My very first memories of bridge stem from the family learning the game together when I was about 13. However, although I was intrigued, my brother always had his attention elsewhere and I stopped playing until I reached University 5 years later. There I started playing more and more until, by the end of my course, I was playing 3 days a week.

It seems to me that occasion is what makes a hand memorable just as much as any inspirational or calamitous manoeuvre in the auction or play.

As the saying goes…."Pride before a fall". So I’ll start with success and let disaster follow shortly after.

I played this hand in the final of the Portland Bowl in 1998. The prize was to be entry to the European Universities Championships in Sweden, and I badly wanted to win.

In the other room West opened Three Clubs and bought the contract, there being no obvious way for North-South to enter the auction.

In Three no-trumps I played the KC at trick one, with E discarding a heart. That indicated East’s shape was likely to be 4-5-4-0. I continued with the ace of diamonds, then finessed the queen of hearts and cashed the ace, discarding a club from dummy. East, down to KJ8 of hearts, should have played an honour on the ace, but played low.

I then played off four rounds of spades, and after East had taken the fourth round and cashed two hearts, he had to lead a diamond, enabling me to make two more tricks in the suit and nine in all.

This disaster is not for the faint hearted. Playing on table 1 in the last round of a Green Pointed Swiss Pairs things weren’t going our way and I could feel the victory ebbing away.

My partner was Jeremy Dhondy so I wanted to show that I had what it took when it really mattered.

I held

When partner passed and RHO opened a strong club – at Green I couldn’t resist an impulsion to do something that was unlikely to happen at other tables.

The opponents were too strong to be baffled by a simple psyche so I tried the effect of bidding 2S!

Now I did have one piece of valuable information up my sleeve. I knew that over 2S LHOs double would be penalty and RHOs double would be take out so if RHO had spades they would be awkwardly placed.

Anyway slow pass on my left was followed by pass from partner and even slower double on my right, now I was convinced I had them and that LHO would pull.

OK, this is a disaster hand and so you can guess what happened…. The full layout was

Ever the optimist I had to point out to Jeremy that –2000 was a good sacrifice against 2210 since 7S is ‘cold’.

Is it my fault no-one had bid and made it?