DOUBLING at bridge can be very rewarding, but also is fraught with danger. Here is a hand from last week at Penarth Bridge club, where some pairs benefited from a double, while others did not.

The hand show the bidding at one table. South mistakenly led the A of diamonds to see what dummy had. He followed this with the K and 4 of diamonds.

East then cashed four club tricks, returned to hand with the A of hearts and led a heart, since after the two heart bid, South must surely have the K of hearts. South took the trick with his K, cashed the last diamond and returned a heart, which East took with the Q in dummy.

Cashing then the A and K of spades gave East nine tricks, for a top – 2 spades, 2 hearts, 1 diamond, and 4 clubs. Two hearts doubled went three off at some tables, South making only two diamonds and three hearts. But this only gained E/W 500 points, against 600 for a vulnerable game, a good sacrifice by N/S. In fact, 3NT doesn’t go off on a spade lead, as South only has two spades, and cannot lead back to North when he takes a second diamond. But a heart lead does get 3NT off. The J of hearts is taken by West’s Q. East then cashes 4 clubs, South discarding the 7 and 4 of diamonds. East then plays a diamond which South wins with which is taken by South’s K, who then takes three heart tricks to get 3NT one off for a top, N/S making 2 diamonds and 3 hearts.

Results at Penarth Bridge Club from last week

Tuesday 5th Nov. 2019

1st Alan Lightbody & Jim Elder; 2nd Vivien Duckers & Peter Sampson; 3rd Rod Hudson & Trish Tracey.

1st on handicap: Vivien Duckers & Peter Sampson

Thursday 7th Nov. 2019

1st N/S Sally Livsey Davies & Wyn Williams; 1st E/W Yvonne & Alan Simons

Friday 8th Nov 2019

1st equal Adrian Trickey & Trish Tracey with Simon Brindle & Tony Campbell (63.1%);3rd Rod & Angela Hudson (55.4%)

Handicap: Simon Brindle & Tony Campbell

Penarth Bridge Club runs several simultaneous pairs events (SIMS) during the year, where the same hands are played all over the country, and sometimes the world! So a date for your diary is Tuesday 12th November, when there will be a SIMS event in support of Children in Need. Penarth Bridge Club is a warm and friendly club that meets every Tuesday and Friday at Trinity Church Hall, Woodland Place, CF64 3EN. There is plenty of parking. We ask players to be in their seats by 6.45 pm so that we can set the movement for a prompt start at 7 pm. You can see each hand, compared with the results, on the web site https://www.bridgewebs.com/penarth/.

There is also an improvers’ session every Thursday morning starting at 10 am.

We have several social events during the year, linked to bridge. Contact campbellak@cf.ac.uk or via contacts on the web site for further information. Table up. Professor Tony Campbell