The sun continues to shine and murphy returns.

The sun continues to shine strongly in Ireland. The European Junior Bridge championships have just finished.
Ireland fielded two teams in the Juniors and the Youngsters. Both teams struggled throughout as they were up against much stronger opposition then they would ever meet in Ireland or in their local school. One player on the Danish team has already won a US National major event. No doubt there were other superstars of the junior game taking part.
I have not studied the events results in depth as the Ireland teams were not gathering in two many VPs each match so it was hurting my head. It was like when I used to play Pat Walshe and Thomas Hanlon led teams in the Regent League. Regularly getting beaten ... not sure by how many imps but 60s and 70s and higher were common. However these good beatings provided good learning material and gradually either my teams got stronger or I got better and the matches got closer. Sometimes we got lucky or played well and managed a small victory against well known opposition.
These days I mostly direct or move boards but when I do get to play I am normally on a decent team which has a shot at winning most matches it plays. However back in the day I was the cannon fodder.
So hopefully our juniors and youngsters will decided that they too will put in extra work and next time win a few more VPs.
CBAI President Thomas McCormac noted to me during the week and I quote  "I myself  have wooden spooned in the European Juniors events and I am hardly a bad player" He also indicated at least one other legend of the Irish game who finished last in European Juniors in the past.
So onwards and upwards.
.................................................
I spotted a new website for bridge
www.bridgechallenge.com
I have used it a little today and it seemed cumbersome but it has possibilities to bid boards and compare with experts and other players. Also seems to have a facility to bid hands with your partner. I don't have a partner and even if I did chances are it would not have the patience to use a cumbersome interface.
However maybe if folk use it a little it might turn out worthwhile.
Its a French website but one can translate.
.................
Last night on BBO vugraph I watched Thomas Hanlon partnering Zia Mahmood in Deauville Bridge event.
It started off with imps scoring but it was actually board a match and Hanlons team won.
http://www.deauville-bridge.fr/

There is the link above but maybe you got to understand French to figure it out
They only seem to play in the night time when its cooler.
.................................

http://www.fulltiltpokergalway.com/bridge/

The Pokerstars Bridge events begins to emerge on the horizon. Organisation for the overall poker event is now in full swing as the poker starts on July 27th.. However the bridge will be played August 3rd and 4th.
Entries to Fergal or David as per website  above

.................
I notice the Great Mulall is in full training on BBO. 359 hands in the past month and he has gathered in a surplus of 163 imps ..This is not a bad return. I suspect the Great Mulall has lined up a new partner and is getting in some practice so he will be ready for the new season. Possibly it is just that the sun is too hot for him to venture outside. A man of his stature would be closer to the sun then a shortass like me. One of the advantages of being short is distance from the sun and thus it takes longer for me to shrivel up.
I notice the Great Mulall has given up playing Wbridge5.

http://bridgez.net:3002/connexion.html

This is a great program and James Heneghan said "The robots might be dogs but it really sharpens up ones game" Great Mulall has decided his game is sharp enough. However I am with Heneghan and continue to play the 16 boards a day. Most days I cannot beat Heneghan or BJ but as I keep my score regularly in the early 60s my average beats those guys. They have 50% days to offset their big days.

..............
I also notice the re emergance of Murphyslaw on the BBO scene and he even made a couple of appearances in the Malahide live peoples club. The problem for murphy is he can rant and rave and headbutt his monitor when playing in his bedroom but when he emerges into the human bridge world he has to hold back these tantrums. A more major issue for murphy is that he has not built a solid foundation to his bridge and thus from time to time a disaster happens and murphy does not understand why. He was programmed himself to play bridge from the fantastic book "Watsons Play of the Hand" Regularly Murphy produces some fantastic ducking plays and communication plays but often he applies the wrong page to the wrong hand and the ducking play is not applicable to the hand in question.
Murphy has a partner in crime out in Malahide sometimes. This character fits whatever hand he has into the convention he is playing at the time. So Michaels shows the majors ..but our lad only has 3-3 ...Thats not a problem ...our man bids 2S michaels anyway ..His partner might have 5 or 6 of one of the suits.

However if our man Murphy would play in the inter Bs which is his CBAI ranking he would be a star player and could build up to being an Inter A and beyond.However unfortunately Murphy thinks he can catch up with Galligan ....and that is a bridge too far for the moment as Galligan has been playing too long and has made enough mistakes to learn lots of bridge.
................

EDDIES guests bid a GRAND SLAM.

Folks
I just spotted this board in the European Juniors. Two Irish "Youngsters" Stephen Barr and Aaron Bolger bid the North South cards to 7S .. 7 spades .. and brought it home as well ..
Pretty good for two young lads who started playing Mini Bridge last September and are now doing their thing in the European Junior championships. Just to be clear the top European Juniors would win most Irish national titles at Open level and some European juniors have already starred at US nationals and won Major US National events.
However most players of less than 1 year experience won't have ventured into the far end of the bidding box.  I met these chaps at the Schools Bridge in Galway when they quite surprised that the breakfast chef started advising them on bridge. They were unaware they were being served by Irish Senior international player Eddie Fitzgerald ....the joint owner of Four Seasons B&B in Galway.

Good win for Ireland youngsters... Juniors double up

This morning in Germany the Irish youngsters including two players from Gonzaga playing bridge less than 1 year achieved a victory over a French team who cannot be bad given their position and the French bridge heritage. A good boost for morale.
A win is a win but a quick glance at the scores indicates the French brought the guilletine to both tables and used it regularly on themselves. However maybe they were intimidated.
...........
The Irish Junior team who have been having a torrid time ....managed to gather in almost as many VPs in the round 8 match as in the previous 7 combined. Given there is no negative scores available this was a torrid time.
........
Currently the Juniors are struggling against Denmark and the Youngsters are leading Scotland by a little after 11 boards.
..................
Regent Bonanza
www.joemurray.ie has Regent Bonanza Results of Night 2 .. I don't know the method of Overall scoring yet as I am hearing different views. In my world the advertised method was "Your best 3 scores wins" However the smoke from the citadel is not as white as when they get a new pope ..
Karel and Anna scored 74% first day ......and rumours are there is a cap on that .. Strange but possible.
Anyway its all rumour and nothing is confirmed by the chief scorer yet.
............
Thomas Hanlon was on about Galway Poker Sponsored event on August 3rd 4th 2013.
5000 euro Bonanza for the winners there ..

