We play every Thursday Morning - all welcome!

The club operates at their new home, the Presbyterian Church Hall at 154 Lilian Ngoyi (Windermere) Road, opposite the Windermere Centre

Off-street parking behind a locked gate is available

The entrance is from Yule Lane, which runs behind the church. Overflow parking is in Yule Lane with car guards

There is a pedestrian gate entrance on Lilian Ngoyi

Starting time is 9am with registration from 8am to 8.45am.

For more information, WhatsApp Jenny Ten-Bokum on 083 4850 477

We play every Thursday Morning - all welcome!

The club operates at their new home, the Presbyterian Church Hall at 154 Lilian Ngoyi (Windermere) Road, opposite the Windermere Centre

Off-street parking ..........

Starting at 9am

The club is thriving with, and has two sections, an A and a B

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

Starting at 9am

The club is thriving with, and has two sections, an A and a B

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. ..........

Westville Bridge Club* is open and free to play! (for now)

Special notice by the Chairman

The numbers have dwindled since then, though, and as a result and the Committee is trying everything to keep the club open.  To do so, more players are needed and a decision has been taken by the Committee to stop collecting table fees (yes it will be free) and also to encourage KZNBU members who would like to play but who do not have a partner, to contact one of them to try and arrange a game with someone else who may also be looking.

We hope this way we can continue playing at Westville Bridge Club which has been in existence for decades.

Please try and give it your support if you are able.  

Kind regards on behalf of Brian Thomas (Chairman - Westville Bridge Club) and his committee

* It is held at the Westville Bowling Club (next door to Westville Country Club).

Westville Bridge Club* is open and free to play! (for now)

Special notice by the Chairman

The numbers have dwindled since then, though, and as a result and the Committee is trying everything to keep the club open.  To do so, more players are needed and a decision has been taken by the Committee to stop collecting table fees (yes it will be free) and also to encourage KZNBU members who would like to play but who do not have a partner, to contact one of them to try and arrange a game with someone else who may also be looking. ..........

Hand 20 played on KZN BBO on 24^th April

West, your partner, passes and North opens 1NT

You are east with this hand

What action do you take?

What can/should you bid with 18 HCP's and a nice 5 card major?

You really want to bid - after all, it's your best hand of the day.  A juicy double is maybe worth 500.  Or should you simply overcall 2♠ 

Make your choice before reading on.

If you double you just know your partner will take it out, and most likely, into clubs. Why? Because that's your short suit. That's life, that's bridge! 

If you do double and west bids 2♣, now what?  Rebid 2NT and possibly down 1 or just rebid 2♠? If partner leaves you in 2♠ it makes, when the ♠J gets swallowed up for +110. Could so easily be 1 down for -100

Jan Chemaly has been around the block a few times and taught bridge for over 40 years! (or is it 50 years)

She knows there is no game on.  She notes that N/S are vulnerable and reckons that 2 down will be 200, and a good score. Of course she doesn’t know that for sure, but it is likely, even if partner is a yarborough

A couple of the east players overcalled 2♠ and a couple doubled and a couple passed.  Barbara Becker, another very experienced player, was the other east to pass

Those that did double all recorded a minus score in 2 (or 3) clubs or a forced rebid of 2NT, neither making

Sometimes it pays to be silent. Here the green card is the gold card!

Nothing south could do to save partner, except to note what experienced players do

Sometimes there is a call for passivity and silence is golden

Hand 20 played on KZN BBO on 24^th April

West, your partner, passes and North opens 1NT

You are east with this hand

What action do you take?

What can/should you bid with 18 HCP's and a nice 5 card major?

You really want to bid - after all, it's your best hand of the day.  A juicy double is maybe worth 500.  Or should you simply overcall 2♠ 

Make your choice before reading on. ..........

In a hand played recently most of the field ended up in 3♥ after West had invited game

Sitting North you start by leading the singleton J♦.   Partner wins with the ace and returns a diamond, which you ruff

The question is how can you get back to partner’s hand for another ruff.

If partner has the ace of clubs, then a club is called for.  However, if partner has the ace of spades, then a spade is the way to partner’s hand

If you and your partner have no idea about suit preference signals, then it is a guess.

Playing suit preference signals (SPS), it depends on what diamond partner returned for you to ruff

I watched, this deal and the South carelessly lead back the ♦2 for north to ruff.  After ruffing North had to decide which black suit partner might have as an entry.  North, noting the 2♦ , decided on a club.  Tickets!

Declarer won with the queen, drew trumps in two rounds, cashed the ♣A, ruffed a club and notched up 11 tricks, after disposing of the spade on a long diamond

Clearly, South had a preference of which suit he had an entry, spades

Looking at dummy, the nine of diamonds is as valuable, in real terms, as the two

So, using SPS South must return the ♦9 as a clear and unambiguous signal to North where he has an entry

Failing to follow this basic principle cost the defence 3 tricks!

