Bridge - The Scotsman 24/05/2013

The Sime team was reluctant to concede the Scottish Cup Final with 16 boards to play, but they were 83 imps down with a mountain to climb. Their only hope was to arrive at different contracts from the other room and get lucky.

There were a lot of swings, but, as usually happens when a team needs to gain a lot of points, the points went in both directions.

In the Closed Room Alan Goodman overcalled the 3C preempt with 3S, the normal action. Iain Sime might have tried to generate a swing by bidding 5C, encouraging opponents to misguess, but he preferred to pass, hoping that North-South would miss a makeable game, or perhaps bid something he might double. Against 3S he chose a slightly unusual lead, ace and another heart, and when declarer finessed he made a ruff on the third round. He returned a spade, killing dummy, and the defenders came to a diamond and two clubs for two down, +200. Iain hoped for a swing: North-South might make 4H (not to-day), or East-West 
in the other room might overreach to 5C. He was to be disappointed.

Jim McGeorge tried an offbeat 3NT over 3C. Brian Spears raised to 4C, and Jack Paterson bid his diamonds, expecting rather better support from a 3NT overcall. 4S slipped past East undoubled, but Jack saw no danger in rebidding his seven-card suit. 5D ran into a confident double, and Jack could not avoid losing the ace of hearts and four trump for -800.