tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-335579292024-03-29T03:29:30.460+00:00The Beer CardThe trials and tribulations of a bridge player ...Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.comBlogger1505125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-78818738332477570332024-03-08T11:04:00.002+00:002024-03-08T11:04:54.233+00:00Directing woes on BBO and dealing with them<p>Last Tuesday we had a problem running our club tournament on BBO: the first problem we've had since the virtual club was established. This is the debrief that I sent our club directors to help them deal with such issues in the future. The key message is</p><p><b><span style="color: red;">KEEP CALM</span></b></p><p>The club tournaments are set up with 20 boards in two-board rounds, pairs tournaments with either IMP or MP scoring.</p><p>We use four tags in the tournament description to help with the movement and running of the tournament. These are:</p><p>+allavail+</p><p>This tag stops the tournament starting unless all registered players are online. If a tournament fails to start within 2 minutes, it is normally because someone has fallen offline: you can edit the tournament to remove this tag or you can ‘Delete offline teams’ from the tournament menu. The latter is easier.</p><p>+howell+</p><p>This tag tells BBO to run a Howell movement rather than a Mitchell. This is used to prevent rematches and ensure one winner.</p><p>+rounds10+</p><p>This tag tells BBO to stop the movement after 10 rounds, otherwise it will try and run a full Howell movement with all play all.</p><p>+hd+</p><p>This tag is for ‘human declares’. So if a player is replaced by a robot, their partner will declare even when it should be the robot.</p><p>BBO only interprets tags it recognises: misspelt tags, tags with additional spaces between the + signs, will not be recognised.</p><p>The +howell+ tag will change the initial tournament settings in terms of boards, and boards per round, to generate a full movement. However this is tempered by the +rounds10+ tag.</p><p>What I think happened on Tuesday is that +round10+ was used. This is not a valid tag as it should have been +rounds10+ (notice that an ess is missing). So BBO ignored this tag.</p><p>The +howell+ tag now took over. It had 24 pairs, so it needed 23 rounds for the all play all movement. Twenty boards had been specified, so one-board rounds were necessary to run the movement and get close to the original settings: this is why the tournament was seen as 23 one-board rounds.</p><p>At the time, as I thought the +rounds10+ tag was valid, I thought the tournament would end after 10 one-board rounds, but this makes no sense as I could see 23 rounds were scheduled. So I could have left the tournament running and we would have played 23 boards: obviously this would have been slower than normal, as it takes longer to play two one-board rounds than one two-board rounds.</p><p>So, at this point, I decided to cancel the tournament. Before I did this, I explained via chat to the tournament what we were going to do: cancel the tournament; create a new tournament to start in 10 minutes that everyone would need to register for.</p><p>I then edited the tournament and used ‘Copy tournament’ to create a new tournament that I could edit, reset the boards, and set the new start time, and I reduced the price to BB$0.50.</p><p>At this point I cancelled the original tournament.</p><p>My plan would have worked fine if I had spotted that +round10+ was invalid and changed it to +rounds10+ in the second tournament.</p><p>However, I didn't, so I started a tournament with the identical problem!</p><p>A quick tournament chat, second tournament cancellation and creating a new tournament to start in 10 minutes.</p><p>Creating the tournament from scratch seemed like a recipe for more mistakes since I was under time pressure: so I copied next week’s tournament to create a new one. This involved changing the start time appropriately, changing the name of the tournament from Wilf White to McDonald Cup, and changing the scoring from matchpoints to cross imps, and reducing the price. Rather than copying I could have just changed this specific tournament and created a new one for next week at a later date, but copying preserved next week’s.</p><p>Just to note that copying another tournament only works for like-for-like events. You cannot copy a Swiss Teams and make it a pairs event.</p><p>This all worked and we eventually finished 20 minutes later than planned. Everyone re-registered twice without a problem and were very supportive of my efforts.</p><p>BBO refunded the tournament fees of the cancelled tournaments automatically, so everyone got a cheap evening’s bridge in the end.</p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-3908414630225002662024-02-13T14:23:00.003+00:002024-02-13T14:46:50.596+00:00Entries open for the Spring BBO InterCity League<p>If you play bridge and are looking for a friendly, competitive league from March to May, then perhaps the Tonči Radelja Memorial BBO InterCity League is what you are looking for.</p><p>It will run from Wednesday, 6 March through to the final on Wednesday, 29 May. Sixteen-board matches will be played every week, always on Wednesday at 20.45-21.00 CET (8pm London).</p><p>Paolo runs the event with a rod of iron, so anything other than good behaviour and excellent ethics will not be tolerated.</p><p>It provides an opportunity to meet players from all over Europe (mainly, although open to anyone who can play regularly at 21.00 CET) and is always good fun.</p><p>I help run the event, providing the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/bbo-intercity-league/" target="_blank">website</a> and automating the scoring tables.</p><p>The BBO ICL is free to enter, there are no master points and only glory as a prize.</p><p><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/bbo-intercity-league/spring-2024" target="_blank">Entry information</a></p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-12200559961420333452024-02-01T14:19:00.000+00:002024-02-01T14:19:05.806+00:00Kickback, like any convention, needs a lot of work<p>Most experts, and a lot of club players, moved away from using Blackwood many years ago and today <a href="https://kwbridge.com/rkc.htm" target="_blank">Roman Keycard Blackwood</a> (RKCB) is the most popular convention for checking aces when going slamming.</p><p>However, it has a few problems much like regular Blackwood.</p><p>Firstly, it is difficult to use when a minor suit is the agreed trump suit. This is a major reason for the invention of Minorwood, where four of the minor suit is used as the asking bid: I've always thought that this cure was worse than the original problem but it is used by a lot of the expert community.</p><p>Minor suits are one of the main reasons that 1430 RKCB has become more popular than the original 3041 RKCB. Originally, 5<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span> showed 0 or 3 key cards and 5<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span> showed 1 or 4 key cards. As you might expect 1430 RKCB swaps these responses around, as it is more likely that the responder has one key card than none. This makes it safer to ask when clubs are the agreed trump suit as the one key card response will not take you too high.</p><p>Another problem with RKCB is that you may not be able to ask for the trump queen when hearts are trumps, whichever RKCB variant you use, as a 5<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span> response will not leave room for a 'safe' ask.</p><p>A popular way to address these problems is known as <b>Kickback</b>. In this variant, the key card ask is one step higher than the agreed trump suit: so, if clubs are the agreed suit, then 4<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span> asks for key cards; and if hearts are trumps, then 4<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> asks for key cards. The advantage of asking at a lower level resolves many of the space issues.</p><p>But, like Minorwood, there is a cost. And questions: when are trumps actually agreed; when is the step above the trump suit natural, a cue bid or Kickback; what does 4NT mean now are extremely relevant and not always easy to answer.</p><p>It is fair to say that the longer you have been playing Kickback, the more of these problems you've seen and hopefully resolved. But, even when you have been playing for decades, new positions will still come up.</p><p>This is from our practice session on cuebids.com today:</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sakj876haj954d2c8&d=w&a=1d2c2s3cpp3hp4c(alert)p?" width="200px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>The 2<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> bid was forcing for one round, but West's pass over 3<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span> was not forcing. In this context, 4<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span> shows heart support and the best possible hand for the bidding to date.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is unlikely cue bidding at this point is going to resolve whether slam is a good prospect or not, so it is a good situation to ask for key cards. If partner only has one key card, then they will almost certainly have the <span style="color: red;">♥</span>Q and eleven tricks should be fairly easy, so the five-level is safe.