Bridge Blog 360: Breaking the pattern

          Lately I’ve started thinking that I’m failing more proficiently. Maybe it’s because there have been so many near-misses for points. Back from a long weekend in New York City, I had another one on Tuesday with Helen Panza – just shy of 48%, which seems to be the current benchmark.

Then, on Wednesday, the benchmark broke. Teamed with novice Lynn Witmer (looking very Spanish royal in black, silver and rhinestones), we didn’t make any major mistakes, but seemed to bring out the best in our opponents. When the game was over at the Airport Bridge Club, we finished just over 40%, dead last in both directions.

Undeterred, I used my Wednesday night off to renew my acquaintance with the Delaware Wednesday group, where I was for sure the youngest person in the room. Paired with Robert Alan Davis, with whom I had a horrible game not so long ago, everything seemed to be going our way in this five-table Mitchell game – cards, bidding, finesses, opponents not discovering the killer defense.

We posted a stellar 66.13%, tops East-West and only a quarter of a percent behind the top North-South pair. It’s the first time I’ve scratched at Delaware Wednesday. The reward, as it turns out, isn’t so much in points – winning yielded only 0.40 – but rather a little piece of paper entitling me, as a winner, to a free play.