High School of Glasgow Pairs Championship

The school bridge club has a good group of final year S6 pupils and younger S3 pupils - enough to have a short pairs championship. We had three tables playing ten boards, along with a couple of younger groups playing Minibridge.

There were lots of well bid and played boards, including two in a row where every table made 3NT. 

Our more experienced pairs ran into trouble when they overbid to failing games, or just got unlucky with good contracts bid against them. That paved the way for Michael and Eunice to win the event, followed by Sam and Elliot.

Here is one where the winning pair got a bad result which turned out to be a good result:

At every table North opened 2S. Then things diverged. Michael and Eunice got to 4S by North, down five! Losing 500 vulnerable wasn't too bad in the end.

On her table Isla bid the East hand to 3NT and quickly claimed 10 tricks. Niamh and Rachel may have recognised the hand, they played it as part of the HSOG Junior Christmas Party in 2021! They won that event (see here).

The final board proved expensive for some:

Eunice played 4S from the West seat. To make it you need a bit of luck - trumps 3-2, Diamond 3-3, and the defence to not lead trumps. Only out of those three things happened and so she finished down one. On another table Artem played 4Sx-1, doubled by North.

On the final table both sides bid Hearts and in the end Sam played 3Hx from the South seat. This could fail with repeated Spade leads as you lose trump control, but made today for a great score. 

2026 HSOG Pairs champions (in shirts)

 

Peggy Bayer Photos

 

U21 winners - England

 

U26 winners - England

SBU U21

Scotland U21

Peggy Bayer Match 9 & 10

The Scotland team were perfectly polite, but inwardly I think upset to be beaten by their younger SBU rivals. I encouraged them to channel their inner anger to the match against Ireland, where they produced a stonking 83-28 IMP win. "I like scoring up" said Niamh after this one. Why can't they play like that every match?

The SBU team didn't quite enjoy scoring up so much, and I think have been roundly beaten by England. I've not seen the final score yet, but hope they can grab a VP or two.

This board caused a lot of trouble around the event:

For Scotland our North-South pair got to 5D after a fourth suit forcing auction (1H-1S;2D-3C). This made plus one. In the SBU match they got swindled by England, who bid swiftly to 5C East-West which went undoubled down four. When he came out of the match South did say he had made a mistake, forgetting to double with three Aces. I later noticed the English coach reminding his over-enthusiastic East player that a 3C opening is usually seven cards.

Both Irish Peggy Bayer and Camrose teams ended up in failing grand slams, so clearly not an easy one to bid.

The gladiators are now in for the final combat, with Scotland looking to get a good result against Northern Ireland. I set a target at breakfast today of 100 VPs (average 10/20 per match), which is within reach. 

Turns out the SBU team lost by just 6 IMPs to England! Well done all of them. My players don't seem to enjoy having their photos taken but I'm now going to sneak in to the venue to take a few action shots. 

Niamh & Rachel

It was perfectly quiet in there apart from a tall man in shorts with a phone squatting down to get photos. Outside the playing area things are more relaxed.

"It doesn't matter about our score anyway, as we were down seven doubled at the other table"

Timon, thinking about the gala dinner at 830 tonight

As we await the final result I fear that our Scotland team have not done enough to overhaul Ireland and will finish in third, with the SBU team fourth having sabotaged the senior team by beating them earlier.

In the U26 event it looks it will also be England #1, Ireland #2 and Wales #3 not far behind.

All that remains is for me to beautify myself for the gala dinner and give a short speech thanking everyone. 

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It turns out that I wasn't required for the final speech, so instead I will here say thanks to Anne Perkins and all the team, and well done to both the wonderful Scotland U21 teams, for their impeccable behaviour and great effort on the bridge table. The honour of talking for Scotland went to Troy Van-De-L'isle, the non-playing captain of the SBU U26 team. His thanks was echoed by many others, including some remarkable moments.

