Chicago at Home

This week Anna and I hosted two other members of our Glasgow League team for an evening of bridge. Anna and I played only one match for the team this year (and played it poorly) but have kept in touch as we secured our place in the second division.

We played Chicago scoring. On most of the hands the contracts were low and the number of tricks taken by declarer was even lower, but there were a few high points. In fact, there were more slams bid than games.

Early on we had a misunderstanding which didn't get resolved to the six level, when Anna finally converted my 6♣ bid to 6♦ and I realised she actually had Diamond support. I'd mistaken her earlier jump-raise as a splinter, but as she pointed out after the hand "you don't splinter in partner's suit". Heather and David agreed. As it happened my dodgy slam still made, on a finesse, for a lucky gain for the home team.

Since our guests weren't drinking tea Anna and I had extra to compensate, and we were both enjoying our third mugs when we blundered into another slam:

No Vul E deal ♠ K Q x ♥ Q T x x ♦ J T x x ♣ A x ♠ x x x x ♥ J x x ♦ J x x ♣ K x x 12 9 5 17 ♠ A x x x ♥ x x x ♦ K Q x x x ♣ x ♠ x x ♥ A K J ♦ A ♣ K Q T x x x x

David Danny Heather Anna W N E S - 1♣ - 1♦ - 3♣ - 3NT - 4♥ - 6♥ - - -

Anna opened the strong South hand 1♣, natural, and I replied 1♦ (with a weak hand I would have replied 1♥). Anna now jumped to 3♣, which is technically not forcing but I'm unlikely to pass. I bid a heavy 3NT, and was glad when Anna reached for another bid. I was expecting 4♣ or 4NT, and was surprised to see 4♥. Seeing as I had underbid so far, and never shown my Hearts, I seized on this second opportunity and immediately plonked down 6♥.

Then Anna explained to the opponents that her 4♥ bid wasn't natural, it was a control showing bid, presumably agreeing Clubs with herself. Her 4♥ bid could have been just a singleton or void, but as it happened she had a very strong control in Hearts.

West cashed the ♠A then switched to a Diamond which Anna won. I then watched with increasing relief as she played the ♥A, ♥K and then the ♥J. Just for good measure the Hearts also split, so she could claim after one round of Clubs.

This was another lucky escape. 6♣ also makes, as does 6NT.

On the final hand I had one more bash at the six level, our third auction to slam without using Blackwood at all. Controls weren't the problem here, just tricks. I've rotated the deal so declarer (me) is South

All Vul S deal ♠ A T x ♥ A T x ♦ K Q 9 8 7 ♣ T x ♠ x x x x x ♥ K x x x ♦ T x x ♣ x 13 3 11 13 ♠ K J ♥ Q x ♦ A J x x x ♣ 8 x x x ♠ Q x x ♥ J 8 x x ♦ - ♣ A K Q J 9 x

Heather Anna David Danny W N E S 1♣ - 1♦ -; 1♥ - 3NT - 6♣ - - -

I opened the South hand 1♣, without having decided yet what to rebid. Anna responded 1♦ and I considered 3♣ (not enough points) or a bold 3NT (not enough tricks). I stalled with 1♥, then when Anna bid 3NT overcompensated by leaping to 6♣. Anna is at the lower end of her range for this bid (13-18), and has lots of wasted points in Diamond opposite my void (I could have seen that coming) but the slam still has some play.

West lead a small Spade, and I played low. If this ran round to my Queen I'd have a decent chance of setting up Diamonds for one loser. Unfortunately East won his ♠K, and so I needed the rest.

I have two Spade tricks, six Clubs and one Heart, meaning I need three tricks from the Diamond suit. My plan was to lead a low one from dummy, and if East had the ♦A (but not the ♦J) he might be tempted to play it to try and take the setting trick. That didn't work as East just played the ♦J, which I ruffed. I was fixated on trying to drop the ♦A so crossed to dummy again and ruffed another Diamond; no luck. In fact once the ♦J is gone a better line (which works here) is to try and drop the ♦T in three rounds, by leading a high Diamond on the second round. This also requires the ♦A onside, which it is, so would have been glorious.

