The Last Segment of The Canadian Team Trial (CNTC)

The Raymer team and the Hughes team were never very far apart during the entire 128 board final.  Starting the last 32 boards the score was Rayner 193 and Hughes 192.  The seesaw battle continued for a while with this win for Hughes on Board 4.

See how you would handle the auction after West opened 1♠ with everybody vulnerable.  What bid do you like with the North hand held by Doug Baxter and Dave Turner.

North ♠ 5 ♥ Q73 ♦ AK973 ♣ J654

The choices seem to be double, bid 2♦ or pass.  With modest diamond spots and some support for all the suits both North’s doubled.   East continued with 4♠ so it is now up to South.

South ♠ A7 ♥ J92 ♦ Q852 ♣ Q1032

Roy Hughes bid 5♦ and David Lindop doubled 4♠ .  As it turned out Roy won the pot when neither East nor West could find a double.  If Roy guesses clubs (and he might have after a double) he is only one down.  At the table he went two down when he played the first club from dummy instead of towards dummy and lost to the stiff ace setting up an extra club trick for the defense.

Unfortunately for Rayner 4♠ doubled was cold, off a diamond (split 3-1) a heart and a trump.  Hughes had regained the lead 196-203.  But in the very next board …

East, Maksymetz taking advantage of favorable vulnerability opened a Marty Bergen style weak two.

Lindop, South overcalled 3H and West, Marcinski “hanged: his partner actually expecting him to have something resembling a weak two bid.  Baxter doubled and this went down 3 for -500.  If there is a vulnerable game North South then this would be fine.  At the other table Hughes was in 3NT.  On the lead of the ♠ Q.  Things seemed to hum along but inexplicably Hughes erred when he miscounted the club suit.  Nobody knows more than me how this can happen when you are so very tired.  Had he made 3NT then his team would have won 3 imps.  But because he went down they lost 12 instead putting Rayner in the lead by 11.  Nevertheless they regained form and were able to win a few more imps and regain the lead.

Then came Board 13 both pairs played 3NT.  It should be made.  The Rayner team made it  and the Hughes team didn’t: 13 again.  Hughes fought back hard and by board 31 the deficit was only 3 imps.  Board 32 was one of those partscores that could have gone either way.  It wasn’t an important board but it might have been enough if things had gone Hughes way.

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ J102 ♥ K108 ♦ A94 ♣ Q1093
West ♠ Q974 ♥ 9765 ♦ 10 ♣ A842		East ♠ 8 ♥ AJ3 ♦ KJ876 ♣ KJ76
	South ♠ AK653 ♥ Q42 ♦ Q532 ♣ 5

In the Open Room, East opened a nebulous and limited diamond.  After that North-South ended in 2♠ .  Marcinski was on lead.  He had to decide whether to try for a ruff or some kind of forcing game.  The advantage of leading a diamond is that it can’t pick anything up really.  Unfortunately for the defense a heart lead picked up the heart suit holding the defense to one heart trick.  After the lead the defense was toast -110.  In the Closed Room  where East had opened a more “real” diamond Turner declared 1NT.  East lead a diamond.  It can be made but I admit you pretty well need to see all the hands.  To start with it you have to rise on the ♦ Q.  Without that you will inevitably lose a diamond, four clubs, a heart and a spade.  It is not a mistake to win the ♦ A in hand; after all East might easily have the Q10 and you do want to be in hand for a spade play.  But on the hand it doesn’t work.  So there was just a small window for both tables to do the thing that worked (I won’t say the right thing) and defeat 2♠ and make 1NT and that (assuming the scores were right) would have given Hughes a 1 imp victory.  That’s how close this match was.

At times they made what must have been “tired plays”.   But both teams played well and fought it out to the end, never giving up.    That speaks well for all of them considering the incredibly grueling event they had played.