All News

Second in Australian Butler Pairs.

It is almost big news when Michael Ware does not finish a bridge tournament in Australasia at or near the top. That still means it is big news when he does. With Matthew McManus, Michael took part in the recent TBIB Australian Butler Pairs in Brisbane. This event is part of the Australian National Championships and is a long three stage event.

There were 94 pairs taking part in Stage 1 (played over 4 sessions) with the top 10 in each direction qualifying for Stage 2. Michael and Matthew finished 3^rd East-West and then played 10 x 12 board matches in Stage 2. The top 5 each way qualified for Stage 3 with Michael and Matthew staying 3^rd, this time in the North-South field.

Stage 3 consisted of 9 x 12 board matches round-robin style. A big finish against very worthy opponents, Andy Hung and Sartaj Hans, (18.53 vps) saw Michael and Matthew finish a very creditable 2^nd on 110.69 vps, beaten only by Kate McCallum and Axel Johannson on 112.26 vps with Christy Geramboux and Seb Yuen 3^rd on 100.44vps.

The system Michael plays with Matthew, “Crunch” is his acknowledged favourite. Here are a couple of boards from Stage 3 which show “Crunch” in action.

 

Michael’s pass showed any 0-6 hand, 15-20 unbalanced with no 4+ card major or as here 15-20 balanced. Sebastian Yuen’s 1 could have been short and could have longer diamonds. To quote Michael: “After an initial pass, we assume opener is 0-6 as is most likely, and when partner bids, they are strong enough to bid subsequently themselves. This is one of our favourite bits of oursystem - no pressure on 3rd/4th hand to act after a weak two/pre-empt compared to other tables.”

So, Michael assumed Matthew had 7 good hearts, maybe even more hearts. He could therefore count 11 tricks for sure. Q, J or 3/3 diamond break or if partner has Q or J, a squeeze on West. So, Michael decided to bid slam. His problem was which slam, 6 or 6NT, the latter to protect him from a spade lead where "opener" (West) held AQ.

Back to Michael: “ I thought this was a very tough decision. I was slightly worried partner didn't have A and 6NT could then be no play. I thought that East was most likely to lead a club anyway, not a spade, and therefore bid 6.”

However, East, Christy Geramboux, did lead a spade. Michael must have felt he had made the wrong decision as Q won the first trick. However, Matthew was there for him, with a singleton spade and J to go with 7 rather good hearts.

 

In hindsight, Michael feels he was a little lucky and should have bid 6NT. Slam was only bid at 2 of the 5 tables earning Michael and Matthew 12 imps.

 
A good partner always helps out in times of need. Matthew did here with his singleton spade. 

Michael thinks another good aspect of “Crunch” is that they open 4-card majors which worked to their advantage in the last match of Stage 3 against Sartaj and Andy.

 

1 promised 4+ spades, 11-20 hcp with possibly a longer minor. Sartaj, West, thought Michael might have been pre-empting his opponents and therefore doubled. While 4 is cold, on a non-trump lead (Sartaj led K), Michael made 11 tricks (3 aces and 8 trumps, cross-ruffing) for + 6 imps.

Michael considers being able to open a 4-card major can be a big advantage in reaching their final contract quickly.

So, another excellent result for Michael, Matthew, and “Crunch” in a major Australian event.

Richard Solomon

The event did not attract many entries from this side of the Tasman though Murat Genc and Anne Somerville finished 8^th North-South in Stage 1 but just missed out on Stage 3 when they were 7^th East-West in Stage 2. Pamela Nisbet and Moss Wylie just missed qualifying in Stage 1 finishing 12^th East- West but then finished 3^rd overall in the TBIB Australian Mixed Butler event.

We have 2 Platinum Grand Masters in this country, Michael and Grant Jarvis. Grant’s achievement is also extremely worthy though it is interesting to compare the current A Point totals of the two. Grant has 7,558 while Michael has 10,182 with a few more to come from this event. That number has been achieved with a variety of partners and systems…most impressive.

Go Back View All News Items