David Wiseman turning the air blue

The distinguished speaker recalled the last time Scotland won the trophy, then told a rather risque joke that I won't repeat here as I think we got away with Eunice not hearing it the first time and I'd rather shield her young ears. There were two Welsh speakers. One recalled the heroism and suffering of their country, and another read a poem they'd prepared in honour of James Williams, who is playing for the final time this year having reached the age limit. It was proposed to honour all players who have 'aged out'. Only two others admitted that this was their last year, and those three awkwardly walked out to our applause and a song, before quietly sneaking back in later.

Michael Byrne gave a brutally honest and funny speech from the England U26 team, and Stephen Kennedy brushed off his sore throat to give another astonishing bridge-themed vocal performance, this time adapting lyrics to We Didn't Start The Fire. Although the English are given very grudging applause they are in fact extremely gracious winners, and their players are always very well mannered and the best at joining in and chatting with the other countries.

It turns out the finishing positions were not what I expected. In the last match the Scotland team faltered against Northern Ireland, losing again, whereas the young SBU team beat Wales. This was enough for the SBU team to overtake and finish third overall.

I'd set both teams a target of 100 VPs, and they were close. The wins are highlighted in Green.

The final scores for the Peggy Bayer:

It does slightly concern me that after 10 matches of 16 boards not every team has played 160 boards, but perhaps that is just a small scoring error. You can see that both Scotland teams were within touching distance of Ireland, a great effort considering how many inexperienced players we had.

In the Junior Camrose Wales were the standout improvers:

And finally, as I sign off, I must mention that to round off the evening Ailsa with the help of Isla and Anya and Niamh organised an impromptu ceilidh.

Next stop Dublin 2027. I'd forgotten this was in the rotation as last time it was played online due to Covid.

Peggy Bayer Match 7 & 8

Everything to play for today as we launch into battle against Wales and Ireland. The day also promises at least one trip into Troon - ideally to get a belt as my best bridge shorts are a bit loose. 

I watched the first hand live.

This is the Scotland U26 pair, getting to a one down 3C. A sensible result, not repeated elsewhere. On the other table the Scotland U26 pair got to the remarkable contract of 5H-6, which was non-vulnerable and undoubled so didn't cost too much, apart from some embarrassment.

In both the Peggy Bayer matches I watched North opened 1NT. At one table the Welsh South tried a speculative Stayman, and left his partner in 2NT. Our East (Isla) correctly led a Diamond, and cashed the setting trick plus a couple more for 2NT-2.

On the other table Ireland made a conventional 2C and they found the good Diamond fit. This was played very nicely, endplaying Artem as North three times to make 2D+2.

This time I'm nearly certain that the SBU team has beaten Ireland, with a tremendous 16-4 win! On top of that, the Scotland team beat Wales 17-3. 

Intense scoring up

In the second match of the day our two teams faced off. The older Scotland team were supposed to win, but the SBU pulled out some magic and beat their more experienced rivals. 

This was a good hand for the young(er) upstarts. 4S has three top losers and a slow Heart loser, but you can throw a Heart on the King of Clubs if you avoid a Heart lead. When Eunice was the West declarer for Scotland she got a tricky low Club lead from North. I hate it when people underlead Aces, but here it works surprisingly well, as it makes declarer guess about Clubs. Eunice made the percentage play of a low Club (hoping South had the Ace) and now went one down. Bad luck, well played!

Overall the SBU team won by 46-37 IMPs.

This morning I took Iris into town, along with Artem & Shiva, to celebrate them making our first slam (6S=) by going to Greggs. 

This afternoon I went back to Troon with Eunice and Isla. We saw lots of seagulls, some jackdaws and a pied wagtail.

Here is the cross-table, though I think it's out of date and don't trust it:

Peggy Bayer Match 5 & 6

Scotland and SBU Peggy Bayer teams

In the first match after lunch the SBU team played against Ireland, and Scotland against Wales. These were the final matches in the first round robin.

I know what happened to both my pairs on this hand.

At their table Artem opened the North hand 1D, and Shiva bid a direct 5D. This makes, so I can't complain too much. But I'll complain a bit - South should respond 1H and they should end up in an easy 3NT instead.

In their match Niamh and Artem took a circuitous route to 3NT, which gained IMPs when on the other table Ireland bid to 6D. Isla doubled this and led her Ace, Eunice encouraged, and took her King of Spades for one off.

