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Diamond Jubilee |
Anniversary Pairs
26th September 2006
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A selection of memorable hands from 60 years of the
Lederer Memorial Trophy
featuring
John Collings, Jeremy Flint, Tony Forrester, Alan Hiron,
Martin Hoffman, Zia Mahmood, Rixi Markus, Tony Priday,
Andrew Robson, Irving Rose, Victor Silverstone, Louis Tarlo
and many others.
LONDON METROPOLITAN BRIDGE ASSOCIATION
There was organised bridge in London before the war, but the London County Contract Bridge Association, the antecedent of today’s London Metropolitan Bridge Association, was founded in 1946.
In the immediate post-war period virtually all of the top players of the day came from the London area, and it was not until 1959 that a provincial team won the Gold Cup. London is going through another golden period, winning the last four Tollemache inter-county championships and regularly providing two of the three pairs for the England team.
Tony Lederer was the first LCCBA President. He was succeeded by Terence Reese and then the current incumbent, Bernard Teltscher.
To celebrate its Diamond Jubilee the LMBA organised this Anniversary Pairs, using hands from the Lederer Memorial Trophy, its invitation teams event that is held every autumn. The Lederer is also celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2006. Simon Cochemé selected the hands and wrote the commentaries, some of them based on articles by Jeremy Flint, David Gostyn, Alan Hiron, Tony Priday, Terence Reese and Andrew Robson, with one from the reminiscences of David Bird.
§ ¨ © ª § ¨ © ª § ¨ © ª § ¨ © ª § ¨ © ª
A HISTORY OF THE LEDERER
The Lederer Memorial was first played in 1945 as a tribute to Richard Lederer. It was originally an inter-county competition, but soon became a challenge event between London's Bridge Clubs. Richard Lederer was a leading international player who ran his own club and contributed greatly to the development of English bridge in its formative years. He won the Gold Cup three times in the 1930s. The name of his son, Tony, was added to the dedication in 1977 by his widow, Rhoda Barrow Lederer, one of the leading bridge teachers of the time.
During the 1970s, teams from outside the capital were often invited to play as guests and in 1977 a Glasgow quartet won the competition. Over the following years an international flavour was introduced and overseas teams have included Australia, Canada, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, North America, Norway, Poland and Sweden.
The Lederer Memorial Trophy is one of the strongest tournaments held in England. It is hard to think of a single star of English bridge since the second World War who has not won it, from Adam (Plum) Meredith, Maurice Harrison-Gray and Iain MacLeod in the early years, through to Terence Reese, Boris Schapiro, Rixi Markus, Tony Priday, Zia Mahmood, Tony Forrester and Andrew Robson.
§ ¨ © ª § ¨ © ª § ¨ © ª § ¨ © ª § ¨ © ª
The first board of the
2003 Lederer created some excitement in all the matches. Most Norths opened 2© and the Souths had to
decide on their tactics – how high to bid immediately, and then what to do if
and when the opponents bid spades or clubs.
West North East South
Dhondy Silver Smith Carruthers
2© Pass 5©
Dble Pass 5ª All Pass
John Carruthers bid 5© for the North American team against the English Ladies, and chose not to compete further when Heather Dhondy and Nicola Smith got to 5ª. The contract was one down. At the other table Margaret James bid 6© immediately. East-West bid to 6ª, Nevena Senior doubled and the Ladies gained 6 IMPs.
Phil King and Brian Senior, playing for the Gold Cup Winners, were the only pair to reach the unbeatable 6© and be allowed to play there. They bid the slam after King had opened the North hand 1©. King and Senior, together with team-mates Andrew Robson and David Bakhshi, went on to win the 2003 event.
Result: North-South: +50
Jeremy Flint won the
Lederer four times, the last time in 1988 in partnership with Robert Sheehan.
He modestly reported his misplaying of this hand in The Times.
