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
January 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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
January 28, 2013 By 14 Comments
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
January 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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
January 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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?
January 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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?
January 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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...]
Resist the urge to take that finesse!
January 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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
January 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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...]
On the road: Doing the Charleston
January 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
CHARLESTON, SC - My partner Christine Matus and I “did the Charleston” in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, combining lots of bridge at the Mid-Atlantic Winter Regional duplicate tournament (an ACBL-sanctioned event) in the cavernous Charleston Convention Center with some interesting … [Read more...]