Many congratulations to Wayne Somerville, the winner of the Inaugural Irish Individual Knockout Championship, played recently on Funbridge. The final was a triumph for bridge youth, in that Wayne, a current Northern Ireland international who graduated from the junior ranks in 2014, took on current Irish junior international Luca Crone.
The final was a very close run thing, which was decided in dramatic fashion on the final board. After five scoreless boards, Luca gained 7 IMPs by making a somewhat fortuitous 3NT (dropping the doubleton ♦QJ missing five cards in the suit) while Wayne played in a ♣ partscore. Luca extended his lead by 9 IMPs when collecting an 800 point penalty in 2♠ doubled versus Wayne’s non-vulnerable 3NT. So with just two boards to play, Luca led by 18 IMPs and it looked as if the trophy would be heading west to Chicago rather than north to Bangor. But Wayne clawed back half the deficit on Board 11, making a cold 6♦ slam while Luca played in 3NT. The final board provided a decisive swing to Wayne, as Luca elected to double a first-seat 1♦ opening holding ♠AKJ/♥9/♦AK8742/♣A42 (vulnerable against non), and watched his robot partner subsequently pull 3NT to 4♥, which went four off on a bad trump split. Wayne on the other hand chose to pass the 1♦ opening, perhaps hoping to hear a double from partner at some stage. But there was no further bidding, and 1♦ drifted three off, for an 11 IMP gain to Wayne, and a final score of 21-19 in his favour.
Very well done to both players for making their way to the final in what was a VERY high-quality field. By our count, we had no fewer than seven Grand Masters, eleven senior internationals, and seven junior internationals, in our total field of 112. Our thanks to our four seeds, Tom Hanlon, Peter Goodman, Joan Kenny, and Paul Delaney, who gallantly offered bounties on their heads for anyone who beat them. Peter got the furthest in the competition, losing to Wayne in the semi-final, having previously fought his way through two of the closest matches of the entire tournament, beating Irish junior Matthew O’Farrell on the fastest-finisher rule after a 3-3 tie in their last 32 matchup, and current Open Team star Conor Boland 7-6 in the last 16. Peter also deprived John Flavin of a remarkable trifecta by beating him in their quarter-final match; John had beaten both Paul Delaney and Tom Hanlon in the preceding rounds, scooping two €100 beat-the-seed prizes in the process. The fourth of the bounties went to Thomas MacCormac, who saw off Joan Kenny early in the tournament in a very tight and well-played match, with a remarkable 11 of the 12 boards being flat. Finally, former junior international Arran Bolger made a return to competitive bridge after a long absence by beating Grand Master and Irish junior team coach Karel De Raeymaeker in the first round.
The final standings were:
- Champion: Wayne Somerville (wins a weekends’ accommodation at an Irish Congress of his choice in 2026, plus a bounty of €100);
- Runner-Up: Luca Crone (wins a weekend for two in the Mount Wolseley Hotel; given his current residence in Chicago, we may replace that with the cash equivalent)
- Semi-Finalists: Peter Goodman, Jade Barrett (win €125 each);
- Quarter-Finalists: Richard Boyd, John Flavin (wins €200 in bounties), Willem Mevius, Russell Down;
- Plate Competition Winner: Seamus Bradley;
- Additional Bounty Winner: Thomas MacCormac (€100).
Full Bracket (Main Event) Full Bracket (Consolation Event)
We hope everyone enjoyed the competition, and would welcome feedback from participants and non-participants alike on events of this kind. A lot of Irish players continue to play extensively online, and we’d like to offer them competitions they would like to play in, and to ensure that where possible the (small) revenue generated to the organisers from the online platform goes to the CBAI rather than elsewhere. You can give us your feedback using this form. All views welcomed, both positive and negative! And a final reminder to anyone who did play; if you want to be credited with the masterpoints earned in this event, and haven’t identified yourself by name in your profile, then we MAY be able to identify you, but we may not, so that’s at your own risk unless you tell us, which you can by email to info@cbai.ie.