NIBU v CBAI
Of course this was going to be the Vugraph match for Round 4, having not got the nod ahead of England v Scotland first time round. For a reason that I am sure is perfectly valid but unknown to me, the North and Republic teams generally go by their respective Union's names in these events - Northern Irish Bridge Union and Contract Bridge Association of Ireland respectively. NIBU were certainly due a Vugraph match, so I was looking forward to this one.
Things did not start quietly. On Board 1, the Northern Irish NS got a bit mixed up (by the look of it; it is possible they knew exactly what they were doing), and the Contract was 2 Hearts Doubled by North. Their team mates at least made 4 Spades +1 in the other room, so -500 when the dust cleared only lost 2 IMPs. I feel my theory of "confusion" is strengthened by Board 2, where a scrambling 2NT was not used to good effect and South played 3 Spades in a 5-2 fit, two off. 6 more IMPs to CBAI for Board 2. NIBU got off the mark on Board 3 by making an overtrick in 3NT by North.
The next two boards brought part score battles and 1 IMP to CBAI. Then NS held this:
A
J 9 5
J 7 6 5 3 2
6 4 2
K
K 10 3
A K 9 4
A K 10 8 7
Getting rid of one of two losers here is just too much to do, so when the CBAI pair bid to 6 Diamonds, a 10 IMP swing to NIBU was on its way; the first double-figure swing of the match making it 11-9. The underdogs were in the lead for the first time.
Here is one where both Declarers played the same contract:
A K J 2
A 4 2
K J 8 6 3
K
Q 9 7 5
J 8
10 5
A J 5 4 3
The contract was 4 Spades by South. I'm not sure how the Declarer for CBAI went down (the movie being inconclusive), but Somerville made it look easy. He got the same lead: the 3 of Hearts. He rose with the Ace of Hearts and unblocked the club suit by playing the King to the 9-3-2. He then exited in hearts, West winning with the King. West kept hearts going, ruffed in hand. Now Declarer laid down the 5 of diamonds, and West, holding AQ74, rose with the Ace. West returned a diamond, but Somerville guessed right and let the diamond run. He then cashed the Ace of clubs, played a small spade to the Jack, ruffed a diamond with the 9 of spades and cashed the queen, claiming 11. That was 13 IMPs to NIBU, but CBAI answered back, finding a killing defence against 4 Spades that their team mates managed to make. It was getting very hard to keep up with this swingy set. The next board was a flat 3NT, although there was play. The score with three quarters of the match played was 24-20 to the NIBU.
Board 10 was something I don't see every day. It looked to me like NS had 4 Hearts on and EW had 5 Diamonds on. The CBAI pair got the contract in both rooms; 3 Hearts making 11 and 4 Diamonds making on the nose, though for my money 11 was there. However, I could see all the cards and it is very difficult to factor that in sometimes, so I cannot be 100% sure what the "par" score was.
It was at this point that it was brought to my attention that one of the scores might have been wrong. The standing score was 28-24 to CBAI, but apparently they were about to lose 8 IMPs; it seemed that the contract that had been "allowed to make" was not 4 Spades at all. So, apparently, it was virtually 24-20 to the NIBU, the score that it was before the part score swing.
And there were still two boards of bridge to be played! On Board 11, the NI West made a safe 4 Hearts Contract. His team-mates "sacrificed" in 5 Clubs after Somerville opened 4NT showing both minors. He somehow managed to get out for -2, so the sacrifice was a brilliant one. 27 plays 28 or 20. Board 12 wrapped up an exciting match when both NS pairs couldn't get to a 20 point Spade Game. That went flat, so NIBU scored 27 IMPs and there was a wait to see if CBAI scored 20 or 28.
Scotland v England
There was no Vugraph of this match, but naturally I was keeping an eye on the running scores. Scotland took an early lead, and increased it to a point where they were in 1st place. The dreaded fight-back did come, and England closed the gap to 4 IMPs. Scotland pulled away again and after what was clearly a very twisty match, as exciting as the Irish match, Scotland won 18-12. That was not quite enough to overtake England, but it was still a big step in the right direction.