Overall Anna and I had the run of the cards, and bid to some interesting contracts. Surprisingly, given that it's her who hasn't played much for six months it was me who bodged in the bidding a couple of times, but I made up for that with some excellent defence and home made chocolate biscuits.

Blyth Valley Bridge Club

During our week's holiday in Southwold we managed not just one but two trips to a local Bridge Club, a triumph with a small baby to look after. Our second trip was to Walberswick, where a good turnout of nine tables met in the Town Hall. This time we were extremely prompt, and had plenty of time at the start for some chat, mostly grumbling about the Parish Council and commenting on what a glorious sunny day it was.

Today was a return to traditional duplicate, meaning Anna and I would be playing together. Our system was mostly the same as the local standard, except for they played Strong Twos whereas we play Weak Twos, and weak jump overcalls.

Early on I made a bodge, when defending a 1NT contract and Anna lead the ♠J and I had the ♠KQ2. I fumbled around a little while then decided to overtake, which ended up costing an overtrick, which could be costly at Matchpoints. Then we had a bidding misunderstanding, staying out of game with 27 points. I said to Anna "Why didn't you raise if you were maximum?" and she said "Yes I know stop going on about it" but after that things picked up and we got a series of good results.

Here's one where we could have done better, but I'm not quite sure how we could have bid it differently:

All Vul W deal ♠ J x ♥ x x ♦ K T x x ♣ A Q T 9 x ♠ x x x x ♥ Q x x ♦ J x x ♣ J x x x 10 4 11 15 ♠ x x ♥ A K J x x x ♦ x x ♣ K x x ♠ A K Q x x ♥ x x ♦ A Q x x ♣ x x

W N E S 1♠ - 2♣ 2♥ 3♦ - 4♦ - 5♦ - - -

I opened the South hand 1♠ and Anna replied 2♣, then East weighed in with 2♥. This didn't bother me too much as after partner's 2/1 I was planning to make a game forcing bid anyway. Anna raised my 3♦ to 4♦, which is probably forcing though we hadn't agreed it, so I raised to game anyway.

When dummy came down I was glad we had avoided 3NT, but saw straight away that 5♦ would likely depend on the Club finesse, which would likely fail, as indeed happened. In fact by the time it came to take the Club finesse I was so convinced it would lose (as East must have points for the overcall) I actually played the ♣A, which didn't work either. 4♠ is the place to be, but not sure how you get there.

At the break I volunteered to get the tea, and had a Gold Bar. Anna had a Mint Club.

After the break there was a brief hiatus when we all realised that with nine tables there was no need for the East-Wests to skip, so we moved back one table. Anna and I had shaken off the cobwebs now and were scoring well. In defence I drew declarer's trumps to beat 1♠ by three tricks, vulnerable. Buoyed by this I made a terrible 4♥ overcall at favourable vulnerablitiy with ♠x ♥ KJ98xxx ♦ Kx ♣xxx and hit partner with a weak hand with no Hearts at all. Four off undoubled wasn't too bad, but Anna quietly advised that next time 3♥ would be enough.

Although it covers no one in glory this was probably the most interesting deal

EW Vul N deal ♠ x x ♥ A K Q x ♦ A Q J ♣ A J x x ♠ x x ♥ x x ♦ T x x x ♣ T x x x x 23 0 12 3 ♠ A K Q J T x ♥ J x x x ♦ x ♣ Q J ♠ x x x ♥ T x x ♦ K x x x x ♣ x x