PLEASE PLEASE PASS THIS TO ANYONE IN YOUR EMAIL DIRECTORY THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED AS I AM SHORT ON EMAIL ADDRESSES

 Hi Folks,

Just want to remind people to enter in good time to

Dave Walsh at 0876690178 or david@lapteck.com

Or
 Fergal O'Boyle at 0862652871 or fob@iol.ie


If anyone needs help getting accommodation they should contact FIntan Gavin at 0830022889 or fintangavin@gmail.com

I hope that you can support this
>
Things are building up nicely.
> >
Thanks,

Tom 
http://www.fulltiltpokergalway.com/

Note the BRIDGE AND 25 links on the above webpage.
Rumour is Thomas Hanlon played a mean game of 25 before finding winning 40 matchsticks was not much use unless you are an arsonist. He graduated to more profitable games.
.............................

Ireland Juniors and Youngsters to mount a comeback in Germany

The Irish junior team of David Synnott Wayne Somerville Niamh Gormally Nathan Doyle Hugh Gormally and Jordan Atchinson have ran into heavy fire in the first 5 rounds of the European Junior championships.
I am advised that a seeded draw was used so the early rounds are expected to be tough for Ireland.
And so it has proved.
However there is nothing wrong with getting a good hiding. Its good learning material. You won't learn much from winning a match 20-0 but you have opportunity to learn from a large loss.  Free lessons.

I suffered many severe hidings from Pat Walshe and Thomas Hanlon  led teams in the Regent Leagues but gradually the margins got smaller and I became competitive on some days.

A couple of years ago I team mated with 2 of the the current juniors David Synnott and Hugh Gormally along with the reclusive James Mullally. and despite being faced by the formidable trio of BJ O'Brien Michael O'Briain and David Jackson we decided to play. They advised us that their 4th man was on the way a certain Nick Fitzgibbon. After 24 boards Team Mullally still led by 11 imps ..Of course the result was irrelevant to the BJ squad but they did not travell 40 miles trip to lose.
Jim Mullally has on many occasions entered a team in the Regent League mainly comprised of juniors.

I am wondering where have the Synnott and Gormally of that night GONE ..
I understand European junior bridge is very strong but David and Hugh have been playing a while.

The bottom line is hard work is required to progress at bridge ... so get doing it ..
....................
A youngsters team of

Is also taking part. Some of these players are not playing too long and also as many of them are students they would not have much time to work on their bridge. 

http://www.eurobridge.org/Repository/competitions/13Wroclaw/Microsite/Results.htm

Results can be followed above ..

I think Ken "Gasman" Walshe is out there with them along with Karel. Ken indicated on BBO "We are going in the morning" 

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

Meanwhile James Heneghan has issued the challenge on WBridge5 with a 77% effort on todays event.
James Sexton of Wexford fired in a 71% helping which would sometimes win ..
So tonight I will attempt to chase down Heneghan but 77% is too ambitious for me ..especially as I went down on the first board already last night.
However one never knows ....those Wbridge5 robots might be in generous moods.
....................
Meanwhile in Ballina the CBAI Presidents squad lead Ballina Teams going into the final round.

We will see what happens but as usual the leaders have tackled most of the other leaders so will be meeting Godden or Buckley or Kelly Rogers as far as I can see.
....................

Regent Bonanza Round 2 over ...Ballina Bridge Congress Session 1 coming

Last night in Regent Bridge Club the Bonanza continued. 17.5 tables of bridge players attended the Regent and this was a great number given the great weather we had yesterday. Also it is holiday season and folk are away. I departed around 11pm with some folk still engrossed in the play and headed for Swords to park the car and amble over to the local.
On arriving home I pondered firing up the computer and checking out www.joemurray.ie
 for the results but decided not to disappoint myself and spoil my few pints. Of course I might have wasted 7 minutes valuable drinking time as it was near 12 midnight at this stage .. so left computer behind and ambled off.
Of course chances were no results were there .. but most likely Joe would have logged in from Regent and
uploaded.

As is often the case I spent best part of 1 hour  waiting on next table thru the night. At one stage I left the bridge room with the next table halfway thru the 2nd board of 3 .. On returning after a full cigarette and a walk around the Regent Bridge Club and back up to the table and now they were starting 3rd board. Another stroll down to director Joe Murray to quietly ask why he had not taken a board away as this table was already slow to begin with. No big deal but slow tables or pairs need to pick up the pace . We sat down at that table and put a 16 minute round on them for 3 boards so it is possible to pick up the pace if players want to. On one occasion during one of my waits I spotted a pair heading out for a smoke not realizing their next table was waiting. I popped down and informed the pair and quickly they stubbed out and came back up as they honestly had not realized they were behind.

Anyway when I got home about 145am I found the bridge gods were in reasonable favour and a 2nd place position was secured. This should get us 50 euro each if the prize is for 2nd overall. Otherwise we could be in the running for a full 75 euro if its 1st place in our separate competition. We will see.
The leading pair Karel deRaeymaker and Anna Onishuk were not present as Karel is away with the Juniors
in Germany and Anna I guess was somewhere else or just being fair not to steal a march on Karel for the overall prize. Best 3 scores win the overall but with Karel Anna on a 74% from the first night it tough to catch. Still Dave Ryan has a 66 and 59 posted. Paul Delaney had a 59 and 61 posted. James Heneghan has a 59.5 average posted. Michael O'Briain has 59.75 posted.
The rest of positions can be worked out from the two sites.
.................................
The Irish junior team have started their campaign to qualify for the World Youth championships.
Currently it does not look like the bank account will have to be accessed for that event.
A trimming from Norway and a lesser trimming from Czech Republic leaves them at the wrong end of the table.
Results can be found here http://www.eurobridge.org/Repository/competitions/13Wroclaw/Microsite/Results.htm

Hard work is required to become competitive at European level. Being competitive in Irish Congresses and National events is only the start of it. I personally know that Hugh McGann and Thomas Hanlon as good as they might be spend hours practicing bidding. I see our European Senior  gold medalists logged into Bridgebase Online several nights a month doing partnership bidding and this is despite a 30+ year bridge partnership. I could be more accurate with the + but lets not go there. A long time established partnership at the top level of bridge who still spend time oiling the machinery.
I will ask how many hours bidding practice our other internationals have done. .
..................
Ballina Congress takes place this weekend as in Pairs today and Teams on Sunday.
I think it is the first Congress of new CBAI President Thomas McCormac.
Thomas will be playing in Ballina this weekend. No doubt the incredible BJ OBrien will be close by somewhere. He was looking well in the Regent last night although I had to remind him to take his energy pill.
...........

