Last week’s Bermuda Bridge Club AGM saw the election of Stephanie Kyme as the new president on the retirement of Wendy Gray after a 2½-year stint.

The Committee remains pretty much the same, other than Martha Ferguson stepping down as secretary after a valuable contribution in that position. Stephanie has been a long-time member of the Club and will have the confidence of the members.

So that you know, the current Committee is as follows: Stephanie Kyme – president; Tracy Nash – vice-president; Richard Gray – treasurer; Peter Donnellan – tournament director; Heidi Dyson – secretary; Wendy Gray – immediate past president.

Other committee members are: John Burville, Judy King, Bill Pollett, Malcolm Moseley, Linda Pollett and Rob Mulderig.

A really solid looking group, and well deserving of the big bucks they collect for taking this on …

Wendy leaves the post after a stellar, and for much of the time stressful, tenure as president, as the club needed a steady hand amid the Covid crisis with a multitude of sometimes conflicting issues to be addressed.

How to keep the club financially stable, when to try and get the physical games started, how to keep the membership safe at the same time as trying to get them back in?

With the help of a supportive committee, Wendy navigated the club through a tough time.

Part of the solution was that the club sponsored online games on BridgeBase Online – this kept players engaged and ready to return when the physical games started, gave them ranking points, and also contributed to the club finances, as the club earned revenue from member participation.

With a fairly vulnerable membership, handling the return to the club was an exercise fraught with danger, but by ensuring that all the necessary protocols were developed and adhered to, Wendy guided the club slowly back to being a place where players not only enjoy the competition, but have the social interaction that is not only fun but is a key contributor to good health and longevity.

I know that Wendy steps down with the thanks and gratitude of the entire membership, and we all wish her a good rest and happy bridge going forward. We now welcome Stephanie to the post, and she will be a popular successor.

Before I get to the hand, a bit more about my talk on April 1.

The topic is “How to Win at Bridge”, and it will be held at the Bridge Club, from 2pm to 5pm, on Saturday, April 1.

There will be some breaks and refreshments and the event is open to members and non-members. There is no charge, but we will have a donation box for a couple of nominated charities.

There will be a summary sheet handed out that will list all the topics being covered with notes on some of them.

The talk will be interactive and open to Q&A throughout.

Broad topic listing (still being developed!)

• General approach to the game

• How to improve bidding, declarer play, defence

Bidding:

• General approach to 2/1

• Forcing NT

• The NT complex

• Conventions – which ones are essential, which others are useful

• Pre-emptive bidding

• Competitive bidding – when opponents interfere, when opponents open the bidding

• Opening in third seat

• Slam bidding

• The importance of vulnerability

• Bidding well at pairs

• Doubles – when and why

Declarer play

• Planning

• Using your trumps

• Using your entries

• Important suit combinations and how to play them

• Some simple odds

Defence

• General approach, based on the bidding

• The need for patience

• Frequent count signals

• Discards

• Leads

After all that, not much room for the hand, so try this as double dummy problem – and be careful – when you think you’ve solved it, you may not have against good defence, so think it through! See Figure 1.

West opens four hearts, which comes around to South, who bids four spades, which becomes the final contract.

West leads the heart King, which is ruffed by East! Over to you!

The solution will appear in next week’s column. If you think you’ve solved it you can e-mail me at the address below.

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

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Friday, March 10

1. John Glynn - Molly Taussig

2. Charles Hall - William Pollett

3. Diana Diel - Stephanie Kyme

Saturday, March 11

Open Pairs Championship

1. John Burville - David Cordon

2. Miodrag Novakovic - Margaret Way

3. Gertie Barker - Jane Smith

Monday, March 13

North/South

1. Rachael Gosling - Margaret Way

2. Stephanie Kyme - Joseph Wakefield

3. Richard Gray - Wendy Gray

East/West

1. Judith Bussell - Peter Donnellan

2. Elysa Burland - Molly Taussig

3. William Pollett - Linda Pollett

Tuesday, March 14

North/South

1. Carol Eastman - Nikki Boyce

2. Wenda Krupp - Jane Gregory

3. Jean Schilling - John Thorne

East/West

1. Richard Neame-Lulu Neame 70.61%

2. Louise Charleson-Matthew Charleson

3. Richard Hall-Tim Mardon

Wednesday, March 15

North/South

1. Charles Hall - Margaret Way

2. Sheena Raynor - Magda Farag

3. Peter Donnellan - Rachael Gosling

East/West

1. William Pollett - Linda Pollett

2. Greta Marshall - Lynanne Bolton

3. Judith Bussell - Dorry Lusher

Thursday, March 16

1. Miodrag Novakovic - Margaret Way

2. Jane Smith - Magda Farag

3. John Burville - Molly Taussig