We are in Australia for the final stage of the National Open Teams. The line-up for the semi-finals is LU (Charlie Lu, Peter Gill, Liam Milne, James Coutts, Tony Nunn and Nabil Edgtton) v GUE (David Gue, Joshua Tomlin, Joachim Haffer and Nicolas Croft); and THOMPSON (Ben Thompson, Renee Cooper, Peter Newman, Matthew Thomson) v SPOONER (Andrew Spooner, Philip Markey, Mike Doecke, Will Jenner-O'Shea, Shane Harrison and Matt Smith). The format is 120-board matches played over eight 15-board stanzas.

At the end of our last visit, we left these semi-finals at the midway point. LU led GUE by 51 IMPs (132-81) whilst THOMPSON held a narrow 9-IMP (113-104) advantage over SPOONER.

As usual, we start with a couple of problems. Firstly, with only your opponents vulnerable, you are East holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, with only your side vulnerable, you are sitting in the North seat with:

How do you evaluate your hand? What do you bid?

Next, with neither side vulnerable, you hold as East:

What, if anything, do you bid?

The VuGraph coverage today starts late in the fifth stanza of THOMPSON v SPOONER. This was a strange deal all round. With their combined 22 HCP, E/W could make almost nothing, whereas N/S were cold for 5♦. It’s never easy to bid game on a combined 18-count, and particularly an 11-trick game, so…

When West’s 2♣ was passed around to him, Ben Thompson had to decide first, whether to balance, and, second, if so, with a double or with 2♦. When he answered the first question negatively, Mike Doecke was left to play peacefully in the only making contract available to E/W.

I won’t bore you with the play in 2♣. Suffice it to say that the defenders scored the ♠A and two tricks in each red suit. E/W +90 looked like an excellent result for SPOONER on a deal where any E/W plus score would be a rarity if the deal was played multiple times.

Phil Markey (left) did not even wait until he was in the balancing seat, but waded in with a 2♦ overcall at his first turn. Matthew Thomson rebid his clubs at the three-level and Andrew Spooner competed in diamonds, leaving Peter Newman with the first of the problems posed above.

The cheapest option is perhaps to pass and concede -150. However, West’s 3♣ bid is wide-ranging, particularly if not playing Good/Bad 2NT, so your side could have the combined values for game. One option is simply to compete with 4♣, and it is doubtful whether anyone would find a double, so that would probably escape for -100. However, Newman wanted to keep open the possibility of 3NT, but he didn’t want to suggest anything in diamonds, so he tried an imaginative 3♥, hoping his partner would bid 3NT with a diamond stopper.

With two spades and three hearts, it seems clear to me to bid 3♠ on the West hand, but Thomson chose a raise to 4♥. East surely knows that his partner cannot hold even four hearts (no 2♥ bid on the previous round), so I am guessing that Newman passed knowing it was a 3-3 fit, but figuring that anything undoubled was okay at this point. Would anyone have doubled if he had bid 5♣ at this point? Perhaps, and that would have been -500, so maybe Newman did something quite clever, despite how bizarre it looks.

As you might imagine, 4♥ was not a great spot. Declarer managed to scramble four tricks. An unusual E/W -300 and 9 IMPs to SPOONER.

SPOONER won the stanza 38-35 to close the margin to 6 IMPs (142-148). In the other semi-final, LU won the set 69-23 to virtually end the match as a contest. They now led by 97 IMPs (201-104) with three sets remaining, and had one foot firmly in the final.

There was little of interest in a dull sixth set, THOMPSON won 29-13 to open a 22-IMP lead (177-155) with two sets to play. LU added another 23 IMPs to their lead. The second deal of the penultimate stanza was a question of evaluation...

I suppose it is one of the disadvantages of playing transfer responses to 1♣ that you have to start by showing your four-card major on a hand such as North holds here. However, it seems to have worked out well when partner shows a four-card raise and a strong hand. Ben Thompson’s jump to 4♣ showed a balanced 18-19 type raise, and left Renee Cooper with the second of this week’s problems. That she simply signed off in game seems to me incredibly conservative. Slam was a good proposition that essentially needed the pointed suits to break reasonably.

When everything worked, that was 13 tricks via five trumps, six diamonds and two aces. An unimpressive N/S +710.

Andrew Spooner (right) also had to start with a 1♥ transfer showing his four-card major. Newman decided that his hand was only worth an invitational 3♠ (alerted and described as 16-18 with four spades). Despite the lower range, Spooner judged that the North hand was too good to just bid game. He cue-bid clubs and, when his partner showed a diamond control, he ventured beyond game. Thompson admitted to a heart control and Spooner jumped to slam.

A considerable difference in valuation by the respective North players. N/S +1460 and 13 IMPs to SPOONER, halving the deficit.

Matt Smith (left) agreed diamonds with a 3♠ splinter bid. There was some question on BBO VuGraph commentary as to whether his 4♥ bid should be a cue-bid for diamonds or offering an alternative contract although, on this deal, it mattered not how partner took it as both games should make.

Game in diamonds is certainly easy enough to play and declarer duly lost just two black-suit aces. E/W +400.

Phil Markey’s mini 1NT (10-12 HCP) opening set East/West a much more difficult task at this table. Matthew Thomson overcalled with a natural 2♥, which left Peter Newman with the last of this week’s problems. He might, perhaps, have advanced with 3♦, but 3NT is surely a sensible option, isn’t it? A future problem for the bidding panel, perhaps.

Markey’s spade opening quickly put 3NT down, the defenders taking five spades and the ♣A on the go. E/W -100 and 11 IMPs to SPOONER.

SPOONER won the stanza 45-13, turning the match on its head. They now led by 10 IMPs (200-190) with just one set left to play. In the other semi-final, LU added another 4 IMPs to their lead and GUE conceded, trailing 142-266.

Two aggressive actions combined to generate a game swing on our final deal from this match…

4♥ is not a great game on these East/West cards, but the defenders cannot stop it making as the cards lay. Once Mike Doecke (right) opened his 10-count, reaching game became almost inevitable. Will O’Shea started with a negative double and then forced to game with a catch-all 3♣ cue-bid at his second turn, then had to eventually settle for game in the 5-2 fit when no sensible alternative materialized.

With both majors breaking evenly, the spade honours split and the ♦K well-placed for declarer, Doecke lost just a trick in each side suit. E/W +620.

Matthew Thomson did not open the West hand, so the odds are that East/West would probably have stopped in a partial. Matt Smith’s imaginative third-seat pre-empt made life even more difficult for them. Had Thomson reopened with 3♥, perhaps Shane Harrison would have raised. However, facing a double by a passed hand, what option did Harrison have other than to just bid his only suit at the three-level?

Even nine tricks was a testing target playing in diamonds, and Harrison played well to bring home his contract. E/W +110 and 11 IMPs to SPOONER.

SPOONER won the final set 39-20 and thus the match by 29 IMPs (239-210). They will play LU in the 120-board final over the next two days.

We will be back soon with the best of the action from that final.