Days 6 and 7: The Agony of Matchpoints

NZ National Congress – NZ Open Pairs qualifying and the Congress Open Matchpoint Swiss Pairs

After a week of IMPs, George and I switched to matchpoints, and were reminded why matchpoint pairs is the most agonising form of the game.

At teams, a partscore that goes one off costs a few IMPs. At pairs, every board is a separate contest against the whole field, and an overtrick, a part score or a 50 can be the difference between a top and a bottom. You can play a board perfectly well and still score 10%, because the rest of the room did something different. There is nowhere to hide.

Day 6: NZ Open Pairs qualifying

The NZ Open Pairs drew 116 pairs, playing two qualifying sessions of 26 boards on Thursday. We sat North-South in both sessions.

We finished 76th of 116 and did not make the semi-finals.

Matchpoints gave us both ends of the scale. In the second session we scored 96% when the opponents went four down in 2♦, and 7% when our 3NT went three down. In the first session the opponents' 3♦ made with an overtrick and we scored 4%. On two boards in that session the opponents made 3NT against us: one was worth 86% to us, the other 62%.

The good news came from our team. Brad Johnston and Samuel Coutts topped the qualifying with 68.47% and 63.56%, a total of 132.03, ten clear of the next pair. Jack James, partnering Blair Fisher, was 34th. From the Joel team that beat us in the teams final, James Coutts and Shane Harrison were 10th.

The NZ Open Pairs after the semi-final

After two semi-final sessions on Friday, with carry-forward from the qualifying, the leaders are:

The top 26 pairs go through to Saturday's final, and the rest to the plate. Brad and Samuel are in the hunt in 3rd, 65 matchpoints behind the leaders. Jack James and Blair Fisher are through in 13th, and James Coutts and Shane Harrison in 16th.

Day 7: Congress Open Matchpoint Swiss Pairs

For those of us not in the semi-finals there was the Matchpoint Swiss Pairs: six matches of eight boards against a new pair each time, with each match scored in matchpoints and converted to VPs.

We finished 27th with 64.78 VPs: a good start, a sag in the middle and a strong finish.

The agony was on show again. In match 5 the opponents went five down doubled in 5♠: +1100 and a clean top. In the same match their 3NT made with two overtricks and we scored 14%. In match 6 their 3NT made with three overtricks, and that was worth just 3% to us.

Hand of the day: the surrounding play

Match 6, board 21. Dealer North, North-South vulnerable.

              ♠ Q 10 9 7 4
              ♥ K 8 4
              ♦ K J 2
              ♣ K 9
♠ A K                     ♠ 2
♥ J 3 2                   ♥ A 9 6 5
♦ 10 7 3                  ♦ Q 6 5 4
♣ A Q J 3 2               ♣ 10 7 6 5
              ♠ J 8 6 5 3
              ♥ Q 10 7
              ♦ A 9 8
              ♣ 8 4

West     North    East     South
         Hugh              George
–        1♠       Pass     3♠*
Dbl      Pass     4♥       All pass

*Mixed raise

George led the ♠3 to dummy. Declarer played a heart to the nine, and George won the ten. He continued with the ♠J, and declarer threw a diamond. Declarer then cashed the ♣A and led the ♣Q, which I won with the king.

Now came the key play: the ♦J. Declarer covered with the queen and George won the ace. With my ♦K 2 and George's ♦9 8 against dummy's ♦10 7, we took three diamond tricks: the ace, the king and the nine. 4♥ went three down: +150 and 93%.

If I had led a low diamond instead, declarer would have played low, forcing George's ace, and the queen sitting over my king would have scored a trick for declarer. Notice that I needed partner to hold the A98 for this to work. For once George cooperated!

The lesson: when you hold K J 9, dummy on your right has 10 x x, and partner may hold the A, lead the jack, not a low card. The jack and the nine "surround" dummy's ten, and declarer's queen can no longer take a trick. Here I needed to hope that partner had more than just the A! Not one that you see in the textbooks too often.

Tomorrow

The NZ Open Pairs final is on Saturday. Good luck to Brad and Samuel, and to Jack and Blair! For the rest of us, the last event of the Congress is the Swiss IMP Pairs. Back to IMPs: at least an overtrick won't break our hearts.

Hugh