Congratulations to Alan and Dee for winning the SBU Senior National Pairs at the weekend.
Presumably won't be grumpy then. Well at least not for the next couple of days :)
Monday, 27 October 2008
A week is a long time
LotG was away for the weekend playing for Scotland in the Four Nations Scrabble so, home alone, I was able to watch much of the English Premier League on BBO. This is the EBU's latest attempt to have meaningful trials and the winners will be guaranteed a spot in the Camrose (bridge's Five Nations and One More).
Although England has significantly more good players than Scotland, it has a similar problem in that there are few world-class players and any trials are a bit of a lottery. It's not so much how well you play, although this helps, but how well you can beat the weaker teams.
So the format was a complete round-robin for 16 teams, with the top eight qualifying for the 'First Division'. In three weeks time each division will play another round-robin with the First Division winners guaranteed a Camrose match.
Three teams surprisingly failed to make the top eight. De Botton, based on two pairs who were playing the Italians to a close finish a week ago in Beijing, could only finish 10th, 3VPs off qualifying - however they failed to beat 5 of the top 8 and could not really complain. Rosen, perennial Camrose players, seemed unable to get a big win and two big defeats did for them. Unluckiest was Gillis, featuring our own (Scottish) Les for some reason, who missed out by 1 VP - they beat 4 of the top 8, drew with another, and would have had the 3rd best carry over if they qualified, but they failed to beat the weaker teams by a large enough margin.
Favourites for the final weekend are Hackett and Irens. Hackett finished top but Irens, featuring Townsend and Gold, will have the better carry over.
Although England has significantly more good players than Scotland, it has a similar problem in that there are few world-class players and any trials are a bit of a lottery. It's not so much how well you play, although this helps, but how well you can beat the weaker teams.
So the format was a complete round-robin for 16 teams, with the top eight qualifying for the 'First Division'. In three weeks time each division will play another round-robin with the First Division winners guaranteed a Camrose match.
Three teams surprisingly failed to make the top eight. De Botton, based on two pairs who were playing the Italians to a close finish a week ago in Beijing, could only finish 10th, 3VPs off qualifying - however they failed to beat 5 of the top 8 and could not really complain. Rosen, perennial Camrose players, seemed unable to get a big win and two big defeats did for them. Unluckiest was Gillis, featuring our own (Scottish) Les for some reason, who missed out by 1 VP - they beat 4 of the top 8, drew with another, and would have had the 3rd best carry over if they qualified, but they failed to beat the weaker teams by a large enough margin.
Favourites for the final weekend are Hackett and Irens. Hackett finished top but Irens, featuring Townsend and Gold, will have the better carry over.
Friday, 24 October 2008
Welcome to Merchiston
No foreign agents, no bungs, no paparazzi outside the door, no leaks ... oh, and no transfer fee. My move from the 49ers to Merchiston over the summer occurred with the minimum of fuss and last night was my first match.
Moving was an easy decision. Of course the intention was that this would provide Miro and I with more practice as we worked our way through the trials process, but with that avenue closed it is now providing more practice for the Scottish Cup!
From a personal perspective, playing with in a (any?) regular partnership is worthwhile and I am now playing on table 1 so the game is tougher which is all good.
We played Carlton Connections, a newly promoted team. Miro and I had a (very) good card but this was not the case at every table and we lost easily. We swung into action on the second board:
The auction told me that Miro had 15+ points, 6+ hearts with no shortage, three aces and the ♥Q, and no kings. If he did not have three clubs then I can see that the clubs can be ruffed out for a discard, and if he does have three clubs then he may have the ♣Q, a finesse, or a pointed jack for another finesse option, so it was with the odds to bid the grand. It was also bid at other tables, but I'm not sure they were all as confident.
In the second half we bid and made a vulnerable game when I overcalled a weak 1NT holding ♠ATxx ♥KTxxx ♦Jx ♣xx despite Miro being a passed hand. He jumped to 4♠ (gulp!) but made it on a friendly lead. Some competitive bidding kept the opponents out of a good slam and then they missed a grand slam which all helped our score. They we took the first ten (!) tricks against a vulnerable 3NT although this should have been the normal result.