</div><div><br /></div><div>So do you bid 4<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> as Kickback to ask for key cards?</div><div><br /></div><div>It is clear to you that hearts are agreed and therefore it should be safe to use 4<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> as Kickback even though you've bid the suit naturally.</div><div><br /></div><div>But will it be so clear to partner?</div><div><br /></div><div>This question is at the root of most Kickback problems. Suppose your hand was:</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sakj876hatdt82c85&d=w&a=1d2c2s3cpp3hp4c(alert)p?" width="200px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps your 3<span style="color: red;">♥</span> call was one of the only forcing options available that left 3NT and more of a directional asking bid? Now you might just want to bid 4<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> as an option to play?</div><div><br /></div><div>Even though we've been playing Kickback for decades, I still had to think about this. Eventually I decided that 4NT must be RKCB here and that 4<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> was to play: we were both on the same wavelength and bid the excellent slam.</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sakj876haj954d2c8&w=sqhkt82dk8643ca94&d=w&a=1d2c2s3cpp3hp4c(alert)p4np5h(2+!HQ)p6hppp" width="350px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>This slam was bid by eight of the 29 pairs who've bid the hand.</div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-51506994006601259912024-01-12T11:15:00.001+00:002024-01-12T11:15:57.513+00:00A-Slamming we will go<p>It was another round of the Scott Cup teams at the club and everyone was tested on the first two boards.</p><p>Two opening bid problems:</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAKJ86432hAdK8c62&d=n&a=?" width="200px">
</iframe>
<iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAK32hAQdK3cAQ1086&d=e&v=n&a=ppp?" width="200px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>On the first board LotG and I were helped considerably by her insistence that we play 'Strong Twos' rather than the more accepted weak two opening bids. Traditionally Strong Twos meant a hand of power and quality, but LotG prefers a style where it is just 'eight playing tricks' without necessarily the points associated with an Acol Strong Two (of course this is appropriately disclosed).</div><div><br /></div><div>The auction progressed smoothly from there;</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAKJ86432hAdK8c62&w=s7ht8dAJ97643cJ85&s=sQthK765d2cAKt943&d=n&a=2s(strong)p2n(bal or clubs, positive)p3s(slam suitable)p4c(nat or cue)p4h(cue)p6sppp&b=1&nn=Paul&sn=LotG" width="450px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>As we play the traditional 3<span style="color: #04ff00;">♣</span> negative, we use the 2NT response as either a natural balanced positive or a positive in clubs. My 3<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> continuation should set the suit but of course LotG could have seven solid clubs so 4<span style="color: #04ff00;">♣</span> remains a little nebulous.</div><div><br /></div><div>My 4<span style="color: red;">♥</span> is clearly a cue bid and, as we cue bid first round controls before second, LotG was able to jump directly to the slam. </div><div><br /></div><div>After the <span style="color: red;">♥</span>Q you can play the hand along double squeeze lines to make them all. I'll leave this as an exercise for the reader.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our opponents were the only other pair to bid this slam, so it was a flat board everywhere and it only benefitted our cross imping!</div><div><br /></div><div>The second problem was to choose an opening bid. With the good club suit I decided to upgrade the hand and open 2<span style="color: #04ff00;">♣</span> rather than 2NT (20-22). As we play 2<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span> as a negative response, I had decided to rebid 2NT over this and show my suits over a positive response.</div><div><br /></div><div>What actually happened was a surprise:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAK32hAQdK3cAQt86&w=st965hJt2dAQJ75c5&s=sqh863d842cKJ9742&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=ppp2cp3cp4n(Blackwood)p5c(0 or 4)p6cppp&nn=Paul&sn=LotG" width="450px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>LotG chose to give a positive response in clubs: although her hand is a little light for this, she has a good club suit and will struggle to show the hand otherwise. We play standard Blackwood so I just asked for aces and settled for the small slam.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the <span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span>10 lead I was not stressed to make the contract. We were the only pair to bid this slam although another pair tried 6NT played by South: in a sense they were lucky to only go one down.</div><div><br /></div><div>We won the evening by 38 imps, over 18 boards, so the team did a lot of other good things too.</div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-27406217572731880442023-12-18T19:42:00.000+00:002023-12-18T19:42:12.036+00:00Down to the wire<p>The final of the 40th edition of the Tonči Radelja Memorial BBO InterCity League went down to the last board.</p><p>The first half of 12 boards had seen Vienna take a commanding lead over Manchester as they outscored them by 49-15 IMP. Most of the swings were earned and Vienna deserved their lead.</p><p>Manchester did not come out swinging in the second half, but solid play saw them consistently win imps until, after 23 boards, the score was Vienna 51:46 Manchester.</p><p>At least the final board was not boring.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=pn%7CSylvia%2CDave%2CKurt%2CLeslie%7Cst%7C%7Cmd%7C2S289KH24TQADC678A%2CS5TJQAH589JD8C23T%2CSH6D267TJQAC45JQK%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%2012%7Csv%7Cn%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1D%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1H%7Cmb%7C1S%7Cmb%7C3C%7Cmb%7C4S%7Cmb%7C6C%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CDJ%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CD9%7Cpc%7CS9%7Cpc%7CSQ%7Cmc%7C13%7C" width="450px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>The Viennese pair had a practical auction to six clubs. They were playing Blue Club, so the opening hand was limited but clearly good distribution was needed for the 3<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span> bid: almost certainly a spade void. I don't think there was any sensible way of investigating further.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the other room:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=pn%7CJeffrey%2CArno%2CRoyce%2CFranz%7Cst%7C%7Cmd%7C2S289KH24TQADC678A%2CS5TJQAH589JD8C23T%2CSH6D267TJQAC45JQK%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%2012%7Csv%7Cn%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1D%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1H%7Cmb%7C1S%7Cmb%7C3C%7Cmb%7C4S%7Cmb%7C4N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C5S%21%7Can%7C2%20of%20the%205%20%2B%20Q%20trumps%20whch%20I%20think%20is%20C%7Cmb%7C6S%7Cmb%7C7C%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CS7%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cmc%7C11%7C" width="450px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>The auction was the same until South's second call. Opposite an unlimited distributional hand, Jeff had higher ambitions if his partner could show the <span style="color: red;">♥</span>K ... and some other cards!</div><div><br /></div><div>As it happened Franz bid to 6<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> leaving Jeff with less information to make his decision. He plumped for the grand slam, possibly influenced by the half-time match situation. The current score was unknown to the players at this point.</div><div><br /></div><div>After such an auction you are always pleased when the contract has play and is not down off the top. However you still have to play it and I suspect just taking the ruffing diamond finesse is the best line. However declarer saw it differently, and he was in the final while I was not, and the bad diamond break led to an early defeat.</div><div><br /></div><div>With both minors breaking badly there was nothing declarer could do for his contract even double dummy, unless East carelessly discards a diamond when trumps are drawn.</div><div><br /></div><div>As far as Vienna were concerned, they won the match when Sylvia played in 6<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span><span>. Franz bid to the par contract, </span>6<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> doubled, and Jeff gave his team their only chance of winning the match when he went on to the grand slam.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is Vienna's third win in a row but they were pushed close this time and the final score of 68-46 IMP was a little flattering.</div><div><br /></div><div>Information on the Spring 2024 edition is available on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/bbo-intercity-league/home" target="_blank">website</a>.