The Rueful Rabbit

Camrose Details

2010-01-08T17:31:00.002Z

Dear Bridge Players,

Happy New Year!

The first half of the Camrose kicks off in Scotland this weekend and there is a great website which provides all the details.

http://www.camrosebridge.com/

They also have a Twitter in action.

More soon

Rueful.

Hand Visualisation

2009-08-10T10:55:00.009+01:00

Dear Bridge Player,

Setting the scene
Some months back, I was playing a teams match in a Dublin league with Ireland's top player Tom Hanlon (Kinder). We were up at half time and we were coasting through the 2nd set. This was the final hand.

Vul All

4th in hand you hold

♠ AQ

♥ xxx

♦ Kxxx

♣ AQxx

The Banker	Kinder	The Judge	You
1♥	Pass	1♠	X
2NT	3♦	3♠	Pass
3NT	Pass	Pass	X
Pass	Pass	4♠	All Pass

You might say that I was a fool for doubling 3NT and a coward for not doubling 4♠.

If so,you may be right.

I lead the ♦K and The Banker tabled ...

♠ x

♥ AKQxx

♦ Axx

♣ KJxx

The Judge won in Dummy dollowed in hand,then he lead a spade to the King and Ace.

What Next?

When I say dummy I was not hopefull. My thinking at the time was - declarer has six or seven spades stiff diamond. The Clubs are onside and he has a source of tricks, let's call it a night.

Lesson

Mental lasiness. Failure to complete the visualising of the hand.

Solution

At this point I ahould bang down the Ace an another club and give him a ruff for the setting trick.

Here is the full hand ...

Board 32 Vul All Dealer West	♠ xxxx ♥ xx ♦ QJxxx ♣ xx
♠ x ♥ AKQJx ♦ Axx ♣ KJxx		♠ KJT9xx ♥ xxx ♦ x ♣ Txx
	♠ AQ ♥ xxx ♦ Kxxx ♣ AQxx

Kinder is a entertaining guy and he didn't lose his opportunuty ...

"I expected you to get that."

How cutting :)

Reflection

My decision to double was probably marginal knowing that we were unlikely to win the auction holding the minors. This goaded Tom to risk life and limb with 3♦. This in turn gave me a blueprint of the hand and failed twice to go positive.

We played well in general and blasted the opposition into outer space and all I did on the way home was kick myself.

Very Rueful.

Pat Walshe R.I.P.

2009-06-23T11:50:00.003+01:00

From today's bulletin in San Remo.

"The well-known Irish bridge player Pat Walshe died on
21st June 2009, after a short illness, at his summer home
in Wexford Ireland.
Pat represented Ireland internationally on many occasions.
His most notable international performances included
a gold medal in the Common Market Pairs, and
silver in the Mixed Teams Championships. He won every
major national Irish Championships, and was ranked as
a Grand Master.
He will be sadly missed by the Irish contingent in Sanremo,
whose thoughts are with his wife Grainne Barton
Walshe, his stepsons Andrew David and Paul Barton,
and his darling step-grandson.
‘Ar dheis De go Raibh a anam’ (Translation: May his
soul be on the right hand of God).
A book of condolences will be available at the information
desk for anyone who wishes to express their
sympathy."

Funeral arrangements:
Tuesday, 23 June - Removal to Church of St. Mary the Immaculate and St. Joseph,
Carrick-on-Bannow at 7.30pm.
Wednesday, 24 June- Funeral Mass at 12pm followed by burial at Bannow Cemetery.

Pat was one of Ireland's true bridge magicians and I hope to find a couple of hands to post at a later time.

Karel and Anna on Tour

2009-06-19T14:20:00.005+01:00

Dear Readers,

The European Open Bridge Championships are on in Sanremo at the moment and the Mixed events have just been completed.

Irelands top Irish mixed partnership Karel DeRaeymaeker and Anna Onishuk finished 9th (out of 300+ pairs) - A very fine achievement and their best to date abroad. I want to congratulate them (and commiserate on what could have been).

This is on the back of a good performance in the teams with Lucy and John Phelan.
They qualified for the last 32 teams and were knocked out by one of the favorites.

I'm sure many of my Irish readers want to know how K & A do it...

1) They have very good card play technique - the have studied books and have the intellectual grunt put it into practice. There are 2 aspects to this offensive and defensive. I would say that defense is what separates them form any other Irish mixed partnership.

2) Aggressive system and implementation of it. 2 level openings:

- 2C shows the majors (4-4)
- 2S shows the minors (5-4)

These bids really roll the dice but to a lesser extent for the offense. Particularly over the 2s opening, the defenders are on the back foot.
Not everyone can or should play this because success in the resulting contracts are predicated on 1) above.

3) Overcalls are very aggressive, frequently on 4 card suits. The partner of the overcaller must be light footed as the overcaller can be very light.
Weak jump overcalls can be based on 5 or 6 cards suits.

All of the above make them formidable to play against.

We wish them more success in the future.

Have a good game,
Rueful

Textbook hand; Bidding best forgotten

2009-04-24T11:31:00.007+01:00

Dear Readers,

I was playing with some friends on BBO last night when this hand came up ...

Let me set the scene
I was Non Vul Vs Vul and the dealer passed and I opened 1 &clubs
My right hand opponent is a talented player and bids AGRESSIVELY - or maybe I should say that his hand does not have to perfectly match his bid - there is a fluidity in his game.
My pick up partner had shown himself to bid and play well on the previous few hands.

Mr Fluid overcalled 2 ♦ (showing a weak hand with a 6 card suit) and partner bid 3NT. Like a Rueful Rabbit trying to wear a Hideous Hog mask I bashed out 6 ♣ which ended the auction.

[The more cultured bid is 4 ♣ (which is forcing) but it was late at night and time was of the essence as the leveretts were about to wake up.]

Here was the full layout ...

Mr Fluid led a heart to the Queen and Ace.

I played the ♣ J to the Ace and a ♣ to the king to finesse the diamonds.
Cashed the ♦ Ace discarding a heart and ruffed a heart. Then I entered dummy with a trump to play a spade towards my hand, playing the 8 when West played low. No matter how the spade honours are distributed, the contract is cold.

The holding in spades is quite a well know holding for producing and endplay situation. (It was part of the reason I had confidence in bidding the slam.)

Like I said, nothing to fancy merely textbook stuff.

Have a good game,
Rueful

Bridge Lessons

2009-04-16T23:12:00.004+01:00

Hi All,

I have started a new website to promote my bridge lessons which I'll be holding all over the island of Ireland.

The site focuses on advances/expert lessons but I'll be teaching all grades.

Please check out my site ... www.ruefulrabbit.com

I've also added a sample lesson in the form of a web video. Its quite a difficult hand but I hope you enjoy it.

Regards, James.

Camrose 2009

2009-03-09T20:35:00.003Z

Dear Bridge Players,

From an Irish perspective, the '09 Camrose was not a success. In the end the two English squads fought it out the EBU taking the upper hand. Congrats to them!

All was going well for Ireland in the first two matches against Wales and England. At that point I though we would win. But the Scots got their tails in the air from the start of the 3rd march and kept going. After that it was a plod all the to the end of the competition.

Anyway enough doom and gloom - If thats what you are after go the business pages.

Have a good game,
Rueful.

Holmes Wilson

2009-02-20T14:34:00.002Z

Dear Bridge Players,

The main teams event on the Irish bridge calendar takes place this Saturday and Sunday in the Radisson Hotel in Athlone. According to the CBAI website there are 74 teams.
It's a swissed 3 session event - 5 rounds per session.

See the entry list here!

The reigning champs are Gay Keavney, Martin Jones, Adrian Thomas and Peter Goodman - the latter 3 being Welsh dragons. So, if you see them at the table, play your best game.
I would say they are a banker for a top 3 finish. However bankers reputations are fading fast.

In my view only 10% of teams have a chance of winning. That translates to 7/8 teams.

Due to the size of the field and early randomness, the big clashes generally occur in the latter matches of the 2nd session. After that you get teams lying in 7th to 14th spot being churned up to the top tables.

Aside from the bridge this a great competition from the social standpoint. Many will not get more than 4 hours sleep.

There is a notable absence of Hanlon - McGann I expect they are professionally enguaged.

See you there,

Rueful.

Slam Zone

2009-02-02T16:43:00.005Z

Dear Bridge Player,

Fortune favors the brave but it is frequently kind to the foolhardy ... thats me!

