U15s Tuesday night

Tuesday was our third attempt to win a morning match, this time against the Dutch.  Lots of IMPs changed hands but at the end we had half a dozen fewer.  Never mind, it was our best morning so far.  Our second match was against Germany: on the first board Isaac misguessed trumps in a 4♥ contract, and then had to play J107x opposite K65 for one loser: luckily he found 98 doubleton on his right.  Meanwhile Daniel and Jack bid 5♣ the other  way: the defence needed to switch to diamonds early on to get ♦K established. When they missed that we picked up a double game swing.  A series of smaller gains followed and we won by 58 IMPs for a near maximum VP score, moving us up to 5th place.  Our third match was against the Czechs, who were now a fraction of a VP behind us.  A pair of vulnerable games came in in the first three boards, after which there were no major swings.  We won by 15, staying in fifth place overnight,

On Wednesday we play our last two matches against Scotland and Norway, who have both struggled so far.  Scotland in particular will be keen to beat us, but we have the chance of getting into the medal positions if we play our best and results go our way.

Photos from the European Youth Championships

Photos from the event are available on the EBL Facebook page.

Some pictures featuring English players are:

Junior Europeans - U25s & U20s - Monday morning

Michael Byrne, NPC of the Under 20s

Today was a better day, but still tough.

We started against Hungary, one pair was ok the other pair were beginners. However there were two honourable flat boards:

4                   

KQJ10        

A                  

AK98732   

AQ109742
A
KQ32
10

Laura/Stephen did nicely to bid these cards to 6C (7S was attempted by at least one pair in the junior series) and Stephen remembered his card combinations and ran the 10, guarding against a small singleton offside (slightly more likely than singleton jack or queen)

AJ852   

A43       

10          

AQ10

Q4
Q
AKQ973
K873

This was well bid to 6C on a controlled auction. (This time England U25s rolled in a rather dodgy 7C!)

The rest of the set was one way traffic and we won by 56 imps.

Match two was tough against France (who are leading), we led with 5 boards to go but then crashed and burned and lost by 36.

The final match of the day was a missed opportunity, we had a great chance to beat the Dutch (currently in 2nd place) but we made the wrong lead against a doubled game which cost 24 imps, turning a win by

14 imps into a 10 imp loss.

We face mid-table Czech Republic tomorrow, and will need a win in order to start our comeback!

-----------------

Alan Shillitoe, NPC of the Under 25s

Wow! What a start!

After two days the U25 team lie top of the standings. Things have gone almost as well, letting a lead against Turkey (a better side than their position suggests) slip aside, as one might have dreamed. We started with confident wins against Bulgaria and Portugal before a distinctly sub-par France offered us a generous score. Today we began with a professional performance against Finland before a 1IMP loss to the Turks. The team rebounded with a near maximum against a weak Austrian team to regain top spot after the Finns surprisingly reversed the Swedes.

Tomorrow are the bottom-placed Welsh in the only match of the day.

Things will then get tougher and we will then play most of the top contenders over the next three days. Form and confidence are big things and at the moment the group has them. Fingers crossed...

Tromso itself is located in a staggeringly beautiful setting. It is mostly on an island in the middle of a fjord off the Arctic Ocean with steep sided mountains rising to over 1000m to either side. In this calm mid-summer weather it has an incredibly peaceful quality feeling like a isolated beacon of civilisation on the edge of the world. It's a privilege to come and visit such an amazing place.

U15s Tuesday morning

We started on Sunday against Sweden, who played soundly on a flattish set of boards and beat us by 13 IMPs.  Then we faced Hungary, winning by 22 IMPs with Oscar and Harry twice making vulnerable 3NT games not reached in the other room.  Our third match was against Poland, whom we'd guessed would be our strongest opponents, but they gave us a couple of presents and we won by 23.  Isaac and Liam defended one vulnerable 5♦ contract imperfectly, but it didn't much matter since the Poles were playing in Exclusion Blackwood in a 3-0 fit.  And Jack and Daniel bid and made two vulnerable games which Liam and Isaac defeated.

