Day 1: Monday

Unknocked!  We are still in the first knock-out, which means that even though we aren’t done yet, for sure we won 6 gold.  Progress in my quest for Life Master!

Now that you know the most important thing about Monday, let me give you my impressions of Gatlinburg and the tournament.  Even though I’ve heard a lot about how commercial and touristy this city is, and it is, I like it.  But then, I also like the Vegas strip and New Orlean’s Bourbon Street. Lots of people everywhere, but not so many that you can’t negotiate sidewalks.  Doug even found a free parking space not far from the Convention Center (but then, I hear he is a master of that).  There’s good food—we ate at Bubba Gump’s, where I saw Jerry’s license plate on the wall.  Most importantly, people are friendly.

In fact, that is a big difference I see between this regional and national tournaments.  At nationals, people seem more rushed and tense.  Here, there is a calmer and friendlier atmosphere.  Lots of people, but no pushing or yelling (not to imply that that behavior permeates nationals, but it does happen).  Also, Susan suggested that people are more relaxed because so many of them play team games, where they are with a group of friends.  Which brings me to the actual game.

I partnered with Doug; Kathy and Susan were at the other table.  Here’s what happened with one hand.  I had really nice cards—18 HCP with 5 spades.  I opened 1 spade, with all of the possible rebids going through my mind.  I was ready—or so I thought.  Doug responded 3NT.  Hmm, I thought, looks like slam to me but let’s double check.  I did not rush to rebid—oh no.  Are we playing some kind of weird thing where this would be weak?  Nooo.  Are we playing Jacoby 3NT?  Even though I like this convention, few of the people I play with do, so no again.  Okay, he must have opening, but I needed to check for the 2 missing aces.  I bid Gerber, my partner responded 4 spades.  I thought it through twice just to be sure, since I don’t bid Gerber very often.  Yes, I had located the 2 missing aces.  Nothing else to think about (or so I thought) and I bid 6 NT.  Doug played it for down 1.  Apparently we DO play Jacoby 3NT, and he had tried to correct to spades after the Gerber bid.  Our opponents at the other table were in 6 spades, making.  Oh well.  We made up for it by getting to 2 games that they did not.  As Susan said, “It doesn’t matter.  We won the round.”

As I write this on Tuesday morning, we are preparing to leave for my first compact knock-out.  This time, Doug and I will be teaming with Cristi and Barb (their team, with Julie and Dee, also won yesterday) while Susan and Kathy will be with Don and Karen from Kalamazoo. This will be followed by afternoon and (hopefully) evening sessions.  I usually just play 2 sessions a day, but I’ve already gotten sucked in to the whole Gatlinburg experience.