Brian Senior has written his last report from this year's Summer Meeting Eastbourne.
The Swiss Pairs for the Harold Poster Cup was held over two days, with six eight-board matches each day. Nigel Bird and I led for a long time but, by the time that we reached the twelfth and final round, we had been caught by Richard Plackett and Mia Deschepper, and were level going into the direct match between our two pairs. This is the story of that match, for which a top was worth 112 matchpoints.
Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
♠ 8 5 3
♥ 10 7 3 2
♦ A K 5
♣ A 7 2
♠ A J 10 2 ♠ K 7 6 4
♥ 9 5 ♥ J 8 4
♦ 10 8 4 ♦ 6
♣ J 8 6 3 ♣ K Q 10 5 4
♠ Q 9
♥ A K Q 6
♦ Q J 9 7 3 2
♣ 9
West North East South
Deshepper Senior Plackett Bird
– Pass Pass 1♦
Pass 1♥ Dble 4♥
All Pass
Had Mia and Richard found the sacrifice in 4♠, we would have had to double and find two club ruffs to collect +500, as otherwise we would have scored very poorly – only one pair out of 57 played 4♠ doubled and one other played 3♠ doubled.
As it was, Richard led his singleton diamond so I could win, draw trumps, and cash 12 tricks for +480 and 60.07-51.93 MPs.
Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
♠ K Q 6 5 3
♥ A 10 9 6
♦ J 5
♣ K 7
♠ 4 ♠ A J 10 2
♥ Q 5 2 ♥ J 8
♦ K 9 4 2 ♦ Q 8 7 3
♣ A Q 10 5 2 ♣ J 9 4
♠ 9 8 7
♥ K 7 4 3
♦ A 10 6
♣ 8 6 3
West North East South
Deshepper Senior Plackett Bird
– – Pass Pass
1♣ 1♠ 1NT Pass
Pass 2♥ Pass 3♥
All Pass
Would we have been left to play in 2♥ had Nigel not raised. South should appreciate that 2♥ is just competing the partscore and so should not invite game. If game was in the picture, North would surely have doubled 1NT, and don't forget that East's 1NT bid shows that there will be at least one spade to be lost..
Anyway, Richard led the jack of hearts, which appeared to offer me an opportunity to avoid a trump loser. However, I was suspicious of the lead and thought it might be from queen-jack doubleton – a common falsecard lead. Although I did win the heart on table, that was to lead a spade up, not to finesse against the queen of hearts. The king of spades lost to the ace and back came a club to the ace followed by a second club. I cashed the ace of hearts, hoping to see the queen fall on my left, but it was not to be. The queen of spades was ruffed by Mia's queen and, though I could ruff the club return and give up a spade, there was a diamond to lose for one down and –100.
That scored 49.89 MPs, so the running score was 109.96-114.04.
Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
♠ 9 8 5 4 2
♥ J 7 4
♦ J
♣ A 7 6 3
♠ Q 7 ♠ A K 10 3
♥ 6 5 2 ♥ Q 10 8
♦ K 5 4 ♦ 10 6 3
♣ Q 10 9 4 2 ♣ K J 5
♠ J 6
♥ A K 9 3
♦ A Q 9 8 7 2
♣ 8
West North East South
Deshepper Senior Plackett Bird
– – – 1♦
Pass 1♠ Pass 2♦
All Pass
An uncontested auction saw Nigel declare 2♦, against which Mia led the ten of clubs. With only one entry to dummy, Nigel won the ace of clubs and ran the jack of diamonds, losing to the king. He ruffed the club return, drew trumps, and tried a low heart to the jack. That lost to the queen, but the even heart split meant that he had an overtrick for +110.
At the time, I thought that this was just a normal result and should score about 50%. However, no fewer than 12 Wests thought that a heart was the right lead against a diamond partscore, and now declarer could pick up the hearts without loss by using dummy's sole entry for a second-round finesse in the suit.
Forgetting about the result on this particular deal, I am convinced that the ten of clubs is the right lead from that West hand. Anyway, what all those heart leads meant was that we scored only 44.8-67.2 MPs, and trailed in the match by 154.76-181.24.