</div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-50777013484651684372023-12-12T12:57:00.000+00:002023-12-12T12:57:25.212+00:00InterCity finalIt is the final of the 40th edition of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/bbo-intercity-league/home?authuser=0">Tonči Radelja Memorial BBO InterCity League</a> tomorrow evening on BBO, starting at 21:00 CET (8pm London).<div><br /></div><div>It is between Vienna, captained by Hans-Richard Grümm (hrgruemm), and Manchester, captained by Jeff Smith (jeffsmith).</div><div><br /></div><div>Vienna are looking to make it three wins in a row, whereas this might be Manchester's first visit to the final.</div><div><br /></div><div>Vienna's path to the final involved a slow start, losing two of their group matches and finishing 10VP behind Lucca Terigi despite having a bigger IMP score. However they've been imperious in the knockout stages with some big wins and their closest encounter being a 9IMP win against North London in the quarter-final.</div><div><br /></div><div>Manchester were unbeaten in the group stage with a draw against Helsinki being the only glitch. Unlike Vienna the only easy match for them in the knockout stage was their quarter-final win, with all the other matches being close.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is a 24-board final and it may start earlier than scheduled. But kibitzers will be permitted so just look for one of the captains.</div><div><br /></div><div>Good luck to both teams.</div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-16566720585269794822023-11-20T10:54:00.000+00:002023-11-20T10:54:30.731+00:00Premier League answers<div>My decisions and what worked!</div><div><br /></div><div>1.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sA6542d8cKQJ10952&d=n&a=p1c6hpp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>It is Love All and you are playing five-card majors, a short club and 14-16 1NT. Do you take any action now?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>I bid 6<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span>, doubled and down four on a 5-0 trump break. But this was the par contract as 6<span style="color: red;">♥</span> always makes. I think it really comes down to how much you trust South and most of the field took the sacrifice.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536211/Travellers/17" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a> (opens new window)</div><div><br /></div><div>2.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAhKJdKQ104cAQ10763&d=s&a=p2h(weak)?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>What action do you take and what is your plan?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Even though partner is a passed hand, they might well have enough to jump to game holding just five spades so I thought double was just too dangerous. This just left 3<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span> which is where I, and most of the field, played.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the late Roland Wald would have said, it was a Twenty20 hand.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536213/Travellers/27" target="_blank">Full hand and results</a></div><div><br /></div><div>3.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=s9653hAKQ8dKcAQ82&d=n&v=e&a=1c4spp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>What action do you take now?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Partner's failure to act with spade shortage was a deafening silence in my mind and I respected the opponent's overcall at unfavourable vulnerability and let him drift three down in 4<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span>. This was not as bad as it could have been since we can make 6D (!!), but looking at the results very few could have faced the same overcall. It was well timed.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536214/Travellers/3" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a></div><div><br /></div><div>4.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=s8532hAJ6dAQ2cAQ5&d=n&v=e&a=p1c3spp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Unfavourable vulnerability and you are still playing five-card majors, a short club and 14-16 1NT. Do you take any action now?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I thought this was one of the easier problems. Although it may be difficult for partner to act opposite a potential weak no trump, they will stretch to find a call with spade shortage so I thought it was an easy pass.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536217/Travellers/9" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a></div><div><br /></div><div>5.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sAKJ83hA72dAK108c4&d=e&a=1spp1nxr(pen)2cx(takeout)?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>South's double is penalty and North's double is takeout. Do you take any action?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I thought it was likely that South was going to pass the double of 2<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span>, so it would be more difficult for them to double me in 2<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span> if I bid it immediately. This did not prove to be the case but Alex ran to 2<span style="color: red;">♥</span> and I assumed that we'd reached at least a seven-card fit and possibly an eight-card one. They continued to double but this was unwise, as can make all the two-level contracts that they doubled for a good swing.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536217/Travellers/14" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>6.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sQ96h2d87642cK984&d=n&v=b&a=ppp2np?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>This is really a choice between signing off in 3NT or using minor suit Stayman to locate a fit. Your choice?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>As it happened, it doesn't really matter what you do but I was the only one in the field to look for a minor fit.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536218/Travellers/29" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>7.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sQhJ73dAK98cAKJ43&d=n&v=b&a=1c2h(both majors)pp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>At Game All you open a short club and the next hand shows both majors. Do you want to act now?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>It looks like partner has spades but has failed to act again, so I didn't feel that I could do anything either. This overcall does limit your partner's options but also forces the opponents to make an immediate decision unlike standard Michaels.</div><div><br /></div><div>As you might expect this was a partscore hand so passing and taking a positive score was fine.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536219/Travellers/4" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>8.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAQ432hA6dAQ65cAJ&d=n&a=p?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>What is your opening bid?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I opened 1<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> but, unlike three other tables, Alex actually responded. After my 2<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span> Gazzilli bid (showing clubs or a strong hand), Alex showed 4-7 points with 5+ hearts and I plumped for 4<span style="color: red;">♥</span>, which made with a favourable diamond layout. Everything was amazing favourable on the hand and you could make a grand slam in either red suit if you've learnt to take the right finesses.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536227/Travellers/17" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>9.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sJ54hAK7dA1065cKQ3&v=b&d=e&a=1c3dpp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>You open your short club with balanced hands outside the 14-16 no trump range. What is your choice now?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Once again I think pass is the easy action and getting +200 on a partscore hand was a small gain.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536228/Travellers/10" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a></div><div><br /></div></div><div>10.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=s987654hAQ6d93cK2&v=e&d=s&a=3d3np?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>You have some system over the 3NT overcall: 4C is a relay asking for strength, 4D is any sign-off and 4H/4S are mild slam tries. What will you choose?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Partner's 3NT is one of the widest range bids in bridge and I thought some time before deciding to pass. I could have saved some brain cells as it proved to be a choice of how many down you were going and those who moved to 4<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> did a trick better. If anyone had reached the only making game, 5<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span>, I suspect that they'd have been accusing of cheating!