Diary of a Bridge Pro #7: Louisville Tales

Louisville, Kentucky, 
March 17, 2024 

Sitting in the pleasant late-winter sun outside the venue today (March 17), I had the chance to visit a little with future bridge superstar, 19 year old (soon to be 20) Finn Kolesnik, formerly of southern California and now once more of Austin, Texas. 

Most of the other events resumed at 3, but the second session of the Platinum Pairs started later - 3:30 - the Day III contestants had played 28 boards at 10 AM, unlike the other pair games, where they’d played 26 - so they needed the extra time in their break. 

Ishmael Del’Monte, Finn’s partner here, stands nearby. It’s only the slightest bit odd for me, not to be playing. Fifty years deep into my career attending nationals (I probably made it to around 70% of those 150 NABC’s held in that span, if I had to hazard a guess), and I’ve never played so little as I did in Louisville. Perhaps I’m reinventing myself. Really, in many ways it was simply circumstance - I didn’t have any great pro dates - I did have a loose plan to play with Ed Zuckerberg on the first Thursday, one or two sessions in the regional pair game or single-session pairs. 

I’d discussed playing an event or two with Wall Street Walter - my core client, he and I played last spring in New Orleans - he was tempted, on the fence - the thing that put him off - get this - he’d hate to have to switch planes to get to the tournament. 

So we passed. I’d had a couple of appealing offers to play the Platinum Pairs - not clients, other pros - several months previous, Alex Kolesnik, Finn’s dad had suggested we play. Alex and I have been a serious casual partnership (how’s that for an oxymoron?) since close to ten years ago. 

I’ll use another oxymoron to describe our performance in the last four national pair games we’ve played - these were all four - session events, not the six session Legacy Events like the Platinum Pairs that carry the most weight, one run below those - in what feels like four tries, two before and two after lockdown - Alex and I had been consistently strong mediocre. 

My recollection won’t be wrong by much when I say we finished somewhere in the teens each of those four times. Since there are generally at least two hundred, sometimes more than three hundred, pairs in these events, it is somewhat strong to finish that high, in perhaps the top 5% of the field.

Considered from the other side, that’s really nowhere - the fields aren’t that strong, dozens of top players are invariably involved elsewhere, usually in a National KO .

So while I might like to say that finishes in the teens are “strong”, it is more honest to describe them as “mediocre” - on all those occasions you might as well say we “lost”. 

I had a recent email exchange with Alex about our record in those events, we may try again. I cite it here to explain my thinking, why I didn’t rush to accept his invite to play the Platinums. 

“If we can’t crack the top ten in all those soft, huge, national pair games,” I thought, “How are we even going to be competitive in the Platinums?” 

Louisville is not a busy city, not many vehicles or pedestrians on the street and sidewalk where we sit. Boye Brogeland, one of the big three of Norwegian (Helgemo, Helness, Boye), returns to the building for the last session of the Platinums. 

I haven’t been getting his emails lately, from the OCBL - I wonder what became of that. Certainly they published a great Daily Bulletin when they held events, if I recall correctly they had Brian Senior writing for them. 

Boye was known as “The Sheriff”, for his role in helping to clean up the sport for a moment back in 2015 and for a few years afterwards. 

I wonder what became of that too, next time I see him I’ll ask him. 

Boye is earnest like a stereotypical Scandinavian but any attempt to “clean up high-level bridge” (reduce cheating) faces huge institutional and cultural resistance - while there is some general support of initiatives in that direction, there’s way more pressure to simply sweep the mess under the rug, kick the can down the road, choose whatever metaphorical phrase you prefer - the word on the street now, the word in the driveways where players gather to smoke, the word at the picnic tables where players sometimes linger over a pitcher in the evening: 

There’s plenty of cheating going on now, at both the highest and near the highest levels - and not a lot of push to do much about it. 

***** 
That subject certainly merits an entire column, perhaps I’ll write one. First I’ll look to interview some players, including Boye. But that’s not the subject of this column. 
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I thought of Bob Marley earlier, let me include a link to a song of his here: ​

Here in Louisville without games, planning to leave tomorrow, I am without an agenda. Usually at a nationals I’d be somewhat agitated, concerned about where I needed to be next. Today, suspended in time, I feel as if I’m in a state of mindful idleness. This is a rare nationals where I didn’t come to play, but simply to see friends and explore new ventures - and to be open to play if the situation arose. 

That situation almost did arise - Vanderbilt entries have just closed, and Compton had mentioned to me the possibility of teaming up on an outstanding amateur team - Hurd and Bathurst, he said, might be receptive to a draft. I was mad keen to join up for that, I thought we’d be no worse than the best teams in the field. 

That team had their own huge run without me (I wrote this column on March 17th, but I’m revising it on April 18th). 

As far as other ventures go, with this blog and the intention to launch the WBS agency with Paulo Brum, whom I met yesterday - I’ve certainly gotten something started here. 

Here in the path of the Platinum contestants trickling back for the 3:30 start there’s that familiar heady feeling in the air. At most nationals I’ve been absorbed with concerns about performance at bridge - naturally. This time I’d come to Louisville not to play, but to mix with people more. 

So my mind is calm, without agitation, as I sit behind the venue on the bench and chat with Finn and Ish. They are now five of six sessions into the event, lying somewhere in the middle of the pack - after the first day’s qualifying they’d been either first or second in the field - they’d entered the third day somewhere in the top half of the twenty-eight remaining pairs. 

Finn described to me a nightmarish board he had played yesterday, where the Opponents opened with a multi Two Diamonds and massive confusion quickly set in - Finn was relying on Bridge Logic, where Ish was relying on the written defense offered by the opponents - the bidding began: 
(2D) - Double - (2H) - ? 

Finn held KQT9xx of hearts - he bid 3H - naturally he was unaware that he was showing spades - 
Mayhem and hijinks ensue and they wind up in 6H. 

Write to me and tell me what you think: Should there be written defenses to the Multi Two Diamond convention? 

[email protected]

Before I go kibitz Finn - Ish and some of the other pairs in the final of the Plats, let me write up another bridge deal or two from my session with Ellis. 
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Here's a link to the hand records, as a point of reference - you can track any of the hundred thousand or more estimated bridge results from Louisville that are available there - Finn’s, mine, Hamman’s, yours (but only if you attended - ya gotta be in it to win it!) 
https://live.acbl.org/handrecords/NABC241/03161004