Janet de Botton

Bridge | 8 April 2023

issue 08 April 2023

Imagine playing a tennis match against Nadal – and winning a game. Impossible, you would say (unless you happen to be Djokovic); but not very talented amateur bridge players can score big results against world champions – which is one of the things that makes it so special.

I found out there was a smallish bridge tournament in Marbella and decided to go, as much for the weather as anything. We did well despite the monster bottom below. I will never be a world champion, and my opponent probably wasn’t the worst player in the world, but she certainly walloped my International partner and me on the following hand:

South proved once again – as if we didn’t already know – that you don’t need much to make a forcing 2-level bid vulnerable, and my partner showed that you apparently don’t need anything at all to make a preemptive jump to 4◆.

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