Barcelona Open

I'm just back from a weekend in Spain playing in the Barcelona Bridge Open. It was fun with lots of good bridge. I played with Yuqi, a Japanese U21 player who is on an exchange in Spain. We finished an extremely average 78th out of 156 pairs, with 49.9%.

Final scores and Full results

Here is a diary I kept, supplemented with some bridge hands and photos.

Friday 30th January

Left work in a hurry this afternoon and drove to Edinburgh for a flight to Barcelona. It was arranged that I would arrive half-way through the first session and take over from a substitute, so I was keen to get there as quickly as possible. Once the plane landed I dashed through passport control and got a bus to Hotel Catalonia, barely stopping for a single pastry before bursting into the bridge room, which was the whole of floor minus one. 

Taking my seat, I settled in for the highest standard bridge tournament I've ever played in. The most similar experiences I've had are a few years ago playing a season online in the top division in Scotland, and twenty ago playing in the Brighton Congress where I nearly said hello to my hero Zia Mahmood. Since then it's all been school bridge and the occasional club night. 

Before starting, I introduced myself to my partner, who I was meeting for the first time. Yuqi is a talented Japanese player who was also looking for a partner. We'd agreed to play the system he used at the Youth World Championship, reduced from thirty pages to four pages, and had practiced a few times online alongside the Scottish Juniors, who were rather hoping he would defect to play for us. 

I sat North. On the very first board I was pleased to have an easy pass, then my left-hand opponent opened 4♥, passed out.

Danny Yuqi W N E S - - - 4♥ - - -

Yuqi sitting South led the Queen of Spades, on which I encouraged. He followed up with the Jack, which I overtook with the King and cashed the Ace. First three tricks for the defence. Where was our fourth trick coming from?

I promptly played a Spade, deliberately giving declarer a ruff and discard in the hope of promoting a trump trick for us. After considerable thought (three or four minutes, some with his head in his hands), declarer threw a losing Diamonds and accepted down one.

On reflection, my Spade is a bad play. If declarer has any Diamonds left, then it's better for me to play a Diamond to my partner's presumed Ace. Given my Hearts of Q8, it's quite likely that if I play a Spade declarer can ruff and draw trumps then throw his Diamond on dummy's good Clubs. I know my partner has either one or two small Hearts only. So in fact declarer could have succeeded either ruffing with the Jack of Hearts or a high one.

But I had played my Spade with such confidence that I think declarer assumed he was sure to lose an overruff (because South had the Queen), and he was worried about going down two. Phew! We got 91% on the board, as most stopped in 3H, or made 4H. 

On the next board I defended safely for down one, and by Board 3 felt confident to risk a friendly joke, against a pair of stony faced Italians who did not respond. After that I would my neck in. A delightful Dutch couple made me feel welcome then pleasantly destroyed us in 4H+1 when everyone else was only making ten tricks. With the matchpoint scoring conceding an extra trick got us a very bad score. 

At the end of the session we had 47%. I made no big mistakes but was maybe a bit timid. After the session a welcome beer and snacks were provided.

Saturday 31st January

Slept in until 9am. Wanted to take advantage of the hotel breakfast but instead went on a run through the city, which was perhaps a mistake as it was very crowded with lots of roads to cross. A Green Man means cross if you dare. 

With no morning session Yuqi and I went out for paella. He says Spanish food is a bit like Japanese, lots of rice and seafood. Then I went for a nap and to another cafe, ready for the 5 pm start.

We got off to a great start, and then I got a bit carried away. This was the turning point. North opened 1H and I was sitting East.

Yuqi		Danny
W	N	E	S
	1♥	4♣	-
-	-	-	-

The textbook bid is 3C, or maybe Pass. I went one extra with a 4C overcall. I hoped this would put pressure on the opponents, but they happily passed. My partner of course has the best hand at the table but has to pass too.

4C lost the first three tricks in Hearts, then South played a Diamond. I won in hand, crossed to dummy, threw my losing Spade on another Diamond (not expecting the spade finesse to work), and led a Club up. North snapped up his Ace and played another round of Hearts, putting me to a guess, as to how high to ruff. You can see that on this layout I can't guess wrong, but even so, 4C-1 netted only 31%. Top result was 3NT East-West, which a few pairs did find.

