Monday 6 January 2014

Peebles Part IV: Swiss Pairs session II

We had a good score going into the afternoon session, and continued to score reasonably well. With two matches to go, we were sitting something like 5th, and played at table two. Here's one where one of our opponents (a Scottish international, no less) made a slightly dodgy comment, but we let it slide at the time:


I'm not sure I have the auction exactly right (as I appear to have gone a little bit mad if I do... However I do know that we agreed diamonds and I bid blackwood. Now after his partner had led the ace of clubs, West asked me what Alex's 5♠ bid meant. More specifically he said "so, does 5♠ show two aces". Now, it was clear to all the world that we were missing the ♥A, and that his partner was about to switch to a ♥, but this is still somewhat dodgy - not sure what ruling we would have got if we'd called a director at that point, I'm not sure there is a logical alternative to heart switch, but I'm never really sure what the rules are...

Anyway, as I realised immediately after the board, what I should have done on the given auction is pass 5♠. As it happens, there's not much chance that's going to make either, but it's surely better than announcing to the opposition that they have two cashing aces, and then playing at the six level.
♠♥♦♣

In the final round, we found ourselves playing at table 1. We were still in third place, and 19 points behind the leaders, who had been leading from the beginning, so we needed to win the match 20-0 to win the event. On the very first board, we bid a borderline slam which happened to go off, so it became clear we weren't going to get our 20-0, and in the end, we finished with a 12-8 loss (I think), and 5th place overall. Still, it was a successful day, and more M&S vouchers in the bag - more importantly, also finishing above the rest of the people in the house. In the evening we went to a party being held in someone's hotel room, which was filled with the great and the good of Scottish bridge, before heading back to Peebles for another beer or two, and a good night's (or at least a few hours') sleep, in preparation for the teams.

1 comment:

  1. Is there a rule that during the play you only ask a question when it's your turn (like there is in bidding)? There should be.

    Even if he meant it innocently it's an odd time for North to enquire about the 5S - why not do it when his partner's lead is faced down, when he is asked "any questions"? To ask just seconds after that opportunity has not been taken strongly suggests he's been prompted by the acesless dummy, and looks close enough to cheating that I reckon a director should rule against him (notice I'm not saying he was cheating, that's not the point).

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