Preparing for the Atlanta NABC

So, the NABC is coming up in a few days in Atlanta. For me it will be very different experience from previous NABCs, mostly because it's kind of at home and partly because of what I'll be playing in and with whom I'll be playing.

When flying to an NABC there are very few logistical issues because there isn't really a choice - you must fly, you must stay at a hotel downtown, you can't bring your pet. When the NABC is in your home town, there also isn't really a choice - you're staying at home. When the NABC is this in-between distance of 95 miles away from home, there are several logistical options, and I can't decide what to do:

a) Take Winter and staying at a cheap suburban hotel, not unlike what I do for regionals in the district. With the 10 & 3 start times, that would effectively make it similar to my regular lifestyle, only with a much more interesting "work day" and incentives to go out late night.
b) Commute from home. It's about a 1.5 hour drive as long as traffic is okay.
c) Treat this like most NABCs by leaving Winter with my parents or in a kennel while I go all out playing bridge, socializing, eating, and drinking.

The 10 and 3 start times are particularly draining because bedtime doesn't really change. I won't be able to resist going to bars or playing midnight games if I am in the area, so if I leave Winter home alone, I'll be forced to drive home right after the game and no longer be in the area. Basically, this schedule just means we have 4 extra hours after the bridge game to drink and 3 fewer hours to sleep in the morning. This logic is urging me to go with option b, at least for part of the time, even though I know that is not a very practical plan. I kind of wanted to boycott the tournament to express my displeasure with the start times but it's just too damn convenient, and furlough Fridays mean I can play 6 days without using any vacation.

So, I'm playing mid-bracket regional knockouts the first Friday-Sunday. That'll be a possibly welcome big change of pace from the stressful top bracket knockouts I've been playing a lot of in the last couple of months. Monday I'm going into the office before coming back to play the last 6 days with Cristal in NABC events. Good teammates for the Mixed BAM and Open Swiss would be appreciated.

Last time the NABC was in Atlanta in 2005, I had a summer job working on updating the software for a flooring company just outside Atlanta while also working as a teaching assistant at GT. I lived in Buckhead across the street from a Marta station so commuting to the tournament was really easy. Life was pretty awesome. However, I wasn't a particularly competitive bridge player. Being a regular college kid was too appealing.

I think I played a couple of days but I don't remember with whom or anything like that. I do, however, remember going to the awesome Swichfoot concert with Amanda instead of playing bridge one of the Saturdays during the tournament. I had my priorities straight back then. Well, I still have priorities in the same order today - there are just fewer non-bridge opportunities.

Reston July 4th Regional

I'm too old for this stuff. Playing bridge Sunday somewhere further than Atlanta, traveling home, and working Monday is annoying enough. When that's at the end of a week of high level bridge followed by copious amounts of late night activities every day, it's a real struggle. At the Reston/DC regional, it was another big step toward being respected as a ligitimate contender at the highest levels of bridge. Despite a couple of major distractions, I managed to play pretty well all week as Sean and I (with Daniel Korbel and Jonathan Steinberg) won about 100 points, just behind Meckwell, Krzyzstof-Grzegorz, and Joyce-Jenny. We faced them head-to-head twice, winning in the final of the 1st KO and losing in the semi-final of the 3rd KO. Fortunately, that semi-final loss was on the afternoon of july 4th so we were able to have the evening off to participate in normal July 4th activities.

So, why was I distracted? I felt kind of bad all week about being at the tournament rather than at the hospital with my dad, where the doctors apparently were screwing things up. I also felt bad about leaving Winter in a kennel and about lying to Allie about where she was in hopes, I guess, of avoiding these emotional subjects. I also had that butterflies in the stomach feeling you get when just getting to know someone really special. It's been awhile since anyone has had that strong an effect on me.

I actually missed having Winter with me at the tournament. Simply having a dog to take care of stops the drinking and partying while it's still fun. The jogs and trips to the dog park physically make me feel better and limit going out to dinner, which also is probably healthier and more conducive to good bridge in the evening. We saw the Rodwell's dogs there quite a bit, and while they're cute, they aren't nearly as fun (or demanding) as my husky.

This weekend I plan to go through all of the scorecards to find something blog-worthy. Our slam bidding was so much better than it was in Greenville - only 2 or 3 disasters all week, including the first board of the second half against Meckwell (we had a 28 imp half time lead): We bid to 6S, knowingly off 2 key cards. We did have a 10 card fit and some 32 hcp. The K was onside so it rolled in. The Poles duplicated our auction to the slam off 2 keys but then proceeded to not take the finesse. Also, I think we played as many redoubled contracts last week as I had in my whole life. This led to a terrible score (-1000), 2 great scores (+760 twice), and one only slightly bad score (-200).

