Reminiscing

As you may recall, about a year after I started playing bridge I got my brother involved in the game.  He's become a dedicated player, reading and studying and playing several times a week.  Today was one of those rare occasions when we partnered up for a game.  Since I've been playing longer, I am the "expert" of the partnership; it's fun to tell him what he did wrong!

One hand reminded me of how far Ed's bidding has come.  One of the first times we played I had opened a major and even though he had 5 of my suit he didn't go to game.  I don't remember the details, but it was not a good board.  Of course we briefly talked about it between rounds, and shortly afterwards the opponents opened a diamond and I overcalled a spade.  Ed triumphantly bid 4 spades...needless to say, it was not pretty.  "But you said that's what I'm supposed to do when I have 5 of your suit!" Ed later protested.  "When I open, not when I overcall;  I only had 9 points!" I calmly explained.

I am happy to report that the situation came up today and Ed bid it correctly.

Lest you think that I am picking on my brother, I also remember several situations when Julie and I started playing that now make me roll my eyes.  One time she opened 1 NT, I bid 2 hearts as a transfer and she bid 4 hearts.  I was so stunned that instead of correcting to 4 spades I passed!  And once we started asking for aces, looking for slam, there was no stopping us...because we didn't know how to stop.  I remember landing in 7 NT, only stopping there because there was no place left to go.

Speaking of Julie, she is playing in the regional tournament in Petoskey this week.  She promised she would write updates on the blog, and although she's called me, I'm still waiting for an entry.  So until she writes, maybe some other tournament players could respond to this entry and fill us in on what's happening. Are you having fun yet?