Regent Bonanza continues tonight .. Poker Bridge event Galway August 3rd.

Tonight I am heading into the Regent to see if I can make the podium and win some cash.
Last time out they had 23 tables and that had the Regent floorboards creaking like never in a long time.
Not even in the flower power days of Tournaments Officer "Members  on Seats" Jim Mullally did we approach 24 tables. The normal wording is "bums on seats" but there would be severe reprisals I suspect.

So as they say in this new virtual world that we live in .. Lets get 100 likes ..That would be 25 tables.

It really is a virtual world ..Gone are the days of dark rooms above/below pubs for card players ..
Now there are massive games online every night run by about 100 different online poker compnaies.
When they come out to real life ... they play in massive complexes like City West arena near Saggart.
Even the Norwegians travel to Dublin to hold their National Poker championships. Something about licencing laws or maybe just the price of beer. Even bridge is played in this new virtual world.

Speaking of poker companies .. we have a poker company sponsoring a bridge event ..
http://www.fulltiltpokergalway.com/bridge/

I am a little confused as to if it is Pokerstars or FullTilt. ..maybe I will have to google that.
I was sure it was Pokerstars I saw before .. However I don't mind ..
Maybe Full Tilt is Pokerstars.
..................................
However there is good news for those bridge players and golfers and shoppers who still operate in the real open world of bricks and mortor bridge clubs and shopping arcades and real golf clubs as opposed to www.wgt.com

You can book or make enquiries by emailing Peter directly at peterpigotbridge@gmail.com or by calling either Peter Pigot at 086 814 6230 or Mary Ryder at 086 811 5793.

The email I got indicated Rory Egan is heading out there too whether that is good or bad I don't know. However I have never seen any bad in Rory apart from when Kieran McGarry falls asleep while Rory is thinking on a golf shot or bridge play. No doubt the two of them will be lying in wait tonight in the Regent.

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

There was mention of the Camrose Trials recently .. Seems its Teams entries this year. That could be tough as its hard for 6 people to organise a team that wants to play together. Maybe I will open the Eamon Galligan Team Building brokerage. 

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

I also think we should have a Gold Cup type event in Ireland. Its not like one cannot almost drive anywhere in Ireland these days. Also in this era of lots of places having a dedicated bridge club Teams could meet and play at a bridge club halfway. Gold Cup is 4-6 person teams of knockout bridge. 

Also it is possible to play this event as an online event with Teams of 4-6 from anywhere in the country or even beyond. Closing date for Camrose Trials entries is August 12th. I doubt I will be playing this year as I don't have any partnership oiled and running at this stage. 

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

http://bridgez.net:3002/connexion.html

I still recommend the above as I get so much learning and fun out of it each day. 

Where else can I measure my skills against Eddie Fitzgerald or Rashers O'Dea or Jeannie Fitzgerald or the greatest Bunnybasher of them all BJ O'Brien. Even Jim Mullally plays it some days. Yesterday I missed out on 5 opportunities in the first 6 boards and was still holding down 55%. 

WBridge5 FREE daily tourney is a tough test as you have to control your robot partner as well. 

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

Brendan Conlon of Dundalk regularly sends me missives about his robots failings .. Several times its been Brendans failure to understand there is more to bridge bidding than Crowhurts two books on Acol....

Good though they might be ..

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

 Finally I came across these two Harps out in Swords the other day. 

Hand carved  and 14-16 inches tall .. would suit well for a Presidents Prize in Golf or Bridge or whatever.

350 euros I am told each. Save the image and zoom in ..There is plenty of carving on them. A chap in my estate will make them if there is any requirements.

Tonytccolton@gmail.com

Tony TC Colton 087 2626299

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

Get Fit Get Sharp Play Better Bridge

Good morning folks

For the first 20 years of my bridge life bridge was a game of cards and a few pints. Sometimes it was a good few pints. However nowadays I cannot drink more then 3 pints in a sitting so these days I usually only drink a guinness when finished playing.
I was reading an article this morning about Poker and there was nothing about cards or bluffs or re-raises or coming over the top or pushing folk off their pot. It was all about the connection of physical fitness to cognitive function.
This connection has been suspected for a long time, particularly in the elderly, whose declines in memory can be stopped or even reversed by a program of physical exercise. But until recently we didn't know exactly why this happened, and we weren't sure if it also helped younger people.

It turns out the reason is simple. Physical exercise boosts the efficiency and effectiveness of brain metabolism, specifically of lactate, glucose and an insulin-like growth factor, and it does so across the board: in rats, monkeys and people of all ages.

Simplifying a bit, these compounds are to your brain as gasoline is to an internal combustion engine. They're the fuel. 

My interest in the above was set in motion when recently visiting the house of a top Irish bridge and poker player. I was surprised to hear two of the best bridge players in Ireland having a discussion on finite amounts of glucose. 

Years ago we used to call Lucozade "overtrick juice" but we always had a pint of beer heading into the last couple of rounds. Then one day Paul Delaney knocked over his "overtrick juice" on the Regent floor and the Club Manager Mr Declan Byrne declined to stock this carpet staining liquid anymore. 

Seems current thinking is we should have stuck to the lucozade. 

The game of bridge, when it is played at its highest levels with the strongest opponents, is the most complex and mentally demanding game that is played routinely by members of our species.

So why should we turn up at the bridge table tired and lethargic and sometimes even angry. Far better to go for a walk beforehand or do some other exercise to get the engine running. I personally am no advertisement for physical fitness but I am making an effort. 

One of my neighbours is a walking fanatic and he keeps knocking on my door everytime he is going for a walk. Worse still if I indicate unwillingness or unavailability he pushes on my guilt buttons and asks for my dog and the lead. He brings my dog with him but as soon as he lets my  dog off the lead my dog heads back home. Anyway it has certainly boosted by exercise levels. 