“Against my 4© contract South led the ª10 on which North benevolently contributed the ªJ, gratuitously permitting me to win the trick with my singleton ªK. “Not much to this,” I thought. I cashed the ©A-Q, noting the 4-1 break without too much apprehension.
Provided South had at least one diamond honour, all would be well. The ¨J lost to the ¨Q, and North returned the ©J. If I had ruffed a spade at that point all would still have been well. But no, I cashed the §K and the §A, in case the §Q was doubleton, and took another diamond finesse. Après ça, la déluge. Two down, minus 100, was greeted with polite disbelief by my forbearing team-mates.”
Flint then explained the correct line – cashing only one heart in hand before finessing the ¨J. North would be then endplayed in all four suits at trick three.
Flint’s polite and forbearing team-mates in 1988 were Sally Horton (now Sally Brock) and Steve Lodge.
Result: North-South: +100
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
West North East South
Silver- Saelens-
stone minde Coyle Charlsen
Pass
1§ Dble 1© Pass
1NT Pass 3NT All Pass
When the President’s Team faced Norway in 2000, Victor Silverstone played this board in 3NT. He won the ªJ lead with the ªQ and played off ¨A-K-Q, Erik Saelensminde as North discarding the ©5 on the third round. Declarer now made the key play of a fourth round of diamonds, discarding the §4 from his own hand. North, not expecting West’s distribution to be so unbalanced, and wanting to keep his spade holding intact, also discarded a club!
Tomas Charlsen played back a spade and Silverstone emerged with eleven tricks on a hand where every other declarer bar one (who had the helpful lead of the ©A) went off. This play won Victor Silverstone the award for the Best Played hand.
Result: North-South: -660
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Norway had also played in the Lederer in 1998. This is a hand from their encounter with the All Stars team.
West North East South
Erichsen Robson Charlsen Mahmood
1© Pass 1ª Pass
2¨ Pass 3§ Double
3ª Pass 4NT* Pass
5¨* Pass 6ª All Pass
Zia Mahmood led the §K. Tomas Charlsen won and played a diamond to the king and ace. Every other North in this position returned a club, hoping to set up a trump trick. Andrew Robson counted declarer’s tricks and realised that twelve would be available on a complete cross-ruff and so made the master play of a trump from his jack to four. Charlsen tried to set up the diamonds rather than rely on the heart suit coming in and, when spades broke 4-1, he lost control and ended up two down.
Result: North-South: +200
Alan Hiron, part of the
winning Regency Club team in 1964, wrote up this slam hand from the event. He
omitted to give the bidding, but compensated by describing the variations in
play at three tables.
One South was declarer in 6© after North had opened 1¨ as part of the Little Major system and East had overcalled 2§. West led the §9. North was able to draw trumps, eliminate diamonds and then put East in with a club, discarding a spade from hand. A MUD lead in clubs would have given East-West a chance of avoiding the endplay.
Elsewhere North was declarer in 6© on the lead of the §Q. Trumps were drawn and diamonds eliminated. East threw the §4 on the third diamond and then carelessly played the §6 under the §A. Although West still had the §9, East no longer had a low enough club and he too was endplayed.
At the third table South played in 6© after North had opened a strong club. Declarer won the diamond lead, drew trumps and eliminated the minors. He then played a small spade towards dummy, intending, if possible, to duck the trick to East. West felt he should make an effort to prevent this and contributed the ª8. Unfortunately his partner had had to find a discard on the diamonds and had chosen … the four of spades! So, when declarer played the ª6 from dummy, East was compelled to overtake and concede the contract. It seems that West should have made a bit more of an effort and played the ª10.
Result: North-South: +1430
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alex Morris and Michael
Byrne were East-West for the Juniors in the 2002 Lederer. South would prefer to
remain anonymous.
