Well, the big day is here and tonight sees the start of the Bermuda Regional 2020 with the traditional Charity Game kicking things off — A big welcome to all our visitors, most of whom come from the East Coast of Canada and the US together with a smattering from the UK and Europe.

Tournament chairwoman Sheena Rayner and her team are expecting more visitors than last year and will be working extra hard to ensure that all goes smoothly.

I’ll bring you ongoing news next week and then a full roundup the week after.

Now, finally, the answer to the quiz from two weeks ago!

You open a strong two Clubs with the North hand, partner bids two Hearts to show a bust and you jump to four Spades. The defence starts by cashing three Hearts and then switches to a Diamond — over to you. (Fig 1)

With no entries to dummy you don’t have many choices, so you should get there! Trumps break kindly.

At the table many will win the Diamond and run five Spades hoping for someone to throw a club, and then eventually play the Clubs — and go one down.

Now see if you can find the play looking at all four hands. (Fig 2)

Do you see it now? The success of the hand revolves around the Club suit — if they are 3-3 all is well, but what if they are 4-2 or 5-1? You have to be brave on this — if Clubs do not break 3-3 the defender with the long Clubs may be the one with the three trumps so win the Diamond, draw only two rounds of trumps and now play the Ace-King-Queen of Clubs. When West can’t ruff the third one, you ruff your fourth Club in dummy and claim ten tricks. If the third Club gets ruffed you were going to go down anyway if you had drawn trumps, so it really is a case of pay me now, or pay me later.

So you now see the play — the next challenge is to have the guts to make the play at the table.

Results for week of January 13

Monday afternoon

North/South

1. William Pollett/Molly Taussig

2. Rosemary Smith/Alan Douglas

3. George Correia/Lorna Anderson

East/West

1. Edward Betteto/Joseph Wakefield

2. John Burville/Sancia Garrison

3. Magda Farag/Sheena Rayner

Tuesday evening junior game

North/South

1. Katyna Rabain/Louise Payne

2. Wenda Krupp/Jane Gregory

3. Julia Cook/Margaret Kirk

East/West

1. Nikki Boyce/Carol Eastham

2. Mike Dawson/Joann Dawson

3. Amanda Ingham/Heidi Dyson

Wednesday morning

North/South

1. Alan Douglas/Lorna Anderson

2. Gertrude Barker/Jane Smith

3. Diana Diel/Stephanie Kyme

East/West

1. Patricia Siddle/Julia Beach

2. Linda Pollett/William Pollett

3. Tracy Nash/Desmond Nash

Thursday evening

North/South

1. Charles Hall/Judith Bussell

2. Alan Douglas/Rachael Gosling

3. Susan Adhemar/Peter Adhemar

East/West

1. David Sykes/Bill Souster

2. Linda Pollett/Willilam Pollett

3. Sarah Lorimer-Turner/Noula Contibas

Friday afternoon

North/South

1. Alan Douglas/Rosemary Smith

2. Judith Bussell/Stephanie Kyme

3. Charles Hall/John Hoskins

East/West

1. Bill Souster/Joseph Wakefield

2. William Pollett/Peter Donnellan

3. Patricia Siddle/Julia Beach