Friday, April 21, 2017

2017 Lady Milne this weekend

This weekend somewhere in Wales we have the Lady Milne Trophy for the championship of the British Isles. You can find a link to the event via the English Bridge Union website.
http://ebu.co.uk

Once you head over to the Welsh site you will find links to Fearghal O'Boyles website and also to Ian Mitvhels website as well. Fearghal will be posting live running scores from the event.

On the playing side there are 2 events .. England versus Scotland for the main championship and Wales WBU NIBU and Ireland for the 3rd place spoon. Scotland and England are just far too strong for the other 4 teams due to training and dedication allied to a better level of bridge skill.

I think it was last year in Northern Ireland that Scotland finished the event on the first night with a 20-0 thrashing of England .. Needing steady results against 2x NIBU WBU and CBAI ..the event was well over. England did recover to take a distant 2nd place. This year the English include Fiona Brown fresh from her Ireland Moylan Cup victory with eagle eagle eagle finish on the last 3 boards as Garve Hanlon double bogied the final board. Garvey Hanlon ran into the normal non regular partnership problem of 1 thought this and the other thought this so Hanlons overbid was deemed Garveys underbid leading to a 3NT that even Sean O'Lubaigh would not think up as a psyche. Down 3 despite a defensive penalty card.

Hopefully this year for the first time in living memory the NPCs will come up with some original party pieces instead of the stupid blonde jokes of recent years or the intelligent woman joke from Scotland. Funny thing is most men spend most of their first year of life inside a woman and then they grow up and tell blonde jokes. They don't seem to notice the jokes are greeted by SILENCE.

From time to time a Welsh NIBU or CBAI sticks their head above the ditch but mostly the ending is the same ..a close 2nd or tight 3rd place. NIBU in 2009 in Limerick and again a couple of years ago before the unfortunate loss of their main pair due to a family illness. I think an NIBU win was certain that year.

Currently I am playing a long match using hands played by Jeannie Fitzgerald and Emer Joyce against various opponents on BBO including many GIB robots. After 210 boards I am back in the lead by 470 to 433 I think but its 37 imps anyway. I started off with a 50 imp lead early on but then thanks to several disasters by Jeannie Emer opponents suddenly I was around 100 imps behind and wondering what happened. I mean one hand saw a "world senior champion" fail to take the setting trick against 3NT doubled  in imps ... for me 1 down is good bridge but this chap felt like minus 750 was his choice .. and I think 20 imps swung.... 7 or 8 more of those boards and I was well behind.

However I could see the ending as the average plus imps was well below the requirement so I knew imps were coming my way and so far they have.

Still its possible if Team Ireland have done their homework and the other teams turn up below par and the Irish NPC uses his head instead of the rotation system that Ireland could win. This is a big ask but about 10 players on both England and Scotland  have to get hands that don't suit them.
Also an Irish NPC will have to prepare a gracious victory speech for the first time ever in Mrs Milne history.

The Irish team is Jill Kulchycky Petra O'Neill Joan Kenny Teresa Rigney Jeannie Fitzgerald and Emer Joyce. .....

I recall one time playing in a Regent Pairs championship and scoring what would be 3 90% plus scores against Petra O'Neill in the first round.  Her partner got up and picked up her keys and departed for home. Bye Bye 3 good boards .. I did not even get 3 average pluses. The boards were thrown out and replaced by a sitout. Its tougher to leave Wales though and its a different partner.

............................
Meanwhile back on the Bridge Now front ... the rating tests continue but we need extra factors as
currently the top players need to score near 70% to hold their ratings.

