Party bridge

It was the club's Christmas Party last night and the turnout was terrific. In the past few years the number has always been in the (very) low thirties, but we saw fifty people there this time. I don't think that there are many clubs thriving as much as Berwick is currently.

Most of the credit for this has to go to all those running beginner classes, and to them and others who then help them transition from a class into playing at the club. Of course being a very friendly club doesn't hurt and the region's remoteness helps maintain a sense of community, but it does take a lot of effort that normally goes unrecognised. I'm sure we would all love to see more youngsters come along, but even a stream of mature new faces is very welcome.

In the past outside caterers have been used but problems the last couple of times meant that it was decided to do it 'in house'. This meant a cold buffet but I did not hear any complaints and the food disappeared at a great rate. The desserts also disappeared quite quickly too, for some reason.

After this everyone helped to clear up and reconfigure the room for some party bridge. Every board had a 'rule' - for example, everyone was only permitted one bid on the board. Naturally I called the director over this rule, asking whether multiple passes and doubles were allowed since they are calls, not bids: I was informed that it should say calls and I'm sure 'get a life' was mentioned too :)  - actually, I think it does work slightly better if you do permit multiple passes and doubles, but only one bid - this permits people to double the final contract.

I played with Jean and we did not score well, but LotG and Penny won the bottles of wine for the best East/West performance. The most interesting rule was the one where the partner of the player who wins a trick leads to the following trick: it makes running long suits difficult, since you lose the lead when you win the trick! I told Jean off during this hand for signalling encouragement when I was going to win the trick - no point encouraging when she will be on lead next! Playing a board in an anti-clockwise direction was also quite tricky, some players failed to adjust their points counting when aces became the lowest card in the suits and defensive play with both dummy and declarer's hands exposed was simpler.

An excellent evening and congratulations to the committee for their organisation, to everyone who provided the food and Diana for running the bridge. More of the same next year please.