Northern Irish Bridge Union v Scotland
If memory serves me correctly, a 9:50pm start for this match is one of the latest I have seen. This is unintelligible to me when there are 9 rounds of twelve boards to be played, and it is clearly a knock-on from the start of the first round being 12:35pm. Being a reasonable person, I am forced to assume there were serious issues that prevented play being scheduled for Saturday morning, but I have to say I don't know what they were.
Because of the lateness of the hour, I didn't manage to see the start of the match. On boards 23 and 24, NS and EW traded Games with a certain amount of overtricks, the effectiveness of which would surely be examined around about 11pm when the other table came to them.
Board 13 brought the first comparison and it was not good from a Scots point of view: Both Scottish pairs were in Games that did not make, one doubled, and it was 9-0 to the NIBU. Scotland looked on their way to their second defeat by this team and third in the tournament. Damage was double with England taking an early lead against CBAI.
Time to highlight some more Declarer play from Frazer Morgan
K J 6
A J 6 3 2
7 4
K 10 6
A 10 8 7 4
Q
A K 10 8 2
8 7
He was in 4 Spades by the bottom hand. Dummy's counterpart had already made 11 on a favourable lead.
The 9 of hearts was led, and that showed 0 or 2 higher cards. Frazer correctly played for 2, and ran to the queen, winning. He then cashed AK of diamonds, and LHO showed the 4 of hearts on the third round which he ruffed. He played the Ace of Hearts, and would not have been too disappointed to see RHO ruff with the 2 of spades. He over-ruffed with the 4 and ruffed a diamond with the Jack. He ruffed a heart, then a winning diamond, then another heart - the safest line for ten, not knowing he needed overtricks. He cashed the Ace of spades, and then claimed 12, presumably laying down another spade to endplay whoever won in clubs, as the Ace was with LHO.
Scotland were off the mark, but unfortunately Frazer's next line was unsuccessful, and Scotland found themselves 20-1 down.
K J 5
6 4
A K Q J 10 8 4 3
---
With the above hand, Alex Wilkinson called an 8 card suit trump and bid 5 Diamonds with his first turn to speak. This was doubled, and should come down, but he was allowed to make. The Irish pair went to 6, doubled course and two down. Scotland had 14 more IMPs all of a sudden. 4 IMPs quickly followed when an Irish pair went for a Game that didn't make. 20-18.
Then a phantom sacrifice for Northern Ireland, which was interesting but beyond my tiredness drained skills to write up, gave Scotland 11 IMPs and a 29-20 lead.
A flat 3NT+2 followed, where the key point was for East to be the first person to bid NT after South's weak 2 Spades Opener to right-side the 3NT contract. Phil Morrison demonstrated this by jumping straight to 3NT after 2S-P-P.
Good news followed for Scotland as the other table caught up to board 23. A game swing put the Scots 42-20 ahead. Meanwhile, the table I was watching played out another flat 3NT board, this time by NS.
With 3 comparisons to come, there was still plenty time for it to go horribly wrong. On Board 21, the Scots NS found themselves in a no-play 3NT, while the Scots West kept NS away from that fate by making a weak jump overcall that was left by his partner, who had 0 card support. That cost 6 IMPs, so I was happy to see the other table finish with another IMP for Scotland.
I took a breath, and looked at Board 22. Okay, the Scots South made 11 for 450 in spades. Looks okay. There is no slam (double dummy), Scotland should close this out. Phil and Frazer started the campaign by bidding their heart fit, which didn't stop Corry and Connolly finding 4 Spades. Unfortunately, it did stop Morgan spotting the best lead, a hard find, and NIBU gained 2 IMPs. A 43-28 win for Scotland. Enough to win 19-11.
The Junior Camrose standings after Day 1:
England 92
Scotland 84
NIBU 64
CBAI 60
The Peggy Bayer Standings after Day 1:
England 99
Scotland 78
NIBU 69
CBAI 48
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