Here are a few hands from BBO. Playing with Michael McDonagh (Sharkirl)

Dealer	S
Vul	All
Scoring	Imp
Lead	♠4

♠	T65
♥	AK98
♦	AK
♣	AJ53

♠	942
♥	8654
♦	652
♣	K8

♠	AQ73
♥	JT73
♦	T94
♣	96

♠	KJ8
♥	Q4
♦	QJ72
♣	QT72

West	North	East	South
			1♦
p	1♥	p	1NT
p	2♣	p	2♦
p	6♦	p	p
p

2 Clubs was New Minor Forcing - I thought we agreed 2d to be minimum no feature but it showed 5/6 Diamonds. 1370 in (12.5 imps) as trumps and clubs break with the King onside.

I didn't apologise because I was playing against a journalist. The fecking Mejia have ruined this country!

In this session, we started out with the following hand which set the tone ...

Dealer	N
Vul	-
Scoring	Imp
Lead	♠7

♠	3
♥	AT42
♦	54
♣	AQ9852

♠	AKJT65
♥	Q2
♦	96
♣	K72

♠	Q98742
♥	J96
♦	KJ8
♣	T

♠	Void
♥	K753
♦	AQT732
♣	J64

West	North	East	South
		1♣	2♠
3♦	4♠	p	p
5♣	5♠	6♣	p
p	p

Irish Camrose News

2009-01-16T17:56:00.004Z

Dear Bridge Players,

Deep Throat just contacted me on the red phone to give me some Iriah Camrose Team News. Two friends of mine have been selected to play in place of Hugh McGann and Tom Hanlon (aka Kinder) (They can't play in the Oxford leg of the competition).

Their names are Terry Walsh and Derek O'Gorman. I know both of these for years and I'm personally delighted with their selection.

I've enjoyed playing with Terry over many years and he is a truly creative player. As of last November, he has seen all 635 billion hands. Despite his fiery reputation at the table he is a true gent and past master of the aprés bridge scene.

I first met Derek in Cork Bridge Club about 2o years ago. There was a picture of him with Hugh McGann on the wall (maybe it's still there?) commemorating their high finish in the European pairs (year?).

Shortly after learning the game, I was playing rubber bridge in Cork with Geoff Roberts against Hugh and Kinder - needless to say, I was feeling the pressure but what's the point trying to play if you can't play against the best? Having said all that, we all had a few gallons onboard!

They ran rings around me, as you migh expect, but I remember Derek kibitzing me throughout and offering much-needed advise after each hand - what a gent!

Best of luck to the team!

Have a good game,
Rueful.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T21:05:00.004Z

Dear Readers,

Firstly, I want to thank all of you this past year for coming in such numbers an so frequently. Many page loaders come from overseas - I hope you continue to drop by. Needless to say I have web stats on the site and I've been very pleasantly surprised.
For stats I use an Irish company - www.statcounter.com

There are two reasons for being so slack bridge wise over the last two months - raising my two bunnies with my wonderful wife (lots of fun) and because of work (not always fun).

I find it hard to come up with material when I'm not in circulation. The good(?) news is that I'll be returning to the tables on 17th Jan starting the CBAI mens pairs and teams. The womens equivalents are run over the same weekend. (Details on www.CBAI.ie) In the meantime I'll be dropping in to BBO between now and then. (James_H is my username for those who don't know - don't forget to say hello)

Here is a situation that occurred a few months ago in the Regent's Sean Stack League.
This was the trump suit...

(W) AQTxxx opposite (E) 9xx

I lead from the short hand and South played the King. Without breaking tempo, I played the trump Ten which scored and the contract came home.

I'm not looking for praise, I wan't to alert you to defensive false card.

If you can trust my bidding(?), I had shown a 6 card suit so North should have figured out how to play holding Jxx in trumps.

Lets replay this suit this time you are South and hold the KJ of trumps - You should play the king and hope West does not give you credit and makes the same play as I did at the table.

Happy New Year to you all.

Have a good game,
Rueful.

At Long Last

2008-11-24T22:52:00.002Z

Dear Bridge Players,

I've got two things to tell you, one important, the other not so important.

It's with great pleasure that I'm announcing the first publically available Bridge Hand Database. This is something that I've wanted for years and in the end I had to create it myself.

This bridge tool allows you to search through hands played by the world's top experts. It should prove invaluable to system designers who want to copy or build on the best of current expert knowledge.

Whats the web site???

Bridge Hand Pro.com

How does it work?

You simply register with a Username and Password and your email. An activation link is sent to the same email address which, when confirmed allows you to login and search.

Credit
I want to pay credit to Fred Gittleman & Bridge Base Online for the data, Richard Pavlicek (for his article on bridge databases) and Nickos Sarantakos (Viewgraph Project)

End Bit
Finally, the useless piece of information - My real name!
My apologies to all of my friends that I've lied to (saying that I am not the Rabbit) over the last 18 months.

Have a good game,

James Heneghan aka Rueful

Announcement

2008-11-20T22:55:00.003Z

Dear Bridge Players,

Apologies for my silence over the while. I've been hard at work burrowing for carrots and looking after the family.

In my spare time, I've been working on a bridge application. This bridge tool will (to the best of my knowledge) be the worlds first publically available application of its kind.

Once launched on my website, I'll take off my rabbit mask.

I'll be relying on my followers to beta test and report on bugs etc.

Have a good game,
Rueful

New man in town ...

2008-10-26T19:33:00.004Z

Dear Bridge Players,

There is a new player in town! And he has a blog! Any idiot can start a blog but it takes effort, talent and a fresh view to maintain an audience. I enjoy this new one for the quality of the writing and humour. I wish him the very best and I'll be checking in regularly.

http://bridg2nowhere.blogspot.com/

Here is he raison d'être :
Have a good game,
Rueful

Vitruvian Man

2008-10-01T23:02:00.002+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

Todays I feature another Italian artist at work. Leonardo Cima (nickname 100dog) played this hand on BBO on the 28the Sep 08. He was playing on the Stars team Vs Jimmy Caynes team.

The Hand:

Dealer	S
Vul	-
Scoring	Imp
Lead	♦8

♠	KJ87
♥	T943
♦	86
♣	T76

♠	6543
♥	5
♦	J32
♣	98542

♠	AQ9
♥	AK762
♦	K
♣	AKQJ

♠	T2
♥	QJ8
♦	AQT9754
♣	3

The Bidding:

West	North	East	South
			3♦
p	p	X	p
3♠	p	4♠	p
p	p

The Play:
North lead the D8 and South (Jimmy Cayne) won the Ace and switched to his singleton club and
all eyes were on on Leonardo. He won the club perforce in dummy and cashed the HA and ruffed a H and finessed with the trump queen.

At this point Leonardo realised that the contract was makable. South has 7 diamonds and most likely to have a singleton club. If he holds two trumps, Leanardo was cold for the contract.
Accordingly, he cashed the ace of trumps, cashed the HK and two more top clubs, ruffed a h and scored a diamond ruff.

The crowd went wild.

Have a good game,
Rueful

Lorenzo The Magnificent

2008-10-01T21:07:00.005+01:00

This deal comes from BBO and was played on 28th Sept 2008.
It features Lorenzo 'The Magnificent' Lauria who sat North and declared the hand. His partner was Jimmy Cayne the high flying financier who lead Bear Stearns until recently. I always enjoy kibitzing Lauria and he never lets his fans down.

The Hand:

Dealer	W
Vul	All
Scoring	Imp
Lead	♥A

♠	AK652
♥	QJ
♦	AQ8
♣	AQ3

♠	Q98
♥	743
♦	74
♣	T9542

♠	7
♥	AT985
♦	K532
♣	J86

♠	JT43
♥	K62
♦	JT96
♣	K7

The Bidding:

West	Lorenzo	East	Jimmy
p	1♠	p	3♠
p	4♣	p	4♥
p	4NT	p	5♣
p	5♦	p	5♠
p	p	p

The Scene:
Some kibitzers were tickled that the contract would fail because it looks like declarer has to lose a Diamond a Heart and a Spade. In isolation, in a 9 card fit missing the queen, the odds marginally favor dropping the Queen.

Needless to say, you would not see this hand unless Lorenzo had the last word.

The Play:
The HA was lead and a heart continued. Lorenzo cashed the SA and played a club to the king, Club to the Ace and ruffed the QC low. Then he cashed the HK, discarding a diamond and finessed in trumps.

