Monday Night

My play was perfect.  I had no doubts, no confusion, no missteps--I made my 3NT contract and the way I did it was a thing of beauty.  I tried to keep a smile off my face, I tried to remain impassive and humble, but I could not resist a glance at my LHO, The Director.  Expecting to see a look of approval, I was instead met with a wry half-smile and a sad little shake of the head.   "What?" I asked, all semblance of modesty gone out the window.  "I thought I played that well."  "You did play that very well," came the reply. "It just would have played better in spades."  Sigh.

In another part of the room, my friends Jean and Melissa were having problems of their own.  Melissa looked at a hand full of clubs and few points, so she reached for the bidding box to play 3 clubs.  As she continued to study her hand, she heard her LHO ask Jean what her bid meant.  To her horror she heard her partner reply that it was a strong bid.  Melissa looked down and saw that she had mistakenly pulled out the 2 clubs card.  Jean, looking at 10+ points in her hand, happily bid towards slam while confusion reigned among their opponents, who had the remaining points in their hands.  They went down six.

Bridge--always an adventure!