W N E S 2♣ 2♠ - - x - 3♦ - - 3♠ - - 4♦ - -

Anna opened the big North hand 2♣. East overcalled 2♠ which I think is a good idea, as it's always good to interfere with the opponent's strong auctions. Anna and I hadn't discussed interference to 2♣ so I just passed with my weak hand. For the record, we have now agreed that responder's bids are 'natural' including a double for penalties, so my bid was correct by that logic too. Anna doubled as takeout, and I showed my Diamonds. She then astonished everyone by passing, having made a game forcing opening. But looking at the North hand she knows that no game is likely, so it's a reasonable bid. East then pondered for a bit before bidding 3♠, which is madness vulnerable when the opponents are happy to play in a part score. I should have doubled this as South to make life easy for partner - I have a relatively good hand in defence with three trumps and a King - but felt sure she'd double anyway so passed. To my surprise, she bid 4♦, passed out.

The defence begain with two Spades and after another Spade I had to ruff high in dummy, so ended up losing a trump trick too. Those were my only losers though so 4♦ made. Considering that North-South don't have any obvious game that might have been an OK result, but not nearly as good as beating 3♠x by at least two tricks (three on a trump lead).

My final featured hand showcases some surprisingly accurate bidding.

NS Vul W deal ♠ K Q J ♥ A K J x x x x ♦ x x ♣ J ♠ x x ♥ x ♦ A K Q 9 8 x x ♣ K x x 15 12 8 5 ♠ A T x x x ♥ Q x x x ♦ x ♣ Q x x ♠ x x x ♥ T ♦ J T x ♣ A T x x x x

W N E S 1♦ 1♥ 1♠ - 3♦ 3♥ - - 4♦ - -

The Australian gentleman sitting West opened 1♦ and Anna with the big North hand overcalled 1♥. East bid 1♠ and I passed. West now decided to rebid 3♦, which I think makes sense. Anna pondered for a bit then bid 3♥. I was still not going to raise her and 3♥ was about to be passed out, until West came back with 4♦. When this came round to me I thought about doubling, as I know Anna has a really strong hand (she now looks at the vulnerability on nearly every board) and I have a singleton in her suit (good for defence) and an Ace, but on the other hand West is advertising a lot of Diamonds.

Against 4♦ Anna lead a top Heart, then paused. Declarer has eight top tricks, plus a certain ninth in Clubs, so any false move could give the tenth trick and give away the contract. On another layout a low Heart for me to ruff might promote a trump trick, but here Anna went for her singleton ♣J. Declarer played low from dummy and I thought about overtaking this to give a ruff, but decided it wasn't necessary (and could backfire if partner had a doubleton Club) so played low, and eventually came to two Club tricks anyway. With careful defence we beat the contract by one.

If East-West somehow get to 3NT it needs very careful defence to beat it. Again there are eight top tricks and if the defence are too aggressive they could set up a Heart for dummy, or if they are too passive declarer can get a ninth trick in Clubs. The only winning defence is for North to start with Spades, so the defence get two Spades, two Hearts and a Club.

After 21 boards there was a vote as to whether we should play one more round. Everyone voted yes, except Anna I who had a babysitter waiting (Nana and Grandpa), so we played three more boards. On the first our opponent went down not drawing trumps in a cold contract; unlucky that the side-suits had split 6-1 and 5-1, allowing Anna and I to take a flurry of ruffs for 4♥-2, where drawing trumps lets him make 4♥+2, as his wife pointed out to him.

As the club has no website we may never get the result, but it was a very enjoyable afternoon in some fine company.

Southwold Bridge Club

Last week Anna and I were on holiday for a week in Suffolk. We'd previously visited the Sole Bay Bridge Club in Southwold, but that meets in the evenings so isn't possible any more; with a baby we need more careful planning. So while the grandparents looked after the little one we went to the afternoon game at Southwold Bridge Club. We were a bit apprehensive as it was to be Rubber Bridge which we'd never played before, but when we turned up it was in fact a Bridge Drive with random deals and Chicago scoring (which we'd also not played before).

We arrived five minutes late, but thankfully there was a half-table already so we were welcome to make up the numbers. As I was informed, "when it says 2pm most people get here by quarter two". Within four hands we found ourselves 1700 points down, as our opponents quickly bid three games then we went off in a hopeless vulnerable game.

