Last board of Cavendish

Kit Woolsey and Fred Stewart overcame two-time defending champions Bobby Levin and Steve Weinstein to win the big money Cavendish Invitational by about 150 IMPs.  With cross-scoring of IMPs, this is a very small amount.  That means that a game swing on the last board of the event could determine who is to win.  Each of these pairs defended a game on the last board.

Dealer: West Vul:	North ♠ AT753 ♥ T985 ♦ K ♣ T54
West ♠ K9 ♥ 6 ♦ QT7643 ♣ KQ97		East ♠ QJ2 ♥ KQ3 ♦ AJ85 ♣ J83
	South ♠ 864 ♥ AJ742 ♦ 92 ♣ A62

I am not sure of the meaning of Lev-Pepsi auction.  In particular, the 3♠ call looks odd.  But when the 3♠ call drew a double from Levin, would Weinstein find the heart lead needed to set 3NT?  Well, we don’t know because Lev pulled 3NT to 5♦.  That contract lost three aces, for down one.

Meanwhile, Woolsey did lead a heart against 3NT and that contract also was defeated.  Piekarek could tell that if North had an entry, the entry could be used to play a heart through declarer’s queen.  Accordingly, he played South to have all the cards: he won the heart lead, led a club to dummy and then ran diamonds.  In the five card end position, perhaps Piekarek hoped for this result from a strip squeeze:

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
West ♠ K9 ♥ — ♦ — ♣ Q97		East ♠ J ♥ Q3 ♦ — ♣ J8
	South ♠ A ♥ AJ7 ♦ — ♣ A

Thrown in lead with a black ace, South would be forced to allow declarer’s ♥Q to score up the game-going trick.  Of course, at the table the ♠A was with North and 3NT was set.

Weinstein has, I believe won this event seven times, five with Levin and two with … well, with Fred Stewart whom I believe was once married to Weinstein’s mother.  Meanwhile, Woolsey had won the event twice before, I think once with Ed Manfield and once with Neil Silverman.