Thursday Night Bridge
Last night I went to play bridge at the local Bridge Center. Over the years, I have played bridge on and off with a variety of partners. In January of 2001, I got a new job and I was spending alot of time getting up the learning curve. So I quit playing bridge at that time, thinking that I would start again as my work settled down. For one reason or another, I never went back until recently. My work is now winding down, so I would like to start again.
At the Bridge Center, the Tuesday night games are less competitive and the Wednesday night and Thursday night games are pretty tough. My plan is to start with a few games on Tuesday night to get back up-to-speed and then move to the tougher games. The best way to improve your game is to play the toughest competition that you can find. Of course, you take your lumps along the way. Unfortunately, I have had other commitments on Tuesdays for the last several weeks. Thus, I played on a Wednesday night two weeks ago and then last night.
In the past, I have gotten tied into one partnership, playing with the same person week after week. This time, I want to play with a random variety of partners. The advantage of playing with one partner consistently is that you begin to develop an common understanding of how to play in certain situations. On the other hand, I start to feel an obligation to my partner. At this point, I just want to play with different people for awhile.
Players are rated by "Master points". If one does well in a game they will be awarded master points. Players will accumulate master points over the years that they play. The points awarded depend on the level of play and the number of players in a game. The winners of last nights game won 1 master point apiece.
Over the years, I have gained 184 master points. One lady at the game last night has over 4000 points. Some believe that she is the best player in the county. The majority of the players last night had over 1000 points. Most of these players have played multiple times a week for decades. It is a very competitive game. I should point out that often players will try new partnerships during this game. For example, we might play against two players who each have over 1000 points, but it may be the first time that they have played together.
When you have a new partnership, you generally try to get to the game 15 minutes early to have some time to make agreements on what conventions you will play. My partner got caught up in bad traffic and arrived 5 minutes late. We had to start play immeadiately. My partner was a very nice lady who I had never met before. She has less than 5 points and I have only played once in over 5 years. Together we have less than 200 points. The next lowest partnership had around 500 points! The highest pair had over 5000 points. Uh-Oh! Looks like it will be a night for taking our lumps.
We actually played pretty well together. We ended up taking 5th out of 10. I am very happy with that result, considering the competition. In fact, we finished ahead of the pair that had over 5000 master points! We ended up winning .28 master points. Here are the results. (Note that you probably have to be a bridge player to understand these results.) Most importantly, my partner and I had fun playing.
At the Bridge Center, the Tuesday night games are less competitive and the Wednesday night and Thursday night games are pretty tough. My plan is to start with a few games on Tuesday night to get back up-to-speed and then move to the tougher games. The best way to improve your game is to play the toughest competition that you can find. Of course, you take your lumps along the way. Unfortunately, I have had other commitments on Tuesdays for the last several weeks. Thus, I played on a Wednesday night two weeks ago and then last night.
In the past, I have gotten tied into one partnership, playing with the same person week after week. This time, I want to play with a random variety of partners. The advantage of playing with one partner consistently is that you begin to develop an common understanding of how to play in certain situations. On the other hand, I start to feel an obligation to my partner. At this point, I just want to play with different people for awhile.
Players are rated by "Master points". If one does well in a game they will be awarded master points. Players will accumulate master points over the years that they play. The points awarded depend on the level of play and the number of players in a game. The winners of last nights game won 1 master point apiece.
Over the years, I have gained 184 master points. One lady at the game last night has over 4000 points. Some believe that she is the best player in the county. The majority of the players last night had over 1000 points. Most of these players have played multiple times a week for decades. It is a very competitive game. I should point out that often players will try new partnerships during this game. For example, we might play against two players who each have over 1000 points, but it may be the first time that they have played together.
When you have a new partnership, you generally try to get to the game 15 minutes early to have some time to make agreements on what conventions you will play. My partner got caught up in bad traffic and arrived 5 minutes late. We had to start play immeadiately. My partner was a very nice lady who I had never met before. She has less than 5 points and I have only played once in over 5 years. Together we have less than 200 points. The next lowest partnership had around 500 points! The highest pair had over 5000 points. Uh-Oh! Looks like it will be a night for taking our lumps.
We actually played pretty well together. We ended up taking 5th out of 10. I am very happy with that result, considering the competition. In fact, we finished ahead of the pair that had over 5000 master points! We ended up winning .28 master points. Here are the results. (Note that you probably have to be a bridge player to understand these results.) Most importantly, my partner and I had fun playing.
posted by Steve @ 6:18 AM
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