This morning I played a planned 16 board challenge against the man who taught me bridge. He still thinks he is better than me but I think the robots keep taking pity on him.
Anyway we played the 16 boards and the video is below. Happily I won but it was only small and I made a few errors.
Galligan v Bridge Teacher
I got 9 imps for making 4S when the teacher went off in 3S
I got 11 imps for making 4H when the teacher drove all the way to 7H and blamed his robot no doubt.
Last night I was directing in one of the Dublin bridge clubs and a lady told me the hands were too hard. She said she much preferred it when the hands were flatter and dealt by hand. I said so you like nice 4333 hands and 4432 hands with no singletons or voids.
So I said " Well we can deal by hand if your club prefers it but you need to ask the committee. Your club did after all spend 2.5 grand on a dealing machine for ye. "
So I printed her off a copy of last nights hands and said " Here you can study these and get better or light the fire in the morning with it " She said " I don't light fires .. someone else looks after that and cleans it out. "
On Wednesday night I was in the local drinking establishment after bridge directing and I was telling Declan the Donplayer about the above mentioned teacher. Declan Donplayer said .. " Don't forget to thank that man" I said "For What " ..
Declan Donplayer .. " The journey .. thank him for the journey .. if he never taught you bridge then you would never have taught me ..so we both got a journey out of it .. Tell him Declan Donplayer loves the game and thanks "
Teacher mentioned above thought that he was the only Donplayer left in Ireland ...but I was able to inform him that every man over 50 in this establishment can play DON. Teacher was amazed.
We play DON in Rivervalley Community Centre every Tuesday from about 2130.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Galligan v Mr Noname 10 boards
Today played a challenge on Bridgebase against a friend of mine. I had a few bad boards but its no good if you play a few bad ones and then decide not to bother publishing the video.
Hopefully somebody will get something out of my videos. I speak it as I see it. Most of the commentary is sensible stuff but sometime the dog barks.
So here is my video. Its about 30 minutes and is placed on youtube.
Bridge challenge video August 29th 2018
On Monday night I was sitting in the local drinking establishment after directing in another bridge club when Thomas arrived over. Now Thomas does not play bridge but loves card games. I was playing Wbridge5 daily tournament and was going quite well. However faded near the end and only managed 65% or so. However Thomas the non bridge player was still willing to point out my errors.
Its interesting listening to a non-bridge player talking about bridge as they use non-bridge terms.
Give him control .... means let him win the trick ..
Do the 12 Trump thing .... means bid a Small Slam
Do the 13 Trump thing ... means bid a Grand Slam
Do the Aces thing ... means do 4NT Blackwood
Last night we played some DON in the local and on one hand the chap who was wanting to play fast ended up holding 4 trumps and WE had shown out of trumps .. This means a claim is in order as his side cannot lose any trick but he kept on playing .. I pointed out Nick look .. you are winning the rest of the tricks so just CLAIM and get on with next hand. Despite touting himself as a great DON player he did not grasp it for a minute or two.
Later on while walking home Declan the Donplayer indicated that he might partner up with Thomas for a game of bridge in a club sometime. We had 6 DON players last night.
............
Meanwhile the new bridge season is almost upon us .
Bray Bridge Congress takes place this weekend. I am told the venue is limited to 65 tables so get your entries in. Some Bray person read my blog and told me this. I think she is President of Bray Bridge Club. The legendary BJ O'Brien is now the premier player in Bray Bridge Club.
I notice there was a large fire in Belfast yesterday in the Primark building. I was not watching the news yesterday but think the Primark building is near the Spinning Wheel shop which is run by a Northern Ireland bridge player. He might not be able to sell any curtains for a few days.
I looked up the Spinning Wheel on facebook and saw a Northern Ireland bridge player doing a raffle.
https://www.facebook.com/thespinningwheeluk/
Jeez I not realise it was so close to Primark building. Looks from Facebook like its closed off for now.
Hopefully somebody will get something out of my videos. I speak it as I see it. Most of the commentary is sensible stuff but sometime the dog barks.
So here is my video. Its about 30 minutes and is placed on youtube.
Bridge challenge video August 29th 2018
On Monday night I was sitting in the local drinking establishment after directing in another bridge club when Thomas arrived over. Now Thomas does not play bridge but loves card games. I was playing Wbridge5 daily tournament and was going quite well. However faded near the end and only managed 65% or so. However Thomas the non bridge player was still willing to point out my errors.
Its interesting listening to a non-bridge player talking about bridge as they use non-bridge terms.
Give him control .... means let him win the trick ..
Do the 12 Trump thing .... means bid a Small Slam
Do the 13 Trump thing ... means bid a Grand Slam
Do the Aces thing ... means do 4NT Blackwood
Last night we played some DON in the local and on one hand the chap who was wanting to play fast ended up holding 4 trumps and WE had shown out of trumps .. This means a claim is in order as his side cannot lose any trick but he kept on playing .. I pointed out Nick look .. you are winning the rest of the tricks so just CLAIM and get on with next hand. Despite touting himself as a great DON player he did not grasp it for a minute or two.
Later on while walking home Declan the Donplayer indicated that he might partner up with Thomas for a game of bridge in a club sometime. We had 6 DON players last night.
............
Meanwhile the new bridge season is almost upon us .
Bray Bridge Congress takes place this weekend. I am told the venue is limited to 65 tables so get your entries in. Some Bray person read my blog and told me this. I think she is President of Bray Bridge Club. The legendary BJ O'Brien is now the premier player in Bray Bridge Club.
I notice there was a large fire in Belfast yesterday in the Primark building. I was not watching the news yesterday but think the Primark building is near the Spinning Wheel shop which is run by a Northern Ireland bridge player. He might not be able to sell any curtains for a few days.
I looked up the Spinning Wheel on facebook and saw a Northern Ireland bridge player doing a raffle.
https://www.facebook.com/thespinningwheeluk/
Jeez I not realise it was so close to Primark building. Looks from Facebook like its closed off for now.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Galligan v Challenger on Bridgebase Online 11 boards
Good morning folks
This morning I made a new video. This time there is much less background noise.
