Bridge | 18 October 2018

I’ve just come back from ten days in Orlando, but don’t ask me what it’s like — I haven’t a clue: I never made it out of the World Center Marriott, where the Bridge World Series was taking place. Such is the bridge life: you travel the world, and see none of it.
 
I played in the Mixed Teams through a fog of jet lag (that’s my excuse, anyway); we eventually got knocked in the Round of 64. In the Mixed Pairs, my partner Tom Paske and I failed to qualify for the A-final, but there was still a lifeline: the top three pairs (out of 112) in the B-final got a pass back to the A. We finished 4th — 0.07% behind 3rd. Ah well, I shouldn’t complain — we had bad luck, but good luck too. Here, for instance:
 
Sitting South, I bid too much. My 2♣ was game-forcing. When Tom cue-bid diamonds, I propelled us to slam.