Match Report courtesy of Michael Hill

LONDON TROPHY FINALS - 2001

This competition, for sports and social clubs, reached its climax at Queens Club on Sunday, 3rd June. As usual, the climax consisted of the final of the Trophy itself, the play-off for third place between the losing semi-finalists and the final of the plate competition.

Participants were:-

London Trophy Final:
Treasury Tap vs Limpsfield LTC

Third place Play-off:
MCC vs Royal Wimbledon Golf Club

Plate Final:
Mid Herts Ladies Golf Club vs Lewes Golf Club

Board 1
Dealer North. Love all.

This hand caused no problems to the competitors in the main final. North opened 1H and either rebid diamonds or raised partners clubs so that South became declarer in 3NT. West led a spade and declarer cashed his ten top tricks.

But in both the play-off for third place and the final of the plate, things were different. Just one table managed the same score, albeit after North opened 1D. At one table in both matches, North's second bid was 2NT, making him declarer in 3NT and the automatic SQ lead meant that the defence took the first five tricks. At the final table, South took a more pessimistic view of his hand than another South after hearing North bid both red suits and support clubs and played in 3C making 10 tricks, losing just a heart and two spades.

Board 4 Dealer West. Game all.

This board generated the first real excitement with swings in all three matches.

In the main event, when Limpsfield LTC sat East -West, East opened 1H and West considered his hand worth a raise to game. With opponents silent, East tried Blackwood and, assured of one ace opposite, bid the slam. Looking at just the East-West cards, this is a poor slam but not without hope. (It needs the spade finesse and the club suit to play for one loser - i.e. clubs 2-2 or the ace with South - in all, about 35%). Alas, everything was wrong and the contract drifted four off. At the other table, West took a less rosy view of his hand, so slam was never considered - but, with their opponents bidding up to 5D, East-West took the push to 5H. This escaped for one-off after a rather soft defence but that was still 300 to Treasury Tap

In the play-off for third place, both teams played in 4H on the lead of the CJ. For MCC, David Sellman made no mistake as North when declarer covered in dummy. He won the CA and switched to a spade. A second spade when in with the C10 ensured defeat of the contract. Michael Pitel, the MCC declarer displayed sounder technique than his counterpart, he ducked the lead in dummy, leaving the defence powerless to defeat the contract. If north overtook to play a spade, he sacrificed his second club trick whilst, if he ducked, he could only ever lead spades once and declarer would have time to discard a spade on the fifth club. That created a swing of 720 to MCC.

In the Plate, Frank Hibbert, for Lewes Golf Club, also made 4H after an uncontested auction but the fun was at the other table. His team-mates sacrificed in 5D then, forgetting the "rule" that the five-level belongs to the opposition, sacrificed in 6D when their opponents took the push to 5H. This was duly doubled but the defence can only come to three tricks, so Lewes GC still gained 120 on the board although a pass of 5H would have netted at least 720.

Board 6 Dealer East. East-West game.

This board also produced swings in all three matches. East-West can make game in hearts, whilst North-South can make 10 trick in spades. Seeing all four hands, it is clear that this is consistent with the law of total tricks and it is equally clear where the bidding should end. Seeing only the East cards, would you be certain it was right to bid over 4S?

Limpsfield LTC East-West took the push to 5H and played there going one-off. Did they know they were sacrificing, I wonder, after opening the bidding and going on freely to game? At the other table, their North-South pair went on to 5S which was doubled and also went one-off - a net 200 to Treasury Tap.

Royal Wimbledon GC also found the 5H sacrifice but their team-mates were allowed to play in 4S giving them a net swing of 320

Lewes GC went one better. They made 4S at one table and doubled their opponents in 5S at the other for a net swing of 520.

Board 9 Dealer North. East-West game.