</div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://app.pianola.net/Results/Session536230/Travellers/3" target="_blank">Full hand and travellers</a></div></div><div><br /></div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-56170702686585772462023-11-14T17:11:00.000+00:002023-11-14T17:11:43.738+00:00Slam bidding in the cities<p>I've been playing in the 40th edition of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/bbo-intercity-league/home?authuser=0" target="_blank">Tonči Radelja Memorial BBO InterCity League</a>. In the Spring edition I played occasionally as a substitute but I seem to have become a permanent sub for the Ascoli Piceno team now.</p><p>I often play in the team with Michael Dierich, an expert German player. We play a simple 'expert' system with few agreements as could be seen in our final group match against Drobeta (a Romanian city on the northern bank of the Danube).</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=pn|Michael,west,Paul,East|st%7C%7Cmd%7C4S469QKH257JQAD4CA%2CS25TH89D2TQC489TK%2CS37AH6KD7KAC367JQ%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%202%7Csv%7Cn%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1H%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C2C%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3S%7Can%7Cstrong%20with%20spades%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C4D%7Can%7Ccue%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C4N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C5S%7Can%7C2%20key%20card%20with%20%21cQ%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C6H%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C7H%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CHQ%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cmc%7C13%7C" width="450px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>The crux of the problem was the meaning of 3<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span>: Michael thought it was natural and strong whereas I play this as a splinter agreeing clubs.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think my interpretation is 'expert standard', but everyone always thinks they are right while hoping partner does too :)</div><div><br /></div><div>When Michael bid 6<span style="color: red;">♥</span> I went into the tank as this bid made little sense in my world given our agreements. In particular, I couldn't see how he could be missing any other key cards if he was contracting for a heart slam missing the <span style="color: red;">♥</span>K. Eventually I raised, everything was fine and we gained 13 IMP.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think we would have bid the slam if Michael had rebid 2<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span>. I will temporise with 2NT and then cue bid 4<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span> over 3<span style="color: red;">♥</span> and we are in the same position except we both agree on the trump suit!</div><div><br /></div><div>We were less successful on the following board:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=pn|Michael,West,Paul,East|st%7C%7Cmd%7C2S2359H46789D27KC8%2CS68JQKH3TQD35C234%2CSAH5JKAD468JAC5JA%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%2012%7Csv%7Cn%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1D%7Can%7C3%2B%21d%7Cmb%7C3C%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C4C%7Cmb%7Cd%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CD9%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cmc%7C8%7C" width="450px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Many would open my hand with 2<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span>, but I thought this would make it very difficult to show my distribution and I hoped that I'd be able to get across the power at some point.</div><div><br /></div><div>However when the auction got back to me, I thought 3NT was the clear choice with only a singleton spade and I was not too unhappy to be defending 4<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span> if partner could not remove my double (and why should he!).</div><div><br /></div><div>However we lost 15 IMP when they bid and made 6<span style="color: red;">♥</span> in the other room. North also opened 1<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span> but our East remained quiet. When South dragged up a 1<span style="color: red;">♥</span> response, West overcalled 1<span style="color: #2b00fe;">♠</span> but they powered into slam. When the diamond finesse failed, I guess the overcall persuaded declarer to take the heart finesse rather than play for the drop.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our opponents gave most these points back on the next board when they bid to a poor slam:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=pn|Michael,West,Paul,East|st%7C%7Cmd%7C3S679KH4QD48C5689Q%2CS28AH2378D5JKC47A%2CS345QHTJD3679TC2T%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%2013%7Csv%7Cb%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1H%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C2N%21%7Can%7C4%2B%21H%20GF%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3D%21%7Can%7Cgood%20hand%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3H%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C4C%21%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C4D%7Can%7Ccue%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C4N%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C5H%7Can%7C2kc%20no%20q%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C6H%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CHQ%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CHJ%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CDJ%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CSQ%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CS7%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CD9%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cmc%7C11%7C" width="450px">
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>It's always easy to criticise when you can see all the hands, but I think our opponents had problems that you often have playing 2/1 and/or Jacoby 2NT: limiting your hand and showing extras.</div><div><br /></div><div>After East had shown extra values with 3<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span>, perhaps West should jump to game to show a minimum Jacoby 2NT response. Although West has excellent controls, the hand has anaemic distribution and poor trumps. After East's cue bid of 4<span style="color: #6aa84f;">♣</span>, West knows that they have a spade loser but probably feels obliged to cue bid in response. At this point East should probably sign off in 4<span style="color: red;">♥</span> as the hand has already shown extras with real slam interest, allowing West off the hook when they have this sort of hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is all very subtle and down to experience. Our teammates, playing their strong club system with control responses, avoided the slam.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, this debate would be different had Michael not found a passive lead: a club lead gives the contract immediately and a spade lead (save the king) gives declarer chances but they'd need to read the cards well. A red suit lead makes it impossible on careful defence.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end we won by 16 IMP but both teams will be participating in the knockout stages.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our match in the round of 32 is against Foča, a town in south-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of Drina river.</div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-29496554324230698062023-11-07T15:36:00.003+00:002023-11-08T11:10:27.351+00:00Premier League problemsAlthough I've been failing to blog, I have been playing bridge. In particular Alex and I have played in the Premier League again this season, three weekends playing behind screens, 336 boards in total with our teammates Nick Smith, Alan Wilson and super-sub Roger Bryant.<div><br /></div><div>The first weekend was disappointing as we languished in seventh place out of eight teams with 55.45/140VP. We improved in the second weekend to score 85.29/140VP, finally making it above average and rising to fifth place.</div><div><br /></div>A good Saturday in the final weekend put us in the top four, who were separated by just 2VP. Theoretically we had the easiest draw as we'd played the other three teams, and they'd be playing each other, but we'd found it difficult to score against the teams out of contention to this point.<div><br /></div><div>In the end, <b>COMFORTABLY NUMB</b> (Marcia Green, Heather Dhondy, Joe Fawcett, Alastair Gidman, David Burn) won the division 1.06VP clear of us. We lost to them 0-20VP in the first weekend but scored 34VP against them in the two other matches.</div><div><br /></div><div>We finished 0.51VP clear of <b>MILLER</b> (Robert Miller, Ufuk Cotuk, Tugrul Kaban, David (Francis) Eddleston) who we struggled against, winning only one match of three and only scoring 18/60VP.</div><div><br /></div><div>The leaders going into the final weekend, <b>LINDFORS</b> (Stefan Lindfors, Jim Grant, Rob Lawy, Harry Anyorkatis, Dave Robinson, Tony Sowter), struggled against the two leaders and finished another 7VP back.