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As promised, here are the pictures showing the screens i was so excited about playing behind.

	Here’s a picture showing the tray with an auction on it.  You can see the tray is passed back and forth through a small opening under the screen.  It is designed so that neither person on one side can see their partner during the bidding.  Also, all bids are explained in written form; you can see the note paper provided.  Thus, less “unauthorized information” is transmitted, either by partner’s hesitations during the bidding or by partner’s verbal explanations of bids.
	This is me looking through the opening in the screen once the bidding is over and the play begins.  The door hinges up and the dummy is placed on the table.  All cards are now visible once they are played face-up on the table.  However, note the screen is designed such that you can’t see your partner’s face, unless you hunch down as i am here.  That’s deliberate - on defense, you’re still not supposed to know if partner is surprised or confused by any play of the cards.
	Lance sits here, waiting for the bidding tray to come to his side of the table.
	Doug is shown “in the tank” (ie thinking) about what to do in this situation.  He’s holding his head, but because he’s behind a screen, his partner doesn’t know the degree of the quandary he’s put his partner in. Funnily enough, Doug emerged from his tank and bid 6D.  The 2C bidder is holding the AK of diamonds, but woe is him, his partner “sacrificed” in seven clubs.  Whoops.

We finished second overall in the GNT Flight A yesterday.  We started off with a very unlucky set in the first quarter, and found ourselves trailing 28 IMPs.  And unfortunately we just never really recovered.

What a wild ride.  For those of you who are not bridge players, it is hard to explain my fascination with this game and what draws me to it.  But this week was one of the most fun and simultaneously most focused in my bridge career.  It will always be one of the high points.

We have two more days here.  We may play a session or two of bridge, but i think we are planning to take it easy and probably go to the zoo and the insectarium tomorrow.   Then Wednesday we have an early flight back to Raleigh.

It will be nice to be home.  We had another false fire alarm last night around 2 am.  We were still up partying with our teammates in our room, however, so at least this time we weren’t startled from slumber.  So i’d like to get back home where we aren’t sent into the streets at all hours.  And, this city smells rather bad.  I have fallen in love with other cities we’ve visited for bridge tournaments (San Diego, San Francisco).  This one is not on my list of Places I Wouldn’t Mind Living In.

So, life returns to normal in a few days.  And that will be a good thing.

Yesterday’s scores:

Quarter 1: 42-35
Quarter 2: 44-23
Quarter 3: 40-30
Quarter 4: 56-29

The match was never really close.  At halftime, we were up 28.  I was talking to Nathan about it, and to help understand the scoring, we converted the scores to basketball scores.  We figure being up 28 at halftime is roughly equivalent to being up 10 at halftime in a basketball game.  A nice advantage, but there’s nothing saying the other team can’t make a run and come back.  However, as you can see, we held them off.

Yay!

Playing behind screens was so friggin’ awesome.  I was behind a partition with one of the opponents from the other team.  During the bidding, I couldn’t see Lance or the other opponent at all.  Bidding was conducted using a regular bidding box, but you put the bids on a tray that slid underneath a small opening in the partition.  Once the bidding was over, a small door opens up so you can see the dummy and the cards during the play.  All bids are explained in written form, so it was pretty silent.  It was all so much more serious-seeming.  But the opponent on my side tried to lighten things up a bit by making a few written jokes, too.  It was pretty fun.  A good birthday.

Today we play a team from Philadelphia for the win.  56 more hands of bridge.  That’s 56 auctions to get right, and at least 1,000 cardplay decisions.  Here’s hoping we can get them right.

Today was the round of eight, and we played a good team from California. Here were the scores, in terms of IMPs:

Quarter 1: 35-24
Quarter 2: 44-13
Quarter 3: 43-28
Quarter 4: 49-77

As you can see, going into the 4th quarter, we had a pretty large advantage.  In the last set, the IMPs were just flying.  In fact we nearly lost.  The pair we played bid a grand slam on a finesse.  Fortunately for us, the finesse lost.  We gained 17 IMPs on that board.  If the finesse had won, we would have lost 13.  That’s a 30 IMP swing.   Our total margin was only 28.  So despite our 57-IMP advantage after three quarters, we could have lost it.  It was a wild last set.

The coolest part is that tomorrow, in the final four, we get to play with screens.  I have never played with screens!  I am so friggin excited about that!  Screens are generally only used in the finals of the big events.  I am definitely bringing my camera - i’ll try post a picture of us using screens in a few days.

