Sunday the 12th February saw an important event. No, not the National Mixed Swiss Teams. Oh, all right then, that as well. But for me, it was all about the Reid Trophy. The picture of the winning team is still available in a post from last February, and I am getting fed up of it as a wallpaper on my computer. (Perhaps because I am in it?) Anyway, having won last year, it was only fair I offered the same players a chance to retain the trophy, but I knew that would not be possible as 009domino was off to Glasgow for the aforementioned national competition. The remaining three all returned, Jun playing with his Mum, and we were firm favourites for the event. (Not that I like being favourite, or place myself as such for any event, but I don't get to decide).
The Reid Trophy is supposed to be a Swiss event, but for the last two years it has been a multiple teams event owing to the fact that both times, only six teams entered. This was particularly disappointing given that two of the teams that entered were junior teams (not counting my 50% junior team); so there were only fourteen over-25s in the entire District that came forward to play. This is a trend that needs to be reversed, and I shall openly consider some (possible) reasons here and respond to each in turn.
1: The qualification of entry is too low
It is true that restricting entry to those of Star Master and below rules out a number of players - or does it? The rules of the competition allowed for higher ranked players to participate provided they played with a beginner. Who wants to do that, you ask? Plenty people! Several players came forward and offered themselves as partners for beginners, and were left un-matched when not enough beginners came forward. Besides which, at least 75% of the District could have entered if they'd wanted to, and the other 25% would also have had a chance if they really wanted to play. So this really doesn't do as an answer. True, higher ranked players are more inclined to enter a District competition. But I don't think the restriction on entries is enough to explain poor turnout.
2: The competition is in the wrong place
Why should every District event be played in the City? My opinion is that it shouldn't. It might be an idea to "tour" certain trophies around the shire. Nobody likes having to travel to events all the time. There are a lot of players in the shire and maybe we might reward their numbers by bringing a competition to them, rather than asking them to come into Aberdeen.
It is not just an issue of travel. There is still a stigma that bridge in the city is "too serious" and some players probably genuinely fear to play there as they expect the Director will be called for every move they make. This is by and large a misconception, as players in the city are just as friendly. The trouble is that there is also a minority of nit-pickers that will call the Director for every little thing. What those from the shire may not realise is that this type of player is as unwelcome in the City as anywhere else. Furthermore, Directors are there to help the social aspect of the game; not remove it. Being very lax on Laws and Ethics, as most clubs in the Shire are, is perfectly all right in of itself, but they should realise that it is fair to say that they are thereby "over-tolerant", as opposed to the general practice being "too serious".
On the issue of tolerance then, it has been said before: "Zero tolerance for rudeness, maxi tolerance for everything else". The chances of a player falling foul of the Laws are greater in the City; there is no getting round that. But most players will allow for it, and take it within their stride. The chances of an irregularity occurring is actually greater in the Shire, but someone is less likely to call the Director in the Shire, which puts us back to square one. The stigma will exist as long as players are allowed to think that calling the Director is aggressive/ anti-social, which is the exact opposite of what it should be seen as.
By the way, I do not hereby accuse anyone of something I don't admit to myself. I will hold my hand up and say that Yes, there have been incidents in the Shire that I would have called the Director for if I'd been playing in Aberdeen. I should know better, but then, the stigma is there and I cannot personally remove it. Why will I call the Director for something trivial when that will be seen as "causing trouble"? It's just not worth it.
3. The Competition is at the wrong time
If this is the case, I am unsure how that can be rectified. The calendar is choc-full of events to be played. There is little wriggle-room. I am unsure how February would compare to March/ April anyway.
4. 'So-and-so is going to win; we don't have a chance of winning'
I can't imagine the Reid Trophy being so cut-and-dry. My team were favourites yesterday and I never at any point considered the event to be in the bag, until we had finished scoring up. Does taking part count for nothing any more? I've entered the Scottish Cup in the last two seasons with no hope what so ever of actually winning. Perhaps related however is...
5. Juniors getting "help with their bidding"
Sigh. It would upset as much as it would annoy me if anyone was not entering for this reason, because it is totally out-of-date. For avoidance of doubt: this has not happened for at least three years, nor will it ever happen again.
Yes, it was not a level playing field when certain junior teams had experts kibitzing on the pretext of "helping the juniors with their bidding". The main problem was that the experts could not restrain themselves from telling their charges how to play the cards as well, and this should never have been allowed. I tried to put a stop to it at the time, but was unsuccessful. However, I would point out that it was JUNIORS that STOPPED this. I am somewhat older and more confident than I was back in those days, and there will not be a return to "those days" on my watch.
People should be careful of tarring everyone with the same brush. I have played in the Reid since its inception (bar one year when it clashed with the Men's Teams in Dundee). There has always been a junior in my team, but my team has always stood on its own two feet, win or lose. How angry I would be with someone recalling the bad old days would be nothing compared to how angry I'd be with someone who suggested my team has ever had help in a tournament. The juniors nowadays are keen to enter events, stand by themselves, get beaten (heavily in some cases), and then analyse why. Always a formula for success (later rather than sooner). Phoenix Rising operates the same policy. We could have fielded stronger teams this year, but we chose the youngest teams available.
I did touch on this last year, but I felt I needed to re-visit the issue in full, because we did not improve our entries. Granted, this blog has a low circulation, but if just one person has had their mind put at rest by what I have to say, it was worth it. Now, onto the competition itself.
With six teams, we took Team 6, to make the movement easier for all the other teams. We started with a match against the Grammar School. Our opponents at both tables were over-enthusiastic on Board 1, 800 plus 500 equals 16 IMPs in. We then lost four IMPs after a horrendous mis-play by yours truly. Then came a suit combination problem:
8 5 4 opposite Q J 9 7 6
You need to play the suit for two losers, starting in hand (8 5 4). You play the 4 to the 2-J-K. Later, you play the 8 and LHO plays the 3. What do you do?
I was in 3NT, in danger of coming down if I got this wrong. My counterpart was in 4NT Doubled. I made ten tricks. I would like to think that guessing wrong is the only reason my counterpart lost 800 on this board, and maybe it is.
In the end, we were strong enough to keep it within our own hands. With scores (in Board Number order) of 20, 18, 14, 15, and 20, we scored more VPs against every team than we dropped altogether. Anyone would take that. Well done to my team-mates on a deserved victory, even with me on the team.
Of course, Bridge addicts that we are, it was not Jun or my first session of the day. No, that came at 8am in the morning, with the regular BBO practice session. Jun then had a BBO match in the evening as well, and I agreed to post this hand:
---
A Q
K J 9 2
A K J 9 7 6 5
All Vul, RHO is Dealer and opens 4 Spades.
Jun's partner held this hand, I'll let you know what he called in the next blog. In the mean time, decide for yourself. Enjoy! :)
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