At this point he has guaranteed the contract. If East wins from Qx of spades, he is endplayed - facing the prospect of giving a ruff-sluff or playing into the AQ of diamonds.

Lorenzo Lauria could have played this hand in his sleep such is his skill but I like the aggressive bidding and clever play. His reward? 1 IMP! The opponents bid and made 4 at the other table.

My 543 of trumps were too powerful partner (West)

2008-09-23T22:15:00.005+01:00

Here is a nice deal from Michael McGloughlin.

I doubt that anyone will believe you that this hand came up last evening. The play was not found by
whoever played 6D and the result was I off losing 2 Spades when the left hand opponent held AJ8xx.

I was looking through my archive of hands that I had experienced when this little gem came up. It arose
in one of the Dublin region teams about 2 years ago where I was playing South and defended 7 Clubs
scoring a just 500 when a Spade lead allowed declarer shed a Heart but the real drama arose at the
other table when after a sequence over which a Veil can be drawn they ceclared just 6 Diamonds Red
with West having bid Clubs to the 5 level.

6 Diamonds is not a happy resting place but unless your methods are sufficiently flexible to permit
South to declare it is the only slam that can be made. Hearts fail on Spade Ace and Spade ruff.

Anyway against the  slam your right hand opponent leads his Singleton Heart (rather than the Club
King) surely seeking a Ruff or some such thing and you win draw two trumps somewhat fortunately
dropping the QJ doubleton on your right and ?

Too late you realise that in your haste to extract the Trumps and relieved when they split 3/2 with
QJ coming down you had played the 2 to the Ace  and now the contract is no longer makeable
when the Spade Ace beats the Queen (or ducks when you play the King)

Note however the effect of playing the Diamond 9 and 8 to the first two rounds of trumps and now
you can exit with the trump 2 to the player who started with -

Void x  543 KQJ109xxx 

The DealDealer N
Vul -
Scoring Imp
Lead ♥x ♠ Qx
♥ AQJ1098xx
♦ A6
♣ A 
♠ 
♥ x
♦ 543
♣ KQJ109xxxx ♠ AJxxx
♥ xxx
♦ QJ
♣ 532

♠ K1098xx
♥ K
♦ K109872
♣

Irish Camrose Trials 2nd weekend - Schedule

2008-09-18T11:31:00.002+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

The schedule of play will be ...

SATURDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER

ROUND 1 10.30 AM 12.45 PM
ROUND 2 1.45 PM 4.00 PM
ROUND 3 4.30 PM 6.45 PM
ROUND 4 8.45 PM 11.00 PM

SUNDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER

ROUND 5 10.00 AM 12.15 PM
ROUND 6 1.00 PM 3.15 PM
ROUND 7 3.45 PM 6.00 PM

16 board matched I'm told.
The venue is the CBAI headquarters in Tempelogue.

Rueful

Rueful Resource

2008-09-17T13:59:00.001+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

If you want to post notification or results of your competition, please email ...

rabbit.rueful@gmail.com

Have a good game,
Rueful

Combining Long and Short suit trials

2008-09-08T22:01:00.002+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

Generally the requirements for a trial over a simple raise is when you have a 5 or 6 loser hand.

Typical examples are -

1♥ - 2♥

1♠ - 2♠

Over 1♥ - 2♥, I am going to suggest that you use

2♠ A relay to 2NT - The start of showing a short suit trial
 2NT Relay
 3♣ Short in Clubs
 3♦ Short in Diamonds
 3♥ Short in Spades

 3♥ No interest, bad hand all round
 4♥ Will accept all trials, Probable showing Max

2NT Help suit trial in Spades
3♣ Help suit trial in Clubs
3♦ Help suit trial in Diamonds
3♥ Barrage, To play, Extra length, not showing extra.

The same structure applies over 2♠ except 2nt is the relay showing a
SST.

Have a good game,
Rueful

Trial Bids

2008-09-05T11:40:00.011+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

Its time for a little theory so today I'll rabbiting on about Trial Bids...

Most people know what trial bids are but when I consulted my bridge library and did a web search, none of the sources explained what range of suit holdings are good to initiate a trial bid or what you should accept the try and bid game.

Most examples only give idealised LST hands like Kxx opposite AQx. However if you restricted LST to this holding you would rarely use them. My objective is to help partnerships make a decision on what holdings to make these bids.

Definition
A trial bid is a game invitational sequence (usually in a major) where your partner has limited their hand. It shows a specific range of holdings in that trial suit and asks partner to bid game if they are –

A) Maximum for their bidding
B) Hold complementary cards in last suit bid.

There are two types of trial bids –

1) Long Suit Trials (LST) – Where you have 3 or 4 cards in a suit and you are asking partner to accept if that have high cards in that suit to complement you mediocre holding.
2) Short Suit Trials (SST) – Where have 1 or 2 cards in a suit and you are asking partner to accept if that have few wasted values in that suit to complement you poor holding. The theory being that if partner’s limited points are not there, they are helping your holdings in other suits.

Holding	Initiate a LST? (Y/N)	Should you Accept LST?
xxx(x)	N	N
Txx(x)	N	N
Jxx(x)	N	N
Qxx(x)	Y	N
Kxx(x)	Y	Borderline case
Axx(x)	Y	Borderline case
JTx(x)	Borderline case	Borderline case
QTx(x)	Y	Borderline case
KTx(x)	Y	Y
ATx(x)	Y	Y
QJx(x)	Y	Borderline case
KJx(x)	N	Y
AJx(x)	N	Y
KQx(x)	N	Y
AQx(x)	N	Y

You should also accept a LST with a doubleton with 2 of the top 4 honours.

Where I say a holding is a borderline case, then it up to you and your partner to decide whether it is OK to include or not. To make trial bids more useful, I’ve included more holding than might be used normally. The reason is that you rarely need 3 losers compressed to no losers. In the play of most hands, reduction to 1.5 losers (out of 3) is enough for practical purposes.

SST’s are easy, initiate a SST with a doubleton of singleton (non honours).
Accept if you are maximum or hold no values in that suit.

Soon, I'll provide some detail on how to combing LST's and SST's into you bidding and the situations you can use it.

Have a good game,
Rueful.

Trials entry update

2008-09-01T17:19:00.014+01:00

Paul Porteous has provided the official list. The schedule is due soon.

1.	Mary Finn & Cian Holland, Anna Onishuk & Peter Clifford
2.	Peter Pigot & Mark Moran, Terry Walsh & Derek O'Gorman, Ciaran Coyne & Donal MacAonghusa
3.	John & Lucy Phelan, Jim Sexton & Jim Doyle
4.	Teresa Rigney & Jill Kulchycky, Katherine Lennon & Kathleen Byrne
5.	Diarmuid Reddan & Louise Mitchell, Bob & Maureen Pattinson
6.	Brid Kirby & Gerri McMahon, Joan Kenny & Emer Joyce, Carol Ann Cummins & John Noonan
7.	Willem Mevius, James Heneghan, Richard Boyd, Brian Sharkey, Norbert van Workoem & Marcin Rudzinski
8.	Ranald Milne & B J O'Brien, Pat Barry & David Jackson, Another
9.	Tom Hanlon & Hugh McGann, John Carroll & Tommy Garvey, Nick & Adam

Got a message from Eamon ... fair play to man, he does not mince his words and not afraid to put his name to it.

Galligans View ...

Those poor devils are going to spend two weekends bashing each other so that Team 2 can qualify to play against Team 9.

Galligans Team Analysis
Team 2 seems to have plenty of latent class in its ranks. I expect they will outlast the beatable Team 8 who will suffer some losses along the way.
Team 8 All capable players but their best bridge days are behind them although a rumour of a 5th younger and capable player exists as a possibility among their ranks.
Team 3. 2 regular partnerships who don't lose many imps. However both these pairs will have a bad board in every match.
Team 1. Cian Holland a hardworking player who has some unused potential still. Peter Clifford a very steady thinking player. Anna Onishuk a fine player but likes the risk a little much for imps bridge. Mary Finn quietly competant. Could place 2nd.
Team 2. The class of the field anchored by the recent Galway individual winner. Favourites I expect.However I have reservations about the partnership work this team has done. It could be their undoing. They should use biddingquest.com. Obviously Pigot and Moran are a serious and capable partnership with plenty of exerience.
Team 4. An all female team. Jill and Theresa both played Camrose last year. Katherine Lennon has been a stalwart Wexford area player for many years. Kathleen Byrne I don't know so well but this pair played for CBAI a few weeks ago in Malahide versus NIBU.
Mid table finish
Team 5 I am not making any comment about this team as I am afraid of Louise Mitchel.
Team 7 Backboned by the James Heneghan and another I think.This team can take some scalps but a few on the team severely overrate their bridge skills.
Team 6. Emer and Joan are doing the most work of any pair in Ireland at the moment. However is it good work? 30 failing putts is not good practice.
Brid Kirby has been a capable performer for many years. Gerri McMahon first came on my radar last year and seemed to survive pretty well. Went well in last years Camrose Trials for a long time. All these 4 players are BBO users. John Noonan and Carol Ann Cummins are a regular partnership of many years and are capable of inflicting damage when the wind is blowing well for them.

