Grand Rapids Sectional

The Grand Rapids Sectional marks the end of the semester and the beginning of more bridge.  Yesterday I played in the afternoon pairs game and the evening Swiss Teams with Dee.  Julie is in Charleston for a long weekend, so Dee--who also plays regularly with Julie--kindly agreed to partner with me for the tournament.  The three of us play the same conventions, so playing with Dee was almost like playing with Julie.  The main difference, as Dee noted, was that she wears socks and Julie does not.  (Julie reports that her feet do not sweat and do not get cold; apparently this is not the case with Dee.)

The afternoon game had us seated in a noisy corner where we had to share boards with another table (after continually waiting to get them from a slow table).  In addition, Dee was positioned to see directly into the men's bathroom.  However, these distractions did not keep us from playing a decent game and we ended up first in C.

The most interesting pair we played fit the mold of many rude/cranky players.  Obviously I do not mean interesting in a good way.  When these two first sat down, they were very friendly and talkative--a bit too talkative, as I wished they would settle down and let me focus on my cards.  However, when the play started going downhill for them, they turned that friendly chatter into accusations against each other.

"You should have had better diamonds!"  West said, gritting her teeth.

"I never said I had diamonds, I told you I had hearts!"  East defended angrily.  "Why did you go to No Trump?"

They left our table in a huff, quite differently from the way they arrived.  They fit the mold of other grouchy players--friendly when things are going well, awful when things are not going their way.

The evening Swiss Teams did not go so well for us, but then we played three A teams and one B team.  It was tough going but we won one game.  We played against one particularly nice pair.  Oddly enough, they made me nervous (and I don't usually get nervous).  They were top players and very kind and funny.  This made the play very enjoyable, and although we lost it wasn't by much.

There are many more stories to tell about yesterday, but now it is time for me to leave for today's games.  Wish me luck!