	3.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	1-Messinger-Henry
4 ♠	W	4		420	3.50	3.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
4 ♠	E	4		420	3.50	3.50	10-Earls-Lubow	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♠	E	4		420	3.50	3.50	11-Murdock-Oblinger	4-King-Purcell
4 ♠	E	5		450	0.50	6.50	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♠	E	5		450	0.50	6.50	5-Lin-Hubka	5-Tedrick-Pretz

West briefly thinks about bidding 4 ♦ showing a singleton Diamond, but thinks better of it. If their partner had opened 1 ♣ instead of 1 ♦, that would make more sense. E/W lose one Diamond and one Club, making five. South will probably lead the ♦ K and switch to a Club when North plays the ♦ 4 at trick one (suit preference).

Board 15
South Deals
N-S Vul

♠	8 5 4
♥	7 6 3
♦	10 4 3 2
♣	Q 9 2

♠	K 7 6
♥	K Q 10 9 2
♦	A J 8
♣	7 4

N
W		E
S

♠	9 2
♥	J 5 4
♦	K
♣	A K J 10 8 6 5

♠	A Q J 10 3
♥	A 8
♦	Q 9 7 6 5
♣	3

EW 5♥; EW 4N; EW 5♣; EW 1♠; NS 1♦; Par −450

West	North	East	South
			1 ♠
2 ♥1	Pass	2 ♠2	Dbl3
2 NT4	Pass	4 ♠	Pass
Pass	Pass

Showing a full opener
Forcing bid
Please lead a Spade
Showing a Spade stopper for notrump

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♥	W	−1	50		7.00	0.00	5-Lin-Hubka	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 ♥	W	4		170	6.00	1.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	7-Gibler-Vanstone
4 ♥	W	4		420	4.00	3.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♥	W	4		420	4.00	3.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	11-Brown-Moskowitz
4 ♥	W	4		420	4.00	3.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	4-King-Purcell
4 ♥	W	5		450	1.50	5.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
4 ♥	W	5		450	1.50	5.50	10-Earls-Lubow	2-Singerman-Cook
3 ♠×	S	−3		800	0.00	7.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	1-Messinger-Henry

When advancer (partner of the overcaller) cuebids opener's suit, it's forcing. If advancer is a passed hand, it guarantees support for overcaller's suit. If advancer is not a passed hand, it may not show support. On this auction, West bids 2 NT in case East was asking for a Spade stopper.

E/W lose one Spade trick and one Heart, making five. North will lead the ♠ 5 (MUD). If North had supported Spades at any point during the auction, they would have lead the ♠ 8--top of nothing in a supported suit.

Board 16
West Deals
E-W Vul

♠	8 3
♥	A Q 10 9
♦	A J
♣	A 6 5 3 2

♠	K Q 7 6 4
♥	K 8 6 5 3
♦	9 7 5
♣	—

N
W		E
S

♠	5 2
♥	J 7 4
♦	10 8 4
♣	10 9 8 7 4

♠	A J 10 9
♥	2
♦	K Q 6 3 2
♣	K Q J

NS 6N; S 6♦; N 5♦; NS 5♣; NS 3♠; NS 3♥; Par +990

West	North	East	South
Pass	1 ♣	Pass	1 ♦1
Dbl2	1 ♥3	Pass	1 ♠4
Pass	2 ♣5	Pass	3 ♣
Pass	3 NT	Pass	4 ♦6
Pass	4 ♠7	Pass	5 ♦8
Pass	6 ♣9	Pass	6 NT10
Pass	Pass	Pass

Walsh style (see below)
Takeout for the unbid suits
Showing an unbalanced hand
Natural and game forcing showing longer Diamonds and an opening hand
Showing 5+ Clubs
RKC Blackwood (Kickback) for Clubs
Showing 0 or 3 keycards
Asking for specific Kings and guaranteeing all the keycards
Sorry, no side-suit Kings
Let's play here

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 NT	S	7	520		7.00	0.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 NT	N	6	490		5.50	1.50	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	8-Felson-Brown
3 NT	S	6	490		5.50	1.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 NT	N	5	460		3.50	3.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	2-Singerman-Cook
3 NT	N	5	460		3.50	3.50	5-Lin-Hubka	4-King-Purcell
6 NT	N	−1		50	1.50	5.50	2-Pollack-Pollack	10-Leist-Levine
6 NT	S	−1		50	1.50	5.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	12-Temples-Koch
6 ♣	N	−2		100	0.00	7.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	3-Koppenhafer-Simon

Nice auction! N/S are Walshists (i.e., they have "Frequently bypass 4+ ♦" marked on their convention card). If responder bids 1 ♦ in response to a 1 ♣ opener, they rarely have a four-card major, and opener should assume they don't. When they later turn up with a four-card major (Spades on this auction), opener knows they have longer Diamonds and an opening hand.

West will lead the ♠ K, and when dummy hits, declarer is pretty sure they're making seven. When West shows out on the first Club, declarer is pretty sure they're making six. The Heart finesse is a practice finesse--if it works, N/S take 12 tricks. If it doesn't work, N/S take 11 tricks. If declarer doesn't take the finesse at all and simply gives up a Spade trick, N/S takes 12 tricks.

