Richard's one night stand ... in Te Aroha

The night Richard Solomon came to town turned out to be very popular ... so popular that even after squeezing in the maximum number of bodies into the Te Aroha bridge club main room (turns out that 50 is pretty close to maximum) we still had to turn away dozens of keen juniors.

While we had a good number of locals, we also welcomed juniors from Taupo, Tokoroa, Thames, Cambridge, Hamilton, Matamata, Morrinsville and Waihi.

Richard definitely challenged those there - Doubles - specifically penalty, take out and reopening doubles was the first topic. When to double, what to bid after a double, and when to leave the double in for penalties also on the agenda.

Richard at night's end: The author neglected to get a photo of Richard in full flight in front of a packed and rapt audience ... instead here he is at the end of the night probably looking forward to getting home!

This followed by opening leads where Richard also had some people questioning their long held beliefs - I thought you always led your partners suit said some! Exceptions for everything ... and sometimes it is fine to lead your Ace which is a whole lot better than underleading it in a suit contract. And don't lead trumps ... just because you don't know what else to do.

After supper we had a discussion on planning the hand ... don't rush into the play and take your time to look at losers when the dummy goes down. Richard also talked a bit about signalling and discards to your partner - an important aspect of the game as juniors get more experience. Then we put into practice some of what he had been preaching by ending the night playing some boards.

"Stimulating but exhausting" was how one participant described her night. Definitely challenging and informative for those there who are already looking forward to a repeat performance next year.