I also started doing some press ups and situps... started with 5 of each with a struggle but can now go comfortably past 20 of each. Of course there is the option of hitting the gym and paying for the exercise but bridge players are notoriously mean so get out in that field near your house for free. 

Of course the game of golf that many bridge players love is another way of getting fresh air and exercise. 

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

Of course one also has to learn the techniques and skills of bridge bidding, defense and card-play. One cannot succeed at any game of skill without learning how to work the machine. Its also very hard to read bridge out of a book. One also needs to work the machine. In the old days this meant laying out the cards on the table and playing thru the hand. These days there are many pieces of computer software to aid this exercise. 

http://bridgez.net:3002/connexion.html

Above is the link to Wbridge5 a fine 16 board tourney where you play against 3 robots. 

Lets see how we are doing this month.

Here you will find several well known Irish bridge players. I won't identify any by name but the people who know these folk will be able to identify them. 

http://www.fulltiltpokergalway.com/bridge/

And don't forget the major Bridge event is coming up in Galway. 5000 euro for the winning pair. 

August 3rd and 4th. 

Hi Eamon,

Just want to remind people to enter in good time to
Dave Walsh at 0876690178 or david@lapteck.com
Or
Fergal O'Boyle at 0862652871 or fob@iol.ie

If anyone needs help getting accommodation they should contact FIntan Gavin at 0830022889 or fintangavin@gmail.com

Things are building up nicely.

Thanks,

Tom

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

I heard a story that after Thomas McCormac the next President of the CBAI will be the leading bridge Tournament Director Fergal O'Boyle .. Good choice by the North Western region. 

Everybody loves Fergal even if he knows the rules better than all of us. 

Does anybody know somebody who won an arguement with Fergal. 

http://www.nwbridge.com/

Above you can visit the North Western division of the CBAI. 

Thanks 

Eamon Galligan

Rory Egan writes on Euros/Juniors/Regent

Rory Egan wrote this and sent it to me in an email. I did not see any copywrite thing on it .

Hi all,

What a great weekend for Irish Bridge!

Not only did Tom Hanlon and John Carroll finish in fourth place in the European Open Pairs in Ostend on Saturday but the youthful Nick Fitzgibbon and Adam Mesbur put in an even more stunning performance to win the Gold Medal in the European Senior Pairs. Our congratulations to them in particular and to all those Irish participants who made this competition so exciting.

Now, if you want our Irish teams to continue to succeed we have to invest in the future. So, for those of you that are looking for a great game, great prizes and are willing to help a great cause too, the Regent Bridge Club are generously hosting a pairs competition next Friday the 5th of July at their premises on Waterloo Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. It's a fundraiser in aid of the Ireland Under 25 Team playing in the European Youth Pairs Championships in Burghausen, Germany from the 11th to the 19th of July this year.

The format is a straightforward  pairs competition, the cost is €10 per head, visitors are most welcome and there is a nice supper of cakes and sandwiches kindly organised by Brideen Gormally - Hugh and Niamh's mother. There is also a raffle with great prizes donated by some very generous supporters. Bridge starts at 7.30pm and it should be a most enjoyable night and all for a great cause.

For more information on this event please feel free to contact Martin Brady who is Chair of the Irish Youth Bridge Committee  at thomas.brady@ucd.ie or call him at 085 844 7755

And don't forget that the second round of the Regent Bridge Club's great Summer Bridge Bonanza, which has an incredible 1^st Prize of €1,000 for the overall winner, is coming up on the following Friday the 12th of July at 7.30pm.

Just because you have missed one Friday doesn't stop you from winning the top prize because only your personal best 3 scores out of 4 count. Remember, there will be Novice, Intermediate and Area Master Prizes also.

Table money is €10 and prizes each night of -  1st - €150, 2nd - €100 and 3rd - € 50

For more information on this please feel free to ring me at the number below or you can contact  the Regent Bridge Club Manager, Declan Byrne, directly at declan@regentbridgeclub.ie .

Enjoy your Bridge!

Kind regards,

Rory

PS He forgot about the Pokerstars Galway event on August 3rd 4th.

Pokerstars Galway 2013

Mesbur Fitzgibbon strike GOLD in Ostend

Adam Mesbur and Nick Fitzgibbon won the European Senior Pairs in Ostend

Mesbur Fitzgibbon GOLD

Click above for results

Hanlon Carroll 4th place in Euro Pairs Final

European Open Pairs Final and Seniors/Womens Finals in progress (Sat June 29th)

Since 9am Irish time the European Pairs finals have been in progress.

Thomas Hanlon and John Carroll are in the top 10 or so of the 46 competitiors in the Open event.
Adam Mesbur and Nick Fitzgibbon are in the top 10 of the Seniors event

4 Ladies Pairs are battling hard in the 46 pair Ladies Final .. All entrants went straight into the final.

Link to Ostend (running scores)

1146am

.......................
Last weekend we had the M50 Teams held in Templogue. This event which is called the Gerry Murtagh Trophy encompasses teams from the 4 Regions which touch the M50.
Approximately 60 teams took part and scored points 3 2 1 for top 3 placings in their respective events.
Teams of Novice InterB InterA Masters and Open all took part,

Dublin North Region won the trophy for the 2nd successive year. The organizers from Dublin North Region and the M50 committee done trojan work in the leadup to the event and on the day to assist scorers Brian Lawlor and Eamon Galligan. Niall Burke Norma Madden and John Murray manned the floor while Eamon and Brian generally stuck to the technical end. In running scores were displayed for all competitions throughout the day.

...............
Tuesday evening BBO teams ...

Eamon Galligan is continuing to have a Team of 4 event online ..Bridgebase Online on Tuesday evenings from about 8pm. Probably best if groups of 4 people let me know they will turn up as a team but I can arrange 2 pairs into a team if they guarantee their presence.
Recently it has been Val Hand versus Malahide selection.

eamongalligan@eircom.net
..............................
Juniors

I ran into some Juniors on BBO last night. Murphyslaw also appeared and was a little taken aback to find that some Juniors playing about 9 months in total could manhandle murphy. The 9 months includes mini bridge time as well. Murphy the reclusive online player was very impressed. Its now nearly 8 years since murphyslaw started I think.
.....................

