Bridge Blog 825: Unstuck

Having reduced my expectations to almost nothing, even my expectations of playing at all, I’m here to report a surprisingly satisfactory week at the tables.

Not for a week ago Saturday, when Wednesday partner Celine Murray and I posted a miserable rock-bottom 35%, but for Monday, Thursday and this Saturday. (Little needs to be said about Tuesday’s 43.21% with Barb Sadkin and Friday’s 46.52% with Dotty May.)

Monday, however, found me partnerless and paired up with Bob Forster, a veterinarian from Fort Erie, Ont., whom I’ve seen in St. Catharines, but never played with. After going through an endless series of convention checks before we even played a card, we settled into a game that required few fancy conventions and a lot of solid play. The results: 59.72%, second overall for 1.64 master points. Without a couple glaring misplays on both sides for us, we would have been first.

Wednesday was chemotherapy, the double treatment, and Thursday looked doubtful, despite being pumped up on steroid pills. Unattached again, I got to play with Florence Boyd, Thursday’s substitute player and a delightful partner, though we don’t often score well. This proved to be an exception to the rule, even though we were on defense for 16 of the 24 boards. Our 56.85% was first North-South, fourth overall, and good for 1.24 master points.

Saturday found me playing with director Bill Finkelstein, whose constant criticisms often prove to be inhibiting. This time I may have been a little too foggy-brained to faze. In a three-table game, we finished far ahead with a 65%, which I believe is my highest score of the year so far, and earned another 0.60 of a master point. Point total for the week: 3.48, more in a week than all of February.