Board 17
North Deals
None Vul

♠	K 10 9 7 6 5
♥	5
♦	A K J 8 4
♣	8

♠	—
♥	A 8 7 2
♦	Q 10 9 3
♣	Q 10 7 6 2

N
W		E
S

♠	A J
♥	Q J 10 9 6 3
♦	7 6
♣	A 4 3

♠	Q 8 4 3 2
♥	K 4
♦	5 2
♣	K J 9 5

NS 4♠; W 4♥; E 3♥; EW 2N; S 3♦; EW 3♣; N 2♦; Par +100: W 5♥×−1

West	North	East	South
	1 ♠	2 ♥1	3 ♥
4 ♥	4 ♠	Pass	Pass
5 ♥	Pass	Pass	Dbl
Pass	Pass	Pass

Showing a full opener

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♠	N	4	420		7.00	0.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
5 ♠	N	−1		50	4.50	2.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	12-Temples-Koch
5 ♠	N	−1		50	4.50	2.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	2-Singerman-Cook
5 ♠	N	−1		50	4.50	2.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	6-Kammer-Zimmer
5 ♠	N	−1		50	4.50	2.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	5-Tedrick-Pretz
5 ♠×	N	−1		100	2.00	5.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	10-Leist-Levine
6 ♠×	S	−2		300	0.50	6.50	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	8-Felson-Brown
5 ♠×	N	−2		300	0.50	6.50	5-Lin-Hubka	4-King-Purcell

South's 3 ♥ cuebid creates a "forcing auction." What does that mean? It means that E/W will not be allowed to play the hand, and if they do, they'll play it doubled. That agreement allows North to pass West's 5 ♥ bid to show they don't have two fast losers in Hearts. South has to either bid on to 5 ♠ or double. South, with nothing extra for their cuebid, opts to double.

E/W lose two Diamond tricks and one Club, down one doubled for –100. That certainly beats –420 for 4 ♠ making. South will lead the ♠ 3.

Board 18
East Deals
N-S Vul

♠	10 9 6
♥	A 9 8 3
♦	A K Q 10 9
♣	4

♠	3
♥	10 5 4 2
♦	8 6 2
♣	10 8 7 5 3

N
W		E
S

♠	A K Q 2
♥	7 6
♦	7 5 4
♣	A Q J 9

♠	J 8 7 5 4
♥	K Q J
♦	J 3
♣	K 6 2

NS 3N; NS 3♠; NS 2♥; NS 3♦; EW 1♣; Par +500: EW 4♣×−3

West	North	East	South
		1 NT1	Pass
Pass	2 ♦2	Pass	2 NT3
Pass	3 ♥4	Pass	3 NT
Pass	Pass	Pass

15 to 17
Alert, showing a two-suited hand with Diamonds and a major
Alert, showing an invitational hand or better
Alert, showing a hand interested in game with Diamonds and Hearts

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 NT	S	4	630		7.00	0.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	6-Kammer-Zimmer
4 ♣	E	−3	150		6.00	1.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	2-Singerman-Cook
3 ♥	N	3	140		5.00	2.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	12-Temples-Koch
3 ♦	N	4	130		4.00	3.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
2 ♦	N	3	110		3.00	4.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	10-Leist-Levine
2 ♥	E	−2	100		2.00	5.00	5-Lin-Hubka	4-King-Purcell
1 NT	E	1		90	1.00	6.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	8-Felson-Brown
4 ♠	S	−1		100	0.00	7.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	5-Tedrick-Pretz

This one's a rarity. East opens a strong notrump, and N/S play the hand in 3 NT. I've seen it once before.

N/S take five Diamond tricks and four Hearts, making three. If E/W try and get fancy (i.e., try and defeat the contract), N/S will make four. It doesn't matter what West leads as long as East cashes out when they get in.

Board 19
South Deals
E-W Vul

♠	8
♥	K 10 8 7 4 2
♦	9 5 4
♣	6 3 2

♠	7 6
♥	Q
♦	A K Q J 8 6
♣	K 9 7 5

N
W		E
S

♠	A K Q 5 2
♥	J 9 5 3
♦	—
♣	A Q 10 8

♠	J 10 9 4 3
♥	A 6
♦	10 7 3 2
♣	J 4

EW 6♦; EW 6♣; EW 5N; EW 4♠; EW 2♥; Par −1370

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1 ♦	Pass1	1 ♠	Pass
2 ♣	Pass	2 ♥2	Pass
3 ♦3	Pass	4 ♣	Pass
4 ♥4	Pass	6 ♣	Pass
Pass	Pass

Not quite enough for a 2 ♥ overcall
Alert, artificial Fourth Suit Forcing bid
Denies three Spades, four Hearts, a Heart stopper for notrump
Shows 1st or 2nd round control in Hearts and interest in slam

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 NT	W	5		660	6.00	1.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 NT	E	5		660	6.00	1.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 NT	W	5		660	6.00	1.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	4-King-Purcell
3 NT	E	7		720	2.50	4.50	2-Pollack-Pollack	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
3 NT	E	7		720	2.50	4.50	5-Lin-Hubka	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 NT	E	7		720	2.50	4.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 NT	E	7		720	2.50	4.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	7-Gibler-Vanstone
6 ♣	E	6		1370	0.00	7.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	1-Messinger-Henry

East makes a Fourth-Suit Forcing bid to create a game force. When West shows no values in Hearts, East's hand gets better. Once East agrees on Clubs, West shows interest in slam by cuebidding their Heart singleton. That's all East needs to go to 6 ♣.

E/W lose one Heart trick, making six. North should lead a small Heart on the auction, but most will lead the ♠ 8 allowing E/W to make seven. Ugh.