Not much in the way of bridge until the Atlanta NABC starting 3 weeks from today. I think I'll be staying in the suburbs or possibly commuting from home and hour and a half away and foregoing a lot of the evening hangouts so I can get my daily dose of Winter.

Auctions to blow your mind

I'm still pretty exhausted from last week in Greenville. Bridge tournaments wear me out.

Sean and I had several slam bidding disasters, which are unfairly magnified in imps, but otherwise played pretty well. 40 MP for the week is not terrible but it's not up to par either.

Hopefully the Reston regional in a couple of weeks will not drain my energy so much. We'll be flying so no dog to deal with, and I know fewer people there so probably less socialization. I want this to be a more relaxing vacation, but I know it won't be.

Here are a couple of auctions that blew my mind with some added commentary. From the Saturday open pairs:

1NT(1)-P-P-2♦(2); P-2♥-2NT(3)-P; P(4!)-X(5)-P(6)-P; XX(7)-P-P(8)-P

1) 15-17

2) Majors

3) this certainly looks like "pick a minor"

4) I don't know what's going on but I don't think I have to bid.

5) I know LHO wanted RHO to bid a minor so I'm going to give them a second chance because I have a prime 14-count and can double 3 of a minor as well.

6) I know my hand sucks for 2NT but I told you to pick a minor and you didn't so you must have a good reason.

7) I don't know what's going on, p, but 2NTX can't be the best contract. Let me in on the joke.

8) Spite pass with a 2-2-4-5 4-count.

From the Sunday Swiss:

P-P-2♥(1)-2♠; 4♥(2)-4♠-P-P; X(3)-P-P-XX(4); P(5)-P-P

1) 8-13, 5+ hearts (should have 6 hearts if at the low end)

2) 4♥ looks reasonable with AKJ-A and 6 card support.

3) Yeah, my 3 trump tricks are enough to set 4♠. So what if we have a giant heart fit.

4) We need more than 5 imps because we just went for 800 against nothing.

5) The trump split in our 11 or 12 card fit at the 5 level might do us in so I better pass and hope partner has a trick.

Rich Regan is a wild man. As alluded to above, he went for 800 on the first board while we could make nothing, then collected 880 on the second board, this was a couple of boards later. I was declaring 3NT and he led the ten of clubs, I ducked a couple of clubs and he showed out on the 3rd round.

♠KQ

♥KTxxx

♦KQx

♣Axx

♠Axx

♥Q

♦AT9xx

♣xxxx

Clearly if diamonds come in, that's 9 or 10 tricks but if they don't, how do I scrounge up 9 tricks? At trick 4, I led a heart toward my Q, which held. The right play now may well be to take a diamond finesse through LHO. If LHO had ♦Jxxx, this will allow me to score 5 diamonds, a heart, a club, and two spades (can't take all 3 spades because I would need to overtake a spade to get to the last 2 diamonds. But that's quite a strong position to take even if the gut says to do it.

Alas, I cash the ♦K and ♦Q at tricks 5 and 6, seeing the 4-1 split. I can't afford to give Rich a diamond because there would still be the problem of then not being able to take all 3 spade tricks, leaving me a trick short. So, I go into the tank after what so far had been a round played in lightning speed. Rich kept trying to claim down 1, saying his partner has good clubs and the ace of spades and other crap that pissed me off. This time I was able to stay concentrated and figure out how to make it. I cashed the ♠KQ, then came to my hand with the ♦A and cashed the ♠A. Now, RHO who started with ♠xxx, ♥AJxx, ♦xx, ♣KQJ9 was stuck. If she discarded a heart, I could throw her in with a club, forcing her to lead up to dummy's ♥KT at the end. In reality, she pitched the club so I just cashed my little club for the 9^th trick.

Strangeness in Bridge This Week

Monday and Tuesday nights, I did 3 things that I’m not sure I’ve ever done in bridge.

Monday, Joel and I were playing imp pairs online against Bob Heller and Emory. I held something like ♠xxx, ♥AKQxx, ♦x, ♣Qxxx. The auction was something like 1♣-1♥-X-2♥; 2♠-P-4♠-P; P-P so I was on lead against 4♠ and selected the singleton diamond. Joel dutifully won the ace and led one back for me to ruff. Obviously he didn’t lead a high spot for a heart suit preference, but with a singleton in dummy, I took a chance that he had the ♥J and led low from my heart honors for a second diamond ruff. It worked! Plays like that are so fun when they work, and that’s one of the few things I like about imps. When the opponents are in what seems to be a fairly easy game, you can take risks like this. In matchpoints, I probably would not underlead the hearts because I figure we may already be ahead of the field by getting the ruff.

