Bridge | 16 April 2015

When I was growing up, the loudest, most explosive arguments erupted when my parents played bridge together. Not surprisingly, when my father offered to teach me I made my excuses and ran. Jasmine Bakhshi is in the lucky position of having David for a father. Not only is David on the England Open team that wins practically everything they enter but he is also an excellent teacher. And what a pupil he has in ten-year-old Jasmine. At the Easter Festival in London she played with 15-year-old Isaac Channon in the Under 19 Pairs Championship, which they won, making her the youngest ever holder of that title. She first showed an interest in bridge about 18 months ago and this was her second tournament. The gal’s a natural.

Here she is in a delicate 3NT contract, showing judgment, patience and tenacity way beyond her experience.

Isaac did very well to raise directly to 3NT with his flat 14 count. If he had gone through Stayman (which most other pairs did) they would have ended up in 4♠ which has no chance. West led ♣Q and Jasmine counted 6 top tricks. She knew she could make an extra trick in clubs so she won the ♣K and played ♣3 towards dummy. West grabbed his Jack and switched to a low diamond. Needing two more tricks Jasmine played low from dummy and East won his King and continued diamonds. Although the finesse had lost, she now had an extra diamond winner. Only one more trick to find — and that had to come from the spade suit. In dummy with the diamond, Jasmine played ♠4 towards her hand. East took his Ace but now declarer could force a spade winner for her ninth trick.