Ciara Burns Gala Open Pairs 2018

As outlined above the Ciara Burns Gala Pairs. .;
Ciara Burns once called me a " You wee shite you Galligan "

I got lucky (at bridge) against Ciara and Mary Finn once.
I was thinking of the Pat Walshe penchant for leading Kx ...so when I got Kx I thought I would try the effect. It took Pat Walshe 100 leads before he captured a Polish expert.
It took Galligan one go before he captured Bunty Burns ..as Mary Finn watched helplessly as dummy.
Ciara ducked my KING holding Axx opposite Jxx …..as one might
The Galligan then played his other diamond as he felt a warm rosy feeling
The Ciara thought "This Dunce " and left it run to her JACK ...
Delaney swooped in with the DIAMOND QUEEN …

Next Delaney furnished another DIAMOND for me to Ruff ...picking up Ciaras Ace in dummy on the way ..

We later got a Trump Trick …. 4H down 1 on a cold one …
……..………………..
I had several bad hands against Ciara as well … but we won't talk about them.

Euro Teams Round 31 POLAND

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

EW 4♥; NS 5♣; EW 4♦; NS 1N; N 1♠; Par +200: EW 5♦×−1; EW 5♥×−1

Round 31 and its Ireland versus Poland. Polish Bridge Teams are always tough.

Board 3 with 4 singletons , a void and 4 6 card suits .. 2 of them in the same hand was going to go to the best guesser. The 5 level is for the opponents is unlikely to work here.
Poland presumably bid to 6 ♣ over accurate premption of 5 ♦ by Boland and Moran. No hassle here as they are going to find out they were beaten on the board anyway.
Carroll and Garvey bid to 5 ♣ and for some reason the Poles despite having a 66 hand stuck it out in 5 ♣ doubled. That was 11 tricks and 12 imps to Ireland.

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

E 4N; EW 5♦; EW 4♣; W 2N; NS 1♠; NS 1♥; Par −430

Boland Moran bid and made 4 ♣ ...an ok result
Somehow Carroll Garvey managed to drop a defensive trick against 5 ♣ and let it home.
I think you need to get rid of 3rd trump from dummy or else make sure to play a ♦ early so when declarer tries to cross in ♦s a ruff happens.
Something slipped and it was 7 imps to Poland.

We lost 3 imps for an extra undertrick on board 7

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

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

 Here Boland Moran attempted a reasonable 3 NT ...just needs a finesse after the expected ♠ lead.
So not too bad .. The Poles stayed in 3 ♣ and lucky enough that had 5 losers so we lose only 2 imps . 

Board 11 South Deals None Vul	♠ 9 ♥ A Q J 9 3 2 ♦ 3 2 ♣ J 8 4 3
♠ A K Q 10 7 ♥ 7 5 ♦ J 10 ♣ Q 9 7 6	N W E S	♠ J 6 5 3 2 ♥ K 6 4 ♦ A 8 5 ♣ A 10
	♠ 8 4 ♥ 10 8 ♦ K Q 9 7 6 4 ♣ K 5 2

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

Boland Moran slipped off the shair here bidding a slam in 6 ♠ but it had 3 losers and the Poles grabbed all 3. Down 2 ..The Poles stopped in 4 ♠ for 11 imps.

Board 12 West Deals N-S Vul	♠ 10 8 ♥ K Q 10 7 ♦ Q 8 5 2 ♣ A 9 8
♠ A J 4 2 ♥ A J 4 3 ♦ 10 ♣ K J 5 4	N W E S	♠ 9 7 5 3 ♥ 9 ♦ A J 7 6 4 ♣ Q 7 2
	♠ K Q 6 ♥ 8 6 5 2 ♦ K 9 3 ♣ 10 6 3

EW 4♠; EW 3♣; EW 1N; EW 2♦; W 1♥; Par −420

Boland Moran languished in a 2|♣ contract here on a 4-3 fit ..somehow missing the 44 ♠ fit.
The Poles found the 44 ♠ fit and then went on and bid a making game with low hcp.
7 imps to Poland

Board 15 South Deals N-S Vul	♠ 9 8 3 ♥ K 6 5 ♦ A Q 9 ♣ K J 6 5
♠ A K 7 ♥ A 7 4 2 ♦ 8 2 ♣ 10 8 3 2	N W E S	♠ Q 6 5 4 2 ♥ J 8 ♦ K 10 7 6 ♣ 9 7
	♠ J 10 ♥ Q 10 9 3 ♦ J 5 4 3 ♣ A Q 4

EW 2♠; NS 2♥; NS 2♦; NS 2♣; Par −110

Poland got 7 imps here for making part scores in both rooms
This meanr a final score of 38-20 to Poland.

