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Board 5: E/W can make 6H but that requires inordinate luck and guesswork, setting up the clubs and guessing the diamonds in order to pitch three spades away. +450 should be normal, declarer pulling trumps, then King and Ace of clubs and a club ruff sets up two pitches.
Board 17: North opens 1C in most styles and East likely preempts with 3D. South has plenty enough for a forcing 3S response and North raises to 4S (possibly over 4D by West but I see little point to that bid with such a weak hand and fairly shapeless hand, nor is West worth 5D.) East should bid as much as he dares the first round and then pass, hoping the damage is done. Decisioon time for South: 18 or so according to the classic Goren count, but the stiff Ace may be over-rated: an Ace counts more than one trick, 2.5 to 3 points, due to control and promotion factors that a stiff Ace lacks; almost always, the Ace would be more useful in another suit. The preempt also should make South wary of bad breaks. Still, 5 losers and North could have a fairly good hand with no better bid than 4S, so I think I'd bid again as South. Simple would be 4NT, assuming North has a club control or West will lead diamonds. North shows two Aces or Key cards and I think South should simly bid 6H rather than ask for Kings, it is hard to picture a hand for North that makes 7H reasonable but was only worth 4S as a rebid.
West sees little future in diamonds leads and instead starts with the King of hearts. East gains nothing in hearrts by ruffing (West will get his Queen later anyway) but could West have a diamond void? Today it matters not, South has 5 spades, 2 hearts, 2 diamond and 3 clubs. On a diamond lead South must strip West's exit cards and then lead a heart toward the Jack, endplaying West. Only 1 pair bid the slam, overbidding to the hopeless grand.
Board 20: South opens a 2NT (20-21) after three passes, North responds with Stayman (3C), and South replies 3H. North suspects a slam in one of the minors but really does not have enough to push to 6NT. Few pairs have the tools to uncover a minor suit fit after this start; if an immediate 3S is played as asking for a 4 card minor, North should perhaps bury the spades and respond with that instead of Stayman. Most pairs landed in the reasonable 3NT and should not allow the lucky heart and spade positions to upset them; 7NT actually makes on a squeeze but just looking at the N/S cards I would not want to be in any slam. A normal club lead from West and a spade finesse yields an above average +720.
Board 22: East opens 1D; South may preempt 3H at this vulnerability despite the poor suit and stiff King of diamonds. West hates to give up on 3NT (East could be 4432 or such); he'd like a fourth spade but a negative double looks best. That ought to discourage a 3S bid by North; East, expecting three top hearts and a club ruff, leaves the double in for penalties. South should not lose nerve, and -500 was a top for N/S.
At our table North bid 3S over the double; East should probably double or even bid 3NT but instead chose to rebid 4D. As West I simply blasted to 6D which ended the auction. With 11 trumps (and an auction suggesting South might be short) declarer banged down the Ace of diamonds for +1390.
If South does not preempt, west has an excellent 3H "splinter" response to 1D, showing a singleton or void in hearts, less than 4 spades, and nine cards in the minors. This lets opener judge when to bid 3NT and when to continue to 5 or 6 of a minor. East may well try 3NT with most of his strength opposite the singleton, but if the clubs make him nervous about 3NT or optimisitic about slam, 4D should inspire West to bid the slam with his wealth of controls.
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