Well done Magda and Sheena!
A COUPLE of things to report on this week, one just completed and the other about to happen (see separate story below on the Regional<$>).The local trials for the Caribbean Bridge Championships took place over four sessions during the past two weekends, with the top three male pairs and top three female pairs representing Bermuda at this event.
The winners of the CACBF event, which is being held in Cura|0xe7|ao, will then become the Caribbean zone representative to the 2008 Bermuda Bowl in Shanghai.
The trials were held using Butler IMPs scoring and the final table certainly would have been hard to predict at the outset.
2. David Cordon-John Burville 84
3. David and Sally Sykes 83
4. Roman Smolski-Vera Petty 79
5. Stephanie Kyme-Judy Bussell 30
6. Jane Smith-Gertie Barker 17
What a great result for Magda and Sheena! This event comprised more than 100 boards and to finish on top of a good class field is a remarkable achievement — well done! They will joined by Judy and Stephanie and Jane and Gertie, who all did well by finishing in the plus side over the four sessions. The men’s team looks strong on paper and both threesomes should give a good account of themselves. Burville-Cordon certainly did well to finish on top of the Men’s Pairs after a rocky start.
There are, of course, a few pairs in both fields who were expected to make the top three but didn’t and there can be few excuses over 100-plus boards. Sometimes, however, these events turn on one or two small decisions and as long as there are lessons learned the result can be turned into a positive.
Larry Cohen and David Berkowitz have both been among the leading American players for some time and are known for their aggressive bidding style. This is displayed on the hand below from the ACBL Fall Nationals in Hawaii where they fell in the <\m><\m> and came out smelling of roses!
The hand came up in the Board-a-match Teams and Cohen-Berkowitz came up against world champions Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes who were sitting who were sitting North-South. The hand also shows the effect of a high-level pre-empt on even the best pairs.
Dealer North, E/W vulnerable>
North
[spade]Q 4 2
[heart]2
[diamond]A Q 9 8 6 4 3
[club]9 3
[spade]8 7 [spade]K 6
[heart]10 6 [heart]A K Q J 8 5 4
[diamond]K 5 2 [diamond]J
[club]K 10 8 7 6 5 [club]A Q 2
[spade]A J 10 9 5 3
[heart]9 7 3
[diamond]10 7
[clu 4
(Cohen) (Fantoni>) (Berkowitz) (Nunes)
- 3[diamond] DBL (1) Pass
3NT (2) Pass 5NT (3) Pass
6[club] (4) Pass 6[heart] Pass
6NT Pass Pass PassIt seems that Pantoni took 15 minutes to lead and eventually led . . . a heart! Thirteen tricks and plus 1470! Notice that if North leads a spade the defence can take all 13 tricks! A 26-trick swing of 2,770 points. Never seen that before . . . at the other table North South Phantom saved against 6 hearts for -500.
Bermuda Bridge Club
Monday afternoon, January 8, N/S: 1. Margaret Way-Jean Johnson, 2. David Cordon-Julia Lunn, 3. Lisa Burland-Greta shall. E/W: 1 Vera Petty-Roman Smolski, 2. Dorry Lusher-Magda Farag, 3. Jeanette Shaw-Alice Palmer.
Monday evng, N/S:<$> 1. Jane Smith-Gertrude Barker, 2. Michael Bickley-Audrey Smith, 3. Judith Bussell-Nea Willits. E/W: Vera Petty-Roman Smolski, 2. Alan Douglas-Barry Rahman, 3. Lynanne Bolton-Shen Ball.
Wednesday morning, N/S<$>: 1. Bea Williams-Diana Diel, 2. Lisa Burland-Patricia Riding, 3. Jean Wakefield-Michael Bickley. E/W: 1. Vera Petty-Roman Smolski, 2. Elizabeth McKee-Jean Johnson, 3. Jeanette Shaw-na Leitch.
Wednesday evening, N/S<$>: 1. Michael Cornes-Annette Lucas, 2. Diana Diel-Magda Farag, 3. Jane Smith-Gertrude Barker. E/W: 1. Vera Petty-Roman Smolski, 2. Heather Woolf-Anelise Scheland, 3. Greg Carey-An Davidson.
Friday, N/S: 1. Michael Cornes-Annette Lucas, 2. Michael Bickley-Bill Tucker, 3. Alan Douglas-Jane th. E/W: <$>1. Tony Saunders-Charles Gambrill, 2. Stephen Ball-Phil Shadick, 3. Audrey Smith-Diana Diel.