West North East South
Byrne Morris
Pass 1ª
2© Pass Pass 1NT
Pass Pass 2§ All Pass
South, playing a weak no-trump, opened 1ª and Byrne overcalled 2©, no doubt automatic if you are a junior. South, weary after a long session of bridge and distracted by thoughts of his forthcoming Wiener Schnitzel and Rioja Gran Reserva, rebid 1NT to show a balanced 15-16. This described his hand perfectly but was, of course, an insufficient bid. However it was accepted by Byrne, who passed (perhaps because he didn’t have another 2© card in his bidding box!). Morris protected with 2§ and made it exactly.
Result: North-South: -90
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pat Collins and Derek
Patterson, playing for the Gold Cup Winners, won the award for the Best Bid
hand in 1995.
West North East South
Collins Edwin Patterson Priday
Pass
1© 1ª 2ª* Pass
3§ Pass 3ª* Pass
4¨* Pass 4ª* Pass
4NT* Pass 5©* Pass
6© All Pass
Knowing that his ªQ was worth a trick was the key to West bidding the slam. Patterson’s 2ª bid was a good raise in hearts, but his 3ª and 4ª bids showed the ªA and the ªK. Collins now knew that he could get rid of his two small diamonds.
Result: North-South: -1430
Bidding and making 6© on this hand will be
well rewarded. As Tony Priday reported in the Sunday Telegraph, the
‘making it’ bit was too difficult for two declarers in 1956.
West North East South
Pass Pass 2© 2ª
3© Pass 4§ Pass
4© Pass 5¨ Pass
6© All Pass
Both Souths led the ªK. One declarer ruffed, drew trumps and led the ¨2. North started to peter with the ¨10 and declarer finessed the ¨Q, losing to the ¨K. South could count his partner for a singleton or doubleton diamond and could see the danger of a spade continuation. He therefore switched to a small club and declarer could not avoid losing a further trick to South’s ¨J.
At the other table declarer took the ªA and discarded the §Q from hand. He drew trumps, eliminated spades and clubs, and then finessed a diamond. At this table too South was able to count declarer’s hand, so he returned a club, giving declarer a ruff and discard but ensuring a diamond trick for himself.
The winning line is to take the ªA, discarding a diamond, and return the ªJ, discarding another diamond. South will win the ªQ and continue spades but declarer can discard the ¨Q on dummy’s ª10, cash the ¨A, enter dummy with the ©10, ruff a diamond, enter dummy with the ©Q and ruff another diamond. Finally declarer can cross to dummy with a third round of trumps and discard the §Q on dummy’s established ¨9.
Result: North-South: +50
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The 1985 Journalists team
included the previously untried partnership of Rixi Markus and David Bird.
“Some of them will be playing this ridiculous Multi,” the senior half of the partnership warned. “Over that we play that a double shows diamonds.”
West North East South
Bird Mesbur Markus FitzGibbon
Pass Pass 2¨
Double 2ª All Pass
Nick FitzGibbon, South for Ireland, opened a Multi 2¨. Bird doubled, the normal first move on a big hand, remembering two seconds later that this was meant to show diamonds. Ah well, K1074 was better than nothing. Adam Mesbur responded 2ª, showing heart support, and FitzGibbon cleverly passed this, realising that East-West would have an easy game in spades. Since a second double (or a bid of 3ª) might be unclear, Bird opted to collect an undoubled penalty and the contract went seven down.
At the other table Tony Priday opened 2© on the South cards and the bidding continued 4ª - 5© - 5ª - Pass - 6ª.
“Plus 100,”
announced Priday when scores were compared. “Plus 350,” said Rixi. “Well done,”
replied Priday. “10 IMPs to us.”
Result: North-South: -350
Our oldest hand is from 1951. This thoughtful defence was reported by Tony Priday in the Sunday Telegraph in 1987.
West North East South
1ª 2©
Pass 3© Pass 4©
All Pass
West led the ª3 and East won the first trick with the ªA, while declarer dropped the ªK. East was not deceived by this naïve false card, but did not rush to give his partner a spade ruff. Instead he switched to the §Q.