Team 4 to win ...with several crushing wins.

Projected placings
1. Team 2
2. Team 1
3. Team 8
4. Team 3
5. Team 6
6-8 Teams 4 ,5 ,7

That should drive Team 7 on to greater effort.

No offence is intended here.
All estimations are based on teams published originally by Rabbit. An extra piece of class on Team 1 might help.

Results: Paddy Walsh Invitational

2008-09-01T11:59:00.004+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

David Walsh just sent me the results of the Paddy Walsh Invitational held in the Galway Bridge Centre this weekend. There was a great field and great craic. This competition is held on the last Sat/Sun in August every year.

Congrats to Donal MacAonghusa emerged on top.

Donal is better known as a pro poker player and is based in the Connemara deep.
He has the 'genial chancer' look about him but anyone who scratches below the surface will realise that there is an awful lot going on under the hood. So this win comes as no surprise.

Results
1st: Donal MacAonghusa - €500
Joint-2nd: Karel De Raeymaeker - €250
Joint-2nd: John Clarson - €250

Ist Session: Ciaran Coyne €100
2nd Session: Richard Boyd €100
3rd Session: Tom Hanlon €100
Best Lady/Junior; Bernie Rafferty €100

Well done again to David for promoting and organising this great annual competition. Fergal O'Boyle directed to his usual excellent standards.

Here are the totals for the top 10 of 24 runners.

1 Donal MacAonghusa 191.5
2 John Clarson 191.0
2 Karel De Raeymaeker 191.0
4 Ciaran Coyne 189.0
5 Pat Quinn 187.5
5 Tom Hanlon 187.5
7 Terry Walsh 185.0
8 Bernie Rafferty 183.5
9 Richard Boyd 182.5
10 David Walsh 181.0

Have a good game,
Rueful.

I took a picture on my Rabitfone

2008-09-01T01:20:00.002+01:00

Dear Readers,

I'm off topic today but I wanted to post this picture I snaped on my Rabitfone in my Rabitmobile as a hopped slowly in a traffic jam.

I agree that in some areas that 'Women are born leaders' as this driver says below her number plate. However, I think life has dented this womans leadership abilities. Are playgirls leaders? Do leaders drive '94 reg cars?

Yours,
Rueful

What do you return?

2008-09-01T01:01:00.000+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

I was watching some trialists the other night on BBO and the following hand croped up.

East is an experiended player but didn't get this right. So I suppose the problem is not that easy.

The Bidding

S.....W.....N.....E
1C...1S....3C...3D
4C...P......5C All Pass

I really like Easts 3D bid for the lead and indicating Spade support.

The Lead

West lead the D6, small, Ace and 7.

The Problem
What sould East play next? Spade, Heart, Diamond or a Club?
I also need your reasoning and I'll publish best explaination.

Email: Rabbit.Rueful@gmail.com

Have a good game,
Rueful

Irish Trials News

2008-08-26T16:30:00.006+01:00

Dear Bridge Player,

After much burrowing for information, I've come up with the following entry list for the Open Camrose Trials. This is not official as I've sourced the names from friends of friends of enemies of friends ...

1. Pat Barry & David Jackson, Ranald Milne & B J O’Brien
2. John & Lucy Phelan, Jim Doyle & Jim Sexton
3. Cian Holland & Mary Finn, Anna Onishuk & Peter Clifford
4. Mark Moran & Peter Pigot, Terry Walsh & Derek O’Gorman, Ciaran Coyne & Donal MacAonghusa
5. Teresa Rigney & Jill Kulchycky, Katherine Lennon & Kathleen Byrne
6. Bob & Maureen Pattinson, Diarmuid Reddan & Louise Mitchell
7. Willem Mevius & Norbert van Workoem, Richard Boyd & Brian Sharkey
8. Joan Kenny & Emer Joyce, Brid Kirby & Gerri McMahon, Carol Ann Cummins & John Noonan
9. Tom Hanlon & Hugh McGann, John Carroll & Tommy Garvey, Nick & Adam

A Controversial View by Anonymous
"A mixed bag" is how one trials commentator put it. He went on to say that "Many players say they are entering for the practise. I don't like this as a reason when it comes to representing your country. It implies that these players care less than those who have expectations of competing. The result of caring less is skewed results. If the IBU/CBAI had PROPERLY stratified competitions during the year there might be less incentive for players to use the Open Trials as a practise session. The IBU/CBAI have no incentive to change this as it means they collect more entry fees and they don't have to go to the trouble of organising a better stratification system."

End Bit
Teams 1 through 8 will fight it out over the weekends of 12 and 19th of September. Then the winner of the first 2 weekends have the pleasure of facing team 9 in the final on the 7th November.

You will also notice a changed lineup in the Open team playing in Beijing - the O'Briains taking the place of Nick and Adam.

Ciaran Coyne is the NPC of the Open team going to Beijing - We note he will be vieing to represent Ireland in the Camrose.

Have a good game,
Rueful

Irish Senior practise matches

2008-08-06T16:05:00.005+01:00

Dear Bridge Player,

As you will see from my picture (top left) that I have a magnificent set of ears - What you may not know is that I put them to good use not only at the table but also when I'm sipping my sherry in the bar.

Last night I overheard that The Irish senior team (who qualified for Beijing) will be playing some practise matches on BBO over the next few weeks. The first is tomorrow starting about 8 PM (GMT).

Senior Lineup :
David Jackson - Pat Barry
Rex Anderson - Pat McDevitt

Their intended victims will be :
Terry (Bad Boy) Walsh - Peter (Good Boy) Goodman
Michael (Crazy Man) McDonagh - James (The Boy) Heneghan

Edit: A member of the public suggested the chalengers nicknames so I was happy to oblidge. I'm sure I'll get others!

Not sure how the betting should go ... But John Comyn will probably run a book on it.

I've no other details as of yet.

Have a good game,
Rueful

Result: The Senior team handed out a comprenensive thrashing to the youth team.

Rueful Hand

2008-07-21T17:15:00.007+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

I thought it was time to show you how my mistakes turn to gold sometimes...

Here is a hand from the club a few nights ago. As usual I was playing with the Hideous Hog but this time I was unlucky enough to be declared. The defenders were Karapet on my left and the Unlucky Expert on my left.

Here is the hand ...

The bidding was simple transfer sequence followed by an invite to game.

P - (P) - 1NT - (P)

2D - (P) - 2H - (P)

2NT - (P) - 3NT Passed out.

Karapet lead the DT, UL following the 8. I played the H5 from dummy UL played low and I accidently droped the 2 from hand. I waited some time for Karapet to lead but he was just looking at me! Eventually I found out that I had won - Strange! I know from experience that when in luck you continue the same suit. West discarded a couple of black cards which later turned out to be spades.

I thought the Heart suit was setup so I decided to cash out my DK and run for home and enter dummy on the 3rd round of clubs. Surprisingly UL won and played another diamond followed by the SA. Then he said you had the rest.

For this 3NT + 1, I got all the matchpoints. I'm not really sure what happened at the other tables. I know the HH was very pleased with events. I went to the bar and rewarded myself with a sherry.

Have a good game,

Rueful

The Rueful Rabbit is pleased to welcome a new contributor to my Blog from Britain

2008-07-08T14:24:00.005+01:00

From Our English Correspondent
Anthony Woodcutter

Column á Clef

“Would the loquacious Lancastrian like to enlighten his country cousins from across the Irish Sea with a column?” emailed the Rueful Rabbit.

As a strong supporter of building bridges between the Home Nations, I just couldn’t resist, particularly in view of the deleterious impact on Anglo-Irish relations of Ireland’s recent return to the Camrose. In the last three years I have heard more than one English International mutter that it is about time the stupid bloody competition was abolished. Perhaps the Camrose should be replaced by something a little less divisive, such as a qualifier for an all-British Isles Bridge Squad. What could we call such a team? Bionic – Bridge Isles Of the Northern Island Chain? But I expect the Scots would prefer a combination of Team Ireland and Team Scotland, while the Welsh might well decide it is time they learnt to swim!

