I am pretty disgusted with my own bridge at the moment. How fortunate I have something else to talk about - the Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer 2013. One of my favourite events to follow on BBO, not that I'll be doing much of that this year (not through choice).
2 rounds were played before I could log on and my hopes were not high for Scotland. I had plenty faith in the players, but I accept that the teams are in transition just now and I wasn't placing any expectations on them. Given that, I was rather pleased to hear that the Peggy Bayer team had won their first match and that Jake and Ian had achieved a winning draw in their debut match. I entered viewing with the scores as:
JUNIOR CAMROSE
Scotland 15-15 Northern Ireland
England 25-5 Republic of Ireland
Scotland 8-22 England
Republic of Ireland 4-25 Northern Ireland
PEGGY BAYER
Scotland 25-2 Northern Ireland
England 25-1 Republic of Ireland
Scotland 6-24 England
Republic of Ireland 25-4 Northern Ireland
The feature match for Round 3 was the Junior Camrose match Northern Ireland v England - the two early front runners for the trophy. England had to be favourites, so I was rooting for Northern Ireland. It might also be something to do with knowing some of their team. I watched Corry/Clegg v Macintosh/O'Connor.
Northern Ireland made a solid start to the match with a 4 Hearts and 2 Hearts making on the nose. They over-stretched on the next board, the result of which would not be known for some time as they started with the last three boards to bring in comparisons.
On the first comparison, Corry/Clegg didn't find a sacrifice worth 3 IMPs, and when the next two boards saw the Irish pairs take it in turns to bid games that didn't make, the IMP score was 0-14. Not good.
Board 28 was an interesting one.
Q109
J5
KJ973
AQ6
2
AK8743
Q4
K1054
These were the Irish hands (NS) with NS Vul, West Dealer.
At the other table, Atchison went 3 down in 4 Spades (undoubled). Here, West opened 2 Diamonds as a bad weak 2 in a major. Clegg doubled, and East jumped to 3 Hearts. Corry now bid 4 Hearts, intended as natural but treated as a cue. North therefore bid 5 Diamonds, East now said 5 Spades and Corry doubled. Things were looking up for Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, North pulled to 6 Diamonds (which is reasonable given what he thinks partner has), and the no-play Slam went 2 down for an 8 IMP swing out.
After Nothern Ireland got their first IMP in a part score, I watched Dan McIntosh play this 3NT hand:
AJ3
K8652
AK6
A4
Q95
109
QJ105
K1052
3NT by the bottom hand, small spade led.
Dan let the spade run to his nine (RHO had the King but ducked), and ran the 9 of hearts. RHO won with the Jack and returned a spade, the queen winning. Dan then ran the 10 of hearts to the queen, and RHO cleared the spades. The King of hearts cleared the suit, and since the ace was with North, Dan claimed 10 tricks for 10 IMPs as the same contract wasn't made at the other table.
The IMPs continued to go one way as the same doomed contract was not Doubled when the English pair played it, and the score was 1-37. As I watched the next baord, an IMP came to England on Board 35 and England were now in maximum territory. More so when the other table wrapped up with another 3 IMPs to England.
There was finally some joy for Northern Ireland as they scored a part score swing on the last board. Somerville made 2 Spades at one table while Clegg was allowed to play in 1NT making an overtrick. That scored 6 IMPs for 7-41 and stopped England from getting the maximum 25, although leaving them comfortably out ahead in first place nonetheless.
When the results were updated, I found myself editing the above scores as both English teams seemed to gain VPs from an earlier match. In fact, as I write this, everything seems to be constantly changing, so if you don't want to know the score, you're all right. Even the above match turned into a 25 for England. But there was good news too: Scotland got another 25 in the Peggy Bayer, this time against Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, Scotland got a 23 in the Junior Camrose.
This meant that having been round the lap once, Scotland were establishing themselves as strong contenders for 2nd place in the Peggy Bayer, and seemed to be fighting it out for 3rd place in the Junior Camrose.
Thoughts at this point: Scotland doing well. Jake and Iain seem to have taken to the International scene very well. (They've never even been in a Peggy Bayer before - they are straight in at the deep end), with one win and one draw so far. Just because Scotland are the holders of the Junior Camrose trophy doesn't make them favourites to win it this year (far from it), and if they manage to pip Northern Ireland to 2nd place, it will be a job very well done.
I am just as impressed with the Peggy Bayer team. This team has four debutants and is well ahead of third place, losing only to red hot favourites England so far. I hope they are enjoying themselves because they are doing their country proud.
I'm working tomorrow so probably won't get to see any matches, which is a shame because it seems I'm missing out.
Showing posts with label Junior Camrose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Junior Camrose. Show all posts
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
A busy first weekend
Happy New Year.
I signed off my last entry looking forward to Round 3 of the Sybil Hay District Teams of 4. As scheduled, this clashed with the SBU Winter Congress in Peebles, so we postponed it and Round 3 was played on the 4th January 2013. This clashed with the first weekend of the Camrose, of course, but nobody from the North is involved in that, save for the interest of watching it. Pity we can't record it on Sky+. Nor would there be (for me) any time to watch on Saturday, as I was a chapperone-slash-player at the Junior Trials in Stirling - just one of the things new SBU Junior Co-ordinator Jenny Cooper is doing to get a look at the current crop of Juniors coming through and take the setup forward, which I have every confidence she will. I also had bridge to play on Sunday, but I'm not going to blog about that.
District Teams of Four Round 3
This was a big night for us and in many ways the toughest challenge yet. Having finished both Rounds 1 and 2 sitting 1VP behind First Place, we were determined to finish Round 3 on top. The feeling was that if we didn't, we could forget about the trophy. It would not be easy - PETERS and N. MCLEOD are both scoring better than last year, although, I doubt they will be at all offended if I suggest they are not title contenders. We were under no illusions about how difficult it would be to win, and of course, anything can happen in McLeod v McLeod. No other team has the uniqueness of a "family derby" to contend with in this competition. Although this lacks the ill-feeling of Hearts v Hibs (thankfully), McLeod Senior and I know each other's games very well and a tangled web may be weaved as we try to out-think, as well as out-play, the other. Entering this match, I had the edge against teams involving my Dad in this competition, but I couldn't tell you the score as I don't keep score and anyway, this was the first time (in the Sybil Hay, anyway) that we had faced each other as Captains. His new look team started the night flying higher than ever, and I had a feeling that this was going to be one heck of a match.
