Yet more innovation at the Bermuda Bridge Club as today sees both sessions of the Open Pairs taking plac,e with the first session at 10am and the second about an hour after the first concludes — it should all be done by 6pm.

Refreshments will be available in between sessions. It should be competitive with 20 pairs having signed up.

Following hot on the heels of this event is the Junior Teams, which will be held on Tuesday, November 7 and Tuesday, November 14, with the Open Teams being held on Monday, November 20 and Friday, November 24, with sessions starting at 7.30pm.

Before I get to the hand, there is sad news of the passing of Margaret Vaucrosson at the age of 81 in London, Ontario.

Marge was a regular player at the Club in the 1970s and 1980s. She won the Junior Teams in 1979 and was always a delight to play against, or meet, with her quiet and gentle manner. Her late husband Charles formed a formidable partnership with Alan Douglas over three decades. Her son Randy played at the Club and Andrew, Norma and Melanie were known to all of us.

There will be a formal service at St John’s Anglican Church on November 18 at 10.30am. Contributions in her memory can be made to The Eliza Dolittle Society, a wonderful charity that was actually founded by Margaret. Our thoughts are with her family.

This week’s hand came up at the Club some 30 years ago. For those of you who play at the Club, I was sitting South at the table closest to the kitchen, partnering Colin Millington.

It was one of those nights where we held no cards so there was a lot of defending to do, which is quite taxing.

I picked up S5,?HJ654, DK762, CK652 and heard the bidding go a weak 2 Spades on my left, pass by partner and the 6NT on my right, all pass. I was on lead.

I hated this. I didn’t want to lead the singleton spade in case it picked up something for declarer; I didn’t want to lead away from one of my kings as clearly the high cards were on my right, and I hate leading away from jacks.

In the end I plumped for a low heart and this is what I saw:

SKQJ762

H872

D83

C 94

S5

HJ654

D762

CK652

Partner played the 10 of hearts and declarer won with the King. Declarer now played Ace of spades and another and I knew I had 5 discards to find — four were easy, two from each minor suit, but where should the 5th come from?

Have you decided? Are there any clues? I think so. Give it ome thought before reading on.

Well, the one card South cannot throw is a heart. Why? Think back to trick one — partner played the heart 10 marking declarer with the AKQ….and the 9. If partner had the 109 he would have played the 9 at trick one, not the ten.

The full hand:

S10984

H103

DJ1094

CJ108

SKQJ762 SA3

H872 HAKQ9

D83 DAQ5

C94 CAQ73

S5

HJ654

DK762

CK652

Declarer has only one entry to dummy so can take only one finesse. He has to hope he chooses the right one or that the defence makes a mistake, so he runs all his spades and comes down to this before the last spade is played:

S

H3

DJ1094

CJ10

S7 S

H87 HAQ9

D83 DAQ

C94 CAQ

S

HJ65

DK7

CK6

Having figured this out South now watches Declarers discards and pitches the suit that declarer last discards — if he discards the diamond queen throw a diamond, if he discards the club queen throw a club. Now, when he takes the losing finesse, play back a minor suit and wait for your heart trick.

Three things to note. Third hand always plays its highest card, so when partner plays the 10 you know declarer has AKQ. Defenders must also play the lower of touching cards so when partner plays the heart 10 you know declarer has the nine. There is no getting away from it. You have to think at this game.

Bridge Results The week of October 23

Monday afternoon

North/South

1. Tony Saunders/Jean Johnson

2. Judith Bussell/Stephanie Kyme

3. Elysa Burland/Greta Marshall

East/West

1. Magda Farag/Sheena Rayner

2/3. Barbara Cerra/Pat Cerra,

Margaret Way/Gill Butterfield

Monday evening

1. Greta Marshall/James Leitch

2. Magda Farag/Sheena Rayner

3. David Sykes/Charles Hall

Tuesday evening

North/South

1. Claude Guay/Sharon Shanahan

2. Sally Irvine/Leeanne Hinton

3. George Ogden/Sandra Ogden

East/West

1. Mike Dawson/Joann Dawson

2. Carol Jones/Wendy Salvia

3. Louise Payne/Katyna Rabain

Wednesday afternoon

1. Heather Woolf/Greta Marshall

2. Patricia Siddle/Julia Beach

3. Joyce Pearson/Julia Lunn

Thursday evening

1. Edward Betteto/Fabian Hupe

2. Charles Hall/David Sykes

3. Margaret Way/Diana Diel

Friday afternoon

North/South

1. Judith Bussell/Stephanie Kyme

2. Elizabeth McKee/Diana Diel

3. Louise Rodger/Magda Farag

East/West

1. Patricia Siddle/Julia Beach

2. Barbara Cerra/Pat Cerra

3. Charles Hall/Tony Saunders