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The ink is barely dry on the 2010 calendar before we have our first correction.

The Club Barbecue will change from 12th Feb to 19th Feb. It was felt that it would not be appropriate to clash with Festivale. Although the club has no vested interest in the success or otherwise of Festivale, we would not like to lay ourselves open to accusations of stealing their patronage.

Andrew and Sandra Richman will again conduct a Beginners' Course in March/April 2010.

The course is aimed at those who have never played Bridge, have played very little, or have not played for a long time and need a refresher.

It will be held on 7 Wednesday evenings from 10th March to 21st April, from 7 PM (until about 10 PM).

Andrew and Sandra are one of Tasmania's leading pairs, and regular State representatives. Both are Grand Masters. The club is fortunate to have two such accomplished players willing to give their time.

Anyone interested can contact the club, or contact Andrew or Sandra. Email: LearnBridge@RichmanMail.com.

Cost will be $5.00 per lesson. The course text will be available for $10.


Intermediate/Advancing Players

On the 7th & 14th April, Andrew will present, in parallel, 2 lectures for Intermediate/Advancing players - "Winning bridge with better card play, bidding & tactics" (7:45 PM).

This was a hand from a recent club night. (Board 25, Thusday 19th March).

Consider how you would play these hands in 6 Hearts.

	♠ Q ♥ Q J 10 7 ♦ A K 9 8 4 3 2 ♣ 7
	♠ A 7 5 3 ♥ K 9 8 6 3 ♦ J ♣ A 10 5

At the club, I wasn't faced with the problem. Our bidding sequence made it very hard for us to find the heart fit, and we didn't! I played in 5 Diamonds, one off. So I apologize if this sounds patronising. (Yes, we have amended our bidding methods since!)

My reaction on seeing dummy was, "Woops! We have missed six Hearts!". I was amazed when the scores were announced. Everyone (except us) played in Hearts, but most had trouble making 4, let alone 6. The full range of scores was: 6H 3 off once, 5H 1 off once, 4H making twice, 4H one off 3 times, 4H 2 off once, and 5D 1 off once. As I expected, the Double Dummy analysis says N or S can make 12 tricks in Hearts.

This seems like a reasonable plan for the play:

• Win the opening lead. (unless, obviously, it is the HA).
• Play the DA.
• Ruff a low Diamond. Ruff with the K (or 9 or 8 or 6, it doesn't matter which, as long as it isn't the 3). If you are over-ruffed you want it to be with the Ace, not the 4 or 5. You will need to unblock the K at some stage, by ruffing with it, so it might as well be now.
• Play a trump to the Q. If the Ace wins, you win the return, either by ruffing or with SA or CA.
• If you are in hand now, play another trump to J. If you are in dummy, ruff another Diamond.
• Now the third round of trumps, won by 10 in dummy, will clear the trumps (unless they were 4-0, in which case you are in trouble. The DK will drop the last D (unless they were 5-0,; that's trouble too) and you can run the remaining Diamonds.
• You make your contract through 2 Heart tricks, a Club or Spade ruff, 2 Diamond ruffs, CA, SA, and 5 Diamond tricks, losing only to HA.

Here is the full hand.

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