On Monday we started slowly again against France, losing by 29 IMPs, before bouncing back against Ireland, who are fielding an ineligible player and so are playing without standing.  Our third match was against Israel, another fancied team, whom we beat by 24.  The two double digit swings came on a hand where it was easier to judge the fit if you didn't open a strong NT — we play weak — and another where Harry's youthful 5♣ pre-empt allowed Oscar to push opponents to 6♠-1.

We finished both days in sixth place out of twelve, but we've already played four of the five teams above us.  We've got three pairs sharing playing time equally, so we're fresh, and cautiously optimistic about our prospects.

This morning we start against the Netherlands, the current leaders.  This would be a good day to get our first win in a morning match.  We've tried two of our possible line-ups for the morning matches so far, so my contribution is to select the third.

Junior European - Sunday Evening

Michael Byrne, NPC of the Under 20s

Today we played 3 matches and lost them all. This was not a good result.

In match one Sam made a fine play to chalk up 620 in 4H, it was written up in the bulletin by Brian Senior (apparently under my name) and was 12 imps to England.

Alas the rest of the set was tight and we lost by 10 imps.

The next set we played Sweden, and they were good players, but most of the points we lost were nerves and sloppy errors.

In the 3rd match we took an early lead (11-0) against Poland but after that we failed to score any imps and threw a lot away. Letting through 3 games, going 3 down on back to back part score hands, playing the wrong part-score and flooring a cold game.

At one point I even asked one of my team "did you really take A level maths?" after his counting skills led him to conceded an overtrick when he held the setting tricks in his hand.

Tomorrow we have an easy match against Hungary, then two more toughish ones against France and the Netherlands. We need to pull ourselves up and restore team morale.

Our short team talk consisted of good cop, (Coach Bryony Youngs) and bad cop (myself).

Good Cop: "We've had a hard day but the teams were tough and we will do better tomorrow"

Bad Cop: "You've all played s**t. Don't do it again"

Junior Europeans - Sunday Morning

Paul Barden, NPC of the Under 15s

We've been in Tromso for one day already, in which time we've settled into the hotel, sorted out glitches with the room assignments (the hotel has too many double rooms and not enough twins), registered the teams (dates of birth have to be checked), had a short practice match at the playing venue (the U15s played the Dutch), attended the opening ceremony (thank you to the officials for keeping their speeches short), taken team photos (some hungry juniors were reluctant to be separated from their dinners), and practised against each other in the hotel bar (soft drinks only).

The arctic summer may take longer to get used to - the next sunset will be on 27th July.  But the hotel rooms have very good curtains.

Play for all three of our teams starts at 10am tomorrow - the U15s start against Sweden.  We'll be playing three 16-board matches a day, while the U20s and U25s play 20-board matches.

This is the first time there's been an under-15 championship, and the EBU U15 squad has existed for only a few months.  Sarah O'Connor, the squad manager, has worked tirelessly with the players and their parents to get them ready to play.

The events are variously known as Juniors/U26/U25, Youngsters/U21/U20, and Kids/U16/U15.  There's also a "Girls" event, but we haven't got a team in it.  The rule is that "Kids" have to have been born in this millennium, with five-year steps for the other teams.

---------------

Michael Byrne, NPC of the Under 20s

Team England survived the journey here, and all are raring to go. At the captains meeting various revelations were unleashed on the unsuspecting nations, amongst them that appeals committees have been scrapped and replaced by a "review procedure" whereby one person (top EBL director Eitan Levy) checks the directors rulings to see that no errors have been made. The penalty for a frivolous review is 100 Euros and a 2VP fine!  I am not convinced by the merits of this, but since I have no wish to start on a minus score I will avoid voicing my disgust.

This certainly wasn't the attitude of two of the more Mediterranean nations who spent most of the allotted time for questions complaining about the food, which as far as everyone on my team is concerned is fine. In fact Alex Roberts (a refugee from the U25 team) managed to get 4 desserts on one plate, meaning he only had to go back once for seconds.

(I always enjoy trying new dishes but I confess sprout lasagne does seem enterprising even for me)

The opening ceremony was the usual stand up sit down, clap another country, repeat to end, only this time an added wrinkle was that whilst the EBL president was giving his address there was (every so often) a pinging noise to indicate that the computer behind him was being used to log onto facebook. Since this was combined with his unbelievably cliched Inspector-Clouseu accent, by the time he got to "I now declarer the championships open" everyone was in hysterics.