More fun and games next month.
Moving was an easy decision. Of course the intention was that this would provide Miro and I with more practice as we worked our way through the trials process, but with that avenue closed it is now providing more practice for the Scottish Cup!
From a personal perspective, playing with in a (any?) regular partnership is worthwhile and I am now playing on table 1 so the game is tougher which is all good.
We played Carlton Connections, a newly promoted team. Miro and I had a (very) good card but this was not the case at every table and we lost easily. We swung into action on the second board:
|
|
| West | North | East | South |
| Paul | East | ||
| 1♥ | p | ||
| 2♣ | p | 2NT | p |
| 3♣ | p | 3♥ | p |
| 4NT | p | 5♦ | p |
| 5♠ | p | 6♥ | p |
| 7♥ | p | p | p |
The auction told me that Miro had 15+ points, 6+ hearts with no shortage, three aces and the ♥Q, and no kings. If he did not have three clubs then I can see that the clubs can be ruffed out for a discard, and if he does have three clubs then he may have the ♣Q, a finesse, or a pointed jack for another finesse option, so it was with the odds to bid the grand. It was also bid at other tables, but I'm not sure they were all as confident.
In the second half we bid and made a vulnerable game when I overcalled a weak 1NT holding ♠ATxx ♥KTxxx ♦Jx ♣xx despite Miro being a passed hand. He jumped to 4♠ (gulp!) but made it on a friendly lead. Some competitive bidding kept the opponents out of a good slam and then they missed a grand slam which all helped our score. They we took the first ten (!) tricks against a vulnerable 3NT although this should have been the normal result.
More fun and games next month.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Borderers online
Last week I arranged a practice match for Harry and Finlay, with the other table Berwick players. Yesterday I ran another game but this time it was all local players with me as a last-minute sub.
We played 20 boards using hands from the England - France match at the 2002 European Championships. Always nice to see how the professionals play the same cards!
My team slowly pulled ahead to be 23-11 IMPs up after 14 boards. The lead did not survive board 15.
The bidding deserves some explanation but little has been forthcoming! The 3♣ bid should really have a lot more in terms of high cards, an ace and a king being the norm for a positive response especially when it takes up so much bidding space.
I'd have just raised the club bid and started cue bidding, but LotG introduced a new suit looking for help here. Over Penny's raise I'd would have got too high, but LotG has clearly seen Penny's 'positive' responses before and just settled for the small club slam.
Unfortunately for us Reg led a trump. The slam is cold on any lead but this one made it easier. Hels won the trick in hand, played three rounds of diamonds pitching a spade from dummy, and then ruffed the diamond and two spades (using hearts as entries), finally conceding a trump at the end. A nice line.
This was worth 13 IMPs. No-one in the original match considered this slam, not even mentioning the club suit as they bid to 3NT. Just shows that anyone can beat international teams once in a while.
Their lead proved short-lived as we put on 36 IMPs in the last five boards. No doubt they'll be back for revenge soon.
We played 20 boards using hands from the England - France match at the 2002 European Championships. Always nice to see how the professionals play the same cards!
My team slowly pulled ahead to be 23-11 IMPs up after 14 boards. The lead did not survive board 15.
| ||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|
| West | North | East | South |
| Reg | Penny | Me | LotG |
| 2♣ | |||
| p | 3♣ | p | 3♠ |
| p | 4♠ | p | 6♣ |
| p | p | p |
The bidding deserves some explanation but little has been forthcoming! The 3♣ bid should really have a lot more in terms of high cards, an ace and a king being the norm for a positive response especially when it takes up so much bidding space.
I'd have just raised the club bid and started cue bidding, but LotG introduced a new suit looking for help here. Over Penny's raise I'd would have got too high, but LotG has clearly seen Penny's 'positive' responses before and just settled for the small club slam.
Unfortunately for us Reg led a trump. The slam is cold on any lead but this one made it easier. Hels won the trick in hand, played three rounds of diamonds pitching a spade from dummy, and then ruffed the diamond and two spades (using hearts as entries), finally conceding a trump at the end. A nice line.
