An amazing finish! Team Toddy continued their winning
ways, stomping on Team Moogal by an impressive 50-19 margin.
Thus, Toddy, Gaus271, MBar and JudyDee are our "regular season"
winners. Congratulations, you four!!!
But the shocker came in the race for second place. Team
HelenT was in good position to claim second; even a close match
against Elvee's Elves would secure them a place in the finals.
But, no, Team Elvee rose up and slam dunked 'em, 70-20. As
Andre55 beat Marlyse's Minions 54-29 everyone gathered to hear
the news. Yes, the fourth place team which was 10 VPs out of
THIRD place and 13 VPs out of second had come from nowhere to
claim that elusive spot in the play-offs. A brilliant victory,
Elvee, Tara, JBot and JKH!
Toddy's Troops 50 IMPs 15 VPs
Moogal's Marauders 19 IMPs 4 VPs
Elvee's Elves 70 IMPs 19 VPs
HelenT's Horde 20 IMPs 1 VP
Fredw3's Foursome 54 IMPs 15 VPs
Marlyse's Minions 29 IMPs 5 VPs
This leaves the final standings at:
Toddy's Troops +106 IMPs 76 VPs
Elvee's Elves + 25 IMPs 63 VPs
Moogal's Marauders + 88 IMPs 61 VPs
HelenT's Horde + 96 IMPs 55 VPs
Fredw3's Foursome - 81 IMPs 38 VPs
Marlyse's Minions -234 IMPs 7 VPs
Next week, we will see Elvee's Elves try to overcome a
13 IMP Carryover advantage enjoyed by Toddy's Troops. To
help them, they can draw on players from Moogal's Marauders
and Fredw3's Foursome, the 3rd and 5th place finishers. If
Elvee's team succeeds in overcoming the 13 IMP deficit their
allies (Teams Moogal and Fredw3) retain their 3rd and 5th
place ranking. Otherwise, Team Toddy's supporters, the
4th place HelenT and the 6th place Marlyse, will move up to
3rd and 5th places respectively.
Toddy's Troops \ / Elvee's Elves
HelenT's Horde > vs < Moogal's Marauders
Marlyse's Minions / \ Fredw3's Foursome
So show up to cheer on the team which has "adopted"
yours. Toddy and Elvee will, we hope, endeavour to insert
you into the lineup--likely for a few hands at the start
of the 20 board Final Match--so that you can contribute
directly to the cause. After that, join the cheerleaders
in the spec loft for the thrilling conclusion of our
Spring 2002 Fireside IMP League.
For the members of Marlyse's Minions we have our
Participation Prizes: autographed first edition copies
of the Kaleidoscope Series. Please email me at:
kaltica@mts.net
...with your current mailing address and we'll
send them out to you.
=================== Toddy versus Moogal =====================
IMPs north IMP Board 11
Dlr: South judydee
Vul: None S 974 west north east south
H Q7654 moogal judydee etsand leah
D J8
C J62 pass
west east 1C pass 1H 1S
moogal etsand 2D pass 2S pass
S Q S AJ83 3C pass 3NT (all pass)
H J H A982
D AKT5 D Q93 Opening Lead: D7
C AKQT743 C 85 Result: +7
south Score: -520,
leah IMPs: 14.00
S KT652
H KT3 1 2
D 7642 W 5 A
C 9 N J 2
E Q-C5
S D7 9
This is the kind of hand from which nightmares are
born(e). West has a 3 loser hand. East, having made a
fourth suit force, a cuebid AND a reverse with 2S, had
shown his all and retired with his 3NT rebid. Holding
three losers opposite 3 likely goodies, I am guessing
that West would like another chance to bid 4C, forcing,
over 3NT here.
-------------------------------------------
IMPs north IMP Board 11
Dlr: South Guido
Vul: None S 974 west north east south
H Q7654 Gaus271 Guido Mbar Believer
D J8
C J62 pass
west east 1C pass 1H pass
Gaus271 Mbar 4C pass 4S pass
S Q S AJ83 5D pass 5H pass
H J H A982 7C (all pass)
D AKT5 D Q93
C AKQT743 C 85 Opening Lead: S9
south Result: +7
Believer Score: -1440,
S KT652 IMPs: -14.00
H KT3
D 7642 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C 9 W Q A-CK-CQ-HJ C3-CT-C7-DA-D5
N S9 2 6 J 4 5 H7 S4 8 J
E A-C5 8 S3 A-H2 S8 SJ 3 Q
S T 9 H3 S2 T K S5 S6 2 4
I am not infatuated with the 4C rebid here, but it got
the point across and sustained matters long enough to reach
a slam. I might have considered 4NT over 4S here to check
for Aces. As it was, 7C presumed not only that Partner had
been cuebidding Aces but that MBar has the D-Queen, as well.
