Hamilton Bridge Congress

I didn't attend this event but there were several Scottish Juniors there. I glanced through the results of Shiva & Artem, and one result caught my eye, a 6H-1. Typical overbidding I thought to myself, but perhaps they were a little unlucky. 

You can see that with South having both the missing Heart honours 6H is doomed, and duly went down one. 

However, there is a twist, as 6H was doubled by South. It's a very poor double, as it converts +50 to +100 and so makes virtually no difference to the matchpoint score. The danger is that the double alerts both East and West that Hearts are breaking badly, and gives them a chance to correct to 6NT.

6NT was played on the majority of tables, and usually made 12 tricks. I think declarer should start by playing Hearts, low to the Ten. When North shows out on the second round of Hearts, you are forced to switch to Diamonds and Clubs. They work out very nicely, and you finish with 4+1+4+3 = 12 tricks. 

So doubling 6H could have been costly, but South got away with it here.

The pairs tournament was one by Angus MacDonald and Peter Hodgson, who have both helped out with Junior tournaments in the past. Hutchesons's coach Peter Clarke and Scotland U26 star Prajwal finished fourth. 

We await the results of the teams. Update - the team did not win the teams, and were much closer to the bottom than the top. But from what I hear, they all had a great time. Results here

 

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.