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| Director Alex Bealles (purple shirt) brings boards to the tables to start the Saturday morning game. |
I come
to the Social Hall at the Main Transit Fire Hall in a slump on Friday – a week
of 40% games – and I have high hopes that pairing with a good player like Art
Matthies will lift my fortunes.
Art has
a strategy for the sectionals – stay away from the big two-session games each
day, which are dominated by the top-level players, and hang out in the single-session
side games. The way he sees it, the point rewards aren’t as big, but they’re
easier to tap into because the competition isn’t as strong.
Nevertheless,
you need games well above 50% to succeed in the side games. The Friday morning
winners, Unit 116 leader Betty Metz and Tova Reinhorn, have a fabulous 66.67%
game and collect 2.93 silver points. To collect any points at all, it takes at
least 55%. We have 47.08%. In terms of match points, however, we’re only 10
short. Turn around three of our bad hands and we’re in the winners’ circle.
Well,
there’s always the afternoon, but it doesn’t show much improvement. We’re fifth
in an eight-pair Howell game with 48.61%. The winners, Amita Amora and Sharon
Chang, have 57.64% and earn 2.57 points.
Losing
makes Art grumpy. Saturday morning, however, our score lifts and so does his
mood. The side game is big – 10 tables – and we finish with a respectable 58.33%.
But that only gives us fourth place North-South. 0.87 of a silver point.
Art’s
aspect darkens again in the afternoon as our game reverts to Friday’s level. This
time it’s a five-table Mitchell movement and we’re fourth East-West with 46.63%.
As I’m
settling in Saturday night to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my arrival at The
Buffalo News back on Sept. 23, 1968, with a big gathering of friends at the 100
Acres restaurant, there’s a call from Art. He’s not feeling well. He’s supposed
to play with me in the Swiss team game on Sunday, but he can’t. Perhaps Bill
Finkelstein was right when he texted me Saturday morning to say, “I’m sure you’re
breaking him of the interest in playing with you.”
Well, I’d
thought he was overdosing on me when he signed up for three days. Nevertheless,
this leaves me with a dilemma. After an unsuccessful early morning attempt to
line up Paula Salamone and then her ex, Thom Burnett, I go to Main-Transit and
throw myself upon the good graces of partnership chairman Dian Petrov.
Happily,
Gay Simpson and Denise Slattery have not lined up teammates for the Swiss game.
I get to play with Denise. Dian already lined our teammate Margaret Zhou with
promising newcomer Raj Roy. This arrangement has promise.
We hit a bump in the
road in the opening round, though, against Sue Neubecker and Gay Simpson, who
whop us 25-5 victory points. We come back by winning the next two rounds, then
lose the one before the lunch break. I tell the team that we need to win two of
the remaining three rounds to collect a point bonus, but alas, we win only one
and fall six VPs short. For our three wins, we earn 0.78 of a point.
Total for the
Sectional: 1.65 points. Last year I won 1.98.
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