Board 20
West Deals
Both Vul

♠	A J 9 7 2
♥	Q J 6
♦	10 8 4 3
♣	7

♠	10 8 4
♥	5 4
♦	A Q 7 5
♣	A K 3 2

N
W		E
S

♠	6 3
♥	K 10 9 8 7 3
♦	—
♣	J 9 8 5 4

♠	K Q 5
♥	A 2
♦	K J 9 6 2
♣	Q 10 6

NS 3♠; NS 4♦; NS 2N; EW 2♥; EW 2♣; Par +140

West	North	East	South
1 ♦	1 ♠	Dbl1	2 ♦2
Pass	2 ♠3	Pass	Pass
Pass

Negative
Cuebid showing a limit raise or better for Spades
Minimum overcall

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♠	N	4	620		6.50	0.50	2-Pollack-Pollack	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♠	N	4	620		6.50	0.50	5-Lin-Hubka	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 ♣	E	−3	300		5.00	2.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	1-Messinger-Henry
2 ♠	N	4	170		4.00	3.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 ♠	N	3	140		3.00	4.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	7-Gibler-Vanstone
3 ♣	W	−1	100		2.00	5.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	6-Kammer-Zimmer
4 ♠	N	−1		100	1.00	6.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	4-King-Purcell
4 ♠	N	−3		300	0.00	7.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	11-Brown-Moskowitz

The vulnerability keeps East from bidding 3 ♥. Down one doubled is too expensive. N/S lose two Diamond tricks, one Club, and a Diamond ruff, making three. The Diamond ruff is problematic, since West would have to lead a small Diamond for East to ruff when in with the ♣ K. It shouldn't be too hard to find, since East is going to lead the ♣ 5 on opening lead, and West will wonder why they didn't lead a Diamond. After a few seconds of wondering, they'll figure it out.

Board 21
North Deals
N-S Vul

♠	7 4 2
♥	A K 6 5 2
♦	K J 3
♣	5 3

♠	10 9 3
♥	J 9 7 4
♦	Q 7 2
♣	K J 4

N
W		E
S

♠	Q J 8
♥	Q 10
♦	10 5
♣	A Q 10 9 8 2

♠	A K 6 5
♥	8 3
♦	A 9 8 6 4
♣	7 6

NS 4♠; NS 3♥; NS 4♦; NS 1N; EW 1♣; Par +620

West	North	East	South
	Pass	1 ♣	1 ♦
1 ♥	2 ♣1	Dbl2	2 ♠
Pass	3 ♦	Pass	Pass
Pass

Cuebid showing a limit raise or better for Diamonds
Please lead a Club

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 ♦	S	5	150		7.00	0.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	7-Gibler-Vanstone
2 ♦	S	3	110		5.50	1.50	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	6-Kammer-Zimmer
2 ♦	S	3	110		5.50	1.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	1-Messinger-Henry
3 ♣	E	−2	100		4.00	3.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	11-Brown-Moskowitz
2 ♣	E	−1	50		2.50	4.50	5-Lin-Hubka	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
2 ♣	E	−1	50		2.50	4.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	5-Tedrick-Pretz
2 ♣	E	2		90	1.00	6.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	4-King-Purcell
4 ♥	N	−2		200	0.00	7.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes

South shows a better-than-minimum overcall, but North has bid their hand. N/S lose two Club tricks and one Spade, making four. West will lead the ♣ 4.

Board 22
East Deals
E-W Vul

♠	A 9 7 4
♥	10 6
♦	8 7 6 5
♣	J 7 4

♠	K Q 6
♥	K 9 2
♦	K 10 4
♣	K 9 3 2

N
W		E
S

♠	J 10 8 5 3
♥	Q
♦	A J 3 2
♣	A 10 5

♠	2
♥	A J 8 7 5 4 3
♦	Q 9
♣	Q 8 6

EW 5N; EW 5♠; EW 4♦; EW 3♣; NS 1♥; Par −660

West	North	East	South
		1 ♠	3 ♥1
3 NT2	Pass	Pass	Pass

Weak jump overcall
Quite reasonable

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♥	S	−4		200	7.00	0.00	5-Lin-Hubka	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♠	E	4		620	5.50	1.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	10-Leist-Levine
4 ♠	E	4		620	5.50	1.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	8-Felson-Brown
3 NT	W	4		630	4.00	3.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	7-Gibler-Vanstone
4 ♠	E	5		650	2.50	4.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	12-Temples-Koch
4 ♠	E	5		650	2.50	4.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 NT	W	5		660	1.00	6.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	4-King-Purcell
5 ♥×	S	−4		800	0.00	7.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	5-Tedrick-Pretz

Expect a lot of E/W pairs to be in 4 ♠, and that's fine, but this is Matchpoints, and if you expect to take the same number of tricks in notrump, why play in a suit contract? In a quiet auction, West would have bid 3 NT over 1 ♠ showing 13-15 HCP and exactly three Spades. It still seems like a good bid after South blasts 3 ♥. Think about it.

E/W take four Spade tricks, one Heart, four Diamonds, and two Clubs, making five. North will lead the ♥T, and South will win with the ♥ A. Unfortunately for N/S, West's ♥ K9 has turned into two stoppers behind South's ♥ J8. Stupid stoppers.