Before that, Lessurl and I had twelve boards to play against Edith PETERS and partner. This team had already demonstrated the fallacy of their bottom seeding, which was based entirely on last season's finish (it could hardly have been based on anything else). They started Round 3 in ninth place on merit. If you offered me before the match a repeat of last season's result - a 19-1 win - I would have bitten your hand off. But since Bridge doesn't work like that, we had to hope that we could play well and get the wind in our sails.
In fact, we got the complete opposite. Things started well enough - I made a ludicrous 1NT bid and managed to make it. But things went against us from there on in. First of all, I was deceived by the underlead of an Ace against a suit contract - that can happen and has been duly noted. A reasonable 4 Spades contract met with bad breaks, although on Board 29 (the fifth), both of our partnerships scored + 170 for 8 IMPs. With the match poised on a knife edge, I picked up:
KJxx
Ax
Jx
AQxxx
I opened 1 Club (Better Minor). Lessurl responded 1 Heart. Now I have a tough decision - reverse or not? I opted for 1 Spade, and when Lessurl said 2 Clubs, there seemed to be no more to say. The diamond suit looked odds-on to be wide open, so No-Trumps was out and 5 Clubs was surely a stretch too far. 2 Clubs +2 was as good as we could do. Unfortunately, the same 10 tricks are available in Hearts. Our counterparts at the other table apparently misbid their way to it, and picked up 11 IMPs for their trouble. There was nowhere left that we could generate a swing, and when our team-mates had a board to forget to round off with, we slipped to a 6-14VP defeat.
This is a result that epitomises what I have said previously. Anyone can beat anyone in this event and the tag of favourites is not coveted. I maintain that no matter who you play, skill and hard work can only get you so far. There will always be an element of luck in bridge and, as far as I am concerned, it is the worst area of my game.
Of course, as we headed into the McLeod derby, we did not know (although we did suspect) that the first match was a loss. So there were no title aspirations riding on this match, especially as it was clear from our opponents' demeanour they had just suffered a heavy loss at the hands of ROSS. That was not to say there was nothing riding on the match - pride, if nothing else, was at stake.
The first board was a bog standard push. On the second I have this hand:
xxx
AKxx
109xx
85
LHO (McLeod Senior) opens 1 Club, and the bidding proceeds, with Lessurl and I passing: 2NT-3H-3S-3NT-4S
As stated above, my father and I know each other's game well, and I understood this auction. The 1 Club is an Asking Club, denying 5 cards in diamonds, hearts or spades and showing opening points. The 2NT is 11+, forcing, and asking for Opener's 4 card suit. 3 Hearts is the answer. 3 Spades was a little unexpected at this point, but must be spades. 4 Spades must really be spades.
Since I know where 4 of the missing hearts are, I lead the King for a Count signal - it is really important to me which of the other players has a doubleton. Lessurl plays the 2 on Trick 1, so it isn't him. In fact he must have exactly 3. I am seeing this dummy:
A
QJxx
Hxxxx
AJx
Now I switch to the 8 of clubs, which is allowed to run to Lessurl's King. This is when he has to find the killer continuation. It must be tempting to play a heart, and he did think for a bit before producing another club. Declarer wins with the Queen and plays a small spade to the Ace. He now plays the Ace of Clubs and pitches a heart, with me ruffing. I switch to a diamond and Lessurl produces the Ace. The contract eventually goes 2 off as Lessurl also has a trump to get. Our team-mates matched our +200 on this to score 9 IMPs. On to Board 31 and this Declarer situation:
---
K932
KQJ84
A1053
AJ875
J6
A1062
K7
After finding out about the diamond fit, I rejected it in favour of 3NT, which I hoped would be the easier contract. A small diamond was led.
I let this run to the 10, and there are 8 top tricks. The best chance of establishing one more without losing too many seems to be the heart suit. So, I play a small one from hand, cover the 8 with the 9, and hallelujah, it holds. RHO has the ace, but it will do him no good to take it, as the King will be established. End of story. Not for RHO who pointed out to McLeod Senior that, holding Q108, he should have contributed the 10. RHO is right, but it won't stop me making the contract on the lie. I will duck the play of the 10, and the only hope for the defence is for LHO to lead away from K9432 of spades. I can duck two rounds of spades, and after winning the third, I will play the Jack of Hearts. This can run to the Ace, or LHO can cover with the Queen and after the King and Ace cover, the 9 is promoted. RHO will then not have a spade to return, and I will have my ninth trick.
That board completed a run of 38 IMPs without reply. Unfortunately, on boards 33, 34 and 35 there was a reply to the tune of 19 IMPs. That was enough to take the edge off a big win - but there was still Board 36.
K10x
AQ10
109xx
Q9x
My RHO opened 1 Spade. I pass, and LHO says 2 Spades. There are two passes back to me. I don't like defending two level contracts if I can help it, so I pull out a protective Double. This gets Lessurl into a 3 Club Contract which he - just - manages to make. Combined with our team-mates' spade part score, we gathered 7 IMPs to make the final score 18-2.
Junior Trials
So, with getting home from the above-mentioned bridge on the Friday night, it was an early start in the morning again for the Junior Trials. 2013 will be absoloutely-most-definitely my last year as a - sniff - as a junior - excuse me while I go and cry - although I thought 2012 would be so if I get to do anything "as a junior" from here on in, I will jump through hoops to do so.
I have met Jenny Cooper on a couple of occasions since she took over as Junior Co-ordinator. She has the nigh-on impossible mantle of taking over the reins from the excellence of Joan Mercer, but if anyone can do it, it's Jenny. She has brought a fresh approach to the role and is turning her previous inexperience with the set-up to an advantage as she looks with new eyes at everything and I am sure will improve root, branch and twig if she possibly can. The juniors (including myself) are 100% behind her and will doubtless play their part whenever and wherever they can.
The idea of the Junior "Trials" was not to pick teams based on result, but for Jenny to get as good a look as possible at as many of the current crop of juniors as she could. Some of us are getting too old for this, and a big part of Jenny's remit is to find and then nourish the new blood coming through.
