3-3 Fit ftw

What was life like pre-bridge? I mean, what the heck did I do with all my free time before I played bridge? Or at least before I played bridge so much? Was I just bored a lot? I dunno. I still watch lots of TV and do athletic things and have plenty of time to sit around and do nothing. I certainly have not reached a stage where “bridge = life” – I hope I never do, and I do put forth some effort to do social things that don’t revolve around bridge like playing tennis, going to bars and meeting low-lifes (Hillery is still the only person I've first met at a bar who has actually been a good influence on me and that was almost 4 years ago!), and flirting with my favorite waitress at Cheddar's.

The truth is that I frequently feel uncomfortable in a setting with non-bridge players but rarely feel uncomfortable with bridge players. Bridge gives us something to talk about, and there’s rarely a time that I don’t have a few hands rolling around in my head that I can mention at a lull in the conversation. I find my mind more and more wandering off into bridge land during breaks in the conversation, and that really does not interest anyone who doesn’t play bridge. Actually, it only interests people who play bridge well. There was a time - 2nd and 3rd years at GT and 2008, perhaps my 3 happiest years so far - when I felt more like a normal person and I'm trying to remember how I did that.

I’ve gone out and about in Warner Robins a lot more than usual this week and several people have surprised me this week, I have surprised myself with how I reacted, and I’m mostly not happy about it all. I got pretty frustrated last night and not feeling so great today emotionally. But I have a flight to Charlottesville in a few hours and that should be a fun trip. Or maybe just a really awkward one. I dunno. I’ll leave you with a fun hand from Tuesday night.

Dealer: W Vul: NS	North ♠ AKJ ♥ J ♦ AKQ64 ♣ AQ72
West ♠ 9762 ♥ AT9653 ♦ T2 ♣ K		East ♠ 853 ♥ KQ72 ♦ J73 ♣ 984
	South ♠ QT4 ♥ 84 ♦ 985 ♣ JT653

West	North	East	South
2♥	X	Pass	2NT
Pass	3♥	X	Pass
Pass	4♥	X	4♠
Pass	Pass	Pass

I think I have all the important cards correct here. I certainly don’t condone making a habit of bidding games on 3-3 fits but this time it worked out pretty well. Of course, 6 of either minor is pretty easy to make and 4S can probably be beaten if the defense plays hearts at every opportunity, even if it gets to be a sluff and ruff. However, west led his singleton. Emory won with the ace in dummy and played another high club. West ruffed, shortening himself to the same number of trumps as everyone else. Now he could draw all the trumps and have a bunch of good minor suit cards.

In the bidding, 2NT was Lebensohl – in this case, Emory had intended to pass 3C. 3H showed lots of extra values, pass over 3HX should suggest no long suit and probably no 4 card spade suit. My 4H bid should again be passing the decision back to south and would have been appropriate if I had 4-1-4-4 distribution. Eh.

Bridge as a Social Game

I’ve met a lot of people (mostly non-bridge players) who claim that bridge isn’t a social game, or that is isn’t a social game for young folks, because who really wants to socialize with people 2 and 3 times their age. I used to think the same thing because bridge would be like a hobby to me but I would still have a normal social life. As I have grown older, I have noticed that almost all of my friends are now bridge players. And they almost all live far away from me. It’s not that I’ve played more bridge lately – I’m just getting along with bridge players better now, especially that I’ve found several other young bridge players.

Would my life be really dull without bridge? Yes, probably. I don’t fit in with a typical early 20’s group of people, certainly not the group that resides in Middle Georgia. I mean, I like to go out to bars and work out and watch shows and sports as much as the next person but somehow I never fit in with my peers here or growing up in Valdosta. At Georgia Tech, yes, there were many social groups I could fit in, but they went to the opposite extreme and are too nerdy for me. Maybe it’s an intellectual difference. The bridge players I now consider my best friends - Ramesh, Emory, Sean, Megan, Patrick, Dana, Gio, Joel, dad - include people born in 6 different decades of brilliant people who aren't totally consumed with the game or with work, like many super smart people are. Maybe that’s what draws me to them and vice versa. My friends from GT were largely too serious about studies and work to suit me while the friends from home are maybe too conservative to suit me.

But, seriously, playing bridge has allowed me to meet lots of fascinating people. Even though going to a tournament involves 7 hours a day (3.5 hours for a club game) of sitting at a table nearly silently, there is a lot of social interaction, probably more social interaction. You are bound to find someone you can get along with. And bridge kind of gives you something to talk about. Bridge player are notorious for going on and on talking about hands and bidding systems. I try not to do that but if you get a lull in the conversation or need an ice breaker, “What would you do with this hand…” is a good way to start.