Euro Teams Round 20 Russia

Board 17 North Deals None Vul	♠ Q 7 ♥ K 7 5 4 ♦ K 10 8 ♣ K 7 5 3
♠ J ♥ A J 2 ♦ A 9 6 5 4 ♣ A J 8 4	N W E S	♠ 9 8 6 5 ♥ 8 6 3 ♦ Q 7 2 ♣ 10 6 2
	♠ A K 10 4 3 2 ♥ Q 10 9 ♦ J 3 ♣ Q 9

NS 4♠; NS 2♥; NS 1N; EW 1♦; EW 1♣; Par +420

A good start for Ireland saw Garvey Carroll take down 3 NT quickly while in the Closed Room McGann gathered in the 4 ♠ that Hanlon put him in. 11 imps for Ireland.

Board 21 North Deals N-S Vul	♠ 10 8 ♥ 10 9 6 2 ♦ K 8 6 4 ♣ A Q 9
♠ K J 7 6 ♥ 5 ♦ Q 10 7 5 ♣ 6 5 4 2	N W E S	♠ A Q 5 4 ♥ K 8 7 ♦ 3 2 ♣ K 10 8 7
	♠ 9 3 2 ♥ A Q J 4 3 ♦ A J 9 ♣ J 3

NS 4♥; NS 2N; NS 2♦; EW 1♠; EW 1♣; Par +500: EW 4♠×−3

Here the Russians bought the contract in both rooms. Open Room saw the normal ♥ part score contract played while in the Closed Room the Russians kept the normally boisterous Hanlon McGann quiet and then after finding a great Italian lead to keep the board half decent our lads failed to find correct continuations and allowed the Russians make 2 ♠ somehow. 7 imps to Russia. Correct defense revolved around collecting 2 ♣s 2 ♦s 2 ♥s after continuous trump leads.

Board 23 South Deals Both Vul	♠ K 4 ♥ 7 5 4 2 ♦ A 10 4 3 ♣ K 8 2
♠ Q J 6 2 ♥ Q 6 3 ♦ Q 9 8 ♣ Q J 9	N W E S	♠ A ♥ A K J 8 ♦ K J 6 5 2 ♣ 10 7 4
	♠ 10 9 8 7 5 3 ♥ 10 9 ♦ 7 ♣ A 6 5 3

EW 3N; EW 4♦; EW 2♥; NS 1♠; EW 1♣; Par −600

The Russians again stuck out their chests in the Open Room sticking it to Carroll and Garvey with 2 ♠ bidding. Our lad took a swipe at a takeout double and our other lad holding ♠ QJxx felt happy enough to leave it in. Unfortunately there was only 6 tricks available for the defence despite 3 of them being trumps. Down 1 for +200. In the Closed Room Hanlon McGann struggled in vain against the easy 3 NT. 600-200 was 400 and 9 imps the Russian way.
Serve them right for chasing 2 ♠ with 26 high card points.

Board 27 South Deals None Vul	♠ A Q J 3 ♥ K 8 ♦ 9 7 5 4 ♣ 8 3 2
♠ K 10 6 5 ♥ Q 7 ♦ Q 10 8 6 2 ♣ 9 4	N W E S	♠ 4 2 ♥ J 6 5 4 ♦ A K J ♣ Q J 10 6
	♠ 9 8 7 ♥ A 10 9 3 2 ♦ 3 ♣ A K 7 5

NS 3♠; NS 3♥; NS 2N; NS 3♣; NS 1♦; Par +140

Hanlon McGann caught the Russians speeding in 3 ♦ and issued an on the spot charge.
The Russians conceded a quick brown envelope of 500 and that was 8 imps for Ireland.
Score with 5 boards to go was 21-17 to Ireland.
Russia got 3 imps on 28 and 2 imps on 30 to lead 22-21 with 2 boards left.

Board 31 South Deals N-S Vul	♠ Q J ♥ A 10 7 4 ♦ K Q ♣ J 7 6 5 4
♠ A 3 ♥ J 8 5 2 ♦ A 10 7 2 ♣ 10 3 2	N W E S	♠ K 10 9 8 5 4 2 ♥ Q ♦ 5 4 ♣ A K 8
	♠ 7 6 ♥ K 9 6 3 ♦ J 9 8 6 3 ♣ Q 9

EW 4N; EW 4♠; NS 1♥; EW 1♣; Par −430

Here half the field bid 4 ♠ and half bid 2 ♠. All made 10 tricks or so.
The Irish half played 2 ♠ and the Russian half played 4 ♠.
10 tricks each with ♠s 2-2 ...so 6 imps to Russia

Board 32 West Deals E-W Vul	♠ K 10 2 ♥ Q ♦ J 10 7 6 2 ♣ K 9 8 4
♠ A Q 9 7 5 4 ♥ 10 3 2 ♦ 4 ♣ J 5 3	N W E S	♠ J 6 3 ♥ — ♦ A K Q 8 5 3 ♣ A Q 10 6
	♠ 8 ♥ A K J 9 8 7 6 5 4 ♦ 9 ♣ 7 2

EW 6♠; W 5♣; NS 3♥; EW 4♦; E 4♣; Par −800: NS 7♥×−4

Here is a decent 6 ♠ contract. one. Needs some handling. Anyway Carroll must have passed with the West hand as dealer and Garvey might have opened a TWO WAY CLUB. These days the European pros love to see a 2 ways club coming at them and the put the saddle on it and clamber aboard if they have any distribution. I suspect they stuck some ♥s into the auction and Carroll Garvey pulled up at the 5 ♣ station without having used much gas at all. They even reversed into the station and parked on the wrong side. How does one find a 4-3 fit instead of a 6-3 fit. Takes some doing in my view.
I cooked my dog cheesy pasta and he is after taking it outside and burying it.
Was I meant to throw in a portion of garden soil before cooking it.

In the Closed Room Hanlon McGann found the par sacrifice of 7 ♥ v Russias 6 ♠ but to no avail as the reversing Carroll Garvey failed to make their 4-3 5 ♣ contract. 14 imps to Russia and the match .. Now there were many other pairs who suffered on this board but most got a game score marked up like 650 or so .. but our lads are better than this hopeless 5 ♣ effort.

Now board 32 is totally made up by me .. I can only see the result and the lead so have no idea of
the real auction. However it seems recently the Euro pros are chopping up the 2 way club and other times it is a punt that works sometimes and sometimes its an Irish slam off 2 aces. The Irish slam gets home sometimes though.

Meanwhile the Irish Ladies after a horrendous day 1 are now treading water but scoring average won't get them off the bottom. Need a couple of 20-0 wins to boost the morale.

The Irish Seniors boosted by a fine Butler boosting set by Ranald Milne and BJ O'Brien against Belgium continued on their merry way. We don't mention Mesbur Fitzgibbon as we expect from them. They have been doing it for so many years. However it might be a good idea to keep them off the bench. Its hard to score imps when you are chewing your nails.

But yeah BJ and Ranald must be nearly winning the Butler but I cannot see it ..