</div><div><br /></div><div>The cross imping for the final two weekends (224 boards) showed the recovery from seventh place after the first weekend was a team effort: Alex and I were +121XIMP and Nick and Alan were +111XIMP.</div><div><br /></div><div>All the results from the three divisions can be seen on the <a href="https://www.ebu.co.uk/results/1267" target="_blank">EBU website</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are ten bidding problems that I faced over the weekend.</div><div><br /></div><div>1.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sA6542d8cKQJ10952&d=n&a=p1c6hpp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>It is Love All and you are playing five-card majors, a short club and 14-16 1NT. Do you take any action now?</div><div><br /></div><div>2.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAhKJdKQ104cAQ10763&d=s&a=p2h(weak)?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>What action do you take and what is your plan?</div><div><br /></div><div>3.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=s9653hAKQ8dKcAQ82&d=n&v=e&a=1c4spp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>What action do you take now?</div><div><br /></div><div>4.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=s8532hAJ6dAQ2cAQ5&d=n&v=e&a=p1c3spp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Unfavourable vulnerability and you are still playing five-card majors, a short club and 14-16 1NT. Do you take any action now?</div><div><br /></div><div>5.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sAKJ83hA72dAK108c4&d=e&a=1spp1nxr(pen)2cx(takeout)?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>South's double is penalty and North's double is takeout. Do you take any action?</div><div><br /></div><div>6.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sQ96h2d87642cK984&d=n&v=b&a=ppp2np?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>This is really a choice between signing off in 3NT or using minor suit Stayman to locate a fit. Your choice?</div><div><br /></div><div>7.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sQhJ73dAK98cAKJ43&d=n&v=b&a=1c2h(both majors)pp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>At Game All you open a short club and the next hand shows both majors. Do you want to act now?</div><div><br /></div><div>8.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAQ432hA6dAQ65cAJ&d=n&a=p?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>What is your opening bid?</div><div><br /></div><div>9.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=sJ54hAK7dA1065cKQ3&v=b&d=e&a=1c3dpp?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>You open your short club with balanced hands outside the 14-16 no trump range. What is your choice now?</div><div><br /></div><div>10.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="350px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?e=s987654hAQ6d93cK2&v=e&d=s&a=3d3np?" width="200px"><br /></div></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>You have some system over the 3NT overcall: 4C is a relay asking for strength, 4D is any sign-off and 4H/4S are mild slam tries. What will you choose?</div><div><br /></div><div>Answers in a couple of weeks as I'm using these problems for some coaching.</div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-70960871278073675202023-09-21T14:53:00.004+01:002023-09-21T14:53:43.578+01:00Using cuebids.com<a href="http://cuebids.com">cuebids.com</a> is a website and app that can help improve your partnership bidding.<div><br /></div><div>We use it to remain in touch with our complete system and even the basic robots are useful in providing competition. As we live hundreds of miles apart and play only a few events a year, cuebids is an essential component of our 'bridge fitness' program.</div><div><br /></div><div>However the results can be confusing so I thought I'd discuss a hand.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssJvdVf1FfZWgJK7ZhKZrShPH3XfTU-O7by57dCqS_EY-ZSPDa7xa3AORUKuaKBKFpr6mNYV4TgEac52Om1j4FZNitOn5xtH9PrwKzrdBDTgWLoAf6a1XIBD2x5EFBjA4G5CM6Dj15EGczJHg7YeLE0r2irRtnc3i2SNr9z2EEtir3PDiZzse5A/s2389/bidding.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1897" data-original-width="2389" height="509" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssJvdVf1FfZWgJK7ZhKZrShPH3XfTU-O7by57dCqS_EY-ZSPDa7xa3AORUKuaKBKFpr6mNYV4TgEac52Om1j4FZNitOn5xtH9PrwKzrdBDTgWLoAf6a1XIBD2x5EFBjA4G5CM6Dj15EGczJHg7YeLE0r2irRtnc3i2SNr9z2EEtir3PDiZzse5A/w640-h509/bidding.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br />I was North, at the bottom of the screen, and you can see that my first action needed a decision: double or bid 2<span style="color: red;">♥</span>. As I was likely to only have one call on the hand I decided to double rather than make the lead-directing bid: bidding challenges often have decisions like this in them and there is no correct answer.</div><div><br /></div><div>With a likely double fit Alex took the aggressive option and we reached the 4<span style="color: red;">♥</span> game. As you can see, cuebids says that this is the best contract.</div><div><br /></div><div>However there is a small number below the contract, '165'. This is the expected value (EV) of the game contract when the hand is played double dummy 1000 times based on a random distribution of the opponent's cards.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a slightly weird value since it is pre-computed when the hand is dealt and does not take into account any bidding that the opponents do. For example, on this hand you'd expect the East hand to have opening points and a long diamond suit, but this is not a constraint on the 1000 hands dealt. cuebids says that pre-computing the result is a lot quicker for everyone and a lot simpler as some people play with no opposition bidding, some with basic and some with advanced robots. There could be a myriad of different auctions, each creating different hand constraints, that would be slow (and costly) to produce a personalised result on the fly.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second point about the EV is that it demonstrates the peculiarities of vulnerability at bridge and the value of the game contract.</div><div><br /></div><div>A vulnerable major game scores +620 but our EV is only +165. So game is failing a good percentage of the time and, looking at the hand, this is no surprise. But, at least double dummy, you will make it often enough to be worth more than scoring two overtricks in 2<span style="color: red;">♥</span>. Indeed the EV for 2<span style="color: red;">♥</span> is +144, suggesting you'll make nine tricks most of the time. It is the vulnerable game bonus that makes all the difference.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 62% is the score we'd get compared to the other pairs who've bid this board with the same settings. In this case most pairs (14) did the same as us but six allowed the opponents to play in 4<span style="color: #ffa400;">♦</span> undoubled.</div><div><br /></div><div>The stars are an assessment of how well you did, compared to the best contract, and is a rough indication of performance.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Compare button on the right shows the EV of all contracts, but the Compare button on the left is more interesting, since you can see the auctions of other pairs.</div><div><br /></div><div>I suggest you give Cuebids a shot but take the EV with a pinch of salt!</div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-31527673480160972792023-08-05T20:59:00.000+01:002023-08-05T20:59:07.257+01:00World Junior Teams day 6I didn't have a sixth blog for this event prepared for a couple of reasons.<div><br /></div><div>Firstly the team never told me that they were going to qualify for the quarter-finals. And secondly I had no idea who they would face.</div><div><br /></div><div>A team who qualifies, unexpectedly, in such a situation has two issues to address. Mentally they may feel that they have achieved a goal, or just overachieved, and cannot bring the same focus and intensity to the quarter-final. They also tend to playing a team that finished higher and has yet to achieve its goal.</div><div><br /></div><div>In such circumstances it is my (limited) experience that, as underdogs, you really want to start well and keep the match close. Unfortunately that didn't happen as China jumped out to a 45-12 IMP lead after the first 14 boards.</div><div><br /></div><div>China did not do much wrong and they bid an excellent slam, so really deserved their lead. And that is how the match continued.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't think that Scotland were out of their depth, or ever gave up, it's just that the China team were too strong and slowly built a large lead with set scores of 32-14, 31-16 and 52-30 IMP. The final score was 160-72 IMP but it was much closer than this suggests, as it only needs one board a set to switch around to make it very close indeed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Congratulations to China, who will be tough to beat, but well done to the Scotland team who put up a terrific performance over the last six days.