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...]
Stealing a bid while playing hooky
January 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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...]
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...]
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...]
You win some, you lose some
December 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
LANCASTER, PA - Well, although I’m probably less than five points away from attaining my Life Master status now, I didn’t quite get there yet. At Sunday’s four-person Swiss format team competition that ended the Lancaster, PA, Winter Regional duplicate bridge tournament (an ACBL-sanctioned event), … [Read more...]
Never let your opponents play 2 Hearts!
December 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
PIKESVILLE, MD - They raised money to build a new bridge club in the Harrisburg, PA, suburb of Camp Hill with a variety of fundraising techniques, including the sale of commemorative bricks at the entrance. When my partner Christine Matus and I played in the inaugural Sectional tournament there … [Read more...]
10-card trump suit: Stolen slam that should not have made
December 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
One of my regular partners, Christine Matus, and I wound up on different teams for last week’s mid-week Swiss Sectional duplicate bridge tournament at the Bridge Studio of Delaware Thursday night and since neither one of us is very competitive (haha!) we were happy that each one of us walked away … [Read more...]
Atlanta turkey: No master points, but a gutsy ‘steal’
November 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
ATLANTA - Over the Thanksgiving Day weekend while visiting my grandchildren, I dropped in on the tough Atlanta Duplicate Bridge Center for the second time in my lifetime and once again came away without any points, although I got some points for niceness. “You are very pleasant to play with,” … [Read more...]