……. being declarer in 6 Clubs doubled holding that North hand! Just 4 high card points.
Dummy goes down and you realise that your opponents (with 21) have got more high card points than you have and that you are missing 2 aces and two Kings! That didn’t faze Pat Lucas and Derek Crumpton on Thursday evening. I must ask them how the bidding went next time I see them. With a combination of careful card play and a lot of cross-ruffing the contract was secured. They scored 1190 and got a well-deserved 100% for their efforts! Brilliant!
A couple of reminders. Tuesday afternoon social bridge IS going ahead this week. It is the AGM on Thursday so please come early.
Hi Folks
Further to my Blog of yesterday I now attach (I hope!) a correct, final, final version of the Agenda for the AGM. I had mistakenly left Barry in as Treasurer.
Most members will be aware that Barry fulfilled the role of Treasurer of the club with distinction for a quarter of a century but that he is now enjoying his well-deserved retirement. He has been most ably succeeded in that position by Andrew Keeling. My apologies to both gentlemen for the mix up.
Hats off to Roger Baker, our eagle-eyed Auditor, who spotted my mistake within minutes of publication!
The AGM will take place at 6.30 pm sharp, prior to Bridge, on the evening of Thursday 23rd April (St George’s Day). The minutes from last year are available to view on the club website in the Club Information section. I expect that Pat (Chair) and Andrew (Treasurer) will publish their reports prior to the meeting
As far as I am aware, all existing officers and committee members are willing to stand for re-election but do feel free to put yourself or someone else forward – we are always looking for fresh blood!
If you have any proposals for the AGM, please let me have them asap. If a proposal requires a change of constitution it requires 28 days notice, other proposals 21 days. At the moment, the only proposal that I have is from Fred who wants biscuits with his tea but he requires a seconder!
At our most recent committee meeting, we discussed the format of the individual night (fourth Thursday of the month). For next year/season, we propose to re-name this competition as “Random Partners”, with arrow switches on two rounds, to produce one set of results. There will be no final. Whoever has the best six scores will win the trophy (with 7th, 8th etc. as tie-break if needed). It was also agreed that we should run a pre-entered Individual event on a Sunday afternoon (probably instead of one of the Random-seeded team events).
If you are fortunate enough to be in possession of a Trophy from last year, could you please return it so that we can have them engraved and up-dated. We would also be grateful for ideas/suggestions regarding the Annual Dinner/Presentation Evening as it has been poorly supported in recent years.
The efficient running of the club requires a lot of work, often behind the scenes. I would like to thank all those willing volunteers, Officers, committee members, Directors, Dealers, Scorers, Teachers, (and Roger Baker!) for all their hard work over the year.
All the best. Andy.
Here at Bassingham Bridge Club we pride ourselves on our “fun and friendly” bridge playing environment. However we cannot be complacent about this and, just occasionally, it is worth drawing members’ attention to the “best behaviour at Bridge” section of our website. You will find it in the Members only section and we should all remind ourselves of it from time to time. In particular “it is rude to criticise your partner or opponents”. So, please don’t.
Moving on …. This hand cropped up last Thursday but fewer than half the N/S pairs managed to bid the slam.
Congratulations to the two pairs of “Grand Slammers” who bid and made 7 No Trumps.
Rachel Williams and Robin Charleston also Geraldine Johnson and Andrew Keeling.
Grand Slams don’t come along very often although there was another interesting one the previous week, 23rd October. Here it is:
Congratulations this time to William Booth and Tom Jolliffe, the only pair to bid and make 7 Spades on this wonderful hand. One rather peculiar feature of the N/S hands is that, as the cards lie, there are actually 18 winners!
Enjoy your Bridge but make sure that you keep it “Fun and Friendly”.
It’s said that you wait ages for a bus and then two come along together. It appears that the same applies to Grand Slams too!
Congratulations to Charles and Lynda who were the only pair to bravely bid up to the 7 level on boards 4 and 11 yesterday evening and, of course, score outright tops on both boards. They have also propelled themselves towards the top of the slam trophy ladder.
Slam hands have been quite scarce so far this year but East/West had a bit of a bonanza last night. Perhaps Charles and Lynda should buy the dealer a pint? ….. I wonder who that was?
We have been approached by the Open Gardens Event organisers to see if Bassingham Bridge Club, would be willing to contribute a flower arrangement on the day of the event – Sunday 8th June. I believe that all village organisations have been similarly approached. All the arrangements will be displayed in the church. It’s not a competition and there will be no judging. If you would be willing to be part of a small team to prepare a floral display of some sort could you please let me know. The club will cover your costs.
The Annual Dinner on Friday evening was most enjoyable and I think we may have found ourselves a suitable venue once more. Thanks to Fred for organising. Photos are on the club website.
Only one E/W pair bid and made this 6 Clubs slam on Board 7 on Thursday evening – Congratulations to Sheila Dalziel and Louise Gravil. I believe that Sheila took charge of the bidding and that Louise “brought home the bacon”!
Beginners/Improvers can you see how to avoid losing the two red Kings? The crucial thing is NOT to take the Heart finesse. Once you have drawn trumps, take the finesse in the longer and stronger red suit – Diamonds. You are now able to ditch two losing heats in the East hand on Diamond winners, giving you 12 tricks – 5 in clubs, 3 in Diamonds, 1 in Hearts and 3 in Spades. So there is no need to attempt the heart finesse at all.
As an aside, can you see why 6 No Trumps makes if West is declarer but should go one off if East is declarer?
Finally, a reminder that on Thursday 29th May (5th Thursday) we will be welcoming graduates from our academy to take part in a normal club duplicate event. They will be paired up with their mentors and the pace of play may be a little gentler than usual.
The AGM will take place in the Hammond Hall prior to Bridge on Thursday 24th April.
AGENDA
1. Apologies
2. Acceptance of last year’s minutes (see website)
3. Any matters arising
4. Treasurer’s Report (to follow)
5. Chair’s Report (attached – I hope!))
6. Election of Officers – As you will know, Barry Leverett is retiring as club treasurer. Pat Haslam (Chair) and Andy Milner (secretary) are willing to continue in office. There is one nomination for Club Treasurer – Andrew Keeling – proposed by Barry Leverett and seconded by Lesley Leverett.
7. Election of two committee members – Fred Myers and Liz Salmon are willing to continue on the committee. There are no other nominations.
8. Election of auditor.