</div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-32560865175549274332023-08-04T15:59:00.004+01:002023-08-04T21:42:59.907+01:00World Junior Teams day 5<p>The first match was against Slovenia, who had not won many matches but proved that everyone in the field is capable of playing. It needed a team effort to win 12 IMP on the final board to ensure that it was only a small defeat, 38-44 IMP (8.13 VP). However other contenders struggled on the final, swingy, board and we moved into eighth place by 2 VP. </p><p>However I suspect it will go down to the wire.</p><p>The second match against Bulgaria consisted of a few partscore swings but Scotland got the only game swing when the Bulgarian made the mistake of leading partner's suit against 3NT. Scotland ran out winners by 32-19 IMP (13.72 VP) but actually fell down to ninth place with 0.58 VP more to find in the final match than Chinese Taipei (if both teams do badly then there are others waiting).</p><p>The decisive match was against Belgium, who were 11 VP ahead. The match was featured on BBO Vugraph so we could all suffer as Abi, who sat out, and Liz (NPC) would have done.</p><p>The match was close throughout and, on Vugraph, you did not want to look at the other results in case you saw the live score in the Scotland match. </p><p>They gained an early game swing when Jake's optimism was rewarded with some hefty intermediate cards while Belgium passed the partscore thinking it was a misfit. Most of this went back when both tables went two down vulnerable, never ideal and always frustrating but the match settled down to a series of flat boards.</p><p>Glen had a solo adventure on board 12, bidding his diamonds until he was doubled at the five-level, but it only cost 2 IMP. Jun and Jake then pulled in a game swing: this time Jake had a bit more for his invite but Jun had a little less for his acceptance, but the cards were friendly and it came home.</p><p>On the final board Glen's more judicious bidding of diamonds won 3 IMP and the final match score was a win to Scotland by 30-20 IMP (12.97 VP).</p><p>Obviously Scotland could not control what happened in the other critical matches.</p><p>But to bounce back from the disappointment of losing the first match in the day to a lower-ranked team, and then beating two teams who were well ahead of them, showed a lot of character.</p><p>As it happens, they finished in eighth place with 4 VP to spare, and were actually closer to seventh than ninth. This was mainly because Hong Kong China beat Chinese Taipei 42-33 IMP.</p><p>I know many of the juniors are extremely confident but I suspect that they are all a little surprised to make the quarter-finals. I expect they will play China or Israel tomorrow, or failing that Israel, teams that all beat them in the round-robin but all the matches were competitive.</p><p>The quarter-final will be played over 56 boards and it will be a great experience for the team. </p><p>The best of luck to them all!</p><p><b><i>Glen informs me that Scotland U31 were picked by China for the quarter-finals</i></b></p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-41783971302009092152023-08-04T07:24:00.001+01:002023-08-04T07:24:17.874+01:00World Junior Teams day 4<p>Today's match against Israel was decided by two hands. A small intervening overcall was enough to make a difficult grand slam even more difficult and we lost a slam swing. Then a difficult 3NT was made in one room and not the other and we'd lost by 10-36 IMP (3.62 VP) to the leaders.</p><p>We were on the other end of things against Turkiye as three big swings gave us a 41-13 IMP (16.72 VP) win. Two slams swings and a good save.</p><p>Some exuberant bidding from Hong Kong China gave is a 14 IMP swing when we were in game and they were in a grand slam (!) but the partscores generally went their way but we beat one of our close rivals by 31-23 IMP (12.44 VP). We were now just 0.11 VP below average :)</p><p>The final match of the day was against Singapore and the team did well. They took their penalties, bid an excellent grand slam, and poured on the imps to win 58-32 IMP (16.38 VP).</p><p>They finished the above average for the first time on 166.19/320 VP, but they are still ninth. However they are only 0.04 VP behind eighth, the final qualifying place for the knockout stages, and momentum, if you believe in such a thing, is with them.</p><p>Today sees them face Slovenia, Bulgaria and Belgium. Slovenia are struggling in the event but the others lie sixth and fifth respectively so it will a tough job to climb up the table.</p><p>The team has done remarkably well over the past few days to even get into this position and I know that the SBU Chairman is proud of their achievements, since he is in Orebro with me.</p><p>Good luck to everyone today!</p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-60975474032394616912023-08-02T23:05:00.001+01:002023-08-02T23:05:50.706+01:00World Junior Teams day 3<p>A 31-49 IMP (5.15 VP) defeat to high-flying China was not a good start to the day. The scorecard suggests that China just played better and got most of the judgement calls right: often hard to beat a team playing like this!</p><p>Germany were just 10 VP below Scotland and the match did not start well as the Germans got two 4M v 3NT decisions right to lead by 20 IMP. Most of this came back when Scotland got a double game swing. More overbidding, this time by the Germans, produced the last large swing and Scotland ran out winners by 35-27 IMP (12.44 VP). A good recovery.</p><p>Scotland would have beaten Latvia playing board-a-match, but they got two large swings to just one for us as we lost by 20-31 IMP (6.44 VP), a disappointing result against one of the weaker teams.</p><p>But the team rallied well agains the hosts, Netherlands, in the final match of the day. A flat grand slam, a flat small slam, but we won most of the other battles and emerged winners by 36-13 IMP (15.85 VP).</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;">With seven matches to go in the round-robin, Scotland lie tenth with 117/240 VP. </span>They are 12 VP behind eighth place, as I hope the aim of the team is the knockout stages. This was not probably their first goal, but they have played well enough to make it a possibility.</p><p>Tomorrow will be a big day as they start against Israel, the current leaders, and then face three teams in the middle of the table.</p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-30385334539068699782023-08-02T10:08:00.000+01:002023-08-02T10:08:30.104+01:00World Junior Teams day 2<p>Back to Veldhoven for the second day.</p><p>5-10 IMP with ten flat boards is not normal junior bridge, so either the hands were boring or the players are maturing. I suggest you wait until finishing the report before making a decision. This was the small defeat to mid-table Poland in the first match of the day and the young Scots scored 8.42 VP.</p><p>The second match was against Serbia who were below Scotland in the table. A grand slam on an early board that needed 'more than a finesse' put the Scots on the backfoot when the finesse worked but the more was not there. They spent the rest of the match trying to recover these 17 IMP and only achieved it on the final board: the grand slam perpetrators this time went five down (!) in 2NT but fortunately their teammates were make ten tricks in 3NT doubled - winning 12 IMP gave them a 35-29 IMP (11.87 VP) win.</p><p>The third match was against India, one of the leading teams. The impression I have from the scorecard is that it was a wild match with too much competitive bidding by both sides. On one hand it appears that the Scots had competed well and their opponents were going to miss an easy game, but one bid too many gave them an easy penalty to lose 10 IMP instead of gaining the same. In the final analysis they lost 23-33 IMP (7.03 VP), a creditable result against a strong team.</p><p>The final match was Chinese Taipei, another leading team. The team said that there was plenty for me to look at in this match although they gave me no details, so all I can do is guess from the <a href="http://db.worldbridge.org/repository/tourn/veldhoven.23/microsite/Asp/BoardDetails.asp?qmatchid=109284" target="_blank">scorecard</a> and auctions.</p><p>Board 15 Scotland missed a game to lose 10 IMP, but got half of this back by defending and playing a partscore better on the next board. Board 17 was flat!</p><p>Board 18 was a 2 IMP loss, but one of our pairs missed a thin game and the other pass was sacrificing over it (+250 vs -300).</p><p>Board 19 was a very fortunate 14 IMP gain, when a good grand slam failed on a bad suit break.</p><p>The next two boards were almost flat: one a simple game and the other just how many you failed in your game contract!</p><p>Then an 8 IMP gain when the Chinese showed how to go down spectacularly in game as their teammates went down in a partscore, but given back when they found the right partscore on the next board.</p><p>We won 13 IMP on board 24 when an overcall on a four-card suit went for -800: well judged by the Scotland pair to defend, double and only let declarer make three tricks especially as their game failed.</p><p>But 12 IMP went back on the next board when the killing lead against 3NT was not obvious and the obvious lead not only gave a trick but also took out the necessary entry to beat the game. A different (system) opening bid made the killing lead much clearer, so our pair did not even try the game as it would have failed. Unlucky.