We played bridge again, and every time we learn something new.  We learn about how to play bridge, of course, but we also learn about the club.  Today we waited patiently for the print-outs so we could compare our boards against the other east-west players.  Just like last week, though, it seemed like everyone got their print-out except us!  Well, another newbie saw us going through old papers and looking perplexed.  She told us that we had to sign up for a print-out, otherwise we don't get one.  Now we know.

My partner had two great ideas.  First, we are going to stop saying that we are new players because people seem to be quite bossy telling us how we should be playing.  Many times I am sure they are right, but sometimes I think not.  Also, we are going to wait until the end of the boards at a particular table before we tell them our names.  If we played particularly poorly, we will remain anonymous :)

Yesterday was much better!  Our overall score improved, but mostly I felt better about the way I was playing.  The director said, as long as you learn something each time you play then you are doing well.  I learned a couple of things (at least): Not to leave my partner stranded when she is bidding to tell me what she has (or doesn't have).  A couple of times I didn't understand her bid, so I just passed!  Mistake!  I should have taken over and bid again, even if I wasn't quite sure what she meant or if I thought the bidding was getting too high.  Another thing I learned is to look at my overall hand quality rather than going strictly by the book.  I had 6 strong spades, 4-5 diamonds, 2-3 hearts.  I opened with a weak 2 spades bid because I had only 10 points.  Turns out that my hand was so strong that I should have opened 1 spade.  

On a personal note, while most of the people are very pleasant, we did run into at least 2 very grumpy people (at two different tables).  One table was actually quite stressful; I was glad to move on from there!

I didn't play any bridge last week, probably the longest time I've gone without playing since May.  This was not a good thing...when my partner and I played at the club yesterday, I felt nervous and out of it.  It was probably an hour before I settled down and felt comfortable.  Our first opponents were the club director and a man who has been a life master for a long time.  This did not help my nerves!  We played three boards against them; we were below average on two of them but one board was average.  We were happy to be "average" against them!  Overall we did better than last time we played, but we still have a long way to go.

I find that I am learning things as I play that I already knew.  The big lesson for me yesterday was that I can bid No Trump as a response even if I have an unbalanced hand, if my opponent has it covered (which I would know because of her bid).  Of course I already knew this intellectually, but a hand yesterday--I did not bid No Trump but should have--drove this home.

We are playing again today, again with the experienced players and not the Newcomers.  I think I won't be so nervous and will start out playing much better.

This week I played duplicate bridge with the experienced players rather than with the Newcomers group.  I waved at my friends on the other side of the room and felt quite impressive! One hand was especially memorable, because our opponents went on and on about how well I played it and said that they didn't think anyone could have done better.  I had 7 spades and a short suit, kept bidding spades until my partner finally agreed and went to 4 spades.  Well, she only had one of them, but she was short in a different suit.  Instead of drawing trump, I kept using spades to ruff and in the end I made the contract.  That board was 5 out of 8.  I think the ones that did better were probably in different contracts.  Although my partner and I agreed that for the most part our bidding was on target, we also agreed that we were not aggressive enough.  We never bid with a sacrifice in mind, which apparently is crucial when playing duplicate.  Next time!

I am spending a week at a cottage on Lake Michigan with my pinochle group.  A few of these friends also play bridge, so in the midst of hands of pinochle I am finding the opportunity to also play hands of bridge. 

We are taking this opportunity to study our books and notes, discuss our bids, and replay hands hoping for better results.  While we are engrossed in these endeavors, the non-bridge players look at us askance.  You’re on vacation, they say.  Why are you working so hard?  That doesn’t look like fun to me.

We smile and shrug.  We try to tell them how the game of bridge draws you in, how each hand presents its own challenges in terms of bidding and playing.  We tell them that it is the mental work involved with each new and different hand that makes the game so interesting and so addictive.  

I think we may have a couple of new recruits.

Yesterday I played bridge for 7 hours.  I went from being a Newcomer who made some horrendous mistakes to being the expert who answered all questions.  It was an extremely disorienting experience.

I started the day—well, the late morning—at the local duplicate bridge club.  I met my partner there about ½ hour before the starting time, and we went over the systems card.  Since we are both Newcomers, we didn’t know what half of it meant.  However, the process did help us review what we did know (some of which we promptly forgot the minute we started playing).  As we prepared to venture into the world of experienced players, my partner commented that this was how it must feel to run with the bulls in Pamploma. 

Everyone was very kind to us, although one pair did get irritated when I bid incorrectly.  We ended up in the right contract, but apparently our opponents played according to what they thought I had, not the cards I actually did have.  My partner had bid 1 NT, and I attempted a transfer.  It turns out I should have simply bid 2NT.  Transfers and “garbage” Stayman are new to me I became horribly confused.  I have studied 1 NT responses extensively, so this mistake shook my already shaky confidence and it took me a few hands to settle down. 

When it was all over, we had a score of 84.50 with a percentage of 39.12.  My ever-positive partner noted that we were not last, and in fact had played above average on 7 of the 27 boards.  We even had one 8, which was top of the board!

A few hours after this exhilarating and humbling experience, I went to a friend’s house for more bridge.  We had two tables of players with varying expertise and we played relay style, changing partners after every couple of hands.  Oddly enough, I was the expert of the group!   This change in status was disconcerting but enjoyable.  I was able to answer more than one question regarding NT responses, so hopefully that information is now solidly in my head and I will bid that correctly next time!