Tuesday, playing with Emory, I held -, Axx, AKQJxx, AQxx and opened 1♦. Partner not surprisingly bid 1♠ and I jump-shifted to 3♣. Now he bids 4♥. I guess this is a splinter with club support, but wasn’t entirely sure. Not knowing what 4♠ or 4NT would mean here (there’s a reasonable case for both being natural), I tanked for at least a minute to mull over things. 5♠ exclusion to find out about the ♣K might be what I want to bid, but since that’s partner’s long suit, I’m not sure of that one either. Clubs may still not be a great spot if his clubs are only Kxxx as a 4-1 split could cause problems. Eventually I decided to jump to the diamond grand. If p has short hearts, he has to have some diamond support. Worst case scenario for this bid is for p to have ♠KQxxxx, ♥x, ♦xx, ♣Kxxx. With that, a trump lead would leave me needing a ruffing spade finesse and 3-2 clubs, but 7♦ is a cold if p has ♠Axxxx, ♥x, ♦xxx, ♣Kxxx – I can always score 2 heart ruffs and pitch the potential 4^th round club loser on the ♠A. His actual hand included 6 wasted hcp in spades: ♠KQJTx, ♥x, ♦xxx, ♣KJTx.

Later that night, I picked up ♠-, ♥xxxxx, ♦xxxx, ♣ATxx and at favorable vulnerability saw it go 1♣-X to me. Some days I might try 1♠ or 2♠ but Emory doesn’t take such jokes well and settled for 3♣ as my way to preempting. It didn’t work as LHO has a 7 card spade suit (I don’t think anything would have kept him from bidding 4♠), but this is the only time I can remember raising partner’s minor with 4 card support rather than bidding a 5 card major.

Gatinburg Squeeze/Endplay

I only made it to Gatlinburg for the weekend. I thought I had a reasonable plans for the weekend but all such plans somehow fell though and I would up playing the Saturday-Sunday KO with Jim, Wendy, and Tom, who kept me down in bracket 3 (out of 4). It’s kind of amazing how much attendance drops off – the KO that started Friday had 15 brackets but only 4 in the KO starting Saturday. The midnight games were fun as always as well and I was on the winning team both nights. I also enjoyed playing against a Quebecois couple thrice in full KO and found a new favorite liquor - Fireball (cinnamon whiskey). This was an interesting declarer play problem from Sunday.

Dealer: N Vul: None		North ♠ J8 ♥ T9xx ♦ Q ♣ KT98xx
		South ♠ KT7x ♥ QJ8x ♦ AKx ♣ Qx
West	North		East	South
—	Pass		2♠	Pass
Pass	3♣		Pass	3NT
Pass	Pass		Pass

Dummy wasn’t as promising as I expected but there’s still a play for 3NT. 4♥ has no play being off 4 tops plus a spade ruff and a possible club ruff. The play started with a low spade to the A, then ♠Q to my K with LHO discarding a discouraging diamond.

My ♣Q held trick 3 and LHO rose with the ♣A for trick 4 as RHO shed a spade. Next was a diamond to dummy, taking out the entry to the clubs. There appear to be 9 tricks via 2 spades, 2 hearts, 3 diamonds, and 2 clubs if I knock out the heart honors now. The last 2 hearts would provide the transportation to cash the ♣K in dummy and the pointed honors in hand. I can’t afford to cash any of those before the hearts are knocked out because that would set up the defense’s 5^th trick to go along with the ♠A, ♥AK, and ♣A. However, my HQ was allowed to win trick 6 so I have to arrange some sort of squeeze/endplay or have the good fortune of LHO having both heart honors and no 4^th diamond.

Not quite sure where I wanted to end up after the last heart, I played low to the T and RHO’s K at trick 7. She continued diamonds. Now I play LHO for the ♥A so cash the ♠T at trick 9. LHO is known to have to discard from ♠-, ♥A, ♦xx, ♣Jx. Obviously he can’t throw a heart but if he throws a diamond, I cash my last diamond and throw him in with a heart, forcing him to give dummy the last 2 club tricks. If he throws a club, I play HJ to throw him before taking the last diamond with the HT as an entry to the now-good clubs.

Traveling with Winter

Having Winter with me brought a new appreciation for the winter season. Obviously, Siberian Huskies love the cold weather and even though I do not, I could tell she was happy with the cold weather, often staying outside all night. Plus, she was easier to handle because I didn’t need to worry about leaving her in the car during dinner or a bridge game or a shopping trip and she would be fine. She certainly likes that better than being left home alone or in the crate at a hotel.

Winter is still coming with me on some bridge trips but simply coming along on day trips or while I run errands around town won’t be happening so much because of the heat. I have 1 week trips to regionals in Richmond regional at the end of May and 1 week at the Greenville SC regional in the middle June, and I plan to take Winter on both of those trips. I’m sure I will have other trips this summer but I haven’t planned those – I’m waiting to see what the actual days of the impending furlough will be and whether we will have any flexibility on when to take them.