Declarer won the trick with the §A and led a heart to dummy’s ©Q. East won the trick with the ©A and now led the ª6 to give his partner a spade ruff. West trumped with the ©6 and had no difficulty in returning a club. This allowed West to ruff and defeat the contract.
Result: North-South: -100
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Robson described
this 1999 hand in his column in Country Life.
West North East South
1¨
Pass 4¨ 6ª All Pass
Correctly deducing that his partner had a diamond void in the light of North-South’s vigorous bidding, East leapt to 6ª.
South led ¨A. Declarer ruffed, drew trumps, and then set up the hearts, playing the ace and then the queen. North won, but declarer ruffed the club return and ran dummy’s hearts, discarding his diamond losers.
Robson ended his piece by saying “Lest you think declarer was lucky that dummy held a long establishable heart suit, observe that 6ª would have been an excellent contract if dummy’s hearts and clubs had been swapped (easily makeable by trumping diamonds in dummy).”
Result: North-South: -980
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sweden were European Champions,
and on their way to the Bermuda Bowl in Jamaica, when they won the Lederer in 1987.
The Swedish North-South bid swiftly to game.
West North East South
Pass 1ª Pass 2§
Pass 3ª Pass 4ª
All Pass
There are four tricks to cash and John Collings got his side off to a good start when he led the ©J. West won with the ace and returned a heart. East took the next two tricks in the suit, West discarding the ¨2.
East-West were expert players but an unfamiliar partnership. They had arranged to play reverse signals and West thought that the ¨2 called for a diamond. East thought otherwise and led a fourth heart. This in itself was not fatal; declarer had to ruff high with dummy’s ª10, and now, after unblocking the §Q, would have no entry to dummy’s §AK.
With no apparent chance of avoiding a diamond loser, declarer reeled off six rounds of trumps, throwing all dummy’s diamonds. East took the opportunity to discard a club from §962 and West was left with the impossible task of guarding both clubs and diamonds. We are told that “the defence spent a happy minute or two apportioning the blame”.
Result: North-South: +620
Jeremy Flint and Robert Sheehan won the prize for the Best Defended hand in 1988.
West North East South
Sheehan Smith Flint Davies
1§ Double 1ª
Pass 2§ Pass 3©
Pass 4ª All Pass
Sheehan led the ¨7 against Pat Davies’ 4ª contract. Flint won with the ¨K and continued with the ¨A “in the faint hope that Sheehan had a doubleton”. Sheehan, seeing that no other suit offered any prospect, played the ¨5, rather than an honest ¨9. Flint continued with a third diamond, which Davies understandably ruffed with the ª10. When she led a spade to the king, Flint won and played a fourth diamond.
Declarer could still have succeeded by allowing the diamond to run to dummy, but that would look pretty silly if the trumps were 3-2. So Davies ruffed with the ª8, allowing Flint to make a long trump in due course.
Result: North-South: -100
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1985 all but two
North-South pairs bid to the small slam. The sequence by David Bird (North) and
Rixi Markus (South) was typical of the majority:
West North East South
Pass 2§*
Pass 2¨* Pass 2©
Pass 3© Pass 4NT*
Pass 5§* Pass 5NT*
Pass 6¨* Pass 6©
All Pass
Terence Reese was
scathing in his column in the Evening Standard, saying that he and his
grandmother would have done better and faster with the sequence 2§-2¨, 2©-4©, 7©.
Irving Rose and Barnet Shenkin were the only pair to bid the grand slam and they won the prize for the Best Bid hand for the auction shown on the right. The 2¨ response to 2§ was a semi-positive.
The remaining East opened 1¨ (showing 0-10 points) and North-South subsided in 4©.
Result: North-South: +1010
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
West North East South
Sundelin Smolski Gullberg Bethe
Pass
Pass 2¨ All Pass
Roman Smolski, playing for London against Sweden in 1987, opened 2¨, showing a weak two in hearts or a balanced 21-22. He didn’t expect to play there, but Henry Bethe judged that it would be as good a spot as any. Tommy Gullberg led the §K. Smolski ducked and won the second club, cashed the ace-king of hearts and spades, and then exited with a spade to West. PO Sundelin played the ©Q and switched to the ¨3.