Aficionados of my column in the Cablegram will know that I often feature brilliancies by my former bridge partner. What can I do? He sends me so many wonderful hands, and his own paper can’t be expected to publish them all. But to balance the books here is a rare example of blundering by the Big Boy. As I know only too well, even the great and the good can fall from grace. The other players’ names have been disguised to protect the innocent so let’s just say it was a case of Our Kid versus the Wunderkind, the Long Fellow versus the Mick on the Make.

Mercifully, the bidding is unknown to me. Modern bidding methods leave me as cold as Yorkshire Pudding. Pointless overcalls. Preempts on any five-card suit. Conventions that give the oppo more info than partner. Slam tries on hands that in my day as an International would have barely qualified for a limit-raise. These days you don’t bid what you think you can make but anything that will raise the hacketts of your long-suffering correspondent. In life no good deed goes unpunished; in Bridge no sin goes unrewarded, as the following hand will demonstrate.

The contract was 7H Doubled, played by South, Wunderkind, in partnership with “Dr Who”. Our Kid, the doubler, was sitting East and was partnered by “Miss Moneypenny”, who led the 3 of trumps. As soon as dummy appeared “Dr Who” immediately announced that he was going to get a drink and, viewing dummy, Our Kid could see why. How many times a week do you find yourself doing that, Whoie boy? I’ll never know how they managed come second at Stratford.

This was the hand layout from East’s point of view:

North
AQ102

A102

AQ106

East

K984

K9875

Wunderkind won the first trick in hand and then played the ace and the 2 of spades at which point Our Kid paused for thought. Partner’s play to the first spade indicated four cards in the suit, which meant that Wunderkind had a singleton and was trying to induce the play of the King. But “Miss Moneypenny” loved deceptive plays herself and given Our Kid’s double might have thought she had the luxury of messing about. If so, the boy wonder might have the Jack and was trying to steal a trick. If I play the King, Our Kid must have thought, it will cost a trick if Wunderkind has a singleton spade but it will cost two tricks if I duck and he has Jx because then the King can be trapped by playing the Q10. So the odds favoured playing the King.

Wunderkind ruffed Our Kid’s King and then played a trump to the Ace of hearts. The Queen of spades quickly followed, declarer discarding a club. Then came the ace and six of diamonds and Our Kid found himself on the horns of the same dilemma. Did declarer have the Jack? Partner’s play to the first diamond trick (the 2) indicated that she had one or three. Wunderkind’s discard of a club rather than a diamond on the spade queen suggested that “Miss Moneypenny” had three diamonds and that playing the King would enable declarer to ruff, cross to dummy with the ace of clubs, drop the Jack of diamonds on the Queen and discard his final losing club on the 10. On the other hand, if declarer has three diamonds there would still be time enough to win a trick in that suit.

So, going with the odds once again, Our Kid played low, Wunderkind, needless to say, won with the Jack and then played three more rounds of trumps, discarding the Queen and 10 of diamonds. This was the position after 10 tricks:

North
10

Void

East

Void

KQ

Wunderkind led his last trump, “Miss Moneypenny” played the 10 of clubs and declarer discarded the 10 of spades. If Our Kid threw a club the A2 would bring home the bacon and discarding the diamond King would establish declarer’s last diamond. At this point Our Kid’s thoughts must have turned to the post-mortem. What do you call a double deception followed by a double squeeze? A Chump Coup? And what would Wunderkind’s ghostwriter make of this little performance? He could see the hand heading in the next book: “How to Rob Sonone” or maybe something more sardonic: “Finally, after 800 years of hurt…” Worse still, what will the sponsor think?

For the record the full hand was:

If this hand seems familiar to you, dear reader, it is because it is, and it is not because it has been featured by six other Bridge columnists this week. Bridge Base Online, you see, has a new feature – Feast of Fictional Fun (www.bbo.com/foff.html ) – which allows you to download and play fictional hands from satirical bridge books. I kid you not, and if you don’t believe me you can feck off.

This particular hand comes from a classic of the genre, but for copyright reasons I am not allowed to identify its source. Amazingly, the play of the hand at the “table” went exactly the same way as in the book! As Terence Reese liked to say, in the Bridge world life often imitates art, especially when you are accused of cheating. Or, as I am fond of saying myself, it’s a case of wheels within wheels within wheels.

Eamon's hands 1 & 2

2008-07-01T12:29:00.002+01:00

Hand 1

Great, a friendly lead ... I hope I can keep west in lead for the remaining 31 boards in this match!

Analysis

Unless hearts are 3-3 (very unlikely), you have a heart loser.
Our only obsticle is when trumps are not 3-2. If trumps are 5-0, you have no chance. So we must come up with a plan to discard a heard should the 4-1 trump break materialise.

The obvious source for a H discard is in clubs. To best use our 3 remaining entries to dummy, we should come to hand withthe DK and bang down the CA. After a diamond to the ace we'll know about trumps. Ruff a club and playthe QD andgive the opponents there trump if they break 4-1.When trumps are 4-1,you will make your contract if clubs are 3-3 or the CK drops doubleton.

BUT WAIT
This only works less 50% of the time? Why now go for the best line?

Cash the DA and play a heart, if righty ruffs, he ruffs air! Later you re-enter dummy to lead another H up.

Agail this relies on a trump break no worse than 4-1

Hand 2

Again Mr.Friendly on lead - Has he backed us to win?

Analysis
Win the HK, lead the CA and duck a diamond. This will establish the diamonds while keeping control of clubs. No return can hurt us now. When we cash the CK, we can ditch a spade and run for home.

Have a good game,
Rueful

Congratulations to Norway

2008-07-01T11:57:00.004+01:00

Dear Bridge Player,

Norway have done the double. After winning the Bermuda Bowl last year, they have followed it up by winning the Europeans. Dislodging the long seated Italians. This is also the first time Norway have won the Euors. What makes this extra special is that only 2 members of the Bermuda team played this time. (Helgemo and Brogeland)

More here: http://www.eurobridge.org/bulletin/08_1%20Pau/pdf/Bul_15.pdf

It is remarkable that a country with a population of under 5 million can produce such strength in depth! Also, their youngest menber Espen Lindqvist is only 24!

Brogeland and Lindqvist also lead the cross IMPs in Round Robin 2. (However, it is sometimes possible to read too much into that metric.)

One further piece of credit to the Norwegians is that their system cards contained some of the best explanations particularly Brogeland/Lindqvist. You can see all system cards here ...

http://www.ecatsbridge.com/Events/ebl/2008PauFrance/syscards.asp

The top 6 played will represent Europe in the Bermuda Bowl next year.

Also of note is that the its the first time since 1993 that Italy have not been on the podium.

Because I've had too much time on my paws, I decided to calculate the VP average across the field in Round Robin 2 Versus the top 6 teams ... here are the results.

Thats quite an achievement by Bulgaria and Turkey.

Have a good game,

Rueful

Have I got news for you?

2008-06-27T17:08:00.002+01:00

Dear Bridge Player,

Major commotion in the European Bridge Championships in Pau.
And yet again it involves the Italian squad!

Angelini has not played in the Round Robin 2.

Here is why .... http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=26120

Now for the really juicy stuff!

The RR2 match between Norway and Italy at the Europeans Championships was allegedly unpleasant at times.
Here is a Google translation of an article on the NBF website:http://tinyurl.com/6fcf93

However, remember that
-1. This is a literal translation with special Norwegian words even Google can't interpret.
-2. This is how it happened as experienced by the Norwegian camp. We have not heard the Italian version.

Both these snippets are provided by Roland Wald (BBO viewgraph coordinator)

More to follow!

Have a good game,
Rueful

Ireland (Open) misses out on qualification for 2nd round

2008-06-22T22:13:00.004+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

I've been remarkably quite during the first 19 preliminary rounds of the European Championships in Pau for the simple reason that I was waiting for a point of inflection in Ireland's performance - where we started to glide into the qualification comfort zone.

But the reality was that the Irish campaign never kick started. Now that we are out, there is a real sence of loss - but thankfully this low does not match the high we had 2 years ago when they snatched Silver in Warsaw.

The question is where did it all go wrong? Well I doubt the team will want to respond now (or ever) because one thing is sure ... they are hurting.

