We are now just a week away from the start of the Bermuda Regional which, as always, kicks off with the Charity Pairs on Saturday, January 31. This is a tradition at the tournament and the players usually dress formally for the occasion.

There will then be three sessions at 9.30am, 2pm and 7.45pm on the following Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, two sessions at 9.30am and 2pm on Wednesday and Thursday, and at 9.30am and 1.15pm on the Friday to allow players to put on their best togs in time for the Closing Dinner and Disco Prizegiving on Friday evening.

The event will once again be held at the Hamilton Princess and Beach Club where Tim Morrison and his team will, as always, stage a special event for our guests.

The Princess is a world class hotel and was recently voted Best of The Best in the Caribbean by TripAdvisor, which means the competition was stiff.

Locals and visitors should take the opportunity to view the world-renowned art collection on view throughout the hotel, and I believe the hotel arranges a weekly tour for guests who wish to view the art.

The tournament came back to Bermuda in 2024, having been shelved during and post-Covid, and much credit for that should go to the outgoing chairwoman Rachael Gosling, whose drive and tenacity resulted in its return and subsequent growth.

Taking over this year as co-chairs are the equally popular Steve Cosham (who was co-chair last year with Rachael) and Lisa Rhind who, after years of working on the committee are now thrust into the hot seats. They are both hugely personable and experienced, and will undoubtedly have a team in place that will deliver yet another great event for our visitors and locals.

See more in next week’s column on the tournament details.

It took me a while to decide on putting this week’s hand in the column, because it needs a bit more than the usual concentration to follow the chances available to make the contract, and as to how declarer improved upon the obvious options. See the hand and the bidding in Figure 1.

It was a fairly straightforward auction until the five-heart bid which this pair played as asking for a diamond (unbid suit) control — South judged that the King of diamonds was a sound enough reason to bid the slam. West led a trump.

When dummy appeared, declarer counted ten winners with chances for extra tricks in each of the side suits — if clubs were 3-3 or if the Queen was doubleton, or if the Queen of spades behaved the slam would roll home.

Declarer won the trump lead with dummy’s King and then drew two more rounds of trumps, discarding a diamond from dummy. Next, declarer cashed the Ace and King of clubs and ruffed a club — as the suit was not 3-3 and the Queen had not appeared, declarer now had to get an extra trick from either spades or diamonds.

This now became a classic case of combining chances, rather than relying on a simple finesse in spades or hoping the Ace of diamonds was with East. Declarer realised that the only extra chance available was to drop a singleton or doubleton Queen of spades.

If the latter was the case, declarer saw that he could make an overtrick by cashing the nine and seven of spades and the fifth club.

So, declarer led the Jack of spades to dummy’s King and ruffed a club, thereby establishing his eleventh trick, the long club. After that, declarer led the ten of spades to dummy’s Ace, and lo and behold, the Queen appeared! Declarer immediately claimed the rest of the tricks.

Notice that if the Queen of spades had not appeared under the Ace of spades, declarer would throw his remaining spade on dummy’s club winner before leading a diamond towards his King, hoping East had the Ace.

So declarer combined three chances — clubs being 3-3 or Queen doubleton, the spade Queen falling and the Ace of diamonds being with East, making the Slam something close to 70 per cent.

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

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Friday, January 16

1 Peter Donnellan/Jane Smith

2 Diana Diel/Stephanie Kyme

3 Tony Saunders/Margaret Way

Monday, January 19

North/South

1 Jane Smith/Sancia Garrison

2 Peter Donnellan/Lynanne Bolton

3 Rachael Gosling/Margaret Way

East/West

1 Judith Bussell/Martha Ferguson

2 Patricia Siddle/Diana Diel

3 Richard Hall/Jane Gregory

Tuesday, January 20

North/South

1 Barbara Harrington/Eldon Lewis

2 Veronica Boyce/Carol Eastham

East/West

1 Amanda Ingham/Heidi Dyson

2 Veronica Boyce/Carol Eastham

Wednesday, January 21

North/South

1 Charles Hall/Stephanie Kyme

2 Wenda Krupp/Sally Irvine

East/West

1 Gertrude Barker/Jane Smith

2 Betsy Baillie/Lynanne Bolton

Thursday, January 22

1 Gertrude Barker/Betsy Baillie

2 Delton Outerbridge/Margaret Way

3 John F W Glynn/Rachael Gosling