In the position shown on
the left Smolski found the key play of rising with the ¨J. East won and returned the ¨6, covered by dummy’s ¨7. Now Sundelin had three
losing options. To play king and another diamond would set up dummy (Smolski
would unblock ¨Q). To duck with the ¨4 would allow to declarer
to ruff the last spade and still make a trump trick in dummy. To cover with the ¨8 would let Smolski win
in hand, ruff a heart high and play a spade through Sundelin’s ¨K4. By playing the ¨J on the first round of
trumps, Smolski had prevented the defenders putting him in hand with the
third round and promoting West’s ¨8 as the setting trick.
Result: North-South: +90
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1969 was the year of the
Grand Slams, but seven of the eight pairs failed to bid this one. When the
Mayfair Club held the East-West cards the bidding went:
West North East South
2ª 3© 4ª Pass
6ª All Pass
In traditional Acol a jump to 4ª over a Strong Two is weaker than 3ª, but is the same true over intervention?
Any pair who can identify that East has first and third round control in hearts and then bids the grand slam will score well, although West may fear that South is void in hearts and can ruff the opening lead.
Result: North-South: -1460
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It is the last round of
the 2003 Lederer. You are on VuGraph against Zia. Your name is Joe Silver. You
decide to get your retaliation in early. This is the first board.
West North East South
Burn Silver Mahmood Carruthers
1©! Pass 1NT*1
Double 2§! 2©* 2ª*2
Double Pass 4¨ Pass
4NT Pass 6¨ Pass
6NT Pass Pass Double
All Pass
1 Forcing 2 Agreeing clubs
Canadian Joe Silver, playing for North America against the All Stars, psyched not once, but twice on this board. David Burn knew that someone was being a bit frisky by the time the bidding came round to him and, when Zia bid 2©, it was possible that both opponents were at it. The All Stars auction got back on the rails until the 6NT bid, later described by its perpetrator as the bid of a man “bewildered by the whole affair”.
Elsewhere Georges Iontzeff, playing West for France, was in 6¨ doubled on the lead of the ©J. He won in hand and drew two rounds of trumps. He crossed to dummy with a club ruff, drew the last trump and played a spade. When South ducked, Iontzeff won with the king, ruffed another club back to dummy, and played a second spade. This was ducked again and now declarer was able to exit with a top club, throwing the losing spade from dummy. Contract made!
Result: North-South: +100
Tony Forrester, a four-time Lederer winner, was declarer in 4ª from the West seat in 1989 and won the prize for the Best Played hand.
He took the lead of the ¨Q with the ¨A immediately (to prevent the club switch) and played on trumps. South won the second round and played king and another diamond to North, who switched to a club.
The percentage line, in abstract, is to take the club finesse, but Forrester knew that North had only five cards in spades and diamonds. Therefore, he almost certainly had three or more hearts and, if he held the §K, he could be squeezed in hearts and clubs. So Forrester went up with §A and later discarded his second club on dummy’s fourth heart.
Result: North-South: -420
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This hand is from the match between TGR’s and Scotland in 1993.
West North East South
Cuth- Atta-
Sheehan bertson Ullah McIntosh
1§
Pass 1© 1ª 2©
2ª Pass 3¨ Pass
4ª All Pass
Andrew McIntosh of Scotland led the ©10 round to declarer’s ace. Munir Atta-Ullah played a spade to the ª10 and another back to the ªJ. McIntosh won and played the ©K (understandable, although double dummy a diamond is best). Declarer spurned the finesses in the minors and used the diamond entries to dummy to ruff two more hearts. South had shown up with two four card majors, a doubleton diamond, and therefore three clubs, so Atta-Ullah crossed to dummy’s §K and exited with a trump, endplaying McIntosh and making his contract irrespective of the position of the §Q.