My birthday wish (my birthday is “today” - Saturday), was to still be in this event on my birthday.  I have everything i want - playing good bridge, playing with my favorite partner, in a fun city (even if it is a bit smelly in places).

Life is good.

OK we have been in New Orleans for two full days.  In the first day, the Flight A GNT (the event we qualified for 6 weeks ago), we played a Swiss event in order to reduce a field of 23 teams down to 16.  The Swiss involved playing 8 matches (7 hands each) against 8 other teams.  We finished 5th of 23 when all was said and done.

It would have been nice to finish in the top four, because then you get to pick your opponents for the second day.  But we had a couple of rough matches so only finished 5th.  So we got a random draw for the second day.

The second day was the round of 16, and plays out essentially like the NCAA tournament.  From here on out, half the teams will get eliminated each day.

Today we played our randomly selected team for a grueling 56 hands.  We compared after every 14 hands.  At the first quarter break, we were up 5 IMPs.  A very small advantage.  Our second quarter was a bad set (-14) so we were down 9.  Still small, but now they had the advantage.  After dinner, in the 3rd quarter, we gained 12 back and had an even milder advantage of only +3.  But finally in the 4th quarter we won decisively with +36 and won the match.

Very exciting!  Now we’re on to the round of 8.  We’re playing a tough team, but we are not pessimistic.

New Orleans has been fun so far.  We’ve eaten at a few good places, getting the “taste of New Orleans” wherever possible.  We’re taking the mornings off to do some sight-seeing.  Tomorrow morning, for example, we’re hitting the aquarium.

Booze is prevalent here.  Liquor is sold in every corner store, which is odd to see since we come from a state that still won’t sell you beer at certain times on Sundays.

Looking forward to another win tomorrow and perhaps some pictures if i can find time to post.

Wish us luck!

Today’s the day - our flight departs from RDU at 7:05.  Everyone on our bridge team is excited (i have gotten chat messages every day from one in particular - “three more days!” “tomorrow’s the big day!” “today is IT!”) about competing, plus we’re just excited to visit New Orleans.

It seems the hip thing to call it NOLA, because that’s all anyone is calling it, but i prefer to say “New Orleans” thank you very much.  I am too old to be hip i think.

I packed last night and this morning.  This was necessary because there will be no time to go home after work today.  Lance will pick me up and chauffeur us to the airport.  I think i remembered everything this time.  I even remembered Q-tips, which i often forget when traveling.  Gotta have Q-tips, or my ears end up feeling funny.

We don’t have a whole lot of things scheduled.  The bridge events will take up a lot of time.  I do have a brunch scheduled at Commander’s Palace.  I remember it fondly from my first visit to New Orleans, and apparently everyone else likes it too, because people keep telling us we have to eat there if we can.  Done.  Other than that, we’ll be playing it by ear.  We have some recommendations for a few jazz clubs.  I think it might be fun to go out in the swamp and meet some alligators.  I hear there’s a nice aquarium there as well.  And then of course there’s the beach.  I find myself morbidly drawn to see for myself what an oil spill does to a place.

This is one of my favorite parts of a big trip - anticipation!

I am a volunteer.  Lately, i am fed up with it.  Or maybe a combination of fed up and burned out.

The word “volunteer” has all sorts of rosy connotations associated with it.  People volunteer with food banks and the Red Cross, at homeless shelters and soup kitchens.  If you are a “volunteer” you are helping people.

I’m not that kind of volunteer.  I volunteer for my bridge club.  There are lots of things that have to be done in order to keep the thing running.  I’m not helping the poor or contributing to the greater good, per se.  But i am passionate about bridge and i want to do my part to keep the clubs and tournaments going.  And technically, a “volunteer” really is just someone who donates their time to something other than their own personal affairs.

So i volunteer.  I have been in the bridge world for 11.5 years now.  In that time, i have

• served on my local club’s board of directors for 5 years (and counting), sometimes holding offices.  I’m currently the Secretary, which means i’m one of the only board members who has to actually prepare for meetings by creating minutes and attendance reports and such.
• served as my local club’s treasurer for 3.5 years (and counting)
• served as the tournament chair for 3 years (6 sectional tournaments)
• served as the partnership chair for 3 years (8 sectional tournaments) (and counting)
• served at our regional tournaments in various roles, including intermediate/novice chair and manning the registration desk

This past weekend was GNT weekend.  GNT stands for Grand National Teams.  This competition takes place every year at the summer bridge nationals.

