With the summer pretty much behind us things are springing to life at the Bridge Club, and last week there were even enough pairs to stage the first Thursday game in quite a while.

Looking ahead, the remaining Club Championships schedule has just been announced as follows:

Open Teams: Saturday, October 22, at 9.30am, two sessions (teams games planned for October 8 and 20).

Open Pairs: Saturday, November 12 at 9.30am, two sessions.

Open Mixed Pairs: Thursdays, November 17 and 24 at 7.30pm.

Junior Pairs: (less than 100 master points) Saturday, November 19 at 9.30am, two sessions.

Junior Teams: (less than 100 MPs) Tuesdays, November 22 and 29 at 7.15pm.

Novice Pairs: (less than 20 MPs) Tuesday, December 10 at 7.15pm.

Ernie Owen Individual: Thursday, December 22 at 7.30pm.

Sign-up sheets will be posted ahead of each event.

Missing from the above list is the Men’s Pairs, which was cancelled in the Spring – it is still doubtful whether there will be enough pairs to stage this event and the Committee is looking at ways to solve that – watch this space!

Hot on the heels of the tournament schedule came this announcement from the club.

In Open Pairs and Teams championship matches, the winners of the under 500 MP strata will be recognised as Peer Group Champions in their own right – they will not only receive restaurant voucher prizes but also have their names emblazoned on a new honours board (“Under 500 Champions”) which will be displayed on the club wall.

So all players with under 500 master points – essentially our non-life masters – will have a second board on which they can hope to achieve fame as well as by winning the traditional Non-Life master event itself (which as you will recall we held earlier in the year).

Junior and intermediate players alike will all have a good chance of winning this new title by playing well, even though they are up against some of the club’s best and most experienced players.

For the title and prize to be awarded, there must be at least four eligible pairs / teams taking part in the championship – and for a pair or team to be eligible, no player in the pair or team shall have more than 500 master points on the day or days of the event.

I think this is an interesting move, and a good one. It will give the under-500’s a chance to play against the Open players and also give them something to shoot for.

There is a downside, in that the standard of the field will be even more varied, which could increase the randomness of the result in the main event, but I think the benefits do outweigh the negatives and will make for a fuller field.

Today’s hand is about retaining control in the play of the hand – declarer had a couple of options in the play, but both handed over control to the defence and declarer had to come up with a play that would avoid that. See how you would have played the hand before reading on. See Figure 1.

After South opened with a weak two in diamonds, North used a two no-trump enquiry. The three-diamond response promised a good suit and a minimum weak two. North did well to bid five diamonds because three no-trump would have had no hope on a spade lead, as long as West unblocked the king of spades at trick one.

Against five diamonds, West led the Jack of hearts. Declarer saw that if he led a trump at trick two, the defence would shift to spades, removing the entry to the clubs. A similar fate would occur if he played the Ace and another spade: the defenders would play the Ace and another trump, removing the possibility of a spade ruff in dummy.

It was after these ruminations that declarer saw the best play: after winning the first trick with the Ace of hearts, declarer called for the eight of spades from dummy. If the defenders won and exited with a spade to dummy’s now-bare Ace, declarer would throw a spade on the king of hearts, ruff the two of hearts in hand and ruff his remaining spade with dummy’s eight of trumps.

The defenders would make the Ace of trumps, but that would be their last trick. At the table, East won the spade and played the Ace and another trump.

Declarer won in hand and drew the last trump before cashing the Ace and King of clubs. Since that suit was three-two, declarer established it by ruffing a club and using the ace of spades to return to dummy to park his two spade losers on the good clubs. Making five – more than one way to skin a cat!

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Monday, September 26

North/South

1. Molly Taussig & Harry Kast

2. Sheena Rayner & Jane Smith

3. Richard Gray & Patricia Colmet

East/West

1. Lynanne Bolton & Peter Donnellan

2. Heather Woolf & Aida Bostelmann

3. Caroline Svensen & Dianna Kempe

Tuesday, September 27

North/South

1. Katyna Rabain & Louise Payne

2. Benjamin Stone & James Fielding

3. Amanda Ingham & Heidi Dyson

East/West

1. Jean Schilling & John Thorne

2. Malcolm Moseley & Mark Stevens

3. Rosemary Smith & Wenda Krupp

Wednesday, September 28

North/South

1. Tony Saunders & Molly Taussig

2. Lynanne Bolton & Greta Marshall

3. Wendy Gray & Richard Gray

East/West

1=Tracy Nash & Des Nash

1= Peter Donnellan & Jane Smith

3 Martha Ferguson & Judy King

Wednesday, September 28 – Granaway Bridge

North/South

1. Wendy Gray & Richard Gray

2. Julia Lunn & David Cordon

3. Scott Godet & Sally Godet

East/West

1. Peter Donnellan & Lynanne Bolton

2. Tracy Nash & Des Nash

3. Betsy Baillie & Lisa Ferrari

Thursday 29 September

1. Judy King & Steve Cosham

2. Rachael Gosling & John Glynn

3. Lynanne Bolton & Betsy Baillie