Result: North-South: -620
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Colin Simpson was drafted
into the 1986 Journalists team and did his best to create some interesting
copy.
West North East South
Priday Simpson
Pass Pass 1ª 3NT
4ª 4NT Pass 6NT
All Pass
Simpson’s vulnerable third in hand psyche was not, as they say, for the faint-hearted. Whether North would have bid if Tony Priday had passed over South’s 3NT we will never know, but South must have been looking forward to defending 4ª doubled. When North removed that option by bidding 4NT, South had to settle for the small slam.
Priday led the ¨J and South could count twelve tricks if the ªK was well placed. When the spade finesse failed he was down to eleven top tricks, with chances of the diamonds breaking or the heart finesse. What declarer actually did was combine his chances by cashing the two top hearts, intending to play for diamonds 3-3, or for either defender to guard both spades and diamonds, or for East to hold the ©Q and four diamonds. When the ©Q dropped in two rounds, he was home.
1986 was the first year in which bidding boxes were used at the Lederer.
Result: North-South: +1440
This hand from 1960 was reported by Alan Hiron in the Independent in 1986.
North was in 4ª and received the lead of the §3. Declarer finessed the §Q, but West won and returned the ¨5. North ducked this and East won and switched back to clubs. Declarer went up with the §A but still had to lose a trick in each minor. One down. East-West were pleased with their perfect defence and hoped for a swing.
At the other table Hiron’s partner found the unfortunate lead of the ¨K against the spade contract. Declarer drew trumps, conceded a trick to the ¨Q and claimed twelve tricks. East-West at this table were equally happy; their opponents had been in 7ª! North had opened 2ª, South had given a positive in diamonds on his poor suit and, after a flurry of cue bids, North-South reached the grand slam, without any apparent concern about the gaps in diamonds and clubs.
Result: North-South: -100
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Robson wrote up Zia’s
declarer play from the 1998 event.
West North East South
Mahmood Robson
1¨ Pass
Pass 1© Pass 4©
All Pass
With his four card trump support, ruffing values in clubs, and well positioned honour cards, Robson raised Zia’s protective 1© bid straight to game.
East led §K and Zia’s first plan was to try to set up a diamond in dummy for a spade discard in his hand. He won the lead with dummy’s ace, crossed to the ©Q and led the ¨9. This ran to West’s king and he returned another club, ruffed in dummy. Zia played a second trump to his king, East discarding a diamond, and led the ¨5. East (correctly) played low and West ruffed dummy’s ¨10 with his last trump. West played back a third club, ruffed in dummy.
Plan A had failed, so Zia embarked on plan B. He ruffed a diamond to get back to his hand and led the ª2. East played low and Zia rose with the king, knowing from West’s first round pass that it would win the trick. He then led the ª3 and ducked it to East’s bare ace. The ªQ was now his tenth trick.
Result: North-South: +420
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Glyn Liggins, playing for England, won the prize for the Best Played hand in 1992.
West North East South
FitzGibbon Robson Mesbur Liggins
1NT
Pass 2§ Double 2ª
Pass 4ª All Pass
East’s double of 2§ showed a strong balanced hand. West led the ¨10, won in hand with the ¨K. Liggins played a spade to the king and finessed the ªJ. Then he led a diamond, ducked to Adam Mesbur of Ireland, who returned the §K. Declarer won with the §A, drew the last trump with the ªA and played a diamond to the ace and ruffed a diamond. Now Liggins crossed to dummy with a club ruff, cashed the winning diamond and exited with the ©Q. East, who was down to ©AK4, had to win and give declarer his tenth trick with the ©J.
Result: North-South: +620
Glyn Liggins was at it
again in 1994, winning the Best Played hand award on this deal.
West North East South
Liggins Dyson
1© Pass 2¨*1 Pass
2© Pass 2ª*2 Pass
2NT*3 Pass 3© Pass
4© All Pass
1 Game Forcing 2 Relay 3 6 card heart suit
Liggins received a
helpful spade lead, but he still had work to do. He cashed two hearts,
eliminated spades and exited with a trump. North returned a spade, ruffed by
declarer who cashed a trump, leaving the position shown on the right.
