Best Played Hand Cameron Small

The best-played hand was also a candidate for the best-defended hands at some tables, and a missed opportunity at another:

Cameron Small, for the TGR Super League Winners, contented himself with a game-try on the North cards which Cooke was quick to decline (indeed he would have folded if that had been an option). East led a diamond and West won and switched to the ten of spades to the jack, to queen and king. A heart to the jack and ace and a second trump was won in dummy with the nine. Now Small ruffed a heart and exited with the queen of diamonds to the king. West was endplayed; a heart or diamond is clearly fatal, so he exited with a club. Small covered and pitched a diamond from dummy to endplay East for nine tricks. When David Bakhshi was North, he just bid game when Zia raised, and East, Andrew McIntosh, for the Gold Cup team, raised the stakes by doubling. Again East led his singleton diamond, and West, Nick Sandqvist, won and continued with the king and jack of diamonds, fatally in theory. Now North ruffed with the jack and went off. The winning line was to ruff with the ace, cross to dummy with the king of trumps, and discard the king of hearts on a diamond. This line succeeds if the opposing trumps are 2-2 or if West has Qxx.

Extract from Paul Lamford's Match Report