Dealer: S Vul: N/S
NORTH
♠ AQ63
♥ KJ32
♦ Q98
♣ 103
WEST EAST
♠ J84 ♠ 975
♥ Q10 ♥ A864
♦ K10764 ♦ A3
♣ Q92 ♣ AJ75
SOUTH
♠ K102
♥ 975
♦ J52
♣ K864
Congratulations to Warwick Bridge Club’s Claire Duggan, who has reached the rank of Regional Master.
Sometimes in bridge truth is stranger than fiction. On Board 15 (above) from last Friday East/West have more high cards than North/South, including three Aces, and in diamonds, the only five-card suit at the table. Only two pairs played in diamonds: one East/West and one North/South. 1NT would have been the best spot for East/West in which seven tricks could have been made for plus 90. In an attempt to find a fit in a suit, East/West reached 3D. North/South won three spades, one heart, one diamond and one club to defeat the contract by two tricks for a penalty of 100. At the other table North, lacking a five-card suit in either hearts or spades, opened the bidding with 1D. Not surprisingly this was doubled and there the auction ended. North needed to make seven tricks to achieve a positive result. East led the six of hearts, to South’s five and West’s ten. This was won by North’s Jack. North now decided to make as many tricks in side-suits as possible and started with three spade tricks, finishing in hand. Then followed the ten of clubs to set up a trick in clubs. East/West still had not realised that their best defence was to take out declarer’s trumps. Declarer had won three spades, a heart, a club and a club ruff before West began to lead trumps. Declarer’s last card was the Queen of diamonds, which won the seventh trick. So the pair with the best diamonds conceded a penalty of 100 while the pair with only six trumps to the defenders’ seven made seven tricks in a doubled contract for plus 140. No wonder the computer scoring programme noted this as an anomaly.
Results: Monday, 20/02/23 (5-table Mitchell): N/S T.Hinde L.Munson (59.2) 1; R. Hart J. Mobbs (57.5) 2; E/W C. Duggan N. McGinness (59.6) 1; J. Sipple W. Milne (53.3) 2. Friday, 24/02/23 (6 & ½-table Mitchell): N/S N. Collins P.Kelly (62.9) 1; Jenny Smith R. Hart (57.() 2; J. Mobbs T. Hinde (56.7) 3. E/W W.Milne J. Sipple (61.1) 1 eq. J. Rose D. Moran (61.1) 1 eq. H. Price N. McGinness (57.9) 3.
