Bridge

THE LONDON Trophy is a bridge competition open only to non-bridge clubs - such as tennis or golf clubs in which bridge is played as a social sideline. Originally the brainchild of A.L. (Freddy) Della Porter, this event has gone from strength to strength and now attracts several hundred teams. In this year's final Finchley Manor LTC beat Hurlingham GC.

I'm indebted to Danny Roth for his comprehensive report, which included this hand.

North opened One Club, South bid One Heart, North One Spade and South's Two Hearts concluded the auction.

West made a MUD (middle-up-down) lead of #7, three from dummy, and a well-judged two from East - a higher card cannot gain - and this brought the king from South.

Declarer now played a deceptive 4J, intending to overtake with dummy's king and discard his second spade on a diamond. But East's careful play at trick one had alerted West to the true position. He rose with the ace and cashed 2A, then East-West sat back to collect as many heart tricks as was their due, which proved to be four, so defeating the contract by one trick.

Should your club wish to participate, contact Cecil Leighton at 6 The Bowls, Chigwell, Essex IG7 6NB (0208 500 0700). Note that no team is permitted to include more than one player above the rank of Regional Master and that the conventions that may be employed are severely restricted, so you needn't be afraid of meeting imported sharks, playing with sophisticated gadgetry.

Game all; dealer West

North

4K 5 3 2

!8

#A Q 9 3

2K Q 6 2

West East

4A 8 7 4 410 9 6

!Q !A K 10 3

#10 7 5 #J 8 6 4 2

2A 9 7 5 3 210

South

4Q J

!J 9 7 6 5 4 2

#K

2J 8 4