Keeping it close

"So you were playing the same boards as us?", a question often posed at the end of a team-of-eight match. Normally though it is followed up by someone (or two) saying, "sorry, we had an awful set", but that didn't happen last night.

Being one off the bottom of the division is not a great place to be, but still having to play three of the other relegation hopefuls means a reasonable chance of avoiding the bottom two slots and the dreaded dance-off drop.

Miro and I had a reasonable game, finishing +2,420 on aggregate. Meeting Christine and Carolyn on the way out, they were about +1,600 sitting in the other direction so it seemed like we'd have a big win. So it was surprising to find that the win was only +700, just about the minimum for a full win (being aggregate scoring, you need to win by 2% of the total score for a 'full' win, otherwise it is classified as a winning draw).

Our team mates though were not looking sheepish, rather just interested in how on earth we had achieved such a score. We knew that our opponents had missed three games, but only one was a bad effort and the others needed a fair amount of luck. Our performance had been solid though we did defend very soundly and perhaps this was the difference.

Looking at the hand records, the par score was +720 in our direction, which seemed about right. However achieving par can sometimes only be done by seeing all four hands, although overall you hope that it balances out. We failed to achieve par on two slam hands, but I think you'd all agree that these are not easy hands to get to par:



Pretty tough to get to 6♦.



Hard to bid the small slam, let alone the par score of the grand slam.

Still a win is a much needed win. We'll all be back on Monday evening to try and ensure our top division status.

Scotland - Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer winners!!!

29 IMPs in the last three boards, one of which was a push in 7♠ down one, gave Scotland a 15 IMP win over Northern Ireland in the last match of the Junior Camrose, putting them ONE VP ahead of the Republic of Ireland in the final standings. They certainly know how to put their supporters through the mill and it must have been galling for the Irish players who would have been watching on BBO Vugraph unable to do anything about it.

Congratulations to Frazer, Gyles, Phil and Alex on the first Scottish win since the mid-1970s (although they shared a win with England in 1998).

JUNIOR CAMROSE (U26)	VPs
Scotland	146
Republic of Ireland	145
England	125
Northern Ireland	104
Wales	73

In the Peggy Bayer, Scotland just needed a win in the final match but they nearly blitzed Northern Ireland to win 24-6 VPs, finishing well clear of England in the final rankings. I think most of the Scottish supporters would have preferred to watch this final match on Vugraph!

Congratulations to Yvonne, Ralph, Jun, Abigail, Stuart and Stephen.

PEGGY BAYER (U21)	VPs
Scotland	171
England	158
Wales	124
Northern Ireland	85
Republic of Ireland	51

Finally, many people put in a lot of time to help these junior teams. Joan, Jimmy, David and Jim are the ones who work hardest and deserve all the credit, but many of Scotland's top players have also played in practice matches and been very supportive.

Number 500

This is my 500th post on this blog and I thought I'd focus on youth.

The cream of the young British players (if you ignore the Facebook campaigns, vagaries of selection, partnerships who have broken up since selection, partnerships who have formed since selection, professional commitments, unprofessional commitments, etc.) will be found in Porthcawl this weekend playing for the Junior Camrose (U26) and Peggy Bayer (U21) Trophies. As usual there will be BBO coverage of the event.

Scotland has a very experienced team in the Junior Camrose (two will be playing at the European Team Championships in June), but they are only a team of four and both partnerships are new. They have been practising hard and we've had a number of good sessions on BBO.

Last year Scotland definitely underperformed and I hope that they will set the record straight this time. As always England, the holders, will be the team to beat although Northern Ireland have four of the team that ran England close last year and must not be underestimated.

At the end though I expect Scotland to prevail over NI, with England finishing third.

Scotland's team in the Peggy Bayer features most of the team that finished second last year and also performed really well in Istanbul. They have also been practising hard over the past few months and are well positioned to have a good run.

Last year England's domination was almost total in the U21s, only dropping 2 VPs in the entire event. Luckily their stars have moved on (to where I have no idea) and their team is completely new, so the event is wide open this year.

Information on the event is available here and the BBO vugraph schedule shows when you can watch if you cannot get to the event.

Good luck to Phil, Alex, Frazer and Gyles (old 'uns) and Stuart, Stephen, Jun, Abigail, Yvonne and Ralph (youngsters).

Appreciating your assets

Sixth round of the club pairs and another 60% score was sufficient to lead the N/S players. We did let a few points escape but, as usual, playing soundly and taking advantage of little slips is the key at matchpoints.

Only two pairs bid the following hand to game:



I thought LotG bid the hand well at matchpoints. There is no need to get overexcited initially when holding two small clubs, but at teams I think 3♠ is better over my 2♥. I presume that the other pairs were more reticent with LotG's hand, or less sure of the values needed for 2♥, but with all those fitting honours you'd hope to arrive in game one way or the other.

Definition

We missed an opportunity in the Scott Cup. With our main rivals having a poor evening and only finishing fourth, there was the chance to leap into the lead. But a couple of missed chances left us only 3rd and it is likely that the evening will be a non-counting score for both of us.

We overbid the following hand:



The problem was the definition of the 4♠ bid. As you can probably tell from the auction, we were playing 2/1 so LoTG's 2♠ was unconditionally game forcing. There is a lot of space between the two and four level, so the jump to game should be quite specific.