It took a little while to get used to all of the shuffling and cutting that comes with not playing duplicate, and it was strange to think that each deal would be played only once. Our bridge instincts were fairly good though, and I'm not sure there was much we could have done to avoid that bad start. Then we moved round the room changing partners each round, and things picked up. In fact the worst round for both Anna and I was when we were partnered each other.

Here's a nice little deal from when we were opponents.

No Vul S deal ♠ A K x ♥ Q x x x ♦ x x x ♣ x x x ♠ J x x ♥ x ♦ K J T x x x ♣ K J x 9 9 7 15 ♠ x x x x ♥ K T 8 x ♦ x ♣ A x x x x ♠ Q x x ♥ A J 9 x ♦ A Q x ♣ Q T 9

W N E S 1♥ - 2♥ - - -

Playing a Weak NT and four-card majors, I opened the South hand 1♥. North made a modest raise of 2♥, which I passed. Although we have 24 points between us and an eight card fit we have two flat hands, so we've done well to stop at the two level.

West lead th ♦J, which gave me an extra trick. Surely the contract is in the bag now? I crossed to dummy with a Spade, and lead the ♥Q, covered by the King and Ace. In order to lose no Heart tricks I now have a choice of either playing the ♥J to drop the ♥T or crossing to dummy again for a finesse. I played the ♥J, which didn't work out well. I can still make the contract easily by continuing with trumps, but I was foolishly thinking about trying to make maximum tricks so decided to 'eliminate Diamonds' and cashed the ♦A. This got ruffed, and the defence still had a 2nd Heart trick to come, along with another Diamond and three Clubs. Somehow, I had gone down.

Playing in an individual tournament like this was a novelty for me, and a slightly different challenge. Whereas some people sat down with a flood of questions about agreements, I decided to say nothing and play it cool, as did most of my partners. This actually worked fine, and we didn't have any misunderstandings. It's actually quite nice having virtually no agreements. I was also able to bid fairly quickly, as I resigned myself to making awkward decisions quickly, as this deal shows:

No Vul S deal ♠ x x ♥ 7 ♦ Q T 9 x x x x x ♣ A K ♠ Q x x x ♥ A x ♦ K x ♣ J x x x x 9 10 4 17 ♠ J x x x ♥ T 9 x x ♦ J x ♣ Q x x ♠ A K x ♥ K Q J x x x ♦ A ♣ x x x

W N E S - 2♥ - 3♦ - 3♥ - 4♥ - - -

South opened a traditional Strong Two. I had the freakish North hand, and needed to come up with a reply. I'm not too familiar with the proper responses to Strong Twos, but thought that bidding Diamonds couldn't be far off. North rebid 3♥, and I had a choice of games to bid. I was worried about too many trump losers in Diamonds so just bid 4♥, passed out. South made eleven tricks by drawing trumps (losing two tricks), then setting up the Diamonds.

The club was very friendly, and they were fully supportive of us leaving the kid behind (especially the men). By the end of the evening I had recovered to above zero points, but was a long way off the 4,000 points required for winning. There were also some random 'spot prizes' from the Compere Doug for happening to be opposite the piano, but we didn't win those either. However, we did have a lovely afternoon away from our baby.

Back at the Buchanan

After a six month break last night I was back at the Buchanan club, playing with Phil Moon. His hiatus was longer than mine, at ten years or so. In the build up to playing together I had printed out the comprehensive Acol System that Anna and I play, and Phil had gamely agreed to accept it wholesale. However, in the bar beforehand we made a few drastic cuts, and I vowed to bid pragmatically at all times.

