11th CACBF SOUTHERN REGIONAL

Port of Spain, Trinidad

January 14th-16th, 2005

As some of my bridge-playing friends are aware, I have been running a full-time club in San Jose for just over a year now. What a difference that makes to my availability to play in tournaments, and this Bridge Extravaganza put on by Cyril Sancho & his crew is another example. I was "supposed" to have around 30 visitors from a cruise ship on the Friday of the tournament, and was really sad that I could not escape. I had some representatives from Costa Rica lined up to attend, and then they had a traffic accident on Thursday evening on the way to the airport. If this was not bad enough, the cruise group headed up by Roberta Salob did not show so I could have gone anyway. What a disappointment!

Anyway, on to the battles in Port of Spain. On Friday afternoon, things got under way with the 1st Session of the Open Pairs. The Bajan Boys (Tony Watkins & Dave Blackman from Barbados) led the field at 60.48%. Holding down 2nd spot were the Money Men ( Hugh Williams & Bal Ramlogan from Trinidad) with 58.94%. Bajans Joan Nurse & Terry Sye slipped into 3rd at 57.48%, edging out some more Trinis, David Clarke & Nicky Inniss, who had 57.35%. Rounding out the top five were the French Connection (Antoine Delcourt & Eric Javelot from Martinique) with 56.82%. I was a little suprised not to see the Millenium Pair among the leaders.

After filling up on some down home Trini hospitality, everyone was back to the tables for the 2nd Session of the Open Pairs. The French Connection were the only pair to keep their top 5 status, posting a fine 64.58% to lead the field. Close on their heels were the Astute Antiguans (Errol James & Sidney Christian) at 63.61% while the Captain's Choice (Jean Yves Dabreteau from Martinique & Jean-Phillipe Humbert from Guyane) had a strong 62.82% in 3rd. Trinis filled out the top 5, with Mohan Seepersad & Ian Kitcher at 59.94% and the Blast from the Past (Trevor Hart & Roger Mapp) with 58.33%.

With the scoring complete and the sessions combined, the winners of the Open Pairs Overall were announced. 1st place at 60.70% were the French Connection, Antoine Delcourt and Eric Javelot from Martinique. Their closest rivals were the Captain's Choice at 57.60%, thanks to their strong second session. Their 2nd overall was in doubt until the end, as less than ONE percentage point separated 2nd through 5th. Ending up 3rd were the Money Men at 57.36% while 4th went to Mohan Seepersad & Ian Kidger with 57.07%. Rounding out the top five finishers were the Astute Antiguans at 56.72%. Finishing out of the money but generating some fan interest, the Millenium Pair nipped the Bajan Boys!

Bright and early Saturday morning, twelve teams were divided into two pools of six to play a Round Robin of 12 board matches within your pool. Scored at IMPs converted to VPs, the pool winners would meet in the final on Sunday. Upon reflection, this is a very relaxing schedule as you play 5 12-board matches during the day with a couple of meal breaks and an afternoon tea. Lots of time to hash things over with teammates :-)

Open Teams - Pool A was won by ROTCHELL (Bajans Kip Rotchell, Joan Nurse, & Terry Sye and Trinis Swami Galt & Nicky Inniss). Despite losing to 2nd place SEEPERSAD by 23 IMPS (11-19 VPS), ROTCHELL posted two blitzes on their way to 4 wins, 95 VPs, and a spot in the final. SEEPERSAD chalked up 91 VP's in their 4 wins, but not good enough to go to the dance. P.MAPP's Trinis finished well back in 3rd at 80 VP's while GILL's Bajans settled for 4th with 74 VPs.

Meanwhile, Open Teams - Pool B was a runaway as WILLIAMS (the Money Men & the Bajan Boys plus another part of the Blast from the Past - Trinis Trevor Hart & Chris Galt) dominated the pool. Their only loss and that by 9 IMPs (13-17 VPs) came at the hands of their nemesis P. HOWARD from Trinidad. WILLIAMS scored up 4 wins and an event leading 96 VPs with no blitzes to earn their chance at glory in the Final Two. JAMES was almost a full match back in 2nd place with 78 VP's & 3 wins, leading 3rd place ISSA who also had 3 wins but only 74 VP's. P. HOWARD's ladies also chalked up 3 wins, but 71 VP's was only 4th.

So the stage was set for Sunday's Open Teams Final between some very long-time adversaries - ROTCHELL and WILLIAMS. They played two 12-board halves, and at the break, the favoured WILLIAMS led 37-7. Both teams made line-up changes at the half, and ROTCHELL shut them down 34-2 to win the championship by a narrow 41 to 39 margin. There must have been lots of stories from that one!

While the fireworks happened in the final on Sunday morning, the rest of the players took part in the Swiss Consolation. Taking the victory march were HINDS' Bajans (Roglyn Hinds, Harley Moseley, Nan Collins, Hyacinth Burton) after scoring up 58 VP's. They edged out the Martiniquans (French Connection & Captain's Choice) at 54 VP's. With several teams hot on their heels, the last round had some key matchups.

After a satisfying lunch and some team celebrations, the sexes got together for the Mixed Pairs. With Bajans spread all over the leaderboard, it was fitting that one of the Bajan Boys (Tony Watkins) combined with Trini internationlist Lisa De Meillac to take the gold. Their 63.10% was far ahead of 2nd place Bajan veterans Charles Hollingsworth & Nan Collins at 57.94%, while the other half of the Bajan Boys teamed up with Trini Gail Grell for 3rd with 54.76%.

As if this wasn't enough bridge for the weekend, those left standing after tea break played in the Multi-National Teams. This fun event showed where the Millenium Pair (Philip Issa & Sjietsen Tjon-Atsoi) were all weekend. They teamed up with Antiguans Al James & Deverel Forde to take the prize with their 32 VP total. They edged out some interesting foursomes in 2nd and 3rd, with 29 and 28 VP's respectively.

Just another successful weekend of bridge in Trinidad, and I for one can hardly wait until next year. I missed the fun and games, and all my bridge buddies from the CAC.