As I think I have mentioned before, there are so many places I’d like to visit but most of them probably won’t happen this year. Things I haven’t mentioned are bridge festivals. Several European cities have tournaments with substantial cash prizes. I wish the ACBL or some other bridge organization would run more cash prize tournaments in the US. These tournaments have late starting times or sometimes only 1 session per day at about 4pm.  The one I’m looking at most is the one in Biarritz the first week of July.  Who wants to help pay my way to that?

The warm weather has reignited my desire to run and play tennis. Actually, the last time Winter escaped, about 4 weeks ago, I discovered a nice trail through the woods in my neighborhood. It’s down in a valley and shaded so should be good for a late afternoon 1.2 mile jog a few times per week. It certainly beats running on the street.

Bridge hands from Tuesday night!

In case there are eager readers who have been checking this site regularly awaiting a new bridge deal, the time has come. If you read this blog for the non-technical bridge articles, check back tomorrow - there will be something for you!

Last night I had some interesting problems. The most interesting to me was this defensive hand.

Dealer: N Vul: None			North ♠ AQJx ♥ T8x ♦ xx ♣ KQTx
West ♠ 543 ♥ AJ96 ♦ KTx ♣ 973						East ♠ KTxx ♥ K7 ♦ J9xx ♣ AJ8
			South ♠ xx ♥ Qxxx ♦ AQ8x ♣ xxx
West	North		East	South
—	1♣		Pass	1♦
Pass	1♠		Pass	1NT
Pass	Pass		Pass

I, west, started out with my 4^th best heart. I really wanted to lead a spade against this auction but decided to go with the field this time. Declarer only has 4 sure tricks – 2 spades, a club, and a diamond – and with best defense, that’s all he can take. However, we take the first 3 tricks in hearts while setting up declarer’s Q, so that’s 5 tricks for declarer. There’s no way to really know that south had 4 hearts rather than the suit being 4333. I would have held off playing the 3^rd round of hearts (with a sure diamond entry, there’s no way the ♥A could go away), but didn’t know which suit to lead next. At trick 3, on the ♥A partner played the ♦9. Well, that tells me not to lead a diamond but I don’t think I was going to do that anyway.

Now I guess to lead a club and select the 7. Dummy wins the K and comes off with the ♠Q. Partner takes this and fires a diamond through and my ten takes the trick. By now we both know declarer is at least 4-4 in the red suits and east “knows” that declarer has 3 clubs – my lead of the 7 could hardly have been from a 4 card suit and declarer’s spade play sort of implies that he has a doubleton. Anyway, now I put the ♣9 on the table, clearing up the club count, sort of. At least it guarantees that I have a 3^rd club or else I would have led the 9 first. Declarer finesses and when partner wins the J, it is tempting to cash the A. However, he can safely lead another diamond, knowing that he still has spades stopped and that I am kind of marked with another diamond honor. Plus, since I now am “known” to have 3 clubs, we’ll still be able to take the club later. I guess it could go away if declarer’s initial diamond holding was AKxxx because the early diamond discard now means declarer’s 4^th diamond would be a winner. But with that, he may have tried to set up diamonds on his own.

My second most interesting problem of the night was an opening lead against 2♠. RHO had opened a 15-17 1NT and LHO transferred to spades while my p stuck in a lead-directing double of 2♥. I held ♠QTx, ♥AJTx, ♦xx, ♣J9xx. Obviously I’m going to lead a heart and if partner has the KQ, it doesn’t really matter which heart I lead. However, if partner has only the K (say Kxxxx), it may be necessary to let p win the first heart trick so we can finesse declarer out of the Q and start tapping dummy. If I start with the ♥A, we may not be able to effectively make dummy ruff without setting up declarer’s Q. I will not even consider the possibility that partner does not have the ♥K – Kxxxx is the bare minimum for a lead-directing double at the 2-level (in fact, I actually think that suit is too weak but I won’t argue much against it).

So, the question is: will the J, T, or x be more likely to get partner to play the K at trick 1? I figured if I lead the J or T, he may let it go with K-empty, thinking we may not have adequate spots to be wasting 2 honors. If I lead low, at least it could be from the Q so he’ll surely play 3^rd hand high. So, I selected the small heart it was a revolting development when dummy tabled Qx and it went low, 8, 9.

My third interesting problem was what to do with QJxx, AQJ9xx, J, Jx after it went 1♠-2♦ to me. There are four reasonable options:

a) 2♥, planning to bid 4♠ next time (or 5♠ if they take an advance save).

b) 3♦, a limit raise or better, but then how do I know whether I have the right hand to move if partner just jumps to game.

c) 4♦, a splinter, putting things in partner’s hands.

d) 3♥, a fit-showing jump-shift. This is really the best option if you are playing a jump-shift this way. I’m not sure if Emory and I are or not so I didn’t bid it.

This is more of a bidding theory/style kind of problem – nothing interesting actually happened on this deal.