A number of people ask me whether I play bridge for money – well, I have in the past played for a lot of money in competitive rubber bridge games but most of the time, like the overwhelming majority of bridge players, I play for the satisfaction of doing well.

Success is measured in wins, trophies and “masterpoints“ which are awarded by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) for all sanctioned games at the club or tournament level, and nowadays that includes online bridge.

Newcomers start with zero masterpoints and slowly make their way up the ladder, the first milestone being Junior Master (five masterpoints) and then up the ladder to the first big objective for most players – Life Master status which requires 300 masterpoints.

Above this there are various grades of Life Master — Bronze (500), Silver (1000), Ruby (1500), Gold (2,500), Sapphire (3,500), Diamond (5,000), Emerald (7,500), Platinum (10,000) and then the pinnacle of Grand Life Master which is a Platinum Life Master with a victory in various defined national or World Bridge Federation events.

All of the above information is provided to put in context the exceptional achievement by local member Marge Way who just achieved Sapphire status by winning 3,500 masterpoints. This is a remarkable milestone, gained over more than five decades of playing, and is a result of many club, sectional and regional successes along the way that each contributed to the total.

Many congratulations to Margie, who has been at the forefront of local bridge for so many years, has represented Bermuda on numerous occasions, and has become a respected teacher of the game.

I have played countless games against Margie and, for me, her greatest strength is her ability to bring nearly 100 per cent of her skill to the table. Many players get too distracted, intimidated or emotional at the table and rarely perform to their highest levels, but Marge has the ability to block it all out, keep a clear head and perform at near maximum efficiency – a rare attribute. Many congratulations, Margie!

Today was scheduled for the two-session Junior Club Championship at the Bridge Club, but sadly the event has been cancelled due to insufficient entries.

This week’s hand is a great example of the benefits of planning ahead as declarer. See Figure 1.

The bidding was over quickly – south opened one spade, West bid two hearts and when North bid two spades, South jumped to the spade game.

West led the King of hearts, asking for count in the suit. When this held, he continued with the Ace and Queen of hearts, as East discarded a high club pip. Before ruffing the third heart, declarer paused to form a plan. As he had a combined ten trumps and the Ace-Queen-nine of diamonds in hand, declarer’s mind turned towards exploring the possibility of executing an elimination with an end-play to follow.

So, after ruffing the third heart, declarer led his club to the Ace and ruffed dummy’s eight of clubs high. Then he crossed back to dummy with a low trump to dummy’s eight, noting that both opponents followed.

Next he ruffed the Jack of clubs high, then led a low trump to dummy’s ten. As both hearts and clubs had been eliminated, and declarer had trumps in his hand and dummy, declarer now led a diamond from table with the intention of covering any card played by East.

In practice, East played the ten of diamonds and declarer covered with the Queen. West took this with the King and found himself end-played: either he had to lead a diamond into declarer’s Ace-nine tenace over East’s Jack-small, or lead a heart which declarer would ruff in dummy while discarding the nine of diamonds from hand. No matter which option West chose, declarer had ten tricks.

Really well thought out by declarer and the success on the hand came from having a plan at trick one instead of waking up to one later in the game.

• It’s always good to see a name from the past turn up in results – congratulations to Louise Rodger and one-time resident Barbara Huntington who now lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada – they posted a sixth place finish on BBO out of 232 pairs with a 65 per cent game – great result!

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

BRIDGE CLUB RESULTS

Friday, April 21

1. Joseph Wakefield-Charles Hall

2. Elysa Burland-Molly Taussig

3. Jane Smith- Margaret Way

Monday, April 24

North/South

1. Jack Rhind Charles Hall

2. Peter Donnellan-Lynanne Bolton

3. Geoff Bell-Kathleen Bell

East/West

1. Joseph Wakefield-Stephanie Kyme

2. Elysa Burland-Molly Taussig

3. Judith Bussell-Richard Meredith

Tuesday, April25

North/South

1. Tim Mardon-Richard Hall

2. Greta Peters-Rosemary Smith

3.Wenda Krupp-Barbara Elkin

East/West

1. Tracey Pitt-Desiree Woods

2. James Fielding-Catherine Kennedy

3. Louise Charleson-Matthew Charleson

Wednesday, April 26

1. Betsy Ballie-Sharon Shanahan

2. Richard Gray-Wendy Gray

3. Tony Saunders-Molly Taussig

Thursday, April 27

1. William Pollett-Mark Stevens

2. Linda Pollett-Elizabeth McKee

3. Margaret Way-Molly Taussig

Non-Bridge Club Online Results for Bridge Club Members

April 27: Elizabeth McKee and Stephanie Kyme - 6th out of 184 pairs