This was the day's example of the dog that didn't bark in the night. At every table, South played in 4H after every West except one had overcalled in spades. Every West led the SA and every east played the S2. After cashing the SK, every West switched and, soon afterwards, South chalked up +420. One East blamed himself in the post mortem noting that, had he petered in spades, West would probably have continued with a third round. The a fourth round when in with the HA promotes a trick for the H10. In fact, West could have worked out anyway that this was the only realistic hope - South has bid too strongly to have only six hearts and nothing outside, so he is marked with ten tricks unless the defence has, or can manufacture a second trump trick.

Board 10 Dealer East. Game all.

Both declarers and defenders missed opportunities on this hand. Every East opened 1S and four of the six Souths found the rather questionable double. The Lewes GC West passed the double and this encourage Mid Herts LGC to wend their way to an inelegant 4H which drifted three-off. At every other table, East-West were allowed to subside in 2S. At one table, South led a trump but everywhere else began with three rounds of diamonds. None of the declarers found the correct line of playing three rounds of clubs immediately. This works on any 3-3 or 4-2 club break as, given dummy's good spade pips, declarer cannot be prevented from scoring an eighth trick via a club ruff. Instead, they drew trumps and led a low club from hand and now it was the turn of the defence to nod. Every South put in the C10, after which declarer's club pips were good enough to force a third trick in the suit.

Board 12 Dealer West. North-South game.

This was an exciting board with which to end the first half. After every North opened 1S, the Easts variously valued their hand as worth 2H, 3H or 4H! Given that few if any of the Easts were playing weak jump overcalls, 3H feels about right.

The Limpsfield LTC East bid 4H and this encouraged Treasury Tap's North to bid 4S - duly doubled by East and two-off. Tim Pike, East for Treasury Tap bid only 3H, raised to game by West, after which North was not inclined to sacrifice. South led a spade, of course and, North returned one in the vague hope of setting up a ruff. Pike won, cashed HA and led a small one, forcing a trump entry to dummy. Although South switched to a diamond, Pike was in control. He won the second round and ran the C9 (on the bidding, North was odds on to hold the CQ, particularly after South produced the HK). After cashing the CA, he could return to dummy to discard his losing diamond on the CK and the contract was duly made for a net swing of 80 to Limpsfield.

In the third place play-off, again one East bid 3H and one bid 4H. This time, there were no heroics from North, again the play began with two rounds of spades and both Easts brought home 4H for a flat board.

Both Plate Easts judged their hand worth only a 2H overcall - which duly brought a pass from West. One North tried to help by reopening with 2S but East's 3H ended the auction. The Lewes GC East duly made ten tricks in 2H but the play in 3H at the other table was more interesting. After winning the second spade, declarer tried a diamond to the queen and North ducked smoothly. Now declarer took the losing heart finesse and South, convinced by the play in diamond suit that East held the ace, switched to a club! Now declarer could draw trumps and enjoy four club tricks, pitching both remaining diamonds, so he emerged with eleven tricks.

Of course, a diamond lead beats 4H but South could hardly find that after the bidding. North, however, had a chance to rectify things. On the bidding, South couldn't hold more than one picture card (either a trump or the CA given the S9 or 8 lead) and that wouldn't be enough to defeat the contract given the potential club tricks in dummy. The one vital card South could have would be the D10. On this reasoning, North could have found a switch to a small diamond at trick 2 and that would have been enough to defeat the game contract. Another lost opportunity.

At half-time, Treasury Tap were leading in the Trophy final by 500, MCC were leading in the third place play-off by 1360 and Lewes Golf Club were leading in the Plate by 570. It looked a long way back for Royal Wimbledon but the Trophy and Plate finals were both too close to call.

The second half of the match saw plenty of scope for swings and, in particular, a remarkable number of potential slam hands, starting with this one.


Board 13 Dealer North. Game all.

6C is a good contract, needing either clubs 2-2 or the North to hold the SK and is cold as the cards lie. 6D is not good, needing trumps to break 3-2 and North to hold the SK. The question is "how easy is it to bid to slam after North has opened the bidding in hearts.

