Trumps Bridge Centre

6C contest at Trumps Summer Teams

The Trumps Summer Teams on 16 February was won by Chris Dibley, Chris Stead, Yumin Li and Peter Jeffery.

The event runners-up (David Beauchamp, Anita Curtis, David Fryda and David Hudson) clashed against the third-placed team (Les Grewcock, Peter Gill, Ruth Tobin and Liz Sylvester) on this deal reported by Peter Gill, where Grewcock and Fryda (both playing West) each made slam.

Grewcock opened 1C, Beauchamp bid 2NT (unusual, for the two lowest unbid suits, the reds), Sylvester bid 4NT, 5H by Curtis, pass, pass, 6C by East.

Grewcock won the heart lead, drew the missing trump, stripped the spades (SA, SK, ruff a spade) and led a low diamond from dummy towards the nine, covering when the D10 appeared. 100% play. Nice. 

At the other table - 1C by Fryda, pass by Tobin, 2C by Hudson, 3C by Gill (Michaels Cue, showing both majors), 5C by Fryda, pass, very slow well-judged 6C by Hudson. SJ lead, trumps drawn and again declarer (Fryda) stripped the hearts and spades. Low diamond from dummy, ducking Gill’s ten of diamonds. 1370. Flat board.

Of the 18 tables, six played 6C (four of them making), while six North-South pairs were in 6H doubled going two or three down (a good sacrifice, as long as the opponents were going to make 6C!).

Timeless distribution from 2008

The 2008 Spring Nationals Open Teams were won by the team of Ron Klinger of Northbridge. They narrowly defeated a team headed by another Northside player, Helen Horwitz.

The following board is reported by bridge maestro Peter Gill. Gill and Klinger had been teammates at the World Championships earlier in 2008, but Gill partnered Horwitz in this event. 

Read more: Timeless distribution from 2008

What's on Feb/March!

                                         What's on - Full List (Click hre)                          

• Intermediate lessons                                       (9.30am Wednesdays )
• Improver play                                                (1.30pm Thursdays)

 BRIDGE HOLIDAY

• Fairmont - Blue Mts                                           (Sun 29 Mar - Wed 1 Apr)

You can download and view our latest program schedule showing all regular (novice/supervised/intermediate/duplicate) sessions plus lessons and special events.

Preempt openings

These hands feature preempting decisions from the finals of a past World Championship.

High-level suit openings are weak or preemptive, showing a long suit and typically 6-10 HCP. As a guideline, a Weak Two shows a six-card suit, a 3-level preempt suggests a seven-card suit, while an eight-card suit (or other shapely hand such as a 7-4) is often opened even higher, up to game level.

Another important factor is vulnerability. When not vulnerable, be happy to preempt at least three tricks higher than you expect to make. Vulnerable, you may be a trick more cautious.

From the semifinals, here is a classic preempt:

Read more: Preempt openings