This was worth 13 IMPs. No-one in the original match considered this slam, not even mentioning the club suit as they bid to 3NT. Just shows that anyone can beat international teams once in a while.
Their lead proved short-lived as we put on 36 IMPs in the last five boards. No doubt they'll be back for revenge soon.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Simultaneous joy and despair
It was the SBU Simultaneous Pairs at the club last night.
Normally the potential for masterpoints brings out the masses but there were only 6.5 tables. It seems that the regular club competitions are more popular, so either we don't have masterpoint junkies at Berwick or the (additional) cost is too much - my guess is that it is both.
Or maybe it is because everyone goes seems to go crazy when they are playing prepared hands! It's been a while since I've seen such a display of randomness, so I hope that everyone calms down before their next game.
At the end of the evening you get a little booklet with a commentary on the hands. Iain was the wordsmith this year, but limited to about 20 words he cannot cover everything of interest in a hand. I thought this hand had an interesting position at matchpoints (hand rotated for convenience):
John led the ♠3. In the normal contract, it looks like John has 4 spades and there is little chance of on overtrick unless you can play the diamonds for 4 tricks. More importantly you can only hold up the spades for two rounds, otherwise you lose the entry to dummy.
So there is little reason to duck the lead. Win the ace on the first round and put East to the test. It may not be clear that you need to unblock a spade honour at this point, but if you fail to do so then declarer will wrap up 10 tricks for a good score.
Finally, LotG would like to point out that she had an average of 8.75 HCP on the hands she played. This translates to a boredom factor of High!
Normally the potential for masterpoints brings out the masses but there were only 6.5 tables. It seems that the regular club competitions are more popular, so either we don't have masterpoint junkies at Berwick or the (additional) cost is too much - my guess is that it is both.
Or maybe it is because everyone goes seems to go crazy when they are playing prepared hands! It's been a while since I've seen such a display of randomness, so I hope that everyone calms down before their next game.
At the end of the evening you get a little booklet with a commentary on the hands. Iain was the wordsmith this year, but limited to about 20 words he cannot cover everything of interest in a hand. I thought this hand had an interesting position at matchpoints (hand rotated for convenience):
| ||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|
| West | North | East | South |
| John | LotG | Jane | Paul |
| p | p | 2♣ | |
| p | 2♦ | p | 2NT |
| p | 3NT | p | p |
| p |
John led the ♠3. In the normal contract, it looks like John has 4 spades and there is little chance of on overtrick unless you can play the diamonds for 4 tricks. More importantly you can only hold up the spades for two rounds, otherwise you lose the entry to dummy.
So there is little reason to duck the lead. Win the ace on the first round and put East to the test. It may not be clear that you need to unblock a spade honour at this point, but if you fail to do so then declarer will wrap up 10 tricks for a good score.
Finally, LotG would like to point out that she had an average of 8.75 HCP on the hands she played. This translates to a boredom factor of High!
Monday, 20 October 2008
Peaking too soon
This weekend was the SBU Autumn Congress at Peebles. A number of regular faces were missing, due to Beijing, but Diana returned from Kazakhstan for the event en route to a conference in America.
Diana was in our team, with Jenny and Fiona. Naturally with three strong-minded women I just did whatever I was told.
As pairs we both qualified for the main final, Fiona and Diana winning the qualification round and Jenny and I winning the semifinal. But we could only finish in the middle of the field in the end, Fiona and Diana finishing slightly above us.
More section prizes from the teams where we finished top of the rankings in the qualification. But again we failed to deliver in the final and finished below average - luckily the whole team contributed to the result, or not as the case may be.
As always some nice memories were made. Malcolm proved that smoking can damage your health, by slipping over and breaking his arm as he popped outside for a couple of puffs on his pipe - luckily for Reg there is a few weeks before Malcolm is needed for one of the Berwick competitions. I played the 2-board knockout on Sunday morning with Archie who, still suffering from the night before, had to ask whether we were playing teams as the auction finished on the first board. He did recover to win the Consolation Teams final with Bill in the afternoon.
Most of us will be back in December for the Gold Cup Congress.
