The two session Junior Open Pairs took place at the Bermuda Bridge Club last Saturday and after an extremely close contest Sharon Shanahan and Claude Guay emerged as the winners by just over a board.

In second place were Lisa Ferrari and Adeline Young, with Carol Jones–Wendy Salvia in third and Wenda Krupp–Joanne Edwards in fourth.

In Flight B, Krupp and Edwards finished on top with Heather and Michael Farrugia and Alison Everard–Jane Gregory in joint second.

The contest was incredibly close after the first session with Ferrari–Young on 50.5, Shanahan–Guay on 50 and Everard– Gregory and Mike and Jo-Ann Dawson on 47.5.

The second session stayed close until the last round when Shanahan–Guay pulled ahead.

Many congratulations to Sharon and Claude for the win and to Lisa and Adeline for the close second place.

Well done also to all the placed pairs and it is good to see some new names in the mix.

This week’s hand came up on Monday afternoon, so you can go back and see what you did on it!

Board 12

Dealer West N/S Vul

You are South and I will start by giving you your hand, dummy and the bidding:

Partner leads the 2 of Spades and it is now up to you after you win the Ace.

The first thing to remember is that you are playing Pairs Bridge where, if you cannot beat a contract you have to restrict overtricks.

Beating the contract looks impossible — partner almost certainly has the Spade King based on his lead of the 2, which leaves 16 points that you cannot see — declarer almost certainly has AKQ of Clubs, and if he has both red Kings with it there is no hope.

If he has the Heart King, the Diamond finesse is working so that looks bad.

But what if declarer needs to set up the Diamonds? Now you see your only chance and switch to — the Queen of Hearts!

The full hand

If you had returned a black suit, declarer can win, cash the Diamond King, cross to the Club Jack, ruff a Diamond setting up the suit, draw trumps and now cross to the Heart Ace to enjoy the Diamonds — 12 tricks!

See what the Heart lead does — there is now no route to collect 12 tricks and declarer makes the contract for plus 400 — that gains you a couple of extra matchpoints over — 420 which could be crucial in the final tally.

The hand doesn’t actually need a ton of analysis in defence — basically, if you see a long suit that looks dangerous just concentrate on knocking out entries to that hand as early as possible — just that thought would have got you there!

Results

Monday afternoon

North/South

1, Molly Taussig/Diana Diel

2, Marilynn Simmons/Patricia Colmet

3, Richard Gray/Wendy Gray

East/West

1, Julia Lunn/Heather Woolf

2, Patricia Siddle/Margaret Way

3, Jean Johnson/Joseph Wakefield

Tuesday evening

North/South

1, John Kessaram/Patricia Rodrigues

2, Hugh Gillespie/Catherine Kennedy

East/West

1, Nikki Boyce/Carol Eastham

2, Heather Farrugia/Michael Farrugia

Wednesday morning

North/South

1, Linda Pollett/Jean Johnson

2, Tony Saunders/Molly Taussig

3, Louise Rodger/Greta Marshall

East/West

1, Patricia Siddle/Diana Diel

2, Joseph Wakefield/Elizabeth McKee

3, Peter Donnellan/Lynanne Bolton

Thursday evening

North/South

1, Peter Donnellan/Judith Bussell

2, David Pickering/John Luebkemann

3, Fabian Hupe/Jean Johnson

East/West

1, Gertrude Barker/Jane Smith

2, Alan Douglas/Richmond Simmons

3, Elizabeth McKee/Stephanie Kyme

Friday evening

North/South

1, Heather Woolf/Greta Marshall

2, Alan Douglas/Jane Smith

3, Joseph Wakefield/Malcolm Simmons

East/West

1, Magda Farag/Peter Donnellan

2, Charles Hall/Tony Saunders

3, Gertrude Barker/Marilynn Simmons