Story by Brian Rowarth (BBO: BushbyBry)

I was very much a beginner, but I was in the teaching profession and learned how to play bridge in the staff room after lunch each day. We used to cut for partners and often had two or three tables for the best part of an hour's bridge.

One day, I picked up a hand with 34 points and didn't really have much idea what to bid. I decided to bid 7NT! My partner's hand went down, and he had just two points: the Queen of Clubs. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to it because I had the doubleton A-K of clubs! He also had a doubleton diamond, so whether or not I made my 7NT depended on the diamonds splitting 3-3. They did, and I made my 7NT.

This was more than 60 years ago, and I remember it as though it were yesterday. I am still playing bridge, but no hand has come close to the one I have described.

The hand was:

♠ AKQ
♥ AKQ
♦ AKQxx
♣ AK

Some time later, when I was interviewed for another teaching post, I was asked what I would be remembered for in the staff room. I mentioned the above episode, was called for a second interview, but didn't get the job!

After taking early retirement from the teaching profession, I was asked by many people in our village if I would teach them to play bridge. I ran bridge lessons in the village hall for three years, and we now have a thriving bridge club in the village that has been running for nearly 30 years.