This is board 26 from last night's teams. Five pairs languished in 4♠ [including partner and myself], two were in 6♠, one in 6NT. Every declarer made 12 tricks.

Question is how to bid and should you be in a slam?

At our table, East opened 1♠ and West responded 2NT [game-forcing Jacoby]. Spotlight on East who has the crucial decision as to whether he/she regards his/her hand as minimal [rebids 4♠] or better-than-minimum [for us we'd rebid 3♣ to show a reasonable-quality second suit of at least four cards]. This East took the wimp approach, largely based on the stiff ♥K.

West has an awkward initial response: even though our opening spade bid shows at lease five, the Jacoby response should still show at least 4-card support. But what else can West respond? The only 4-card suit is hearts, but 2♥ would promise at least five. Maybe West can respond with a temporising  2-minor bid, knowing that he/she can convert to spades if opener gets too excited.

I was favoured with a heart lead, which helped not one jot if your goal was 12 tricks. Once the spade suit has behaved itself, it's fairly clear from the outset that squirm as one might the point will come where declarer has to lead a club from dummy towards K10. As it happens both ♣A and ♣Q are with North, leaving even this declarer no opportunity to fail to make 12 tricks.

Did I make the wrong decision with my initial rebid? Well, if I'd employed the mirror-on-the-long-stick technique to tell me that the missing club honours were favourably placed and the trumps were behaving, I'd have taken a different view. But having left my m-o-t-l-s at home, I'm not castigating myself: for a slam to be worthwhile in teams it has to be at least a 50% chance, and this was less than that, so I'm prepared to take it on the chin.

The 29th annual team-of-24 match took place last evening [Thursday 15th August] between Ascot and Burnham.

Home advantage didn't prevail as our team of stalwarts regained the trophy. This is primarily a social event, very much enjoyed by all who take part. Still, coming home with the trophy adds a layer of icing to the cake.

The match details may be seen in the Results area on the right of this page.

Charles Chisnall will be discussing "responding to partner's overcall".

So, you have overcalled and partner bids a new suit - is it forcing, invitational or to be passed?
What about if partner jumps in a new suit - forcing, invitational or to be passed?
What about if partner bids the opponents' suit - UCB  or something else?
What if the opener's partner bids - does that change any of the above for your bid now?
Then we have the question of Vulnerability to consider ...........

The seminar will be in the Garden Room at SBBC, starting at 18:45 and finishing in time for bridge.  The seminar is open to all (you don't have to be a member of Burnham) and free of charge.  If you wish to stay on and play in our duplicate session afterwards, you will be most welcome.  We offer a host for all our duplicate sessions, so you don't need to come with a partner.

 

We'll be fielding three teams again in the upcoming season, the 'A' and 'B' teams playing in Berks and Bucks divisions 1 and 2 respectively, and the 'C' team playing in the Chiltern League.

Our aim is to provide the opportunity for all interested members to play in one or other team. The team captains are Nigel Marlow [A], Graham Dickens [B], and Nigel Lancaster [C].

Note that the 'C' team, being outside of the Berks & Bucks system, can accommodate members also playing in Burnham or other clubs' B&B teams.

Those members whose vacation or other commitments limit their availability are nonetheless welcome to play an appropriately restricted part.

Our standard organisation for Monday evening is that we start play promptly at 7:30, play 26/27 boards, and finish at 10:45. In order for the Director to be able to start play at 7:30, the movement must have been entered into the computer, and boards[/movement cards] distributed, so he/she needs to know the number of participating pairs/teams by 7:25. If you know you won't arrive by 7:25, please notify either the Centre or your partner that you're on your way and your expected arrival time.

Club policy as validated by the recent members' vote is that 3-board sit-outs for pairs events are to be avoided and so, with a half-table, our standard movement will be based on 2-board rounds. Our Directors have been instructed that, once the movement for the evening has been selected, it should not be significantly changed to accommodate unnotified late arrivals, particularly where this might prejudice the prompt commencement of play.

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This year's AGM  and annual prize giving was held on June 10th.

The team completed its inaugural year in the Chiltern League with a 13-7 win away to Newbury A, leaving Burnham at the top of the division. Loddon Vale weren't able to manage the 20-0 victory needed in their final match to upset things [they lost 5-15].

Things have worked out pretty much as we'd hoped, providing opportunities for members who wouldn't otherwise have had the chance to represent the Club to take part. Some 15 members played for the team, with Colin Dale taking the role of administrative captain.

Thanks to all who've supported the Club in this venture: we hope that as many of you as possible will take part in the Chiltern Elimination Pairs heat at the Club on April 1st [see below].

Burnham members have already featured in the initial  Berks & Bucks CBA competitions of the 2018-2019 season:

• Heather & Matthew Tan won the Swiss Pairs for the Denys Jenkins trophy on 17th October 2018, with  David Owen & Bob Holder in joint 2nd place, Dick Davey & Paula Hopkinson in 4th place, and Liz Hayton & Angela Flintoft in 5th place
• David Owen & Bob Holder were placed second in the Mixed Swiss Teams for the Carole Mueller Trophy held at Windsor on Sunday 11th November, after finishing 1st equal with a Butler score of 74 - leading the field by a clear margin of 25, the final result being determined from the head-to-head boards. Evelyn Crossley & Eva Wallen finished in 4th place. 
• David Perkins & Phil Thornton playing with Carole & Herb Mueller were placed second in the Butler scored pairs for the Jarrett Cup held at Windsor on Sunday 2nd December.  As there was a 3-way tie for the 3rd place, this was awarded on the basis of the head-to-head tie-break results to Evelyn Crossley, David Owen, Bill  Godenzie & Charles Chisnall.
• Charles Chisnall, David Owen, Bill Godenzie & Evelyn Crossley won the Perkins Cup in the teams event played at Windsor on 17th February, with Nigel Wolfendale, Bob Holder, Dick Davey & Paula Hopkinson taking second place.

Forthcoming competitions are:

• The Senior Pairs for the Directors' Cup to be held at SBBC on 17th April 2019

We have twice weekly sessions of good standard Duplicate Bridge at the very attractive South Bucks Bridge Centre - a purpose-converted 16th Century barn in its own grounds, between Beaconsfield, Maidenhead and Slough 

Our main session is at 7.30 every Monday evening, when we play Pairs, except Teams of Four on the third Monday each month except when this is a bank holiday.  A host is available to play with anyone without a partner on Pairs evenings.

We use Bridgemates, for instant scoring, with current scores displayed on a large screen.  Hand records and results print-outs are available within a few minutes of the end of every session. 

Several teams from the Club compete in the Berks and Bucks League of 8, with the A team in the first division.  We also encourage less experienced players and hold monthly free seminars before the start of an evening session.