By the time you read this we will be well into our 3 Sunday matches against Italy, Sweden and Poland and none of them will be easy.

-------------

2015 Teltscher Trophy - I

The Senior Camrose (a name that should now only be used in a historical context) started in 2008. As with the Camrose and Lady Milne, a sixth team is added to bring the number of competitors up to an even number. From 2008 to 2014, this was a Patron's team, led by Bernard Teltscher. Bernard donated a trophy in 2013 and the event is now known as the Teltscher Trophy. Bernard has an excellent record in the event, coming first twice (the Patron's team is not allowed to 'win'). He was partnered by the late, great, Tony Priday and last year, with a combined age of over 180, they were second in the cross-IMP ranking. This year the Patron's team is from the host country, the Republic of Ireland.

 The format is slightly different to that of the Lady Milne and Camrose, in that it is a double round robin, rather then a single round robin. I don't know why. Also the segments are 14 boards each, not 16 boards. Again, I don't know why - I hope it isn't in deference to the age of the competitors; if so, they find it a bit patronising.

England, who won the event in 2008 and 2010, are represented by a team of five. Tony Forrester and David Kendrick have both won the Junior Camrose (Tony once, David twice) and the Camrose (Tony numerous, David once) and so both could complete the set this weekend (Tony at his first attempt, David at his second). Brian Senior is playing in his second Teltscher Trophy and Norman Selway in his first. Nick Irens is playing in his first international of any description, so this is a very special weekend for him. I am the veteran of senior events, having being the (unsuccessful) England NPC at the Teltscher Trophy for the last two years. If we win this year I will be (a) very happy and (b) applying for the job of coach to the England cricket team.

I am pleased to report that the England team have all arrived safely and are busy preparing for the off - discussing systems, greeting old friends and adversaries, and getting some fresh air. We hope to do you proud.

The EBU team at the 2015 Lady Milne

The EBU team was made up of the pairs who came second, third and fourth in the trials in January. Of the six players, only Anne Rosen had any full international experience. As far as I could tell, no other team had more than one debutante, and many of the opposition players had more than five previous Lady Milne appearances, not to mention European Championships and so on. Given that daunting environment, the EBU team performed very creditably, winning three of the five matches, including beating England in the first match – that alone was worth the trip!  At one point in the last stanza against Ireland it looked as though we (alright, they) could snatch second place, but the Irish rallied over the last few boards.

The Welsh last won the event in 1988. {‘What’s 1988?’ asked one of the EBU team, who hadn’t been born then.}  The Welsh celebrated in style with some fine singing (no surprise there).  I wonder what Team EBU would have sung if we had won.  Does the EBU have an anthem?  If not, why not?

The event was very well organised by Darren Evetts and Dawn Mertens, and very well directed by Mike and Sarah Amos.

Moving from the real to the slightly surreal …

We live in the age of Super Heroes, where seemingly ordinary people have extra-ordinary powers and rather un-ordinary names.  Such is their dedication to the cause that the Super Heroines of the EBU team played under assumed names, each of which has the letters E B U at its heart.

Let me introduce them to you:

       ~ Olympic Champion Anne Rosen was Rosebud

       ~ Hannah Cornfield, playing in her first international, was Debutante

       ~ Marietta Andree’s nom-de-jeu was Nebula

       ~ Janet Cahm played under the name Trebuchet

       ~ Sarah O’Connor’s alter-ego was Doodlebug

       ~ Kath Stynes played as Cheeseburger, our very own quarter-pounder.

By day I am a mild-mannered reporter for a great national magazine; by night I am Captain Ebullient. My thanks, and the team’s, to our unofficial coach, Mike Bell, who made the trip as Beelzebub.

The players were too busy reading my training paper, A dozen things to do with Gerber, to pose for a team photo before the event, but I managed to round up some stunt doubles at the Hurlingham Bridge Club. The photo is available here

Final match - part 2

5 to go: lead is 0.1 over Dutch, 4 ahead of Italy in 4th