LotG and I played with Fiona and Patrick. We were nine points above average at the half and finished on 142/260 VP. This was probably fifth place in an event won by Mike, Miro, Anne and Alan (three of whom are on our Gold Cup team this year). We had the opportunity to finish third, in the prizes, but for a couple of silly mistakes - however we'd still need everyone else's silly mistakes against us to count too.
Given that LotG had not played for six months, Scrabble and knitting having been to the fore, it was a fair performance. At least we didn't miss any slams that we should have been in, didn't let any games through and didn't have any system forgets. And, when comparing, it seemed that we bid a lot more than our opponents although not always with total success.
I thought this hand was a difficult problem:
What is your call (at Game All)?
The rest of the event was about doubles. Firstly we did reasonably well (click Next to see the play):
With no game available taking a penalty looks reasonable although it needed tight defence. But LotG found the necessary heart switch at trick two (and I ducked) to ensure the set.
Then a case of two hands with similar auctions and decisions to make:
Which hand do you pass on and what do you bid on the other? Our methods are very simple in this auction: we play natural responses and do not play any form of Lebensohl (where a 2NT can be used to distinguish between good and invitational hands). You may answer based on these methods or your own.
As LotG and I will be playing together in the district league this year (for the first time), this was a useful practice. Let the season commence!