I was officially an adult for this event, being that I was a chapperone for the Aberdeen contingent, but once all ten of us were safely at the Stirling and Union Bridge Club, I wanted to play as much as anyone else. Jenny alternated with Laura Middleton as my partner (who would want to sit opposite me for 39 boards?), so we were certainly ineligible to "win", but as there was no prize on offer anyway, I was not in the least bit bothered about that. I just wanted to play.
For some inexplicable reason, I decided that I would sit South and West, as opposed to my usual North and East. This was a bad decision for my ambition to play, as I was dummy more often than not, so there is no abundance of interesting deals to write up. One bidding problem that I would like opinions on is this hand:
KQ92
AK974
Q9
AK
Playing Standard American style 5 Card Majors (Better Minor), 15-17NT, I open this 1 Heart. Partner says 1 Spade. Now what? This hand is that unique thing - too strong for a reverse. If I bid 3 Spades, there is a danger that partner holds a 6 count and passes. If a reverse in this position is GF, then it is an option, but failing that agreement, what to do? Naturally, the devil on my shoulder fervently whispers: "Invent a bid!", but that could go horribly wrong and I would suggest usually does. So I reason that 4 Spades is the sensible choice. I can't have a bog-standard opening count for this bid as partner may only have six points. I can't have a bog-standard reverse either. I haven't splintered, so then, can partner pin me with the exact shape 4-5-2-2? With a regular partner it should depend on agreement, and failing that, yes. Jenny got the gist anyway, because she bid 4NT and we sailed into the solid cold 6 Spades.
A Declarer hand next.
A82
A3
J7
QJ9874
K975
KQJ10
Q932
3
3NT by South, Queen of Spades led.
There is no reason not to win this with the King of Spades and play a club. I can't afford to let them have a spade trick when they have four immediate minor tricks to cash. The success percentage of this contract is low enough already. On playing the club, LHO follows with the 2. What card to call for from dummy?
At first the answer is obvious: the 7. A finesse against the 10 is a 50% chance compared to a finesse against AK2, AK62, AK52 or AK652. But this intuitive thought is flawed, because it will only really gain against the possible holdings of 1062 and 1052. If LHO started with 102 doubleton, then playing the Jack will also work, and if he started with H10xx, playing the 7 will force out an honour as planned but I will still have a total of three losers in the suit. In any case, something someone taught me sometime must have paid off, because I instinctively called for the Jack without pause for thought. This brought out the King.
A spade is returned to the ten from LHO and Ace from dummy. Again I can't duck, so am playing for an exact distribution: one defender has to have all the missing minor honours, and the other the bare ten of clubs and remaining spades. The Queen is not covered by RHO, but does drop the ten from LHO, so now I call for the 9 - this time the Ace appears. I pitch a heart from hand - I cannot pitch a diamond and at this point do not know about the spade break.
I am still coming down unless RHO has no spades and both Ace and King of Diamonds - which she does. However, she correctly surmises that all she will succeed in doing by cashing them is to set up the Queen, and that may be my 9th trick. Having seen my heart pitch, it is unlikely I have 4 tricks there, so an exit in the rounded suits makes sense. Of course, it does not work - I cash three clubs, pitching diamonds, and then cash out hearts ending in hand. That leaves me with 97 of spades. Fortunately for me, LHO had held onto two spades, so my 7 was promoted for an overtrick.
That's a bidding and Declarer scenario in, how about a lead problem?
984
AJ104
A
A9653
This was played against one of Scotland's new partnerships for the Under 25 team. As Dealer, I opened 1 Club (Better Minor). This is passed to RHO, who bids 1NT (Strong). I pass, LHO says 2 Clubs (Stayman), partner passes, RHO says 2 Diamonds (denies a 4+ card major), and ends up in 3NT. What should I lead?
I suspected that my clubs were not going to amount to much, so I looked for the 2 other tricks elsewhere. RHO has at maximum 3 hearts, he could also have KQ. What if I can get three heart tricks by leading the Jack? I decide to find out. That presents my RHO with this play problem:
K1075
K632
1053
Q10
AJ
Q98
KQ87
KJ84
I think Declarer can be allowed to assume that I have all three missing Aces. He starts by winning with the Queen. Looking at this double dummy, Declarer can score by playing the 9 of hearts, which will pin the 7 whatever I do. But is this likely enough to try? Declarer played a small club to the ten, and when he followed with the queen, I won with the ace and returned a club. Declarer plays the King of Diamonds, bringing out my Ace, but I force out his last club. Now he cannot take enough tricks to make the contract before giving me my Ace of clubs.
There seems to be a large communication problem on this hand. Three club tricks need to be set up, but not before my red aces are driven out. Since Declarer cannot afford to break diamonds so early, I think the idea of running the 9 of hearts shades it. But that only gets us as far as what to do on Trick 2. It is still going to be difficult to establish and cash 9 tricks. Deep Finesse makes this contract (obviously!), but in the real world you don't get to know where all the cards are and even then, this is a tricky double dummy problem.
At the end of the day this pair were top of the juniors, with me and Laura/Jenny finishing 1st. As previously stated, that doesn't really mean anything; it was of far more interest for Jenny et al to see the juniors coming through and establish a plan for the future. I enjoyed meeting and playing against the next generation - for that's what they were; no less than 6 players at the "trial" were selected for the Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer in February. One can only hope that the other hopefuls will break into the teams in time. Events like these are crucial to building and maintaining strength in depth. The day was proof, if proof were needed, that Scottish junior bridge is going in the right direction and, looking at where we are now, we can focus not on immediate, but long term success.
As previously mentioned, I was otherwise engaged on Sunday as well, which means that I did not get to see any of the first weekend of the 2013 Camrose. My understanding, gathered pretty much exclusively from Paul Gipson's blog post, is that Scotland were rather unlucky to find themselves in 5th at this, the half-way stage.