On the very first hand Phil invited me to 6NT and I declined then made 12 tricks, which set the tone for the evening. At aggregate scoring this proved expensive. However, overall our bidding system held up well and our declarer play and defence was good too. Here's one where the worst hand at the table ended up being declarer:

Phil Danny W N E S - - 1NT x xx - 2♣ x - 2♥ - 3♥ - - - -

After two passes North opened 1NT. I'm pretty sure they were playing "Weak NT and Reverse [Benji]" like nearly everyone else at the Club but North opened 1NT anyway. I had a big hand so doubled. South redoubled, I think as part of Helvic showing a five card suit. I'm not sure which five card suit she planned to show. When North duly bid 2♣ in response and I doubled again Phil described this as "I think he wants me to bid" so bid 2♥. I was braced for him to bid 2♠ (I would have passed) but when he hit my good Heart suit I risked a raise to 3♥, which was swiftly passed.

3♥ is tricky with no immediate entries to hand, but only has three top losers, two in Diamonds, one in Hearts. After a Club lead from North declarer won the ♣AK then shrewdly lead the ♣J, and when South failed to cover he discarded a Diamond. North trumped it, took one Diamond and then tried for a second Diamond which Phil was able to ruff. Ruffing Diamonds is a much better way to get to hand than ruffing Clubs. He then played a Heart up to dummy, losing to the ♥A, and was later able to draw trumps and lose no more tricks for 3♥+1. This was a fine score, as other declarers in Hearts made between 7 and 9 tricks.and North-South make 3♠. It was not quite a top though, as one North-South pair overbid to 5♦, doubled and off three.

This hand was the peak of our defence:

Phil Danny W N E S 1♥ - 1♠ - 2♥ - - -

Phil lead the ♣J which declarer won, then curiously lead a small Club from table. I won this with the ♣8, and considered immediately leading another Club for partner to overruff declarer. However, we needed six tricks in defence so I went for a more ambitious Diamond, which hit the jackpot when partner won the ♦Q, ♦A then gave me a ruff. I now played a top Club ruffed by declarer and overruffed by West. That was five tricks for the defence already. Phil now made the winning play of another Diamond, giving declarer a ruff and discard. I ruffed this high which promoted another trump trick for him, and along with his ♠K that was 2♥-2. Declarer ended up losing three trump tricks overall (a Diamond ruff, Club ruff and the ♥T), but if she draws trumps immediately she loses only one.

Our score of +100 beat those who passed out the hand, but lost to the East-West pair who managed to make 3♣x.

Now here's three hands where we were too meek and missed out on 3NT. Would you have got to game?

Phil Danny W N E S 1♣ - 1♥ - 2♣ - - -

I took the low road and passed 2♣. If I bid 2♦ we maybe get to 4♥ or 3NT. Three of Eleven pairs got to game (4♥).

Phil Danny W N E S 1♦ 1♠ 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ - - -

Not sure who could bid more here. 2♦ made ten tricks. The one East-West pair in 3NT went down four (but it makes if you guess Diamonds).

Phil Danny W N E S 1♥ - 1♠ - 1NT - 2NT - - -

With a good 9 points opposite 15+ I would have bid 3NT as West on the second round, but when I showed the hand to Anna she agreed with West's 2NT bid. Seven out of Eleven pairs made 3NT (and one made 2♣xx).

We finished a respectable 5th out of 11, a great comeback for Phil and I look forward to playing again. Next time we'll be more aggressive.

No Fear Bridge at St Andrew

Today I went with four school pupils to Raymond's No Fear tournament at St Andrew Bridge Club. This is a tournament for beginners, with a mix of experienced players to help out. It's the first time that pupils in the school bridge club have played against adults.

There was some initial consternation when they were presented with scorecards, which to the uninitiated have a baffling array of options. We got over that and paired up, with me joining the S4 (age 15) pupil. On the very first board we had a mix-up, resulting in a highly unusual six overtricks:

♠ K 8 ♥ K J T ♦ A K 4 3 ♣ K 7 4 2 ♠ A J 7 4 ♥ A Q 9 7 4 ♦ 5 ♣ A Q 3

W N E S 1♦ - 1♥ - - -

With 17 points my partner opened 1♦, and with 17 points I replied 1♥. To my surprise, this was passed out. At this point I could have said something, but held my tongue and played the hand. There are 12 top tricks (2+5+2+3) the only question is how to make the 13th. You could play for Clubs 3-3 or the Spade finesse, but instead I drew just two rounds of trumps then ruffed a Spade high, which works as long as Spades are 5-2 or better. It was a small victory though, as 1♥+6 was unlikely to be a good score.