Hand submitted by Peter Bircher

In a hand played recently most of the field ended up in 3♥ after West had invited game

Sitting North you start by leading the singleton J♦.   Partner wins with the ace and returns a diamond, which you ruff

The question is how can you get back to partner’s hand for another ruff.

If partner has the ace of clubs, then a club is called for.  However, if partner has the ace of spades, then a spade is the way to partner’s hand

If you and your partner have no idea about suit preference signals, then it is a guess. ..........

This hand cropped up on Thursday morning, 19th January.

You are West

North opened 1NT and, after South failed to find a major fit, lept to 3NT.

Your partner leads the ♣8 and dummy plays the ♣2

Plan your move.

What do you know about the club suit?

If the 8 is a 4th highest that means there are 3 cards higher than the 8 outside your partner's hand

How do we know this?

Subtract the card led from 11 (Rule of Eleven) and you have the answer:11-8 = 3

Dummy has 1 and you have got 2

Suddenly it dawns on you that declarer has no card higher than the 8!

And this means the 8 is winning and will win the trick, even if you play low

This is this time to take control of the defence.  If you let the 8 win, there is a remote chance that partner may switch

So, taking no chances you overtake the 8 with the 9, cash the ace and fire back the 3 and down goes 3NT

On the actual day, sadly, a large number of Wests flew up with the ace and returned a club. This now sets up the queen and, without an entry to East, his hand withered on the vine, leaving a bad taste in his mouth and -630 on the scorecard.

Sour grapes, perhaps?

The Rule of Eleven is one of many "Rule Of's" that have been around since the days of Wist

The Rule of Eleven, although an invaluable tool for the defence, can sometimes also be used to declarer's advantage, knowing exactly what card to play from dummy. The knife has two blades!

The other useful "Rule Of" in NT is, this time, for declarer

The Rule of 7 tells him or her how many times to hold up on standard 4th highest lead

This is it in a nutshell:

Subtract the total cards you and dummy have in the suit led from 7 and that number tells you how many times to hold up

So if dummy has 94 and you have A75, you should hold up twice (7-5 = 2) 

But with  94, and you have A752, you can hold up once (7-6 = 1)

I will try to demonstrate this, with examples, at some future date

This hand cropped up on Thursday morning, 19th January.

You are West

North opened 1NT and, after South failed to find a major fit, lept to 3NT.

Your partner leads the ♣8 and dummy plays the ♣2

Plan your move. ..........

Although tight games and difficult slams are the "stuff" of bridge columns, the fight for a partscore can be just as rewarding in the pairs game.

This hand cropped upon the 9th January 2023 on KZN BBO

It illustrates the point beautifully

Many pairs were permitted to play in 2♦ after North put in a spade overcall, with South remaing silent, making 8 tricks for an average, +90

However at some tables South, not content to leave E/W to make their part-score, put in a belated bid "stealing" the contract with the master suit.

If 2♠  makes then an excellent result ensures

However if N/S go 1 down, vulnerable, its -100 and a very poor result

Now its up to East/West to get their +100

East leads the ace of diamonds and, after noting West's encouraging card, must decide what to do next

At one table, East cashed the ♦Q and switched to the singleton club

Declarer rose with the ace, entered hand with a heart and ruffed a diamond

The Jack of spades was tabled, and whether covered or not, had to concede a club and a heart and a trump, to make on the nail, E/W conceding -110 for a very poor percentage

Lets go back to the first trick

Its not easy for East to find the switch at trick 2 to defeat the contract

Can you spot it.

A trump switch will ensure declarer cannot ruff a diamond and will fall one short of his target; +100 to East/West

Even after cashing a second diamond it would be too late to switch to a trump as declarer still has one trump in dummy to take care of his third diamond

These part-scor contests have their counterpart in an evenly matched fencing duel - lunge, parry and riposte!

Although tight games and difficult slams are the "stuff" of bridge columns, the fight for a partscore can be just as rewarding in the pairs game.

This hand cropped upon the 9th January 2023 on KZN BBO

It illustrates the point beautifully

Many pairs were permitted to play in 2♦ after North put in a spade overcall, with South remaing silent, making 8 tricks for an average, +90

However at some tables South, not content to leave E/W to make their part-score, put in a belated bid "stealing" the contract with the master suit.

If 2♠  makes then an excellent result ensures

However if N/S go 1 down, vulnerable, its -100 and a very poor result

Now its up to East/West to get their +100

East leads the ace of diamonds and, after noting West's encouraging card, must decide what to do next

At one table, East cashed the ♦Q and switched to the singleton club

Declarer rose with the ace, entered hand with a heart and ruffed a diamond

The Jack of spades was tabled, and whether covered or not, had to concede a club and a heart and a trump, to make on the nail, E/W conceding -110 for a very poor percentage

Lets go back to the first trick

Its not easy for East to find the switch at trick 2 to defeat the contract

Can you spot it. ..........