However, its important to remember that they are still a great team and we'll see all their names in lights again. Make no mistake, this is a big surprise both for us Irish and globally ... the proof is that the betting (on Betfair.com) heavily suggested a top 6 finish.

With a little luck I'll get the thoughts of Jacko in good time.

Rueful Rabbit

Irelands Progress

2008-06-17T09:11:00.002+01:00

Start day 3, here is the results and line up for the first 19 rounds ...

Great Expectations

2008-06-11T17:47:00.002+01:00

From Michael McGloughlin

Some readers will recall this further horror story from one of the National Team events last year. I do not have good memories of it and the reasons will become clear when one reads what happened.

With both sides Vulnerable I sat South hand and was contemplating the various bids that I might have were Partner to open I of Minor or I Spade. We had recently added a new feature to our slam bidding ( Exclusion Key Card Blackwood ) and I was wondering whether we might get the chance to show off our new toy but unsurprisingly Hearts were in the action ahead of us with West starting the ball rolling via a Weak 2 Hearts which was Passed back to me. After some thought to weigh up the various possibilities I decided to compete with a Take-out Double (always a bit risky when holding a trump void as became evident very soon
Partner holding 7 trumps to the AJ10 sitting over the opener understandably saw no reason to think that he was not in the running to be entering a very substantial penalty against a Doubled Part score holding AJ10xxxx trumps sitting over the bidder even though he was conscious of the fact that the trumps were 6/7/0/0

The Club King was led and held the trick after which there was no defence to the contract The Spade switched was won in dummy and declarer wasted little time winning the Ace cashing the Diamond Ace ruffing a Spade crossing to the Diamond King and ruffing a second spade reducing his hand to KQ98 of trumps and three small clubs. All that needed to be done thereafter was await his three further trump tricks with the KQ98 all sure to score as North helplessly ruffed each Club as it was played scoring just 3 low ruffs and his Heart Ace to add to the Club King which won the first trick and entering –670 on the sheet

Some readers will no doubt criticise the take-out Double and suggest that a simple 2 S is more descriptive but it seems to me that this is being wise after the event and some will also see that overtaking the Club King with the Ace and giving a ruff suffices to break up the ending and allows the defenders to emerge with 200 + but then there would be no story.

UpdatePractise match Open Vs Beijing Seniors

2008-06-10T17:01:00.003+01:00

An Email from Seamus Dowling

Let it be known that the seniors team that takes on Team Ireland tomorrow night is not the Irish seniors team which will be in Pau, but the seniors team for Beijing. What a terrible disappointment for BBO kibitzers! But I feel it's better to let them know in advance. The Pau seniors, who have accepted Michael O'Connor's tender for the position of non-playing captain, are in training under renowned coach, O'Boru. I will be in Pau for the entire championships, covering all three events, Open, Womens and Seniors, for The Irish Times, to which I will be sending daily reports.

[Commercial Break] :The Tour America Cruise Holidays bridge cruise, starting in Rome, Aug. 31st and docking in Messina, Athens, Ephesus and Heraklion, is almost sold out but there may be a few vacancies for those who ring 01 8173558, ask for Neasa or Liza, and say that Seamus sent you. Starting at 1,399 Euro - which covers everything (including flights) except alcohol, it is an experience devoutly to be wished. A partner is guaranteed - for the bridge games only.

Regards, Seamus.

________________________________________

Further confirmation from David Jackson

This match is against the senior team going to Beijing.

Rex Anderson/Pat McDevitt
Pat Barry/David Jackson

It is not against the senior team going to Pau next week for EUROPEANS

bANZAI jACKSON.

Junior Update

2008-06-10T14:35:00.005+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

I just received an email from Noreen Pender (CEO to the Irish Junior).
I emailed incorrect details of the Irish Juniors Vs Rueful All-stars grudge match. This date is currently being hammered out by the respective legal teams.

Here is their agreed scheduled:

Mary Finn's team this Monday (16th).

Paul Delaney's team the Monday after that (23rd).

Terry Walsh after that (TBC) (30th).

Queries they have on the boards are sent off to experts for analysis. (Who are these experts?)

Junior Activity

Played in the Limerick fund raising competition for the Women.
They are having a weekend of coaching this coming weekend. They each have been paired off with an expert "mentor".
Some of the team are playing in July in the European pairs.
They are going to Brighton to play in the swiss teams.
They hope to get to Bangor (end July) and Derry (mid Sept).
They can be spotted playing in the Bankers, the Regent and some clubs in Kilkenny.

Finally they want to thank the bridge community for the tremendous support.

Another Email
I also received an email from a BBO monitor. This concerned citizen counted the number of hands each of the juniors played on BBO in the last month.

Here are the findings:
David Synnott : 58 hands in the last month (none outside the organised training)
Jamie Martin : the same 58 hands
eofiachain : 96 hands in a month
bsharkey : 243 hands in a month
eman : 55 hands in a month
gateway : 104 hands in a month

In fairness, this does not count the number of kibitzed hands. However, many would agree that more activity is required.

Have a good game,
Rueful Rabbit

Disaster with Flair

2008-06-10T11:08:00.003+01:00

Cork based Prof. Geoff Roberts submitted a chapter from his bridge Magnus Opus.

The man is not to be trifeled with! In my reply, I omitted his full title and this was his response.
"By the way, if you don't know me personally its PROFESSOR Roberts. I worked hard for the title - and it wasn't writing Bridge columns!"

Enjoy...

Play Bridge with Roberts: The Mistakes YOU can Make at Bridge, if You Try Just a Little Bit Harder

Chapter 4: Disaster Against the Deirdres

The last board of the last match in a multiple teams competition. Against a team known locally as the four Ds. A women’s team of a certain age, all called Deirdre, would you believe. It can be a bit tedious at times: “Who’s North?” “Deirdre”. “Whose bid?”. “Deirdre’s”. “Whose lead?” “Deirdre’s.” “Who called the Director?” “Deirdre.” “Who revoked?” “Deirdre.” “Who’s the team captain?”…….

We are non-vul against vul. I hold:

♠ 10987
♥ 3
♦ Q9654
♣ A92

The opponents bidding: 2d (benj acol) on my left, 3c, 3d, 3h, 4d, 5d. Declarer, we are told has 8 playing tricks with a solid suit in diamonds. Yeah, right. As solid as the Dollar!

I think about doubling. Seems likely that the contract is going down. But why give the diamond position away, and they might well run to hearts. Also, the match has gone well so far. Why go through all that stress and strain for the sake of an extra 100?

Partner leads the king of hearts. Dummy goes down:

♠ KQ
♥ J10842
♦ -
♣ KQ10863

Oh, joy! A void diamond. You are going down, down, down, Deirdre!

Shifting uncomfortably in her chair, Declarer says “thank you, partner”.

She wins the 1st trick with the ace. Ace of diamonds, followed by the King and Jack. Partner shows out on the 2nd diamond and discards a couple of small black cards. The suit and pips don’t really register. Its been a long weekend and surely the count won’t count in this defence? Declarer discards clubs from dummy.

In with the Queen of diamonds, what do I do now? I’m beginning to wish I had paid more attention to partner’s discards. It would be very handy to have a count at this point. I can hear partner now: “what’s the point in playing distributional signals if you don’t follow my discards”. Nag, nag, nag.

Looking at dummy at this point I can see:

♠ KQ
♥ J10843
♦ -
♣ KQ10

and a dreaded trump coup looming. I just hate it when the oppo make a five level contract against this kind of trump break. Bridge players are such gloaters. No sense of decorum.

I don’t want to lead my club ace. I can see it getting ruffed and there are two spade entries – enough to shorten trumps and pull off the coup. So it will have to be a spade exit. That’s it. Attack declarer’s entries, as the books say.

Declarer wins with the ace of spades. It looks like Declarer’s distribution is 1-2-7-3. Dear oh dear oh dear, Deirdre, so you prefer to play in a 7-0 trump fit rather than support your partner’s six card club suit. I just love to punish bad bidding! But funny that partner didn’t pre-empt with her 6-5 in spades and hearts. At this vul she usually pre-empts on principle with any six-card suit or 5-4 or better distribution. Maybe she’s finally taking to heart my little homilies on the difference between pairs and teams tactics. Still, 3d (Michaels) would have been fun! Anyway, my ace of clubs is not running away. Partner has a heart trick. Declarer doesn’t have the entries for the trump coup. Duck soup, as the toffs at the Young Chelsea say.