In the Trophy final, no one got close. Limpsfield's North opened 4H and East's double ended the auction. The defence somehow lost it's way, not only failing to cash its five top tricks but doing so in such a way that a ninth trick was created for North, so recorded only +200. Treasury Tap's North chose to open 1H, which left a better chance for East-West to get into the auction properly. However……East doubled, West bid 2C, North bid 2H and East…..well, what would you do? If West has a near Yarborough, even 3C is likely to be too high whereas if he has any values they are likely to be working and the sky's the limit. To complicate matters further, a 3C bid would tend to be competitive rather than forward going and, under the simple system rules of the event, double would probably be taken as penalties. Eventually East settled for 3C and the spotlight turned to West. Did the DA merit a forward move? West decided not and a few minutes later wrote +170 on his scorecard - for a net swing of just 30 to Treasury tap!

In the third place play-off, MCC's North also opened 4H and was doubled. This time, the defence did collect its five tricks and recorded +500. At the other table, Royal Wimbledon's North opened 1H but, here West responded 2D to his partner's double.
Again North bid 2H but now East took a much rosier view of his hand, not unreasonably given that his clubs were now a huge source of side suit tricks, and cue-bid 4H. Quite what response he expected from West and how he intended to treat it remains a mystery. Suffice it to say that West obviously assumed he was being asked to choose between the other two suits and bid 5C, after which East settled for 6D. This duly finished the inevitable one-off for a swing of 600 to Royal Wimbledon - who had clawed back almost half the half-time deficit on the first board of the second half.

In the Plate final, there were interesting variations. Both Norths considered their hands to be a 1H opening but both Souths (rightly in my view) bid 2H over East's double. The Mid Herts North now bid a pre-emptive 3H and that ended the auction. The defence duly came to its five tricks. At the other table, North passed (!), East doubled again and West's 3D ended the auction. Playing carefully, he made only ten tricks for another net swing of 30.

Board 14 Dealer East. Love all.

East opened an impeccable weak no trump at every table but nothing is normal for long in the London Trophy.. One would expect this to be passed round to North who would protect with 2H, after which South would make a game try and North-South would end in 4H. That is what happened at just one table! At another table, South thought the hand too good for a try of 2NT and bid 3NT, which North elected to pass and which proved to be unbeatable. At a third table, West took out into 2S and went quietly two-off. But at three tables, South rated the hand worth a double of 1NT. Yes, really! Now you'd expect North to pass the double at this vulnerability in the expectation of a large penalty but that, too, happened only once. Two of the Norths must have seen their partners' doubles before and they removed to 4H.

One can only assume they'd seen the defenders' play before, too. The C10 lead stands out - but one of the three East's found a trump instead, after which there was again no defence. When East did lead the C10, it should have been obvious to West to duck. With the C9 visible in dummy, the C10 had to be a shortage but, after the no trump bid, it could not be a singleton. So it cannot cost to duck and, with no other entries, it could be the only way to defeat the contract (assume East has a quick entry in trumps, and will then put you in with the CA to get a ruff). This would (and should) have worked but neither West managed to duck the first club and another unmakeable contract was salvaged.


Board 16 Dealer West. East-West game.

This hand was critical in two of the matches. West played in 6S on the lead of the H10 at every table. With the DA an unavoidable loser, declarer's problem was how to avoid a trump loser. With no clues from the bidding or lead, declarer ought to take the straightforward mathematically best line - which is to cash the top spades (which succeeds whenever the suit break 2-2 or the queen is singleton. However, there is a small extra chance if you cash the SK before the ace. If the suit breaks 4-0, you can still pick the suit up if it is South who has four. Cashing the ace first would not enable you to pick up four in the North hand. Peter Brook for Treasury Tap made no mistake and, when his Limpsfield opposite number got it wrong, the swing of 1530 was a killer blow. Sheila Harvey for Royal Wimbledon GC also got it right and, when MCC got it wrong at the other table, Wimbledon were right back in the hunt. Neither West got it right in the Plate final which continued to be very close.


Board 17 Dealer North. Love all.