Then I had a chance for some good declarer play in 2NT. I had a secret Club suit of AKQ6, which I planned to play at the end, fairly confident that by then both defenders would be squeezed into throwing away too many Clubs to keep a stopper. Despite making a deliberate effort to watch out for Club discards, I missed one, and bottled it at the end and didn't risk playing my winning Six of Clubs.

Missing a squeeze is forgivable, but then I made my only really big blunder of the weekend. I was in another 2NT, needing four Club tricks from AKxxx opposite xxx. The suit split 3-2, but I foolishly cashed the Ace-King then played a third round, and was now stranded from my other two winners (should duck on first or second round). 

Firmly on the tilt, I accidentally made a game forcing bid when I just wanted to play at the two level. I had done a good job memorising the system but bodged here. The auction continued out of control until luckily Yuqi bid one of my suits, and I was able to pass 3H, to the surprise of everyone else at the table. This made exactly, for a solid 56%, and after that good fortune we finished the session well, moving up to 49% overall.

Afterwards I went for a drink with the Welsh Juniors (James, Jo and Sophie), then on to the official bridge dinner, on a friendly table with Serbian and Swedish bridge players. I had a fantastic egg dish followed by a very meaty Catalan stew. I think the Spanish style is to have only large meal a day. I've had two, and am surprised that Yuqi, a slender Japanese man half my size, is eating the same.

Sunday 1st February

After a three course meal last night starting at 10pm I once again didn't really feel like breakfast, but had plenty of orange juice and coffee instead. 

The final session of the bridge was about to start. Could we haul ourselves above 50%, in a very good field?

Things started well when I made 3NT with no Heart stopper.

Yuqi		Danny
W	N	E	S
	-	1NT	2♥
3♦	-	3NT	-

I opened the East hand 1NT, preferring it to 1D for reasons I don't remember. South overcalled 2H showing Hearts and a minor, and Yuqi bid the West hand 3D, natural and game forcing. Although I have massive Diamond support I instead bid 3S, and Yuqi bid 3NT. I thought this promised a stopper, and maybe South did too, as he led a Diamond.

I have nine top tricks. I could have cashed all my Diamond winners then maybe taken a Spade finesse for an overtrick, but realistically I was never going to risk the contract, so I just claimed after checking if the Queen of Spades fell. Making this terrible 3NT was worth 77%, not even more as 5D also makes for the more sensible bidders.

We kept up a good start, until the wheels fell off when I made a fairly decent 2D overcall, which got doubled. We ran to 3C doubled, even worse, when 2NT would have been a decent spot. 

A highlight was getting to play against the great Argentinian Diego Brenner, who had a cool demeanour and leather jacket. I was also looking good in some shorts and 'double penguin' (T-shirt and socks). We got one good board against him when I played 2C-1 (could have made it, nearly did) then Diego fixed us with a four card overcall.

   

Yuqi Danny Diego W N E S - - 1♦ 1♠ 2NT 3♦ 3NT -

I opened the East hand 1D and Diego bid 1S with the South dross. Yuqi bid 2NT, which I alerted, then realised that I'd forgotten I opened the bidding, and withdrew my alert. Diego was very nice about it. We ended in 3NT and North found the Spade lead to hold us to 9 tricks. 3NT= was worth just 15%. What a big difference Matchpoint scoring makes.

About half the players were Spanish and the other half from all over Europe. There were some friendly Croatians who had been in Barcelona a week to watch a Champions League Match. We also played against the Italian great Alfredo Versace, who wore a big hoodie often with the hood pulled tight around him. 

On the final hand I finally got to play a singleton-invite system that we had agreed.

Yuqi		Danny
W	N	E	S
		1♠	-
2♠	-	2NT	-
3♣	-	3♥	-
3♠	-	-	-

I opened the East hand 1S, and Yuqi raised to 2S. I bid 2NT, forcing Yuqi to bid 3C, then I showed my Heart shortage. Yuqi settled for 3S, and I played there. 

