[ahydra]

Take your average table disaster, multiply by two, three or possibly four (when both pairs at both tables in a teams game mess up!) - and it simply gets better and better. I'm sure between us we have a treasure trove of funny/facepalm-worthy disasters, so let's get started.

This one from a very casual ("takeout double" and "penalty double" are almost separate calls) game today. The "field" consisted of 4 I/A (me included) and 4 N/B, but even for N/B this is a trivial hand to bid. Let's take the other table first:

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The 2NT upgrade isn't unreasonable but poor West was simply flummoxed by this unusual, shapely and/or strong hand balanced 10-count. After trying to look for an impossible 4-4 fit, West bid 4C and East was like "what on earth is that?!" Then he bid 4NT and when West passed, there were clamours of "what are you doing, that's Blackwood isn't it?" But West, rightly or wrongly, stuck to his guns that it is only Blackwood if a suit is agreed. He was right this time - for 4NT is the last making contract. That is, until declarer blocked the club suit and went one off!

At our table we took the insanity factor to a new level:

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My redouble was a little speculative to say the least, but I had an absolute max for the bidding, a useful club honour and was picturing somewhat more than five clubs opposite... South had five clubs to the Jack, partner misplayed it and when the dust settled that was -2200 and 19 imps out.

Second up, this one from club teams a few weeks back.

At our table the bidding by our LOL opponents was as shown. They had had a reverse-related mixup on the first board against us, which might explain South's offshape 2NT. North bid the obvious 3NT, I led the SJ and partner... ducked! A grateful declarer won her singleton queen and soon thereafter claimed the whole lot cashed only ten more tricks.

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At the other table our team-mates made it to the stone-cold 6C... but somehow went one down. So that's a 3-pair disaster - and two of those are strong county-level pairs to boot.

Bonus points for 4-pair disasters and hands from international events

ahydra

[mikeh]

What follows is simply one pair screwing up, but since the two disasters happened in high level bridge and in the same match, I thought I'd 'fess up.

Playing in the 1998 rosenblum, in the round-robin, for team Canada, so we were supposedly experts, we had two disasters.

On the first, we used what I think was 15 calls, in our relay based method, to reach 6♠ to be played by me. Partner had opened 1♣, and I had bid 1♦ which was either natural or the start of a relay. I alerted 6 times in a row, and after the auction was over I explained to my LHO screenmate that partner was supposed to be 3=3=1=6 and with certain controls, and so on. I added, gratuitously, that I suspected he might not be. My clue, which I didn't tell him despite his pressing me, was that I was looking at the heart K, which partner had assured me he also held.

Dummy was a disappointment.

My trumps were KQ108x.

Partner was 0=3=3=7.

We were missing a side Ace as well.

Some boards later, RHO opened in second seat a 15-17 1N, followed by 2 passes and partner balancing with an astro 2♦, showing spades and a lower. RHO bid 2♥, I bid 2♠, LHO bid 3♥ and RHO raised himself to game.

I had played far too much bridge to let anyone, be they internationalists or not, get away with this, so I doubled.

LHO redoubled.

They made an overtrick.

Fred G and George Mittleman were at the other table and must have mentally scored up a blitz. We won by 3 imps.

My partner and I didn't say a word about the slam (our opps had reached 6N off 2 aces, so we only lost 5 imps), until between sessions.

It turned out that we were both correct: he showed his hand perfectly and I read it perfectly. The problem was that he had emailed me a revision to this sequence 2 days after I had left for Europe and in 1998 I didn't have portable email. He assumed I'd read the new notes, and I hadn't a clue they existed.

(I apologize if I've told this story before...the fact that they made an overtrick was the best part.....whenever I get delusions of adequacy, I flash back to the table feel I demonstrated then)

[Cyberyeti]

I don't have the hands, but I recall a board from either the top division of a county match or the Tolly (teams of 8) where we conceded 1MX +2 or +3 at 2 tables and 6m at the other two.

Multiple catastrophes on both sides on this board.

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At the point the auction stops it diverged at the two tables, one W bid 6♣ and 6♠X was the final contract, the other W bid 6♥, N bid 6♠ and E trusted his opps and bid 7♥ doubled by S.