Diana was in our team, with Jenny and Fiona. Naturally with three strong-minded women I just did whatever I was told.
As pairs we both qualified for the main final, Fiona and Diana winning the qualification round and Jenny and I winning the semifinal. But we could only finish in the middle of the field in the end, Fiona and Diana finishing slightly above us.
More section prizes from the teams where we finished top of the rankings in the qualification. But again we failed to deliver in the final and finished below average - luckily the whole team contributed to the result, or not as the case may be.
As always some nice memories were made. Malcolm proved that smoking can damage your health, by slipping over and breaking his arm as he popped outside for a couple of puffs on his pipe - luckily for Reg there is a few weeks before Malcolm is needed for one of the Berwick competitions. I played the 2-board knockout on Sunday morning with Archie who, still suffering from the night before, had to ask whether we were playing teams as the auction finished on the first board. He did recover to win the Consolation Teams final with Bill in the afternoon.
Most of us will be back in December for the Gold Cup Congress.
WMSG result
I had to leave for Peebles in the middle of the final set, but England had played really well to reduce the Italian lead. In the end Italy prevailed by 30 IMPs but England had impressed everyone with their performance.
The English women were leading by 22 IMPs with three boards to play when I left, so I was a little surprised when Pat Davies told me that they'd only won by 1 IMP. Still, it was a magnificent performance from a team that did so poorly just a few months ago in the Europeans. Clearly Pat's ex-partner, Nicola Smith, with Sally Brock made a huge difference.
Japan won the seniors by 2 IMPs from the hot favourites, USA.
And, perhaps least importantly, I won the bridgeblogging.com prediction competition with a come-from-behind victory when I successfully predicted the positions of Italy (1) and Norway (3). A copy of The Lone Wolff will be winging its way from Toronto shortly.
The English women were leading by 22 IMPs with three boards to play when I left, so I was a little surprised when Pat Davies told me that they'd only won by 1 IMP. Still, it was a magnificent performance from a team that did so poorly just a few months ago in the Europeans. Clearly Pat's ex-partner, Nicola Smith, with Sally Brock made a huge difference.
Japan won the seniors by 2 IMPs from the hot favourites, USA.
And, perhaps least importantly, I won the bridgeblogging.com prediction competition with a come-from-behind victory when I successfully predicted the positions of Italy (1) and Norway (3). A copy of The Lone Wolff will be winging its way from Toronto shortly.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
WMSG Open Final - at the half
England stopped the Italian juggernaut, or is it an expresso, in the final set of the day with an excellent performance by Townsend-Gold and Sandqvist-Malinowski to reduce the deficit to 45 IMPs.
It will be a major surprise if they can overhaul the Italians, but at least they are still in the game.
The final 48 boards start at 4am, UK time.
It will be a major surprise if they can overhaul the Italians, but at least they are still in the game.
The final 48 boards start at 4am, UK time.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
WMSG Open finalists
So it will be Italy against England in the final.
Cliff will be happy as he predicted an easy Italian victory over Norway, whereas I thought it would be close. I was better in predicting England could runaway from Germany and a big 5th set appeared to win it for them, although solid bridge throughout was the real cause. Germany conceded halfway through the final set, when the wild attempt to pull back 70 IMPs failed.
Italy will be very tough to beat and England need to keep the match close during the first day.
Cliff will be happy as he predicted an easy Italian victory over Norway, whereas I thought it would be close. I was better in predicting England could runaway from Germany and a big 5th set appeared to win it for them, although solid bridge throughout was the real cause. Germany conceded halfway through the final set, when the wild attempt to pull back 70 IMPs failed.
Italy will be very tough to beat and England need to keep the match close during the first day.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Just another quiet hand ... not!
Despite not qualifying for the final trial myself, I am arranging some matches on BBO for those who played better than me and wish to have some tough practice. Last Sunday two such pairs were soundly thrashed by Alex and I playing with Jim and (U21 star) Frazer, but I think three out of four of us were responsible for the following debarcle:
Open Room
1 fit jump
Result: 11 tricks, NS +750
Closed Room
Result: 12 tricks, NS -950
In our defence, this 17 IMPs swing was not the largest in the match and we did still win by 49 IMPs over 20 boards.
