Happy Holidays!

"Are you playing bridge Friday night?"  Julie asked.  Dee stood next to her, and I wondered at their interest in my plans.

"Yes, I'm playing with Walt," I replied.

"You'll be the only ones there, no one else we've talked to will be playing bridge," they laughed.

We weren't the only pair at the club last night, but many of the regulars were absent this day before Christmas Eve.  There were only five and a half tables, so we did that movement where we end up playing almost everyone.  It's kind of fun wandering the room and switching from north/south to east/west.

Several weeks ago I had asked Walt to play and he had kindly agreed.  I'm not exactly nervous partnering with an A player, but not exactly relaxed either.  My number one concern is to not look stupid; a close second is the desire to learn everything I can.  My third goal--well, this actually supersedes everything--is to place somewhere near the top.  All three were accomplished.

Not looking stupid:  It helped that Walt ended up playing more than I did.  That said, while my bidding and play weren't perfect, I did have some good moments.  One hand in particular comes to mind, when I was declarer in a 3NT contract.  When dummy came down I saw that I needed to focus on the clubs.  I thought about and played that suit carefully, but in doing so neglected to unblock my spades.  Sometimes it is difficult to think of everything at the same time.  However, I made the contract and one of the opponents noted that I had done a good job with the clubs.  Thank you, Dennis!

Learning:  Walt took the time to explain about defensive signaling, which is huge.  I also learned that doubling a 4 spade opening is for penalty (oops) and that the take-out bid is 4NT.  I learned that when my partner opens to let him know that I have 10 points (not 6-9) even if I think it's a bad 10 points.   I learned that bridge is a bidder's game.  I've heard that before but now I'm beginning to understand what that means.  It used to seem like A players stuck in bids willy-nilly, but last night I saw a method to that madness.

Placing near the top:  We came in first in B and second in A.  You know that I like to come in first (who doesn't), and I just wrote how important it is to me to place.  However, my absolute number one priority in playing bridge is to have a good time.  And I did.