I played 11 boards of a 16 board challenge against a friend of mine. As it was not Magic Murphy we will keep quiet about his identity. I was also trying out a different kind of screen recording software.
I played back some of it and it looks good. For now I am keeping the format basic as better quality means bigger files.
This file is about 500mb and is in WMV format and is about 40 minutes long.
https://youtu.be/jxmx88D0ruI
The video is on my Youtube channel at the above link. I played 11 boards as South against 2 BridgeBase Online robots with one robot acting as my partner.
The Blogger site only allows upload of 100Mb or less size so its a little small for a challenge.
Therefore I upload to Youtube and then post the link as above.
It seems one has to be quite careful about what one says in a video as some people have thin skin or think everything refers to them. Therefore I am mainly making videos which star myself. Its not going to be much good suing myself for playing bad bridge on a video.
..........
Bray Congress is coming up next weekend and that takes place down in some hotel in Bray I expect.
I am sure the details can be found by searching for Bray Bridge Club on the web.
Found it .. http://www.bridgewebs.com/bray/
Pre-entry to all competitions ...
Details of Bray Swiss Weekend are there .. think August 31-Sep02.
.........................
So the new season is almost upon us .. My home club Malahide Regional Bridge Club never stopped for the summer but "reopens" with the Annual Gala Pairs which is limited to club members of good standing last season I guess. It cannot be this season as you got to pay by September 30th.
............
CBAI events coming up are IBU Mixed Trials which qualifies for some European event next year followed by Lady Milne Trials which qualify a team for the Lady Milne Trophy next April.
.....
We have a team qualified for some World Senior event in the near future or at least we have a place reserved for our entry. I dunno if they send the same team or if they hold new trials for that.
In these events its the organisation that is qualified not the 6 on the team. Hopefully whoever is playing will put in some training beforehand rather than hope the boards suit them. I see Adam Mesbur and Nick Fitzgibbon in the bridge gym almost every week ....how come the rest of our players don't get it ...
Gary Player allegedly said " The more I practice the luckier I get "
Mennwhile our Irish "experts" are still bidding what they call "The Irish slam" on the continent.
Here come these 2 Irish dunces who keep bidding slams off 2 aces ..
Do they not know we have a convention for this ... We cash an ace and get signal for his ace.
This morning I made a new video. This time there is much less background noise.
I played 11 boards of a 16 board challenge against a friend of mine. As it was not Magic Murphy we will keep quiet about his identity. I was also trying out a different kind of screen recording software.
I played back some of it and it looks good. For now I am keeping the format basic as better quality means bigger files.
This file is about 500mb and is in WMV format and is about 40 minutes long.
https://youtu.be/jxmx88D0ruI
The video is on my Youtube channel at the above link. I played 11 boards as South against 2 BridgeBase Online robots with one robot acting as my partner.
The Blogger site only allows upload of 100Mb or less size so its a little small for a challenge.
Therefore I upload to Youtube and then post the link as above.
It seems one has to be quite careful about what one says in a video as some people have thin skin or think everything refers to them. Therefore I am mainly making videos which star myself. Its not going to be much good suing myself for playing bad bridge on a video.
..........
Bray Congress is coming up next weekend and that takes place down in some hotel in Bray I expect.
I am sure the details can be found by searching for Bray Bridge Club on the web.
Found it .. http://www.bridgewebs.com/bray/
Pre-entry to all competitions ...
Details of Bray Swiss Weekend are there .. think August 31-Sep02.
.........................
So the new season is almost upon us .. My home club Malahide Regional Bridge Club never stopped for the summer but "reopens" with the Annual Gala Pairs which is limited to club members of good standing last season I guess. It cannot be this season as you got to pay by September 30th.
............
CBAI events coming up are IBU Mixed Trials which qualifies for some European event next year followed by Lady Milne Trials which qualify a team for the Lady Milne Trophy next April.
.....
We have a team qualified for some World Senior event in the near future or at least we have a place reserved for our entry. I dunno if they send the same team or if they hold new trials for that.
In these events its the organisation that is qualified not the 6 on the team. Hopefully whoever is playing will put in some training beforehand rather than hope the boards suit them. I see Adam Mesbur and Nick Fitzgibbon in the bridge gym almost every week ....how come the rest of our players don't get it ...
Gary Player allegedly said " The more I practice the luckier I get "
Mennwhile our Irish "experts" are still bidding what they call "The Irish slam" on the continent.
Here come these 2 Irish dunces who keep bidding slams off 2 aces ..
Do they not know we have a convention for this ... We cash an ace and get signal for his ace.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Videoblog 2
Good afternoon folks
As promised the conclusion of the Galligan versus Magic challenge.
However I first got to go to Youtube and stick up the video.
Its now uploading and these are my very early attempts at video making.
The idea of these two is to play the hands live and give my thinking and see how it goes.
I expect the videos to improve as time goes by and I learn more about presentation and learn better manners. Fearghal often tells me to be nice so maybe I am a gruff tournament director.
Eamon v Magic conclusion boards 9-16
Above is the conclusion of the Bridgebase Online challenge match
Click the link to watch
At the end there is a brief description of why I lost the match ..
Hopefully there are some pointers about bridge bidding and playing and also some of the things
not to do at bridge.
We will see ...
Seems much easier to make a video and share ones thoughts than having to write it all up.
Have to examine these videos as there seems to be a background sound that needs to be gone.
Hopefully next time it will be better.
As promised the conclusion of the Galligan versus Magic challenge.
However I first got to go to Youtube and stick up the video.
Its now uploading and these are my very early attempts at video making.
The idea of these two is to play the hands live and give my thinking and see how it goes.
I expect the videos to improve as time goes by and I learn more about presentation and learn better manners. Fearghal often tells me to be nice so maybe I am a gruff tournament director.