And who do you think I believe was least to blame for this double doubled game swing?
| ||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|
Open Room
| West | North | East | South |
| Paul | Harry | Alex | Finlay |
| 1♦ | p | 2♠ 1 | |
| 3♦ | 4♠ | X | p |
| 5♣ | X | p | 5♦ |
| p | p | X | p |
| p | p |
Result: 11 tricks, NS +750
Closed Room
| West | North | East | South |
| Rafal | Jim | Cliff | Frazer |
| 1♦ | p | 1♠ | |
| 2NT | p | 3♣ | 3♥ |
| 5♣ | X | p | p |
| p |
Result: 12 tricks, NS -950
In our defence, this 17 IMPs swing was not the largest in the match and we did still win by 49 IMPs over 20 boards.
And who do you think I believe was least to blame for this double doubled game swing?
Monday, 13 October 2008
WMSG Open - semifinalists
There were no comebacks in the end, but Poland drew level with Italy during the 5th set and kept it close to the final board. If a poor grand slam, bid by Duboin/Sementa, had failed then it would have been really tight - the slam needed no trump loser (missing ♠Q10xx) and either a double finesse or ♦J doubleton or trebleton with seven out.
So it will be
Italy v Norway
England v Germany
Both matches are too close to call. My prediction was that Italy would beat Norway in the semis but these are the best two teams in the event so it is a shame that the draw puts them together now. England and Germany have overachieved to reach this stage, but perhaps England's easier quarter final will mean they have the energy to win a tight match. England are excellent front-runners and I believe they will need a good start in the match if they are to prevail.
So it will be
Italy v Norway
England v Germany
Both matches are too close to call. My prediction was that Italy would beat Norway in the semis but these are the best two teams in the event so it is a shame that the draw puts them together now. England and Germany have overachieved to reach this stage, but perhaps England's easier quarter final will mean they have the energy to win a tight match. England are excellent front-runners and I believe they will need a good start in the match if they are to prevail.
Sunday, 12 October 2008
WMSG Open - quarter finals at the half
At the half Italy have a good lead over Poland but not a decisive one.
I was commentating on the Netherlands-Germany match on BBO and both teams were making errors as the session came to a close, suggesting that they were tiring after two long days. This is the closest match and may become a war of attrition tomorrow.
Norway and England are looking comfortable, but with 48 boards left there is still time for comebacks.
If there are no comebacks, then it will be Italy v Norway and England v Germany in the semifinals.
I was commentating on the Netherlands-Germany match on BBO and both teams were making errors as the session came to a close, suggesting that they were tiring after two long days. This is the closest match and may become a war of attrition tomorrow.
Norway and England are looking comfortable, but with 48 boards left there is still time for comebacks.
If there are no comebacks, then it will be Italy v Norway and England v Germany in the semifinals.
Saturday, 11 October 2008
WMSG Round of 8
Quarter finals
Italy v Poland
Romania v England
China v Norway
Netherlands v Germany
I can see that I am being chided by Linda for not picking likely winners, so I've highlighted them above. Interestingly the quarter-finalists are all European teams save for the hosts.
I was joint 3rd in the competition after the round robins, but not getting the winners in order means that the rest of my picks are toast as many are playing each other, so I'll just have to buy Wolff's book.
Italy v Poland
Romania v England
China v Norway
Netherlands v Germany
I can see that I am being chided by Linda for not picking likely winners, so I've highlighted them above. Interestingly the quarter-finalists are all European teams save for the hosts.
I was joint 3rd in the competition after the round robins, but not getting the winners in order means that the rest of my picks are toast as many are playing each other, so I'll just have to buy Wolff's book.
| Round of 8 picks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | China | Netherlands | |
| Poland | Norway | ||
WMSG - UK performance
The butler is not a great indicator of performance, especially in a mixed field. I've been working with the Scottish selectors (and others) on calculating weighted butlers that take into account the strength of the opponents you play but I need lots of data for that and it's not easy to get it unless I'm on site, so here are the official unadulterated numbers:
As expected the English pairs are on top. Not only were they in the (significantly) easier group, they also put away the weaker teams as I predicted.
