Clare Podger gave me the sad news that Lorna Fewtrell passed away on Tuesday 30 August.

I had personally known Lorna for over 33 years when she came to one of my Bridge classes though some members had known her for considerably longer than that.  Lorna was then  an original member of Badger Farm Bridge Club when it was held in Olivers Battery.  She continued to be a regular attendee right up to just a few weeks before she died and playing  good club level  Bridge at the age of 95 is no mean feat!

Lorna was always extremely polite and courteous at the Bridge table and had a great spirit in her approach to the game.  I remember running a Bridge Weekend in Weymouth in 1985 with many club members in attendance.  I partnered Lorna and although we had never played together before, we had a very sensible session and came top which I think was a great experience for both of us!

JEREMY BAKER ON FIFTEEN TO ONE

Well done Jeremy for your three appearances on Fifteen to One.  When's your next TV appearance?

ANDY HUGHES CHARITY BIKE RIDE RAISING MONEY FOR CANCER RESEARCH

You may also be interested to know that Andy Hughes cycled an incredible 300 miles from London to Paris in a charity bike ride.  If that wasn't enough, it had to be completed in 24 hours!  He left Trafalgar Square at 4pm on Friday 24 June, then cycled 70 miles to Newhaven, catching the ferry to Dieppe then on to Paris.

This was in aid of Southampton Hospital's initiative in combating pancreatic cancer.

Linda and I walked the Test Way on Sunday 9 October, raising money for the Dogs Trust and Save the African Rhino and Elephant, both endangered by persistent poaching. 

We started at St Mary Bourne just before 8am and got to Romsey around 4.30pm.  The brilliant weather made it all the more enjoyable though after 26 miles, we were glad to finish!  

If anyone would like to sponsor us, we are very grateful.  My JustGiving page can be accessed via clicking on this section.

Linda and I took part in a charity walk from Broughton to Salisbury on Sunday 5 June.  The weather was perfect and we walked 13 miles through beautiful Hampshire/Wiltshire countryside along the Clarendon Way plus another 3 miles from our house to Broughton village and back.  Many thanks for donations which are going to Naomi House Children's Hospice in Sutton Scotney.

I was pleased that my team (Jeremy Baker, Andy Hughes, Jeremy Dhondy and me) won this year's Cahalan Cup Final, the main Hampshire and Isle of Wight knock-out teams competition.

The hands were lively and 16 out of 24 boards were Game contracts.  However, the above part-score in spades, although not the most exciting of the evening's hands, was nevertheless quite intriguing...

West led the eight of clubs which clearly was from shortage so the Ace was played from dummy.  A diamond was now led towards the King Queen in the hope of being able to discard a losing club from dummy.  East popped up with the Ace which improved prospects for Declarer.

East could not play back a club as this would give a trick away so he switched to a trump, won by West's singleton King.  A second club came back which was won in dummy.

Declarer now played a second diamond.  Although East could ruff and cash a club, he would then be forced to lead away from his King of hearts or concede a ruff and discard in clubs.  East therefore didn't ruff but Declarer was then able to play a third diamond and discard a losing club from dummy.  East ruffed and played the Queen of clubs which Declarer trumped in dummy so the defence took Ace and King of trumps and a ruff, the Ace of diamonds and the King of hearts.  One way or another five tricks was their limit.

The Solent Trophy is an inter-club knockout competition between Bridge Clubs in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.  In round 1, played on Monday 2 November, it was Badger Farm v Basingstoke.  At half-time Badger Farm was leading by 21 imps but the second half was not so good and Basingstoke ended up winning by 5.

Two hands in the second half were costly to Badger Farm.  On one hand both Basingstoke teams bid and made a vulnerable 6♦ which was not bid by the Badger Farm players and on another hand all pairs bid to 3 No Trumps and the two Basingstoke Declarer's made it but the two Badger Farm Declarer's went one down.  This was also vulnerable so two big swings in Basingstoke's favour which cost Badger Farm 27imps.

The Badger Farm team was:

Jeremy Baker (team captain), Andy Hughes, Fred Hotchen, John Sherringham, Charles Nixon, Dorothy Rivers, Julia Rowlands and Jeremy Crouch.  

Good luck to Basingstoke in future rounds and we'll have another go next year...

The 6♦ hand in question is set out above showing the bidding against John and me.  The opponents were playing a 15-17 1NT, West's 2♣ was Stayman and after the 2♥ response, he bid 6♦ and was pleasantly surprised with dummy's diamonds.  Playing a weak no trump, it is not quite so easy to get there.  East would open 1♥ to which West responds 2♦.  East now has an awkward rebid as whilst he would like to show his diamond support, he doesn't know how strong West is.  It is quite easy to end up in 3NT rather than diamonds so well done to the Basingstoke team for reaching the slam by both of their pairs.

On a club lead from North, Declarer should win with the Ace in dummy, draw trumps in two rounds, then play off Ace and King of hearts, discarding the Queen of clubs from hand.  With the spade finesse right, all 13 tricks come rolling in.

