OK, finally I see the news. "My" team, the Nick Stevens team, has survived the quarter-finals and will be heading to the finals weekend showdown. Go team!
The weather is indeed screwing things up. Apparently since the two teams in one of the semi-finals were relatively local to each other, they played it last night in England. My guys won, so presumably they now have to trek north for the final. Hopefully you will see them tomorrow.
Well, that was disappointing. The Gillis team showed no mercy, of course, and the Stevens team played like very tired souls. I don't know if it was the absence of Paul Bowyer, or the drive up to Scotland the day before, or what, but on the day they were not really competitive.
As I mentioned briefly on my blog, the writing was on the wall from board fourteen. The underdogs had a good start against the all-star Gillis team and was a few imps up.
The their declarer was slightly inaccurate in his play and went down in a cold game. Bidding a good slam missed in the other room was the way to go - but unfortunately the layout was unfriendly and it was unmakeable.
Then, on the final set of the second stanza, an ultra-light opening bid got the best lead and misled declarer and a vulnerable same swing resulted.
So an 12 imps lead from the first eight boards was transformed into a 19 imps deficit and they never recovered.
However it must be said that the Gillis team played excellent bridge over the whole weekend and fully deserved their win.
I missed the first couple of stanzas (too early in the morning for me), so I missed those critical developments. But what I did see in the middle stanzas was that the Stevens team was making mistakes that killed any chance of their getting back into the match. We know this was not characteristic, because they have beaten very tough opposition in very tense matches, so I do think fatigue and other factors must have taken a toll on them.
I must admit, I was marvelling somewhat at Zia. His bidding antics are not always sound, but his ability to sit in for set after set and keep doing the same stuff he always does (and his card play is very accurate indeed) is amazing.
This is my scribbles about bridge. Some of it is hands, some of it is bidding system and convention notes, some of it is "dear diary". If you disagree with something I say, feel free to comment. It's all just my opinion, and discussion is good.
I'm British, but I've been living in the US (mostly New York) for a long time. I learned to play bridge as a teenager, in a high-powered school that I didn't fully appreciate at the time. I stopped playing for a long time, but returning to bridge in recent years, I find that the early experience is still with me and still valuable. Now I just have to work at stamina and consistency.
I most often play at the Manhattan Bridge Club.
6 comments:
I'll be there at Peebles and hopefully all the semifinalists will be too.
We are in the grip of unseasonably early snow and transportation is not fairing well, but we may have a mild weekend which should help.
The weather is indeed screwing things up. Apparently since the two teams in one of the semi-finals were relatively local to each other, they played it last night in England. My guys won, so presumably they now have to trek north for the final. Hopefully you will see them tomorrow.
Halfway through the final, and it's rather one-sided. Unfortunately, the wrong side is winning. Now would be the time to turn things around.
Well, that was disappointing. The Gillis team showed no mercy, of course, and the Stevens team played like very tired souls. I don't know if it was the absence of Paul Bowyer, or the drive up to Scotland the day before, or what, but on the day they were not really competitive.
I suppose there's next year.
As I mentioned briefly on my blog, the writing was on the wall from board fourteen. The underdogs had a good start against the all-star Gillis team and was a few imps up.
The their declarer was slightly inaccurate in his play and went down in a cold game. Bidding a good slam missed in the other room was the way to go - but unfortunately the layout was unfriendly and it was unmakeable.
Then, on the final set of the second stanza, an ultra-light opening bid got the best lead and misled declarer and a vulnerable same swing resulted.
So an 12 imps lead from the first eight boards was transformed into a 19 imps deficit and they never recovered.
However it must be said that the Gillis team played excellent bridge over the whole weekend and fully deserved their win.
I missed the first couple of stanzas (too early in the morning for me), so I missed those critical developments. But what I did see in the middle stanzas was that the Stevens team was making mistakes that killed any chance of their getting back into the match. We know this was not characteristic, because they have beaten very tough opposition in very tense matches, so I do think fatigue and other factors must have taken a toll on them.
I must admit, I was marvelling somewhat at Zia. His bidding antics are not always sound, but his ability to sit in for set after set and keep doing the same stuff he always does (and his card play is very accurate indeed) is amazing.
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