Tollemache on RealBridge

The Tollemache qualifier was rather different this year - played on RealBridge and with an all-play-all format rather than four groups.

After a trial session where it took over an hour to play six boards, I had worried that the EBU might be a bit ambitious in running a fairly complicated event on a newish software platform, but my experience was entirely positive. There were a few minor problems with players losing connection, but the software seemed to work perfectly and the event ran almost exactly to the schedule.

I find that the ability to see and hear the other players – and team-mates between rounds - is a huge plus for RealBridge over BBO. It’s much closer to face-to-face bridge and less like a computer game. The Tollemache used the 'screen' mode which tries to mimic the diagonal screens that have been used in major international competitions for many years.  You alert your own bids (as in BBO) and can only see and hear one opponent during play. This was my first experience with screens (real or virtual) and I found that this made for a very sociable game, with plenty of good natured chat between screen mates.

Although Dorset finished in the nether regions of the table, it was a very enjoyable weekend. When (if?) life returns to normal, I wonder whether events like this will still be played online. There is certainly an advantage in being able to play a national event without needing a 300 mile round trip and an overnight hotel stay, though I did miss the chance to go over the hands in the bar after play.

Here are a couple of hands that might be of interest. First, a simple but effective play by my partner that helped declarer to go wrong.

Most auctions led to 3NT by North but our opponents managed to right-side the contract after a strong club sequence and I led a low club to the ten and jack. Maybe declarer should work on hearts now but he began with a spade to the ten and queen. Declarer took the club return and played the queen of hearts which Ann ducked. If he had continued with the king of hearts there would have been no defence, but when he played a low heart I could win the jack and clear my club trick. Now when Ann won the ace of hearts I made two more tricks with the ace of spades and a club.

That was a clear error by declarer, for if I had held the ace of hearts and Ann the jack, I would have taken the first round of hearts and played a club, but these things are always much easier to see in the post mortem than at the time. In any case, if Ann had taken the ace of hearts on the first round declarer would have had an easy ride. 

Now for a bidding problem that we failed to solve, along with over two-thirds of the field.  

It is an easy grand, though you need some gadgetry to be able to bid it with confidence. Exclusion Blackwood would make this hand a doddle.  It is a jump to a new suit above game level, showing a void and asking for key cards outside of the void suit, using the same step responses as Key Card Blackwood. Then we could bid

1♠  -  2NT (game forcing with 4+ spades)

3♠  (extra values with 6+ spades) -  5♦ (exclusion)

6♣  (2 key cards outside diamonds and the trump queen) - 7♠

Simples. I must persuade partner to add Exclusion Blackwood to our armoury, and hope that we remember it when it next comes up in 2023.