As we reflect on yet another successful Bermuda Regional, which ended a week ago, it’s now time to bring you the list of local players who won some of the major and other events.

While the fields were smaller than previous years the intensity of the competition doesn’t change, and the locals should feel really pleased with their performances.

Championship and two-session events

Charity Pairs: Ernie Owen Memorial Trophy – Judy Bussell and Robert Todd

Championship Round Robin Teams: – Bracket 3 – Delton Outerbridge, Sancia Garrison, Allan Chernov, John Luebkemann

Monday/Tuesday evening B/C Pairs: Stephanie Kyme and Charles Hall

Monday/Tuesday afternoon B/C Pairs: Lorna Anderson and Heather Woolf

Championship Knockout Teams: Robert Todd, Rachael Gosling, Perla Sultan, Alejandro Bianchedi

Wednesday/Thursday Swiss Teams Flight C: Delton Outerbridge, Sancia Garrison, Tracy and Des Nash

Wednesday /Thursday Championship Pairs Flight C: Rachael Gosling and Steve Cosham

IGI Stratiflighted Swiss Teams (Friday)

Flight A: Rachael Gosling, Robert Todd, Gertie Barker, John Glynn

Flight B and C: Claude Guay, Carol Pastushok, Lisa Ferrari, Betsy Baillie

Flight D: Duncan Silver, Marion Silver, Mike Dawson, Joann Dawson

Norman Bach Trophy: leading local masterpoint winner – Rachael Gosling

Karl Stanley Hicks Trophy: leading junior masterpoint winner – Julia Tadman and Joshimar Hussey

Single-session events

Saturday 0-199 Pairs: Jaime Ferrari-Willis and Edward Ferrari-Willis

Sunday 199er Morning Pairs: Jane Downing and Jamie Sapsford

Monday Afternoon B/C pairs: Geoff Bell and Martha Ferguson

Tuesday Evening 199er Pairs: Elaine Stevens and Lisa Rhind

Tuesday Afternoon 199er Pairs: Duncan and Marion Silver

Monday-Tuesday afternoon X Pairs: Elizabeth McKee and Lorna Anderson

Stratified Side game – Warwick3: Lynanne Bolton and Peter Donnellan

A lot of local winners! And a big well done to Rachael Gosling and Steve Cosham and the many committee members for another superbly run event and big congrats to Rachael on her winning the prestigious Norman Bach trophy.

Also worth mentioning are the top ten in the Norman Bach race: 2, Stephanie Kyme; 3, Gertie Barker; 4, Charles Hall; 5/6, Lynanne Bolton and Peter Donnellan; 7, Misha Novakovic; 8, John Glynn; 9, Elizabeth Mckee; 10, Steve Cosham.

And in the Karl Hicks Trophy race for Junior Masterpoint winners, which was won by Julia Tadman and Joshimar Hussey, finishing in third/fourth were Edward Ferrari-Willis and Jaime Ferrari-McComb with Tracey Pitt in fifth.

And in closing before I get to the hand, huge congratulations to the popular Tracy Nash who made Life Master on the last day of the tournament! Making LM is perhaps the most important milestone in a bridge player’s lifetime and the accolades are fully deserved!

This week’s hand (see Figure 1) has a familiar theme – give the opponents what unavoidably belongs to them and let them help you in the play.

You open one spade with the South hand – partner bids 4NT (Roman Key Card Blackwood) and you bid five spades, showing two key cards and the trump Queen.

Partner now goes sniffing for the grand slam and bids 5NT looking for Kings – you bid six hearts (in your system that shows the heart King and denies any lower-ranking King) and partner reluctantly settles for six spades.

West makes the aggressive lead of a low club and you try to plan the hand – it is one of those nightmare hands with a mirror 5-3-3-2 distribution and it looks like your only hope is that West has the diamond Queen, as you have an inescapable club loser. Or is that your only hope? Let’s see.

You win the club Ace and draw trumps – you then cash your hearts, a key play, and exit with a club in this position (see Figure 2).

If East wins the trick the defence is dead, so West wins and has to play a diamond as a club lead would give you a ruff and discard and the contract. The diamond lead now gives you two bites at the cherry – you play the nine and East has to play the Queen and the hand is over.

And what if East had played the ten? Well then you win the King and take the diamond finesse that you always intended – so by stripping the hand and then giving the opponents the lead you turned a 50 per cent chance into a 75 per cent chance where you would make the hand if West held either the Queen or the ten – or both.

Get used to this sort of play – I cannot emphasise how much you will gain by giving up losers and getting the opponents to help you – either because you have forced them into it or, probably as often, because they then simply choose to make a bad play!

• David Ezekiel can be contacted at davidezekiel999@gmail.com

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Monday, February 3

North/South

1 Rachael Gosling/Michael Dawson

2 Charles Hall/Tony Saunders

3 Peter Donnellan/Lynanne Bolton

East/West

1 Gertrude Barker/Jane Smith

2 Margaret Way/Heather Woolf

3 Betsy Baillie/Joyce Pearson

Tuesday, February 4

North/South

1 Amanda Ingham/Heidi Dyson

2 Barbara Elkin/Sharon Andrews

3 Tracey Pitt/Desiree Woods

East/West

1 Sheena Trott/Davina Dickenson

2 Julia Tadman/Joshimor Hussey

3 Ian Boatman/Michael Moriarity

Wednesday, February 5

North/South

1. Richard Gray/Wendy Gray

2. Louise Rodger/Margaret Way

East/West

1. Stephanie Kyme/Charles Hall

2. Gertrude Barker/Jane Smith