Board 23
South Deals
Both Vul

♠	A Q J 9 3 2
♥	—
♦	Q 9
♣	Q 10 8 6 5

♠	10 8 4
♥	7 3
♦	K J 10 6 2
♣	7 3 2

N
W		E
S

♠	6
♥	K Q J 9 8 6 5
♦	A 7 3
♣	K 4

♠	K 7 5
♥	A 10 4 2
♦	8 5 4
♣	A J 9

NS 5♠; NS 5♣; NS 2N; EW 2♥; W 1♦; Par +650

West	North	East	South
			1 ♣
Pass	1 ♠	2 ♥	Dbl1
Pass	4 ♠	Pass	Pass
Pass

Alert, support double showing 3-card Spade support

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♠	N	6	680		5.50	1.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	10-Leist-Levine
4 ♠	N	6	680		5.50	1.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	12-Temples-Koch
4 ♠	N	6	680		5.50	1.50	5-Lin-Hubka	2-Singerman-Cook
5 ♠	N	6	680		5.50	1.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	8-Felson-Brown
3 NT	S	5	660		3.00	4.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	6-Kammer-Zimmer
4 ♠	N	5	650		2.00	5.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	4-King-Purcell
5 ♣	S	5	600		1.00	6.00	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	5-Tedrick-Pretz
2 ♠	N	6	230		0.00	7.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	7-Gibler-Vanstone

North doesn't quite have enough to try for slam, so they make the sensible rebid of 4 ♠. N/S lose two Diamond tricks, making five. If West leads the ♥ 7 (their partner's suit), N/S will make six when one of North's Diamonds goes away on the ♥ A. Stupid you-should-lead-partner's-suit rule.

Board 24
West Deals
None Vul

♠	Q 9 5
♥	K Q 8 7
♦	9 7 6
♣	J 8 6

♠	A 8 2
♥	A 6 3
♦	Q 10 8 4
♣	A 4 2

N
W		E
S

♠	J 6 4
♥	9 4 2
♦	J 5 2
♣	Q 10 5 3

♠	K 10 7 3
♥	J 10 5
♦	A K 3
♣	K 9 7

NS 2N; NS 2♠; NS 2♥; NS 1♦; NS 1♣; Par +120

West	North	East	South
1 ♦	Pass	Pass	1 NT1
Pass	Pass	Pass

11 to 14

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
1 NT	N	2	120		7.00	0.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	6-Kammer-Zimmer
1 ♥	N	2	110		6.00	1.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	8-Felson-Brown
1 NT	S	1	90		4.50	2.50	1-Wiest-Altman Sr	5-Tedrick-Pretz
1 NT	S	1	90		4.50	2.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	4-King-Purcell
1 ♥	N	1	80		3.00	4.00	5-Lin-Hubka	2-Singerman-Cook
Pass				50	1.00	6.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	7-Gibler-Vanstone
2 ♥	N	−1		50	1.00	6.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	10-Leist-Levine
2 ♥	N	−1		50	1.00	6.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	12-Temples-Koch

N/S take three Heart tricks, two Diamonds, and three Spades, making two. East's best lead is the ♦ 4. Clubs is a frozen suit (i.e., whoever leads Clubs gives up a trick). The best way to play the Spades is small towards the ♠ Q. When the ♠ Q holds, finesse against East's ♠ J on the way back.

Board 25
North Deals
E-W Vul

♠	4
♥	K 10 5
♦	A 8 6 5 4
♣	Q J 6 3

♠	A J 10 9 8 7 6 3
♥	9 7 2
♦	—
♣	7 2

N
W		E
S

♠	K Q 5 2
♥	J 8 4 3
♦	Q
♣	A K 8 5

♠	—
♥	A Q 6
♦	K J 10 9 7 3 2
♣	10 9 4

EW 4♠; NS 5♦; S 2♣; EW 1♥; N 1♣; Par +200: EW 5♠×−1

West	North	East	South
	Pass	1 NT1	3 ♦
4 ♥2	5 ♦	5 ♠	Pass
Pass	Dbl	Pass	Pass
Pass

Why not?
Texas transfer

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
6 ♠×	W	−2	500		7.00	0.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	8-Felson-Brown
5 ♠×	W	−1	200		5.50	1.50	2-Pollack-Pollack	6-Kammer-Zimmer
5 ♠×	E	−1	200		5.50	1.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	11-Brown-Moskowitz
5 ♠	W	−1	100		4.00	3.00	5-Lin-Hubka	1-Messinger-Henry
6 ♦×	S	−1		100	2.50	4.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	5-Tedrick-Pretz
6 ♦×	S	−1		100	2.50	4.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♠	W	4		620	0.50	6.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
4 ♠	W	4		620	0.50	6.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	7-Gibler-Vanstone

The auction gets crazy fast. If East opts to open 1 ♣, expect this auction: 1 ♣-1 ♦-4 ♠-5 ♦-5 ♠-Double.

E/W lose three Heart tricks, down one doubled for –200. That still beats –400 for N/S making 5 ♦. South will leads the ♦ J, but nothing matters.

