"A Good Partnership is Everything"

Julie and I learned a lot playing bridge in today's afternoon game. In fact, we were learning so much that we figured we weren't doing all that well. After hands were bid and played, we could see (or it was pointed out to us) what we should have bid, what a killer lead would have been, how a card could have been finessed--well, you get the picture.

During an east-west bump we stood off to the side to go over some plays and new ideas. For example, Walt had suggested this: When a 1 NT opener has the minimum (that was me), and the responder bids 2 clubs (Julie), when there's an intervening bid (Walt) the opener should pass. Then the responder doubles to allow the opener to bid her suit. That way the responder knows it's a minimum no trump hand and you don't end up too high (which we did). As we were standing around, Walt wandered over and joined our discussion.

"You two must be doing well today," he opined. I made a neutral sound and tried not to look too surprised. If only that were true, I thought. We chatted a bit and few minutes later our play resumed.

At the end of the afternoon we were pleased to see that we had reached the magic 50% mark and gotten some points. I thought back to that earlier conversation and found Walt.

"When we talked earlier, why did you think we were doing well?" I asked. "Because actually, we did do all right."

"I can see how you and Julie have been developing your partnership," Walt replied. "Many of the others who played against us today are better players than you, but they weren't playing with regular partners. A good partnership is everything."

I have a lot to learn about bridge, but I do know that good partnerships--long standing ones and new ones--are everything in terms of enjoyment and motivation to improve. And it does help your game when you play the same convention card!