Easy to see why England qualified comfortably, but a creditable performance by the Scots and a step up from the Europeans.
Open
| Rank | Score | Name | Country |
| 14 | 0,87 | David GOLD - Tom TOWNSEND | England |
| 28 | 0,67 | Jason HACKETT - Justin HACKETT | England |
| 107 | 0,14 | Nicklas SANDQVIST - Artur MALINOWSKI | England |
| 153 | -0,11 | Mike ASH - Elizabeth McGOWAN | Scotland |
| 180 | -0,34 | Roy BENNETT - David LIGGAT | Scotland |
| 214 | -0,67 | John MATHESON - Iain SIME | Scotland |
As expected the English pairs are on top. Not only were they in the (significantly) easier group, they also put away the weaker teams as I predicted.
Women
| Rank | Score | Name | Country |
| 2 | 1,53 | Nicola SMITH - Sally BROCK | England |
| 4 | 1,22 | Nevena SENIOR-DELEVA - Heather DHONDY | England |
| 23 | 0,67 | Sheila ADAMSON - Anne MARTIN | Scotland |
| 39 | 0,45 | Anne ROSEN - Catherine DRAPER | England |
| 45 | 0,37 | Veronica GUY - Sam PUNCH | Scotland |
| 100 | -0,07 | Maida GRANT - Sheila McDONALD | Scotland |
Easy to see why England qualified comfortably, but a creditable performance by the Scots and a step up from the Europeans.
Friday, 10 October 2008
WMSG - Round of 16 matches
Live from Beijing, pairings for tomorrow's round of 16 matches.
Open
Italy v India
Israel v Romania
Brazil v China
Netherlands v Estonia
Norway v Turkey
Germany v Belgium
Poland v USA
England v Bulgaria
Women
Open
Italy v India
Israel v Romania
Brazil v China
Netherlands v Estonia
Norway v Turkey
Germany v Belgium
Poland v USA
England v Bulgaria
Women
Germany v Brazil
England v Singapore
Finland v Turkey
USA v Spain
Netherlands v Denmark
Russia v Italy
France v Sweden
Poland v China
WMSG - when the music stops ....
Open
Scotland finished in a clear 14th place of 18. One of the team has already said he never wants to see another bridge card again, but I'm sure they'll be back!
Women
The Women lost their chance in the penultimate match, when they lost to Denmark who were also battling for qualification. Despite trying for a big win in the final match they won narrowly and finished about 10 VPs short of the KO stages. Unlucky girls!
So how did my picks doing in the Open?
| Italy | 1st | Netherlands | 2nd | Norway | 1st | USA | 3rd |
| Denmark | 6th | Russia | 8th | Bulgaria | 3rd | England | 2nd |
| South Africa | 10th | China | 3rd | Poland | 2nd | Germany | 1st |
| Brazil | 2nd | Israel | 1st | Egypt | 10th | Australia | 11th |
Sad News
| Tony Lamont, Rest In Peace |
|---|
| Archie reports,"Tony Lamont died in the last 24 hours after I spoke to him on the telephone yesterday when he was sounding in good spirits. The announcement of his death and the arrangements for his funeral will be in the Scotsman on Saturday but it will be held in Dundee next Wednesday. Personally I thought he was the most lovely man and I will miss him greatly. I'm sure all our thoughts are with his mother and father at this time." I did not know Tony very well but we had a lot of bridge friends in common so were often at the same bars chatting away after bridge finished. He was a very quiet, friendly person who seemed very at ease with the world. We shall miss his quiet demeanour and dry wit at the table. Personally I believe that anyone who put up with Archie as a partner for most of my time in Scotland should be considered for a sainthood. |
WMSG - when you are on your own
Yesterday was a rest day, save that the World Invitational Individuals were held.
Liz, of this parish, recovered from a moderate start to finish in a creditable 5th position (out of 24), but was a fair way behind Catarina Midskog from Sweden.
In the Men's event Tor Helness won by a massive 3% from Geir Helgemo. They are two of the best natural players in the world and they seem to have proved this despite the vagaries of the pairs game, even more so in an individual competition.
