Camrose Trials 2022 this weekend

 This weekend Oct 29-31 CBAI hosts the Camrose Trials. 9 teams have entered and will do a round robin to eliminate the 5 lowest scoring teams 

Teams 3 and 9 will progress to the Final 4 round robin. 

However in 6 board matches upsets can happen and VPs can be lost 

The other teams prospects are in my view.

Team 1 will struggle to find a win but the law of averages means they will beat someone and lose the majority of their matches. They are lacking a bit of experience at this level. 

Team 2 anchored by Jim Doyle from Wexford and the experienced Dave Terry will come up short as Connor and Gilligan lack a little something. However in 6 board matches they could take enough points off teams 3 4 and 9 to remain competitive. 

Team 4 despite having a full international squad and Senior Bowl quarterfinal experience could struggle with the 6 board format leaving them vulnerable. My first thought was they would easily qualify but 

it is hard to rank Team 4 far and away above the Phelan and Delaney Teams 

Still they have the mercurial BJ O'Brien on point so should make the final 4. 

Team 5 will struggle to complete most of their matches as they are a rather thoughtful crew. Back in the day playing in the Burke Cup in the 1990s David Dunne arrived tardily at the table to find the TD Joe Murray had already declared one of his hands for the next match. David had been slow declaring the last board of the previous match so Joe Murray solved the issue in his own way. 

Delaney and Roche are no slouches when it comes to winding down the clock. 

However a very capable team and can do damage to any team over 6 boards. 

They will be expecting to make the final 4

Team 6 led by the experienced Paul Porteus and anchored by the Precision Twins will play well but come up short. Their 4th man Fred Barry is well capable of declaring a few hands very well. A dangerous opponent back in the old Regent Days when even the tail end of the field could damage you. 

The current day Regent is not the same power as back in the 1990s when 32 internationals regularly togged out for 2 week events. Redmond and Gaynor the pride of Mid Leinster will wield their precision club with pride but it will be Swing and a miss most likely.

Team 7 led by the mercurial John Phelan and including 4 full internationals will aim to make 

the top 4 places. However this team holds the record of being the only team to achieve a minus score

in a Camrose Trophy match. I recall them losing 20-0 and as the opposing team slowed them down 

so much they had to concede a VP or half a VP in time penalty. 

They will be close enough to the Final 4. 

Team 8 led by Peter Stewart could lack some experience as they have some youthful players on their squad.  Luca Crone being an Area Master and his partner Matthew showing up as an A2 player

on the CBAI online entry system. I am sorry but either the online system is broken or maybe they qualified via the Preliminary Trials in September. However I don't think they can make the Final 4. 

It will be a great experience though and will help their game. However I understood folk lacking the required masterpoints had to come through the prelim. However back in the day the multi talented Derek Stokes played in Camrose Trials with Eamon. To quote " I have enough masterpoints for the 2 of us ..Would you like to play in the trials  " said Derek after finding out he was no longer required as director of the international trials. 

So teams 3 and 9 ..... with Phelan Delaney O'Briain  battling for final spot. 

Teams 2 6 and 8 will come up short. 

Peter Pigot hosts a Good Players Bridge Game starting Tues Oct 11th on BBO

 To book your slot please revert by return email or text (00-353-86-8146230) and I'll send you the links and instructions next Tuesday 11th at 10am.

Good Players Bridge Game with Expert Analysis forum...

• IMP Pairs.. 20 pre-dealt boards on Line - BBO.
• Players... Intermediate A or better
• 30 minute Analysis with Peter Pigot + Guest International commentators on ZOOM.
• €10 per session ... 
• Tournament Director   
• Commence TUESDAY 11th October 10.30 am.  

