Dubious Logic

Suffolk and Norfolk Green Point

Suffolk and Norfolk recently jointly hosted a Green Point weekend in Thetford. These events are popular and demanding – on both players and organisers. Why so? Well Green Points are awarded only for tough tournaments but are required to progress un the English Bridge Union's title system. With relatively few up for grabs, 'one-day' Green Point events present a rare opportunity to win some in a large open field and potentially, on ones doorstep.

Because of this popularity, county associations have to make tactical decisions based on the few otherwise free weekends in the year; choose a time when there is a competing venue within reasonable distance, and your participants could disappear – delicate decisions such as the relative ease of travel are considered – committees have been known to study road maps. The joint venture is surely the sensible compromise.

From that preamble you'll gather that players came from some way distant and there were many Essex and London players in the mix as well as those from Cambridgeshire and the Fens. I am glad to say that Andrew and Jane Moore struck a blow for Suffolk by winning the Pairs. Jane was organiser so that was quite a feat, fellow committee member, Jyl Marsh was fifth, eighty pairs took part. In the teams, the county's highest place was sixth by Peter Gemmell's Ipswich quartet, the winners came from Essex with Norfolk teams taking the next four places.

This is one board that helped Andrew and Jane on their way.

All North's major suit honours survived and he was soon writing +750 on the traveller. Andrew says, "Take the gifts and let them make the mistakes…". Indeed, East-West are likely to be recriminating for it's very likely that the auction will be similar elsewhere. I don't like the final double with a void and I'm not crazy about the 4♠ call a round earlier. But I think it East must shoulder a sizeable chunk of the responsibility. True, two spades was something of a necessary stretch but holding such great cards in your partner's first bid suit, it would be easy to picture hands where there were eleven tricks in the pointed suits to go with the ace of hearts.

Published Saturday 2.Jul.2005