I signed off my last entry looking forward to Round 3 of the Sybil Hay District Teams of 4. As scheduled, this clashed with the SBU Winter Congress in Peebles, so we postponed it and Round 3 was played on the 4th January 2013. This clashed with the first weekend of the Camrose, of course, but nobody from the North is involved in that, save for the interest of watching it. Pity we can't record it on Sky+. Nor would there be (for me) any time to watch on Saturday, as I was a chapperone-slash-player at the Junior Trials in Stirling - just one of the things new SBU Junior Co-ordinator Jenny Cooper is doing to get a look at the current crop of Juniors coming through and take the setup forward, which I have every confidence she will. I also had bridge to play on Sunday, but I'm not going to blog about that.
District Teams of Four Round 3
This was a big night for us and in many ways the toughest challenge yet. Having finished both Rounds 1 and 2 sitting 1VP behind First Place, we were determined to finish Round 3 on top. The feeling was that if we didn't, we could forget about the trophy. It would not be easy - PETERS and N. MCLEOD are both scoring better than last year, although, I doubt they will be at all offended if I suggest they are not title contenders. We were under no illusions about how difficult it would be to win, and of course, anything can happen in McLeod v McLeod. No other team has the uniqueness of a "family derby" to contend with in this competition. Although this lacks the ill-feeling of Hearts v Hibs (thankfully), McLeod Senior and I know each other's games very well and a tangled web may be weaved as we try to out-think, as well as out-play, the other. Entering this match, I had the edge against teams involving my Dad in this competition, but I couldn't tell you the score as I don't keep score and anyway, this was the first time (in the Sybil Hay, anyway) that we had faced each other as Captains. His new look team started the night flying higher than ever, and I had a feeling that this was going to be one heck of a match.
Before that, Lessurl and I had twelve boards to play against Edith PETERS and partner. This team had already demonstrated the fallacy of their bottom seeding, which was based entirely on last season's finish (it could hardly have been based on anything else). They started Round 3 in ninth place on merit. If you offered me before the match a repeat of last season's result - a 19-1 win - I would have bitten your hand off. But since Bridge doesn't work like that, we had to hope that we could play well and get the wind in our sails.
In fact, we got the complete opposite. Things started well enough - I made a ludicrous 1NT bid and managed to make it. But things went against us from there on in. First of all, I was deceived by the underlead of an Ace against a suit contract - that can happen and has been duly noted. A reasonable 4 Spades contract met with bad breaks, although on Board 29 (the fifth), both of our partnerships scored + 170 for 8 IMPs. With the match poised on a knife edge, I picked up:
KJxx
Ax
Jx
AQxxx
I opened 1 Club (Better Minor). Lessurl responded 1 Heart. Now I have a tough decision - reverse or not? I opted for 1 Spade, and when Lessurl said 2 Clubs, there seemed to be no more to say. The diamond suit looked odds-on to be wide open, so No-Trumps was out and 5 Clubs was surely a stretch too far. 2 Clubs +2 was as good as we could do. Unfortunately, the same 10 tricks are available in Hearts. Our counterparts at the other table apparently misbid their way to it, and picked up 11 IMPs for their trouble. There was nowhere left that we could generate a swing, and when our team-mates had a board to forget to round off with, we slipped to a 6-14VP defeat.
This is a result that epitomises what I have said previously. Anyone can beat anyone in this event and the tag of favourites is not coveted. I maintain that no matter who you play, skill and hard work can only get you so far. There will always be an element of luck in bridge and, as far as I am concerned, it is the worst area of my game.
Of course, as we headed into the McLeod derby, we did not know (although we did suspect) that the first match was a loss. So there were no title aspirations riding on this match, especially as it was clear from our opponents' demeanour they had just suffered a heavy loss at the hands of ROSS. That was not to say there was nothing riding on the match - pride, if nothing else, was at stake.
The first board was a bog standard push. On the second I have this hand:
xxx
AKxx
109xx
85
LHO (McLeod Senior) opens 1 Club, and the bidding proceeds, with Lessurl and I passing: 2NT-3H-3S-3NT-4S
As stated above, my father and I know each other's game well, and I understood this auction. The 1 Club is an Asking Club, denying 5 cards in diamonds, hearts or spades and showing opening points. The 2NT is 11+, forcing, and asking for Opener's 4 card suit. 3 Hearts is the answer. 3 Spades was a little unexpected at this point, but must be spades. 4 Spades must really be spades.
Since I know where 4 of the missing hearts are, I lead the King for a Count signal - it is really important to me which of the other players has a doubleton. Lessurl plays the 2 on Trick 1, so it isn't him. In fact he must have exactly 3. I am seeing this dummy:
A
QJxx
Hxxxx
AJx
Now I switch to the 8 of clubs, which is allowed to run to Lessurl's King. This is when he has to find the killer continuation. It must be tempting to play a heart, and he did think for a bit before producing another club. Declarer wins with the Queen and plays a small spade to the Ace. He now plays the Ace of Clubs and pitches a heart, with me ruffing. I switch to a diamond and Lessurl produces the Ace. The contract eventually goes 2 off as Lessurl also has a trump to get. Our team-mates matched our +200 on this to score 9 IMPs. On to Board 31 and this Declarer situation:
---
K932
KQJ84
A1053
AJ875
J6
A1062
K7
After finding out about the diamond fit, I rejected it in favour of 3NT, which I hoped would be the easier contract. A small diamond was led.
I let this run to the 10, and there are 8 top tricks. The best chance of establishing one more without losing too many seems to be the heart suit. So, I play a small one from hand, cover the 8 with the 9, and hallelujah, it holds. RHO has the ace, but it will do him no good to take it, as the King will be established. End of story. Not for RHO who pointed out to McLeod Senior that, holding Q108, he should have contributed the 10. RHO is right, but it won't stop me making the contract on the lie. I will duck the play of the 10, and the only hope for the defence is for LHO to lead away from K9432 of spades. I can duck two rounds of spades, and after winning the third, I will play the Jack of Hearts. This can run to the Ace, or LHO can cover with the Queen and after the King and Ace cover, the 9 is promoted. RHO will then not have a spade to return, and I will have my ninth trick.
That board completed a run of 38 IMPs without reply. Unfortunately, on boards 33, 34 and 35 there was a reply to the tune of 19 IMPs. That was enough to take the edge off a big win - but there was still Board 36.