Two sleeping Defenders and one sleepy Declarer combine to enlighten Poor Spectator

 

This morning I spotted this hand featuring Defender1 and Defender2 and Declarer 

Poor Spectator watched in horror as his great friends performed surgery on the hand 

The fingers would never work again 

Normal 1D opening bid by West followed by 1H overcall from Defender1 ..Some might play Jump Overcall but this player obviously does not play that convention

A normal 1S bid by East and then South the barking dog roars in with a 2D bid .. This looks odd to me as it won't cause much pain for West .. I might like a 3C fit jump type bid or a combination of 2H jump and 3H support putting more pressure on East West 

Any way they arrive in 4S and all looks well ... 

Heart lead and the contract appears cold on any lead .. with a good guess in trumps 

Act 1 .. Heart Lead won in West who leads the Spade 10 

Act 2 .. North lets Spade 10 roll to Spade queen 

Act 3 ... Defender 2 on lead after winning Spade Queen for some unknown reason figures out to cash Club Ace 

Now on Trick 3 Defender1 could have risen with Spade Ace and fired a Club through and taken 2 clubs and a ruff promotion 

Also on trick 3 Defender2 could have held onto AQ clubs and when North gets in with A Spades ..a Club comes through 

The final nail in this coffin is to NOTE the trump policeman ...

Declarer should have kept Spade TEN in dummy as a policeman to stop the trump promotion. 

...............

I jusr spotted this hand this morning on BBO when 4 friends of mine were playing 

I don't think they even noticed all the surgery they were performing 

....

However luckily Murphyslaw was on site to see it 

Last night in Sligo Take 2

 Last night in Sligo I saw another hand 

So the West player found a 1H bid when it seems almost normal to be bidding 1S planning to come back 

with 2H later in the bidding. However our hero responded 1H and eventually lost the spade suit altogether. 

His partner bid STOP 3D showing a fine hand with diamonds and probably not 3 card hearts. 

We kind of expect 1H to show 5 cards as it is bidding over a hand that showed the majors probably. 

Anyway over 3D our partner with the 54 non-stopper in the unbid suit launched into 3NT. 

That contract did not last too long as the North South opponents quickly showed West the error of her ways ..... Down with No Trump 

And another poor score for less than optimal bidding 

Much better to respond 1S and then bid Hearts later and see how you go 

4 spades happens to make despite the 4-1 trump break ... 

3 spades would also be better than 3NT down as would 3D which is down the same 2 tricks as 3NT but needs perfect lead and defence to collect 2 clubs 2 ruffs a spade ................AND 

THE TRUMP promotion to boot ..... Nice lessons there 

 

Last night at the Sligo FOB I saw a hand

 Last night at the Sligo FOB I noticed the 2nd placed pair out of 38 runners played and bid board 1 fairly sadly. There are several good lessons in this hand. Lets see 

 So you are dealt the above and you open 1H using 5 card majors and weak No trump 

Your partner responds 1S so that is good for you as you have 3 cards for him and a ruffing value so all is looking good.

West now pipes in with a 2C bid ... If you are playing support doubles its grand as you can double to show 3 card spades in case partner has 5 and it would be good for him. 

Other good things going for you are if 2C makes then 2S will surely not go down too much as you have diamond ruffing value and can imagine some club shortage in partners hand. 

Your own hand can be deemed about a trick more than a basic opening so you should be thinking 2S is safe enough to be bid. 

Anyway you are timid and you pass and its passed to partner and happily partner is able to bid 2H thinking they are showing 3 card hearts although maybe they denied 3 card hearts already by not bidding 2H instead of 1S the first time. 

West opponent bids 3C and with your AKxx of clubs you are thinking 3C might go down. However the opponent bid 3C despite missing AK of trumps so must have solid trumps. 

A look at the full hand shows 3H and 3S both make as well as 3C the other way. 

So even if 3H or 3S go down its better than 3C making. 

Thus folk need to be aware on competitive hands that there are many ways to win at bridge. 

Here even the 4H minus 2 folk got a better score than the 3C person. 

........................

This AM I went into Bridgez and I got a good hand ..46% .. Kelbourne musings

 

Now I have heard of a hand like a foot before but never a hand like 2 feet. 

