Board no 58:
In our room this board was played third from last. Coyle desperate for swings opened an 11-14Hcp No trump. This went to North who x. When it came back to me I xx for business. Coyle would likely have made 1Nxx with the club finesse. However, South happy with his match and wanting no swings bid 3. This was passed out. Mentally I chalked up 6 imps to us for a game missed. Little did I know the mad doc was in action again.
This time George Cuthberston opened 1! The mad doc checked for key cards and was only missing two. It worked the last time, so he tried a slam! This time the opposition led the A. Now they could go wrong if they did not find the club shift but West found the shift. -50 and 130 in the other room was 5 imps away down by 43, 6 boards to play. On to board 59.
In our room N/S reached 4 when North raised South’s opening 1 to 3 after West’s double.
Board no 59:
For the first time Haase and Cuthbertson had a good auction to slam. Slam is decent when you are a bunch of imps down and laydown with trumps 2-2. Declarer may guess it with a singleton Q or J in West.
Strangely this was the third board played in the set, and the third time N/S had bid slam off two aces!! With spades splitting 2-2 there was no defense. Declarer just conceded the Ace 13 imps our way– now down by 30 with still 5 boards to play.
To be continued...