K10x
AQ10
109xx
Q9x
My RHO opened 1 Spade. I pass, and LHO says 2 Spades. There are two passes back to me. I don't like defending two level contracts if I can help it, so I pull out a protective Double. This gets Lessurl into a 3 Club Contract which he - just - manages to make. Combined with our team-mates' spade part score, we gathered 7 IMPs to make the final score 18-2.
Junior Trials
So, with getting home from the above-mentioned bridge on the Friday night, it was an early start in the morning again for the Junior Trials. 2013 will be absoloutely-most-definitely my last year as a - sniff - as a junior - excuse me while I go and cry - although I thought 2012 would be so if I get to do anything "as a junior" from here on in, I will jump through hoops to do so.
I have met Jenny Cooper on a couple of occasions since she took over as Junior Co-ordinator. She has the nigh-on impossible mantle of taking over the reins from the excellence of Joan Mercer, but if anyone can do it, it's Jenny. She has brought a fresh approach to the role and is turning her previous inexperience with the set-up to an advantage as she looks with new eyes at everything and I am sure will improve root, branch and twig if she possibly can. The juniors (including myself) are 100% behind her and will doubtless play their part whenever and wherever they can.
The idea of the Junior "Trials" was not to pick teams based on result, but for Jenny to get as good a look as possible at as many of the current crop of juniors as she could. Some of us are getting too old for this, and a big part of Jenny's remit is to find and then nourish the new blood coming through.
I was officially an adult for this event, being that I was a chapperone for the Aberdeen contingent, but once all ten of us were safely at the Stirling and Union Bridge Club, I wanted to play as much as anyone else. Jenny alternated with Laura Middleton as my partner (who would want to sit opposite me for 39 boards?), so we were certainly ineligible to "win", but as there was no prize on offer anyway, I was not in the least bit bothered about that. I just wanted to play.
For some inexplicable reason, I decided that I would sit South and West, as opposed to my usual North and East. This was a bad decision for my ambition to play, as I was dummy more often than not, so there is no abundance of interesting deals to write up. One bidding problem that I would like opinions on is this hand:
KQ92
AK974
Q9
AK
Playing Standard American style 5 Card Majors (Better Minor), 15-17NT, I open this 1 Heart. Partner says 1 Spade. Now what? This hand is that unique thing - too strong for a reverse. If I bid 3 Spades, there is a danger that partner holds a 6 count and passes. If a reverse in this position is GF, then it is an option, but failing that agreement, what to do? Naturally, the devil on my shoulder fervently whispers: "Invent a bid!", but that could go horribly wrong and I would suggest usually does. So I reason that 4 Spades is the sensible choice. I can't have a bog-standard opening count for this bid as partner may only have six points. I can't have a bog-standard reverse either. I haven't splintered, so then, can partner pin me with the exact shape 4-5-2-2? With a regular partner it should depend on agreement, and failing that, yes. Jenny got the gist anyway, because she bid 4NT and we sailed into the solid cold 6 Spades.
A Declarer hand next.
A82
A3
J7
QJ9874
K975
KQJ10
Q932
3
3NT by South, Queen of Spades led.
There is no reason not to win this with the King of Spades and play a club. I can't afford to let them have a spade trick when they have four immediate minor tricks to cash. The success percentage of this contract is low enough already. On playing the club, LHO follows with the 2. What card to call for from dummy?
At first the answer is obvious: the 7. A finesse against the 10 is a 50% chance compared to a finesse against AK2, AK62, AK52 or AK652. But this intuitive thought is flawed, because it will only really gain against the possible holdings of 1062 and 1052. If LHO started with 102 doubleton, then playing the Jack will also work, and if he started with H10xx, playing the 7 will force out an honour as planned but I will still have a total of three losers in the suit. In any case, something someone taught me sometime must have paid off, because I instinctively called for the Jack without pause for thought. This brought out the King.
A spade is returned to the ten from LHO and Ace from dummy. Again I can't duck, so am playing for an exact distribution: one defender has to have all the missing minor honours, and the other the bare ten of clubs and remaining spades. The Queen is not covered by RHO, but does drop the ten from LHO, so now I call for the 9 - this time the Ace appears. I pitch a heart from hand - I cannot pitch a diamond and at this point do not know about the spade break.
I am still coming down unless RHO has no spades and both Ace and King of Diamonds - which she does. However, she correctly surmises that all she will succeed in doing by cashing them is to set up the Queen, and that may be my 9th trick. Having seen my heart pitch, it is unlikely I have 4 tricks there, so an exit in the rounded suits makes sense. Of course, it does not work - I cash three clubs, pitching diamonds, and then cash out hearts ending in hand. That leaves me with 97 of spades. Fortunately for me, LHO had held onto two spades, so my 7 was promoted for an overtrick.
That's a bidding and Declarer scenario in, how about a lead problem?
984
AJ104
A
A9653
This was played against one of Scotland's new partnerships for the Under 25 team. As Dealer, I opened 1 Club (Better Minor). This is passed to RHO, who bids 1NT (Strong). I pass, LHO says 2 Clubs (Stayman), partner passes, RHO says 2 Diamonds (denies a 4+ card major), and ends up in 3NT. What should I lead?
I suspected that my clubs were not going to amount to much, so I looked for the 2 other tricks elsewhere. RHO has at maximum 3 hearts, he could also have KQ. What if I can get three heart tricks by leading the Jack? I decide to find out. That presents my RHO with this play problem:
K1075
K632
1053
Q10
AJ
Q98
KQ87
KJ84
I think Declarer can be allowed to assume that I have all three missing Aces. He starts by winning with the Queen. Looking at this double dummy, Declarer can score by playing the 9 of hearts, which will pin the 7 whatever I do. But is this likely enough to try? Declarer played a small club to the ten, and when he followed with the queen, I won with the ace and returned a club. Declarer plays the King of Diamonds, bringing out my Ace, but I force out his last club. Now he cannot take enough tricks to make the contract before giving me my Ace of clubs.
There seems to be a large communication problem on this hand. Three club tricks need to be set up, but not before my red aces are driven out. Since Declarer cannot afford to break diamonds so early, I think the idea of running the 9 of hearts shades it. But that only gets us as far as what to do on Trick 2. It is still going to be difficult to establish and cash 9 tricks. Deep Finesse makes this contract (obviously!), but in the real world you don't get to know where all the cards are and even then, this is a tricky double dummy problem.
