Results Wed 26 Sept 07

If you are on the Net (and if you're reading this you probably will be) you might like to look up Bridgeclub Live. It's an online Bridge Club run by the EBU with thousands of members from all over the world. It costs £64 for a year's membership but you can join as a guest free of charge for a month. This means you can play as much as you like, but only in the 'Social Bridge' room.

There are about ten 'rooms', each holding different sorts of event. You can play a whole series of duplicated hands in pairs, and in the evenings 'tourneys' or 16-board matches are available. There is even a room for beginners where you can get free online tuition by experts as you play.

You can always find a partner, simply by entering a room, looking for a vacant seat and sitting down. There are also messages at the bottom of the screen from tables short of one or more players. You can play as many hands as you wish - if your doorbell rings at home you just make your apologies and leave.

When you join, as member or guest, you have to invent a pseudonym for yourself. This means that nobody will know your true identity. My regular partner Gary was already a member when I joined, playing under the name 'Quixote', so I adopted the name 'Rosinante', the name of Don Quixote's horse on the grounds that I might have to carry him from time to time. My logo is of a sorry-looking nag, a fit steed for the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance.

The day after you've played Online Bridge you are e-mailed your percentage score for the boards you've played. You begin life as a lowly 'club' and as your average score increases you progress to diamond, then heart, then spade. The higher-ranking you are, the greater your handicap. With much help from Quixote I started life as a diamond, then quickly progressed to a spade. However after series of poor sessions I've gone back to being a heart and must try harder.

You can find the site on http://www.bridgeclublive.com Give it a go.

Results are as follows:

1st, Norman & Pamela, 61.1%; 2nd, Tricia & Shirley, 56.9%; 3rd, Harry & Audrey, 54.1%; 4th, Fred & Mo, 52.7%; 5th, Peter & Yvonne, 47.2%; 6th, George & Luigi, 43.0%; 7th, Danny & Jean, 34.7%

Pairs 5 & 7 made the scoring task longer by filling in pair numbers incorrectly on two boards. I shall have to consider 'fining' offending pairs some matchpoints in future.

Congratulations to Yvonne on her first solo session as a duplicate bridge player, and emerging from it (as far as we can tell) with her reason intact.

Results Wednesday 19th Sept 2007

There were some interesting hands this week, including one which featured a vulnerable 'sacrifice' bid by Danny. A sacrifice bid is one which is made in the expectation of going off, but worthwhile because you hope the penalty involved isn't as much as your opponents would score if they were allowed to play in a contract which will almost certainly make. If, for instance, your opponents are vulnerable and have bid game in spades (4S), they will score +620. Your partner came into the bidding with clubs early on in the auction. You have five-card club support and a void in spades. When the opposition have reached their contract of 4S, you might decide - as your side is non-vulnerable - to 'sacrifice' in 5C. This might have the effect of pushing your opponents into 5S (which they may not make.) What is more likely is that they will double your 5C for penalties. However, even if you go three off in your 5C contract, the penalty will only be minus 500 - better than being minus 620. Of course, if you go four off, the penalty is minus 800 and your sacrifice has failed.

If, however, the vulnerability were reversed in the example above, 4S would score +420, and 5C doubled two down would incure a penalty of minus 500 - a bad result. That's why a vulnerable sacrifice -especially against non-vul opponents - is a very rare bird indeed.

Danny, with an eight-card club suit, ignored his unfavourable vulnerability and over Yvonne and Harry's 4H bid ploughed on into 5C, which was doubled. He played it well to go two down, a score of minus 500. Since 4H would only score 420, this looked like a bad outcome; but when the traveller was opened the only result so far recorded was 4H with three overtricks - which scored 510! So Danny's sacrifice worked. The odd ten doesn't seem much, but it meant that Danny and Jean (his partner) had won both available matchpoints. Well done to them!

Results are as follows:

1st, Audrey & Ray, 66.6%; 2nd, Harry & Yvonne (aided by her charming assistant, though not much), 60.3%; 3rd, Fred & Mo, 59.5%, 4th, Luigi & George, 53.9%; 5th Pamela & Norman, 50.0%, 6th, Trish & Shirley, 41.2%; 7th, Pam & Tom, 40.4%; 8th, Danny & Jean, 27.7%.