Now back to the final round of the teams qualifying.
Liz, of this parish, recovered from a moderate start to finish in a creditable 5th position (out of 24), but was a fair way behind Catarina Midskog from Sweden.
In the Men's event Tor Helness won by a massive 3% from Geir Helgemo. They are two of the best natural players in the world and they seem to have proved this despite the vagaries of the pairs game, even more so in an individual competition.
Now back to the final round of the teams qualifying.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Back on track
After a couple of poor weekends, it was back to the club playing with the LotG, Diana and (our excellent sub) Margaret in the Scott Cup.
We missed two slams. One was really difficult, missing two aces and holding a void in partner's twice-bid suit, but we had chances on the other one.
1 Good raise to 3♥ or better
My 4♥ is a complete overbid but perhaps it should have propelled us into the slam. Missing top diamonds and all the top trumps suggests good values in the black suits. Of course, if I have a diamond void then slam is probably going to be difficult and it's not easy to see how to move forward, aside from Blackwood. LotG took the low road but it proved a flat board.
We defended well in the first round:
Terry's 19-20 2NT opener left Catherine nothing to do except put down the dummy. We pointed out the four 10s and that it was some way from a yarborough (what jokers we all are!), but I was just pleased to see the diamond lead rather than the club lead I had been expecting.
After winning a top diamond I switched to a low spade, ducked to the LotG's ♠Q. She switched back to diamonds and I cleared that suit. Terry now played the ♣K, ducked, and continued the suit. LotG won this, cashed the diamonds and threw Terry back in to lead away from his hearts. Three down, +300 to the good guys, and 10 IMPs when Diana and Margaret defeated 2♠ in the other room.
With reasonable, some said good, cards at both tables we scored 73/100 VPs to win comfortably. Reg, Malcolm, Brian and George were second, 7 VPs in arrears.
We missed two slams. One was really difficult, missing two aces and holding a void in partner's twice-bid suit, but we had chances on the other one.
|
|
| West | North | East | South |
| Paul | LotG | ||
| p | |||
| 1♥ | 2♦ | 3♦1 | p |
| 4♥ | p | p | p |
1 Good raise to 3♥ or better
My 4♥ is a complete overbid but perhaps it should have propelled us into the slam. Missing top diamonds and all the top trumps suggests good values in the black suits. Of course, if I have a diamond void then slam is probably going to be difficult and it's not easy to see how to move forward, aside from Blackwood. LotG took the low road but it proved a flat board.
We defended well in the first round:
| ||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|
| West | North | East | South |
| Paul | Terry | LotG | Catherine |
| 2NT | p | p | |
| p |
Terry's 19-20 2NT opener left Catherine nothing to do except put down the dummy. We pointed out the four 10s and that it was some way from a yarborough (what jokers we all are!), but I was just pleased to see the diamond lead rather than the club lead I had been expecting.
After winning a top diamond I switched to a low spade, ducked to the LotG's ♠Q. She switched back to diamonds and I cleared that suit. Terry now played the ♣K, ducked, and continued the suit. LotG won this, cashed the diamonds and threw Terry back in to lead away from his hearts. Three down, +300 to the good guys, and 10 IMPs when Diana and Margaret defeated 2♠ in the other room.
WMSG - down to the wire
There is a rest day tomorrow, except for Liz who has two more sessions in the individual, but Friday will bring the final three matches for the round robins and Junior Swiss.
Estonia are the surprise package (to me) in group one: Linda, naturally, is focusing on the Canadians' performance and they are in a real dogfight for the final qualifying place in this group.
In group 3 Egypt appear to have run out of steam after starting well, whereas in group 4 the USA supporters mat be concerned by their lack of dominance. However it is noticeable that the USA are not thrashing the weaker teams, but have performed well against the likely qualifiers, so I am certainly not writing them off yet.
Open
Scotland are lying 14th of 18, but will impact the qualifers as they have to play two teams in the top four. I'm sure that the team will be disappointed not to be nearer mid-table, but this was the strongest group and it was always going to be tough.