After the hand Raymond suggested that we should have stopped the bidding and corrected North's Pass. However, I think we were correct to play the hand. Of course it gives a silly result and North-South get a very poor score, but that doesn't really matter. This was a vivid and memorable lesson in the perils of underbidding, and straight after the hand my partner was keen to know which bids were forcing. I said that "new suits are forcing, but bidding NT, supporting partner or rebidding your own suit are not. Also if the opponents interfere or partner is a Passed hand you don't need to bid again." Although that extremely condensed list would overwhelm most people she was used to my teaching style and I think took most of it in. We even managed to introduce Weak Twos, then later on when I made a dicey 2♠ overcall she asked why I hadn't just opened 2♠.

The other adults were delighted that the kids were there, and I was delighted that someone collectively referred to me and the pupils as being in the same generation.

Here's one we defended nicely:

All Vul W deal ♠ 7 2 ♥ J 6 4 2 ♦ A J 4 2 ♣ A Q T ♠ A J ♥ K Q 7 ♦ Q 9 6 3 ♣ K 6 4 2 12 15 5 8 ♠ Q 6 4 ♥ T 8 ♦ K T 8 5 ♣ 9 8 7 3 ♠ K T 9 8 5 3 ♥ A 9 5 3 ♦ 7 ♣ J 5

W N E S 1♣ 1♦ - 1♠ 1NT - - -

West opened 1♣ and my partner made a rather bold 1♦ overcall. I responded 1♠ and West redbid 1NT, showing 15-17. Of course this 1NT rebid should have shown 18-19 as partner was unable to respond; the 15-17 1NT rebid is only if your partner has 6+. I nearly came back in with 2♠ but I'm glad I passed.

The spotlight was now on North. She led a Spade, and I was thankful. Declarer won and lead a Heart, putting the spotlight back on partner, who once again found the best play of a second Spade. Although declarer was also able to win this when I got back in with ♥A I was able to rattle off four Spade tricks, which was a very visual demonstration of the benefit of playing a long suit in NT to establish it, even if it means losing a couple of tricks first. With the Clubs well placed we actually took ten tricks in defence, leaving declarer to suffer in 1NT-4.

My partner and I were not the top North-South pair, but one of our pupils was part of the top East-West pair. I defended one hand with her at the end, and she seemed to be paying no attention at all then suddenly claimed the last three tricks in defence, showing an excellent appreciation of which cards to keep and which ones had gone.

I enjoyed being declarer a few times myself as I've not played for six months (since the baby, pictured at the end of this post). I think the pupils enjoyed playing in a proper event, albeit a very relaxed one. And by the end of course they'd all mastered the score sheets, and were filling in the Opening Leads long after I'd stopped bothering.

I hope to go back in a few weeks with some other pupils, as they do seem to bring a lot of joy to the club. And from my experience they love the thrill of a competition (just like me). It's always tense wondering what's going to happen, and hoping for a good result. And the younger they get into it the better they'll be.

Scottish Schools Minibridge Tournament - Glasgow Division

After last years's Scottish Schools Championship (see here) I was now keen to see the Minibridge version. I was originally just going to go as an adult helper, but found that the four youngest members of the school bridge club (who are primary age and therefore qualify) were keen for a day out. I spent a couple of lunchtimes with them getting the basics, then on the train journey across to St Andrew Bridge Club made sure they knew about the difference between choosing a part score or game contract.

The event was well attended, with 12 teams of four. There are similar events in Dundee and Inverness, and once they are complete we'll have an overall winner for Scotland.

