Many congratulations to Kathleen Keane and Carol Jones who carried off the Non-Life Masters Trophy which was played over two sessions at the Club last Saturday.

They took the event in superb fashion by having two 60-plus per cent plus sessions, which they needed, as second-placed Lisa Rhind and Erika Jones also put together two solid sessions of 59.52 per cent and 57.14 per cent. In third place were Claude Guay and Sharon Shanahan who were in second place after the first session.

Kathleen and Carol also won Strata B, while Lisa and Erika won Strata C.

This is a first win in the event for Carol, but a remarkable fifth win for Kathleen who previously won in 2017, 2018 and 2019 playing with Mike Viotti and in 2023 with Joyce Pearson.

This is a big win for two players who clearly have a passion for the game and the desire to improve – I looked through their scores and the pattern was impressive – not a ton of highs and lows but just solid results, where they bid what was given to them and defended well.

A big well done to the winners and the placing pairs, and hopefully this will propel them towards Life Master status!

When I looked through the scores I was delighted to see that the players were not afraid to occasionally bid into slam territory when the opportunity presented itself. The hand that caught my attention, however, was Board 21 of the second session, where there was a choice of major suit slams available, but all four North-South pairs played in four hearts. The reason the hand (see Figure 1) is interesting is not only in the bidding but also in the “double dummy” analysis that accompanies each hand in the hand records.

As I said earlier, the hand was played in four hearts, twice by North making 13 tricks when both East players led a spade, and twice by South making 12 tricks when both Wests led the club ten, as there was a spade to lose as the finesse was not working.

When North played the hand the spade lead is, for me, just a bit too dangerous – if I had Q10x I might be tempted, as even if partner held just the Jack it would be OK. My preferred lead on this hand would be a trump, as the least likely to give something away and is often a good lead when the opponents have shown strength and two balanced hands. As always, I like declarers to make the hands with as little help from me as possible.

The bidding? After South opens two clubs, North can bid 2NT to show values and then a Stayman sequence should get to six hearts by North. If North decides to bid two diamonds over two clubs, it gets a bit trickier as South has no clear-cut bid, so I’m not clear on how South became declarer in four hearts at two tables unless they bid a flighty 2NT and then North employed Stayman.

What really caught my interest is that the “double-dummy analysis” said that seven hearts and seven spades would both make – you might ask how, as the spade finesse doesn’t work!

You are right, but not when it is “double-dummy” where you get to see all four hands as the robot analyst does. Our clever little robot plays the King of spades first and then plays the Jack which captures the Queen and pins the ten, making the nine of spades good to draw the last spade! Totally anti-percentage, but the right play when you see all four hands!

So the next time you are puzzled as to why you went down in a contract which the robot says you should make, or are looking to blame partner for the same thing, take a good look at the hand to see whether the little, automated, know-all twerp made some funky play after looking at all the hands!

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

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Friday, February 28

North/South

1. Tony Saunders/Margaret Way

2. Richard Gray/Wendy Gray (Tied 2nd)

3. Judith Bussell/Lisa Rhind (Tied 2nd)

East/West

1. Miodrag Novakovic/Stephen Cosham

2. Gertrude Barker/Martha Ferguson

3. Caroline Svensen/Joyce Pearson

Saturday, March 1

Non-Life Masters Championship

1. Kathleen Keane/Carol Jones

2. Lisa Rhind/Erika Jones

3. Claude Guay/Sharon Shanahan

Monday, March 3

1. Gertrude Barker/Jane Smith

2. Richard Gray/Wendy Gray

3. Betsy Baillie/Joyce Pearson

Tuesday, March 4

North/South

1. Amanda Ingham/Heidi Dyson

2. Tracey Pitt/Desiree Woods

East/West

1. Sarah Bowers/Stuart Clare

2. Barbara Elkin/Sarah Jane Varley

Wednesday, March 5

1. Lynanne Bolton/Heather Woolf

2. Jack Rhind/Lisa Rhind

3. Elysa Burland/Magda Farag (Tied 3rd)

3. Patricia Siddle/Diana Diel (Tied 3rd)

Thursday, March 6

North/South

1. Peter Donnellan/Lynanne Bolton

2. Miodrag Novakovic/Margaret Way (Tied 2nd)

3. Richard Gray/Wendy Gray (Tied 2nd)

East/West

1. Malcolm Moseley/Mark Stevens

2. Duncan Silver/Marion Silver

3. Richard Bruton/Chris Van Royen