I'm off to Aspen for the weekend and I'm looking forward to getting to spend some time visit with my students and teaching a great group of bridge players.    See you all in Reno!

I also enjoyed a few days of great teaching -- in Naples and Tallahassee.    Everyone seems like their bridge is coming along well, and I'm very excited to see it...  I was sorry that Jacksonville didn't work out this week -- but I'm sure we'll be able to get that going again in the not too distant future.  

I'm in Atlanta now doing some training with Mark.  He has very little experience and I'm hitting him with a ton of things to think about all at once.   We have ups and downs, but in general he is progressing incredibly quickly (much more than he recognizes) and I'm sure he'll do great the rest of this year!

See everyone in Colorado or Reno -- if not before!

I'm in Aspen for Monday-Thursday...  My schedule is amazing - skiiing in the mornings, teaching bridge in the afternoon, and having great food and wine at night!   I'm excited about seeing my friends and students here in Aspen!

On Friday I head back to Denver to spend some time with the gang there!   Garth and I will be doing some work with his Spingold Team -- Relay Precision (Z-ert Style) for everyone... :)

See everyone soon...

• continuing to grow my partnerhsip with McKenzie Myers,
• repeating much of my playing success from the last couple of years,
• exploring new opportunies to play with some of best players in the country,
• leading a growing cast of fabulous students (see 2010 Bridge Lesson Series),
• teaching many workshops and seminars all over the country.

I'm especially excited about my relationships with many bridge players in Aspen, CO and Bermuda -- what wonderful places to get to go and teach the game I love!

Orlando Regional

Orlando is always a nice start to the bridge year.   We didn't have a fabulous tournament as a team -- but the tournament itself was a wonderful success.   18% growth from 2009 to 2010 and over 3500 tables!   That's amazing.

Also Orlando started a new trend for 2010 -- that is players learning and playing my system (ZERT - invented by McKenize Myers and myself.)   Z-ert is an ultra modern relay precision system that incorporates ideas from many of the top bidding theoreticians of the last 20 years.   I had a great time post-morteming hands with my friends who were learning to play the system.   I especially enjoyed some valuable input from the Granovetter's -- who also play relay precision!

Bermuda Regional

The Best of the Best!   Go to www.bermudaregional.com and check out this wonderful place.  

The results of this regional didn't quite measure up to last year -- but I enjoyed getting to know even more of the bridge players on the island and I'm excited about being involved in the Bermuda Bridge community for years to come!  

Houston Regional

To kick off February I made my first trip to the Houston Regional.   This tournament has been an amazing success - over 110 points (over 130 for some members of my team) and a team of fabulous players and people that I greatly enjoy being with (Paul Fireman-me, Phyllis Fireman-Shannon Cappelletti, Michael Seamon-Gary Cohler.)   I'll post a few interesting hands from this tournament next week!

Monday morning I'm off to Denver and Aspen for next week - Teaching, Skiing, Playing, and Visiting with Friends!! 

Almost 13,000 tables is also an amazing turnout!   Well done ACBL!

I'm in Atlanta this week working on some teaching documents for my students and writing other articles and book material -- but I'll update a hand or two from the tournament soon...

I'm playing the first 6 days with one of my good friends in the bridge world -- Garth Yettick.   We are playing the LM Pairs, 2-Day BAM, and the Mini-Blue Ribbon Pairs.   After that I'm playing some KOs for the last 4 days (looking forward to that as well... )

After finishing up in Lancaster and Daytona, I had some much needed time at home with my friends and family.   Thanks to everyone for all the help during a long month -- I really appreciate it....  

Two Things to remember from recent tournaments
-- First, you can win 3 IMP when you decline a Grand Slam Try holding AKQJx of trump by going down 1 in 6S, while the opponents go down two in 7S... (Lancaster)
-- Second, an opening lead can cost you 30 IMPs and you can still win a 12 board match against a very good team! (Daytona)

For Details you'll have to see my next article in the SBN!

Whirlwind Tour

• I played a club game with Karen in Denver (coming straight from the airplane...) 
• We spent 5 days teaching and playing bridge in Aspen.   Aspen was very quiet (lots of people out of town) but Marty was nice enough to let us stay at her place -- McKenzie and I had a wonderful relaxing time in one of the most beautiful places in the USA.  
• McKenzie and I then headed back to Denver and played the Sunday Swiss in Pueblo, CO -- with Jon and Spencer... Beat Garth's team head to head, they beat us in the overalls, but we got enough for Spencer to win the overall Masterpoint total for the Sectional -- just ahead of Garth... Well Done, Spencer!  :)
• McKenzie headed out to Lake Geneva (where he killed everyone) and I stayed and worked on system with Garth...  (more on that in a minute...)
• I spent a very relaxing few days in Avon, CO...  (yeah, vacation!)
• Back to Denver for the system work with Garth and visiting with Holly...
• A day at the Longmont Sectional with Garth (solid system work and preparation for San Diego...)  
• Longmont Sectional Team game with Marissa, Tom, and Susan (Susan was great, as always!) -- Team did well... Good job Marissa!
• off to Lancaster, PA for the Regional....

The Lancaster Regional has had a slow start... but some interesting and hilarious hands... More on that next time...

In Naples McKenzie and I had the pleasure of teaming up with Alan Sontag.   It was the first time I had the pleasure of playing with him and I hope that we will get to do it again sometime soon.  (Always amazing to get to play with one of the best players of all time.)    On the weekend, Jade and Anne came to Naples and we had a nice couple of days...  In three days we won over 24 MP.   I was proud of us...

After the Naples Regional we all headed West to Seaside, OR.   Seaside is one of my favorite regionals every year -- beautiful time of year to be on the Oregon Coast.    McKenzie and I had a lot of fun playing with Looby and Ulman for the first part of the week.   On the weekend, Garth arrived and he and I worked on our new system changes and preparing for the NABC in San Diego.   It was a fun full days -- and I was happy to see we had a solid showing in our first matchpoint event together.

(Next update from Aspen-Denver trip...)

QJxxxxx

AJxx

--

xxx

Your partner opens 2N.   How do you bid this hand?