New Orleans NABC

I had a GREAT time!  I got to play in multiple National events with a greater degree of success than I've had in the past (but not as much as I hope to have in the future), establlish some new partnerships, meet lots of new friends, and see lots of old friends enjoying the tournament too!

I started the tournament playing in the 0-5000 Life Master Pairs with Greg Humphreys, a new regular partner from Charlottesville, VA.  Greg and I are playing "Zert," a relay precision system that I find to be a lot of fun to play.  We made it through the first day pretty easily to qualify for the second, but then missed playing on the third day by about half a board.

I didn't really know what I was going to play the next several days when I arrived in New Orleans, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Allison Howard from Orlando was also available to play.  Alli got us added onto a 0-5000 Mini-Spingold team with people from Indiana and South Florida.  Although we had never played together before, our team made it all the way to the semifinals (5 days) and I got to play behind screens for the first time!

Alli and I also entered the Open Swiss with different teammates on the last weekend but didn't make it to the second day of that event (which was totally fine, a day off by that point was most welcome!)  All in all, the week was a great success and I look forward to the next NABC in Orlando!

:)

Atlanta

We had a great time at the SuperSectional in Atlanta over the 4th of July weekend.  Meg Myers and I won an open A/X pairs event and then also came out with a first in the B/C/D Swiss Teams to finish up the tournament (with teammates Mark Kalmes and Steve Callaham.)

It's a really nice tournament, as are all the ones put on by the Atlanta folks, and I encourage you all to try to make it to one soon!
:)

Gatlinburg and Ft Lauderdale

were great.  I had always heard about Gatlinburg but had not experienced it until this year - It's more than a little surreal to be in bracket 10 of 27.  Yes, 27 brackets.  That's a LOT of bridge players all in one place.  We did win one KO and did ok in a few others.  We also stayed in a gorgeous mountain house and got to spend a lot of time with good friends.

And then we drove all the way down to Ft Lauderdale for another really nice tournament.  The site hotel is quite lovely (even if the playing areas were sometimes less than optimal) and we were back in bracket 2 of about 5 or 6, like a more reasonable Regional.  :)  We won another KO and Meg and I got to play against Jeff Meckstroth and Curtis Cheek and come away with a W, so I'll count it as a successful week!

Next up is the Tallahassee Sectional and then Denver and Palm Beach Gardens at the end of the month/into June.

Wow, time flies when you're not looking...

It's a little hard to believe it's April already, but then I think this happens to me every year.

I've had a great time the last two months playing, directing, teaching, and travelling.  I've got some interesting hands to write up, but they will have to wait just a little while longer - Sam wants to go to the pool!

I'm super excited to get to go to Gatlinburg next week - it'll be my first time.

More posts sooner, I hope.

:)

A great week in Sarasota

We had a really nice time playing in the Sarasota Regional - a total of about 45 points for the week, a KO victory, a KO 2nd place, and some above average results in a few Swisses.  And a lot of happy teammates, ready for more tournaments - always the best metric for a week!

I played with Raphael most of the week and had a good time, even when fielding his slightly crazy calls...  :)  I told him the tourament was a success no matter how many points we won when he got to play 1S XX, making, for +520.  We also bid several 7-level slams, some of which I unfortunately did not make (one was an honest guess, one was my own fault), but some that we did, and that's always exciting.  There were also several VERY thin game contracts that we both played our hearts out to make - always a great spirit boost!

The rest of the team did a great job too - Robert of course :), but Marty, Judy, and Mark played like champs as well.

I'm playing at being an English teacher this week and really enjoying it, but I'll try to find some time while the kids work on projects to post some hands.

:)