Both teams bid a safe game here

Eunice & Isla made 4S, and so did Andrew & Maoyan. Top marks to Kajetan and Prajjwal from Scotland U26 who got to the making 7H.

At the end of the match our SBU players came out jubilantly, claiming they had beaten Ireland, by a handsome margin of 30 IMPs. I didn't believe it, and waited for the official score. That seemed to confirm what they had said, a famous win!

In the other match Scotland narrowly beat Wales. Well done both teams!

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It literally was too good to be true, and the scores against Ireland had been accidentally reversed. We actually lost by 30 IMPs.

Biscoff Ice Cream in Troon

In the sixth match Scotland could not repeat their heroics and lost to England, whereas the SBU team lost to Northern Ireland, but not by as much as the scorecard currently shows. 

On both tables West opened 4S, North doubled, South passed, and it went three down. This is presumably as declarer wins seven Spade tricks and nothing else, though looking at it now at two minutes to midnight I wonder if North could get a trump promotion in Diamonds.

Anyway, on one table it was recorded as 4Sx down three by West, and on the other as 4Sx down three by North, which is clearly a mistake, which will get fixed in due course to slightly improve our score.

At the end of six out of ten rounds teams sit somewhere between third and sixth overall, it's quite hard to tell. Certainly behind England and Ireland but not sure about Northern Ireland or Wales. 

Late result - in the Speedball I think Ailsa and English partner Aleks finished 3rd (58%), and Niamh with Welsh partners James and Woody finished 4th (55%)! 

But it's all a bit random in the speedball, as myself and my partner (41%) will tell you.

I conceded 4Hxx against this pair, with an overtrick! 

Peggy Bayer 2026 - Match 3 & 4

Dreamed last night we lost by Wales by 189 IMPs. Woke up early to find a gummy snake stuck to my shoulder. Peeled it off and went down for breakfast, only to find two of my team already there. That's never happened before.

Here's most of the team, looking fresh-faced ready for a full day of matches

First up the Scotland team have a tough tie against England, and the SBU team against their closest rivals Northern Ireland.

I sat in for the first board. I saw Niamh open 1S, and Rachel smoothly pass with a 0 count with one Spade. The cards lay well for declarer, who made 1S+2, the perfect result - maximum overtricks with no fear of missed game.

At the other table I saw Anya open the same hand 1S, but this time the opponents interfered with 2D then 3C. Anya gave the 3S bid a squeeze, picked up the pass card, gave the 3S bid another squeeze and then finally passed. "Think with your head, not your hand" will be my advice for later. On this hand it doesn't matter what you do, as your partner is always going to pass, but on another hand your fidgeting might unethically prompt partner to raise Spades where they wouldn't otherwise. This is a problem playing in person, where you have to keep your mannerisms to yourself, a difference to playing online.

Surprisingly, the best contract here is 4H from West, which we might have got to if East had 'found a missing Jack' and counted 20 points and opened 2NT.

We had a few good ones against England. On this board the English West opened a strong NT. We don't play any conventions over this, so North (Ailsa) found a natural double. This went five off for +1100. In the other match where 1C was opened our North overcalled 2C, Michaels, so Artem and Shiva got to 4S. A good result all round.

At the end of the round, the scorer came in to give me two scorecards. "Well done!" she said, then apologised as she'd given me the wrong cards. But the result was the same. To my surprise, we had beaten England 44-32 for a famous 12-8 VP win. The English player who I'd given a lift to yesterday said well done to us. The SBU team also beat Northern Ireland comfortably.

Peggy Bayer 2026 - Match 1 & 2

This year the U21 and U26 Bridge Home Internationals are in Scotland, meaning we have the honour of providing two teams for each event. I am the non-playing captain for both the U21 teams, called Scotland and SBU, of which many are from The High School of Glasgow, and many are considerably under twenty-one. 

Event Website including Player Photos, System Cards and a link to Kibitz (which is just the U26 event).

