Bridge evening hosted by Billy Ronan

Last Monday was a Bank holiday so Pat Cassidy and Billy Ronan attemped to knock off the legendary Great Mulall again. Great Mulall had elbowed them aside the previous time by about 130 to 70 imps over 28 boards.
This time 32 boards of pre-dealt boards were ready and waiting for the Great Mulalls perusal.
Mulall and partner played North South throughout.

Board 1 was an easy 3NT especially as Ronan on lead with the spade AKQxx chose to lead a non-spade and 12 tricks rolled. His partner held Spade J32
6 clubs was cold though for North South

Board 2 had Mulall stealing away in a quiet 2S for +140.
Billpat might compete in 3H losing 100 even if doubled

Board 3 and the great Mulall strikes for the only time in the match.
4C doubled and mulall leads the Spade King gobbled up by the AQ
-710 and minus 12 imps
Running score 4-12 to BillPat

Board 4 Great Mulall disdains the 5-3 Heart fit and plays in the 4S 5-2 fit and with
spades 3-3 620 and 3 imps is clocked up

Board 5 Billpat play in 3C to gain 2 imps
Score 7-14

Board 6 Mulall plays in 2H-1 .. 2S is good for Billpat
Flat board but Billpat have 21 hcp

Board 7 Billpat overstretch to 5D which drifts 2 vulnerable tricks off and 5 imps to Mulall
Board 8 Billpat play a normal 3C making
Board 9 Billpat reach another 5 level contract 5C which again drifts off 2 vulnerable tricks.
Should be one off ..
Score 18-15 as mulall eases back into the lead
Board 10 a quiet 2D going off 1 vulnerable

Board 11 Great Mulall holding KJT6 ,void, KQT,KQJ962 opens 1 club and Pat Cassidy overcalls 2H weak jump. Galligan fingers the AJT72 of hearts and the other 2 aces in his hand and passes
Ronan passes and Galligan wonders will Mulall find the normal takeout double he must hold.
Mulall bids 2S without pause for thought and the storm that was brewing for Cassidy recedes.
Galligan bids 3N and 490 and 2 imps ...Cassidy would not have made many tricks in 2H

Board 12
1NT 12-14 opened by cassidy and 2H anti by galligan and Billpat find their way into 4S and Great Mulall starts to gurgle and bubble. He anoints the 4S with the Red card and continues to
gurgle happily. We don't have much but normally 6 trumps to Ace is trouble.
4S-2 doubled and vul netted in 12 imps
Score ... 32-15

Board 13 A standard 4S by Mulall
Board 14 Billpat played a hopeless 3D and 2 off and 3 more mulall imps
Board 15 Team Mulall ventures into 3S and the spades break 5-0 but no double materialises
and its just 4 imps away. I am fairly sure Mulall got us up to 3S ...

Board 16 and Bill Pat play 3S which might make but is one off and 3 imps to mulall

Board 17 Billpat venture into 3D and galligan with KQxx of trumps decides not to double and its 3 off for 150 and 4 imps

Board 18 Galligan holding Kx of diamonds against 3NT ...gets a spade lead eating SQ in dummy with Ace and spade back won by Jack in declarers hand. Declarer plays small diamond to AQJxxx on table and galligan ducks smoothly .. Brief pause for thought and declarer Mr Billy Ronan plays Ace of Diamonds and topples galligans King... Mud on face as 3NT has no play.
However there are not many declarers who would not return to hand and take the 6D tricks and 2 spades and the Heart Ace .....but Billy Ronan spoiled the story ..the fecker ..
Meanwhile Mulall boiled at the other side of the table as 8 imps went out the window and the rest. Mulall is a grinder and does not appreciate flare plays when they lose...
However on seeing the hand record sheet afterwards he appreciated the attempt..
Score 43-27 Mulall

Board 19 Finally the Ronan steps in the dog doodah ...Pass Pass to galligan who wields
an off centre 2S hammer ...Double by Ronan holding more then half the deck.
Stop 4H by passed hand Cassidy ...Stop 6H by Big Billy ..
Cassidy should be bidding 3H lebenshohl with a 7 count and J3 . JT965 . AJ82 . 98
but wanted to get to 4H game ..
2 off and 13 imps pulled in by mulall

Board 20

BillPAt play a doomed 3H and lose 2 imps
and mulall leads 58-27

Board 21 flat in 2H
Board 22 and Mulall wields a 2S natural bid over 1NT opener ... Galligan fingers his shapely 14 count and 3NT is on his mind. Suddenly a double appears from Cassidy and Galligan knows mulall must still have cards from last hand in his paw.. All pass and Galligan retreats to back garden giving Mulall the dummy .. The Lead is made and mulall starts placing the dummy , gurgling louder and louder as the hcp appear ..
A few minutes later I can see the Great one delivering his lecture to a despondant Billy Ronan.
YOU SHOULD NOT PLAY YOUR DIAMOND JACK
I am not sure how the play went but the only lead that causes trouble seems to be a trump.
11 imps to Great mulall