</p><p>Board 26 provided the last big swing and this time it was a fortunate 15 IMP swing to Scotland. Fortunate because the swing was caused by a different one no trump opening range. Our pair could compete lower and then stop bidding, whereas the Chinese balanced at a higher level and the doubling starting. A nice +1400 for the defence.</p><p>At the end of a session of 'junior' bridge from their wilder days, Scotland won 55-36 IMP (15.06 VP) to finish the second day on 76.82/180 VP in tenth place in the table.</p><p><br /></p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-35837795562713886972023-08-01T11:05:00.003+01:002023-08-01T11:05:21.289+01:00Slam bidding at the Chairman's Cup<p>Our performance in the Chairman's Cup was disappointing. We failed to make the top 32 teams in the qualifying Swiss to make the knockout stages. Our 49th position qualified us for the Bonus Cup, which is essentially the plate event, but we lost our first 32-board knockout match comfortably so we were out of the main events too quickly. Fortunately there are plenty other events to play in or we can go explore parts of Örebro.</p><p>Slams in any form of bridge cause big swings but there were not too many opportunities in the qualifying Swiss (thirteen 8-board matches).</p><p>However the event started with a bang (round 1):</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=skjt98752d963cq8&w=hKQT8753daj742c4&s=sq64h942dqt5cakt3&b=1&nn=Paul&sn=Alex&v=0&a=4spp5hppp" width="450px"></frame>
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Of course both of our opponents wanted to do more but they faced tough decisions.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the other table, North opened with 3♠ and then committed the cardinal sin of bidding 4♠. This gave Alan and Brian the impetus to bid to 6<span style="color: red;">♥</span> which, unsurprisingly, South doubled. They made all thirteen tricks on a diamond lead for a 13 IMP swing.</div><div><br /></div><div>We then had to wait until round 7:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAK732h8dJT3c8765&s=sJT94h632d6542cQ4&w=sq85h954daq8ckjt9&nn=Paul&sn=Alex&v=b&b=4&v=b&d=w" width="450px"></frame>
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>I don't remember our opponents auction but slam was never in the picture as the finished in 4<span style="color: red;">♥</span>. Alan and Brian bid to 6<span style="color: red;">♥</span> which, as you can see, just depends on finding the ♣Q. With nothing to guide him declarer failed and we lost 13 IMP. More declarers failed in the slam than made it,</div><div><br /></div><div>We had to wait until the second day for another slam, this time in round 11:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sAT76hQ97432dA7cJ&s=sKJ32hAT8dKQT6cAT&w=s984hjd95432c8632&b=15&nn=Paul&sn=Alex&v=n&d=s&a=1c(2+)p1d(4+H)2cx(3H)p4hp4s(RKC)p5h(2+HQ)p6hppp" width="450px"></frame>
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Alex made a good decision to move but helped by our light opening style, which meant that he had considerable extras. The overcall helped me pin the <span style="color: red;">♥</span>J to make all thirteen tricks. We gained 13 IMP as they played in 4♠ at the other table.</div><div><br /></div><div>The penultimate round had the last two slams:</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sQJhT64dQ65cAQJ86&s=sT864hQ983d72cK97&w=sk9732h75dakjt84&b=23&nn=Paul&sn=Alex&v=b&d=s&a=p1sp2cp2dp2np3dp3nppp" width="450px"></frame>
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Alex led a heart and, for some reason, I did not find the club switch after winning the <span style="color: red;">♦</span>Q.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the other room Alan opened 1<span style="color: red;">♦</span> and, after a 2♣ overcall, they eventually reached 6<span style="color: red;">♦</span>. Surprisingly this is not cold, can you spot the killing lead?</div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately, and unsurprisingly, they did not find the lead and we gained 12 IMP.</div><div><br /></div><div>Onto the next board:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="450px" src="https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?n=sKJ975hA9dAJ95c76&s=sAT6432h7dKQcA543&e=sq8hkqt2d8764ck92&b=24&nn=Paul&sn=Alex&v=0&d=w&a=2d(multi)2h(spades or bal)p2n(relay)p3d(good spade overcall)3h4h(good hand)p4sp4n(rkc)p5c(0 or 3)p6sppp" width="450px"></frame>
</iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>This was bid by just more than half the field and was flat in our match. West could have made our life a little more difficult, but the ambiguity of our initial overcall made it more difficult for him to raise as the opener could have had spades.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall we gained on the slams and neither pair missed a good slam. But there were other hands!</div>
Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-19279812390937748332023-07-31T20:56:00.000+01:002023-07-31T20:56:03.632+01:00World Junior Teams Day 1<p>Our performance in the Chairman's Cup in Orebro is nothing to write home about, so instead I'll focus on the juniors.</p><p>The Scottish Juniors, Glen Falconer and Gints Freimanis, Abi and Jake Milne, Jun Nakamaru-Pinder got a late invite to the World Junior Teams in Veldhoven. In all categories (Open, Women, Seniors, Mixed, Juniors) it is not uncommon for the European Zone to be asked to fill places that other zones cannot fill, normally for financial reasons. It is uncommon for so many places to be unfilled, but the Scots will just look to take advantage of this.</p><p>As far as I am aware, Glen and Gints will play throughout: quite a tough task in itself. The other three will play as a threesome, a situation I do want go to go into with anyone let alone the team!</p><p>They played four 14-board matches on day one.</p><p>First they played Croatia and lost 20-39 IMP. The VP scale is quite cruel for small losses and this was only worth 4.94 VP.</p><p>Then a good win against Romania by 56-19 IMP and 18.04 IMP.</p><p>This was followed by a disappointing defeat to France by 20-64 IMP, just 1.13 VP.</p><p>However the team finished with an excellent win against the favourites, USA 1, slaughtering them by 22-21 IMP.</p><p>So the team finished the day a little below average.</p><p>Tomorrow they start against the Poland juniors: they are just above average but are typically good card players.<br /><br />You can follow their results at <a href="http://db.worldbridge.org/repository/tourn/veldhoven.23/microsite/Asp/TeamDetails.asp?qteamid=5004">http://db.worldbridge.org/repository/tourn/veldhoven.23/microsite/Asp/TeamDetails.asp?qteamid=5004</a></p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-36456542216703886302023-07-28T20:51:00.001+01:002023-07-28T20:51:05.504+01:00Euro Youth Pairs day 4<p>Unsurprisingly none of the three Scotland pairs found the huge second qualifying day that they needed to make the U26 Pairs final tomorrow, so they will have the opportunity to play in the two-session President's Cup consolation event.</p><p>However all three pairs had the best session in the final set, dispelling my previous comments that they tire as the day goes on. It is good to see that they were still motivated at this stage, especially after tough middle sets for them.</p><p>Tomorrow is the final day of the event.</p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-11953826831784229792023-07-28T17:10:00.005+01:002023-07-28T17:10:36.898+01:002023 Chairman's Cup<p>Alan, Brian, Alex and I are playing in the Swedish Bridge Festival is Orebro this week.</p><p>The main event, the Chairman's Cup, starts on Saturday with a two-day qualifying Swiss. The top 32 teams will go into the CC knockout stages based on 32-board matches. The second 32 teams go into the Bonus Cup, which is also knockout but with stages of varying length: some are 32 boards and some are 20 boards to fit the time and format.</p><p>If you don't make the top 64, then you move into the side events.</p><p>You can follow our progress in the event at https://magictd.com/swan/magic/www.php?nsid=2121.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="457" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y8MbrMo-38s" width="395" youtube-src-id="Y8MbrMo-38s"></iframe></div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A brief tour of the venue</i></div><p>Fiona and Julia are also playing here, with some new Swedish friends and there are a few English teams too.</p><p>We were here in 2018 and I blogged some of our adventures: <a href="https://thebeercard.blogspot.com/search/label/orebro2018">https://thebeercard.blogspot.com/search/label/orebro2018</a></p></div>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-46602895123921036172023-07-28T14:06:00.002+01:002023-07-28T14:06:13.148+01:00Euro Youth Pairs day III<p>Lydia Foale - Michael Kennedy, Tamsin Munro - Rufus Behr and Antone Huang - Prajjwal Astrot are playing in the European U26 Pairs two-day qualifier and it is fair to say that they are finding the competition a lot tougher than their warm-up events.</p><p>The U26 standard is high and the field contains some professional players, and probably a number of semi-professionals. For players who are only competing in SBU Bronze events, or the lowest division of the SOL, it is a massive step up and it is no surprise that they are struggling.