Eamon v Magic conclusion boards 9-16
Above is the conclusion of the Bridgebase Online challenge match
Click the link to watch
At the end there is a brief description of why I lost the match ..
Hopefully there are some pointers about bridge bidding and playing and also some of the things
not to do at bridge.
We will see ...
Seems much easier to make a video and share ones thoughts than having to write it all up.
Have to examine these videos as there seems to be a background sound that needs to be gone.
Hopefully next time it will be better.
Videoblog 1
Good morning folks
Going to try and see if I can put up a video on this blog.
This morning I played a challenge on Bridgebase Online against my regular opponent Magic.
Bridgebase Online has recently provided the challenge facility where one can play 8-16 boards against your friends or enemies. Hopefully it will be against friends as enemies should be just placed in the sinbin until they recover their senses.
It says here I can insert a video so lets see how that goes.
No doubt I will have the wrong format or some other problem
Yes we ran into a problem .. Videos of 100MB or less is the limit.
However I always had another plan so I am going to stick it up on Youtube and link to it.
Eamon versus Magic 1
So click on the link above for the first 8 boards of the Eamon v Magic live challenge
This video was recorded live and nothing was edited out of the recording.
The 2nd 8 boards and the final result will appear shortly.
Have to examine my recording facility as there is a strange sound in the background like a cinema reel. Maybe its the computer I recorded on or maybe the software ..Apologies
Apologies for the dog too !!!
Going to try and see if I can put up a video on this blog.
This morning I played a challenge on Bridgebase Online against my regular opponent Magic.
Bridgebase Online has recently provided the challenge facility where one can play 8-16 boards against your friends or enemies. Hopefully it will be against friends as enemies should be just placed in the sinbin until they recover their senses.
It says here I can insert a video so lets see how that goes.
No doubt I will have the wrong format or some other problem
Yes we ran into a problem .. Videos of 100MB or less is the limit.
However I always had another plan so I am going to stick it up on Youtube and link to it.
Eamon versus Magic 1
So click on the link above for the first 8 boards of the Eamon v Magic live challenge
This video was recorded live and nothing was edited out of the recording.
The 2nd 8 boards and the final result will appear shortly.
Have to examine my recording facility as there is a strange sound in the background like a cinema reel. Maybe its the computer I recorded on or maybe the software ..Apologies
Apologies for the dog too !!!
Monday, August 06, 2018
Willem leads Wbridge5 daily tournament
Good morning folks
I was just playing the daily Wbridge5 tournament. I am halfway through the 16 boards.
I had a look at the current overall scores. To my surprise I spot leading Irish player Willem Mevius up the top. Normally Willem attempts to stoke the robots and persuade them to give up tops. I have studied his form before.
However any player who scores 76% over 16 boards especially in a tournament frequented by players who make a decent effort to beat the robots each day they log in is a fine performance.
Personally today I am running at 60% after 8 boards. I don't expect to get anywhere near Willems score today.
Many decent Irish players have a go at the Wbridge5 daily tournament. The powerful Malahide player Big Wallace plays most days
Retired chess player Vincent Bissett also plays some days but the robots usually get the better of him. Rashers and Sausages also play most days. They are actually a sometimes partnership in face to face bridge. Swords legend Pat Cassidy also makes regular appearances.
http://bridgez.net:3002/ConnectingPlayer.html
The above link allows folk to play but you need to register first. Its FREE.
Another good free website where one can play as many or as few hands as one wants is
http://bridge-now.com
However this site has problems refreshing from time to time and one has to refresh the screen onself.
Also there is no claim function so one is slowed down regularly despite having all the tricks.
Still it provides a good service, giving weekly rankings and scoring each board right after you play it.
The daddy of them all is
www.bridgebase.com
This is also free but you can pay for some things if you like them like some good tourneys or rent some robots. It also has vugraph of regular world class games.
The Spingold Trophy ran last week up to yesterday. Pretty much all the players in these events take their bridge very seriously. There might be 80 teams entered and they cut it down to 64 for the first round proper ...Round of 64.
Every year several of the teams seeded 65-80 or higher knock off a top 64 team. This year seeds 42 58 and 63 failed to make the Round of 64 after being beaten in the opening round.
The opening round is normally 2 matches of 30 boards so it takes a good performance to qualify.
I was just playing the daily Wbridge5 tournament. I am halfway through the 16 boards.
I had a look at the current overall scores. To my surprise I spot leading Irish player Willem Mevius up the top. Normally Willem attempts to stoke the robots and persuade them to give up tops. I have studied his form before.
However any player who scores 76% over 16 boards especially in a tournament frequented by players who make a decent effort to beat the robots each day they log in is a fine performance.
Personally today I am running at 60% after 8 boards. I don't expect to get anywhere near Willems score today.
Many decent Irish players have a go at the Wbridge5 daily tournament. The powerful Malahide player Big Wallace plays most days
Retired chess player Vincent Bissett also plays some days but the robots usually get the better of him. Rashers and Sausages also play most days. They are actually a sometimes partnership in face to face bridge. Swords legend Pat Cassidy also makes regular appearances.
http://bridgez.net:3002/ConnectingPlayer.html
The above link allows folk to play but you need to register first. Its FREE.
Another good free website where one can play as many or as few hands as one wants is
http://bridge-now.com
However this site has problems refreshing from time to time and one has to refresh the screen onself.
Also there is no claim function so one is slowed down regularly despite having all the tricks.
Still it provides a good service, giving weekly rankings and scoring each board right after you play it.
The daddy of them all is
www.bridgebase.com
This is also free but you can pay for some things if you like them like some good tourneys or rent some robots. It also has vugraph of regular world class games.
The Spingold Trophy ran last week up to yesterday. Pretty much all the players in these events take their bridge very seriously. There might be 80 teams entered and they cut it down to 64 for the first round proper ...Round of 64.
Every year several of the teams seeded 65-80 or higher knock off a top 64 team. This year seeds 42 58 and 63 failed to make the Round of 64 after being beaten in the opening round.
