Interesting Stuff

This evening, Carl and I went to the Knights of Columbus to play with Unit 551 one last time before Carl graduated. We had a 4-table howel, which was apparently quite large for the club on a Wednesday. After our fair share of bottoms and a surprising number of tops, Carl and I actually took third place in the A division (first in B and C) out of the 8 partnerships! We each got 0.48 black Master Points for this, putting my total at 2.27. This was the first time Carl had gotten any, and I think it was a great way to end the year for him.

We had some great contracts throughout the night. With 7 diamonds and 13 HCP, I managed to walk the bidding up to 5D doubled (which I had intended as a sacrifice over 4S). We made it for a top board. On the second board of the night, my LHO opened a weak 2S. Carl overcalled 3H, and LHO bid on to 3S. Carl ruminated on this, then doubled. We set them one trick (vulnerable) to take top board. Later on, I opened 3C with 10 HCP and 6 clubs headed by the ace-king. Carl hemmed and hawed for a while, then bid 3NT. We tied for top there too.

Naturally, we had our share of poor contracts as well. I opened 1D, Carl responded 2C. I then bid 2NT (showing 12-14 HCP, balanced hand), which Carl treated as a jump to 2NT (showing 18-19 HCP). He then bid 4D (intending to invite me to game in diamonds), which I misinterpreted as a cue-bid, and replied 4S. Carl got confused, and passed, leaving us in a 6-card fit.

At another table, my RHO opened 2C (showing 11-16 HCPs, 5+ clubs and a 4-card major; they were playing the California Club system), and I overcalled 3C, intending it as a Michaels cuebid. Carl, for some reason, thought it was natural, and passed. Luckily, RHO bid on, and I didn’t have to play in a 4-card fit. After the hand, however, I discovered that even the Michaels cuebid was wrong – I was showing 5-5 in both majors, when I actually had 5-5 in spades and diamonds. Oops!

It was a surprisingly tense night. One partnership, who I believe are also married, were horribly bitter and continually insulted each other. I was half inclined to remind them about the Zero Tolerance policy concerning abuse, but I still feel like a guest at U551, so I didn’t say anything. There was also a partnership visiting from northern California, who were quite nice. However, Margaret (the director) thought that $20 was missing from the cash register (which doubles as the pencil box and is in no way secure), and both blamed and confronted this pair about it. I have no idea if the money was found, nor do I know if this couple took it, but it was a pretty awkward situation for a while. On the other hand, everyone else was their usual friendly selves.

So… yeah. A 52% game and half a Master Point is nothing to sneeze at. All in all, this has been a grand evening.