For me, this is a “must-watch” event – two events, in fact. The only
reason that I would not have watched them as much as possible on BBO would be
if I was actually there. For the uninitiated, the Junior Camrose is the Camrose
Trophy for – well, juniors. It is played for by the Under 25 players of
England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, and Wales. The Peggy
Bayer is likewise for Under 20s.
This year’s event is being held
in the Bewleys Hotel, Dublin Airport. Unlike the Full International
counterpart, the entire competition is played over one weekend. I don’t expect
(m)any of the Peggy Bayer games to be screened, so the event I’ll be watching
is the JC. For both events, Wales have declined/ are unable to send a team, so
both events are being contested by four teams in a triple round-robin format.
This presumably means each team gets seating rights against a particular
opponent once, with the draw for the third round of matches made “blind”.
This event did not even get its own coverage last year, so I shall try to atone for that this year with better coverage. So I shall start as I mean to go on with the first match:
England v Scotland
This event is open for all four teams to win,
and it is difficult to call. In previous years, Scotland have won five
out of eight and finished bottom, won the event, and then gained more VPs than
they did to win it the previous year and come second. The dynamic constantly
shifts and although the event over the years has been dominated by England, the
other teams are always intent on upsetting the apple cart. Straight off the
bat, we have a clash between the auld enemies – a good way to start. It is
always a match that generates a lot of interest. It is the only fixture that
gets a chance of being screened in the Peggy Bayer.
Straight away, we had Board 11 and this hand:
9 8 5 4
A 10 9
J 7 6 5 2
2
Partner opens a strong NT and you...?
Pass? It might be the most obvious action to some of us, but the
English North, Myers, made a good decision to bid 2 Clubs here, passing his
partner’s 2 Hearts response. This is safe as if Opener responds 2 Diamonds,
Pass will find partner with a minimum of two, with odds-on for more. The point
is that a suit contract plays better than 1NT.
The Scottish North did not get the chance. His RHO made a weak 3 Clubs
bid, which he then Doubled. This was left in. What do you lead to beat 3 Clubs
Doubled?
So, -580 after one board was not a good start for Scotland and I was
fearing the worst at this point. How pessimistic am I? Well, perhaps I had a
right to be when my hopes were dashed on Board 1. This was the contract Frazer
Morgan faced:
10 5 4
8 5 3 2
A 6 5 3
A 2
A K 8
A K 6
Q 7 2
Q 9 7 6
3NT by you; the bottom hand.
LHO opened a weak 2 Spades; you bid 2NT and after 3C-3N play in 3NT.
There are only six top tricks and it is not doesn’t take a lot of
looking to surmise that only a series of correct guesses (and in all
likelihood, sheer luck) will allow you to make this contract.
Frazer got the 6 of spades led, and chose the 10 of spades as a shot to
nothing. RHO won with the Jack, which he ducked, having placed him with a singleton.
The four of hearts was returned, and Frazer ducked this too, LHO winning with
the ten and exiting with the Jack to the 3-7-A. Now came an important, but
correct guess. He played the 2 of diamonds to the nine, Ace and four. He then
played the three, and when RHO played the 8, the queen held, collecting the
ten. So far so good, but what now? Do either of the red suits break? Will clubs
behave? Of course, I could see the answers double-dummy and was pleased to see
Frazer exit a diamond, finding the 3-3 break, RHO winning with the King. RHO
then cleared the heart suit, North playing the 9 of spades. It looks like
Frazer should play on clubs now, but he calmly cashed the Ace of Spades first,
noting the 4 of clubs discard from RHO. Now he played the six of clubs to the
three-Ace-five. That brings him to this position:
5
8
6
2
A
-
-
Q 9 7
Six Tricks Won; Three Lost.
There is only one layout on which this will make. Given that he has to
lose the King of Clubs, Frazer knows he goes down if RHO holds it. Therefore,
he needs LHO to have started with K3 doubleton. That is what he plays for, and
it succeeds. LHO is obliged to allow him back in with the spade, and he makes
the contract. What a shame the board was flat. But of course it was. Such an
interesting board to me is a warm-up for the likes of these junior
Internationals.
Morgan and Morrison then competed well to 3 Hearts making on Board 2,
and their team mates picked up 500 in the other room for 3 Spades Doubled. 11
IMPs went to England when one Scots pair failed to find a killer club lead or
switch against 3NT. Morgan and Morrison then bid to a shapely 5 Diamonds, which
(after another good view, this time by Morrison) made 12 tricks and gained 10
IMPs when not bid in the other room. England gained a part score swing when
they defended on both tables on Board 7, and Scottish hopes were finally killed
off when North and South held these respective cards:
A Q 6 2
Q 10 4
J
Q J 9 6 2
8 5
A K 6 5
K Q 5 4
A K 5
Myers and Thrower bid to 6NT on this. Unfortunately, East decided to
lead from K J 9 7 3 in spades, giving England a slam swing as South played it
without a hope in the other room. Before analysing this hand I looked at the
hands in isolation and concluded that my regular partner and I should finish on
4NT on this board. But don’t take my word for it; I’ll ask him as I generally do
with bidding queries.
So, after the first match, Scotland sit bottom with 11 VPs, as CBAI emerged slightly ahead in a twisty match with Northern Ireland to win 16-14. Still, the trophy is not decided after Round 1 and there will be time for Scotland to come back. I shall try to keep dedicated coverage over the weekend, and hope to post an update around late Supper Time.
No comments:
Post a Comment