More Crowhurst

10th April – Board 4: Game All. Dealer West.

Crowhurst is one of my favourite conventions and it would have easily dealt with the following hand.

	North: S K Q 6 5 H J 4 3 D A J 5 4 C 9 7
West: S A 10 8 3 H Q 8 7 5 D Q 10 C 8 5 2		East: S J 7 4 2 H 10 9 D 8 3 C K Q J 10 4
	South: S 9 H A K 6 2 D K 9 7 6 2 C A 6 3

West	North	East	South
No	No	No	1D
No	1S	No	1NT
No	2C	No	2H
No	2NT	No	3NT
End

Crowhurst advocated that a 1NT rebid should be wide range, specifically 12-16 points and a follow up of 2C by partner asks about the points and shape. Without that convention South would have to rebid 2D on such a threadbare suit as he can hardly reverse. In the bidding sequence above South has shown four hearts and five diamonds without reversing values and the 2NT bid following Crowhurst always shows exactly eleven points. 3NT is hardly laydown of course but even on a MUD club lead declarer just holds up until the third round. With West holding the ace of spades and with the queen of diamonds obligingly falling the contract is impregnable.

Disappointing Conclusion

6^th January – Board 8: Love All. Dealer West.

I imagine many people were disappointed in the outcome of this hand both from the perspective of declarer and the defence. The West hand does not lend itself to any degree of subtlety and I would have though a fairly straightforward auction would be somewhere along the lines of:

West	North	East	South
1S	No	2H	No
4S	End

Even if West is over-cautious and just rebids 2S then East will introduce the diamond suit and now West will surely jump to game in his seven solid card suit. Of course East could chuck his diamond suit out the window and the result would – should – still be the same but surprisingly several pairs were allowed to get out for one down. It is hard to see why. Surely after cashing the two top clubs North will switch to a heart and then they can take three tricks in that suit with a ruff. One pair managed to get to 6S - but only went one down! – and one pair played in 3NT from the East hand. South led a MUD club and North mistakenly took the ace and the king, allowing declarer to throw the queen from hand thus ensuring a route to dummy. After running the spades a heart was led and all South could do was to cash the ace and the king and concede defeat. If North ducks the first or second club then lines of communication are maintained between the North and South hands and the defence will take three clubs and two hearts.