I believe it should show:

• a minimum opener, almost certainly 5-4 in the two suits I've bid
• no control in the fourth suit
• no significant holding in partner's suit

One of the main issues with 2/1 is defining the strength of both hands in a two over one auction. In this instance these agreements would make it easier to pass 4♠ without even investigating slam as we are missing the ace of clubs and the best heart holding I can have is ♥Qx, so the slam is never better than a finesse and it could be a lot worse. The auction has also suggested the killing heart lead.

This area is important for all serious partnerships to discuss, whatever system you play.

English Bridge

Memphis Mojo often scans the front cover of a poker magazine and then provides the essence, aka poker pearl, from the lead story. Glen, over at BridgeMatters, has done something similar during a series of articles on Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell.

I am a little more self-absorbed than them, so I'll feature this month's English Bridge as I am on the cover, along with Alex and a few lesser lights of the British bridge scene (some of whom played in the top division of the Premier League).

But I will share Gunnar Hallberg's Top Tip:

Practise self-discipline and pursue harmony if you want to do well in serious competition.

He's just sayin'.


Some of the articles from this edition of English Bridge can be read online.

Some decisions

Some of the decisions faced in Iceland. All problems are IMPs.

1. A high-level decision



Bidding is a recipe for -800, but the opponents may run to 5♠ which you'll double for -650!

2. How long do you go on competing?



Double gets you +300 (pass) or +600 (3NT) or -100 (4♥) or +130 (4♦) depending on what partner does with KJx 9xxx 9xxx xx.

3. Game or penalty?



Passing gets you +300 with no game making. We each got +300 when this hand bid 4♠ at the other table.

4. Transferring the problem to you.



I feel 5♥ either shows good controls and weak hearts, or strong hearts and poor controls. Clearly the latter here, so bidding 6♥ looks right. Partner has ♥AKQxx and you make twelve or thirteen tricks.

5. Feeling suicidal?



Par is 5♦ doubled making 10 tricks. Doubling or bidding will get you to 5♦, they will then bid 5♥ so the problem will be that partner may try for slam expecting you to have more.

A frustrating game

The most frustrating match in the Reykjavik Teams was the ninth round. We'd won our first two matches of the day and were looking to continue the run.

Board 1
A boring partscore. We make 1NT for average on the cross imping (aka butler).

Board 2
Opponents bid the normal vulnerable game. Lose 1 IMP on the butler as some fail to bid it and some overbid to a non-making slam.

Board 3
We are one of only four pairs who bid to the excellent 6♦. It is a 4-4 fit and the slam needs a 3-2 trump break, but we avoided the 6-3 club fit and can establish this suit if it does not break 4-0. Unfortunately it does, so we lose 8 IMPs on the butler rather than gaining 11. The slam is excellent as 5♦ does not make either when the clubs break this way, but the 3NTers are safe.

Board 4
Lose 9 IMPs on the butler when the opponents bid a 22 point game that is missed by over 60 tables. No surprise as it's a lot less than 25%.

Board 5
We defend a partscore sensibly for a flat board.

Board 6
We bid an excellent 22-point club game that needs a heart honour onside (76%) or a 3-3 diamond break with the ace onside. Down one, but only lose 1 IMP on the butler as it is a good (red against green) save against the spade game. But it could have been worth so much more!

Board 7
Lose 10 IMPs when the opponents bid to an aggressive game and I do not find the killing lead. My lead looks normal but their auction may be different at other tables. Even then game needed two finesses.

Board 8
Gain 4 IMPs when the opponents cannot double our 14-16 1NT for penalty and miss their partscore. Even worse for them when 1NT makes.

Board 9
Flat board when our opponents do not bid their 26 point diamond game that needs one of two finesses. A lucky break although some of the field is going down in 3NT.

Board 10
Another flat board when the opponents disturb our 1NT to play in 2S making, with 1NT looking like it will only make four or five tricks.

We lost the match comfortably (-28 IMPs) and were -24 IMPs on the butler, despite playing really quite well (team mates were -3 IMPs). On another day we could have won by over 30 IMPs on these results.

There is much debate in Scotland as to whether team trials or pairs trials (using cross imping) are the fairest. This is an example of how little difference it would make when there are a lot of teams (over 70).

Eventually I stopped kicking the furniture, and I got lots of time to do this due to an appeal preventing last round assignments, and we played the final match of the tournament. Alex and I made an excellent slam on the first board and we powered to a maximum victory, perhaps helped more by our team mates punishing their opponents ruthlessly every time they stepped out of line (which was a lot of times).

nIcemen

I've spent the last four days playing at the Reykjavik Bridge Festival. Well playing might be too strong a word, perhaps sitting at the table tossing cards into the middle would be a more precise description.

But aside from the results at the table it's all been good fun. The tournament is well run, timings are good and everyone is extremely friendly. Teaming up with Csaba (gwnn on BBO) was good and we've laughed about the good boards and dismissed the bad ones to oblivion. For some reason Alex and I have played inconsistently and without our normal solidity, so the results have been all over the place.

I've been to Iceland before and done many of the tourist sites, so what little we've had away from the table I've been exploring Reykjavik a little more. It's a small capital, but all the more accessible for that. A good place to hold a tournament, an excellent venue that is currently reasonably priced.

Naturally, being so far north means that the days are short. It is a little disconcerting to have breakfast in the morning knowing that sunrise is more than an hour away (typically just after 10), and with bridge starting at 11 the last embers of dawn are still streaking away*.

Hopefully we'll be back and show how we can really play at the table.

*Add your own literary phrase here