Euro Teams Round 30 DENMARK

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

EW 2♠; NS 3♦; NS 1N; EW 2♣; NS 1♥; Par +100: EW 3♠×−1

Here our lads tossed 8 by going down at both tables .. Carroll Garvey in 5 ♦ NS and Hanlon McGann in 4 ♠ EW. Room contract seems to be 4 ♠ down or 3 ♠ making a few times.

Board 19 South Deals E-W Vul	♠ 9 8 6 5 4 2 ♥ 8 7 6 5 ♦ Q ♣ J 4
♠ A J 10 ♥ Q 2 ♦ K J 8 5 ♣ A 6 5 2	N W E S	♠ K Q ♥ 9 4 3 ♦ 9 7 6 ♣ Q 10 9 8 7
	♠ 7 3 ♥ A K J 10 ♦ A 10 4 3 2 ♣ K 3

NS 2♠; NS 2♥; EW 1N; EW 2♣; EW 1♦; Par +110

Seems to be lots of 2 ♠ contracts here .. our lads defended that in one room but in the other room defended 1 NT making so add the 2 together and lose 6 imps .. Garvey up North was having a kit kat instead of bidding his 6 bagger.

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

EW 2N; EW 2♠; W 2♦; W 1♥; W 1♣; Par −120

Here Carroll Garvey defended well to down 3 NT while Hugh McGann managed to gather in 9 tricks in the other room .. 10 imps to Ireland.

Board 24 West Deals None Vul	♠ 7 6 5 ♥ A K 3 2 ♦ Q 7 3 ♣ 9 8 5
♠ Q 10 8 ♥ 10 9 7 ♦ 8 6 5 4 ♣ K 7 6	N W E S	♠ A K ♥ Q J 8 6 5 ♦ A 10 9 ♣ A J 4
	♠ J 9 4 3 2 ♥ 4 ♦ K J 2 ♣ Q 10 3 2

E 3N; EW 3♥; W 2N; EW 2♦; EW 1♣; Par −400

7 more imps for Ireland when Hanlon guided this close 3 NT home ... 19 high opposite 5 was no problem for Irelands 2nd best player.

Board 25 North Deals E-W Vul	♠ Q 9 6 5 3 ♥ J 2 ♦ 7 ♣ A K Q J 7
♠ K 8 7 4 ♥ A K 9 ♦ A K 4 2 ♣ 6 3	N W E S	♠ A J 10 ♥ 10 6 5 4 ♦ Q J ♣ 10 9 8 5
	♠ 2 ♥ Q 8 7 3 ♦ 10 9 8 6 5 3 ♣ 4 2

EW 3♠; EW 3♥; EW 2N; EW 1♦; EW 1♣; Par −140

This time Hanlon tries his luck at a 17 high opposite 8 ..3 NT ... It says in the book 25 hcp might be enough for game ... One Dane led and the other Dane took his ♣ AKQJ7 .. Not even the new phenomenon "LOSER ON THE FLOOR " works here ...
The loser on the floor idea is if you are gone down 1 say in 4 ♠ .. you drop a loser to the floor and quickly show .. LOST 3 tricks ... so MAKING ..

We lost 7 imps when Garvey played in 3 ♣ the other way also going down .. Kept them out of 3 NT he will proudly say ..

Board 28 West Deals N-S Vul	♠ J 10 9 6 ♥ A 5 ♦ J 4 3 ♣ K 10 4 3
♠ K 8 5 ♥ 10 9 7 6 2 ♦ 2 ♣ A 9 7 2	N W E S	♠ A 7 ♥ — ♦ A K 9 8 7 6 5 ♣ Q J 8 6
	♠ Q 4 3 2 ♥ K Q J 8 4 3 ♦ Q 10 ♣ 5

EW 5♦; EW 4♣; W 2N; E 1N; NS 1♠; NS 1♥; Par −400

Carefully avoiding the 4-4 ♣ fit Hanlon made 4 ♦ while the Danes were defeated by Carroll Garvey in 5 ♣ .. 6 imps to Ireland..

Ireland win 27-21 ..getting our 13th win .. Not bad after losing 11 out of first 12 . After getting 71 out of first 240 .. a total of 292 out of 600 is respectable .. Matches 13-30 yielded 61%

61% over the whole tourney was top 5 performance and as we have seen there was plenty of IMPS chucked in matches 13-30 ..

Back in 2001 when the Coen Trophy (Mixed Pairs National ) was confined to above Intermediate I played first session with 19 teams and was 19th place out of 19.. Session 2 was better and we rose to 13th place. Session 3 was out of this world as we got 5 maximums and 1 score of 23/25.
A total of 148 VPs out of 150 .. I am still waiting for Hanlon to outdo that. It happened in Mullingar where Hanlon used to rule all in his youth being from up the road in Rockfortbridge.
They built a road around it since ..A big road ..
I followed my Sat nav from Rochfortbridge filling station once to the N6. I ended up in a bog with the N6 towering over me....The Sat Nav was for the birds I guess ..