Author: Mark Horton

Everyone knows that a preempt is capable of causing havoc at the bridge table – to both sides. (If you want to find out more about this fascinating topic I can recommend Step-by-Step Pre-Empts by Alan Mould.) At the start of the second half of the match between Yeh and Lavazza the preempts came thick and fast.

Carousel was the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár’s 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He attempts a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. One of the songs from the show contains the line: ‘I’d let my golden chances pass me by.’

At the half way mark in the match between the CCBA and Lavazza things were looking bleak for the team from Turin. However, as any self respecting pundit will tell you, Bridge is a game of two halves.

When Lavazza faced off against CCBA they found themselves banging their heads against a brick wall.

Some deals are very tough – and you can be sure that determined opponents will do their best to make sure you can’t reach the optimum spot.