When declarer played his last heart North could not afford to part with a club or diamond, so threw the ª9. A diamond was discarded from dummy, and South threw a club rather than bare his ¨A. Two rounds of clubs put North on lead and the ¨6 was played. Liggins, reasoning that North might have overcalled 1ª if he held ¨A as well, played low from dummy and made his game.
Result: North-South: -420
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Curzon House Club were second in 1974, behind the Eccentric Club. Here they are N-S against London Duplicate.
West North East South
Gostyn Markus Pencharz Tarlo
1¨ 1ª Double
Pass 2¨ Pass 3NT
All Pass
The fate of the 3NT contract may well depend on East-West’s leading style. If West leads a MUD ª8, then South should have no problem putting up the ªJ at trick two when East returns a small spade. If East-West treat the 10 as an honour and the lead is the ª2, then South is faced with a tricky decision at trick two, especially if East wins the first spade with the king.
In our featured match Louis Tarlo’s double of 1ª was for penalties. David Gostyn led the ª2 and Bill Pencharz won with the ªQ. Tarlo got it right at trick two, rising with the ªJ and ending with 12 tricks.
Louis Tarlo won the Lederer six times, a distinction he shares with Albert Rose, Claude Rodrigue, Victor Silverstone and Zia Mahmood.
Result: North-South: +490
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This hand is from the
2000 Lederer, with Joe Fawcett and Ian Payn sitting East-West for London.
West North East South
Payn Fawcett
1© Pass
1ª 2ª Pass Pass
Double All Pass
North bid a natural 2ª and Fawcett passed, leaving the decision to his partner, Payn, who doubled for penalties. Fawcett led the ¨K, which North ducked. A second diamond went to the ¨J and the ¨A, and declarer exited with a third round of the suit. Fawcett played the ª10 round to declarer’s ace and he played a
spade back to West’s jack. Payn switched to the §Q which was covered and won by East’s ace. Fawcett played a diamond back, locking declarer in hand and obliging him to lose two clubs and a further trump. Two down.
Elsewhere Colin Simpson and Robert Sheehan duplicated this careful defence and the two pairs shared the award for the Best Defended hand.
Result: North-South: -500
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Demetri Marchessini (North) and Martin Hoffman (South), playing for the Naturals, won the Best Bidding prize in 1994.
West North East South
2ª
Pass 2NT Pass 3§
Pass 6§ All Pass
The contract has good chances on any lead. On the actual lead of the ¨K, Hoffman made all 13 tricks.
At the other tables the hand was played in game four times and in a part-score three times, including 1ª passed out, illustrating the downside of not having an opening strong two bid available.
Result: North-South: +940
______________________________________________________________________________________
West North East South
Byrne Mahmood Morris Robson
Pass 1ª Pass 1NT
Pass 2§ Pass Pass
2© Pass 4© All Pass
The Juniors played the All Stars in 2002. Michael Byrne’s 2© was a brave bid with six points and facing two of the best players in the world. The play was no problem, with the ªK in the North hand, as expected.
Robert Sheehan and Colin Simpson also bid and made 4© for the All Stars in the other room, so the board was flat. Only two of the eight Lederer East-West pairs failed to reach the 19 point game.
Result: North-South: -420
____________________________________________________________________
Come and see the Stars in action!
© Defending Champions Ireland ©
© Zia Mahmood © Andrew Robson © Tony Forrester ©
© Sabine Auken & Daniela von Arnim © The Hackett Twins ©
© David Gold & Tom Townsend © David Price & Colin Simpson ©
This year’s Lederer Memorial Trophy will be held at the
Young Chelsea Bridge Club on 28th -29th October.
Start time: 1 p.m. on both days.
Entry fee: Saturday £12, Sunday £10, whole event £16
www.metrobridge.co.uk