[mike777]

Here in ACBL land they hold a grass roots pairs event. Qualifying starts at the local club level, then District level, then National level. It is broken down into 4 separate events ranging from top class/world class to flight C level players. You can always play up in quality levels.

I encourage everyone to play in their country's version of this event, you can do it

In our District they had two flights/ events playing on Saturday, the other two on Sunday. So I played in the middle two levels.A and B.

Second time playing with this partner.
We did Okay in-flight B on Saturday, lots of gifts to overcome frustrating defense and bidding.

Worse in flight A on Sunday with even more frustrating defense and bidding.

In flight A couple of nice declaring by opponents. On one they finessed against my Jack, I was impressed. Another dropped the Queen of Trump's with 5 trumps out rather than finesse which puzzled me.
Another bid 3NT, one inviting, with nothing, partner accepted with minimum. Only pair to get there.
A few slams bid against us; opponents played them well but still went down.

My point in all of this is too encourage players reading this to play in these events. You can do it, you can compete with these good players. Don't be intimidated!


As for myself, I definitely need to learn and improve in all areas.


However, I am reaching out for one piece of advice. I was really trying to control my emotions and frustration with partner. It is important to be encouraging and supportive, not critical. Important to be a sphinx at the table. I know this is important. I find the whole process exhausting as the day progresses, and have room to improve.

[paulg]

At every level of the game, defence is difficult for any new partnership and there will be lots of bidding agreements that you will not have on your second outing. These problems will be exacerbated playing in a stronger field who are capable of setting harder problems and taking advantage of any mistakes.

So I think your experiences are to be expected.

Partners will always be frustrating, but it's important to remember that, perhaps contrary to all visible evidence, they are not trying their best to lose -800 or find the quickest way to let the opponent's contract make.

If you are the stronger player in the partnership, then consider what you could have done to reduce the mistakes and make partner's life easier - advice that is often easier to work out after the hand!

But the more you play, the more the partnership will improve, hopefully to levels that you both feel are acceptable.

[mike777]

Hopefully,yes.
Our District covers all or part of five states. We live about 5 hours apart.
When we sat down at least several tables knew my partner and turned to me and commented how lucky I was to be playing with such a good bridge player.


I will skip over the bidding issues except for one humourous hand.

We opened the bidding and the opponents played in some partial, making on the nose. At the end I immediately called over the director to protect the opponents.

I explained my partner had alerted my bid but did not give the correct explanation.
I explained the correct meaning.
My partner then says I am wrong and he gave the correct explanation.This goes back and forth awhile. The opponents find it hilarious. I suddenly remember I have a single page, folded up, piece of paper with system notes regarding this exact auction in my pants pocket. The notes are actually Chip Martel's notes, the current World Champion. Which starts a whole other conversation...



Smile

[jillybean]

Ugh, I have learned that these discussions are never beneficial at the table. If the opponents agreed that there was no damage, I would leave it and talk about it after the game or the next day.

[mike777]

 jillybean, on 2026-September-21, 14:11, said:

Ugh, I have learned that these discussions are never beneficial at the table. If the opponents agreed that there was no damage, I would leave it and talk about it after the game or the next day.

Funny enough this couple was by far the most brusque couple the entire two days.
They never agreed, no damage. In fact when either of us asked them to clarify during the previous 3 boards, their response was curt.

[jillybean]

Let the Director sort it out.

[WasWinM]

mike777, on 2026-September-21, 11:05, said:

Here in ACBL land they hold a grass roots pairs event. Qualifying starts at the local club level, then District level, then National level. It is broken down into 4 separate events ranging from top class/world class to flight C level players. You can always play up in quality levels.

I encourage everyone to play in their country's version of this event, you can do it

In our District they had two flights/ events playing on Saturday, the other two on Sunday. So I played in the middle two levels.A and B.

Second time playing with this partner.
We did Okay in-flight B on Saturday, lots of gifts to overcome frustrating defense and bidding.

Worse in flight A on Sunday with even more frustrating defense and bidding.

In flight A couple of nice declaring by opponents. On one they finessed against my Jack, I was impressed. Another dropped the Queen of Trump's with 5 trumps out rather than finesse which puzzled me.
Another bid 3NT, one inviting, with nothing, partner accepted with minimum. Only pair to get there.
A few slams bid against us; opponents played them well but still went down.

My point in all of this is too encourage players reading this to play in these events. You can do it, you can compete with these good players. Don't be intimidated!


As for myself, I definitely need to learn and improve in all areas.


However, I am reaching out for one piece of advice. I was really trying to control my emotions and frustration with partner. It is important to be encouraging and supportive, not critical. Important to be a sphinx at the table. I know this is important. I find the whole process exhausting as the day progresses, and have room to improve.

I suggest sitting up a little taller and holding your cards straight up and not tilted at an angle.
As to partner problem, find a partner who is better than you.

[mike777]

 jillybean, on 2026-September-21, 14:21, said:

Let the Director sort it out.

He was...I called him.

They were brusque from the moment we sat down..no hello, no nothing

[mike777]

 WasWinM, on 2026-September-21, 14:22, said:

I suggest sitting up a little taller and holding your cards straight up and not tilted at an angle.

My partner held the queen in question..funny that was my exact thought when they did not finesse..

[WasWinM]

mike777, on 2026-September-21, 14:25, said:

My partner held the queen in question..funny that was my exact thought when they did not finesse..

I played on a team once with Mark Lair (I played with my partner) and Mark told me to hold my cards up.

[mike777]

 WasWinM, on 2026-September-21, 14:31, said:

I played on a team once with Mark Lair (I played with my partner) and Mark told me to hold my cards up.

Good advice, ty.