The 3NT contract is detailed in the next article below.

The above hand produced the other big loss to Badger Farm in the second half of the match.

The bidding against John and me was as above though an alternative sequence would have been for West to rebid 1NT showing 15-16 points in which case West plays the hand instead of East.  Either way a club lead is likely.

Prospects look quite good for Declarer as providing the Jack of hearts falls in three rounds all is fine for 9 tricks.  However, the Jack of hearts didn't fall and things did not then look so promising.  The clubs are not likely to produce any more tricks and the diamonds look decidedly vulnerable.  However, as the cards lay, Declarer was not as exposed in diamonds as it appeared and with the spade finesse right, nine tricks are always there, four hearts, two clubs, two spades and a diamond if the defence attacks diamonds.  In practice, after winning the Jack of hearts, North will continue with clubs so Declarer has no choice but to rely on the spade finesse to make the contract.

One of the Badger Farm declarers failed to make 3NT by not continuing with hearts when the suit didn't break and therefore ended up a trick short.  It is not an easy hand to play as communications between the two hands are limited and with the concern about both the queen of spades and the diamond suit, Declarer has a lot to worry about.  Having said that, with the benefit of hindsight admittedly, once the hearts don't break, Declarer has no real hope of making 3NT unless the spade finesse is right.  The defence can make a few winners in diamonds or clubs but not both.  If the spade finesse is wrong, 3NT is three off, losing a heart, a spade, two clubs and three diamonds.

The EBU has published on its website a list of top master points earners for each club in 2015.  The most points earned at Badger Farm Tuesday duplicates in 2015 were:

Fred Hotchen        771

Jeremy Baker        558

John Sherringham 504

I think me being top of the list has a correlation with being the most regular attendee!!!  If you are interested in your own master points records, have a look at the EBU website.

The 2015 Annual Club Pairs Championship for the Hopes-Dixon Cup took place on Tuesday 17 November. 

Winners this year were Julia Rowlands and Jeremy Crouch.  The Cup was presented by Brian Dixon and Alan Mcleod.

The number of attendees does not justify holding the Bridge workshops in Stockbridge Town Hall so with effect from 21 October these will be held at my house in Broughton on every other Wednesday from 2.0-4.0.

  All welcome but if you want to come, please ring or email me to confirm.  Thanks, Fred 

Andrew Beadle has emailed me to let me know that Stan Trussler sadly died on Wednesday 7 October 2015.  I gather Stan had been unwell for some time.

Andrew and Stan played very nicely together and had been a regular partnership at Badger Farm for many years until a couple of years ago and I think everyone will remember Stan for being a real gentleman at the table, always very polite and courteous.

Some of our original members will remember having a very enjoyable weekend of 'Bridge with Phil' in Weymouth organised by Phil Philbrick.  Well sadly Phil passed away on Saturday 20th June aged 96.  Phil ran many Bridge events, particularly in the 80s and 90s and I had the pleasure to run some of these with him, including a couple of Christmas and New Years in Gibraltar.  Phil was charismatic and an archetypal sergeant major, running his events with military precision.  I will miss his good sense of humour as Phil always aimed to make the Bridge friendly and fun.

I am sad to report that Betty Weeks died on 4th April 2015. Betty was 94 and had been a member of Badger Farm until she stopped playing a few years ago.  

I had personally known Betty since 1980 when I first started playing Club Bridge in Winchester and played Bridge with Betty many times.  Betty loved her Bridge which provided her with many decades of enjoyment and many friends.  She was a good spirited player and it was a shame when she had to give it up.

Juliet Edwards sadly passed away on 16th January 2015.

Juliet had been a member of Badger Farm for around 25 years, nearly always partnering Jean White.   Jean and Juliet played well together and were a composed and thoughtful partnership but at the same time they were always polite and friendly to their opponents which is exactly what Badger Farm is all about.  We will miss Juliet's presence at Badger Farm.

On Tuesday 13th January Ginger's partner Alan very kindly came over to present the Cup to Anke and Jane.  Ginger would have been very proud.  So apt that Pat and Ginger's respective partners got together and won the club pairs.

Congratulations to Jane Bolwell and Anke Cox on winning the Annual Pairs Championship.

We have a brand new cup this year which we have called the Hopes Dixon Cup.  This cup is in memory of Jean 'Ginger' Hopes and Pat Dixon who both sadly passed away on the 1st of October.  Ginger and Pat were both founder members of the Bridge Club in 1984 and are much missed by all of us at Badger Farm.  It is therefore very befitting that their regular Bridge partners, Jane and Anke, are now playing together and are the first holders of the cup.

The Cup was presented to Jane and Anke at our last Bridge session for 2014 by Pat's husband Bryan and daughter Sarah.

This website replaces the one previously created and run by Jim Finch.  Jim's website has served us since the beginning of 1999 and I believe that Badger Farm was one of the earliest clubs with its own website.  Thank you very much Jim for doing this for us so diligently all these years.