The top 50 of the 1520 folk who are in my database.

jim me  2205
Karl Cashen  2178
Pierre DELVAULX  2113
Patrick 27  2098
MC51  2093
Graham Hazel  2075
Igor Milevoj  2069
Marek.C  2065
pinco pallino  2059
Eamon Galligan  2039
B.J. O'Brien  2038
John Horn  2031
Tudor Trocan  2030
WBridge5 (Robot)  2030
Bernard CARPENTIER  2023
David Welsh  2020
pietro serioi 2016
Jinn  2011
Noëlle Delahaye-Levesque  1993
Paul East  1978
Igor Bek  1976
Tamara de Grady  1974
John Macdonald  1964
dr. Eddie  1962
HMN_WPB  1961
Claude Martin  1953
tom gilligan  1949
Jan Stavast  1947
CHARLIE  1944
Fran Swift  1938
George Kissov  1932
Maire O'Keeffe  1930
Terry  1930
Yves Costel  1924
Jim Wills  1921
Alice Bayandor  1919
Jean-François MARZAL  1918
Kerostia 1917
Jim Mullally  1910
David Boxley  1907
Jean Charles Brothier  1904
Paul Johnson 1901
Etienne Delangre  1901
tigo jean  1897
Mircea Kivu  1893
M. Hermsen  1889
GrantK  1887
Robert Pascal  1884
Baile an Mhota  1882
Ewac 
1879

1523 players on the list in total and 4 of them rate below 1000.
The midpoint and starting value is 1500

Soon I will make a list of all people with Ireland flags.

http://bridge-now.com

Above is the website where you can play boards ..

This week I got around 67% average and gained all of 6 rating points
I got passed out by champion robot basher BJ O'Brien
Karl Cashen a champion snorer remains the top Irish robot basher by a distance.

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Bridge Now ELO rating

Using data since January 2017 I have been calculating a rating list for

http://bridge-now.com

The basic formula is 3 times your old rating plus some factor of your expected performance plus top 50 players get 1-50 points. I need help on how to work this rating as currently the top 10 players need to pass 70% in a week of hands to maintain their rating. Consistent 70% scoring in bridge is too much to maintain I think. Maybe if I change the top 50 players getting 1-50 points to top 10% of the weekly players which is currently just past 700 so 1-70 points awarded for weekly placing. I am looking to parallel to the chess ELO ratings.

Also I let the Bridge Now site method of drop 5 bad boards for over 70 hands played
factor in as the experience gained from playing lots of hands

From May 2017 I will decay inactive players by 10 points per week and use top 10% as the bonus
instead of top 50. Maybe the number of times your current rating should be higher like 5 or 7 or 10
as we are calculating every week a fresh rating.



If anyone wants the full file then email eamongalligan@eircom.net
If anyone wants their rating hidden then email same
If anyone if Irish and wants to be included on Irish list then email same
Any advice send email


Current top 50

jim me  2212.174
Karl Cashen  2190.279
Pierre DELVAULX  2141.032
Patrick 27  2093.164
MC51  2092.939
Graham Hazel  2074.603
John Horn  2044.733
Eamon Galligan  2032.851
Tudor Trocan  2030.184
B.J. O'Brien  2028.115
pinco pallino  2027.22
WBridge5 (Robot)  2023.116
Bernard CARPENTIER  2023.078
Noëlle Delahaye-Levesque  2022.557
Marek.C  2022.488
David Welsh  2020.309
pietro serioi 2016.282
Jinn  2006.405
Igor Milevoj  1987.847
Paul East  1977.702
John Macdonald  1963.95
HMN_WPB  1960.717
Terry  1958.17
Etienne Delangre  1953.277
Igor Bek  1950.654
dr. Eddie  1948.755
CHARLIE  1943.769
George Kissov  1939.233
Fran Swift  1937.915
Claude Martin  1934.89
Tamara de Grady  1934.634
Yves Costel  1932.314
Jan Stavast  1919.94
Alice Bayandor  1917.697
tom gilligan  1917.401
Kerostia 1908.042
David Boxley  1907.344
Paul Johnson 1901.998
tigo jean  1896.731
Mircea Kivu  1893.477
Jens Wamsler  1890.628
M. Hermsen  1889.144
GrantK  1886.875
Baile an Mhota  1885.929
Robert Pascal  1883.836
Ewac  1878.76
James Morgan 1876.963
Martin Keller  1876.542
Jacques Bakker  1873.376
gilles lacroix                         1872

Current Top Irish ....(over 1800)