32 high card points ...what can one do 

However I will not spoil anyone's fun as this hand is from today April 22nd. 

If you can figure out how to get on Bridgez then its well worth your while. 

Its FREE but the owner is getting on a little and hopes some folk will make a donation but thats no big deal ..you either do or you don't 

How to access it ... 

PlayOnTheCloud (bridgez.net)

Else 

WBridge5

.......................

This weekend in Malahide at the new centre for bridge excellence we have the Kelbourne Trophy. I presume MR and MRs Kelbourne were bridge players who donated a trophy for the masses to compete for. Eamon won it once back in the day with Team mates and Pivot partners Dave Terry Pat Kelly and Paul Delaney. 

This year sees 2 Malahide Teams competing but they will find Western SMunster and the Grinding Dublin South too hot to handle. The Brendan O'Brien powered Holders Team will also 

be in the mix as they have Conor  Boland on board too as well as the well known Brid and Terry. However negotiating the early hours of Sunday could be an issue. 

Fearghal touts the Western Team to win but stamina could be a problem there. 

I think South Munster have so many natural bridge players that they should win. 

There is also the BORE DRAW Team led by Captain Paul Delaney. They have a good chance as 

they will bore the other teams in a deathgrip with their grinding lots of thinking style. Also in their captain they have a man who has developed partnerships with all 3 of his team mates. So no problem for 

them in the pivot. One of this team was once told by the man who used to run the Regent Bridge ....His name was Frank.

"Mr X you will play one board per round for the rest of the session "

I don't see any other teams making the top 4. 

Declans harem could find this is one step too far. The folk in this event don't play Hackett. 

The Gilligan Team will play hard but lack of  recent Galligan training AND the absent flare of Billy Ronan will find them out. 

Places 5-8 should be competed for by DN2 E ML and NE in some order

9-12 will be Presidents NE2 SMi and DN.

Lets see how many positions I get correct 

Any offence taken from the above is purely down to thin skin. 

The director Fearghal O'Boyle will do a good job unless Mairead is missing. 

......................

Meanwhile Team Grainne won something 

https://wbtresults.org/event/wbt-champions-cup-iii/

Some good players were playing including Thomas Hanlon

Galligan in the middle after 6 boards of round 1

I continued watching the Coen Trophy and I see more stuff and Phil Rice.

 

A nice little hand with some nice bidding 

Presume its the 14-16 1NT opening and then the Puppet Stayman 3C

and then the 3D saying no 5 major and got a 4 card one 

and then the lad shows 4 card hearts and then the lady bids 4H. 

A sense of forboding comes over the Galligan as Galligan is not declaring this. 

However maybe the defense will offer up some tempos or clues 

We look at 4333 in the East and wonder might he be better to downgrade and then emerge with highly invitational later ...but 4H it is 

The defense led off with spade 3 ...probably shows an honor but not underleading Ace ...

Might keep that in mind for later 

So we arrived here with 5 tricks to play and 4H the contract and 7 tricks in the bag 

Declarer proceeded to emerge with Club Queen ...but with the outstanding clubs being 

Ace Jack and Ten ... 

I am lost how that is going to succeed but possibly there are some distributions with 

singleton Ace of Clubs and you get a ruff and discard ...but thats still only 9 tricks 

Maybe there is a way or maybe there is not

...........................

However harking back to the opening lead if we can remember that ... 

We might figure on Spade Jack being up North and Spade Ace being down South

and be able to do something with that.

............

I understand I see bridge in a different way then most but that does not mean my way is 

the wrong way ...it might be just that I had better teachers than ye 

...........

Like Phil Rice from the El Camino Bridge Club who was on his 5th time 

reading Watsons Play of the Hand from cover to cover  when I got a lift to the bridge club in his 

car in 1987.  