Team Billy defeats Team Val in Galligan Teams

Last night in the 2nd episode of the Gallligan Teams a Malahide selection with Jim Doyle helping played a match against Valerie Hands selection. 63 imps to 51 imps.

The best plan from here on seems to be for Teams of 4-6 to let me know they will show up at approximately  8pm on a Tuesday thru the summer and we will play some matches. 

So if you have a team thats available on Tuesdays Eamon will facilitate whatever matches are required. 

So email to eamongalligan@eircom.net. This is geared towards Irish teams but we won't turn away a mainly Irish team with a guest or two. Currently we have 3 regular teams.. Irish juniors ..Malahide and Valerie Hands trials team. More are welcome. 

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

As stated yesterday I posted a decent score around 65% on Wbridge5 but BJ took up the wooden spoon and fired out a 70% score. However Galligan is there again with his 3rd 65% score in 3 days and BJOBrian will not be catching that today I think. Elvis is currently fighting a losing battle as he languishes about 50% after 9 boards. BJOBrien has yet to swing his broken ankle out of his pit. The early bird gets the worm. Galligan has been up since 630 preparing some tough hands for the Rory Boland bidding session tonight. 

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

Shortly the Euro Mixed Teams Swiss gets underway. BBO coverage from 9am. I presume the same lads who were around in Dublin helping the vugraph operstors will be present and probably the BBO broadcasts link into the scoring system. I know the computer scoring experts were very helpful and knowledgable in Dublin last summer. Maybe they will return with another event in the near future. 

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

I went for a look at Neil Young in the RDS on Saturday night. Heart of Gold it was not but that did not matter to me as I read what it said on the tin. 

Neil Young and Crazy Horse....now Crazy Horse as the name might imply is not going to be a few lads with accoustic guitars singing about Needles and Damage done and Old men caretaking ranches. 

So on Saturday night I saw lots of folk who were giving me 20 years ..some even had walking sticks. 

I don't think they understood 3 67 year olds wielding electic steel guitars. However Neil Young is a force of nature and even the whales got a salute on Saturday night. 2 hours 20 minutes but some people left as they chose to ignore the Crazy Horse mentioned on the advert when buying the tickets. There was a brief outburst of slow clapping and boos but you cannot expect a guy to play from 40 year old albums even if it is what you think you are getting. 

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

Right I better get out of here as the vugraph should be up and running ..

European Mixed Teams tomorrow. Can you make 6S

Good afternoon folks
Tomorrow morning the European Mixed Teams gets underway followed on Saturday by the Open Teams.
Some Irish players will take part.

Mixed Teams

Cashel .. Joe Walsh Dolores Gilliland Maria Whelan and Gordon Lessels..
Hanlon  Hugh McGann Fiona Brown Marianne Harding and Thomas Hanlon

...........
Women  Teams

Brid Kemple and Cathy Bearpark join Gilliland and Whelan on Team Cashel

Kenny Kirby Pattinson Rigney make up a team of Candidates or Earhores

................
Open Teams

Mark Moran Thomas Hanlon Rory Boland John Carroll Hugh McGann Thomas Garvey
............
And last but not least

The legendary Paul Porteus who is the best known bridge player in Ireland and knows who is ringing him up before the phone rings leads out his Senior Team with trepidation. I hope they have been doing their pressups.

Paul Porteus Des Houlihan Bob Pattinson Fred Barry
..............................

If Team Hanlon have been doing their pressups as advised they could go deep in the Mixed Teams but this is
not the Holmes Wilson so there is danger lurking around every corner.

...............
A hand from todays Wbridge5 event

The contract was 6S and the lead was a small diamond with the left hand

Little old men lead singletons with left hand.

 Galligan after pondering for some time eventually saw the solution. 

I guess other folk were on trick 5 6 7 before the eyes finally glazed over and the realisation hit them that they were going down ..

I have not looked at the list of Irish luminaries who went down yet but I scored 90% on a 450 player field so lots went down. Lets have a look 

All the players who went down in this contract would each consider themselves accomplished bridge players. National champions Trials players Camrose internationals Senior Internationals are included in the 7 players who I know went down. However on the plus side BJOBrien and David Synnott guided it home. 

I wonder would Paul Porteus be up to making it. 

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

Eamon will organise Teams on BBO for any folk who show up at eamongall table on BBO tonight from 8pm .I have at least 8 who indicated their presence.

  .

...........

The Regent is under siege

Last Friday night the Summer Bonanza started in the Regent. Paula had every reason to sing but I don't know if she did. 24 tables turned up if you include the Club Manager Declan Byrne and presumably some Tournament Director. 23.5 tables of players.
The Regent floors were squeaking loudly. This crowd of bridge players was the largest crowd playing in the Regent since Maurice Quinn cruised to victory in the 1994 Graham Cup leaving his partner struggling in a 5D contract on the final board as he went about the more  important business of rushing around to RTE to deliver some letter or message.
The lure of the 1000 euro brought in some heavy hitters including matchpoint specialists Karel deRaeymaker and Anna Onishuk or maybe she has a new name these days but I have not seen it in writing.
Anyway the result was inevitable ....

I show the top 12 pairs here and nobody could argue that we have lots of trials players here in this group so to score the best part of 75% is a serious achievement.
At least 17 of the 24 shown here have represented their country in bridge at some level.
I don't know about Harry Torney and Brian Dolan regarding caps as they played their main bridge before my time but Brian Dolan is of international level and Harry seldom lets much away when he plays. Delaney being an ex-irish chess champion/international is also an accomplished bridge player/national champion.
3 more nights of this event and you need different partners. The Great Mulall decided that the game in Malahide was more suitable to his skills on Friday night and duly collected the winning ticket with a barnstorming performance. He should be available for prospective partners who require a boost to their score in the Regent Summer Bonanza. Galligan approached 12 different players in the 24 hours before the Regent Summer bonanza but found all were already playing or in Nice or Paris or not feeling well.
So when he got the call to head for Malahide off he went.
http://www.malahideregionalbridgeclub.com/
Is Open all summer and is a fine venue for bridge .. It does not have stairs like the Regent so no climbing up those stairs. It does not have Declan Byrne either and its players are less intense and there is no fear of getting chopped up by Karel and Anna. Current internationals BJ and Ranald seemed to meet a painful demise on Friday at the hands of Anna and Karel. One of them sawed off a 4S contract and Karel/Anna sent it back.
...............................
Meanwhile on todays Wbridge5 Galligan has paused at 77% after 10 boards while he awaits the arrival of BJOBoru on the 1st tee. Had to stop for a while to write this blog.
Lots of decent Irish players having a little go at this 16 board daily tourney where you play as many or as few boards as you like

Most of the names are known to regular BBO and Irish players.

http://www.regentbridgeclub.ie/

http://bridgez.net:3002/ConnectingPlayer.html

Above are the links for the last two articles 

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

Finally tomorrow Eamon will facilitate some teams matches.on BBO,

Login from 8pm onwards if interested. 

