A TRUMP lead is not always bad, particularly against a high-level doubled contract. On this deal from the National Pairs semi-final the auction became a little overheated.

MUCH has been said on the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, but not many know that Govan’s finest is a chess aficionado, and over the years has used the odd chess analogy such as, “you can play chess for 10 hours and still lose,” when having a dig at rivals Arsenal.

FORMER world champion Vassily Smyslov said a master’s goal is to play 40 good moves in a game. And if his opponent also makes 40 good moves, it’s time to agree a draw, Smyslov believed.

“WHEN in doubt – lead trump” is a maxim that has probably cost more points than any other. This example comes from the National Pairs Semi-final. South opened a horrible weak no-trump, but playing that range there is no good alternative.

WHEN responder bids a new suit at the one-level (a one-over-one response) opener’s new suit is not completely forcing. Still, responder should try to find a second bid rather than unilaterally end the auction with a pass.

HISTORY could well record 1990 as being a vintage year for chess players. It was when Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin were both born – and the two not only became the strongest teenage players of all time, they also now look set to be rivals for many years to come.

CHESS received a massive pop-culture boost on Saturday as the central theme of the latest Doctor Who episode, as the errant Time Lord – who revealed the game was invented on his home planet of Gallifrey – was reunited with his old cybernetic enemy of the Cybermen.

THERE is a fundamental difference between Pairs and Teams: in teams play you always try to defeat a contract, accepting you may concede unnecessary overtricks; at pairs an overtrick may make the difference between a top and bottom score, so you aim to make as many tricks as you can, not necessarily to defeat the contract.

FOLLOWING the FIDE farrago over the lack of a bidding process for the World Chess Championship match in Chennai, India, Magnus Carlsen, the contender and world No 1 from Norway, accepted it as a venue albeit with reservations.

Disappointed about the decision, the 22-year-old said nevertheless he “will now start preparing for the

match.”

In 1950 a pair of ladies from Perth Bridge Club, Freda Hayes and Ann Weir, won the fifth Scottish National Pairs, the first time a major event was won by a pair from outwith the two main Districts, East and West.

FOLLOWING widespread criticism over the FIDE farrago of allowing Chennai to host the 2013 World Championship match amidst claims that there was no fair and open bidding process, the game’s governing body went into damage limitation mode by saying that they tried to convince the All-Indian Chess Federation to share the match with Norway, but they refused such a request.

THE jump cuebid is quite a rare overcall. Most play that it shows a solid suit, and asks partner to bid 3NT with a stopper in opponent’s suit.

THE stronger two-over-one change of suit response favoured by modern Acol has affected opener’s rebid.

Question: How does White win?

THE danger hand is the defender who can put your contract at risk if he gets on lead. You must plan to lose the lead to the other defender first.

THE Alekhine Memorial had a dramatic ending that was certainly befitting its grandiose surroundings of the Russian State Museum in St Petersburg, as the world No 2, Levon Aronian, of Armenia, came from behind to snatch victory on tiebreak ahead of overnight leader Boris Gelfand, of Israel, both scoring 5.5/9.

Bridge can be a tough game. On this deal from the match against Northern Ireland Scotland’s Lady Milne team bid to 7S. North’s two-over-one promised at least 10 points, so the jump rebid made the auction game-forcing.

Another lost opportunity for Scotland’s Lady Milne team, though this one cost just 1 VP. (Scotland won their match against Northern Ireland 24-6.) The opposing North-South stopped in 2S, making 11 tricks when declarer was allowed to take two heart ruffs in dummy.

Question: How does White win?

IN the 18th and 19th century, two of the greatest players of the era – Francois-Andre Danican Philidor and Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais – were French, and the Café de la Régence in Paris was a gathering place for anyone to play the game, including Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte.