Things finally began to make sense for the intrepid souls who have undertaken the beginners’ bridge course with the U3A. All the note taking, the point counting, the mystery of the losing trick count, the memorising of bids and the agonising over transfer bids or weak take outs made sense today as the group took part in a Duplicate Tournament at St Giles’ Church Hall, Aintree.

The afternoon began with a very enjoyable buffet. With home made cakes, quiches, prawns, salads and tasty baguettes the buffet table groaned under the weight of delicacy upon delicacy. Soft drinks and tea were the order of the day as we were going to need razor sharp wits to get us through the afternoon.

The eight pairs got down to business as all their hard work was put to the test. They were joined by experienced players from Knowsley Bridge Club, Westhead Bridge Club and Kensington House Maghull. For those who understand these things we played 20 boards and as we played the nerves began to settle and the butterflies flew away. A look of steely determination crossed everyone’s eyes and it was definitely eyes down for a grand slam!

Our Tournament Director, Allan Jones kept a close eye on proceedings and considering he’d only just got back from holiday that very morning we were impressed that he knew what day it was let alone anything else! For many of the beginners this was the first contact with duplicate bridge but all did brilliantly remembering to move clockwise whilst the boards move in the other direction. North kept the score and at the end of the session the TD worked out the winners and the valiant runners up.
The winning North South pair was Clive Dunn and June Cairns whilst the East West award went to Denis Stevens and David Allen. Everyone had a brilliant afternoon, gained lots of confidence and made new friends. What more could we ask for? Well …….. how about an award!

The beginners all received their Achievement Certificates and looked very proud