David Synnott indicated he will attempt to supply a team of Juniors/under30s

Valerie Hand has already indicated her team will show up.

We had about 12 folks last week who showed up and played

I will do my best to make sure everybody gets a game. 

We played 3 games of 10 boards last week. Everybody who showed up seemed to enjoy the matches.

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

On Wednesday night I will be doing some bidding practice with some of the Irish Open Team going to Ostend. The table will be permission required to view due to the possibility of competitors looking in. 

I will accept any Irish folk who wish to look in ..Should be sometime after 8pm on Wednesday night.

watch for eamongall on BBO.

I can facilitate bidding practice for any pairs interested. I have no complaints so far. Of course pairs can do the bidding practice themselves if they choose but most think they are good enough already.

Others reckon they don't need it as they play WEASEL CONVENTION if in doubt

http://www.bridgeace.com/Weasel.pdf

Weasel is the best bridge convention ever invented. Pat Walshe used to say lebensohl was a way of life but he never came across the Weasel convention. 

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

Pokerstars Galway Bridge August 3rd 4th

Folks
As some people may have seen since the Holmes Wilson various pieces of literature and information have been doing the rounds regarding a major bridge event in Galway in August.

http://www.pokerstarsgalway.com/

 The Pokerstars festival coincides with the Galway Races which run from July 29th to August 4th.
The bridge takes place on August 3rd /4th
Some wide awake folk might notice the 25 link. The inaugural World 25 championship will take place
at this festival as well ..July 27-28 .. This is a game well known in the West.
My brothers parents in law play it. I won 5 euros playing against them a few years ago. They are still looking for revenge. 25 is also played in a corner of my local community centre bar on a Monday evening with matchsticks as money. I am not sure of the conversion rate.

The list of Prizes is below ..for the bridge is below

Hi Eamon

The Galway event is open to Intermediate A standard and above and the prize fund will be awarded as follows

1st.        €5,000

2nd.       €2,000

3rd.        €1,000

Session prizes €300 x 3

1st Area Master        €350

2nd Area Master.      €150

1st Intermediate A.    €350

2nd Intermediate A.   €150

Sunday Ascenders.    €150

Best played hand.      €150.       As adjudged by me

As you can see there are a lot of prizes and everyone that attends has something to aim for. Would you mind sending a group email to who ever is on your list as well

Thanks,

Tom  

.....................................
I watched Thomas Hanlon play a few hands last night. Here is hand 19

 South John Carroll dealt and opened 1D and with silent opponents the bidding continued
1D 1H
2H 3D
4C 4H
all pass

All the while thru the bidding Hanlon was thinking ..the opponents either have 4S on or have a good sacrifice so how can we get to play in 4H non-vul  unmolested.
Result was 4H minus 1 for +50 to E/W who quickly realized they had a vulnerable 4S available.
Imps was the game in question last night and that would be 13 imps ..
Playing matchpoints much the same auction might happen and E/W won't get many matchpoints for that.
They can play 3S 4C 4S or double 4H for extra value ..

So the moral of this story is get into the bidding fast and out fast. It was suggested at the time that East
might get in over 1H or later over 3D.
................
Meanwhile Eamon had a go at starting a summertime team event for Ireland players on BBO.
I am happy to report we managed to run 3 10 board team matches with a Team of close to Juniors or recent Juniors playing against some established players.

Just to be topical I called the Teams Pokerstars and Galway in reference to the upcoming Summer event
The players who took part were
David Synnott Richard Boyd Wayne Sommerville and Jordan playing against Emer Joyce Jim Doyle Billy Ronan and Mary Kelly Rogers.
For match 2 Caz O Donnell replaced Jordan
For match 3 James Heneghan and Willem Mevius entered the fray in place of Emer Joyce and Jim Doyle.

Eamon plans to run the same again next Tuesday and all following Tuesdays for the summer.
However if lots of people start turning up some patience and organisation will be required as its tough
to get 8 people lined up for a match at exactly the same time. I press the button and the 8 people must be at their screens in the same minute.
I think all folk enjoyed their matches. We got thru 30 boards in about 2 hours 40 minutes including the time to setup the matches. So how come in some clubs it takes 3.5 hours to play 24 boards.
...........................
http://www.pokerstarsgalway.com/bridge/
.................
The Free Wbridge5 tourney continues to be available everyday
http://bridgez.net:3002/ConnectingPlayer.html

See the old Galligan up the top there closely followed by Eddie Fitzgerald and the hobbling  BJ O Brien. 

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

Tomorrow night its Regent 1000 euro time. I better find a partner for that. Ray McConville is in New Zealand. I asked BJ already but don't think I got any reply. I will try Michael McGloughlin today but he will probably be playing with Heidi. Anyway its over 4 nights and the best 3 scores over the 3 nights count. 