Board 23 and Galligan holding A . K987653 .762 . K2 chooses to open a vulnerable 3H and
opps play in 3S ..off one and 4H is cold ... maybe a 1H opener is best ..
4 more mulall imps

Board 24
Mulall steals away in a quiet 3C for 4 imps

Board 25
Billpat bid and make a standard 3N

Board 26 and Galligan gets caught speeding and goes for 800 and 13 imps out
points 20-20 and had an 8 card fit but the police were out
mulall lead down to 78-40 but billpat failed to score for the last 6 boards

Board 27 Mulall wields a 5 card 2S opener ..not sure where he learned that one
Cassidy overbids with 2N and Ronan clambers into 4H .. Galligan ponders his 13 count and
mulall always has points so the AXE is applied and Ronan emerges with 7 tricks and 10 more mullal imps

Board 28 A quiet 3Nt for flat board
Board 29 Billpat are down in 4H holding a 21 count and 9 card fit
Board 30 Billpat climb into a normal 3NT .. Mulall leads the spade Jack from JT9
Billpat should make this I think but instead drifts one off and 8 imps away
Running score 100-40
Board 31 Billpat arrive in 6S and mulall leads a club ..

Q93 . QJ . QJ5 . AQT95 opposite AKT762 . A832 . A4 .4

According to the gospel of Mulall the clubs can be setup for discarding and 6S is cold .
Billy failed to follow the Mulall gospel and another 11 imps is out window.

The final board arrived ... and Billpat is battered and bruised after going down in 15 of 21 attempted contracts.
I don't recall what exactly happened but Billy reached 5H vulnerable and the great mullal
holding KJ43 of trumps applied the axe and Billy went 2 off for -500 and 11 more mulall imps.

Final score using compensation scoring = Great Mulall 122 Billpat 40

Sumation

Billy went to the cooker and found a large plate of curry and we all munched it down.
Billy and Pat were very happy as they are used to placing highly in their local club in Malahide Regional. They are somewhat taken aback to find the Great Mulall plays about 2 times a month at most but can step out of his taxi cab and stamp on 2 A players. Mulall claims size matters and his brain is larger then the rest.

On Tuesday Eamon and Mulall went to a local pub for a review of the boards.
We did not get to review many boards as Christy somebody was playing loud Irish music.
Celtic Fusion I think was the name of the band. Instruments somewhat tinny but a few guinness
and the tinny got forgotten. There was also something else going on in the corner but I never worked it out. Seemed to be some older gentleman holding discourse with some attractive younger non-Irish ladies. However said ladies seemed to be able to put away their pints of lager.
Anyway older gentleman disappeared in taxi with younger women but I don't know what it was all about.

Thats it
Thanks
Eamonn ...but I doubt you got this far ..

Wednesday May 23rd at the Regent .

Last night I went to the Regent Bridge Club Dublin for the 4th night of the Presidents Prize. I made the mistake of venturing upstairs where all the leaders were sitting North South. I was playing(not sure if I should call it that) with the Great Mulall(mulall on BBO)
Our first boards were Board 7 and 8 and we played Thomas McCormac and Tomas Roche.
Board 7 I was dealt a fine hand S A. H void. D AJ9653 .C AKQJT3. South passed and I opened a quiet 1D and mccormac made a quiet overcall of 1H

P 1D 1H 1N
P 3C 3H X
P 3S 4H X
P 5H P 6D

That was hard work getting partner to finally surender and concede that he had some support
for my powerful minor hand. Trying to smack Tommy McCormac in 4H.. good plan except +200 or +500 is not much good against the slam. Anyway we made 6D+1 as I was afraid my club might get ruffed after the 9 card heart suit became visible as my Heart Ace got ruffed.
Board 8 was quieter with opps in 3H and I did not double as Tomas Roche always has his bid and one heart honor in dummy and the tip off might let it home. 3H-1
No major harm done so far but 6NT scores far better then a minor suit slam in MPs

Boards 11 12 versus Ranald Milne and Des Scannell

Opps opened a weak NT and a 4 count transfered to spades with me thumping the 2H as it went past anbd ranald completed the transfer to 2S normally showing 3 cards. My man gurgled away happily failing to notice that he was being robbed blind . He did have a 13 count and not sure why my double of 2H did not incline him to take interest in the hand. Anyway it drifted 3 off for 150 for the lads and a decent score but -100 or -50 would not have fared so well. Board 12 saw me venture in over another weak NT with a 2H anti bid .. my partners system but when quizzed about it he seemed doubtful of my 2H bid meaning. Anti means Hearts and a longer minor. When he placed down dummy it was clear he had other things on his mind as dummy held 5233 and surely moving to the safety of the longer minor looked normal and cool. However my man knowing I am an excellent card player figured the 4-2 heart fit was the Matchpoint place to play and after some generous defending +140 brought the large smile to the mulalls face ..
Next we moved on to Boards 15 and 16 versus Ruth Giddings and John Comyn

