Euro Teams 2018 Round 3 Ukraine

In Round 3 of many Ireland Open took on Ukraine who were bringing up the rear. One hoped for a calming victory here.

After 5 boards it was 7-5 to Ireland after 2 small swings.
Board 6 arrived

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

NS 2♠; EW 2♥; NS 3♣; NS 1N; NS 2♦; Par +110

Our NS went down in a reasonable 3NT when a HEART was led ... The defence held 10 Hearts and the attack owned 2 solid stoppers but it was not enough with 10 cards coming at you. 

In the other room our defenders chose to lead the oppositions longest suit and that was a help to the opps. I don't know the bidding so cannot comment but normally its a good idea to get ones 10 card fit going on defence. 10 Imps to Ukraine .. .

Next board 8 

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

NS 4♠; NS 5♦; W 1N; W 1♥; Par +420

Hanlon McGann reached and made 4S while at the other table Boland Moran bid to 4H and were allowed play there going quietly down 3. For good measure Ukraine took a stick to the 4S and boosted the score to +590 ....so 10 imps to IRELAND. 

Board 13 looks like everyones quiet part score but two of our heroes managed to reach the strange heights of the 5 level. A Ukraine chap threw a hammer at that and collected 1100 on a part score hand.

Board 13 North Deals Both Vul	♠ K 7 3 2 ♥ A 3 2 ♦ Q 8 2 ♣ Q J 8
♠ J 10 6 ♥ K 10 8 6 ♦ A K 6 ♣ A 4 3	N W E S	♠ A 9 5 ♥ J 5 4 ♦ 7 4 ♣ 10 9 7 6 2
	♠ Q 8 4 ♥ Q 9 7 ♦ J 10 9 5 3 ♣ K 5

EW 2♥; EW 3♣; EW 1♠; NS 1♦; Par −110

15 imps to the Ukraine ... One can only presume our lads had a hand out of a different board. 

I have no bidding so I dunno what happened ..but it was 15 imps the wrong way.

Board 16 was the final board for this match 

Board 16 West Deals E-W Vul	♠ A J 9 ♥ 10 9 ♦ 9 7 6 3 ♣ Q 10 9 5
♠ Q 10 7 6 ♥ A K Q 8 5 3 ♦ K 4 ♣ 6	N W E S	♠ K 5 2 ♥ 6 ♦ A Q J 8 ♣ K J 7 4 3
	♠ 8 4 3 ♥ J 7 4 2 ♦ 10 5 2 ♣ A 8 2

W 5♥; EW 4♠; E 4♥; EW 3N; EW 3♦; EW 3♣; Par −650

Both Easts declared 3NT ... 

One made it and the other failed so it was 12 imps the wrong way .. 

27 imps gone in the late boards could be tiredness or just bad luck. The tricks are there and it probably comes down to a good guess in Clubs. However table pressure is tougher than Eamon looking at 4 hands. 

Anyway without the last 2 boards its a draw but IRELAND need to get moving fast. 

Meanwhile in the Ladies qualifiers Kelly Rogers and O'Rourke are going well. For some reason Ireland own 6 of the entrants out of the 44 pairs in the Ladies Pairs. This is way aboive average. 

European Teams 2018 Round 2 HOLLAND

So match 2 is versus a normally decent Dutch or Netherlands or Holland team. I am not sure what the political correct name is these days.

Board 17 saw Carroll and deWijs on the same auction and holding the same West hand as below
Carroll bid 4D and de Wijs bid 3NT.

3NT is the chosen contract of most of the field. No defender led a CLUB which beats 3NT so with Holland making 3NT and Garvey down in 4D it was 11 imps to Holland

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

West	North	East	South
CARROLL	VERBEEK	GARVEY	MOLENAAR
	1 ♥	3 ♦	3 ♥
4 ♦	All pass

Board 18 saw Ireland bid a slam in 6S whereas the Dutch languished in a 2NT 3NT auction.

Board 18 East Deals N-S Vul	♠ A Q 10 9 4 ♥ A J 4 ♦ A 10 6 ♣ A K
	N W E S
	♠ K 8 3 ♥ K 7 2 ♦ K 8 5 3 ♣ 10 9 7

West	North	East	South
DE WIJS	HANLON	B MULLER	McGANN
		Pass	Pass
Pass	1 ♣!	Pass	1 NT!
Pass	2 ♠	Pass	4 ♠
Pass	6 ♠	All pass

