Friday at the Club

I'm still really struggling with my stamina in long sessions at the club, which is disheartening given that I've run 3 marathons in my time. The longer a session goes, the more badly I fade out.

I played with a very good partner, but could only manage a 47%, breaking my streak of finishing in the points. It was a fair result, I think, as I certainly made my share of poor decisions.

Hand 1:

♠ AKxx ♥ Kxx ♦ Axxx ♣ Ax

West	North	East	South
			1♣
X	1♠	2♥	3♥
p	3♠	p	p
p

My partner called me a chicken. Probably correct. As it turned out, he only made 3, but he assured me that he would find the right line if I pushed to 4.

Hand 2:

♠ QTxxxx ♥ 9 ♦ Ax ♣ AKQx

West	North	East	South
	1NT	p	2♥
p	2♠	p	4♥
p	5♦	p	6♠
p	p	p

Partner had Ax in spades, and spades were 4-1. Even the singleton king left no play. Partner liked the bidding this time, as he figured the slam was 50%.

Of course, in a weak field, this was a clear bottom.

Hand 3:

♠ JT9x ♥ Qxxx ♦ Txx ♣ AK

West	North	East	South
	p	p	p
1♥	X	1♠	X
1	2♣	2NT	X
p	p	p

Unmitigated disaster, as they made 4NT. Dummy had 2 hearts - just enough to finesse my queen twice.

Hand 4:

	♠ xxxxx ♥ AJxx ♦ x ♣ Qxx
♠ ♥ ♦ ♣		♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
	♠ A ♥ KQxx ♦ AKJxxx ♣ xx

West	North	East	South
			1♦
p	1♠	p	2♥
p	4♥	p	p
p

I managed to go down on this one, when partner was afraid we were missing slam.

LHO cashed the AK of clubs. I ruffed the second round, went up to the Ace of hearts, LHO discarding the ten. When I came back to the King of hearts, LHO was out, and even a long think at the table, nor the diamonds being Qx on my left, could save me.

Maybe, if I think about this hand a little more, I'll see how everyone else made it comfortably.