Board 15 Ruth opens 2S P P .. and I hold J8 .. K864 ..Q53..AQT3 in SHDC order.
The little Ruth bell goes off in my mind ...strong 2 bid but hey letting ruth play in 2S when she has 8 playing tricks is hardly a winning or manly action and Comyn is looking disinterested so he has TAT. So place the double on the table and partner starts to bubble. Eventually 3H is placed on the table ..he is 4333 with AQ7 cards in hearts and 10 small cards..
This was passed happily all round and the Great Mullal outdid the double dummy analyzer by 2 as he was allowed suck in 9 tricks.
Board 16
saw Eamon dealt ...S 98 H AT5 D K9762 C QJ5 and bouyed by mullals success on the last board after John Comyn opened 1S I ventured in with a low calorie take out double. Ruth barely stopped to glance at my bid and rolled out the cannon as we call it on Bridgebase.... Blackwood.
Mullal pondered his jack but passed quickly and JC admitted to possession of 2 aces and Ruth
suitably saddened slowed down to 5 spades.. I led a spade and with John Comyn at the helm
John says ...this will be childplay if Eamon is to be trusted.. Presuming he meant he had most of the tricks bar the Heart Ace ..he led a heart towards dummy and I grabbed my ace and that was 12 tricks but no slam bonus.
Next we met Grace Finnegan and Jim McAndrew on boards 21 -22
I pick up S.K7 H.AJ95 D.AQ96 C.942 and open a weak NT which gets doubled and pard passes normally forcing a redouble. However Jim intervenes with 2S and when passed around to partner he ventured 3C and opps go 3S with their 10 card fit and we are robbed blind as we have more then half the deck and pard has AK to 6 clubs.
Board 22 they play 3S and go quietly off one.
Next we go around the corner and we played Anne Johnson and Heidi Lillis
Board 1 I played quietly in 2Hs gathering in the standard 9 tricks. 1H P 2H all out
Board 2 was the board that caused some annoyance but I missed most of it. Being favourable my board stealing antennae are up so 55 in the blacks and a 10 count is an easy spade opener.
My horse bids a semi forcing NT alerted and I bid 2C and my horse places a quiet 2D on the table and after the mandatory question of 1N alert ...I say he got diamonds and weak and long and up to about 10 hcp , its passed out. I excuse myself quickly as mulall is at the helm.
I stay away a long time as I know there is war coming as opps have to be near game if mulall is near minimum. About 7 minutes later I emerge at the table and there is some loud discussion going on. One opponent has never heard of semi forcing NT but I not being sure the relevance of this comment decide to say nothing. I would have came into the auction if I knew he could be that weak... 1NT is always 6-9 hcp points ... Christ my mulall had a 6 count and 6 card diamonds and this is the premier bridge club in Dublin or Ireland and they are complaining about a lad bidding 1NT alerted with a 6 count and 6 diamonds.. Standard basic mamma paapa thievery is what it is and its found in any basic matchpoint manual. Steal the opponents boards if you can.
Opps had 2H 3H 4H 2S 2N contracts available but if you don't bid you cannot declare as far as I know.
Anyway after this it went downhill rapidly ...
I opened 3S with the thought that I might venture 4S if opps bid a game that my pard did not deal with. 3S 4H and PAUSE .... and PASS ... Well I went ahead with my plan and bid 4S ......I don't see anything wrong with this as it was my original plan although there is no way to prove it. Anyway 4H is going off so it was a bad plan... although several were making it. I hate it when partners pause and pass..
Next hand I let out 4S
Next table I made above average tricks in 3NT for below average score
Then I balanced in over 1C p 1NT P P with 5431 hand and partner picked diamonds as the suit
and got doubled ...of course he might have removed to a major when he got 2nd chance.
2H is definitely doubled as one opp has AKQ but no and we play in 3-3 fit for -200
Next table we miss game when pard holding 11 count and 6 card clubs KJTxxx calls this invitational when the barman asks what game are we playing in ..
Next we played Terry Walsh and Ester Stewert and in a 2NT with 8 tricks forcably and easy 5 tricks for defence 80% of the room is making 3NT+ while we are in 2NT making 10 tricks.
I still don't see the tricks but hey just another bottom.
Next table I ventured 4H opening bid with AQJxxxx and an outside Ace. This ran into a double normally a very strong Nt and I went off 5 when they were finished gutting me.
I finished off against Don Seligman and when I ventured 3C over Joe Walshes 2H weak bid I got doubled by Don and picked up an 11 count in dummy with 9x of clubs but unfortunately Don had the missing 5 trumps and life was destined to be another -200.
When all that was added up we had 39% much to mulalls surprise and horror.

If you read this ..thanks for listening .. www.regentbc.com has the gory details.
I must get them to publish the boards file as well as I think this is possible.
Thanks
Eamonn Galligan .. eamongall on BBO.