I might prefer this auction, especially if you play your
reverses by Opener as forcing (which they are NOT in SAYC,
by the way):
1C 1H
2D 2S
3C 3NT
4C 4H = Cuebid.
4NT 5H = 2 Aces.
5NT 6C
This should lead the pair to 6C, if not 7C, and
allow Janice "Moogal" Kofman to sleep a little easier. :)
==================== Fredw3 versus Marlyse ====================
IMPs north IMP Board 1
Dlr: North andre55
Vul: None S A9764 west north east south
H QT75 marlyse andre55 Neophyte shade
D A7
C 92 pass pass 1C
west east 1D 1S pass 2C
marlyse Neophyte pass 2H (all pass)
S QT82 S KJ53
H 96 H K83 Opening Lead: D5
D KJ964 D 53 Result: +6
C Q4 C T875 Score: 230,
south IMPs: 7.00
shade
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
H AJ42 W J 6 9 4 Q D4 S2 8 D6 K T Q 9
D QT82 N A-H5 7 2 9 D7 HT-S4 S6 HQ-SA-S7 S9
C AKJ63 E D5 3 8 7 5 8 T 3 HK-D3 5 J SK
S T J-HA-CA-CK-CJ-C3 H2-C6 8 D2 H4-DQ
Is North's rebid of a new suit (2H) here forcing? If
we polled 100 experts I would guess that the slight majority
would say "yes". After all, with 8-12 points Andre55 could
make a negative double and then, if Partner doesn't show
4 Hearts, rebid 2S--non-forcing, since it was preceded by
a negative double. Here, South WOULD bid 1H and North could
raise invitationally to 3H. Holding 15 HCPs and a void,
South would be happy to accept with 4H.
As it was, though, even if we see 2H as being NON-forcing,
South should raise it with his 15 HCPs and good Club suit.
If so, North would be happy to accept.
Parenthetically, with 0=4=4=5 distribution I might
consider opening 1D instead of 1C so that if Partner does
bid Spades (in a contested or uncontested auction) Opener
has a convenient rebid of 2C to permit North to show a
preference between South's minors.
===================== Elvee versus HelenT =====================
The Elvee-HelenT match had a number of exciting hands
but few more instructive than this one.
IMPs north IMP Board 9
Dlr: North elvee
Vul: E-W S A974 west north east south
H K865 rcoop elvee Patricia Tara
D A5
C A92 1C pass pass
west east X pass 4S (all pass)
rcoop Patricia
S KJ5 S QT86 Opening Lead: S2
H Q943 H A Result: -1
D Q943 D KJ2 Score: 100,
C K7 C QT864 IMPs: 6.00
south
Tara
S 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
H JT72 W K J-CK 5 7 H3 4 D3 H9 D4 9
D T876 N A-S4 A-S7 2 9 K 9 H5 H6 A- D5
C J53 E 6 8 4 T-CQ-C6 A-SQ-CT-C8-DK
S S2 3 3 D6 5 J-H2 D7 D8 H7 T
When 1C is passed around to RCoop we see a *balancing*
takeout double. These can be quite weak, so Advancer (East
here) has to "cut Partner some slack". Similar to cases
where Partner has opened in 3rd seat, we have to allow for
the possibility that RCoop's balancing takeout double may
be nothing more than that: an effort to compete for the
part score. Hence, as East, we might consider some less
percipitous action. With no ironclad guarantee of a fourth
Spade from West, East might consider an underbid of 2S.
This tends to show a little more than the 9-12 point range
that it would opposite a direct seat takeout double. For
such a jump Advancer (East) will usually have between 10
and a bad 13 points. Yes, East has a LOVELY hand, but
there are some negatives to go along with these 12 fine
HCPs and singleton Heart: shortness in one of Doubler's
likely suits (Hearts), no 5th Spade to ruff Hearts, a
paucity of Aces and spot cards and a Club Queen which
might not be so valuable if Partner is short there.
Some pairs might play a cuebid here as NOT being game
forcing. For such pairs East can bid a "responsive" cuebid
of 2C and, over 2D, rebid 2S to show an "all but forcing"
hand. Aceless West would, I would guess, pass this.
Given that N-S are vulnerable, though, East should
consider not bidding Spades--or anything else--at all!
1C doubled would be a bloody affair with little place for
N-S to run. If N-S are fortunate enough to find their
4-4 Heart fit--which is far from certain--THEN East can
consider showing her Spade suit.
=================================================================
See you all next week!
Colin
P.S. Check out our SAYC test at:
http://www.firesides.net/sayctest.htm
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OKBridge Web Site
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Pictures from the 1999 Boston Fall
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The Fifth Chair Mentoring
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Colin Ward's Bridge Page This
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Reports From Vancouver
Colin's reports from the 1999 Spring Nationals in
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Links to Other
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Sid and Abby's Bridge
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format. |
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Space Cadets' Home
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SAYC Simplified by Waynef and
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