Diary of a Bridge Pro, #6

Louisville, Kentucky - March 17th, 2024 

Too Much Light 

Today has been one of those days. Not in the "Sigh, it looks like today is going to be one of those days," but more like, "Wow - it looks like today is going to be an amazing day." 

I anticipate leaving the tournament tomorrow. Not because I'm tired of it here - I'm actually loving it here. I love playing bridge (all the more so when I’m billing a fat fee), but I love writing about it at least as much, maybe more. 

I leave Louisville, the current center of the bridge universe, it’s not because I can’t stay, or don’t want to stay - but rather, as a tactical retreat. Leave now and secure an extra week to work on the agency and lay the groundwork for the next NABC (July in Toronto). 

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Regarding this "blog format": I do love this medium, mad props to whoever thought this up.

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On Today's Title, Too Much Light: Some days you’re feeling things, good and bad, just too strong. That’s the way I feel some days. Today was one of those days. When I have too many amazing encounters in a short period, I get overwhelmed and think: “Too Much Light”. 

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Apple Computer Founder Steve Jobs believed that “Vectors are important” - that is, if I understand his thinking correctly, how you start has a big impact on how you wind up. 

No surprise, then, that Ellis and I scored so poorly on the day, when you consider that we started with this catastrophe (full hand at the end of the story):

Click on that link and consider Board 25 - Initially from my partner's perspective: You hold: Axx, KQJ98x, xxx, x - On your left, they open One Diamond. What do you bid? 

My long time partner (a long time ago), Edgar Kaplan, would favor a Two Heart jump overcall with this hand. Descriptive, safe, and taking away bidding room from the opponents. 

Ellie chose to simply bid One Heart - no jump - hardly a blunder, no doubt much of the field chose the same action. 

Thought for the Day: It's okay to have your bid once in a while. 

Opposite that relatively normal hand held by Ellie, here’s the phreak I held opposite: QJT98xxxx (that's right, nine of 'em), A, x, Kx - 

The bidding to me: (1D) - 1H - (P) - ? 

I like a Four Spade bid here, but I know contemporary partners find jumps of that sort annoying, so I contented myself with a simple call of One Spade. Now continue to listen to the bidding, ala Al Roth. 

Over my One Spade advance, LHO competed with 2D, and (Feigenbaum) now competed with 2H. My Rho raised to 3D, and I now bid my obligatory 4S. This was passed around to RHO, who bid 5D in what appeared to be a text - book sacrifice. 

For a moment it occurred to me to bid 5S or pass, but then I considered my ace of hearts, my king of clubs, my partner who had bid twice, and I made what I thought was the obvious double. 

Ellie led his singleton club and in what took minutes but should have taken seconds, the bad guys racked up all thirteen tricks, Five Diamonds doubled with two overtricks. 

For our side, this result is worse than horrible -it’s true that with our hearts blocked, we can't beat even Six Diamonds - but who’s going to bid that? No one will sell out with our million-card spade fit. 

"That was the worst board ever," I told Eli as I okayed the score in the BridgeMate - "I mean, like in the entire history of bridge." 

"I thought I should show my hearts again," Ellie contributed as we took out our cards for the second board.

The full hand:

Hamman Cites Orwell 

This surged into my head as I walked back from the playing site to my hotel today.

For many years I’ve made it a point to try to stay in contact with Bob Hamman, known widely as the greatest or one of the greatest American players of all time. 

Bob and I always have plenty to talk about - the last tournament, or the next one. Sometimes he and I team up for a Spingold, sometimes we partner up for a national pair game. 

I called him last September (2023), around a week before Bob went to Africa to play on USA2 in the Senior World Championships, our conversation ran something like this: 

Me: Bob, I'm leaning towards playing without a sponsor in major events if we can get a good “amateur” team. You know what events I’m talking about: Spingolds, Vanderbilts, Team Trials, whatever - . 

"Well, we'll see how it goes in Marrakesh," he inevitably replied. Bob's M.O. has long been to try out a series of partners and teammates - in the recent Chicago Spingold, the 2023 Team Trials, and the WC in Marrakesh, this rotating role as “Bob’s partner” was fulfilled by one Peter Weichsel - more on him some other time - 

"Absolutely, Bob - see how it goes at the next tournament,” I told him for perhaps the tenth time in the last twenty years. Still time for a tiny bit of enthusiasm for the wizened warrior, I reasoned, so I closed with this: 

“But I want you to be conscious, I want you to recognize how epic this is, Bob, that we’re even talking like this.” I continued. I didn’t mention his 5 weeks on a ventilator in 2021, instead I simply said:

Bridge is finally resuming now after the lockdown and you’re still winning selection events like the Team Trials." 

Bob may have tried to shoehorn a couple of words into the middle of my riff at this point, but I ceded no ground. 

"To me," I continued, striving for maximum pomp, "I feel like this is 1946 and this is Ted Williams and Stan Musial talking..." 

Perhaps this is a good time to introduce what I sometimes refer to as "Glubok's First Irregular Law": 

If you want to have an epic life, 
you must treat your own life as epic.

"It feels to me, Bob,” I continued, “That right now is like 1946, and we're a couple of major players, both back from the war, and now we're making plans for the future." 

"Feels to me more like 1984,” Bob muttered, and shortly thereafter he was off to Africa. ​