The world of competitive bridge has, as one would expect, experienced a quantum change since I first started playing the game in the early 1970s, and most of the changes have been for the better – perhaps even more than “most“.

In those days a bridge playing room was usually smoke-filled, noisy, and for the most part, unattractive. Nowadays the smoke has gone, as I don’t know of any games that permit smoking, the noise has abated as players now do not vocalise their bids, but use bidding cards that are placed on the table, and playing conditions have improved immeasurably in terms of decor, lighting, provision of refreshments, etc – our local Bridge Club is a good example of this.

The scoring is computer driven through the entering of scores electronically and results are almost instantaneous – gone are the days when the director had to sit with bits of paper and score each board by hand, enter each score in a large score book, and then total each pair’s scores to determine the results, all of which took about 45 minutes after the game had ended. Nowadays the press of one button produces the results.

Another huge improvement is the provision of hand records after the game which show all four hands on each deal and provide estimated ratings for the most likely contracts.

At the highest level of the game there are even greater changes. There is a diagonal screen across each table so that each player cannot see his partner (but can only see one opponent) and the bidding cards are passed under the screen after both players on one side of the screen have bid.

All of this hugely reduces the possibility of cheating via facial expressions, voice inflections, signals involving hand movements etc, and hesitations in the bidding which usually impart some information to partner.

To cap it all off there is a stool under each table to stop players signalling secret information to partner using their feet – this came about after the 1975 Bermuda Bowl held at the Southampton Princess when one of the local monitors (scorers), Tracy Denninger, noticed suspicious foot movements from one pair. This was reported and after an investigation it was determined that the pair in question were cheating by way of one player keeping his feet still whilst the other described his hand by tapping out some form of Morse Code on partners’s feet! The pair were, after that tournament, referred to as the foot soldiers!

I played many times with Tracy and was in fact scoring in the next room at the time of this incident, which took the bridge world by storm – the team containing the foot-soldier pair were suspended, but were soon reinstated for the duration of the event to avoid the scandal and disruption caused by their suspension.

What has not changed in bridge is the brilliance and invention of the top players who find plays that the “normal“ players just can’t see – as in the hand below! See Figure 1.

North opened one club (intending to jump to 2NT on his next turn to show 19-21 HCP), East overcalled one heart and when South bid 1NT North had an easy raise to 3NT.

West led the heart nine and when the ten was covered by the Jack, South immediately has a do-or-die decision. If he took the King and West had the Ace of clubs, the contract is dead as West would lead another heart when in, and the contract is defeated. On this play if East has the club Ace the contract is safe, as hearts cannot be attached.

To counter West having the club Ace, declarer could duck the first heart which would leave the defence helpless, but now if it is East who has the club Ace, he will just play Ace and another heart and wait to cash the two remaining hearts when in with the club.

Most declarers played the over-caller for the club Ace and won the first heart, but this led to failure. See the full hand in Figure 2.

One bright declarer, however, found an inspiring play which guaranteed the contract no matter who held the Club Ace …. he played the heart Queen from dummy at trick one!

This was masterful, as it completely “freezes” the heart suit. East has to win the trick otherwise declarer would have a second heart stopper with the King, but once he wins it he cannot continue hearts without creating two more tricks for declarer in the heart suit …. try it!

Genius play by this declarer allowed for a comfortable nine tricks.

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Friday, September 30

1. Marge Way – Tony Saunders

2. Lorna Anderson – Joyce Pearson

3. Richard Gray – Joe Wakefield

Monday, October 3

1. Molly Taussig – Sheena Rayner

2. Lorna Anderson – Heather Woolf

3. Diana Diel – Pat Siddle

Tuesday, October 4

North/South

1. Katyna Rabain – Louise Payne

2. Wenda Krupp – Jane Gregory

East/West

1. Malcolm Moseley – Mark Stevens

2. Angela McKittrick – Richard Keane

Wednesday, October 5

1. Heather Woolf – Greta Marshall

2. Bill Pollett – Charles Hall

3. Tony Saunders – Ed Betteto

Thursday, October 6

1. Charles Hall – Bill Pollett

2. Gertie Barker – John Gynn

3. Marge Way – Rachael Gosling