A club was led and ruffed against 6♠X and declarer now simply has to do a little elimination and exit a heart to land his doubled slam, any of the various elimination lines will work but he floored it by taking the diamond hook -200.

This wasn't as costly as it might have been, you would fancy your chances of beating 7♥X with the south hand, but he led A♠, ruffed, A♥ and when N showed out on the first club this was a claim, so putting 6♠X on the floor gains you 20 IMPs and only costs you 4. I was unimpressed as I've still never had the full 24 IMPs and 2470/1660 would have done it.

[JLOGIC]

ahydra, on 2013-July-29, 16:30, said:

The 2NT upgrade isn't unreasonable but poor West was simply flummoxed by this unusual, shapely and/or strong hand balanced 10-count. After trying to look for an impossible 4-4 fit, West bid 4C and East was like "what on earth is that?!" Then he bid 4NT and when West passed, there were clamours of "what are you doing, that's Blackwood isn't it?" But West, rightly or wrongly, stuck to his guns that it is only Blackwood if a suit is agreed. He was right this time - for 4NT is the last making contract. That is, until declarer blocked the club suit and went one off!

This auction seems pretty reasonable to me assuming this was wests only way to show clubs... the play less so I guess lol.

[ggwhiz]

NA swiss my pard and I had a splinter auction that wasn't(?) on the first board of a 10 board match and went for 1100 against our own cold slam. The rest of the match was just as bad.

When we got back to compare our teammates picked their heads off the table and said "I sure hope you guys didn't have a good round". High 5's, to the bar and we actually led at the half.

A story I vaguely recall had Ron Anderson coming back to the table and telling Mike Passell that they were blitzed. Mike said maybe not, Ron said 100%. Mike said $100? and Ron said -530..etc. They won the match.

[manudude03]

In the Junior Europeans, I pick up something like KQTxxxxx Jxx x x, partner opens 1C, RHO bid 2H showing hearts and another. I decided I didn't want to overstate my values, so chose to double, and then rebid 4S over partner's 3D bid. After a long think on the other side of the screen, this comes back to be doubled by my RHO(!) screenmate. This gets passed out, and when the defense failed to take their 2 aces, I made it +2. The reason for the think was my partner had a mental moment and was trying to decide if my 4S was exclusion, so disaster averted (just!). I was thinking that +1190 has to be a good board, not good enough though, the opponents at the other table got to 6S off 2 cashing aces, but our teammates fail to cash them, and it rolls in, so there's a 3-pair disaster which was very nearly a 4-pair disaster.

[PhilKing]

These are not close to complete disasters. I remember a hand in the Spring Fours where Gus Calderwood made 6NTX+1 on a misdefence and a squeeze and lost 23 imps when teammates went for 5200.

Even that was not a complete disaster - the overtrick held the loss to 22 imps.

[Cyberyeti]

PhilKing, on 2013-July-30, 07:35, said:

These are not close to complete disasters. I remember a hand in the Spring Fours where Gus Calderwood made 6NTX+1 on a misdefence and a squeeze and lost 23 imps when teammates went for 5200.

Even that was not a complete disaster - the overtrick held the loss to 22 imps.

Redoubles can be fun, some team mates of mine went for 3400 on a partscore board where after a 1Nx auction they played 2♣XX with the opening leader holding 8 solid clubs.

[GreenMan]

manudude03, on 2013-July-30, 06:50, said:

I was thinking that +1190 has to be a good board, not good enough though, the opponents at the other table got to 6S off 2 cashing aces, but our teammates fail to cash them, and it rolls in, so there's a 3-pair disaster which was very nearly a 4-pair disaster.

Reminds me of Zia's story of a double missed opportunity in his first foray into top-level teams. He sacced in the wrong suit and went for an unnecessary 1400, but at the comparison the team captain just said "Push" and moved on. It took three days before he made bold to ask what happened at the other table; teammates were in 4Hx+3 for 1390.

[CamHenry]

Cyberyeti, on 2013-July-30, 07:49, said:

Redoubles can be fun, some team mates of mine went for 3400 on a partscore board where after a 1Nx auction they played 2♣XX with the opening leader holding 8 solid clubs.

Makes my -1600 on a similar auction (same contract) look "not actually too bad". Partner will be delighted...