More Bridge Success

One thing I decided to do on a whim was move the low bookcase in my living room to another location, under a window. It was pretty easy to do, and allowed me to put a table there, to keep my incense burning stuff on. I think it will distribute more evenly through the apartment from that location. (Have I mentioned before that I burn incense and scented candles from time-to-time? I like having the smell about.)

Anyway, I think having the bookcase there will give the cats more motivation to sit in front of that window, which I think they'll enjoy.

Later in the afternoon I called Subrata to ask if he wanted to do anything, since it seems both of us were just practicing out ass-sitting. We eventually decided to just get together and go to dinner, and we went up to Su Hong in Menlo Park (since the Palo Alto branch was closed for the holiday) where we gorged ourselves on Chinese food (they have a really good spicy pine nut chicken dish; have I ever mentioned how much I love pine nuts?). So that was pretty much my trip outside the house for the day.

Before the whole Bridge tournament began, I'd told Subrata I would be willing to schedule two days of Bridge for the weekend, and we'd decided on Saturday and Monday. Well, we ended up playing Sunday, as I said, due to unexpected success in the knockouts, and the Monday plans got cancelled because one of the other two we needed to play in the Swiss Teams match felt she'd had enough Bridge (perfectly understandable). So Subrata and I decided to play in the pairs match today. I told him I didn't know if I'd be up for the evening match, that that might be too much Bridge for me. Fool!

We played in the 0-to-200 Master Points match in the afternoon, and did fairly well.

I should explain (as briefly as I can) how matchpoint scoring works: There are a number of tables (usually 12 to 16), and twice as many boards (hands); I think we had 13 tables, so 26 boards. Every pair plays 12 opposing pairs, and 24 boards, 2 against each pair. The boards are all pre-made, so you can be ranked against the 11 other pairs who played a given board based on how well you scored. You are then awarded 1 point for every pair you beat, and half a point for each pair you tied. So you can get from 0 to 11 points, and 11 points gives you a "top board". These points are then added up and you're ranked on a percentage scale for the final score.

What's remarkable about all this is that (1) It makes perfect sense when you examine it, and (2) It's an impressively complex system which tournament directors implement nearly-flawlessly, and apparently have been doing so since before personal computers were available.

(This is, by the way, different from the scoring system for Swiss Teams or Knockouts, since those involve teams-of-four rather than just partnerships.)

Anyway, we went through the match and felt that we were doing okay, but not outstanding. It turns out we ended up ranked at 55%, which I think put us third among East-West pairs in our match, and was good for 0.2 master points, which is not bad. Like Presidential elections, it's rare for anyone to score above 60% or below 40%.

We went to the Peninsula Creamery in Palo Alto for lunch (or dinner, or whatever; it was about 3 pm), and went over the hands (we got printouts of all the full deals, and the results of our match; as usual we had a couple top boards, a couple bottom boards, and a lot in-between). I resolved to play the evening session after all, hoping to do better.

We enrolled this time in a 0-to-300 point match, which was stratified. What this means is that everyone plays the same hands, but some people are in the "A" flight (say, people with 200-to-300 points), some are in the "B" flight, and we were in the "C" flight, for the least experienced people. Everyone plays against everyone else, and is ranked on the percentage scale against everyone else, but for points-earning consideration you're mainly judged against only others in your flight. If you manage to do well compared to pairs in a higher flight, you can earn lots of points. (Subrata says he's done this.)

Well, our match felt like one disaster after another. Most ominously, I misunderstood Subrata's lead-directing double and bad myself, and we went down many, many tricks doubled, easily a bottom board. I felt myself getting fatigued and having trouble concentrating, and just all-around things did not seem to be going well.

When the dust settled, we ended up at a mediocre 45%. But, this turned out to be good for 3rd in the "C" flight, and we got another 0.8 master points! Woo-hoo! I was pleased with the outcome, and we declared victory and went home.

All-in-all a very good weekend of Bridge. Best of all, I feel like my game is finally coming together and that I'm no longer a beginner. I feel like understanding some advanced principled of bidding and playing are within my grasp, and I look forward to playing again.

We got back to Subrata's and found a phone message on his machine from some friends who were heading up to Shoreline to see the 4th of July fireworks. Apparently there's a big concert and fireworks there every year, but they were going to the other side of a lake to just see the latter. I bought a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and we drove up to join them. Neither traffic nor parking were bad, and I got to use the blanket I always keep in my car for just such occasions as these.

The fireworks were a little far away, and also both shorter and not as good as I'd expected, but still it was a pretty nice time, and the weather was cool and pleasant. All-in-all a fun end to the long weekend.