South lead a Diamond. I have six top Spade tricks, the Ace of Diamonds, and at least one ruff, so eight tricks to start off with. I set up the Clubs, and was able to ruff both a Club and a Diamond, plus the 8 of Clubs became a winner, for ten tricks and 3S+1. A great one to finish on, getting us 64% on the hand.

In the final session we moved up slightly to finish on 49.9%. However, remember that the first few boards of the event were played by Yuqi and a substitute, and they only averaged about 43%, so for the boards I played we actually averaged 50.5%. Sad that for me a win is beating 50%, I'm a long way from really winning.

After the bridge I popped into Barcelona for a quick haircut then went to the airport, where I was able to play a couple of hands online with the Scottish Juniors before flying home.

It was a very tiring weekend but lots of fun. The event was well run and thanks to the organisers including Nico, the tournament directors, and all the friendly Catalan people.

Now that's done I can concentrate all my bridge efforts on getting the Scottish Juniors ready for the Peggy Bayer in three weeks.

Okome

We played this hand today in Okome, a Japanese restaurant.

No one vul S deal ♠ K Q x x ♥ K x x ♦ K Q J x ♣ A x ♠ J x x ♥ Q J x ♦ x x x ♣ K Q x x 18 9 9 4 ♠ x ♥ A x x x x x ♦ A T ♣ J x x x ♠ A x x x x ♥ x ♦ 9 x x x ♣ x x x

Alex W N E S 1♠ - 4♠ - - -

The South player found a bold 1♠ bid. Something of an overbid, but he is only seven years old. His partner was an Aloe Vera bottle who was kindly making up the table. The bottle had a comfortable 4♠ bid, luckily with a bit to spare.

West led a top Club. Declarer won, and drew trumps in three rounds. Then he led a Diamond up to the King and Ace. East won, took a Club, and returned the ♦T. Declarer recognised his ♦9 was a winner, so now he had ten tricks. He gave up a Heart and claimed the rest, putting the cards aside to tuck into the chocolate moon-balls.

16th European Youth Pairs Championship - President's Cup

After failing to qualify for the A-final, both Scottish U21 pairs (and all three U26 pairs and the U31 pairs) dropped in to the President's Cup. After an excellent second session, Rachel and Niamh finished 38th with a fine score of 49.71%. This put them third out of the six Scottish pairs.

Here is a board where they did well:

After our East opened 1H the opposition got to 3NT. The 6 of Hearts lead was effective, and in the end the defence got six tricks for 3NT-2 and the magic +200 and 91% on the board. 

I liked that in this event everyone played the same boards. There were always two tables visible on the Vugraph and sometimes that meant I got to see my pairs in action. 

I wasn't at the event so don't know about food and stuff; I hope they all had a good time.

 

16th European Youth Pairs Championship - Qualifiers

Four of the Scotland U21 team are now competing in the pairs in Italy. I happened to see Niamh and Rachel on the Vugraph for the last board of the morning session:

After West passed, Niamh sitting North had the balanced 14 count. For us that's an easy 1NT opener. East made a penalty double and the spotlight was on South. 

Last week we did a practice session on what to do when your 1NT is doubled, and I was pleased to see that everyone got it right. Rachel sitting South bid 2S, weak and to play, and Niamh passed.

Against the contract of 2S West lead the Queen of Clubs.

There are not many tricks available for declarer. If you get Spades right you have 5 tricks there, plus one Diamond, and maybe a Club. The first decision is what to do on the opening Club lead. As West's lead of the Queen almost certainly denies the Ace, it's best to play low, which would have worked well here. 

Declarer instinctively played the King of Clubs, losing to the Ace. East returned a Diamond to the Ace. When tackling trumps declarer made the sensible decision to play East for the Queen of Spades, as he'd made the penalty double of 1NT. Unfortunately it didn't work here. In the end declarer got just four Spade tricks and one Diamond for 2S-3.

As ever in Matchpoints, it's hard to work out if this is a good score. It wasn't, just 17%. Getting 2S-2 would be 43%. Although East-West can make 4H, or probably 3NT, they generally didn't. 

