Felixstowe is … Bracing

Autumn is seriously upon us and that can only mean one thing – the Felixstowe Congress is not far away. This year it is being held over the weekend of the 11th and 12th of October in its traditional venue, Felixstowe Leisure Centre. The mixture of bridge and seaside provides a certain something; you emerge from a playing hall, head buzzing with cards to experience the blast of sea-air, wind and – if you're really lucky – spray to boot.

The format is the same as in recent years, pairs on the Saturday (qualifier then finals) and a Swiss teams on the Sunday. This year there is added spice as the pairs is Green-Pointed which is sure to heighten the competition by attracting players in search of those elusive credits.

Last year I was invited to make a up team with a partner with whom I had never played. There are bound to be a few mysteries in such an arrangement but on this hand I was safely positioned in dummy as my partner, Jyl Marsh, wrapped up game:

Love All
Dealer North
  • 2
  • J1083
  • AJ965
  • J64
  • J985
  • 7654
  • Q10843
  • ---
N
W
E
S
  • Q743
  • 92
  • K
  • AKQ732
  • AK106
  • AKQ
  • 72
  • 10985

East opened a club and South overcalled one no-trump, I used Stayman and when no heart fit came to light, settled for three no-trump. West surprised me by leading a diamond and partner hopped up with the ace, dropping East's king. Three hearts were cashed followed by a diamond towards dummy, West rising with the queen. This was the situation:

  • 2
  • J
  • J96
  • J64
  • J985
  • 7
  • 1083
  • ---
N
W
E
S
  • Q7
  • ---
  • ---
  • AKQ732
  • AK106
  • ---
  • ---
  • 10985

East had been desperately encouraging a club but West would still not lead one. Unwilling to give dummy an entry with a heart or a diamond, the only thing left was a spade. The five was chosen, sealing the fate of the defence. Two top spades and a third put West on lead again. After winning two spades they had fatally to give a diamond trick (either then or later) to dummy.

I confess to having re-created this as tricks swapped sides at bewildering speed. But I do recall that East failed to take a trick and South emerged with nine. In the second diagram West needed to avoid the lead after spades were played and could have done so by retaining the five, returning the eight or nine and playing the other middle-spot under South's second top honour – far sighted indeed.

Entries for the Felixstowe Congress to Jeff Orton, more details on the Suffolk website.

Published Saturday 4.Oct.2008