Karl Cashen  2190.279
Eamon Galligan  2032.851
B.J. O'Brien  2028.115
John Macdonald  1963.95
Fran Swift  1937.915
tom gilligan  1917.401
Jim Mullally  1868.631
billy ronan  1860.748
Maire O'Keeffe  1856.351
pat cassidy  1840.164
Patricia A Kelly  1829.433
Jeannie Fitzgerald  1817.604
Rick Crowe  1809.813






Saturday, April 08, 2017

Moylan Cup 2017

Venue .. http://malahideregionalbridgeclub.com

WIFI code .. Malahide1352 .... capital M

This weekend we have the Moylan Cup returning to its regular base in Malahide after a brief trip
to Greystones last year when someone dropped the ball and failed to book the venue.
Normally 28 pairs from CBAI and 12 pairs from NIBU but 29 CBAI pairs are listed
A decent field to be sure but still missing Adam Mesbur Nick Fitzgibbon Mark Moran Rory Boland John Carroll Rory Timlin Thomas Roche Thomas MacCormac Ronan McMaugh Donal MacAonghusa Hilary Dowling Long as well as some  who are capable but probably not as active in recent years as time moves on.....such as Pat & Maria Barry , Ray & Miriam McConville , some Scannells , Eddie Fitzerald Michael McDonagh, Michael McGloughlin  and probably a few others I have forgotten.

The list of entrants from the CBAI side


1
Hugh McGann
Fiona Brown
2
Ciaran Coyne
David Walsh
3
Derek O'Gorman
Terry Walsh
4
Lucy Phelan
Anna Onishuk
5
Maureen Pattinson
Bob Pattinson
6
Jeannie Fitzgerald
Emer Joyce
7
John Phelan
Liam McKay
8
Joan Kenny
Teresa Rigney
9
Tom McCarthy
John Russell
10
Tommy Garvey
Tom Hanlon
11
Louise Mitchell
Diarmuid Reddan
12
Wojciech Gorczyca
Marcin Rudzinski
13
Conor Boland
Karel de Raeymaeker
14
Ranald Milne
James Heneghan
15
Paul Delaney
Sean O'Lubaigh
16
Conor O'Hara
Dave Terry
17
Gay Keaveney
Enda Glynn
18
Fred Barry
Jim McAndrew
19
Sheila Kelly
David Dunne
20
Richard Elvin
Martin Garvey
21
Jill Kulchycky
Petra O'Neill
22
Joe Coyne
John McNally
23
B J O'Brien
David Jackson
24
Tom Gilligan
Eileen McCann
25
Pat McDaid
Connell McLoone
26
Liam Gaynor
David Redmond
27
Cian Holland
Dermot Cotter
28
Donal Garvey
Pat Quinn
29
Michael Donnelly
John Connolly

Nothing from the NIBU that I know about yet. I had to source this list from the mainland of England.
For some reason I cannot find any information on Irelands Premier Pairs event on any Irish websites.
I looked on CBAI FOB and DReddan ....maybe I best check Joe Murray dot ie ... Nope nothing listed there except for a Moylan Test Page with nothing on it. Maybe a quick visit to the NIBU might get me something. Nope nothing there.

It seems to be the SECRET competition instead of the Premier Pairs event of all Ireland.
Now I know HIDDEN HEARING sponsor some bridge events but HIDDEN ENTRIES. seems
bizarre for the PREMIER PAIRS  event of the year.

I know lots of intermediate bridge players who fancy themselves as bridge players and are busy collecting the B points to become Area Masters... I think you need 10 .....

Well 90% of this field are probably comfortably past 400 B points .. apart from a few ex-Gonzaga newcomers and a few chess players who dip into bridge and dip out as they feel the need.

I will attempt a Top 10 in no particular order except my version of experience..