First hand I spotted on Coen Trophy 2022 ...Am I missing something here

 This afternoon I looked in on the Coen Trophy and saw this ... Board 9 I think 

Now am I missing something here ... Does East not play Double here as negative or takeout 

Surely one has to compete a little ...Maybe teams is different but in pairs I am definitely not passing 

Both sides were vulnerable 

Let me go see what happened 

2 Diamonds made for minus 90 ...

Lets see what comes from the ponderous Delaney table 

Over at the other table also no double but the West and North both found further bids

3H will probably go down 1 but lets see

So after 4 scores posted we had the score 

However neither side found the Galligan double 

Coen Trophy 2022 Eamons picks and the 2Spade opening

 The Coen Trophy takes place today. Back in the day when the Coen Trophy was limited to above Area Master  Eamons team managed a 3rd session score of 148 out of 150 to ascend from the depths in the 3rd session. That was 2001 when Dario and Iva were here in Ireland. I think we just had all the luck. 

Today its a different story with the masterpoint chasers out in full flow. Every match you don't lose you get masterpoints. The hunt is on. However masterpoints don't make the player they just mark your attendance. 

Above is my top 14 out of the 45 teams entered on Fearghals website

I failed to pick the winners yesterday as I was unaware of their skill .

What does one open with this hand ... 

Do I hear 2S weak 2 opening ...or do I hear the Galligan opening 1S bid. 

The winner of the Spiro Cup chose 2S so hence I did not consider him as a runner.

Maybe it is a 2Spade opening and I need some re education on bridge. 

Spiro Cup Saturday Feb 26th Eamons picks ..top 17

 Today we have the Spiro Cup and I have picked out some good runners. 

Some are good players and some are good on the computer and some need to mesh well to get a good placing. 

Those are my top 17 picks in roughly that order. Numbers 1 and 2 are probably the best performing mixed pairs over the years. Joan Kenny and Enda Glynn might be the most practiced partnership. 

Zrinka and Cod McDaid might be the most practiced pair in the current days. Pat Quinn usually digs out a bit of class on some boards but being a pairs event this won't be of much help. The master bunny trapper BJ always has a chance in a Mixed Field. Master Declarer Corfield can bring in some goodies. Trish Stack has some good form in the recent past. Synnott and O'Dea ran a close 3rd in the recent Senior Trials. The Sheridans are always about in the Mixed things being a regular partnership also outside of Mixed. However any of the above could be in the run in as we come up the stretch. 

This is only for fun and folk should not take offence if they are not in the list. There were 76 entries at my time of choosing. Anyone entering after 10pm Friday was not on my list of runners. 

Lets see how my picks run. 

The final board of the Holmes Wilson featuring 4 declarers of note

 Link to Holmes Wilson 2022 vidoe

First out of the blocks was Bob Pattinson declaring against Moran Hanlon

4S is the contract and Bob had little to go on as he only got a double of a 2D bid mid auction

which did not really indicate the length in diamonds. So Bob won Diamond lead ,.,drew trumps 

and tried club finesse down 1

Next up was Adam Mesbur who played much the same although he has a look at the 

hearts for a trick before going for Club finesse. Adam had got a 3D bid during the auction 

which might have tipped him a little towards short clubs in West. 

Next into the hot seat we has Karel deRaeymaker who also received a 3D bid from West 

Karel reached this position after having a look at hearts. East played Heart Ace which

does not help declarer or give the contract. 

Karel cashed Heart King and now has to play Club Jack picking up Club Queen and Club

10 as he goes. So 4S making and the Holmes Wilson Trophy for Karel and his team. 

....................

Top ex-Wales many time international and sometimes Ireland Senior international Peter Goodman at 

the other table also has a go but he ended up finessing the club and going down 

...........................

Many other great declarers also made 4S but I am not going to look at them all as most 

of the others did not have the Holmes Wilson Trophy on the line. 

I has a look and noticed Alan Roughneen making it. He got 

Heart Heart and a Heart back and daintily tossed a diamond loser. 

Then took the diamond return and drew trumps. 