Board 20. Dealer West. All Vul.
♠ Q 10 4
♥ K 8 7 6 2
♦ K 9 8 7
♣ 10
♠ 5 ♠ J 3
♥ J 4 ♥ A 10 9 3
♦ Q J 5 4 2 ♦ A 6 3
♣ J 9 7 3 2 ♣ A K 8 4
♠ A K 9 8 7 6 2
♥ Q 5
♦ 10
♣ Q 6 5
West North East South
Deshepper Senior Plackett Bird
Pass Pass 1NT 3♠
All Pass
Richard's 1NT was 15-17 and Nigel's 3♠ pre-emptive. He is a very aggressive pre-emptor, and even though vulnerable and in the face of an opposing strong NT opening, could have been somewhat weaker than this. Despite my spades support, I judged that my two red kings would often be wastepaper, making 4♠ an unlikely make.
Mia led the queen of diamonds to the king and ace and Richard switched to his low trump. Nigel won that with the ten and led a low heart off the dummy, and Richard went in with the ace. There were 10 tricks for +170 but, with several pairs making 4♠ doubled, and several more making it undoubled, we scored 42.77 MPs, and the match score was now 197.53-250.47.
We were in need of a good board, and duly got one on Board 21.
Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
♠ 3 2
♥ 6 5
♦ K Q 10 8 6 5 3
♣ J 2
♠ A 9 5 ♠ Q 7 4
♥ A 7 2 ♥ Q J 10 8 3
♦ A 9 4 ♦ J 7
♣ A K Q 8 ♣ 10 5 4
♠ K J 10 8 6
♥ K 9 4
♦ 2
♣ 9 7 6 3
West North East South
Deshepper Senior Plackett Bird
– 3♦ Pass Pass
3NT All Pass
Being 2-2-2 in the side-suits is not ideal for a vulnerable pre-empt, but it would be a bit wet not to open 3♦ in my view. Mia overcalled 3NT – what else – and that was that.
I led the king of diamonds and Nigel's two made it clear that Mia had ace to three, as he would have played high-low to give count had he held a second diamond. The ♦K held the trick and I continued with the queen, Nigel throwing an encouraging eight of spades and Mia winning the ace.
It might seem that there was no point in clearing the diamonds as I had no real hope of ever getting on lead to cash them. However, I had no idea which black suit to switch to at trick two, and picking the wrong one could easily have been expensive had I helped declarer to pick up Nigel's holding. The other point, and one which people often overlook, is that if we establish our suit, declarer will be worried about the fact that there are all those defensive winners out against him. If he has a choice of ways to play the hand, he will be very wary of following a line which risks us gaining the lead.
Anyway, Mia cashed two top clubs, seeing the jack fall on her left, and used the ten of clubs as an entry to dummy to take and repeat the heart finesse. Having picked up three heart tricks, she cashed the ♣Q and ♠A, and had only nine tricks for +400.
Playing on hearts while retaining the ♣10 as an entry to the fourth and fifth cards, ensures an overtrick and, with much of the field making either 4♥ or 3NT+1 or even 3NT+2, our –400 was worth 92.64, and suddenly we were ahead in the match, albeit narrowly at 290.17-269.83.
Board 22. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
♠ Q
♥ A Q J 4 3 2
♦ 9 4 2
♣ J 7 6
♠ A J ♠ K 10 9 8 7 2
♥ 9 7 6 ♥ 10 5
♦ 10 6 ♦ 8 7 5
♣ A Q 9 8 4 3 ♣ K 2
♠ 6 5 4 3
♥ K 8
♦ A K Q J 3
♣ 10 5
West North East South
Deshepper Senior Plackett Bird
– – 2♦ Pass
2♥ Pass 2♠ 3♦
Pass 3♥ All Pass
Richard opened a multi and Nigel decided that he wasn't worth an immediate overcall. Nor did I, when Mia responded 2♥, pass or correct, intending to balance with 3♥ when Richard's 2♠ came back to me, thereby showing a weaker hand than had I bid the first time. However, Nigel was there in front of me with a 3♦ overcall, to which I responded 3♥.