Women
After beating the leaders, China, in their last match the Women are 7th and only 6 VPs from a qualifying spot. They still have to play Denmark, who lie above them, Venezuala who are 8th but probably out of contention, and Estonia who are 13th. So they still have an excellent chance of making the knockout stages and, to a large extent, it is in their own hands.
Juniors
The boys continue their roller-coaster ride through the Swiss and are 48th at the moment. I expect that they are frustrated at not putting a good run together but I hope that they are enjoying the event.
So how are my picks doing in the Open?
| Italy | 1st | Netherlands | 2nd | Norway | 1st | USA | 2nd |
| Denmark | 3rd | Russia | 10th | Bulgaria | 3rd | England | 4rd |
| South Africa | 8th | China | 3rd | Poland | 2nd | Germany | 1st |
| Brazil | 6th | Israel | 1st | Egypt | 12th | Australia | 12th |
Estonia are the surprise package (to me) in group one: Linda, naturally, is focusing on the Canadians' performance and they are in a real dogfight for the final qualifying place in this group.
In group 3 Egypt appear to have run out of steam after starting well, whereas in group 4 the USA supporters mat be concerned by their lack of dominance. However it is noticeable that the USA are not thrashing the weaker teams, but have performed well against the likely qualifiers, so I am certainly not writing them off yet.
Monday, 6 October 2008
WMSG - Scotland update
Open
The Open team have played 9 of 17 matches in the round robin. They currently lie 13th and, unfortunately, have no realistic chance of making the top four place needed to qualify for the KOs. They had got up to 8th but a poor Monday, against other mid-table teams, has left them too much to do.
Women
The Women have also played 9 of 17 matches. They currently lie 10th but only 13 VPs out of a qualifying position. As they had a tough start I expect that they are hoping for a good second half and a place in the knockout stages.
Go Girls!
Juniors
Illness prevented Ronald flying out with the team but he is there now, hopefully enjoying the bridge and Beijing.
The juniors are playing a 17-round Swiss tournament with the top 8 teams qualifying for the KO stages. Scotland currently lie in 49th position after 9 rounds. They are 37 VPs behind the 8th placed team and so they will need a very good run to get into a challenging position. The standard in the junior event is more variable than the others and often it is just a matter of a good draw at the right time.
Peru are lying 67th in the junior competition.
National Swiss
The Edwin Berry trophy has consistently proved a frustrating tournament for me in the last three years. Each time a slow start has not hampered our progress to the top tables, but there is something that goes wrong in the last couple of rounds.
This time it was a flat set of boards in the penultimate match, which effectively killed off our winning chances. In the final round we played Reg & Diana, and they beat us by two IMPs. My reaction was that this result was of no use to either of us, but naturally they were delighted to have beaten me :)
The slam bidding of our team was a little erratic, but Miro and I did get this one right.
I guess there's always next year.
This time it was a flat set of boards in the penultimate match, which effectively killed off our winning chances. In the final round we played Reg & Diana, and they beat us by two IMPs. My reaction was that this result was of no use to either of us, but naturally they were delighted to have beaten me :)
The slam bidding of our team was a little erratic, but Miro and I did get this one right.
|
|
| West | North | East | South |
| Miro | Paul | ||
| 1♥ | p | 1♠ | p |
| 3♣ | p | 3♥ | p |
| 4♣ | p | 4♦ | p |
| 4NT | p | 5♠ | p |
| 5NT | p | 7♥ | p |
| p | p |
I guess there's always next year.
Friday, 3 October 2008
WMSG Open picks
I'm concerned that too many people have entered Becky's competition and reducing my chances of winning! Anyhow, the other people that can ruin my predictions are the players themselves, but they'll not be worrying about me.
| Round of 16 qualifiers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | Netherlands | Norway | USA |
| Denmark | Russia | Bulgaria | England |
| South Africa | China | Poland | Germany |
| Brazil | Israel | Egypt | Australia |
| Round of 8 | |||
| Italy | Russia | China | Netherlands |
| Bulgaria | Poland | Norway | USA |
| Round of 4 and final positions | |||
| 1. Italy | 2. Russia | 3. Norway | 4. USA |
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