Declarer’s next move is to play a heart. Partner wins with the Queen and plays another heart. Stupid Partner! He is shortening trumps for declarer!! I discard and…Declarer follows suit with a heart. I just don’t believe it. Declarer has three hearts on THAT bidding. Absolutely shocking. Worse still Declarer is in dummy and my worst nightmare is about to materialise. The jack of hearts is played. I discard and so does declarer – a club. The king of clubs is led from dummy and ruffed. A grand coup. It just gets worse and worse. Spade to the king. Another heart is led from dummy. I’ve had enough of this. Let get this over quickly. I ruff, overruffed. My last trump is drawn and declarer wins her 11th trick with the 2 of diamonds.

Dummy Deirdre says: “I thought that might be the best spot. I always support partner’s suit when I have a void. Ho, ho, ho!

Declarer Deirdre solemnly states: “I should never have made it”.

Partner purses her lips and asks politely why I didn’t ruff the 3rd heart (lucky for me she is tired too – 4 hours sleep all weekend just isn’t enough at her age - and hasn’t noticed the psuedo-trump coup I have just perpetrated on declarer’s behalf. Strange, though, that she missed it - it is the second such defensive miscoup I have performed in the last month).

What to say to teammates? Blaming partner might be a bit difficult, under the circumstances. It will have to be the barrage defence – four hearts makes on a diamond lead etc, etc. Come to think of it, maybe pards bid it. No. 3nt, two down. But every cloud has a silver lining. The boys are too busy arguing about their bidding to bother with our result.

Time for a quick exit. Don’t think I’ll hang around for around for the prizes.

Points to Remember

1. The pseudo-trump coup works well against players who can be panicked into an unnecessary ruff. But make sure you play for it with a smug, self-satisfied smile on your face (not too difficult for any self-respecting bridge player)

2. Its generally best to double in these situations. On balance you will perform better defending a doubled contract than not. With declarer its usually the other way round. Also, think of the adrenalin jolt that surges through you when dummy goes down. And that frisson of fear in the middle game when you see ways in which declarer might make. Think too of that feeling of relief when the contract goes down. Better than sex and Ecstasy combined! And if they make it – “it only cost 150” – and there may even be the small compensation of some obscure line of double-dummy defence that you can berate partner (and bore teammates) about missing.

3.In the event of disasters of this magnitude always claim that it was a deliberate misdefence designed to create comic material for your new book.

The next instalment: Chapter 3: Chump Coup

A Horror Story

2008-06-09T17:47:00.004+01:00

This piece is curtesy of Michael McGloughlin.

This hand arose in a recent Sean Stack Memorial competition played in the Regent Bridge Club. Many readers will have known Sean who passed a couple of years ago and the trophy for the competition in his memory was donated by Brendan O’Brien and Ranald Milne. The format of the competition is a 2 division round robin league of 6 rounds with the leading teams after the round robin section playing semi-finals and eventually a final
On this hand large swings were recorded in quite a few of the matches. (Hands are duplicated across the room. Some teams made game in Hearts North South and Game in Clubs East West. Amongst those teams suffering the biggest adverse swing (Game and Slam) was that led by my team captain who held the East Hand above and had the following auction and who remains nameless in deference to the end result

West North East South
1C ... 2S ... P .... 4H
P .... P .... 5C ... P
P .... 5H ... P .... P
P

The big problem arose on the first round as the Captain and his partner who employ a five card major structure, the main drawback to which is that a 1C opening can be, and often is made with only 3 or sometimes only 2 in the suit. Holding poor club support and very scattered values he felt it would be imprudent to support Clubs, overly optimistic to bid 3D and fatal to negative double, which invariably guarantees 4 hearts. His choice of Pass left his partner hopelessly cut out of the Auction went it came round to her at 4H. With losers all over the place opposite a Passed partner she Passed and rather than sell out to 4H he competed with 5C. This went to North judged well to bid on in Hearts (largely because of the Singleton Diamond) and there the auction fizzled out.
Declarer had little difficulty in scoring 11 tricks losing just 1 Diamond and 1 Spade.
At the other Table the Auction started 2C by West (Natural (Good Clubs suit and 11-15 HCP). Thereafter East with the VOID in Hearts was well placed to judge the power and trick taking potential of his hand. The Final contract of 6C posed little problem in the play. In fact in the absence of the Spade Ace lead declarer has an easy route to 13 tricks. This gave a swing of 1370 + 450 a total of 1820 or 18imps
Many years ago one of the leading English writers recommended that in the highly competitive Auction it is always wise to bid one more a motto that East failed to follow when allowing the opponents to play 5 Hearts and equally South in the other room also ignored the rule when allowing West to declare 6 Clubs. The par for the hand is clearly 100 points to East West from 6H Doubled
The message from this deal Take out insurance when opponents bid to game or slam and you have what you know is a likely cheap save. From time to time you will be turning a small plus of 100 to a minus of 100 or 300 but far better this than to suffer the indignity of losing over 1800 on one hand.

Looking South

2008-05-21T16:24:00.004+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

For the last while Ireland has been sending out bridge raiding parties across the globe. Well, maybe it’s time we took some rear guard action down south?
I've been checking out the results of last week's Killarney congress and it seems to me that the Irish bridge community should be plugging the gaps by not letting Killarney silverware leave the island?
Perhaps the Kerry/Cork players are just super cute - protecting the tourist industry by chucking MP's and IMP's at tourists? Maybe, maybe not.

Either way, should someone co-ordinate the May, 2009 defence of Killarney?

This year’s Brian Boro (Home Defender) Award goes to Bernie Rafferty & Jeroen Lodewijks (one of the Galway Lodewijks) who won the Mixed Pairs (Dr E N M O’Sullivan Trophy)

Special mention goes to Cian Holland, Pat Quinn (Mixed teams) and Mamie MacCormac & Antoinette McGee (Ladies Teams) who won with foreign based players.

Have a good game,
Rueful Rabbit

Ireland Open Team

2008-05-21T09:58:00.003+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

Jacko has organised the following practice matches for the Irish Open team on Bridge Base Online.

PORTUGAL Open team this Thursday, May 22nd @ 7.30 PM
The lineup for this match is Nick FitzGibbon - Adam Mesbur; Tom Hanlon - HughMcGann
Result: Ireland +45 IMP over 22 boards.
As ever results can be downloaded here http://online.bridgebase.com/myhands/index.php

DENMARK on Wenesday, May 28th @ 7.30 PM (Time To Be Confirmed)

CAYNE on Thursday, June 5th @ 7.00 PM

IRISH Senior team on Wednesday, June 11th @ 7.30 PM

Have a good game,
Rueful Rabbit

History of Irish Bridge

2008-05-20T22:32:00.004+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

I got a great email today from a great practitioner and servant of Irish bridge.

Seamus Dowling has commenced writing a History of Irish Bridge which is due out in Autumn 2009. Here is what Seamus has to say ...

"Right now I am trying to trace personalities in other sports who also were (are) well-known in bridge, with a view to having a photo gallery and, possibly, brief pen pictures - obvious names who reached the top of their sports spring to mind: Pat McCann (golf), Jimmy Smyth(hurling), Bethel Solomon (rugby), Róisin Troy (cycling), Hugh Peacocke (boxing). There are many more, some, perhaps, of which I am not aware. Also I would like information on personalities from the business, academic and other fields who play or played bridge. Also I am looking for anecdotes (must be verifiable and non-libellous). All available national records CBAI and IBU have been examined - I have very little from NIBU sources - but there is a dearth of knowledge from some provincial areas - I am still hopeful. Soon a line will be drawn beyond which I will seek no further."

I think we are obliged to assist Seamus in any way we can, as everyone will benefit.

Seamus was generous in his praise of this column and I would like to wish him the very best with his book and I look forward to the publication.

Seamus can be reached @ seamusdowling@hotmail.com

Have a good game,
Rueful Rabbit

Zia writes about a swashbuckling partnership

2008-05-20T09:22:00.002+01:00

Just came across this gem - http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/apr/07/bridge

Business deals and a Hand from the Senior Trials

2008-05-19T11:15:00.012+01:00

Today, I'm featuring a great contribution from Michael McGloughlin.
Rueful Enterprises Ltd. are keen that Michael joins the editorial panel - will keep you posted.

The Rueful Blog/Newsletter has also signed an initial 1 year deal with the Paul Porteous in the CBAI to cross publicise our web sites.

The Hand
The hand is taken from a recent Seniors event with Paul Scannell at the helm.

