A107632 - - A75 AK86   Q AKQJ9743 Q3 Q2

NORTH elsid 1 3 3 Pass SOUTH pickup pard 2 3 4 When you play with a pickup pard on OKB, this is regarded as a hazardous activity. Partner said "typ" then "ooops" in the same breath. She claimed 7 at trick 3. DJ lead, ace, club to queen, heart ace. She spared me a lot of nailbiting with the quick claim. Our opps, rma (Ralph Ma) and sweetie (Janice East) gained 8.58 easy IMPs. lol.

J3 Q864 1064 AQ82   AKQ92 AK93 72 54

You are vulnerable, and you reach a contract of 4 with no opposition bidding. The lead is the A. You ruff the third diamond. How do you continue? Try it, before reading the solution that appears after the next hand.

95 Q9 Q10965 AKQ3   AKQJ73 AK6 - - 10752

NORTH jimbreih 1 2 3 4 Pass SOUTH sweetie 1 2 * 4 6 I was a kibitzer, and I was rather surprised that making 6, when a grand was cold, still yielded a plus - plus 4.74 IMPs to be exact. I browsed the other results out of curiosity. Read on for some exciting, hair-raising, unusual, and unique auctions....

hand rotated N, N-S NORTH 95 Q9 Q10965 AKQ3   WEST 82 J108542 72 964   EAST 1064 73 AKJ843 J8   SOUTH AKQJ73 AK6 - - 10752

NORTH alix 1 Pass Pass EAST kellya Pass Pass Pass SOUTH saussure 1 4 WEST hq7 3 Pass An adventurous 3H at this vulnerability by hq7. Making 7, for -7.56 IMPs.

hand rotated N, N-S NORTH 95 Q9 Q10965 AKQ3   WEST 82 J108542 72 964   EAST 1064 73 AKJ843 J8   SOUTH AKQJ73 AK6 - - 10752

NORTH toes Pass Pass EAST patbec Pass Pass SOUTH spott 4 WEST daw Pass Short and sweet. A very quick claim for 7-up, receiving -7.56 IMPs.

hand rotated N, N-S NORTH 95 Q9 Q10965 AKQ3   WEST 82 J108542 72 964   EAST 1064 73 AKJ843 J8   SOUTH AKQJ73 AK6 - - 10752

NORTH johannaus 1 3 NT 5 Pass EAST babyface Pass Pass Pass Pass SOUTH ilko 1 4 NT 6 NT WEST joeyb Pass Pass Pass babyface couldn't believe his luck when he was on lead against a NT slam holding the ace and king in the same suit. Down 1, getting -15.07 IMPs.

hand rotated N, N-S NORTH 95 Q9 Q10965 AKQ3   WEST 82 J108542 72 964   EAST 1064 73 AKJ843 J8   SOUTH AKQJ73 AK6 - - 10752

NORTH Natebob 1 3 5 5 NT EAST john 2 Pass Dbl Pass SOUTH antbee 2 4 NT 5 Pass WEST klack Pass Pass Pass Pass If you think babyface was lucky in the previous hand, john was doubly pleased - his partner was on lead against 5NT. The diamond duly arrived. -1 again for -15.07 IMPs.

hand rotated N, N-S NORTH 95 Q9 Q10965 AKQ3   WEST 82 J108542 72 964   EAST 1064 73 AKJ843 J8   SOUTH AKQJ73 AK6 - - 10752

NORTH kyled 1 2 Pass EAST scotch Pass 2 Pass SOUTH tbay 1 3 WEST fang Pass Pass tbay is still explaining cue-bids.... 3D went 1 down, for -15.07 IMPs.

hand rotated N, N-S NORTH 95 Q9 Q10965 AKQ3   WEST 82 J108542 72 964   EAST 1064 73 AKJ843 J8   SOUTH AKQJ73 AK6 - - 10752

NORTH au 1 Pass EAST hp1 Pass Pass SOUTH tanja 2 WEST caz Pass "Hey, pard. Do we weak jump shifts ?" Making 7, for -12.55 IMPs.

For the record,

• not one pair reached the grand;
• 5 pairs were doubled in 6 +1, for +11.05 each;
• 34 pairs reached 6 +1, for +4.74;
• 7 pairs arrived in 6 +1, for +3.19;
• As many as 18 pairs subsided in game only;
• 6 stopped short of game or went down (mostly NT).

hand rotated W, N-S NORTH J3 Q864 1064 AQ82   WEST 87 J1072 AKJ5 1097   EAST 10654 5 Q983 KJ63   SOUTH AKQ92 AK93 72 54     Only 9 pairs made 4H! One made 4Hx. Another 7 pairs made 3NT, three with an overtrick. 38 Pairs went down!! 7 Pairs stopped in the safe 2H contract. Did  you  make it?

Solution: Contract: 4 by South. Lead: A. After ruffing the third diamond, the right play is the trump ace and then the 9 to dummy's Q. You go down if you don't! Now play off the J, then A. Ram the spades discarding clubs. West will probably ruff at some stage (my West ruffed the penultimate spade) and pierced a club. No heroics now. Win the A, and get to hand with a trump drawing West's last trump in the process. Cash any spades that are left to be cashed, and the last trump in dummy is your 10th trick. You will lose the first two diamonds, and the high ruff by West. That is all. What was intriguiging about this hand is that ratboy and I recieved a mammoth 9.64 IMPs for making it!!

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