Before the match I had to drive to Prestwick train station to pick up a couple of players. The airport seemed completely deserted, but I finally found them waiting the other side of a glass partition. I couldn't work out how to get there and in the end had to run down an up-escalator to get there - it was a bit like the Travelator in Gladiators but in reverse.

I ended up picking up three extra Scottish players and one English guy joined two to, cramming seven of us in the Zafira. Not sure they realised that's they were in for. Because of this I ended up being late for the team meeting I'd called, and there was precious little time for me to inspire the team. Luckily Niamh and Rachel said they'd already been inspired by a member of the public.

Captain Artem passes on some wisdom

The first match has now kicked off, Scotland against SBU, so my two teams playing each other. A guaranteed win (and a guaranteed loss). For Scotland our most experienced team of Niamh & Rachel alongside Isla & Eunice (all High School of Glasgow S6 pupils, 17 years old). For SBU the lead pair of Artem & Shiva alongside Emmett and Anya (three HSOG, one Hutcheson's, all S3, so 14 years old).

I pulled up a chair to watch the live action. My West player had sorted his cards into five suits, so I thought I'd stick around and see what he ended up doing. His partner then underled an Ace and I decided it would be more relaxing to go next door and not watch any more.

I will feature the first board of the match (and on Sunday, the very last). It's a good one, a nice slam hand. I can see what happened to the U26 team on RealBridge. The Scotland U26 team bid successfully to 6C, gaining against the U26 SBU team who settled in 3NT+2. 

Not a convincing auction from Antone and Kevin but a good result! The Irish North-South bid a less good 6S and the Welsh 4S+2. 

In our match I saw our North (Artem) open 2C. He ended in a decent spot of 4S, making twelve tricks. On the other table our most experienced North-South pair did something strange and ended in 4H, which luckily just made too.

At the end of match one it was 32-29 IMPs in favour of the senior team. Lots of games bid and made, so well done to both teams.

In the other two games England drubbed Wales and Ireland drubbed Northern Ireland, so our teams are currently 3rd and 4th!

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I'm now waiting for the second match to finish - which isn't until half eleven.

Reflections on the hotel - it seems nice, although it's quite an old building and I've not yet learned my way around yet. When I open a door I'm never quite sure what will be on the other side. There are traditional keys for the doors, and needless to say one of my team has already locked herself out in. 

Just before the second match started a different Scotland Junior came to see me to say there could be a problem, as one of the pool cues has 'broken'. Behind her two English players mimed someone snapping a cue on their knees. Apparently an apology email has been written.

We are now in action for the second round. Two tough matches, against Ireland for the Scotland team and England for the SBU team. This time I managed to stay to watch two live boards before leaving. 

I saw Niamh and Rachel defend accurately against a 3NT contract, setting up and cashing their Heart suit. On the same board debutants Andrew and Mayoan bid well to stop in 2NT, but declarer didn't have time to set up his long suit and went several off.

Next board the youngsters bid to a spirited 5C. Look at the Club suit, a classic combination:

If they split are 2-2 you are home. If they split 3-1, then you can survive here if you start with the Ace, dropping South's singleton Jack, then finesse against North's Qxx. But our declarer began with the King and had to go one off. Bad luck, keep bidding the games. But bid 3NT instead of 5 of a minor.

I'll be happy with any victory points out of these matches.

The master tactician planning the next win

The results are in. Here is one of our successes against the England team:

You can see that 5D from North suffers from three top losers. If they don't take them, you can throw two of dummy's Hearts on the Spade winners, but there is still work to do. Well done Artem bidding and making the contract for a ten IMP gain.

Here's one Andrew & Maoyan did well on, bidding and making 4S:

After West opens the auction went 1S-3S; 4S and this is a nice friendly deal in that you can draw trumps and still have plenty of trumps left for ruffing. Making five Spades, four Hearts, one Club. In fact, an eagle-eyed declarer can make an eleventh trick if he notices the Queen-Jack of Hearts falling.

The other 14 boards didn't go so well, and overall the SBU team lost to England by about 100 IMPs translating to a 20-0 trouncing. The Scotland team did better and lost to Ireland 15-5. This is the current table: