Oxfordshire v Notts - 11^th April 2010

This was the very last match of the 2009/10 season, being the postponed fixture from January. In the Dawes trophy we needed a big win to finish second whilst Oxfordshire wanted the opposite to overhaul Warwickshire for the title. It did not happen for either team. Oxfordshire finished runners up and we were third.

The Teams:

Dawes - John & Irene Auld; Sandy Fulton & Mark Goddard; David Burgess & Gordon Fullerton; Keith Rodgers & Lloyd Eagling.
Porter - Ellen Overton & Gerry Franklin; Graham Brindley & Roger Staton; Sylvia Goodlud & Nick Clark; Mike & Daphne Coggles.
Markham - Bernard Moore & Mary Cook; Dorothy & Chris Close; Phil Dale & Ray Furlonger; Chris Clarke & Barbara Hatfield.

Given that swings were wanted it was surprising that nobody at all found the cold grand slam on Board 1:

No Vul - Dealer North

One problem of course was East who always bid 3♣ over 1♠, or more commonly over 1NT.
Our opponents started with 1♠:

Without knowing the system details I think that North should place partner with solid diamonds plus ace of clubs and interest in the grand slam. In that case his major suit holdings look to be enough. All good players learn to be cautious about grand slams and that is what happened here.

Our team mates started with 1NT and Mark Goddard faced the usual 3♣ intervention. He found a good bid of 4♦ which set the suit and initiated a spate of cue bids. This should have done the trick but here again bidding subsided at the six level.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when Mark misses a cold grand slam then his partner has underbid. Sandy agrees he should have done more.

By contrast with Board 1, Board 7 produced big swings:

All Vul - Dealer South

Not liking the small diamonds and unaware of the club fit we sold out to 4♠. South takes credit for a good bid of 3♠ opposite heart shortage, but the main problem was the widely played Michaels cue bid style of showing a two suiter when ‘minimum or maximum’. Nobody knows what this means but whatever the strength definition West has a perfect hand for 2NT showing hearts and clubs. Team mates were pushed to 5♠ one off for -12 IMPs, whilst Lloyd & Keith with David & Gordon managed to make game both ways for +15.

The Dawes match followed the pattern of the season - we did well for most of the way but faded at the end to lose 6-14. Meanwhile the Porter team went for an unwelcome record losing 0-20 with plenty to spare and the Markham team lost 4-16. Barbara Hatfield & Chris Clarke had a good card in the midst of all this disappointment.

Match Report by John Auld