The opening round is normally 2 matches of 30 boards so it takes a good performance to qualify.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Dublin Summer Congress Teams predictions
Dublin Summer Congress Results Photos Information
In the Pairs events I did quite well, mentioning several of the top few placers. In the Mixed I did mention Barbara Seligman if she was playing with Nicolas Fitzgibbon. Named a few other good runners in the Saturday pairs events.
For the Teams ..
Inter B Teams ... 8 entries so I will pick Team 6 of McNeills Hamilton and Kelly.
Inter A Teams is tougher with 14 teams on the list.
Maybe Team 12 O'Briens Brennan and Moriarty or
Team 13 who are made up of ex-Saint Vincents Dundalk players and who do a little training and have young brains but are Karel influenced so could suffer the odd 1100 out.
An outside chance are the keen but fair weather team of Lighning Murray and his harem.
Area Master Teams ..
I will go with the experienced Westmanstown crew of McNamara Kelly Fitzgerald and Cummins.
They are on home ground so should be able to defend the realm.
However there is also a Malahide Regional Team led Lilian Foley who used regularly trouble the scorers in Inter A events. They should be competitive in this higher grade also.
Congress Teams ..
The standout pick is O'Brien Jackson Mesbur and McGloughlin. There is lots of bridge experience there added to the incredible BJ O'Brien. Should be enough to triumph.
However
will be close to the podium at the end as will
Two newish partnerships but if Fitzgerald Kenny put in a good shift they will be near the podium.
Team 15 above ..a team packed with experience and caution so if the slams are not making then
I don't know who their 4th lad is .. maybe it is the Pole from Kilmacthomas in Waterford.
Again this team have a new partnership on board so lack of fitness will affect them.
In the Pairs events I did quite well, mentioning several of the top few placers. In the Mixed I did mention Barbara Seligman if she was playing with Nicolas Fitzgibbon. Named a few other good runners in the Saturday pairs events.
For the Teams ..
Inter B Teams ... 8 entries so I will pick Team 6 of McNeills Hamilton and Kelly.
Inter A Teams is tougher with 14 teams on the list.
Maybe Team 12 O'Briens Brennan and Moriarty or
Team 13 who are made up of ex-Saint Vincents Dundalk players and who do a little training and have young brains but are Karel influenced so could suffer the odd 1100 out.
An outside chance are the keen but fair weather team of Lighning Murray and his harem.
Area Master Teams ..
I will go with the experienced Westmanstown crew of McNamara Kelly Fitzgerald and Cummins.
They are on home ground so should be able to defend the realm.
However there is also a Malahide Regional Team led Lilian Foley who used regularly trouble the scorers in Inter A events. They should be competitive in this higher grade also.
Congress Teams ..
The standout pick is O'Brien Jackson Mesbur and McGloughlin. There is lots of bridge experience there added to the incredible BJ O'Brien. Should be enough to triumph.
However
| 12 | Roche,Tomas | Delaney,Paul | Corfield,Justin | Van Woerkom,Norbert |
| 8 | De Raeymaeker,Karel | O'Connor,Kelan | Boland,Conor | McAuliffe,Michael |
Team 3 Billy Ronan will find it too early in the season and are carrying excess weight and have two
newish partnerships.
| 6 | Newell,Sandra | Rigney,Teresa | Fitzgerald,Jeannie | Kenny,Joan |
However new partnerships have too many agreements not in place to win.
| 15 | Trench,Mary | McConville,Miriam | McAndrew,Jim | Gannon,Elva |
this team could arrive. Countless years of battling in Ireland's strongest bridge club should see this team take some large victories today.
| 16 | Rudzinski,Marcin | McMaugh,Ronan | Gorczyca,Wojciech |
but whoever it is will give them a chance of a podium finish.
| 11 | Elvin,Richard | Noonan,John | Vaughan,Kathleen | Joyce,Emer |
So its still Mesbut for me but his team have to win many matches against teams who will fancy
their chances of a victory. Justin Corfield is a mean declarer of the cards so if the hands are technical he might have the knowledge to guide something home.
I don't know much about the organisation of this event but I suspect Rory Egan is heavily involved
so well done to him and his team as this looks like a major event which will be continued.
It seems to have good support from all Dublin Regions. I see names from MLR DNR DSR and EASTERN all present. Just because it says DUBLIN on the Congress heading does not mean
we should not get more players from 50 mile radius. I note the presence of NIBU pair Harold Curran and Anne Fitzpatrick. They travelled a fair distance. No doubt there are some North Eastern Region players who came down.
Friday, July 27, 2018
Dublin Summer Congress Predictions
The massive Dublin Congress takes place this weekend in Westmanstown. Rory Egan appears to be the chief bridge organiser. According to CBAI website we have 82 tables playing on Saturday alone.
I did not count numbers for Friday or Sunday yet.
Lets see who I think might win the events starting with the Mixed Pairs
45 pairs entered on CBAI website but that may not be the whole lot as they probably closed out and the organisers took later entries.
So Mixed Pairs ..for the top 5
Its hard to look further than
Thomas and Mary Roche
The incredible BJ O'Brien + Siobhan Part
The experienced Hugh McDermott and Joan Ryan are stellar performers in Regent for decades
An outside bet Tom Gilligan and Mary Kelly Rogers could do something
Another outside bet could be Peter Stewart and Dolores Gilliland
And finally from the NIBU Harold Curran and Anne Fitzpatrick are doing a little work.
Barbara Seligman is on the list but her position will depend on whether partnering Nick Fitzgibbon or Rory Egan. Karel is also around ...
Two other pairs of note are John Noonan and Eileen Vickers ...along with Finian O'Donaghue and Mary Trench.
.............................
The Novice Pairs ...
