I didn’t get to the Bridge Club Christmas party last Saturday but everyone I spoke to who did attend said it was a great success.

What I do know from looking at the photos on the Bridge Club website is that alcohol was served, and lots of it! So much so, that no one who attended seemed to know who won the fun bridge game on the night, so I will bring that to you next week!

We heard that the irrepressible Charlie Gambrill will be leaving the Island to return to the US. Charlie will be missed with his keen sense of humour and his great support of the Bridge Club over the years.

Charlie will make his last game here the one on Monday, December 14, and there will be a break for a “champagne toast” to send him off, so a good attendance at that game would be nice.

I love great defence, and quite often the best defence comes from someone who can put himself in declarer’s place and recreate what declarer will be thinking in a certain situation.

Take a look at today’s hand:

North

S 875

H 63

D AQJ653

C 65

West East

S KJ642 S 109

H QJ9 H 10875

D K4 D 1092

C 943 C QJ102

South

S AQ3

H AK42

D 87

H AK87

The hand came up in a 12-table pairs game and pretty much every South player opened a 20-22 2NT. Most North players simply raised to 3NT, but some bid an invitational 4NT asking declarer to bid 6NT with a maximum, which was declined. One West player led the Heart Queen and declarer won, took the Diamond finesse, returned to hand and repeated it and notched up 11 tricks.

At all the other tables West led a low Spade and now 10 of those 11 declarers made 12 tricks with the extra Spade trick, but one made only 11 — can you see why? Well, when declarer at this table led a Diamond at trick two West smoothly played the King! Now put yourself in the place of this declarer who happened to be an expert — he now thinks the suit lies like this:

North

D AQJ653

West East

D K D 10942

South

D 87

If that is the layout and declarer wins the King with the Ace, the Diamond suit will only yield three tricks! So, being an expert, declarer let the Diamond King hold! He was restricted to 11 tricks and a great result and a well deserved one for East-West due to West’s brilliance. Don’t blame declarer, he was just too good and had to make the play he did!