We go to tournaments all the time, and usually a tournament has a large variety of events you can enter at will.  There are a few events, though, like the GNT, where you must qualify in order to enter.  First, we had to qualify at the local club (This is not difficult to do).  The next step is to qualify at the district level (that was this past weekend).  There are 24 districts in the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL).  Ours is District 7, and covers North Carolina, South Carolina and parts of Georgia (including Atlanta).  For each flight and for each district, one team is sent to compete at the national level.

There are four “flights”: A, B, C and Championship.  They represent exactly what you would guess they do.  A, B and C is the bridge world’s way of trying to identify how much experience you have.  Flight A consists of a lot of good players, but most of the well-known bridge personalities are over-qualified for it.

Ten teams showed up to compete for the District 7 Flight A spot.  This is quite a paltry showing, considering we cover most of 3 states.  But, the district final was held in Greenville, SC.  I guess people don’t always want to travel to play in these things.

We did.  Weeks ago, Lance and i planned to make a long weekend out of it.  Greenville was hosting a sectional bridge tournament at the same time, so we decided to go a day early and warm up.  The district finals would take place on Sat/Sun, but there would be bridge events on Friday.  It would be a fun trip for just the two of us.  Sure, we’d have friends there, but we’d get to go back to the hotel room alone and talk about hands and share the king-sized bed.

Or so i thought.

In the week or so leading up to the tournament, we were very excited.  Played some online BBO and had chat sessions with teammates.  Our teammates are two friends who are also excellent players.  One is 23 and the other is 28.  Lance and i are 33 and 31.  One teammate has played bridge professionally and represented the US in some Junior events years ago.  The other is still technically a Junior and is somehow a better player than all of us despite having only played for a year or two.   This is a very young team, compared to most of the other teams, and a very good team.  We might even have been the favorites to win going into it.

[Flight C was also having their district finals competition at the same time.  I mentioned our team was young, but some of the Flight C's were younger.  One kid was only 9.  Two teams of all kids competed for the final spot on Sunday afternoon.  Congratulations to those players, who are the future of bridge.]

The day before we were set to leave, i suddenly get a ping at work about whether it’s OK if we have a roommate.  Our 61-year old buddy M was also going to compete for the District 7 spot on a different team, and it worked out that he would have to get a hotel room just for himself, which he didn’t want to do.  I was not particularly pleased about this.  Suddenly our bridge weekend which i had semi-romanticized didn’t seem so great if this guy (who has been known to tax my patience after spending significant time with him) would be tagging along and we would never have any privacy.  Despite not being thrilled about it, i agreed.

All went as planned; we got to Greenville safely after a 4.5 hour drive.  M was pretty well-behaved the first night.  Lance and i got up to play bridge in the morning session at 9 am Friday.  We played all 3 sessions on Friday, with nothing of note to report.

During lunch, M, Lance and i went on the hunt for food.  We just went in one direction, looking for something, anything.  It was an empty stretch of road.  Until, we came upon a dingy little brick building with an old sign that said “Carolina Fine Food Restaurant”.  It was the only thing in sight, and i had a feeling this place would be “my people.”  Sure enough, this dive had the atmosphere of a hometown BBQ restaurant.  We went back to this place for most of our meals throughout the weekend.  I highly recommend it if you’re ever in Greenville.

Friday night was once again uneventful.  M behaved and we got a decent night’s sleep.  Well-rested before going into “battle.”

Saturday the GNT competition started.  It would span two days.  On the first day, we played a round-robin, where every team played against every other team.  It would eliminate the field from 10 teams to 4.  The final four would play a knockout to determine the winner.

The first half of Saturday, it seemed like we couldn’t really do anything wrong.  In our first 5 (of 9) matches, we won big thrice and lost small twice.  We felt confident at dinner.  But then right after the dinner break, we lost big.  The good news is that the team we lost to was not one of the teams in contention.  Which is both good but also a little embarrassing.  All of a sudden, we were back in the middle of the pack, with 3 tough rounds to finish the day.  We managed small wins in all 3.  We ended the day 6 and 3.

We finished 2nd overall for the day, which means we would get to advance to the final four.  The 1st place finisher got to choose their opponent, and they chose the easiest team left.  That left us to play M’s team in the semi-finals.