Catherine Carabine plus 1 should go well
The Inter B Pairs
Carmel and Giles Murnin
Dorothy Arthurs and Beatriz Brain
Max and Marjorie McNeill
The Inter A Pairs
Martin and Adrienne Purdy
Maeve Delaney and Carol Daultry
John Moyles and Breda Dolan
Also Carol Sheridan claims she is good at bridge
Eileen O'Hare and Catherine Egan might do ok
The Area Master Pairs
Coughlan and Lane
Breheny and Phelan
Fitzgerald and Cummins are pretty good I hear
Gill and Gill could go well especially if it rains
O'Mara and O'Hanlon
The Congress Pairs
Roche Delaney
Onishuk Boland
O'Brien Jackson
Mcmaugh Rudzinski
Kenny and Fitzgerald have a chance
However the hard ground will not suit Henry Lappin
I had a brief look for running scores on Friday but I found nothing.
I expect the running scores are there somewhere.
.........................
Meanwhile down in my local drinking club in Rivervalley a chap called Colin Darcy has indicated he will take me down at the bridge after he spends a couple of years learning the game.
He claims to be taking lessons from Dot Callinan out in Swords.
I did not count numbers for Friday or Sunday yet.
Lets see who I think might win the events starting with the Mixed Pairs
45 pairs entered on CBAI website but that may not be the whole lot as they probably closed out and the organisers took later entries.
So Mixed Pairs ..for the top 5
Its hard to look further than
Thomas and Mary Roche
The incredible BJ O'Brien + Siobhan Part
The experienced Hugh McDermott and Joan Ryan are stellar performers in Regent for decades
An outside bet Tom Gilligan and Mary Kelly Rogers could do something
Another outside bet could be Peter Stewart and Dolores Gilliland
And finally from the NIBU Harold Curran and Anne Fitzpatrick are doing a little work.
Barbara Seligman is on the list but her position will depend on whether partnering Nick Fitzgibbon or Rory Egan. Karel is also around ...
Two other pairs of note are John Noonan and Eileen Vickers ...along with Finian O'Donaghue and Mary Trench.
.............................
The Novice Pairs ...
Catherine Carabine plus 1 should go well
The Inter B Pairs
Carmel and Giles Murnin
Dorothy Arthurs and Beatriz Brain
Max and Marjorie McNeill
The Inter A Pairs
Martin and Adrienne Purdy
Maeve Delaney and Carol Daultry
John Moyles and Breda Dolan
Also Carol Sheridan claims she is good at bridge
Eileen O'Hare and Catherine Egan might do ok
The Area Master Pairs
Coughlan and Lane
Breheny and Phelan
Fitzgerald and Cummins are pretty good I hear
Gill and Gill could go well especially if it rains
O'Mara and O'Hanlon
The Congress Pairs
Roche Delaney
Onishuk Boland
O'Brien Jackson
Mcmaugh Rudzinski
Kenny and Fitzgerald have a chance
However the hard ground will not suit Henry Lappin
I had a brief look for running scores on Friday but I found nothing.
I expect the running scores are there somewhere.
.........................
Meanwhile down in my local drinking club in Rivervalley a chap called Colin Darcy has indicated he will take me down at the bridge after he spends a couple of years learning the game.
He claims to be taking lessons from Dot Callinan out in Swords.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
The robots on Bridgez treated me well again today .. I await the peleton
For the last few days I have taken my daily dose on Bridgez .. Getting mid 50% scores .. after my heroics on Friday where the peleton finally overhauled me late in the evening with tof90 and lechene posting 81% and 76% scores to leave my 74% in 3rd ..
Today Tuesday I got off to a decent start and played steadily thru 12 and finished off nicely 13-16 ..
So today the peleton is chasing a 76.73% score. I notice patbill has posted a 57% score which is almost 20% behind the yellow jersey
I played in Malahide Regional Bridge Club yesterday morning and you could not buy a score.
One player opened 12-14 No trump and her partner bid 2NT passed out and placed a chunky 13 count in dummy
Declarer mumbled I had 3 aces and you cannot do anything with them except make a trick.
Declarer eventually made 7 tricks for one down. For that effort declarer earned 42%.
A rather generous score.
Another more experienced chappie had a go at 3NT on the below hand.
After receiving a CLUB lead which gave him 4 CLUB TRICKS our man set about looking for tricks 10 and 11 ... He has a comfortable 9 tricks sort of on top.
4 Clubs Ace Diamond Spade Trick and 3 top HEARTSs .. this is 9 .. Most players will get 9 plus tricks from here.
Our man could have tried finessing the Spade 10 .. which even if it loses gets him 10 tricks..
A lesser option was the happy position of the DIAMONDS ..
Can also finesse the HEART 10 .... which will work ..
So 3 working options ..one in each suit to get extra tricks ...
However our man ended up with the very basic 9 tricks and earned a full 75% score for that effort.
Now I will communicate with these 2 players individually by email to see if we can do some learning or card playing improvement.
Maybe duplicate bridge should include 3-4 lines of the par score to boost things up a little.
Now there is an idea .. maybe its a good idea ..
Maybe I will do some trials on it
Thanks
Eamon Galligan
Today Tuesday I got off to a decent start and played steadily thru 12 and finished off nicely 13-16 ..
So today the peleton is chasing a 76.73% score. I notice patbill has posted a 57% score which is almost 20% behind the yellow jersey
I played in Malahide Regional Bridge Club yesterday morning and you could not buy a score.
One player opened 12-14 No trump and her partner bid 2NT passed out and placed a chunky 13 count in dummy
Declarer mumbled I had 3 aces and you cannot do anything with them except make a trick.
Declarer eventually made 7 tricks for one down. For that effort declarer earned 42%.
A rather generous score.
Another more experienced chappie had a go at 3NT on the below hand.
4 Clubs Ace Diamond Spade Trick and 3 top HEARTSs .. this is 9 .. Most players will get 9 plus tricks from here.
Our man could have tried finessing the Spade 10 .. which even if it loses gets him 10 tricks..
A lesser option was the happy position of the DIAMONDS ..
Can also finesse the HEART 10 .... which will work ..
So 3 working options ..one in each suit to get extra tricks ...
