Archives for January 2013

Psyching ’em out in Mechanicsburg

MECHANICSBURG, PA - We had great confidence that the road crews would clear the Pennsylvania Turnpike overnight after last Friday’s snow event, and our confidence turned out to be entirely justified as my partner Christine Matus and I made it to this past weekend’s Sectional duplicate bridge … [Read more...]

Timid bidding cost them a slam

Joan "Miss Timid Again?" Rightnour and her partner Tina "I'm the Really Timid One!" Perelli proved once again that woman are probably the stronger sex when they whipped the male team of John "Unlucky Louie" Walston and Jason "Geek" Cohen at the Wednesday (1-30-2013) luncheon meeting of our office … [Read more...]

Stealing a bid while playing hooky

PHILADELPHIA - My partner Christine Matus and I went on a mentoring mission to an inner-city school last Friday, and after so much do-gooder activity, we felt the need to balance the ledger and do something absolutely criminal. So like good partners in crime, before going back to work we played … [Read more...]

Missed defensive signal costs Burglar big time

John "Unlucky Louie" and partner Jason "Geek" Cohen scored a pretty impressive victory -- at least if you go by the numbers -- at the Tuesday luncheon meeting of our office Bridge Club, beating the pair of Pieter "Cy the Cynic" VanBennekom and Joan "Not Miss Timid Anymore" Rightnour by a total score … [Read more...]

When not to lead your partner’s suit

PHILADELPHIA - My partner Christine Matus and I really wanted to sit in accident-caused traffic jams both ways on the Schuylkill Expressway Saturday - NOT! - and we had two choices to achieve that goal: We could have gone to watch the Philadelphia Flyers lose the opening game of their season to the … [Read more...]

Stealing the bid: Is there a bridge burglarette in town?

Although I played twice last week at the Bridge Studio of Delaware with different partners and teammates and got some additional MasterPoints, I couldn’t find a good hand on the “bridge burglar” theme of stealing a bid or a contract. There was no clever trickery – if we got a good board, our … [Read more...]

What’s better – a bridge cruise or just doing nothing?

Joan "Not Miss Timid Anymore" Rightnour took a long hiatus from bridge and hadn't played since before Christmas when she sat down at the table for the Wednesday luncheon meeting of the PBP Bridge Club. Jason "Sailorman" Cohen, on the other hand, went on a week-long bridge cruise through the … [Read more...]

When you get good cards, you’re obligated to get the most out of them

Tina "Gimme Some Cards!" Pirelli likes to have good cards dealt to her, but in bridge, that also imposes the obligation to bid them right and get the most out of them. Tina achieved the first goal at the Tuesday luncheon meeting of the PBP Bridge Club, as she and partner Pieter "Cy the Cynic" … [Read more...]

Resist the urge to take that finesse!

This week’s Thursday night Swiss team game with duplicated boards at the Bridge Studio of Delaware in North Wilmington presented some challenging boards – and perhaps therefore had some surprising results. In the shark tank of the highest ranked teams, Rick Rowland, who just got his Life Grand … [Read more...]

Forced to bid with only 3 points! Aaaarrrggghhh

BALA CYNWYD, PA - The Philadelphia Contract Bridge Association (PCBA) showed off its new site for all area Sectional tournaments this past weekend with a well-attended Sectional at the Bala Golf Club in Bala Cynwyd, PA off City Line Avenue, and despite a couple of glitches, people generally liked … [Read more...]