North had his second rotten hand in a row, this time a genuine Yarborough and must have been glad not to be playing rubber bridge. However, this hand was really an exercise in slam bidding judgement. After East opened 1S, five Wests looked no further than Blackwood and, after finding two aces opposite, settled for 6S. This happened even at the one table where South doubled the 5H response. South was not pressed to cash HAK for one down. MCC alone showed how the hand should be bid. West forced to game with 3C at his first turn then agreed spades over East's 3D rebid. Cue bids of 4C and 4D followed but, when neither player could cue bid hearts, they subsided safely in 4S for a net gain of 530.

Board 23 Dealer South. Game all.

After several fairly flat boards, this one was dramatic. 6D and 6NT are both good contracts but the diamond suit needs careful handling to bring them home.

Treasury Tap never got close - South opened 2NT, North responded 3D and South rebid 3H. North now assumed they were in a game-forcing auction and bid 4D but South was on a different wavelength and passed! Mike McHugh got the diamonds right - but +170 was hardly a good score. Could Limpsfield wipe out the impact of board 16 on this one and give themselves an outside chance on the last board. It was not to be. North responded 4D to the opening 2NT and South bid a nebulous 4NT. (Well, be honest, would you be sure you knew what he intended?). North tried an equally nebulous 5NT and South bid 7NT. There was, of course, no play for this, so Treasury Tap ended up gaining 270 on the board, much to the surprise of one of their pairs.

Both teams in the third place play-off reached 6D, Royal Wimbledon via the simple route of 3NT - 4D - 6D, MCC via a more complex route involving Blackwood. At both tables the HQ was led. Wimbledon's declarer led the D8 at trick 2 and, when West played low, put up the DJ from dummy. There was now no way to prevent West making two trump tricks and declarer had to concede one-off. For MCC, Michael Pitel was concerned about the possibility of a singleton DK with East, so crossed to his hand with a club at trick 2 to tackle trumps by leading a low card towards the queen. West won and returned the D10, confident that he had thereby established a second diamond trick. (We shall never know what would have happened had he exited in a side suit and then ducked the D8 - would declarer really have run it?) However, Pitel was not yet finished and he read the hand perfectly. He cashed two top spades ending in dummy then threw his third spade on the HK and ruffed a heart. Now a club to dummy enabled him to ruff the last heart, West throwing a club, and his last club to dummy, West still following set up the trump coup at trick 12. With the lead in dummy, he held DA7 over West's D93. Beautifully played - and needed to offset the disaster on board 16.

In the Plate final, bidding was somewhat rustic but effective. Over South's 2NT openeing, the Norths simply bid the slam - 6D for Lewes GC, 6NT for Mid Herts LGC. The latter had the advantage that the contract was played from the South hand. And what an advantage that was - with nothing to guide him, West saw no reason to depart from the tried and trusted "fourth highest of the longest and strongest" so led the D3 which ran to declarer's eight. Even had he selected the D10 (not completely unreasonable from that holding), declarer would have had little difficulty bringing in the suit for one loser. +1440 and a ray of hope for Mid Herts. Alas, it was soon extinguished. Lewes' declarer in 6D won the heart lead and led the D8. West fell from grace by covering (was declarer really planning to run it?) and dummy's DJ held the trick. Declarer returned to hand with a spade to lead the DQ - which was covered, so he could win with the ace, concede a trick to the D10 and claim.

So perhaps this hand was as much about defence as declarer play. No declarer played the text-book line of running the DQ (which caters for more 4-1 breaks than the alternatives), yet only one declarer failed in 6D and five of the six made twelve tricks.

The second half swings did not alter the result that might have been predicted at the half-way stage. The slam swings meant that Treasury Tap opened up a much bigger margin over Limpsfield Golf Club and, eventually MCC consolidated their lead in the third place play-off. The Plate remained in doubt almost to the end, with Lewes Golf Club hanging on to win by almost exactly the margin by which they led at half time.

Results

London Trophy

Treasury Tap beat Limpsfield Lawn Tennis Club

Third place play-off

MCC beat Royal Wimbledon Golf Club

Plate

Lewes Golf Club beat Mid Herts Ladies Golf Club