Firsts

First #1:  I really enjoyed playing defense at the Monday night game.  I mean, I really enjoyed it.  Once again I had bad cards (I was declarer only once), but this time my hands were good enough to do some damage.  Usually when I play a mostly defensive game, I don't have a sense of how we're doing.  This time was different; this time I knew that setting the opponents' contracts did not mean that we had underbid and should have played something our way.  I could tell things were going well as I studied the declarers' moves and thought about how to undermine the contract.  It was exhilarating!

I no longer think that those who prefer to play defense rather than offense are weird.

First #2:  Twice yesterday my partner invited me to game and I passed.  Passing an invitation to game is not new for me, although I admit that I am sometimes overcome with "what the heck" thinking and go when I shouldn't.  What was new at yesterday's game was the way I approached the decision.  Even though I wanted to be in game, I did more than count points and think about my partner's likely cards.  This time I also thought about what the opponents were probably holding and the quality of the points in my hand.  Both times that I decided to pass we exactly made our bid.

Making a partial contract is more fun than being in game and going down.