Bridge | 16 August 2018

When I was first married, there were no satnavs to hold our hands; we relied on maps (if there was one handy) or trial and error. Whenever my husband wasn’t sure whether to go left or right he would ask me. ‘Left,’ I might say. He immediately turned right — and he was never wrong. I sometimes think of this when I am defending. In the two or three-card ending, if there is a choice I can be relied upon to do the wrong thing. So much so that I have tried doing the opposite of my instinct and, humiliatingly, it worked. Well, not so humiliating actually, as my partner doesn’t know my thinking process — just sighs with relief that another contract has not been let through.
 
I was given today’s hand by the late Martin Hoffman. It is a brilliant combination of safety play and control: if you get greedy or sloppy you go off.