That will do for now. All are welcome in the Regent Friday night. For anybody who does not know it Declan Byrne is the person you will most likely have most contact with as he makes the chocolate coffees and pours the cans of guinness. He can also manage a decent cocktail and I have seen him attempt the trick of juggling behind his back but the stuff ended on the floor most times. I think there was some movie with Tom Cruise as the cocktail maker. Declan is not Tom Cruise though but he is good at cleaning up the floor. 

http://www.regentbridgeclub.ie/

Thats all for now 

Thanks 

Eamon Galligan 

eamongalligan@eircom.net

New Bridge Champions of Ireland 2013(Laois)

Good afternoon folks

The new bridge champions of Ireland were elected at the weekend. The Specsavers "Fun Teams" took place in Westmanstown Leisure Centre on Saturday with a massive number of 69 teams taking part.
Even in an event of this size and publicity a team managed to turn up without being entered. How this can happen I don't know as other teams I know had been practicing for 3-4 months out.
The most common words I heard while setting up the event with the other workers (who will be mentioned later) was .."I have to find my partner .. I have never met him/her"

This means there were possibly 10-15 nervous novices about to play with a MASTER for a whole day that they had never met despite probably living within 10 miles of the person. Just my thoughts and I might be wrong. I have experience of this. 25 years ago I was meant to play in a Master Novice event in Malahide as I left my number on a sheet. Of course nobody told me about it so I never showed up until about 1030 that night. By then they had found a new partner for my nervous novice and I drank my pint and thought no more about it. Next evening I was sitting down to play in the Bankers Bridge Club when Gerry Kelly walked in and chortles .."It was you It was you pointing at me and talking to me " I was completely surprised by his comments and reaction. Turned out Gerry Ryan had done a "Most Embarrassing Moments" item on his radio  show that morning and my novice had felt embarrassed enough to ring in ..
(She was embarrassed when I strolled in none the wiser at 1030pm without a care in the world. The bridge event had been held up for 30 minutes while they sourced another partner for her so my arrival caused some shades of red) Poor Gerry is long gone but somewhere on some reel of tape is the story of Eamon Galligan and the Novice player.

So who are the Champions of Ireland ...I think it is County Laois

1st Damien Nee Heather Ridgeway Susanne Downes and Margaret Nee 

2nd Louth
3rd Meath
4th Cavan 
5th Wicklow 
6th Dublin South

Former legendary Irish junior international Jamie Martin togged out for his native Kilkenny and performed fairly well in 13th place out of 69. 
Nicky Fitzgibbon and Trish Stack turned up representing what they call the Kingdom.

The Trayer Team won the best spectacles ... the event being sponsored by Specsavers
Only 23 of the 280 folk present felt the need of a FREE hearing test. 
Funny how very few of them ever hear a director giving them information or asking them to finish up please. Of course several of our bridge folk would be already geared up with hearing apparatus.

George Ryan of the Irish Times turned up in person to collect the results. He always shows up at National events to get the results. George was once an avid bridge player but has not touched a card in over 40 years. He stopped for Lent one year and has not started since.

Former bridge TV star Thomas Lawlor showed up wearing a Manchester United jersey.
Although representing Louth this avid Meath GAA fan could not be seen in a Louth jersey.
Thomas appeared on the Consuming Passions series some years ago with among others the well know BJ OBrien. BJ currently is recovering from a broken ankle. 

I showed him a book that Michael O'Loughlin recently published and sent me a copy.
George said "Very well presented" 
George was the author of the ancient bridge manuscripts "The Bones of Bridge" 
and maybe another one called "More of the Flesh"
One was yellow and one was pink ..
Michaels book is called "Bridge: Basic Card Play " 
http://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Basic-Card-Michael-OLoughlin/dp/0957270518

Brian Lawlor Paul O'Reilly Eamon Galligan Bernard Higgins worked as TDs
Paul Porteus and Norma Madden done lots of stuff too
Bert McKay sorted out lots of boards at the end
Many players put away tables
Danny Liddy drove a bus from the West Munster  area.

CBAI Office also have it for sale .. CBAI members get a 10% discount when purchasing books and software down at the office in Templogue.

..............
http://www.regentbridgeclub.ie/   if you reckon you are good at bridge and have some stamina.
There is a major event with a prize of 1000 euro for the winner taking place over 4 Fridays of the summer.
Click the link for details. All contact details are there. Turn up on the respective Friday nights but you need 3 different partners to qualify for the main prize.
There is a rumour that Paula Tolan will be singing a song each evening. Paula is secretary of the Regent Bridge Club and will assist with any details on the event. Folk can ring the club any night after 7pm and Declan Byrne or whoever is in charge will assist enquiries.

............
There was also another event on at the weekend ..a 6 team event called the Egan.
This was one by Brid Kemple Aoife McHale Terry Walsh and Peter Goodman on a split tie from another Team.
I don't have much detail on this event. However details might appear on CBAI website or IBU section soon.
In the past this event selected the Irish representatives for the European Club championships but I don't think we play in it these days. Think qualification is tied to the National Team performance.
................
Next up the M50 teams .. in Templogue .. with Brian Lawlor cracking the whip ..
assisted by Eamon Galligan and John Murray and some other North Dublin bridge workers.
Dublin North Region runs the event this year for the 4 regions touching the M50.
.............

Now its nearly time to cheer the Meckwell Crazycrackers comeback in the US Trials.
They trail by 60 imps after 30 boards... 60 boards left ..
Nickell teams have pulled back bigger deficits in the past but the opposition has improved massively since then. In the past Team Nickell would be odds on favourites for any US trials but this year they are playing for the 2nd Team placing.

These 4 lads have already won the US trials and qualified for Bermuda Bowl 2013. 

Not too many grey hairs there ...but they know bridge. The oldest is about 35 years of age. 

http://usbf.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=42&Itemid=437

Coverage of the final 4 segments starts on BBO today June 10th at 1500 hours Irish time..

However its a fantastic sunny day out side so there won't be much bridge watched.

The next time you balance over 4S this might happen

In the USBF bridge trials tonight Michael Seamon tried pushing the opps up a level and those opps went up 3 levels and then made the thing. Thats about 1000 points. ...1440 instead of 420.

It will be a while until I see one of these hands again .. Normally you give someone a push from 4S to 5S but don't expect them to take off and bid a GRAND.

After the hand all 4 players left the table ..Seamon went for a smoke .. Levin probably went with him as last I saw he smoked too... Lots of Polish bridge players smoke but I don't know about Pepsi ..and I don't recall Weinstein smoking.

Even the famous BJ O Brien would not bid a GRAND like this..but Thomas McCormac might.
...............
However I best finish the story ..In the other room Sonty and Berky roared into 7S with no pushing so
the 7C lost 2 imps in the end ..

Leaks in your Bridge Game

Leaks in your Game (Anonymous)

Poker players often discuss 'leaks' meaning situations where you perform less then optimally - either trying to eliminate their own or exploiting their opponents.  Leaks are also apparent in bridge but less talked about.  A complete list of leaks could fill the Oxford English Dictionary but I think we can summarize them at a high level.