Board 26
East Deals
Both Vul

♠	Q J 8 4 2
♥	7 6
♦	8 5 3
♣	Q 10 9

♠	A 7 6
♥	A J 4
♦	K Q J 2
♣	J 3 2

N
W		E
S

♠	K 10 5 3
♥	Q 5 3 2
♦	A 10
♣	K 8 5

♠	9
♥	K 10 9 8
♦	9 7 6 4
♣	A 7 6 4

EW 3N; EW 3♠; EW 3♥; E 4♦; W 3♦; EW 2♣; Par −600

West	North	East	South
		1 ♣	Pass
1 ♦	Pass	1 NT1	Pass
2 ♦2	Pass	2 ♥3	Pass
3 NT4	Pass	Pass	Pass

Alert, may have decided not to show a 4-card major
Alert, artificial XYZ bid creating a game force
Showing a 4-card Heart suit
Alert, showing 16+ points and a notrump distribution

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 NT	W	−1	100		7.00	0.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
2 NT	E	3		150	6.00	1.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
1 NT	E	4		180	5.00	2.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 NT	W	3		600	3.00	4.00	5-Lin-Hubka	1-Messinger-Henry
3 NT	W	3		600	3.00	4.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 NT	W	3		600	3.00	4.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	7-Gibler-Vanstone
3 NT	W	4		630	1.00	6.00	2-Pollack-Pollack	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 NT	W	5		660	0.00	7.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	8-Felson-Brown

When you play XYZ (Two-Way New Minor Forcing), 2 ♦ is used to create a game force when there isn't a better bid. In most cases, responder is looking for a major-suit fit. In this auction, when West has no interest in the majors, the correct interpretation of West's 2 ♦ bid followed by a jump to 3 NT is "West has too strong a hand to simply bid 3 NT over 1 NT."

E/W take four Diamond tricks, two Hearts, and three Spades, making three. Clubs is a frozen suit (again?). South's safest lead is a Diamond, although it's more likely that South will lead the ♥T. If they do, E/W have nine tricks off the top.

Board 27
South Deals
None Vul

♠	Q 10 9 6
♥	Q 4 2
♦	10 2
♣	10 8 4 3

♠	A 2
♥	A K 9 8 6
♦	K 8 4
♣	K 5 2

N
W		E
S

♠	K 8 5 3
♥	J 3
♦	A 9 7 6 3
♣	9 7

♠	J 7 4
♥	10 7 5
♦	Q J 5
♣	A Q J 6

EW 4♥; EW 3N; EW 5♦; EW 3♠; EW 2♣; Par −420

West	North	East	South
			Pass
1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠	Pass
2 NT1	Pass	3 NT	Pass
Pass	Pass

Showing 18-19 HCP and 5332 distribution

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
1 NT	W	1		90	6.50	0.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	8-Felson-Brown
1 NT	W	1		90	6.50	0.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
2 NT	W	3		150	4.50	2.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	11-Brown-Moskowitz
2 NT	E	3		150	4.50	2.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 NT	W	3		400	1.50	5.50	2-Pollack-Pollack	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 NT	W	3		400	1.50	5.50	5-Lin-Hubka	1-Messinger-Henry
3 NT	W	3		400	1.50	5.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 NT	W	3		400	1.50	5.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	7-Gibler-Vanstone

E/W take four Diamond tricks, two Spades, one Club, and two Hearts, making three. If North leads a Club, N/S will take three Club tricks and one Diamond. If North leads the ♠T, N/S will take two Spade tricks, one Club, and one Diamond. If North leads the ♥ 2, they're an idiot.

Board 28
West Deals
N-S Vul

♠	A Q
♥	A K 10 7 2
♦	K Q 10 2
♣	Q 8

♠	K J 9 6 3 2
♥	6 3
♦	5 4
♣	A K 3

N
W		E
S

♠	—
♥	J 9 8 5 4
♦	A J 9 8 7 3
♣	10 7

♠	10 8 7 5 4
♥	Q
♦	6
♣	J 9 6 5 4 2

N 3♣; NS 1N; S 2♣; NS 1♠; EW 1♥; EW 1♦; Par +110

West	North	East	South
1 ♠	Dbl1	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♠2	Pass	3 ♣
Pass	Pass	Pass

All big hands start with a double
A double followed by a cuebid is the strongest way to show a big hand

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♣×	W	−5	1100		7.00	0.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
3 ♦	E	−1	50		6.00	1.00	5-Lin-Hubka	12-Temples-Koch
3 ♥	N	−1		100	4.50	2.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	7-Gibler-Vanstone
3 ♥	N	−1		100	4.50	2.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	8-Felson-Brown
3 NT	N	−2		200	2.50	4.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	2-Singerman-Cook
3 ♥	N	−2		200	2.50	4.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	4-King-Purcell
3 ♥	N	−3		300	0.50	6.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 ♠	N	−3		300	0.50	6.50	10-Earls-Lubow	10-Leist-Levine

North has a hand equal to a 2 NT (or jump-shift) opener. To show a hand that big after the opponents open at the one level, start with a takeout double and cuebid the opponent's suit with your rebid. North does well to let the hand go when South can do no better than rebid North's worst suit.

3 ♣ would have a lot of play if North was declarer, but it's an unfortunate contract with South playing the hand. We're not saying that South is a bad declarer (you might say that if you're North), it's just that East is going to be able to get a Spade ruff at trick one. E/W will have to defend sharply after that, and most N/S pairs will make three (irrelevant since most N/S pairs will be in 3 NT). Best defense:

1) ♠ 2, ruffed by East with the ♣ 7
2) ♦ A
3) ♥ 4 to South's ♥ Q
4) Small Club from South towards the ♣ Q in dummy, West winning the ♣ K
5) ♣ A
6) Spade to dummy's ♠ A

Declarer can pitch their last three Spades on ♥ AK and ♦ K, but West will be able to ruff the third trick with the ♣ 3, down one.