</p><p>However it is all good experience and they'll learn a lot, and quickly. They don't often get the opportunity to dedicate a week of their lives to playing bridge continuously, especially meeting foreign juniors and discussing bridge problems with them.</p><p>Even though they are unlikely to make the A final, I hope that they'll come back enthused and ready to play more.</p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-61006347995261640742023-07-26T18:55:00.002+01:002023-07-26T18:55:34.331+01:00Euro Youth Pairs day 2<p>In the fourth session of the Mixed Pairs, Tamsin and Rufus scored 52.99% but this would be the highlight of the day. A poor final session saw them finish on 43.29% and 46th position.</p><p>Lydia and Michael has three sessions below average today and then dropped to 47.96% and finished 35th.</p><p>Antone and Prajjwal were slightly above average over the first two sessions but a poor final session saw them drop to 16th place with +18 IMP.</p><p>Sadly Lucy and Kim dropped to fourth place.</p><p>Like yesterday, I suspect that all the pairs tired as the day went on.</p><p>However, they'll all need an early night as the two-day qualifying for the U26 pairs starts tomorrow.</p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-78736602402380278662023-07-25T19:04:00.001+01:002023-07-25T19:04:13.328+01:00Euro Youth Pairs day one<p>Michael and Lydia started strongly in the Mixed Pairs, scoring 54.89% in the first session. Their second session was a fraction below average but a poor third session meant that they finished the day on 48.98% and 28th position. A good performance for a new partnership at this level and something to build on tomorrow.</p><p>Tamsin and Rufus had two sessions in the mid 40s before a poor final session saw them finish the day with 42.34% in 45th position.</p><p>I think both pairs will have been a little tired in the third session as they are not used to playing with such intensity throughout the day. </p><p>In the IMP Pairs, Antone and Prajjwal started very well scoring +33 IMP in the first fifteen boards. They followed this up with +40 IMP in the second fifteen but lost a little ground in the final session (21 boards) to finish on +51 IMP and they will start tomorrow morning in sixth place. Well placed for an onslaught.</p><p>The IMP Pairs is currently being led by England's Lucy and Kim, who are leading with +109 IMP. This is just a warm-up event for them as they prepare to represent <a href="https://u26wbridge.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">England U26 Women</a> at the World Youth Teams Championship.</p><p>Good luck to all the pairs as these events finish with three more sessions tomorrow.</p><p><br /></p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-69812072331479552522023-07-25T10:25:00.001+01:002023-07-25T10:25:51.772+01:00Scottish juniors abroad<p>Although I'm no longer involved with the SBU Juniors, I still take an interest in their activities and feel that someone should be promoting junior bridge especially as the SBU struggles to do so.</p><p>The SBU has sent three pairs to the 2023 European Youth Pairs Championships that started today in Veldhoven, Netherlands.</p><p>Lydia Foale - Michael Kennedy and Tamsin Munro - Rufus Behr are participating in the two-day Mixed Pairs and Antone Huang - Prajjwal Astrot are playing in the two-day IMP Pairs. All three pairs will then be playing in the U26 pairs.</p><p>It is fair to say that these are three inexperienced partnerships but you gain a lot of experience at these events and it will definitely help them develop. You can follow their progress at:</p><p>Mixed Pairs: <a href="http://db.eurobridge.org/repository/competitions/23Veldhoven/microsite/RunningScores/Asp/PairsPlayersResultsDynamicCum.asp?qtournid=2335&qphase=1" target="_blank">running scores</a></p><p>IMP Pairs: <a href="http://db.eurobridge.org/repository/competitions/23Veldhoven/microsite/RunningScores/Asp/PairsPlayersResultsDynamicCumIMP.asp?qtournid=2336&qphase=1" target="_blank">running scores</a></p><p>The main <a href="http://db.eurobridge.org/repository/competitions/23Veldhoven/microsite/Results.htm" target="_blank">results page</a> has running scores for all the events when they are played.</p><p>There is no representation from the U31 pairs as they are going to the World Youth Teams Championship. It is slightly bizarre that juniors can now be U31, especially when you consider the reason that one of the stronger Scottish players is unavailable: congratulations Ronan and Milja on your baby daughter.</p><p>Scotland U31 played in the qualifying Euros last year and did not get an automatic place. However they have received a surprise invitation and will be playing in Veldhoven from 29 July. Good luck to Gints Freimanis, Glen Falconer, Jun Nakamura-Pinder, Abi and Jake Milne with NPC Liz McGowan.</p><p>To be fair Ronan, and myself, are helping them prepare with online matches.</p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-22429944199347439972023-07-14T11:57:00.000+01:002023-07-14T11:57:38.335+01:00Upskilling your country<p>The SBU is making an active effort to improve its performances in international competition. Over the last couple of decades there have been isolated successes, with Jun and Olivia getting a European Gold medal in the junior pairs, a European bronze medal for the Harry Smith's Senior team, and the women have qualified for two world championships.</p><p>In particular, the performance of the Open team has been disappointing at all levels, rarely making an impact in the Home Internationals and consistently in the bottom third of Europe. Like all countries junior performance is generally based on finding a couple of stars, so you need to develop a pipeline, and the Open team also needs a pipeline as players get older and drift towards the Seniors.</p><p>And there is now mixed teams, which is offering our women players an option that some find more attractive.</p><p>So the SBU's effort is aimed at everyone, whatever their current level and wherever they are hoping to play.</p><p>I'm not formally involved with this effort but the Director of Selection is a friend, so I have given two of the seminars to date. The SBU is making all the presentations, both video recordings and slide sets, available on the International page of the website and they may be useful for others.</p><p>All the material is available at <a href="https://www.sbu.org.uk/international/supporting-material-for-seminars-and-p-d-sessions">https://www.sbu.org.uk/international/supporting-material-for-seminars-and-p-d-sessions</a>.</p><p>My first session was a discussion about system notes and how Alex and I work on them as a partnership. It includes some doubles that a regular partnership should discuss and how we use Double Dummy Solver to analyse not only our online play, but also regular tournaments.</p><p>My second session was on Defensive Signalling. It was not easy to work out my target audience for this one, but in the end I decide to pitch it for the top pairs and assume that aspiring pairs would find elements that were understandable and enjoy it too. Initial feedback from both groups has been positive, so I probably did a reasonable job.</p><p>The real aim was to get partnerships to discuss defence and the problems set were designed to test their partnership rules.</p><p>Brian Short has also done a session on Declarer Play and Barnet Shenkin is covering Opening Leads next.</p><p>If you are interested in these topics, then I suggest you take advantage of the SBU's initiative and visit the website.</p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33557929.post-6509926954743141962023-07-07T13:56:00.001+01:002023-07-07T13:56:28.699+01:00The summer is here!<p>After a hot and dry June, summer has now arrived with traditional Scottish weather. The showers and storms are casting doubt on the wisdom of farmer's installing infrastructure for irrigation but it is very pleasant to drive home from the club in less than complete darkness.</p><p>This summer the club's programme continues with Tuesday evening tournaments on BBO (open to all SBU members) and friendly pairs at the club on Thursday evenings. Unsurprisingly numbers are down a little but they are sufficient for us to continue and feel like we are providing a service.</p><p>I have also started a series of 'summer tips' to keep our members engaged even if they are not playing every week. I am not the sole author and I have two excellent assistant editors to keep me in check. Our topics are:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Terry's carding tips Part One</li><li>Terry's carding tips Part Deux</li><li>Defences to one no trump</li><li>Simple competitive bidding</li><li>Responding to simple overcalls</li><li>Forcing or not?</li><li>Slam bidding</li><li>Defence to a short club</li><li>Michaels Cue Bid and Unusual No Trump</li><li>Takeout doubles and responses</li><li>Defence to multi two diamonds</li><li>Further reading</li></ol><div>The tips are being released weekly direct to our members but you can also see them on <a href="https://berwickbridgeclub.co.uk/classes" target="_blank">our website</a> (right-hand side of the page).</div><p></p>Paul Gipsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13564960646170455536noreply@blogger.com0