Now before he got the chance to execute his magical play West followed with

Club TEN and Alan divined that it was not QT doubleton and made the contract. 

Maybe West was trying to look like QT doubleton or maybe he was showing hi-lo count 

I will never know. 

...............

Now I better go and see how new CBAI CEO Dermots partner got on with the hand.

I have not looked yet so here I go 

Flat board 4S-1 at both tables .. 

And another 5 declarers also went down ... TOUGH HAND but Karel nailed it. 

So take credit anyone who matched Karel. 

I presume its a good idea to try the Hearts first but maybe with only 4-2 it cannot gain you. 

About 10 imps swing on this hand for those who went down and made at other table. 

.................................................

Another hand I liked very much was hand 17 of Sunday 

Here we see the EW putting it over the CBAI CEO ... 

Despite Dermot O'Briens opening bid of 1S the EW kept going 

A 2D multi opening bid sunk Hanlon Moran who languished in 5C 

Well done to all these EWs who outran the legendary Thomas Hanlon at bidding 

Lots of 2S openings ..Several Dermot O'Brien specials ... Several passes 

Hanlon got a Multi fired at him by a Gavin  

However Hanlon as is his wont still won some imps as his 5C+1 defeated the 4D+2 at the other

table for 6 imps gain. 

Later on there should be a video on Eamon Galligan  youtube on the above

Holmes Wilson 2022

Link to Holmes Wilson video

I heard about a player make no tricks in 1NT the other night .. names redacted

 Meanwhile if there is not much new stuff here ...checkout the Galligan Youtube bridge channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/GalliganBridge

6 videos of the recent Broomfield Trophy are there .. all 48 hands are covered and played. 

The unsuspecting East player pulled out a 1NT opening 12-14 from its bidding box and was unaware of the horror that was about to unfold. It went PASS PASS to the North who despite having a reasonable 2S bid using whatever methods one plays eyed up the vulnerability and figured if I can make 2S then maybe I can collect some vulnerable undertricks against the 1NT contract. 

And so it began ... Ace King and another diamond from Python Penelope and Diamonds Dora swung a 4th highest spade from her long suit blissfully unaware of the consequences for declarer. 

the lazy 6 was played from declarers hand ... it cannot really be a play that has much hope ...surely

rise with King and hope it wins. 

So Python Penelope wins the Spade Jack ... cashes the 13th diamond and unwaringly returns a spade. 

5 spade tricks later and declarer is here 

10 tricks lost and a small heart comes back .... Declarer rises with the Heart King 

and Penelope wins and returns a heart to Diamond Doras QT. 

As the old English player Garve used to do ..."Raises the Bat " 

13 as they say in the Bingo .. Unlucky for some. 

................

Mind you the East West dusted themselves down and powered to victory 

albeit on a score of 54.5% 

......................................

Meanwhile the Legend of Blanchardstown was not on the same page as the First Lady 

This shows the importance and major advantage of even having a 2 pager bidding system

agreed between the partnership .. Two pages of system beats loads of expert card playing skills. 

Once you know your partner is on the same page its a big start to your bridge game. 

The Magician makes a 2C opening bid but at least he was not peeking

 This morning I spotted a lad holding a solid diamond suit AKQJxxxx and nothing outside. At the odd table in the odd club I direct in the West might consider passing as he only has 10 points. 

However our Magician deems it a 2C opening ...the real deal 

So the partner opens a full blooded 2C bid and the other partner bids the hearts and then rolls out the cannon 4NT ... We call it the Cannon as it kind of looks like a cannon and is called Blackwood. 

Then after getting the AKQ of trumps it bid 6NT. 

Happily the opps did not find the club lead but sadly there were only 11 tricks

Still the folks got 12.5% for their efforts 

There is no bridge book that exists where this is deemed a 2C opening so our Magician needs a new wand .. At least he was not peeking like some folk do 

As my old friend Sally used to say plus in part score beats down in slam ... 

And as we can see ...Sally would get 56%