Board 29
North Deals
Both Vul

♠	5
♥	J 10 7 6
♦	K 5 4 3
♣	A K 8 6

♠	K J 7 3
♥	Q 8 4
♦	A 9 6 2
♣	Q 5

N
W		E
S

♠	Q 10 9 6 4
♥	3 2
♦	8
♣	J 9 7 4 2

♠	A 8 2
♥	A K 9 5
♦	Q J 10 7
♣	10 3

NS 4♥; NS 4♦; NS 2N; EW 2♠; NS 1♣; Par +500: EW 4♠×−2

West	North	East	South
	Pass	Pass	1 ♦
Pass	1 ♥	Pass	2 ♥
Pass	2 NT1	Pass	3 ♠2
Dbl3	4 ♥	Pass4	Pass
Pass

Alert, artificial Wold 2 NT bid asking for the quality of opener's raise
Alert, artificial bid showing four Spades and a maximum hand
Please lead a Spade, partner
4 ♠ is probably right......darn vulnerability

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♥	N	5	650		6.50	0.50	5-Lin-Hubka	12-Temples-Koch
4 ♥	N	5	650		6.50	0.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♥	N	4	620		3.50	3.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♥	N	4	620		3.50	3.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	4-King-Purcell
4 ♥	N	4	620		3.50	3.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	6-Kammer-Zimmer
4 ♥	N	4	620		3.50	3.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	8-Felson-Brown
3 ♦	S	5	150		1.00	6.00	10-Earls-Lubow	10-Leist-Levine
4 ♥	N	−1		100	0.00	7.00	3-Burnam-Hatch	7-Gibler-Vanstone

East is right, 4 ♠ would be a nice sacrifice. N/S lose one Heart trick, one Diamond, and a Diamond ruff (East is going to ignore their partner's advice and lead the ♦ 8), making four.

Board 30
East Deals
None Vul

♠	A K 4 2
♥	K 8
♦	A 4
♣	J 10 6 5 2

♠	Q 10 6
♥	9 4
♦	Q J 8 6
♣	A Q 7 4

N
W		E
S

♠	9 7 5 3
♥	A Q J 7 5 3
♦	9 7 2
♣	—

♠	J 8
♥	10 6 2
♦	K 10 5 3
♣	K 9 8 3

EW 2N; EW 2♠; NS 3♣; EW 2♦; Par +100: EW 3♦×−1; EW 3♠×−1; EW 3N×−1

West	North	East	South
		Pass1	Pass
Pass	1 NT2	Dbl3	Pass
2 ♣4	Dbl5	2 ♥	3 ♣
Pass	Pass	Pass

Don't make a weak two bid with a side four-card major
15 to 17
Alert, showing a one-suited hand
Alert, forced bid, please pass or correct
I like Clubs

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♥	E	−4	200		7.00	0.00	5-Lin-Hubka	12-Temples-Koch
4 ♣	N	4	130		6.00	1.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
2 ♥	E	−2	100		5.00	2.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	4-King-Purcell
4 ♣	N	−2		100	3.50	3.50	3-Burnam-Hatch	7-Gibler-Vanstone
2 NT	N	−2		100	3.50	3.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 NT	N	−3		150	1.50	5.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	2-Singerman-Cook
3 ♦	S	−3		150	1.50	5.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	8-Felson-Brown
3 NT	S	−4		200	0.00	7.00	10-Earls-Lubow	10-Leist-Levine

North bids an odd-shaped 1 NT but is able to show a Club suit for free after West's pass-or-correct 2 ♣ bid. There's no way that E/W will know to compete to 3 ♦, 3 ♠, or 3 NT (Huh?).

N/S lose two Club tricks and two Hearts, making three. East may lead the ♠ 7 (MUD).

Board 31
South Deals
N-S Vul

♠	10 6 5 4
♥	Q 9 7 6
♦	10 3
♣	J 10 6

♠	Q
♥	A J 4 2
♦	Q 6 5 2
♣	A 8 5 4

N
W		E
S

♠	A 9 7 2
♥	—
♦	J 9 8 7
♣	K Q 7 3 2

♠	K J 8 3
♥	K 10 8 5 3
♦	A K 4
♣	9

EW 4♦; EW 4♣; NS 2♠; NS 2♥; EW 1N; Par −130

West	North	East	South
			1 ♥
Pass	3 ♥1	Dbl	Pass
Pass	Pass

Alert, weak jump raise

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 ♥×	S	3	730		7.00	0.00	4-Kennedy-Endres	8-Felson-Brown
1 NT	W	−3	150		6.00	1.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
5 ♣	E	−1	50		4.00	3.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	7-Gibler-Vanstone
4 ♣	W	−1	50		4.00	3.00	10-Earls-Lubow	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♣	E	−1	50		4.00	3.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 ♥	S	−1		100	2.00	5.00	5-Lin-Hubka	10-Leist-Levine
3 ♦	W	5		150	1.00	6.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	1-Messinger-Henry
3 NT	W	5		460	0.00	7.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	5-Tedrick-Pretz

East doubles 3 ♥ for takeout, and their partner leaves the double in on the vulnerability. If West had a Spade suit, they'd probably bid 4 ♠ instead of passing. N/S lose one Club trick, one Spade, one Heart, and two Spade ruffs, down one doubled for –200. West will lead the ♠ Q to East's ♠ A, and East will return the ♠ 2 asking for a Club back. West may not have the intestinal fortitude to underlead their ♣ A. Did you?

