Summer remembered

MISSING: Great big fireball; the result of a combination of burning gasses, 870000 miles wide, up to 27 million degrees farenheit hot. Also known as the sun. Has anybody seen this thing? In Scotland, where I live, it is said that it shows itself once every year in something called Summer. Or is that just a girl's name these days?

All right; I know: I can talk. Truth of the matter is that the sun has made more apperances this summer than I have on this blog. Well there's a reason for that. In fact there are several. Number One: Nobody reads this (not that I'm complaining; I genuinely prefer it that way - I dread the day when somebody actually starts following this and I will have to start writing something interesting and/or witty), so there is no need to hurry. Two: Not much happens in the world of bridge in the summer. Three: This is very difficult to maintain with only one computer on which to work and lots of things to do. Anyway, let's get on with a recap of what has been happening in the world of bridge (relevant to my life) over the summer, since quite a lot of things have happened since - um - February.

So, update on bridge things I give a damn about. Phoenix Rising won Division 3 last season. They did it with scores of 15, 20, 19, 15 and 20. Well deserved winners I feel. I was rather disappointed that due to call-offs and illness and players availability on different days, we never managed to produce an all-junior team (as I think, were our opponents), but I did my best and I might (just might) have a larger pool of players to pick from this year. But instead of simply shooting anyone who questions the strength of the teams I pick, I have decided to publish an actual selection policy which shall remain in place until such time as somebody else takes on the Captaincy or circumstances make it unfeasible. That selection policy is thus:

1. Every member of the team pool shall be guaranteed at least one match every season, as long as they can take up their place in the team if and when selected. This guarantee is optional and players who do not require such a promise may be exempt.

2. The team shall consist of as many juniors as are available, up to a full compliment of juniors if 8 or more are available. Note: "available" may also entail "able to get to the venue".

3. Subject to the parameters imposed by Conditions 1 and 2, the strongest possible team shall be fielded for each match. This is a courtesy and responsibility we have to all of our opponents.

Done.
Now then, where was I?
Ah yes, I suspect that the ethos and line-up of Phoenix Rising last season sparked a lot of questions about the League Rules. (I should know, I was answering them). This meant that the league rules had to be re-written. That was a job for the League Convner. With the League Convener stepping down, which so-and-so would take on this unenviable mantle? Ah yes - me. I suppose I was a good candidate for the position - I doubt anybody re-read the rules more times, or spent more time on league business last season, than me. Anyway, the rules are now on the North District website for all to see. And if anyone wants to ask me any questions regarding the rules, they must feel free to do so. However, I must warn them: I promise that I will answer the question properly.

Ellon, on the other hand... Well, Ellon stayed up (small thanks to me), despite losing all three of their 2011 matches. The loss to Banchory (which I actually blogged about) was particularly galling simply because of the margin of loss (the narrowest possible). I was also involved in the Bridge Club Tartan match... I say "involved", but really, I don't think anything I did was ever going to stop us losing. We are on a somewhat muted recruitment drive, so if any bridge players from the area are interested, could they please get themselves along to the club on a Monday night from October through March, and/or contact the club secretary (me again) for more details.

What else has happened? Well, lessurl got his first taste of an SBU Congress when we played the Central District Congress at Montrose. This is not the first time Montrose and the town's Bridge Club will get a mention in this post, so I'll get it off my chest now: Montrose impressed me as a picturesque, quaint little town that is truly a gem on the Scottish East coast. What a lovely place. I have nothing but good things to say about the place and I'm not surprised the Central District choose to hold their congresses there. And as for Montrose Bridge Club, what lovely people. I've met quite a lot of them now and the club exudes the aura of exactly what a Bridge Club should be. (Disclaimer: I've never been to one of their club nights; this opinion is formed solely on meeting them during events at Montrose and looking at their website). Tangent over. Lessurl got his first taste of an SBU congress at the CD Congress. We made the mistake of qualifying for the Pairs Final (with the best score of any of the qualifiers) and the Teams Final too, with the result that lessurl is now under the impression we're supposed to do that in every Congress. Oops.

Lessurl and I won the Summer Pairs Trophy at Phoenix. Woop Woop! I'm very pleased with that because we have put a lot of work into improving our selves and our partnership and I certainly think that we lessurl deserves credit.

Now, this is a recap blog, where I talk about major bridge things in my life since the last time I posted. So, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't say SOMETHING about the trials. Yes, we were there. I forgot to take a picture of our names at the top of the leaderboard (they were there from Rounds 2 to 5 inclusive), but if the pattern of the last two years continues, I'll get another chance next year when we lead the way only to be robbed of qualification through a twist of fate rather unlucky and fall away before the end. I'm not delusional; I know that this year, as last year, we upset a few people not just by turning up but also by not having the good grace to lie down and finish bottom. And I'm not saying that had we not been robbed of 144 X-IMPs we wouldn't have qualified. But I daresay we'd still have been in the running for qualification before being humped in the last match, which in itself is surely a quality that anyone aspiring to be in a Scottish football team should have, not to mention in-keeping with the pattern of last year. So, I reserve the right to stick my oar in to the debate that is raging in various circles right now at a later date. But for now, the only thing I wish to convey about the trials this year is sincere congratulations to my coach and mentor on qualifying for the next stage, playing with his young partner James Hay. Congratulations also to the Selection Committee and directing staff who handled the whole weekend, as well as Walkoutgate very well, not to mention all that is good about the Carlton Bridge Club as a venue.

I will end on a high note: The Inchbrayock Swiss Teams. This was hosted by Montrose Bridge Club. Now, I daresay they will come under fire for some misboarding and mis-scoring issues. However, not from me. Yes, mistakes were made. IT HAPPENS. I know they were doing their best and they put a lot of work into making the event the best it could be. This was the first time the event was played as a Swiss Teams and there were teething troubles. But overall, it was still an event well worth playing in. I'll run through the event from my POV. First round we were a bit unlucky. We played against a quality team and our team mates (playing their first ever boards together) did not find the solid 7NT their way which would've swung the match in our favour. Get the same board in the last round and possibly they would have. We cancelled out our 6 in Round 1 with a 14 in Round 2. Then we played another Aberdeen team (having already lost to one) and lost 8-12 with fault on all sides. A small tea break was the best we could have, since an actual meal would have pushed the entrance fee up substantially. In Round 4, we missed out on a 20-0 win by one IMP. This match was notable for the slams lessurl and I did NOT bid. All three were bad slams (less than 50%) and made on the lie of the cards (and on one occasion on the opening lead), so we were pleased with ourselves, and the bonus of having 5 Hearts Doubled making an overtrick. We thought that would be substantial enough to keep us out of the triangle for rounds 5 and 6, but no. Still, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We used the situation to our advantage, gathering a 17 and a 20, for a Grand Total of 84. We also avoided the misboarding issues that affected Tables 1 to 14. Finishing before everyone not in the triangle, we worked out that we could swing first place provided Bill Ross scored anything between 10 and 13 inclusive in the last match. Bill duly obliged, and first place was ours. Or was it? The team was getting excited as it was announced that 2nd place had a score of 82. I warned against counting our chickens before they were hatched and my caution was well placed. First place went to a completely different team! They had also amassed 84, but we had to be the villains of the piece by pointing out that we had also scored 84. For some reason, our 17 had not been counted and when everything was checked, we took first place on a split-tie of total IMPs, having not played the other team. Congratulations to my team mates egg46, 009domino and lessurl.

That's all folks.
Unless you can spot the deliberate grammatical error.
Oh, and look out for a posting to the effect of "Summer remembered 2", where I talk about everything I forgot to talk about in this post.