Derbyshire v Notts - 9th December 2007
Another wet Sunday, another county match - this time against Derbyshire at Spondon.
The Teams:
Dawes - Keith Rodgers and Lloyd Eagling; John and Irene Auld; David Burgess and Eric Nunn; Robin Fisher and Sandy Fulton.
Porter - Andrew Scott and Geoff Topol; Graham Lee and Graham Brindley; Rob Atkinson and Gerry Franklin; Mike and Daphne Coggles.
Markham - Phil Dale and Ray Furlonger; Chris Clarke and Barbara Hatfield; Sally Cook and Bernard Moore; Doug Smith and Mary Cook.
The first team had the established and sometimes successful foursome of Lloyd Eagling and Keith Rodgers plus the Aulds, supported by two scratch pairs of David Burgess and Eric Nunn with Robin Fisher and Sandy Fulton.
Finding material for match reports is a small challenge and my usual informant is Sandy Fulton. On this occasion I also got some help from Terence Reese. On board 17 as East I opened 2NT and finished in 6♠.
♥ J932
♦ QJT932
♣ 6
♥ KQ6
♦ A4
♣ 974
♥ AT85
♦ K5
♣ AQ4
♥ 74
♦ 876
♣ KJT832
None Vul - Dealer North
After a diamond lead I played two rounds of trumps and cashed the other diamond. Eleven tricks are now on top and KQ of hearts and a heart to the ten guaranteed twelve. If South wins the knave he is fixed. This exact endplay was described in The Expert Game which I read when a student. Forty five years is a long time to wait for the benefits of education but it pays off in the end.
Feeling pleased I picked up board 18.
♥ AK
♦ 62
♣ J98762
♥ J9532
♦ QT85
♣ T
♥ 84
♦ AK9
♣ AK54
♥ QT76
♦ J743
♣ Q3
No Vul - Dealer South
Again I opened 2NT and was transferred into 3♥. Lacking advice from Terence Reese I went two off - although double dummy I might make. Still 2NT did not look much better.
I went to compare scores with Sandy starting in buoyant mood with board 17. ‘Oh yes, plus 980’ he said airily. ‘Eliminate diamonds, three hearts to the ten. Nice hand.’ I was not totally deflated but certainly not as inflated as before.
‘What about the next hand?’ he went on, as I gazed incredulously at his score of plus 400. ‘I opened 1♠, Robin bid 2♠ and North bid 3♣. I finished in 3NT on a club lead, played king of diamonds to get a count and made four tricks there. North let go small spades so I made three spades as well. Their hearts are blocked.’
Now I was airless. Perhaps I should get another informant.
Our sometimes successful quartet lost 48 IMPs; the supporting irregulars gained 11 to contain the loss to 5 - 15 in the Dawes match. The Porter match was lost 1 - 19 and the Markham 5 - 15 to complete a clean sweep for Derbyshire. The tea was an excellent consolation.