1. Tommy Garvey Thomas Hanlon
2. Fiona Brown Hugh McGann
3. Derek O'Gorman Terry Walsh
4. Ciaran Coyne David Walsh
5. Gay Keavney Enda Glynn
6.James Heneghan Ranald Milne
7. Wociech G and Marcin Rudzinski
8. Conor Boland Karl Deraeymaker
9. Martin Garvey Richard Elvin ...........The Garve cannot ever be discounted
10 Donal Garvey  Pat Quinn

The problem is most of the entered pairs are IMPS driven and pairs is a totally different game

No women in my top 10 ... well the most active pair of the moment Jeannie Fitzgerald and Emer Joyce are completely IMPS so unlikely to feature in pairs

Top 3 .... Pairs 1 2 and 4 of my top 10 with Pair 9 depending on which Elvin turns up.

................
OF the unknown NIBUs .. Greenwood Anderson and Murchan Burns could make a noise of
some sorts but with the SECRETS committee ruling the roost its hard to know.

...........................
Meanwhile out on the robot front of

http://bridge-now.com

Galligan posted a fine 72 board average of 72% this week ... Maybe I could win the Moylan.
Karl Cashen posted a fine 69.9% on 100 boards ..

and the biggest surprise of all is THE GREAT MULLALL who posts 63% plus every week
on 70 plus boards but one cannot figure out how .

Moylan competitiors BJ O'Brien and Tom Gilligan trail Galligan by 9% and 8% this week respectively but the weekly grind of pairs play may see them in the top 10 of Moylan.
..............
Meanwhile the in form pair of Dave Terry and Conor O'Hara posted a 70% session in the Malahide bumper on Thursday night but that is a far cry from the Grade 3 Moylan race.

All the above is written tongue in cheek so hopefully those not mentioned will not take offence.






Tuesday, April 04, 2017

Junior Bridge Fundraiser

Last weekend we ran a fundraiser in aid of Irish junior bridge out in Malahide.
The we was Dublin North Region , Billy Ronan , Thomas MacCormac and Mary Reid aided by a decent supply of junior players. Juniors moved boards and filled in for some late arrivals who got the start time mixed up.



Junior bridge supports under 15 under 20 and under 26 age group levels of bridge

We had 15 teams of novice and 1 team made up of 3 Bs and a novice ..

For the B team any novice team meeting them was credited with 3 VPs added to their score.



Two big wins here were some funds towards junior bridge and being able to run a novice teams event for the novices of the Dublin North Region. We hope maybe next year with more advertising to formulate a Dublin North versus Dublin South type novice event. Something like say if we get 24 teams ... We would put 12 DNR teams as Teams 1-12 playing 12 DSR teams 13-24. Then we could have a true North versus South matchup.




Thomas MacCormac went through some hands mainly about having your rebid prepared and also about the value of distribution …meaning it is possible to make slam with only 24 high card points then Thomas threw it open to the floor for as long as people had questions.



Getting 15 teams of novices into one venue at the same time is a big deal.



I noted said novices exhibited normal bridge behaviour ..



  1. We are not slow
  2. We were held up
  3. The opponents think too much
  4. Going to wrong tables
  5. Playing wrong boards
  6. Its never their fault
  7. Carefully laying out dummy 1 card at a time
  8. Carefully playing out the last 7 tricks of winning cards .. (“Oh I knew they were all winners but they (opps) might not agree.
  9. Many mobile phones were in use throughout the play despite it being disallowed
  10. One lady was watching some sport on her lap as she played …well it looked like Blue and Gold jerseys
  11. Arguing that we are North South and we never move tables ..



When I indicated Thomas McCormac was an international bridge player …the lady said ..April Fool .. pull the other one



Dublin North Region and Malahide Regional Bridge Club and Paddy English  were the hosts and I understand Paul Porteus donated a nice prize too. Some day he will get 2 boxes of stuff that are in my car boot.



Thomas said .. “The big point is Malahide/DNR/Paddy English done this for juniors …now I can go to the other regions for a similar event possibly helping organise an event solely for novice players of other regions.

Results and hands and full details of the event have been posted by Aidan Synnott

http://www.dnrbridge.com/styled-41/index.html

Some junior bridge players who were in my car afterwards getting a lift to Malahide Railway station were very impressed with the 3H opening made by the Fitzwilliam pre-empter in a recent blog.
"That's the kind of player we would like to partner .. No fear bridge "