The organisation of the sessions is the responsibility of the director in charge of that particular session. We have been very fortunate to add some new directors recently.

They are John Adams, Alan Sims and Pamela Stuart-Brown. Congratulations on qualifying and thank you for your contributions.

Player profile

THIS week we will look at one of our new directors, Alan Sims.

Alan has now been playing bridge for about six years, having learnt at his former club Ballina, a club which would be about twice the size of our club. After retiring, he moved to Bathurst to be closer to family.

He enjoys the social interaction and the competition that playing bridge provides.

In addition to playing at the club, Alan is an avid online player. There are numerous ways to play online, but Alan plays with Stepbridge. Stepbridge is affiliated with the Australian Bridge Federation (ABF), so players earn master points.

The ABF newsletter for January this year listed Alan as the top performing player in the regional category for the McCutcheon results for last year.

Hand of the week

An interesting hand arose last Friday.

East had 22 high card points

S AK752, H AKJ, D A, C K1084 

Their partner West held this hand:

S J8, H Q632, D Q2, C AQ952

At our table, the bidding went as follows:

E 2 clubs (artificial showing a big hand)

W replied 2 diamonds (waiting)

W then showed their heart suit

E not interested in hearts but I have clubs

W 4 no trumps (Roman Keycard ask)

E (playing 1430) replied 5c, meaning one keycard

West knows that to be the club ace so bid 6 clubs, which is a small slam in clubs.

An examination of the bidding at other tables revealed one pair bidding to slam in no trumps (well done, Alan Adcroft and John Cox), two pairs bidding to slam in clubs, one playing in 3NT, two playing in 4S, one in 6H (going off!) and, alarmingly, one pair playing in 2S.

News

CONGRATULATIONS to Phil Cummings and Dick Ellis, who came 18th in a field of over 1600 in the recent Australia Wide Pairs.

Tip of the week

BE very wary of making a penalty double of misshapen hands.

Quote of the week

BRIDGE is a great comfort in your old age. It also helps you get there faster.