The KZN Bridge Union will be hosting the Petra Mansell Red Point Pairs tournament

at: Mount Edgecombe Country Club

on 10th and 11th October

Details to follow

Eastern Cape, Tuesday, 28^th July 2026

Most of the field got to 6NT on a standard quantitative raise 1NT - 6NT

The contract must have seemed a doddle when dummy comes down
5 clubs, 4 hearts 2 diamond and a spade

Declarer unblocked the ♣A and entered their hand via the ♥K and started running the clubs

When North discards a diamond on the 3rd club, the 12 easy tricks has shrunk to 11

But there is a way to make the contract despite the 5-2 club break

Declarer cashes the 4^th round of clubs and then takes 3 rounds of hearts

On the fourth heart north has to make a discard in this position, throwing another spade

Declarer hops over to hand with the ♦K and throws south in with the last club

This is the position at trick 12

With nothing but spades, south has to lead away from the ♠K, giving declarer the last 2 tricks

Submitted by Peter Bircher

A hand from the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday 7th July

Two suited hands are difficult to describe

When you have a lot of points it may be right to open 2♣ to force to game, fearful that partner may pass

However even with this 3-loser hand there is absolutely no need to open 2♣
There are 26 points out there.  So open 1♣, your longest suit knowing that it can not be passed out

Your LHO may well muddy the waters with a bid of 3♠. Partner passes and RHO passes

You now bid 4♥, showing the true playing strength of this 3-loser hand
The reason is that you are forcing partner to correct at the 5 level, if necessary
This reverse bid is 100% forcing unless partner happens to have 4 hearts but was shut out of the bidding by the 3♠ bid
And even with 3 small hearts (and 1 or 2 clubs) south can pass having found the major-suit fit

With the hand in question, South gives preference to North's first suit, clubs, knowing that the singleton heart offers 2 potential ruffs in a club game

The KZNBU runs 2 events on BBO

Monday morning, starting at 9:30 registration by 9:20

Find these tournaments on BBO in Virtual Clubs, South Africa

Entrance fee is $1.50 per player. Contact Jenny Ten-Bokum 083 485 0477 to register your BBO name

The Midlands Club also has a tournament on Friday morning on BBO at 9.00am. Registration by 8.50am. Cost $1.50 per player. Pippa Faul on 082 776 0330

Face-to-face bridge in Kwazulu-Natal

Kloof Bridge Club plays at the Kloof Catholic Church (Our Lady of Mercy) Hall 79 Old Main Road starting on Wednesday, 8th February

They play only on the first four Wednesday morning’s of each month

For details, contact Lyn de Mattos on 071 526 4406

Starting at 9am

The club is thriving running two sections each week; an A and a B section

Visitors are welcome to play at the club, but they need to book in advance. Louise Gibbon has the Le Domaine booking group on WhatsApp. Her number is 082 577 9942. She also requires visitors’ car registration numbers for the security check point at the entrance gate to the estate

DOMAINE ONLINE REALBRIDGE CLUB

Where players can see and talk to each other while playing online

CONTACT DETAILS:

Administration and Collection of playing fees: Louise Gibbon - 082 5779942

Tournament Director: Rod Pienaar - 079 6735077

To access the website please click on this link: www.bridgewebs.com/domaine

Or Google search: Domaine Bridge Club

THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE BEING RUN:

Realbridge Tournaments – Thursdays at 9am and Saturdays at 2pm

• COST R25 and booking through Louise Gibbon 082 5779942

Social Bridge

• The RealBridge social site is open every day of the week and all day
• 4 players can arrange to meet on the site and play
• Cost R10 per player – R40 per table
• No booking required

 Supervised Play and Teaching

• 4 players can arrange for a supervised session with a teacher watching them play and guiding them on the social site
• Teachers who would like to use the site for teaching to contact Louise Gibbon