Board 32
West Deals
E-W Vul

♠	J 8 7 3
♥	—
♦	A J 10 3
♣	Q 10 8 4 3

♠	10 9 4 2
♥	A 10 5 4 3 2
♦	9 4
♣	6

N
W		E
S

♠	K 5
♥	K 7 6
♦	Q 8 7 2
♣	J 9 7 5

♠	A Q 6
♥	Q J 9 8
♦	K 6 5
♣	A K 2

NS 6♣; NS 4N; NS 4♠; N 5♦; S 4♦; NS 1♥; Par +920

West	North	East	South
Pass	Pass	Pass	1 ♣
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 ♣1	Pass	3 ♦2
Pass	3 NT3	Pass	Pass
Pass

Alert, Wolff Signoff relay to 3 ♦
Alert, forced bid
Minor-suit slam try in opener's minor

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 NT	S	5	460		6.50	0.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	1-Messinger-Henry
3 NT	S	5	460		6.50	0.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 NT	S	4	430		5.00	2.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 NT	S	3	400		3.50	3.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	8-Felson-Brown
3 NT	S	3	400		3.50	3.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	7-Gibler-Vanstone
2 NT	S	3	150		2.00	5.00	10-Earls-Lubow	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
5 ♦	N	−1		50	0.50	6.50	5-Lin-Hubka	10-Leist-Levine
5 ♣	S	−1		50	0.50	6.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	5-Tedrick-Pretz

How fun! N/S get to try one of the lesser known features of Wolff Signoff. Wolff Signoff is typically used to try and get out in responder's major suit after a 2 NT rebid by opener. South was fairly certain that their partner was going to bid 3 ♠ after the 3 ♣-3 ♦ relay. When North bid 3 NT, South searched their memory banks to try and figure out what was going on. Why would North slow down the auction and then still bid 3 NT? Aha! In the Wolff Signoff world, that's how to make a mild slam try in opener's minor--Clubs in this case. If South had a fourth Club, they'd be all too happy to play along. As it is.....

N/S take three Spade tricks, one Heart, four Club tricks, and two Diamonds, making four. West will lead a small Heart to East's ♥ K, and East will return a Heart. The ♣ J will be the third trick for the defense. The proper way to play the Spade suit is small to the ♠ Q and then play the ♠ A trying to drop a doubleton ♠ K.

Board 33
North Deals
None Vul

♠	A 10 7 3
♥	K J 10 8 4
♦	A Q 10
♣	J

♠	Q 8
♥	Q 9 6 2
♦	J 8 6 4 2
♣	Q 8

N
W		E
S

♠	K 9 5 4
♥	A
♦	K 7 3
♣	K 10 7 4 2

♠	J 6 2
♥	7 5 3
♦	9 5
♣	A 9 6 5 3

NS 2♥; NS 1N; EW 2♦; NS 1♠; EW 1♣; Par +100: EW 3♦×−1

West	North	East	South
	1 ♥	Dbl	2 ♥1
Pass	Pass	Dbl2	Pass
3 ♦	Pass	Pass	Pass

Alert, BROMAD response showing 0-6 HCP and exactly three Hearts
Still for takeout

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♦	W	−3	150		7.00	0.00	10-Earls-Lubow	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
2 ♥	S	3	140		6.00	1.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	1-Messinger-Henry
2 ♥	N	2	110		4.50	2.50	5-Lin-Hubka	10-Leist-Levine
2 ♥	N	2	110		4.50	2.50	11-Murdock-Oblinger	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 ♥	N	−1		50	2.50	4.50	4-Kennedy-Endres	8-Felson-Brown
3 ♥	N	−1		50	2.50	4.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	5-Tedrick-Pretz
3 ♥	N	−2		100	0.50	6.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	3-Koppenhafer-Simon
3 ♥	N	−2		100	0.50	6.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	7-Gibler-Vanstone

East isn't in the mood to play in 2 ♥, so they double again. West is happy to bid 3 ♦, and North isn't sure they can beat it. E/W lose two Diamond tricks, one Spade, one club, and a Heart "in the wash." North will lead the ♣ J.

Board 34
East Deals
N-S Vul

♠	6 2
♥	K 10 5
♦	K J 9 5
♣	9 8 7 5

♠	Q J 8 4 3
♥	Q 7 2
♦	Q 6 3
♣	J 4

N
W		E
S

♠	A 10 9 7
♥	9 4
♦	8 7 2
♣	Q 10 3 2

♠	K 5
♥	A J 8 6 3
♦	A 10 4
♣	A K 6

NS 6N; NS 6♥; NS 6♦; NS 4♣; NS 2♠; Par +1440

West	North	East	South
		Pass	2 NT1
Pass	3 ♣2	Pass	3 ♥3
Pass	4 ♥	Pass	Pass
Pass

20 to 21
Puppet Stayman asking for a 4- or 5-card major
Alert, showing a 5-card Heart suit

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
4 ♥	S	6	680		6.50	0.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♥	S	6	680		6.50	0.50	11-Murdock-Oblinger	10-Leist-Levine
4 ♥	S	5	650		3.50	3.50	5-Lin-Hubka	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♥	S	5	650		3.50	3.50	6-Hoffman-Roark	11-Brown-Moskowitz
4 ♥	S	5	650		3.50	3.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	4-King-Purcell
4 ♥	S	5	650		3.50	3.50	10-Earls-Lubow	8-Felson-Brown
4 ♥	S	4	620		1.00	6.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	6-Kammer-Zimmer
1 NT	S	2	120		0.00	7.00	12-Kehoe-Stanley	12-Temples-Koch