1. Declarer play/defense 
2. System knowledge 
3. Bidding judgement 
4. Table presence 
5. Concentration 
6. Self control – a steady nerve in the face of good or bad results

Intermediate players have to work on items 1-3.  Bookwork is the best way to sort this out.

Experts grapple with items 4-6.  They are mostly eliminated through experience, review of your own performance and mentoring/coaching.

I think it’s easier for humans to see the faults in others rather than our own so it’s worthwhile discussing your own faults with people you trust - It's a delicate subject.  For example - even in the most loving husband and wife partnerships, both may want to the top dog in the bridge partnership.  For this reason, niggles can easily creep into both the giving of 'constructive discussion' while on the receiving side, it’s all too easy to think the person is over critical and they are having a go.

That's the real reason for a mentor ... you can trust their judgement and there is no axe to grind.

Now, suppose you’re looking for a partner, what should you look for and what are the warning signs?

What to look for -

        - Roughly your own ability

        - An ambition to match your own.  You need a demonstration of this.
                Everyone says they want to win.  Not so many are willing to put in the effort.

        - Even tempered / control of ego

Danger signs -
        - People who are too concerned with their bridge image.

        - Can’t acknowledge a mistake

The first flaw could manifest itself in many ways.  Here are just two –

        - Too passive in the bidding - These people want to be right in the post mortem, they are afraid to depart from the straight and narrow or back their judgement.  As an opponent you can trust their actions and you should exploit that.
        - The decision maker - They want to be in the paper.  They are the opposite of category A as they are always backing their questionable judgement and let’s face it no one has 20-20 vision in the game of bridge.  Against these people in teams, you should tighten up and play down the middle and wait for the big numbers to roll in.

[Aside: Every so often you will come up against very aggressive bidders.  You should not be lured into joining them at their own game – It’s a recipe for disaster as they have more practice in the mindless aggression game.]

Instead of feeding their ego, a good partner should be consumed with maximizing the result of the partnership.  You need equality in terms of the actions both partners take and you need to be consistent in similar scenarios.  Maximizing the partnership result is a long term project and means following system and believing (in) partner.  If partner repeatedly does not believe you in the bidding or the play and (s)he is often right, then you've discovered one of your leaks. You had better shape up or be prepared for partner shipping out!

Beware of toxic bridge partnerships, they are a cancer to you enjoyment of the game. 

_________________________________

Meanwhile out in Turkey Hanlon Carroll continue to battle but need some good boards to make the top bunch. However its a very tough event as all players are top European internationals in the 24 pair final. 

http://clubs.vugraph.com/AssaelBridge/calendar.php

Results can be found here .. 3 tables of vugraph for the Final Session of 24 boards starting at 1315 Ireland time. Calcutta Final A is the one we want. This will be updated in running .. after each set of 3 boards.

Don't forget the buildup to the Regent Summer Bonanza continues with the first game on Friday week

June 14th .. There is a rumour that Declan Byrne will dress up as Mystic Meg or maybe it is another member of the Regent. Regent Summer Bonanza 2013

Thanks

Eamon Galligan 

Thomas Hanlon John Carroll fly the flag in Turkey

Good morning folks

http://www.assaelbridge.com/en/participant

I see the carparks are forming beside Thomas's brain. or maybe he just got a bad haircut.

I hope he has thick skin. 

I know Thomas Hanlon and John Carroll are playing in the Salvador Assael  Memorial Tournament but without digging a little deeper I don't seem to be able to access the results ..I know David and Diane Greenwood are also playing but I will do some work on finding out the results webpage.

Hi Eamon,
>
> One more qualifying session, nicely placed.
>
> http://www.assaelbridge.com/en/
>
> Tom
>
> Sent from my iPad

Hurray I finally got there ..
http://clubs.vugraph.com/AssaelBridge/eventresults.php?event=89316

Thomas and John currently placed in 2nd going into the Final session of qualifying
A 3 session final A and B will follow

Salvador Assael represented the Turkish Open Team in Euro Championships in Dublin. in 2012.
................................................
The Regent Bridge Club 1000 euro for the winner slowly approachs with the players lining up to partner the incedible Brendan O'Brien who has space in his coffee jar for some winnings. Friday week June 14th is the big night. Thats the night before Neil Young appears on stage in Dublin.
Details are here ... http://www.regentbridgeclub.ie/

Declan Byrne will be the Master of cermonies ..
I don't know who is directing but Brian Lawlor would be a good guess ... or maybe the incredible Declan Byrne will do that job as well. I know former Regent treasurer and current Dublin South Region beancounter Mr James Mullally attempted the Regional TDs course last weekend but have not heard any results yet.
It could be him ..
.............................
Last night I was talking to Jamie Martin the former perennial Junior International player for Ireland.
He was there so long he got too old to play. Anyway much to my dismay I wandered onto his blog.
Some brain wrecking stuff there ... including Shortcake and mathematics ...
http://mybraincrack.blogspot.ie/

Here you will find bridge hands ..brain things and even bridge advice in a cryptical way.

One story that caught my attention and ended up with a piece of great bridge advice was here
http://mybraincrack.blogspot.ie/2012/01/mens-erger-je-niet.html

Click on this and go to the end of the story and you will see an embedded link about his young partner and
click on that.
I got a laugh anyway
............
Its a beautiful sunny day and all Billy wants to do is sit inside and play Jack 5.02 and work on his bridge game. He makes tournaments each day and leaves Jack clugging away on his old laptop and then returns home after work to play the tourney he has created.
Strangely enough I used to do this with GIB 15 years ago when GIB was about to become the greatest
computer bridge program ever made. GIB still lives on but no development since about 2001.
Bridge Base Online seems to own it now and GIB is doing a fine job as a double dummy analyzer and plays 1000s of tourneys each day. I personally still fire up the old DOS version sometimes. A fine program created by Matt Ginsberg   www.gibware.com

Nearly everybody has the DOS version free in their BBO directory these days but probably don't know it

Jack5 is now the current top of the shelf program for computer bridge enthusiasts ..
www.jackbridge.com

...........
I still highly recommend the daily Wbridge5 tournament and free Wbridge5 bridge playing program

http://bridgez.net:3002/ConnectingPlayer.html

.

Thanks
Eamon Galligan