Stamford Bridge Club held open day for Cancer Research UK and to encourage people into game

Last Sunday we held an open day at the clubhouse, writes Marcus Witt, of Stamford Bridge Club.

This served two purposes. First, we wanted to welcome those who have registered for our Autumn beginners’ courses; and, secondly, we have been taking part in the English Bridge Union’s (our national umbrella organisation) “Bridge - It’s A Big Deal” festival, the purpose of which was to promote this great game.

This was done in partnership with Cancer Research UK for which the EBU has set a target of fundraising £60,000 through its clubs and members. Along with the open day we also set aside two duplicates where the table fees would be given to CR UK. That has raised just under £500 but the figure will increase when private donations are included.

Hand of the Week

We are now into the “main season” for Tuesday evening competitions. A week last Tuesday we played the first round of the Anglia teams competition, a flagship event that always generates something of a buzz. This year 16 teams are taking part, an increase of two over recent years - a few old friends have returned to the fold and we have welcomed some new players to the event. Encouraging.

On today’s deal, seven declarers reached 6C and made all 13 tricks. A 3-1 trump break would have made that trickier but with clubs 2-2, declarer took two spades, two spade ruffs, three hearts (unblocking HQ early), a diamond and five clubs. Was it possible to bid the grand slam, a good (if not cast-iron) spot? In the diagram, when North bids 6H, South knows HQ is gold dust and that partner holds HAK, DA and CQ. Further, North has at most four cards in spades and diamonds. If that hand has 3 or 4 spades (i.e. 1 or 0 diamonds respectively) declarer plans to ruff two diamonds, pitching the losing spades on the long hearts. If declarer has 0, 1 or 2 spades (4, 3 or 2 diamonds respectively) declarer will do the reverse, ruffing spades and throwing diamond losers. Declarer has enough information to bid the grand slam (yes, an additional chance would develop if the outstanding hearts were 4-3. But they’re not).

Tip

It’s not enough to know that there is no immediate loser that would, as here, scupper a grand slam. But by working out possible distributions for partner it’s possible to find a logical approach to reaching 7C.