The Lady Milne Trophy will take place at Novotel Edinburgh Park Hotel from 12th to 15th April. This event is the Ladies series of the so called Camrose Home International, the teams tourneys between the British Countries; the others are the Senior Team, the Junior Team, and the Open, already played in January and won by England.
The Lady Milne Trophy started in 1934; England is the country with most victories, followed by Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland; the Republic of Ireland still hasn’t won. Scotland is the holder; she also shared the victory with England in 2011 edition, first tie in sixty-two editions. These were the 2012 championesses: Sheila Adamson, Anne Symons, Liz McGowan, Samantha Punch, Fiona McQuaker, Yvonne Wiseman.
In the new Scottish squad, Fiona McQuaker and Yvonne Wiseman have been substituted by Catherine Gerrard and Laura Cecilia Porro. The latter is Italian; Laura Cecilia Porro is attending the doctorate at St. Andrews University, therefore, living in Scotland, is eligible to play for her adoptive country by rule. The Scottish not playing captain (npc) is Brian Short.
The other teams:
England (the other favourite): Gillian Fawcett, Jane Moore, Susanna Gross, Sally Brock, Pauline Cohen, Lizzie Godfrey; npc Simon Cope
Northern Ireland: Diane Greenwood, Ciara Burns, Sandie Millership, Norma Franklin, Norma Irwin, Helen Cole; npc Alan Hill
Ireland: Brid Kirby, Joan Kenny, Teresa Ringney, Maureen Pattinson, Maria Whelan, Dolores Gilliland; npc Peter Pigot
Wales: Aida Iris, Linda Greenland, Liz Commins, Diane Kurbalija, Sue Ingham, Laura Woodruff; npc Paul Denning.
Scottish Bridge Union, that is another team of the guest nation, added to make even number and avoid the bye: Laura Middleton, Veronica Guy, Cathy Ferguson, Michele Gladstone, Maida Grant, Sheila MacDonald; npc Alan Goodmann.
The Scottish pair Liz McGowan and Samantha Punch plays weak notrump opening (12-14 balanced) and 4CM. Besides, the opening with four hearts and four minor suits is by rank, whereas from spade-minor is by minor; it’s a partial application of the Principle of Preparedness, that is to open looking forward to the second bid after the response.
I treated the connection between weak notrump, 4CM, and Preparedness Principle in the review I wrote on Bill Jacobs’s book “Fantunes Revealed” (the system of Fantoni-Nunes). However, for the reader who would know something about the Preparedness Principle without reading that analysis, I report the clear explanation of it written by Ely Culbertson in the autobiography (by the way: the Culbertson’s forefathers were Scottish).
When he was ten years old, the little Ely absolutely needed of a camera: “I was in desperate need…”, but none lent him the ten rubles required to buy it, so he stole the money to his mother. She didn’t noticed the theft, but noticed the plates…
“’Where did you get the plates, Illiusha?’ Mother asked casually. At this point I first appreciated the principle of preparedness. I was not prepared, and my response was clumsy…”
So she discovered the crime and punished him very sternly; Xenia Rogozny, his mum, was daughter of a Cossack general of the Russian army.
The official site, with all information on teams, systems, and results:
http://ladymilne.sbueast.org.uk/
The story of Lady Milne Trophy, written by Liz McGowan for Neapolitan Club:
http://neapolitanclub.altervista.org/eng/lady-milne-trophy-by-liz-mcgowan.html
Recommended books:
“The Scottish Bridge Union 1933-2008. An official history of the Scottish Bridge” by Liz McGowan. ISBN 978-0-9560933-2-5
“The strange lives of one man”. 1940 John C. Winston Company, Chicago (Culbertson’s autobiography)
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Paolo Enrico Garrisi