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I think it’s time the Prime Minister intervened. I happen to know that he loves the game: about 20 years ago I played in a regular foursome with him, along with Neil Mendoza and Dominic Loehnis. (I remember once being mildly irritated because his new girlfriend Sam popped by — sweet, shy and with perfect legs — and David kept wrapping his arms round her rather than focusing on the task in hand: being my partner).
Anyway, we must cheer Bob Blackman, who is trying to widen the appeal of bridge by encouraging students to play in schools and universities. He himself is a fine player — as I saw for myself when I went along to the House of Lords to watch the match (which was won by the Commons’ team):
East cashed the ♦AK and switched to the ♣4. It looks like declarer has a club and another diamond to lose. But Bob won West’s ♣K with his ♣A, cashed the ♠K and drew trumps. Then he cashed the ♠A, discarding a club, ruffed a spade and exited with a club. East was on lead and was forced to concede a ruff-and-discard. Incidentally, if East hadn’t switched to a club, Bob could have drawn trumps and led a diamond from dummy to set up his ♦J for a club discard. The only way East can beat 4♥ is to switch to the ♣Q at trick three!
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