Had Nigel bid immediately over 2♦, my change of suit would have been forcing, but does that agreement still apply when both partners have limited their hands with their initial passes? Possibly not? Anyway, Nigel passed and we had missed our good game.
The defenders offered us a crumb of comfort when Richard led the king of clubs and Mia overtook but then switched to ace followed by jack of spades. I could ruff the second spade, draw trumps, and cash the diamonds, so one loser had gone away.
Eleven tricks and +200 was worth 43.79 MPs, leaving the match virtually level at 333.96-338.04 with two boards to play. We all had to worry now not only about the result of our head-to-head match but, if we played a near draw, would a third pair come up on the rails and snatch the trophy from us both?
Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.
♠ J 8 5
♥ A 6 4
♦ J 9 8 7 4
♣ K 9
♠ A Q 7 6 3 ♠ K 10 2
♥ 7 3 ♥ K Q J
♦ K 10 3 ♦ A 6 5
♣ Q 5 3 ♣ J 10 6 4
♠ 9 4
♥ 10 9 8 5 2
♦ Q 2
♣ A 8 7 2
West North East South
Deshepper Senior Plackett Bird
– – – Pass
1♠ Pass 2♣ Pass
2♠ Pass 3NT All Pass
After a straightforward auction, Richard declared 3NT, against which Nigel led the ten of hearts to the ace and jack. I continued with a second heart, Richard winning with the queen, and he cashed all five rounds of spades then played a low club off the dummy. I had to rise with the king of clubs to clear the hearts, but I made the mistake of playing low. Nigel won the ace and returned a heart, but Richard could set up a club winner for his tenth trick, and that made a huge difference to the result of the board.
Holding 3NT to nine tricks would have netted us 77.38 MPs. Due to the number of 620s and 630s on the scoresheet, conceding –630 scored only 11.21. Going into the final deal, we therefore trailed by 345.17-438.83.
Board 24. Dealer West. None Vul.
♠ K J 10 6 4
♥ 10 8 3
♦ J 9 5
♣ 8 4
♠ A 7 5 2 ♠ 9 8
♥ – ♥ Q J 6
♦ 10 7 6 2 ♦ A K 4
♣ A K Q 6 2 ♣ 10 9 7 5 3
♠ Q 3
♥ A K 9 7 5 4 2
♦ Q 8 3
♣ J
West North East South
Deshepper Senior Plackett Bird
1♣ 2♠ Pass 3♥
All Pass
One Club could have been short with a weak NT type and, knowing that the previous disaster had put us behind in the match, it was time to try to get it back. My weak jump overcall on only a five-card suit worked like a charm. Richard felt unable to support what could be a doubleton with only ten-to-five, so passed, and Nigel introduced his long heart suit. Despite having decent heart support, with my pile of garbage I didn't care whether Nigel thought that his 3♥ bid was forcing – I passed, and 3♥ ended the auction.
Nigel ruffed the second club, cashed a top heart, and played a spade, losing two diamonds and one trick in each of the other suits, so down one for –50.
Half the field was bidding and making 5♣. Indeed, after a non-spade lead, the three-three diamond break meant that the pair who bid to 6♣ could get the spade loser away on the thirteenth diamond and make their slam – take a bow Tim Pelling and Naomi Cohen.
Our –50 was worth 103.84 MPs, giving a final match result of 449.01-446.99. Let's claim that as being a moral victory for us but, of course, it scored up as a 10-10 VP draw. Had our two pairs been tied on our own at the top, that fractional advantage would presumably have given us the trophy as, in matchpoint terms, we had sneaked the direct match. But it was not to be.
Elsewhere, Tony Verran and Brian Gladman had finished off with a 19-1 VP win to join us in a triple tie for first place. The tiebreaker would now only have been the results of the direct matches had we all played each other, but we had not. Tiebreaker number two, is on matches won and drawn – two points for each match won, one point for each match drawn. And so it came to pass that Richard and Mia, who had won nine and drawn one, came out on top and took the Harold Poster Cup. As you can see from the deals discussed above, we can't say that we didn't have our chances to win it.
By Brian Senior
August 15, 2022