However our man ended up with the very basic 9 tricks and earned a full 75% score for that effort.
Now I will communicate with these 2 players individually by email to see if we can do some learning or card playing improvement.
Maybe duplicate bridge should include 3-4 lines of the par score to boost things up a little.
Now there is an idea .. maybe its a good idea ..
Maybe I will do some trials on it
Thanks
Eamon Galligan
Friday, July 13, 2018
A bridge player could do worse than play Bridgez daily tourney
Folks
Sometimes I play the Bridgez Daily 16 board tourney .. Today I got a good start and then took a break after 10. On returning I got another few good boards and was up around 68%. I now knew a good finish would get me near the top of the table for today. Board 14 a 93% came my way and board 15 a 78% so one needed a nice finish on board 16 ... It came in around 70% and I figured top 5 or so ..
Currently it is numero uno and I await the pelethon or whatever they call that chasing group in the Tour de France that gobbles up folk who try to run away from the field ...
So if anyone wants to join todays peleton and chase down the Yellow Jersey worn by Galligan please do. I actually am wearing a yellow jersey ...One of those Tourney Director or BBO tee shirts that you get when you are working at EBL events .. I have about 6 of them ... one could hardly wear the same one 13 days in a row.
http://bridgez.net:3002/playonthecloud
Sometimes I play the Bridgez Daily 16 board tourney .. Today I got a good start and then took a break after 10. On returning I got another few good boards and was up around 68%. I now knew a good finish would get me near the top of the table for today. Board 14 a 93% came my way and board 15 a 78% so one needed a nice finish on board 16 ... It came in around 70% and I figured top 5 or so ..
Currently it is numero uno and I await the pelethon or whatever they call that chasing group in the Tour de France that gobbles up folk who try to run away from the field ...
So if anyone wants to join todays peleton and chase down the Yellow Jersey worn by Galligan please do. I actually am wearing a yellow jersey ...One of those Tourney Director or BBO tee shirts that you get when you are working at EBL events .. I have about 6 of them ... one could hardly wear the same one 13 days in a row.
http://bridgez.net:3002/playonthecloud
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Some hands from Monday night in Malahide Regional
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 1 North Deals None Vul |
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NS 4♥; NS 3N; NS 3♠; NS 3♦; NS 3♣; Par +420
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | Pass | 1 ♣ | |
| Pass | 1 ♠ | Pass | 2 ♣ |
| Pass | 2 ♦ | Pass | 3 ♣ |
| All pass |
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 2 ♥ | S | 2 | 1 | 21 |
| 2 ♥ | S | 3 | 2 | 25 |
| 1 NT | S | 2 | 3 | 27 |
| 2 ♠ | N | 3 | 4 | 29 |
| 4 ♥ | S | −1 | 5 | 31 |
| 3 ♣ | S | −2 | 6 | 22 |
| 3 ♣ | S | −1 | 7 | 24 |
| 4 ♥ | N | 4 | 8 | 26 |
| 3 ♣ | S | −1 | 9 | 28 |
| 2 NT | S | 3 | 10 | 30 |
| 4 ♥ | S | −1 | 11 | 23 |
On this hand the bidding went as above and V3 declared the hand in 3 ♣ and
dirfted the hand down 1. After the hand his first comment was "If you had have
bid 2 ♥ instead of 2 ♦ we were in business as I have 4 card |♥s and thus a 4-4
fit. I quietly indicated that if he held 4 ♦s instead and I bid 2 ♥ he would be
crying about the lack of a 2 ♦ bid.
I also pointed out that room was left for him to bid 2 ♥ himself. Slowly it dawned on V3 that maybe Eamon might have a good point ..
I also pointed out that room was left for him to bid 2 ♥ himself. Slowly it dawned on V3 that maybe Eamon might have a good point ..
So bidding as above except for 2 ♥ instead of 3 ♣
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 3 South Deals E-W Vul |
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NS 4N; NS 5♣; NS 3♠; NS 4♦; NS 1♥; Par +430
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 3 NT | N | −1 | 1 | 21 |
| 3 NT | S | 4 | 2 | 25 |
| 3 NT | S | 4 | 3 | 27 |
| 3 NT | S | 4 | 4 | 29 |
| 3 NT | S | 4 | 5 | 31 |
| 3 NT | S | 4 | 6 | 22 |
| 6 NT | N | 6 | 7 | 24 |
| 3 NT | S | 4 | 8 | 26 |
| 3 NT | N | 6 | 9 | 28 |
| 5 ♣ | N | −1 | 10 | 30 |
| 3 NT | S | 3 | 11 | 23 |
Here the opponents failed to lead the unbid suit and declarer had time to
develop some ♦ tricks and make 12 tricks. One pair bid a slam in 6N from the
North side and also avoided a ♥ lead.
The hand with the long ♥ was not on lead.
The hand with the long ♥ was not on lead.
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 4 West Deals Both Vul |
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E 2N; EW 2♠; NS 2♥; E 3♣; W 1N; W 2♣; EW 1♦; Par −120
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 2 ♣ | E | 3 | 1 | 31 |
| 3 NT | E | −1 | 2 | 22 |
| 3 ♣ | E | 3 | 3 | 26 |
| 2 ♠ | E | 2 | 4 | 28 |
| 4 ♣ | E | −1 | 5 | 30 |
| 2 NT | E | 2 | 6 | 21 |
| 3 ♣ | E | 3 | 7 | 23 |
| 3 ♣ | E | 3 | 8 | 25 |
| 3 NT | E | −1 | 9 | 27 |
| 4 ♣ | E | −1 | 10 | 29 |
| 2 NT | W | 2 | 11 | 24 |
17 hcp opposite 7 and our opponents bid to 3 NT. A little pushy and also both
EW hands lacking some 109 cards and maybe one could do with a 5 card suit
somewhere.. Down 1 and good for us
Monday Night Sheila
Board 6
East Deals
E-W Vul
♠ K 7 2 ♥ 6 5 2 ♦ K Q J 7 2 ♣ A K
♠ Q 9 6 3 ♥ 9 8 3 ♦ 10 8 4 ♣ 10 7 3
N W E S
♠ J 10 5 ♥ A Q 10 7 ♦ 6 3 ♣ J 9 8 2
♠ A 8 4 ♥ K J 4 ♦ A 9 5 ♣ Q 6 5 4
NS 6N; NS 6♦; NS 4♠; NS 4♥; NS 5♣; Par +990
Contract Pair Pair N-S E-W 3 NT S 5 1 31 3 NT S 5 2 22 3 NT S 5 3 26 3 NT S 5 4 28 3 NT S 4 5 30 3 NT S 5 6 21 3 NT S 6 7 23 3 NT S 6 8 25 3 NT S 6 9 27 3 NT S 5 10 29 3 NT S 5 11 24
Everyone got the ♠ 3 lead but only 3 declarers guided home the 12 trcks
available via 2 ♥ plays.
