By Neil Bonnell, Warwick Bridge Club
The Handicap Championship was won by Tony Hinde and Neil Bonnell from John Nankervis and Pat Kelly, despite a score of 70% by John and Pat in Round 2. A heavier handicap counted against John and Pat when their handicap was applied to the raw scores.
Board 1 (above) is a good example of their skills. Their contract was 3NT by East. John received the lead of the four of spades, the fourth highest of S’s longest suit. This allowed John to apply the rule of eleven. Declarer subtracts the number of the card led from eleven. In this case the answer is seven and means that there are seven cards in the other hands higher than the card led. John could see four in dummy (West) and two in his own hand. Therefore North had only one card higher than the four. Don’t worry, this always works as long as the lead is the fourth highest. A high spade from dummy dropped North’s Jack. The next logical step was to lead the King of hearts to set up four heart tricks. At this stage, the defence was over, even if North held back the Ace until the fourth round of hearts. The nine of spades could be finessed later, as it was certain that South held the ten, the King or Queen of clubs could be led to promote a club trick and there were two top diamonds waiting in hand. No other pair could match the 430 John and Pat made for 3NT making ten tricks. Anyone for a club lead?
Results: Monday, 25/07/22 (4 & ½-table Howell Rd. 2 Handicap Championship): J. Nankervis P. Kelly (70.1) 1; N. Bonnell T. Hinde (60.4) 2; C. Duggan L. Munson (50.0) 3. Overall: N. Bonnell T. Hinde 1; J. Nankervis P. Kelly 2; R. Hart N. McGinness 3. Friday, 29/07/22 (5-table Mitchell): N/S N. Bonnell B. Bonnell (62.1) 1; R. Hart Jenny Smith (56.2) 2; N. Collins M. Simpson (55.8) 3. E/W J. Rose D. Moran (67.9) 1; J. Mobbs T. Hinde (57.5) 2; C. Duggan L.Munson (48.7) 3.
