Bridge Blog 1010: Buffalo Winter Sectional Day 2

I began calling Saturday partner Art Matthies my chief strategy adviser, because he’s the one who wanted to play the side game, the single session pairs, a group that’s very much an appendix to the main event, lined up as they are against the wall furthest from the director’s table.

There aren’t as many points to be earned there. In the morning session, there were only eight tables, versus 20-plus in the big game. In the afternoon, there were only 4½. However, our chances of earning points there are much better. We’re big fish in a little pond, since most of the players are weaker. In the big game, we’re minnows swimming with the sharks.

Sure enough, we gobble up the field in the morning game. We roar to 66.67%, best score I’ve had in long, long time. We’re first overall and rake in 3.30 silver points.  

We fade in the afternoon, though. My mind drifts. Apparently Art’s mind does, too. On one hand, he fails to win a trick with his Ace of Hearts, playing low, then sees that Ace get trumped later, granting our opponents, Larry and Dottie Soong, a nice gift.

This time we don’t even clear 50%. We’re 49.31%, but it ties us with the Soongs for fourth place overall and third in the B strat. Miraculously, we earn points. 1.03. Total for the tournament so far – 6.23 silver points.

Over in the two-session pairs, the big winners were Chongmin Zhang and 12-year-old Ethan Xie, who gathered 13.41 points. Second were the morning winners, Judi Marshall and John Ziemer, with 10.06. Out of 46 pairs in the big game, only five of them earned more points than Art and I did.

Swiss teams coming up Sunday with Ron Henrikson as my partner again and Barbara Libby as a teammate. We’ll earn something, to be sure. This could be one of my best sectional tournaments ever.

How silvery are my sectionals? Let’s go to the history books.

Fall 2017 – 1.98.

Spring 2017 – 3.51.

Winter 2017 – 5.98.

Fall 2016 – 1.52.

Spring 2016 – 0.58.

Winter 2016 – 3.22.

Fall 2015 – 1.80.

Spring 2015 – 1.87.

Winter 2015 – 1.03.

Fall 2014 – 2.90.

Spring 2014 – 2.13.

Winter 2014 – 1.68.

Fall 2013 – 0.78.

Spring 2013 – 2.70.

Winter 2013 – 1.70.

Fall 2012 – 3.78.

Spring 2012 – 7.52!!!

Winter 2012 – 0.83.

Fall 2011 – 1.11.

Spring 2011 – 1.80.

Winter 2011 – 2.13.

So if Sunday Swiss pays off with more than 1.29 points, this will be personally historic. Meanwhile, I ran those totals through the calculator and divided the sum by 21, just to see what my average point count for a Buffalo Sectional Tournament has been for the past seven years. Turns out it’s a fraction under 2.41.