At the end of the day this pair were top of the juniors, with me and Laura/Jenny finishing 1st. As previously stated, that doesn't really mean anything; it was of far more interest for Jenny et al to see the juniors coming through and establish a plan for the future. I enjoyed meeting and playing against the next generation - for that's what they were; no less than 6 players at the "trial" were selected for the Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer in February. One can only hope that the other hopefuls will break into the teams in time. Events like these are crucial to building and maintaining strength in depth. The day was proof, if proof were needed, that Scottish junior bridge is going in the right direction and, looking at where we are now, we can focus not on immediate, but long term success.
As previously mentioned, I was otherwise engaged on Sunday as well, which means that I did not get to see any of the first weekend of the 2013 Camrose. My understanding, gathered pretty much exclusively from Paul Gipson's blog post, is that Scotland were rather unlucky to find themselves in 5th at this, the half-way stage.
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer 2012 Results
So, my belief that the Junior Camrose could be won by anyone was proved right in my absence. I saw a little bit of NIBU v England, but had to leave to watch Aberdeen v St. Johnstone at Pittodrie, which was a disappointing 0-0 draw. You don't get 0-0 draws in junior bridge, and I returned to see that CBAI were 3-0 up on England in Round 8, with the table after Round 7 thus:
Scotland: 122
England: 102
CBAI: 101
NIBU: 95
Although I did not know the match scores, England had clearly had a terrible time of it, and CBAI were the biggest improvers: not only did they get the most VPs in Rounds 6 and 7, they did so without playing England. Scotland had opened up a 20 VP lead, but this was nothing, as they were losing to the currently bottom NIBU. So, I pick up mid-way through...
CBAI v England
K J 7 5
Q J 4
A 9 7 6 2
6
8 3
7 6 5
4
A K Q x x x x
Ireland were well ahead when this board came up.
The Irish South opened this a gambling 3NT. His team mates had already gone down, doubled in 1NT in the other room, so he needed some luck here. West doubled, and when it came back round to South, he trusted his partner's pass to such an extent that he Redoubled. This would have worked had the defence established a major trick for him, but unfortunately they took one heart, got the position, and knocked out the diamond. This swing set England on their way to a win; a win I didn't watch owing to playing in a tournament. A 19-11 win for England kept them in second place on 121. Scotland had almost made a fightback, losing 16-14 to NIBU, which put them 15 ahead going into the last round.
So, any double-figure VP score would do for Scotland, apart from maybe 10 as I don't know what the tie-splitting procedure was. It was the NIBU v England match on Vugraph, however, and I was invited to play elsewhere.
So, it was a race to the finish. England did all they could on boards 28 to 31, gaining all 37 of their match IMPs here. Two big swings came through bidding slams that the Irish didn't bid; one came through making a Game the Irish played but didn't make. It was all to no avail, however, as a 20-10 win was not enough. Scotland matched it with a 20-10 win of their own, so even a maximum for the English would not have done.
The full results were:
JUNIOR CAMROSE
Scotland 156
England 141
CBAI 122
NIBU 121
PEGGY BAYER
England 182
Scotland 167
NIBU 102
CBAI 77
Congratulations to the winning teams. The Scotland Under 25 team did well to emerge ahead when the music stopped in a very tight Junior Camrose field where every team beat every other team at least once (at least by my reckoning). It was especially tough given they were doing it four-handed.
The England Under 20 squad were red-hot favourites for the Peggy Bayer, but they still had to do the job. It looks like perhaps Scotland gave them a run for their money, since England finished only as far ahead of them as Scotland were against England in the Junior Camrose.
All in all, I'm glad I spent the vast majority of my weekend sitting in front of my computer on BBO. The juniors don't disappoint with exciting and quality bridge, and I look forward to a couple of weeks' time, when the Full Internationals play the second weekend.
Scotland: 122
England: 102
CBAI: 101
NIBU: 95
Although I did not know the match scores, England had clearly had a terrible time of it, and CBAI were the biggest improvers: not only did they get the most VPs in Rounds 6 and 7, they did so without playing England. Scotland had opened up a 20 VP lead, but this was nothing, as they were losing to the currently bottom NIBU. So, I pick up mid-way through...
CBAI v England
K J 7 5
Q J 4
A 9 7 6 2
6
8 3
7 6 5
4
A K Q x x x x
Ireland were well ahead when this board came up.
The Irish South opened this a gambling 3NT. His team mates had already gone down, doubled in 1NT in the other room, so he needed some luck here. West doubled, and when it came back round to South, he trusted his partner's pass to such an extent that he Redoubled. This would have worked had the defence established a major trick for him, but unfortunately they took one heart, got the position, and knocked out the diamond. This swing set England on their way to a win; a win I didn't watch owing to playing in a tournament. A 19-11 win for England kept them in second place on 121. Scotland had almost made a fightback, losing 16-14 to NIBU, which put them 15 ahead going into the last round.
So, any double-figure VP score would do for Scotland, apart from maybe 10 as I don't know what the tie-splitting procedure was. It was the NIBU v England match on Vugraph, however, and I was invited to play elsewhere.
So, it was a race to the finish. England did all they could on boards 28 to 31, gaining all 37 of their match IMPs here. Two big swings came through bidding slams that the Irish didn't bid; one came through making a Game the Irish played but didn't make. It was all to no avail, however, as a 20-10 win was not enough. Scotland matched it with a 20-10 win of their own, so even a maximum for the English would not have done.
The full results were:
JUNIOR CAMROSE
Scotland 156
England 141
CBAI 122
NIBU 121
PEGGY BAYER
England 182
Scotland 167
NIBU 102
CBAI 77
Congratulations to the winning teams. The Scotland Under 25 team did well to emerge ahead when the music stopped in a very tight Junior Camrose field where every team beat every other team at least once (at least by my reckoning). It was especially tough given they were doing it four-handed.
The England Under 20 squad were red-hot favourites for the Peggy Bayer, but they still had to do the job. It looks like perhaps Scotland gave them a run for their money, since England finished only as far ahead of them as Scotland were against England in the Junior Camrose.