Each of the six rounds consisted of two board matches against another team. This was an appropriate amount of boards to play in the day, and I also approve of taking lunch 2/3 of the way through the day, and I know my team approved of the large amount of squash and biscuits.

After only playing for a few months I was delighted the team stepped up well, and were not out of place. I think that playing in a competitive match in a proper bridge club gave them a lot more focus. I've never really been a fan of minibridge but seeing the kids agonise over the pros and cons of going for a game it suddenly made sense, as they are getting lots of good practice in planning their dummy play.

The High School of Glasgow in action against a pair from the winning Hutcheson's team.

The hands were carefully chosen so that game was nearly always possible, but often required careful play. I often saw the classic mistakes of novice players: focusing too much on taking winners now rather than building tricks. Sometimes in a 3NT contract declarer would cash his seven winners, then pause as he didn't know what to do, before reluctantly playing something and the defence get the final six tricks. But then of course you have to remember these are young children learning the game, and they are learning it fast.

I noticed improvement from my team during the day, and there was a eureka moment of sorts on the final hand where needing one more trick declarer recognised he had the ♦QJT, so deliberately lost two tricks, establishing his ♦Q as the key trick.

Going into the final round, we were joint third, but lost heavily after some high-quality play from the Hutcheson's A declarer:

♠ 9 8 7 5 ♥ Q 7 5 ♦ 8 6 5 ♣ J 9 5 ♠ ♥ K J T 4 ♦ A K 9 7 ♣ K Q T 7 6 3 16 6 15 ♠ A T 6 4 ♥ 9 8 6 3 ♦ Q T 3 ♣ 8 4 ♠ K Q J 3 2 ♥ A 2 ♦ J 4 2 ♣ A 3 2

By the rules of minibridge West is declarer, as he has the most points in the partnership with more points. With only 22 combined many would settle for partscore (e.g. 1♥) but this West immediately chose 4♥. Was he adding points for the void, or maybe counting losers? Was he using the fact that he knew the ♣A was onside (as everyone announces their points)? It was an inspired decision, as when I came back from getting a cup of tea he had ten tricks, which produced a healthy swing when our declarer made the unwise choice of attempting 5♣. So overall we had to settle for fifth.

Overall I think all the children had a really good day, and this has further increased their enthusiasm for bridge. Here are final standings, as best I remember:

1	Hutcheson's Alpha
2	Troon
3	Hutcheson's A
4	?Belhaven
5	HSOG

School Pairs Tournament

A couple of weeks ago we had our first Pairs Tournament to determine the top pair in the school (of those that were present). Because we only meet during lunchtime I stretched it over two days and was flexible with who played which boards. I used deals which had already been played at the Buchanan Club and compared each result with the average for pairs sitting in that direction, which meant it didn't matter if only one pair in my tournament played a board.

Of course it was better when several pairs played the same board, and I was pleased to see the kids informally comparing outcomes on the same board. For example:

On both tables North-South went overboard. First Amelie played 2NT-3, then Jack played 3NT-3. Jack felt he had done better than the other declarer, by making more tricks, but I had to explain that he got the same score. When Anna and I played this hand at the Buchanan we sat East-West and got a good score for defeating 3♦x by two tricks.

On the first table Sophia sitting East bid and made an excellent 4♠. When Anna and I played it we sat East-West and also made 4♠. It's actually unbeatable as long as the defence don't find an unlikely Club ruff. How Sophia and Amelie got to 4♠ I don't know, but I imagine there was some competitive bidding. It was certainly competitive at the other table, as South got to 5♥, doubled and redoubled. This went four off, for a massive score of 2200 to Amy and Ewan in defence.

However, I'm pleased to say that enough hands were played that this giant penalty didn't determine the overall score, and it was the pair that made four game contracts (two of them doubled) that came out on top:

After half-term I'll have another go at organising a more formal pairs tournament when everyone is able to play. I think the pupils enjoy the extra pressure, and it forces them to speed up too.