What does it really take to make a Slam? Some optimists say you should start thinking Slam once you’ve determined that between you and your partner you have a minimum of 29 high-card points. Others say you need at least 30 or even more. As with everything else in bridge, there’s probably no … [Read more...]
Those MF Hands!!!
December 2, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Like most duplicate bridge players, my partner Christine and I always try to leave Miss Fit at home – we don’t like a menage-a-trois – but every time she seems to be able to sneak into the car and come along. Misfits are a fact of life in bridge and are one of the more challenging aspects of the … [Read more...]
Silver Life
November 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment
My partner Christine achieved her Silver Life Master rank on Sunday (11-22-2015) when we won the 8-is-enough Swiss team competition at our home club, the Vero Beach Bridge Center, partnering with our friends Ann and Dick Bottelli to place first with three wins – two of them by blitzes – and just one … [Read more...]
The Common Game
November 3, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Some duplicate bridge players still refuse to play hands from The Common Game, believing that the hands are made extra hard by an evil computer or dealing machine that won’t let you make anything. It's a myth that seems impossible to stamp out, especially among some less experienced players. Of … [Read more...]
Cheaters
October 14, 2015 By Leave a Comment
My partner Christine and I had a successful weekend (10/9-10/11-2015) at the Sectional bridge tournament at our home club, the Vero Beach Bridge Center, earning Silver MasterPoints at every one of the four sessions we played and winding up with a total haul of 13 points. That was good enough for … [Read more...]
The Burglar’s brother steals the bid
November 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment
My oldest brother Johan taught me how to play bridge some 60 years ago, but we had never played duplicate together as a pair. So naturally, when he and his wife visited me and Christine in Vero Beach – they were the first of what we hope will be many visitors – we had to play duplicate at least … [Read more...]
Bidding on fumes keeps opponents out of game
October 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment
My partner Christine Matus and I had an extremely successful first Sectional duplicate bridge tournament in our new home town of Vero Beach, FL over the weekend (Oct. 4-6, 2013), racking up points in all four events we played including several first-place finishes for a total of almost 12 Silver … [Read more...]
Difficult hand comes down to basic math: 3 is better than 1
September 29, 2013 By 2 Comments
My partner Christine Matus and I won points for the fifth time in six outings Sunday (9-29-2013) by winning two and losing two head-to-head matches in an “eight-is-enough” Swiss team competition at the Vero Beach Bridge Center. We got .52 MasterPoints, .26 for each of the matches we won with … [Read more...]
Length before strength would have foiled Burglar
July 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The victory that the Kathy Bear team inflicted on the Browns and the Chaleks in the Delaware Bridge Studio’s Thursday night (7-18-2013) Swiss team competition was so lopsided (by 65 International MatchPoints or IMPs) that no one could recall ever having seen a more humiliating defeat. It happened … [Read more...]
Squeeze play: Make 5 diamonds with 20 points
June 18, 2013 By 1 Comment
I couldn’t play on my usual Thursday night team in the Delaware Bridge Studio’s Thursday night Swiss competition this week because I was otherwise occupied, taking my granddaughter to Brown University in Providence, RI, on a college-scouting trip. Christine Matus filled in for me on our team, … [Read more...]