All in all, I'm glad I spent the vast majority of my weekend sitting in front of my computer on BBO. The juniors don't disappoint with exciting and quality bridge, and I look forward to a couple of weeks' time, when the Full Internationals play the second weekend.
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer 2012 (Part 3)
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
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
Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer 2012 (Part 2)
CBAI v England
It was no surprise that this match got top billing for Round 2, as with 16 and 19 VPs respectively, they were the top two. I was late to start viewing this match, as I was finishing up my previous post, and when I came in, North and South held these cards on Board 14:
5 4
A 7 3
Q 5
K Q 6 5 3 2
K Q J 10 7
Q
A J 8 4
A J 7
The diamond finesse is onside, so 6 Clubs is the optimum spot. 6NT by North is reasonably good on the lie, as East would have to find the lead of King from K J 9 4 in hearts to beat it. But do you want to be in a 50% slam? Personally, I want to be in a 50% slam only on the 50% of occasions that it works. England went to Five Clubs with an Overtrick, where Gormally and Synnott went to 3NT and made 3 overtricks for 2 IMPs. They were the only 2 IMPs scored at that point, and with six boards played and four comparisons made (one table having played boards 23 and 24 first), the score was still 2-0 to the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland.
The boards were looking a bit flat, with no IMPs scored at all in the other match, and it required someone to take action in the bidding to cause more IMPs to flow. The Irish East-West found themselves in 2 Spades one off on Board 17, but after the same 1 Club opening from East, Gormally (South) held this:
A K
10 3
K 9 7 5 4 3
9 7 4
He found a bid of 3 Diamonds. This was well judged, as it might make, and it caused the English pair to try their luck in 3NT. Their luck was out; they came four off, and CBAI took a 6-0 lead. That remained the score after six comparisons out of 12, and we were looking at a low scoring match. Boards 23 and 24 looked flat too (though you can never tell, and when I say "you", I do of course mean: "me"). On Board 18, an English Declarer in a superior contract to his counterpart went two down, losing three more IMPs. I won't post that one here. Not long after, the Irish gained an IMP on Board 23 (the other table clearly slightly ahead of time), and it was 10-0. Both England and Ireland played well enough to flatten Board 20 at 630 to North-South. Ireland did well on Board 24 to get a 15-0 lead with one table having two boards to play, but then came the "swing" board.
Q 8 6 5
A K J 10 4
A 8 5
4
K 10 4
Q 5
K 7 4 3 2
Q 10 8
These were the North and South hands. The English North played in 4 Hearts, making exactly. Gormally was in 3NT, and he had no chance of making it when West led from K J x x x in clubs. Suddenly, with one board to go, it was 15-13. That was hard lines on Ireland, on a set where one bad board can finish you off. And if your luck is out, it's out.
On the final board, Ireland gained an IMP in generally confusing circumstances, which I won't go into here. However, the 16-13 result was not necessarily final, as the English East-West called the Director to ask for an adjusted score. The result at 4:11pm British time was 16-14 to CBAI.
Scotland v CBAI
This started off as Bottom versus Second Top. Scotland had thrown away a narrow lead in a very short space of time against Northern Ireland, to find themselves headed for a 19-11 defeat at one stage, having to battle back to a 16-14 loss. CBAI were second by one VP, but had won two out of two matches.
As is my want, I watched the table that started with Board 35, so that I would see the comparisons. So for Board 35 I found myself casting a virtual IMP to Scotland, as Ireland made a 4 Heart contract without the possible overtrick. On Board 36, Scotland bid to 3NT without a diamond stop, and took 8 tricks. Therefore, I made a mental note to deduct x amount of IMPs from Scotland's score. The next question that arose was how do you get to the optimum contract here:
A K Q 4
10 9 8 6 4 2
6
A 4
J 6 3
K
A 5
K Q J 9 8 7 2
The Irish North-South did not manage, and I was left to assume the Scottish pair did, assuming because the running scores said Scotland were 11-0 up, but BBO had completely frozen. I tried closing it down and logging back in, but that maybe wasn't a good idea. For some reason BBO was suddenly running at dead slow and stop.
So, I took a break for supper, and returned to find that the Scots had indeed bid the slam and built up a 29-0 lead in my absence. That was with 7 boards played and 5 comparisons made. On board 30, Wilkinson took a wrong guess in 2 Clubs, but did enough to make the contract and flatten 1NT making 7 to retain the 29 IMP lead.
Board 31 was a sore missed opportunity for Scotland.
Q J 2
6 4 3
Q 9 7
A K Q 2
K 10 6 5 3
2
A K 5 4 3
10 5
The other table had already played the board; the Irish pair coming down in 4 Spades. I was keen for the Scottish pair to get to the same contract. After 2 Hearts from West, raised to 3 Hearts from East, South doubled at unfavourable vulnerability. North pondered and bid 4 Clubs, and South bid 4 Diamonds. North went into the tank again, and eventually bid 5 Diamonds. Gormally led his singleton ace of spades and played partner in with a heart to generate a ruff; flat board.
On Board 32, the same contract was played at both tables; 2 Spades by North. The Scottish East was unlucky that his choice of lead was a disaster that allowed the contract to sail to ten, whilst Alex Wilkinson had to play carefully just to make 8. There was a double dummy route to 9, but not a line that an International player is going to find, or even look for, when he doesn't have the benefit of seeing all the cards. Ireland were off the mark with 2 IMPs. Almost immediately, the IMP in reserve appeared for Scotland from Board 35. Whilst writing that up, Wilkinson found an inspired trump lead on the next board to flatten it.
I was happy to see Board 36 going flat, meaning that the other table had finished and we just had to see what happened on Board 34. The Scottish EW bid and made 3 Spades. Gormally found himself in the same contract, and NS always have four tricks (cashed off the top), so the match ended with a 22-8 VP win to Scotland.
Meanwhile, England won by the same VP scoreline to retain their lead at the top. The table after the first round robin:
England: 55
Scotland: 47
CBAI: 40
NIBU: 38
This brought it to supper time for the players.