Saturday night, we celebrated.  Someone had a cooler of beer and we polished it off while talking about hands.  Our teammates had arrived that morning, and were planning to drive across the street to a cheap motel that charged half-price after midnight.  They didn’t have a reservation.  I told them if they were unable to get a room (or it was too scary), they could sleep on our floor.  Somehow, that translated into them not even trying to get a room.  Everyone went upstairs and before i realized what had happened i was in a hotel room that had gotten very small, and i was sharing it with four men.

At first i thought this would be fine, but then the guys fired up their computers and started playing poker.  They were loud and a little bit drunk and telling jokes and one of them was singing.  It was amusing for awhile.  When everyone started to calm down, most of us were trying to sleep, except for one teammate who wanted to stay up and play on the computer.  Between the singing and the arguing about who should be going to sleep, i don’t think i got to sleep until 3 am.  And M, who had been so well-behaved the first two nights, was causing most of the ruckus.

Still, there is a certain camaraderie that comes from sharing close quarters with people.  We were mostly in good spirits the next day despite a rough night.

Sunday morning rolled around (too quickly), and two teams from Raleigh squared off, very likely the two best teams that were there.  We had hoped for a dramatic end and to get to play them in the final match.  This way, though, at least one team would get a head start on the long drive home.

At the half we were up on them, but they rallied in the second half.  Still, we managed a win of 9 IMPs.  It was a swingy set of bridge hands, and any one of them could be called The Swing Board.  This hand was one of them.

The final match was grueling, particularly at our table.  The pace was extremely slow.  Our teammates finished the first half and we still had five (of twelve) hands to play.  The result?  We were down 10 IMPs.  Not a large margin - as i said above, any one hand can produce enough of a swing to turn the tables.  After a pep talk from a teammate “We didn’t come this far to lose in the finals, guys,” we went back to finish the set.  Again, the pace was slow and grueling.  Every decision felt like it would matter.  Honestly, Lance and i did not have a particularly good set the second half.  Our opponents did a lot of things right.

The good news is, our teammates did a lot of things right, too.  They had enough to cover our butts.  And in the end, we won.  By 7 IMPs.

So.  We will be representing District 7 in the GNT Flight A competition in New Orleans at the end of July.  We were planning to attend the tournament anyway, but we wouldn’t have gotten to play in this event.  (In fact, it starts two days earlier than we had planned to arrive, so i had to adjust my travel plans.  I couldn’t assume we would win; that might have jinxed it!) The district gives us each $450 to help offset travel expenses.  The event will start with 24 teams and will last five days.  I hope we’re still there on the fifth day!

Bridge Week is finally over.  The Tarheel Regional Bridge Tournament was held from May 25-31 at the North Raleigh Hilton.  22 sessions of bridge were held, plus 3 midnight knockout events.  I played 19 of those sessions (but no midnights).  Lance also played 19 sessions and also two of the midnight events.  He’s crazier than i am.

This tournament is one of my favorite things.  Not only do i get to play bridge for a week (by the way, that’s 456 hands of bridge), but i get to hang out night and day with all the bridge player friends i have.  It’s just FUN.  Everyone has stories about bridge hands, and there’s opportunities to go out to dinner, or have a beer at the evening hospitality.  All the other bridge tournaments i go to are fun, too, but this one is mine.  It’s in my backyard, and i know the people running it, and there’s always someone i know nearby who wants to chat.

Aside from the first session, i played the entire tournament with Lance.  And even in that first session, Lance was on my Swiss team.  He is a great partner, and an excellent player.  It was a treat to get to play with him so much, particularly because we just don’t play that much together anymore.  He prefers day games while the only time i can play is in the evening.

We did well - we finished 3rd in almost every event we entered.  Sure, i would have liked to win something, but finishing 3rd gets your name in the daily bulletin and racks up a ton of masterpoints.  This was our dance card:

• Tues at 1 pm - Swiss teams (1 session) - 3rd place
• Tues at 7 pm, Wed at 9 am & 1 pm - Bracket II knockout - 3rd place.  We got knocked out in the semi-final round against the young pro team.  Since we didn’t qualify for the finals, we did not play bridge Wednesday evening.
• Thurs at 9 am - Bracket I Compact knockout - didn’t place.  This is the only event we didn’t place in.  It would have continued Fri at 9 am, but we slept in instead.
• Thurs at 1 pm & 7 pm - Bracket I Knockout - didn’t place.  We advanced to the second round, but my team sent me to draw our opponents, and i drew Meckstroth, Rodwell and the Poles.  Oops.
• Fri at 1 pm & 7 pm - 2-session Open Pairs - finished 3rd.  And i didn’t even play well in the first session.  If only i had…
• Sat at 9 am and Sun at 9 am - Bracket I Compact Knockout - finished 3rd.  I’m still not sure how we lost the semi-final round.
• Sat at 1 pm & 7 pm and Sun at 1 pm - Bracket I Knockout - finished 3rd.  I was starting to get sick on Saturday, so i was happy to take Sunday evening off and nurse my cold.
• Mon at 10 am & 2 pm - A/X Swiss Teams - finished 3rd in X and 6th overall.