Dlr: E Vul: E/W		AJ9xx x AKQx Q7x

		K Axx Jxxx AK10xx

Bidding
(2H) - 3C - P - 3S (forcing)
... 6C p p p

The final Contract of 6 Clubs looks to be well with the odds. Winning the Heart lead ruffing a heart and cashing the Club Queen reveals that West has been dealt J98xx in Clubs

Paul Scannell demonstrated great technique to land his 12 tricks. He crossed to his Spade King took a second top trump played a Diamond to the Dummy, discarded his 3rd Heart on the Spade Ace ruffed a Spade and played Diamonds and found the hand on his left following to everything and in the ending as the 4th Diamond hit the table the position was

.............North
.............S xx
.............H -
.............D Q
.............C -

West
C J98

.............South (Declarer)
.............S -
.............H -
.............D J
.............C K10

West had no choice but to ruff and found himself playing a Club back to Declarers tenace to concede the 12th trick

No doubt the Declarer was fortunate to find that West had the dreaded 3/2/3/5 shape and having to follow to every card until trick 10 but he was unlucky to run into a 5/0 trump stack.

Upcoming BBO Matches of Irish Interest

2008-05-16T19:32:00.008+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

The Open Team
Fair play to Jacko, he promised to email me details of all matches as they are arranged. They play Denmark on Wed 28th May @ 7:15
Line Up: TBC

The Juniors
I haven’t mentioned these boys yet but they are off to Beijing in the autumn.
Maybe I'll dedicate a post to these chaps in the future after I do some 'recon' on their respective talents.

They have a practise match Vs Team MacDonagh next Monday.
No more details at the moment ... email me if you know the line up times etc.

The Women
The women have promised me some info on their matched but no details yet!
C’mon gals, get with the programme! Or else I might have to challenge you!?!

Oh, there is a fundraiser for them in Limerick at the end of the month. details on the CBAI website or from diarmuid.reddan@gmail.com

Team Rueful
Rueful will need a panel of team mates for public bridge executions. 'Working Class' players or better can apply.

Have a good game,
Rueful Rabbit

My Identity

2008-05-16T13:43:00.007+01:00

Dear Bridge Players,

Thanks
Firstly, a big thank you to the many people who have wished me well. A rabbit cannot survive on carrot alone - positive feedback will add to my enjoyment in bringing you this column.

Identity
It seems that my identity is quite a talking point if the post bag outside my burrow is anything to go by. For the record, three people know my identity but I won't name them as I'm sure they would be pestered. My sole motive for using a pseudo name is to peak interest in the game.

Promise
I will reveal myself before the end of the year - it depends on how quickly my plastic surgeon can get through his work :) If I were to leave it longer, I think people might start clubbing innocent rabbits or leverets to death.

Have a good game,
Rueful Rabbit

Latest News

2008-05-14T14:22:00.007+01:00

Hi All,

Today, I'm reporting on the exploits of our top flight bridge players.

Kinder and Hugh have been near top spots in England for the last two weekends.

Spring 4's
Ganlon (for want of a better shortening) were playing on team Gillis(2nd seed) and were eventually knocked out by Allfred in the Semi final. Most of the top seeds were bolstered by professional with the exception of the eventual winners Jagger (I think? Otherwise, let me know)

Carvey (John Carroll & Tommy Garvey) were engaged by team Mossop(8th seed) who were knocked out in Round 3.

BBO had very curtailed coverage due to a power cut at the venue.

Crockfords
Ganlon and Carvey played on Team Hackett in the Crockfords finals finishing 4th out of 8.

Details & pictures available from http://www.ebu.co.uk/
In summation, the lads were disappointed with the outcomes as you'd expect .

The real test will come on the 14th June when Team Ireland start the European Champs in Pau on the 14th June. The team is the same as the Bermuda Bowl/Europeans '06.

David Jackson (NPC)
Adam Mesbur - Nick FitzGibbon
Tom Hanlon - Hugh McGann
John Carroll - Tommy Garvey

We all wish the very best. I hope Jacko will keep me posted on news/upcoming matches on BBO.

I'm delighted to say BBO is increasingly awash with Irish players of all grades so the message to the rest of you is come join the fun.

Carrot club is the foundation of 2 of our open pairs on the team. If you fancy trying it out, I'll
play it with you for a few hands ... my name is Rueful_R
My system link is: http://homepage.mac.com/bridgeguys/CGlossary/CarrotskiClub.html

Have a good game,
Rueful Rabbit.

Email all news to rabbit.rueful@gmail.com

Nice Hand

2007-07-19T12:30:00.000+01:00

Sorry that I have not been round in a while. Here is a hand from a recent club competition that I liked.

Dlr: S Vul: E/W		QJ AK74 T63 AKJ3
	2 QJT93 Q74 T874		K98743 85 K52 Q9
		AT65 62 AJ98 652

The Bidding was:
N - E - S - W
1C - (1S) -1NT - (P)
3NT All Pass

Qh Lead.

I won and lead the TD which lost to the Q and the HJ came back. I won and played 2 rounds of spades neither covered. East discarded a D4 on the 2nd spade. Finessed the diamond and cashed the 2 diamond winners. On cashing the SA, West looked uncomfortable and discarded a club and I pitched the heart. Then I ran the clubs from the top for 12 tricks and all the matchpoints. Thats right West was 'inexorably' squeezed on the SA. East was likely to hold the CQ for his overcall.

What have the Italians got?

2007-05-22T12:47:00.000+01:00

Most will agree that both the nation and the people have got it all - to much to mention here in the Rueful blog. The same applies to the Italian the game of bridge and I hope to plant some ideas in your mind as to what they do.

They have:

A successful history
A wealth of talented players with old/young masters bringing on talented youngsters
Building innovation on top of innovation (with regard to systems)
Professional approach
Big sponsors for top teams

Lets talk innovation:
Versace-Lauria employ 2D to show balanced hands (without a 5 card M) in the 18-19 HCP range. What does this achieve?
Both play natural minor opening meaning that they never have to show balanced hands greater than 15 HCP (as they play a strong NT). This frees up room for more accurate distribution showing. I.e. the auction 1m - 1x - 2nt is never natural.

Majors:
1M - 2C is a relay for shape and points - For more on this, follow the link to David Collier on the right.

Gazzilli: The details are courtesy of Sudhir Aggarwal who published in Delhi Bridge Association Newsletter, Vol. 3 Issue 7 - December 2005

What have I Irish Got?

A team of 7 talented men (incl. the captain) who came 2nd to Italy in the '06 Europeans
Professional approach
A sponsor

Not a bad start for the forthcoming Bermuda Bowl.

Other links relating to this post:
bocchi-duboin.pdf
lauria-versace.pdf

Lets talk bridge...

2007-05-15T12:38:00.000+01:00

I was watching the Cavendish Invitational pairs on BBO and the web last weekend. I was following Ireland's top pair Tom Hanlon and Hugh McGann who finished 16th out of 56. In spite of the quality field, I'm sure they are not happy with the result.

On BBO we were very fortunate to have Larry Cohen and many other commenting. We heard that Larry was not playing this year as he objects to the scoring method. He feels that it leads to too many random results. I'll try to get more on the specifics of this some other time.

While looking down the entry list I spotted the names of two young hot shots Justin Lall and Gavin Wolpert who were the subject of a bridge documentary posted on YouTube (but since removed). They have since parted ways partnership wise. They were playing with Bart Bramley and John Kranyak respectively. Anyway, I googled Lall's name and I came across his blog. Some interesting stuff on his pages.

One of Justin's links was to David Colliers blog (a Manchester based junior). This I found even more interesting as he has adapted and presented some of the methods developed by the likes of Garozzo, Bocchi and others. He talks about treatments of 1M - 2C and 1M - 2D; well worth a look for system heads. This is similar to what Hanlon-McGann use within their 2 way club system (A Carrot Club derivative).

I have spent time in the past trying to untangle the system of two of my favorite pairs Bocchi-Duboin and Versace-Lauria. What I like about they systems is the natural initial actions followed by often precise (complex) investigations.

One of the things I intend to explore here in the near future is the way both pairs dedicate an opening bid to balanced 18-21 HCP freeing up more space for (1 level) openers response. I.e. If you open 1x, you never have to show balanced hands in the 18-21 range. I'm sure this might not excite many of you right now, but I hope to elaborate on this and even make it a bit of fun system you can try with your partner once I post some detail.

Please feel free to comment.