How to Interpret Hand Records

I'd be a wealthy man if I had a dime for every time I was asked something like: "Larry, how do we get to 6 on Board 11?" I look at the diagram and it is something like this:

Vul:Both Dir: North	A954 AQ2 J1076 Q2
K2 K53 K98 108763		1054 9876 Q2 K954
	QJ87 J104 A543 AJ

Everyone in the room has reached 4 via 1-1-2-4-Pass. The club and heart finesses both win. Declarer can lead the Q and guess to pick up the trumps with no loser (finessing against East's 10). In diamonds, declarer can lead the jack and lose only one trick.

This remarkably lucky lie of the East-West cards will result in the Hand Record Printout saying that North-South make 12 tricks in spades.

But who the heck would want to bid it? My answer is always something like a calm, "Just because it makes 6, doesn't mean you should bid 6."

Why do people constantly ask? Apparently they think that what the computer says "can be made" is what should be bid.

That is wrong for two reasons:
1) The computer is playing "double-dummy." What "can" be made sometimes involves dropping a singleton king offside or some other play that nobody at the table would make.
2) Suppose normal play results in, say, 12 trick. But, 5 finesses worked! It would be a long-run losing policy to bid such a slam.

Yet, I continue to get asked--so possibly you were referred to this article as a result.

Let's look at a Hand Record of a deal from the Sep-Oct 2016 Regional at Sea:

Underneath the diagram, the computer has indicated what everybody can make. Notice that East-West can make 1. I hope nobody would ask me how to reach 1! East-West can make 7, but who would bid it missing the king of trump? Aside from the heart finesse, good fortune in diamonds is needed to make all 13 tricks. Just reaching 6-- a decent contract and making 7 for 1460 would be worth a near top board.

Some hand records show what can be made in "chart form." The chart indicates how many tricks each side can make in each contract. I think the format shown here is easier to understand.

What is "Par?" It says -2000. Not all Hand Records give this data. Par is the score achieved if both pairs achieved their best possible result. Here, E-W would bid 7 (their best possible), but then N-S could sacrifice in 7 X for -2000 (better than -2210 against 7). Often, "par" is just for amusement purposes. On this deal, it is unlikely any E-W pair would bid 7, nor that any North-South pair would sacrifice in 7.

On some deals, the hand record will show "N 3NT" "S 2NT". What does that mean? Instead of showing what NS can make, it is broken down by who declares. North can make 3NT, but if South plays it, he can make only 2NT. Apparently there is a killing lead that can be made from only one side of the table. If the hand record doesn't specify the declarer, then the contract can be made no matter which partner declarers (North or South, or East or West).