The last time Anna and I played bridge at a club together was here in February 2017 (see here). A year later, a second child, and we were even keener to have an afternoon out together. So with all three grandparents on duty, we headed back to Walberswick.
It's a great club, very friendly and lots of fun. Anna and I tend to do quite well by bidding competitively. This time there were some wild hands, and we bid 'em up.
This was the very first hand, and I wasn't going lightly:
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East opened 4♥ and I felt I had no choice but to overcall 4♠. This was passed out.
The defence started with two Hearts then East wisely played a third one. I discarded a Diamond hoping that I would be able to ruff this Heart in dummy with the ♠T and enjoy the Clubs. But of course West ruffed with the ♠J and cashed three Diamonds, for 4♠-3.
Could we have beaten 4♥? I would have lead the my top two Spades. Anna needs to ruff the second one and cash her Clubs. If she fails to ruff my winning Spade then declarer can use dummy's Diamonds to discard some Clubs.
Losing 150 was worth 6/10 matchpoints, the most common score being +650 for East-West.
At the break we had a cracking cup of tea. They put four biscuits in the middle of our table; Anna grabbed a Mint Club for herself and I settled for a Cookies and Cream KitKat.
Twice after this I was declarer when the opponents had a twelve card heart fit. We judged this one nicely:
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West opened a strong two and Anna didn't hesitate to double, with nine points but perfect shape. East bumped it up to 4♥ but Anna's double was perfect for me as South so I bid 4♠. We got to 5♠ before West doubled and I had to play it.
The defence simply cashed their four tricks for 5♠x-2 and -300. If they play more Clubs I could go three or even four off, but as it is our score got 10/10 matchpoints. All the other East-West pairs made game, with one making 6NTxx (needs a Spade lead to beat Slam).
We finished the evening on 64.5%, good enough for second. It was a great afternoon - see you in 2019!
