You know that summer is well and truly over when the tournament season starts at the Bridge Club.

Kicking us off is the Open Teams which takes place on October 25 with the first of two sessions starting at 9.30am, with sandwiches being provided before the second session. The sign-up sheet is posted at the club — sign up as a team of four.

Today’s hand (see Figure 1) is a lot of fun — I rarely use “constructed” hands in this column but the hand is a classic, and also has tremendous instructional value. Also hidden somewhere in it is a quiz question: which is the most important single card of the 52 in the hand?

In both rooms, West opened the bidding four hearts and after two passes South bid four spades, which became the final contract. In the Open Room, West led the king of hearts, which East ruffed!

East now returned the king of Clubs — declarer won this and after drawing trumps had to lose two clubs and a diamond — down one!

In the Closed Room things went a bit differently — West once again led the heart King but when East ruffed South threw away the Ace of hearts! Declarer now won the club switch, drew trumps noting that West started with two, cashed the Ace-King of Diamonds and threw West in with a heart, leaving this position (see Figure 2).

West was on lead and now when West continued hearts, providing a ruff and discard, South refused it and made the masterful play of throwing a diamond from dummy and a club from hand leaving West on lead!

Now on the next heart, a second ruff and discard, declarer ruffed in dummy and threw away his last club — he now ruffed club in his hand, ruffed a diamond in dummy and claimed! Just brilliant!

But, but, but … West could have thwarted this play by using the most important card in the hand — the two of hearts! West must retain the heart two, and at trick five when declarer leads the three of hearts towards the four in dummy, West must play the two and let him win the trick! There is now nowhere for declarer to go and he loses two clubs and a diamond for down one!

How should West know to make that play? Well, here is the instructional part of the hand, for which we go back to Homer’s Odyssey and the story of the Trojan Horse  — beware of Greeks bearing gifts!

West must ask himself why declarer made that crazy looking play at trick one and, perhaps even without knowing why, must refuse the trick, making himself a legend and defeating the contract in one fell swoop! Nice — very nice!

• David Ezekiel can be reached on davidezekiel999@gmail.com

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Friday, October 3

1 Tony Saunders/Patricia Siddle

2 Elysa Burland/Heather Woolf

3 Sancia Garrison/Caroline Svensen

Monday, October 6

North/South

1 Tony Saunders/Charles Hall

2 Elysa Burland/Molly Taussig

3 Sheena Rayner/Stephanie Kyme

East/West

1 Sancia Garrison/Jane Smith

2 Patricia Siddle/Diana Diel

3 Lorna Anderson/Heather Woolf

Tuesday, October 7

North/South

1 Chris Van Rooyen/Richard Bruton

2 Barbara Harrington/Eldon Lewis

East/West

1 Tracey Pitt/David Leach

2 Ian Boatman/Muna Vallis

Wednesday, October 8

1 William Pollett/Linda Pollett

2 Elizabeth McKee/Rachael Gosling

3 Sheena Rayner/Stephanie Kyme