At the end of the first session Rachel and Niamh were on 42%, and the other Scottish pair of Iris and Ailsa on 46%.

In the second and third sessions a similar story, and both Scottish pairs are near the bottom with about 40%. They will both be going in to the B-Final.

I think they mostly lost out from bringing in seemingly good scores like 1NT= or 4H=, but getting a bad matchpoint score as there were overtricks available. There were also a few auctions where they could have competed more. But, in general, I was impressed with the play I saw and I think they can be proud of their efforts so far. 

It is a high-quality field. On one board Rachel and Niamh made 6H+1, but it only got them 42%.

Here's a deal from the second session today which impressed me:

Rachel sitting West found herself in 3H. This was not a kind deal for East-West, and getting out for one down would be a good result.

Near the end declarer was left with KQ8 in Diamonds and North had J97. Rather than just playing off the KQ and hoping for the best, Rachel wisely cashed all her trumps and the Ace of Spades, forcing North to decide what to keep. North went wrong and threw a Diamond, and Rachel scored 65%. 

This Scottish pair are only 17 years old and playing in an U21 event - getting a bit craftier will help them a lot!

Live Results

Scottish Schools Minibridge 2025

I took ten pupils on the train to Edinburgh, to the New Melville Bridge Club, joining pupils from Stockbridge, Broughton High and George Heriots. Altogether there were eight tables.

I was impressed by the composure of all the players (age approx 10-12), who were attentive and helped the event run beautifully on time. 

The youngsters I sat with had learned to draw trumps and they counted them accurately. The next stage (for everyone) is to try and keep track of winners. This means master cards (after the Ace and King have gone the Queen is a winner) and length winners (counting to 13).

I saw some good play, but in the pressure of a match situation it's quite common for new players to cash their eight winners and finish in 3NT-1, because they haven't made a plan for the ninth trick, or even counted that they only have eight tricks.

I think this shows how hard bridge is - it takes a lot of practice before good play, or even standard play, becomes automatic. Enough complaining, here are the results:

Well done the top North-South (Raphael & Charlie from Stockbridge) and top East-West (Max & Zach from Broughton High). These pairs bid and made lots of games, so were worthy winners. These results will later be combined with the heat in Aberdeen for our overall winners.

The top HSOG pair were Hanlin and Noah, who finished 3rd East-West. Well done boys!

Scottish Schools Bridge 2025

	CBC locals		+63 IMPs **
1st	High School of Glasgow Seniors (Team Mishap)	Niamh Reid & Rachel Yu Isla Jamieson & Eunice Ooi.	+36 IMPs
3rd	High School of Glasgow Juniors (Team Disaster)	Shiva Viswanathan & Artem Belikov Ashwin Viswanathan + sub	+31 IMPs *
2nd	Hutchesons Seniors		-19 IMPs
	Broughton High		-49 IMPs
	Hutchesons Juniors		-62 IMPs

Our first year at the fantastic new Clyde Bridge Centre. I took seven pupils across on the train. We had five rounds of three boards, with a break for a packed lunch (or a visit to the burger van outside). 

The reason the scores look a bit strange is that teams with adults were ineligible to win.

One highlight was Zac and Lucas (Hutchesons Seniors) bidding 6S from South here:

 

The board below is a good score from HSOG as Niamh & Rachel made 5C from West here. There is only one way to play the trump suit for no losers - lead the Queen. Then if you can draw trumps and set up a Heart trick before the defence take their Spade you've got a chance.

Shiva & Artem and Zac & Lucas made 4S from NS. This needs trump leads from the defence to beat it, else declarer can ruff two Clubs in dummy.

East-West didn’t get very good cards. The best we saw all day was this:

My partner (Ashwin) made 1NT+2 from East. The Clyde Bridge Club locals made 4S here, and 2Dx from North too!

 A few more photos:

The new premises were very spacious and it was great to have Angus MacDonald to help us with the scoring - as we had to fix a few scores when alert players noticed some boards were duplicated wrongly.