Sole Bay Bridge Club

Me and Anna are regular visitors to Southwold in Suffolk, but last Wednesday was the first time we'd been to the Bridge Club. There was a very warm welcome, and we had a fun time. I can tell you that no other club I've played at is as vigilant for dropped pens. Three times I left mine behind, and every time someone quickly sprung up to return it. When I attempted to steal another pair's pen they were just as quick.

Although the company was lively, the boards were flat that night. We defended a lot of 1NT contracts. I played quite well, until the last board of the night when I bodged it. I threw away the ♣T, forgetting that the ♣J had already been played. This cost the contract, but more importantly cost me my moral authority, so I was no longer able to criticise Anna for her (alleged) blunders. Anna was delighted at my mistake, and kept mentioning it when we were at The Sole Bay Inn afterwards.

Here's one hand which we defended well (after drinking too much Broadside this is how I remember it):

Board Dealer North No one Vul ♠ Q T x ♥ A x x x ♦ x ♣ A x x x x ♠ A K J x x x x x ♥ K J x ♦ x ♣ J 10 13 5 12 ♠ x x ♥ x x ♦ A J T x x x ♣ x x x ♠ - ♥ Q T x x ♦ K Q x x x ♣ K Q x x

Anna Danny W N E S - - 1♦ 4♠ x - - -

Anna sitting North passed and so did East. I was sitting South and opened 1♦, planning to rebid 2♣. But I didn't get the chance, as West came straight in with a massive 4♠ bid. Most people at the club play strong jump overcalls, but I don't suppose that matters when it's 4♠. Anna doubled the 4♠, and it was back round to me as South. I've got a Spade void but I trust that Anna has a decent hand, so I passed. With her two Aces and three Spades she reckoned she had three defensive tricks.

The normal lead against a doubled contract is a trump, but Anna couldn't afford to lead a Spade so went for her singleton Diamond, even though she doesn't really want a ruff. If declarer guesses Hearts right there's only three tricks to lose, a Spade, Club and Heart. But, if you are unlucky and guess Hearts wrong, it magically ends up costing you a further trick.

Here's how it happened: declarer won the opening Diamond lead with an Ace, and lead a Heart up. She guessed to play the ♥K, which is probably right as South did open the bidding. North won with the ♥A, and played ♣A and another Club. Declarer ruffed in hand, and played another Heart, getting ready for the ruff. I won this Heart in South, and lead a Diamond, ruffed by declarer and over-ruffed by North. North then lead another Club, which declarer ruffed. She then finally got her Heart ruff. However, the catch was that declarer was now stuck in dummy, and only had Diamonds left. She had to lead a Diamond back to her hand, and so North ended up getting another trump trick by over-ruffing. So in the end the defence came to two Hearts, two Spades and a Club, for 4♠x-2 and +300.

I'm not sure if this was a good score, but I reckon it probably was, as not everyone will double 4♠, and a few declarer's might make it. If North-South play they can make 3NT I think, but it's not a great contract.

Thanks again to the Southwold Bridge Club for a good evening, I hope we'll be back soon.