At the end of April I was in England in order to participate (for the tenth consecutive time) in 'The Spring Foursomes' in Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare.
This is a great tournament. Long matches — 32 boards — so there is little risk here of being knocked out by one expensive unlucky board, as is so often the case in short matches. Teams can afford to lose once in this knock-out tournament: in that case they enter the so-called once defeated pool and can still win the event.
What strikes me again and again is the sheer joy of playing in the United Kingdom. Polite, calm people, no indelicate words are used and the atmosphere at the table is excellent, almost without exception. Quite different from tournaments in some countries I can recall.

For many years our team, consisting of three pairs, has been playing according to the same schedule. Host Rob is the captain and decides about the line-up. He is known for his famous:
'Well, Eddie? How do you feel?'
My standard reply is: 'Excellent Rob, I'm enjoying the play and I'm doing well.'
'OK, you're out' (of course he's grinning broadly as he speaks).

As it happens, it is far from a punishment to be taken off the team for the duration of a set. Strolling down the streets of Stratford is more than just a pleasure.

The tournament always includes a Bank Holiday. All of England has a day-off this Monday. Stratford is flooded with weekend-tourists enjoying a long weekend. A very pleasant atmosphere, therefore.

Occasionally I've gone as far as to make a little blunder on purpose (but of course only if we were leading by a huge margin) in order to make the captain sideline me once more.
Naturally every year one encounters spectacular, but also instructive deals.

S/All		♠	10 7 4
		♥	A 3
		♦	A K J 6 5
		♣	J 6 4
♠	A J 6 5 3			♠	K 2
♥	J 10 8 2			♥	K Q 6 4
♦	10 2			♦	9 8 7 3
♣	8 3			♣	10 9 2
		♠	Q 9 8
		♥	9 7 5
		♦	Q 4
		♣	A K Q 7 5

¹ Forcing (in our system 2♦ is not possible, since it is not forcing)

Since my partner had passed East's double, I assumed his 3NT bid indicated a shaky or semi spade guard. After all, with a solid guard he would surely have bid 2NT over the double.
I hoped for him to have the ♠Q doubleton, meaning we would stand a chance in 5♣, whereas 3NT clearly was hopeless.
West led the ♥J and Egbert made eleven easy tricks.

The point of this deal? Agree with partner that East's (Rosenkranz) double specifically shows ♠Ax or ♠Kx, not ♠Qx (in the original convention ♠Qx is possible as well). This way partner can underlead his ace against a trump contract, knowing you have the king. With any other holding in spades East either passes or bids 3♠.
A useful gadget, known by the East player at our table but not — fortunately for us — by West...

Make the same agreement for:

The redouble specifically shows ♠Ax or ♠Kx.

We did not play a major part in the tournament this year but that doesn't mean we will not return next year for the eleventh time. This is the finest tournament in Europe, as far as I know.
So if you can spare the time at the end of April: consider participating next year. You won't regret it!