There is no danger here to lead to ♥ J and see how it goes. Of course many
folk may have ducked the ♠ opening lead as it is kind of the reflex thing to
do. Now they might lose ♥ A as well.
| Board 6 East Deals E-W Vul |
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NS 6N; NS 6♦; NS 4♠; NS 4♥; NS 5♣; Par +990
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 3 NT | S | 5 | 1 | 31 |
| 3 NT | S | 5 | 2 | 22 |
| 3 NT | S | 5 | 3 | 26 |
| 3 NT | S | 5 | 4 | 28 |
| 3 NT | S | 4 | 5 | 30 |
| 3 NT | S | 5 | 6 | 21 |
| 3 NT | S | 6 | 7 | 23 |
| 3 NT | S | 6 | 8 | 25 |
| 3 NT | S | 6 | 9 | 27 |
| 3 NT | S | 5 | 10 | 29 |
| 3 NT | S | 5 | 11 | 24 |
There is no danger here to lead to ♥ J and see how it goes. Of course many folk may have ducked the ♠ opening lead as it is kind of the reflex thing to do. Now they might lose ♥ A as well.
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 7 South Deals Both Vul |
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EW 7♥; EW 6N; EW 5♣; EW 3♠; EW 3♦; Par −2210
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 6 NT | E | −1 | 1 | 30 |
| 6 ♥ | W | −2 | 2 | 21 |
| 6 NT | E | 6 | 3 | 23 |
| 4 ♥ | W | 6 | 4 | 27 |
| 3 NT | E | 6 | 5 | 29 |
| 6 ♥ | W | 7 | 6 | 31 |
| 2 NT | E | 7 | 7 | 22 |
| 4 ♥ | W | 6 | 8 | 24 |
| 6 ♥ | W | 6 | 9 | 26 |
| 4 ♥ | W | 6 | 10 | 28 |
| 4 ♥ | W | 6 | 11 | 25 |
My opponents Doris Mooney and Eileen Kelly cruised into a 6 ♥ slam. What can I
do with 13 tricks available ....Just sit there and hope some other folk EW bid
the slam and help my score.
One needs to find ♠ K lead to apply any pressure. Only Pat Walshe a legendary Irish player could find this lead. However he just kept leading Kx until he struck a bulletin hand by bringing down a World champion from Poland in 1991.
One needs to find ♠ K lead to apply any pressure. Only Pat Walshe a legendary Irish player could find this lead. However he just kept leading Kx until he struck a bulletin hand by bringing down a World champion from Poland in 1991.
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 9 North Deals E-W Vul |
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EW 2♥; EW 1N; NS 2♦; NS 1♠; NS 1♣; Par −100: NS 2♠×−1; NS 3♦×−1
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 2 ♥ | W | 2 | 1 | 30 |
| 2 ♥ | W | 2 | 2 | 21 |
| 2 ♥ | W | −1 | 3 | 23 |
| 2 ♠ | N | −1 | 4 | 27 |
| 3 ♥ | W | −1 | 5 | 29 |
| 1 ♠ | N | 2 | 6 | 31 |
| 2 ♥ | W | 2 | 7 | 22 |
| 3 ♥ | W | −1 | 8 | 24 |
| 1 NT | W | 2 | 9 | 26 |
| 2 ♥ | W | −1 | 10 | 28 |
| 3 ♥ | W | 3 | 11 | 25 |
My ♣ leads were not working well tonight at all. Here I led a ♣ and Eileen
Kelly got 8 tricks and left me with a 10% score.
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 10 East Deals Both Vul |
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W 3♠; E 2♠; NS 2♥; NS 3♦; EW 3♣; Par −140
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | Pass | ||
| Pass | 1 ♦ | Pass | Pass |
| Dbl | 1 ♥ | 1 ♠ | Pass |
| Pass | 2 ♦ | 2 ♠ | 3 ♥ |
| All pass |
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 4 ♠ | E | −2 | 1 | 29 |
| 1 ♦ | N | 4 | 2 | 31 |
| 1 ♦ | N | 4 | 3 | 22 |
| 1 ♦ | N | 4 | 4 | 24 |
| 1 ♦ | S | 4 | 5 | 28 |
| 3 ♠ | W | −1 | 6 | 30 |
| 1 ♦ | N | 4 | 7 | 21 |
| 1 ♦ | N | 4 | 8 | 23 |
| 3 ♥ | N | −2 | 9 | 25 |
| 1 ♦ | N | 4 | 10 | 27 |
| 1 ♦ | N | 3 | 11 | 26 |
Here it looks like Galligan or V3 were stupid and got a zero for being in 3 ♥
and going down 2 vulnerable undertricks. The truth of the matter is I opened
1 ♦ like the rest of the Norths. However 7 of them got passed out unmolested.
My opponents balanced in and competed to 2 ♠ over my 2 ♦. V3 took the push and
bid 3 ♥. Did not matter what I did after they reached 2 ♠ as I was on a bottom.