Score 12-10 Ireland after 2 brds Board 21 North Deals N-S Vul ♠ A K 4 3 ♥ K 9 6 2 ♦ K J ♣ A J 10 N W E S ♠ Q 8 ♥ A Q 8 7 3 ♦ A Q 5 ♣ 9 6 2 West North East South DE WIJS HANLON B MULLER McGANN   2 NT Pass 3 ♦! Pass 4 ♥! Pass 4 NT Pass 5 ♦ Pass 5 ♠ Pass 7 ♥ All pass   fabsayc: can they avoid 7 ahollan1: i am told that online official score shows 19 as down 3 so 2 imp swing to netherlands ahollan1: that came from multiple spectators - thanks ahollan1: 4 ♥ is weaker super-accept than 4 ♣ ahollan1: 1430 responses to RKC ahollan1: kantar taught us that responder is supposed to bid over "signoff" when holding the stronger of either-or responses ahollan1: but he did NOT say you had to jump to grand ahollan1: oh sorry i thought i saw 5 ♥ from mcgann ahollan1: 5 ♠ is grand slam try confirming all 5 keycards and trump Q ahollan1: 2N 19-21 so the opening bid was not an upgrade ahollan1: i am not sure about 5 ♠ since 5N would have asked for specific kings ahollan1: so my guess is south still has interest in 7 but wrong hand to ask for kings ahollan1: probably says nothing about ♠ fabsayc: to my way of thinking, west first discard should be spade 10  So Ireland bid to the no play 7H and lose 17 imps to the Dutch 6H contract  Board 25 North Deals E-W Vul N W E S ♠ K J 7 6 5 ♥ 8 3 ♦ A 3 ♣ Q 7 6 2 ♠ A 8 3 2 ♥ A K 6 2 ♦ 10 9 7 ♣ 5 3 West North East South CARROLL VERBEEK GARVEY MOLENAAR   Pass 1 ♠ Pass! 2 ♣! Pass 2 ♦! Pass 2 ♥! Pass 3 ♣! Pass 3 ♦! Pass 3 NT! Pass 4 ♣ Pass 4 ♦! Pass 4 ♠ Pass 5 ♣ All pass jacksond: Not a mandatory opening bid by EAST jacksond: Can EW managed to stop this runaway train before they get too high say 5c jacksond: Opening that East hand vulnerable is forbidden to me on medical grounds. It invalidates my health insurance policy So looks like Ireland were heading for a slam and thus missed out on the easily making 3NT and being doomed in 5C lost another 12 imps Board 26 East Deals Both Vul ♠ K 10 9 5 3 ♥ A Q J ♦ 9 3 ♣ Q 8 4 ♠ 8 ♥ 10 5 4 3 ♦ A K 6 5 4 2 ♣ 5 2 N W E S ♠ A 2 ♥ 9 8 7 6 ♦ J 8 7 ♣ K J 6 3 ♠ Q J 7 6 4 ♥ K 2 ♦ Q 10 ♣ A 10 9 7 West North East South DE WIJS HANLON B MULLER McGANN     Pass 1 ♠ Pass 2 NT! Pass 3 ♣ Pass 4 ♠ All pass   ahollan1: 1 ♠=10-16 fokal: seems around 9 tricks for any side on this next board ritong: we are in 4 ♠ here, apparently down 1 ritong: since the opening leader knows what to do with ♦ AK fokal: I am not sure west will pass in every table with this nice 6-4 ahollan1: 2N = 4+fit, FG ahollan1: 3 ♣ = min ahollan1: nothing about ♣ ritong: oh ritong: bit shocking, this why would de wijs keep a top ♦ ? ritong: ♦ 7 was clearly three cards ritong: i m surely missing something fokal: they probably play encouraging and not count on the As lead ritong: possible, yes  Holland slipped and McGann got a diamond away for 12 imps back.  Board 27 saw Garvey Carroll make 3NT on 11 opposite 13 while the Dutch languished in 1S after a 1C 1D start by Ireland. 6 imps to Ireland. Board 28 West Deals N-S Vul ♠ A 10 9 5 4 ♥ J 3 ♦ 9 4 ♣ K 9 4 2 N W E S ♠ K 6 3 2 ♥ A Q 10 7 2 ♦ 8 ♣ A 10 8 West North East South CARROLL VERBEEK GARVEY MOLENAAR Pass Pass 1 NT 2 ♣ Pass 2 NT Pass 3 ♦ Pass 4 ♠ All pass   A slim slam on 2-2 trumps kind of thing. The Dutch took a sac in 5D and that went 5 off so 9 imps to Ireland. now leading 46-40 with 4 boards to play.  29 30 31 had nothing much Board 32 West Deals E-W Vul ♠ K Q 3 2 ♥ K 10 9 7 2 ♦ 4 3 ♣ J 6 ♠ 9 8 5 ♥ A 4 3 ♦ A K Q 8 2 ♣ Q 3 N W E S ♠ 6 4 ♥ 6 5 ♦ J 9 5 ♣ A K 10 7 5 2 ♠ A J 10 7 ♥ Q J 8 ♦ 10 7 6 ♣ 9 8 4 EW 3N; EW 5♦; EW 5♣; NS 2♠; NS 2♥; Par −500: NS 5♥×−3; NS 5♠×−3 The Dutch bid the 9 tricks 3NT and our lads placed the contract in 5D.  11 imps to Holland who took the victory by 52-47. After 2 rounds Ireland languish in the bottom end of the page.

European Teams Championships 2018 BULGARIA

The European Teams championships have begun. Ireland Open Team have not started yet. In Round 1 they took on an always decent Bulgarian quartet and suffered the same fate as regularly happens Sligo against the Connacht powerhouses of Mayo or Sligo,

Board 4 one of our pairs never even looked at a slam with 30 hcp comined  and AKQTxxx suit on the side.
Board 5 one of our pairs chose to play 4NT with 11 cards combined in clubs .. The opposition rolled out their 10 card diamond suit and re entered the Diamond hand with Club Ace and down a reasonable amount of undertricks to go with a non-vulnerable game.
When you go 6 off in a freely bid non sacrificial contract  contract maybe its time to get a new deck of cards. Yes SIX OFF. Johnny Comyn where are you … Can I write the article for the Sunday indo.
I promise not to mention any names of mice or grandmothers or fairy godmothers.

Moving on to the next double digit action … Board 10
This one probably has a story behind it but it was still 15 imps. Looks like Bulgaria found a working lead of the SPADE 7 and North made a reasonable misguess and down he tumbled. The softer 3rd and 5th lead treated the other declarer to dessert as well.

Happily there was only one more reportable piece of action .. Lets go see what it was ..
Board 12 saw Ireland defend 4S in one room and I cannot see how one gets at it.
4 Spades contract with 9 card fit ..

In the other room 4 Hearts was declared on the EIGHT card fit and this seems to leave room
for a trump JACK loser ... Tough Love.
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