I shall conclude with a bit of unfinished business - the hand I left at the end of my Retaining the Reid post. The "answer" is that the player who held that hand made a well-judged bid of 6 Clubs. Jun held:
K Q 5
K 10 7 4 3 2
A Q 3
Q
He raised to 7 Clubs, making.
It was no surprise that this match got top billing for Round 2, as with 16 and 19 VPs respectively, they were the top two. I was late to start viewing this match, as I was finishing up my previous post, and when I came in, North and South held these cards on Board 14:
5 4
A 7 3
Q 5
K Q 6 5 3 2
K Q J 10 7
Q
A J 8 4
A J 7
The diamond finesse is onside, so 6 Clubs is the optimum spot. 6NT by North is reasonably good on the lie, as East would have to find the lead of King from K J 9 4 in hearts to beat it. But do you want to be in a 50% slam? Personally, I want to be in a 50% slam only on the 50% of occasions that it works. England went to Five Clubs with an Overtrick, where Gormally and Synnott went to 3NT and made 3 overtricks for 2 IMPs. They were the only 2 IMPs scored at that point, and with six boards played and four comparisons made (one table having played boards 23 and 24 first), the score was still 2-0 to the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland.
The boards were looking a bit flat, with no IMPs scored at all in the other match, and it required someone to take action in the bidding to cause more IMPs to flow. The Irish East-West found themselves in 2 Spades one off on Board 17, but after the same 1 Club opening from East, Gormally (South) held this:
A K
10 3
K 9 7 5 4 3
9 7 4
He found a bid of 3 Diamonds. This was well judged, as it might make, and it caused the English pair to try their luck in 3NT. Their luck was out; they came four off, and CBAI took a 6-0 lead. That remained the score after six comparisons out of 12, and we were looking at a low scoring match. Boards 23 and 24 looked flat too (though you can never tell, and when I say "you", I do of course mean: "me"). On Board 18, an English Declarer in a superior contract to his counterpart went two down, losing three more IMPs. I won't post that one here. Not long after, the Irish gained an IMP on Board 23 (the other table clearly slightly ahead of time), and it was 10-0. Both England and Ireland played well enough to flatten Board 20 at 630 to North-South. Ireland did well on Board 24 to get a 15-0 lead with one table having two boards to play, but then came the "swing" board.
Q 8 6 5
A K J 10 4
A 8 5
4
K 10 4
Q 5
K 7 4 3 2
Q 10 8
These were the North and South hands. The English North played in 4 Hearts, making exactly. Gormally was in 3NT, and he had no chance of making it when West led from K J x x x in clubs. Suddenly, with one board to go, it was 15-13. That was hard lines on Ireland, on a set where one bad board can finish you off. And if your luck is out, it's out.
On the final board, Ireland gained an IMP in generally confusing circumstances, which I won't go into here. However, the 16-13 result was not necessarily final, as the English East-West called the Director to ask for an adjusted score. The result at 4:11pm British time was 16-14 to CBAI.
Scotland v CBAI
This started off as Bottom versus Second Top. Scotland had thrown away a narrow lead in a very short space of time against Northern Ireland, to find themselves headed for a 19-11 defeat at one stage, having to battle back to a 16-14 loss. CBAI were second by one VP, but had won two out of two matches.
As is my want, I watched the table that started with Board 35, so that I would see the comparisons. So for Board 35 I found myself casting a virtual IMP to Scotland, as Ireland made a 4 Heart contract without the possible overtrick. On Board 36, Scotland bid to 3NT without a diamond stop, and took 8 tricks. Therefore, I made a mental note to deduct x amount of IMPs from Scotland's score. The next question that arose was how do you get to the optimum contract here:
A K Q 4
10 9 8 6 4 2
6
A 4
J 6 3
K
A 5
K Q J 9 8 7 2
The Irish North-South did not manage, and I was left to assume the Scottish pair did, assuming because the running scores said Scotland were 11-0 up, but BBO had completely frozen. I tried closing it down and logging back in, but that maybe wasn't a good idea. For some reason BBO was suddenly running at dead slow and stop.
So, I took a break for supper, and returned to find that the Scots had indeed bid the slam and built up a 29-0 lead in my absence. That was with 7 boards played and 5 comparisons made. On board 30, Wilkinson took a wrong guess in 2 Clubs, but did enough to make the contract and flatten 1NT making 7 to retain the 29 IMP lead.
Board 31 was a sore missed opportunity for Scotland.
Q J 2
6 4 3
Q 9 7
A K Q 2
K 10 6 5 3
2
A K 5 4 3
10 5
The other table had already played the board; the Irish pair coming down in 4 Spades. I was keen for the Scottish pair to get to the same contract. After 2 Hearts from West, raised to 3 Hearts from East, South doubled at unfavourable vulnerability. North pondered and bid 4 Clubs, and South bid 4 Diamonds. North went into the tank again, and eventually bid 5 Diamonds. Gormally led his singleton ace of spades and played partner in with a heart to generate a ruff; flat board.
On Board 32, the same contract was played at both tables; 2 Spades by North. The Scottish East was unlucky that his choice of lead was a disaster that allowed the contract to sail to ten, whilst Alex Wilkinson had to play carefully just to make 8. There was a double dummy route to 9, but not a line that an International player is going to find, or even look for, when he doesn't have the benefit of seeing all the cards. Ireland were off the mark with 2 IMPs. Almost immediately, the IMP in reserve appeared for Scotland from Board 35. Whilst writing that up, Wilkinson found an inspired trump lead on the next board to flatten it.
I was happy to see Board 36 going flat, meaning that the other table had finished and we just had to see what happened on Board 34. The Scottish EW bid and made 3 Spades. Gormally found himself in the same contract, and NS always have four tricks (cashed off the top), so the match ended with a 22-8 VP win to Scotland.
Meanwhile, England won by the same VP scoreline to retain their lead at the top. The table after the first round robin:
England: 55
Scotland: 47
CBAI: 40
NIBU: 38
This brought it to supper time for the players.
I shall conclude with a bit of unfinished business - the hand I left at the end of my Retaining the Reid post. The "answer" is that the player who held that hand made a well-judged bid of 6 Clubs. Jun held:
K Q 5
K 10 7 4 3 2
A Q 3
Q
He raised to 7 Clubs, making.
Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer 2012 (Part 1)
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.
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