BRIDGE

AM I seeing things? Am I hearing things? Perhaps I am — for the conditions that are being laid down by the IBU Selection Committee for the mixed trials in September are beyond my belief.

There are a couple of points which spring to mind, but read them yourself and no doubt you’ll unearth more. For a start, there is a cut-off after the opening day (which, by the way, starts on Friday morning). So that particular arrangement means that you pay €100 to enter and could find yourself packing your bags after the first day.

And then there’s the early start, which means that one either stays overnight on Thursday or must get up at 6am in the morning.

Well, here is one player who won’t be doing either.

And by the way, what is one supposed to tell the hotel receptionist — that you might or might not be staying on Friday night? They’ll love that.

Bad news from the East Region — the Wicklow Regatta Bridge night has been cancelled.

A good question to ask yourself before opening the bidding is ‘do I want to play at the one-level?’ Here is a hand to illustrate that. If you open 1S as N, you may well be left there. Not here as it happens, but I favour a strong opening bid.