Half of you are going to email me saying "We didn't bid slam on Board #34. How were we supposed to get there?" The easy answer is "You don't." Slam needs (1) the ♠ A to be onside, (2) you to guess correctly on the location of the ♥ Q, (3) you to guess correctly on the location of the ♦ Q, and (4) Diamonds to split 3-3 for a Club pitch. Hmmmm. 50% of 50% of 50% of 36% is around 4.5%. Not the best slam in the world. West will probably lead the ♠ Q or the ♣ J.

Board 35
South Deals
E-W Vul

♠	5 4 3
♥	—
♦	8 5 3
♣	Q 9 8 7 5 3 2

♠	A 10 6 2
♥	A J 8 5 4
♦	K 6
♣	10 6

N
W		E
S

♠	K Q 7
♥	Q 9 7 6 2
♦	9 7 2
♣	J 4

♠	J 9 8
♥	K 10 3
♦	A Q J 10 4
♣	A K

EW 4N; EW 4♥; NS 3♣; NS 2♦; EW 1♠; Par −300: NS 5♣×−2

West	North	East	South
			1 ♦
1 ♥	3 ♣1	4 ♥2	Dbl3
Pass	5 ♣	Pass	Pass
Dbl	Pass	Pass	Pass

Weak jump shift in competition
Expecting to make
Do something smart, partner

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 ♣	N	5	150		7.00	0.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	11-Brown-Moskowitz
3 ♦	S	4	130		6.00	1.00	11-Murdock-Oblinger	10-Leist-Levine
4 ♣×	N	−1		100	4.50	2.50	10-Earls-Lubow	8-Felson-Brown
5 ♣	N	−2		100	4.50	2.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	12-Temples-Koch
2 ♥	W	4		170	2.50	4.50	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	4-King-Purcell
3 ♥	W	4		170	2.50	4.50	9-Mackey-Kobida	6-Kammer-Zimmer
3 NT	S	−5		250	1.00	6.00	7-Mehta-Mehta	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♥×	W	4		790	0.00	7.00	5-Lin-Hubka	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes

When your opponents make a preemptive bid, whether it be a weak jump raise, an opening preempt, or a weak jump shift, your jumps are no longer preemptive. East fully expects to make 4 ♥ on this hand. South doubles East's 4 ♥ and doesn't really care if North leaves it in or pulls to 5 ♣. North, with a Heart void, has an easy 5 ♣ bid.

N/S lose three Spade tricks and one Diamond, down two doubled for –300. Much better than –620 for 4 ♥ making. East will lead the ♠ K and continue Spades.

Board 36
West Deals
Both Vul

♠	10 7
♥	3
♦	A Q 8 5 2
♣	A K 10 9 4

♠	K 8 4 3
♥	K 10
♦	10 9 7 6
♣	Q 7 5

N
W		E
S

♠	A J 9 6 5 2
♥	Q 8 4 2
♦	J 4
♣	J

♠	Q
♥	A J 9 7 6 5
♦	K 3
♣	8 6 3 2

NS 6♣; NS 3♥; NS 4♦; EW 2♠; NS 1N; Par +1100: EW 6♠×−4

West	North	East	South
Pass	1 ♦	2 ♠	3 ♥
4 ♠	5 ♣	Pass	6 ♣
Pass	Pass	Pass

Contract			Score		Matchpoints		Pair	Pair
			N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 ♠	E	−2	200		7.00	0.00	6-Hoffman-Roark	11-Brown-Moskowitz
4 ♣	N	5	150		5.50	1.50	11-Murdock-Oblinger	10-Leist-Levine
4 ♣	N	5	150		5.50	1.50	12-Kehoe-Stanley	12-Temples-Koch
3 ♠	E	−1	100		4.00	3.00	9-Mackey-Kobida	6-Kammer-Zimmer
5 ♣	N	−1		100	3.00	4.00	8-Magnus-Magnus, Jr	4-King-Purcell
3 ♠	E	3		140	2.00	5.00	5-Lin-Hubka	9-Kereiakes-Kereiakes
4 ♥	S	−3		300	0.50	6.50	7-Mehta-Mehta	2-Singerman-Cook
4 ♥	S	−3		300	0.50	6.50	10-Earls-Lubow	8-Felson-Brown

South's line of thought is this: If partner thinks they can make 5 ♣ (or 5 ♦) vulnerable opposite ♠ Q52 ♥ AJ976 ♦ 63 ♣ Q75, isn't my hand one trick better than that with a singleton Spade, a fourth Club, and the ♦ K? Yup.

N/S lose one Spade trick, making six. East will lead the ♠ A and switch to a small Heart at trick two. Declarer wins with dummy's ♥ A and plays a small Club to the ♣ K. When the ♣ J falls, restricted choice says that West is twice as likely to have the ♣ Q, so declarer ruffs a Spade back to dummy and finesses against West's ♣ Q. Now a Diamond to dummy's ♦ K, Diamond to the ♦ A, and a small Diamond ruffed with dummy's last trump. Heart ruff with the ♣ 4, ♣ A, and claim. Nicely bid and nicely played!