By the end of the tournament, i was ready for it to be over.  Yes, i love bridge, but i love my normal routine, too.  And my dog, who we had to board because it was just too hectic to go to the house twice a day to take care of him.  (Boy was he glad to see us when we picked him up!)  I seem to always get sick at these tournaments, too, undoubtedly because of all the people and other people’s germs on the cards, combined with the fact that i bite my nails so it all goes into my mouth.

We’re tired, but happy.  We will get to do a mini version of this in two more weeks, when we head to Greenville, SC for the Grand National Teams competition, and try to win a free trip to the national tournament in New Orleans this summer.  We’ll go regardless, but would like to represent our district in Flight A if we can.

A few things learned this week:

• Reverse Flannery is a cool convention.  1m-2H shows 5-9 points and 5 spades and 4 hearts.  Very useful, and we even remembered it the two times it came up.
• Bidding is more fun at matchpoints.  But defense is more fun at teams.
• Ex-husbands will sometimes spend a few minutes talking with you about the legality of bridge conventions when you play similar systems.
• People will ask the darndest questions when you’re sitting behind the partnership desk.  “Where is the bathroom?”  Try turning around; it’s two feet behind you.  “Have you seen my cell phone?”  Um, no?  And you shouldn’t have it in the playing room anyway.  “Where is the ice machine?”  It’s a hotel, try looking in one of the hallways with rooms.
• Don’t open light in 3rd seat, even white on red, holding only 9xxxx AQ xxx Jxx.  You might think they will be afraid of missing a vully game, but they might just come after you instead and get 1100.
• A free hotel room sure is nice, but is probably not worth the price: manning the partnership desk an hour before every session (me) and staying up half the night creating the daily bulletin (lance).  Especially when you only live 5 minutes away.
• The tournament chair wants me to replace him, serving as a co-chair with him in 2 years and taking over after that.  Honestly, i will probably be good at it.

The Raleigh Sectional Bridge Tournament started on Thursday (yesterday) evening at 7 pm and will last through Sunday.  I am the partnership person; if you need a partner or teammate, i’m the one you call.  Thus, my name is one of two names on all the tournament fliers and publications.

Occasionally, i get calls that are not related to partnerships, either because people know me or couldn’t get an immediate answer from the tournament chair, which is the other number listed on the fliers.

Thursday night, it’s 8:15 pm when my cell phone vibrates in my pocket.  The bridge tournament is in full swing.  I’m in the middle of playing a hand, but i glance at my phone to see who is calling.  The caller ID says “RESTRICTED”.  Of course i can’t answer it, but whoever it was left a message.  A few moments later, i have a short break and step into the hallway to hear the following message.

Hello, i am not looking for a partner, i just need to get in touch with the tournament chair and i was hoping you could give me her phone number.  I don’t want you to have to pay for this call, so i guess i’ll just keep calling and hope you answer next time.

I am immediately amused by several different things all at once:

1. Cell phones are supposed to be off during bridge games (in fact you are penalized if a phone audibly rings).  It’s a fluke that i even had my phone on and noticed this phone call.
2. It is in the middle of a bridge session!  Even if i had my cell phone on, as i did, i can’t just answer the phone in the middle of playing!
3. Restricted?  How am i supposed to call you back and tell you what you need to know when you block your phone number?  Especially when you don’t leave a name or phone number in your message!
4. What century are you living in?  I live in the 21st century, where people have cell phones, all of which offer free long-distance on most calling plans.  You don’t have to worry about whether i will have to pay for the call.
5. Where did you get my phone number from anyway?  My guess is that it was from a flier or email publicizing our tournament (i don’t know where else it could have been from).  Guess what - the phone number you want is listed there right next to mine.

She did in fact call twice more, and of course i was unable to answer both times.  I’m very sorry, nice lady from the previous century.  I hope you found the information you needed.