I don't think passing out 1 ♦ is good bridge and it shows that sometimes one is
unlucky who one is playing against on certain boards. Like if I was playing any
of 7 other EW they would have passed out 1 ♦ and I get at least 60% instead of
0% .
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 11 South Deals None Vul |
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E 5♠; W 4♠; EW 3N; NS 4♣; NS 1♥; EW 1♦; Par −300: NS 6♣×−2
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 4 ♠ | W | 5 | 1 | 29 |
| 5 ♣ | N | −1 | 2 | 31 |
| 5 ♣ | N | −1 | 3 | 22 |
| 5 ♠ | W | 5 | 4 | 24 |
| 5 ♣ | N | 5 | 5 | 28 |
| 6 ♣ | N | −2 | 6 | 30 |
| 5 ♣× | N | −1 | 7 | 21 |
| 5 ♣ | N | −1 | 8 | 23 |
| 5 ♣× | N | −1 | 9 | 25 |
| 5 ♥ | S | −4 | 10 | 27 |
| 5 ♠ | W | 5 | 11 | 26 |
on board 11 I made the decent direct 5 ♣ overcall and failed to get the reward
probably due to some of those 7 pairs mentioned on the previous board failing
to double 5 ♣ or bid to 5 ♠. So I only got average for my good bid.
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 12 West Deals N-S Vul |
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NS 2♠; EW 2♥; NS 3♣; NS 1N; EW 1♦; Par +100: EW 3♥×−1
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 N | All pass |
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 3 ♥ | W | −1 | 1 | 29 |
| 3 ♥ | E | −1 | 2 | 31 |
| 1 NT | N | 2 | 3 | 22 |
| 3 ♥ | W | −1 | 4 | 24 |
| 4 ♣ | N | −2 | 5 | 28 |
| 3 NT | N | −3 | 6 | 30 |
| 1 NT | N | −1 | 7 | 21 |
| 1 NT | N | −1 | 8 | 23 |
| 1 NT | N | −2 | 9 | 25 |
| 1 NT | N | −2 | 10 | 27 |
| 1 NT | N | −1 | 11 | 26 |
Opponents cashed 5 ♥ tricks and now one has to play double dummy to make.
The lucky lie of doubleton ♠ Q onside gets you the 7 tricks. Nobody plays like this unless they get tipped off about the ♣ Q offside. I got a kind of tip but chanced it anyway and went down 2 vulnerable undertricks.
The lucky lie of doubleton ♠ Q onside gets you the 7 tricks. Nobody plays like this unless they get tipped off about the ♣ Q offside. I got a kind of tip but chanced it anyway and went down 2 vulnerable undertricks.
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 13 North Deals Both Vul |
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EW 5N; EW 2♠; EW 3♣; EW 2♦; S 1♥; Par −660
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 3 NT | W | −1 | 1 | 28 |
| 3 NT | W | 3 | 2 | 30 |
| 3 NT | E | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| 3 NT | E | 5 | 4 | 23 |
| 3 NT | W | 3 | 5 | 25 |
| 3 NT | W | 3 | 6 | 29 |
| 2 NT | W | 4 | 7 | 31 |
| 3 NT | W | −1 | 8 | 22 |
| 3 NT | W | 3 | 9 | 24 |
| 1 ♠ | E | 2 | 10 | 26 |
| 3 NT | W | 3 | 11 | 27 |
Everybody's 3 NT except one pair played in 1 ♠ for some reason. With ♥♦ KINGS
and the ♣ A lying well and a careful watch of the ♠ spots one could make 11
tricks. Our declarer missed a ♠ spot and thus 2 ♠ tricks ... This is where
one gets lucky.
Strangely there appeared to be only 1 +660 in the 10 declarers. Maybe this needs to be addressed.
Strangely there appeared to be only 1 +660 in the 10 declarers. Maybe this needs to be addressed.
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 14 East Deals None Vul |
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NS 4♠; NS 3N; NS 2♥; EW 2♦; NS 1♣; Par +420
| West | North | East | South |
| Pass | 1 N | ||
| 2 ♥ | Pass | 3 ♦ | All pass |
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 1 NT | S | 2 | 1 | 28 |
| 2 ♦ | W | 2 | 2 | 30 |
| 3 ♠ | S | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| 3 ♠ | S | 4 | 4 | 23 |
| 3 ♦ | E | −1 | 5 | 25 |
| 2 NT | S | 2 | 6 | 29 |
| 3 ♦ | E | −1 | 7 | 31 |
| 2 ♥ | N | −1 | 8 | 22 |
| 3 ♦ | E | −1 | 9 | 24 |
| 2 ♥ | W | −2 | 10 | 26 |
| 2 ♥ | N | −1 | 11 | 27 |
2H alerted as ♥ and a minor. The passed hand East bullied into 3 ♦ and was
beaten a trick. However this was not enough as North South had a ♠ contract
making as many as 10 tricks despite the bad ♠ break. Maybe North should double
over 2 ♥ as he needs to protect his equity.
Monday Night Sheila
| Board 15 South Deals N-S Vul |
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NS 2♠; NS 1N; NS 2♣; NS 1♥; NS 1♦; Par +110
| Contract | Pair | Pair | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N-S | E-W | |||
| 2 ♠ | N | 2 | 1 | 28 |
| 1 NT | W | −2 | 2 | 30 |
| 2 ♠ | N | 2 | 3 | 21 |
| 2 ♠ | N | 3 | 4 | 23 |
| 2 ♠ | N | 3 | 5 | 25 |
| 2 ♠ | N | 2 | 6 | 29 |
| 1 NT | W | −2 | 7 | 31 |
| 2 ♠ | N | −1 | 8 | 22 |
| 2 ♠ | N | 2 | 9 | 24 |
| 2 ♠ | N | 3 | 10 | 26 |
| 2 ♠ | N | 3 | 11 | 27 |
There are 5 tricks on top for the defence but 3 pairs failed to collect them.
We got 45% instead of 55% because of this.
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