White Plains.

[E. Blackadder]

I come not to brag on myself, but on my partner. With a mighty 150 master points, on Saturday, partner helped us place in A strat (2000+) in the afternoon* and took us to a section top in the evening**. With Steve, or btdt, or Iorg, winning would be par for the course, and hardly worth mentioning.

Unfortunately, all our interesting hands were in the Swiss.

Playing standard methods at IMPs, you hold in 3rd seat, white on red:
Jxx Kxxxx xx Kxx

Partner opens 1, you respond

Spoiler:

1 Partner rebids 1 you respond

Spoiler:

2, and partner bids 2, you respond

Spoiler:

2 Don't you wish you had passed 1? Could you have? Partner now bids 2:nt: and you respond

Spoiler:

I passed. The number of hearts partner had was

Spoiler:

3. and he made 4. Someone construct a hand for him, please. Still, at his level of development I can't be too displeased.

nonvul, still in the swiss...
KJTx QT Axx KTxx
Partner passes, you open 1 - 1 - 1 - 2:nt: -- your call.

The worst call in the tournament was my drive home Saturday night. Going from White Plains i decided to take a random parkway or two through the city. Two words: Holland Tunnel. Why the terrorists were prevented from blowing the thing up, I can't tell. Midnight, traffic was far slower than a crawl. Why was I there? After driving down the length of Manhattan (due to a series of screw-ups), my judgement was shot. And US1&9 in Jersey were slower than, well, a remarkably slow thing. because they in part were for traffic trying to get BACK through the same accursed, unventilated tunnel.


How do you handle these two hands? MP, Red on white?
K
7
AT982
AJT732

(opener)
87
AKQT842
-
K964

Spoiler:

1 - 2 - 2 - 3 - and despairing for a solution, I underbid 5

Now...

Spoiler:

how do you handle them if LHO puts in a 2 overcall, and RHO raises to 4? This is rhetorical, of course.

I almost stepped into it on this hand. 2nd seat, red on red.
RHO opened a weak notrump, and I passed with AK J8x AK9xx and 9xx. RHO bid 2 spades, natural and terminal. pass pass...?

Spoiler:

I bid two diamonds, LHO cracked it, at which point I felt sick.

Spoiler:

are there too many spoilers?

Rotated for convenience:

          95
          Q9742
          874
          K76
QJ832               T764
T                   AK53
T65                 QJ
AJ85                QT4
          AK
          J86
          AK932
          932

Fortunately a club wasn't led, and my hearts set up first. They got us back on the other two hands, with interest.

If I can find the only hand that I was proud of, I'll bore you with it. But it was probably in the swiss.

*50.3% or so, which I thought was great considering.
**We were a distant third after the 8th of 9 rounds.