With my beautiful daughter
Bridge
Bridge.
Somehow that word can raise my heartbeat quite considerably and it is not from joy or fear but from nervousness. I really enjoy the game and find it so challenging, yet how to remember which card is gone and to be able to think ahead quickly is a mystery. I will remember for example that the King is gone and that makes my Queen a winner and I will hold that thought so tight that I will not recognize that the suit is played out anyway, as my neighbour has just over-trumped, putting my beautiful Queen out of the running. Well, that is an example of my raised heartbeat.
When I was growing up, we would occasionally have game nights and sometimes play Bridge. However, I soon realized that what we were playing was not quite up to contract standards. Embarrassing when I accepted an invitation to play at a friend’s, friend and on the way home realized that I had let the friend down badly by saying that I could play the game. I hadn’t a clue what had later been discussed.
Here’s another example, (add a King in the take-out seat). Who or what was being taken out?? So, this thing called Bridge is a points Auction that reaches 4 level in a major suit contract which is Hearts and Spades, a 5 level in a minor suit contract, Clubs and Diamonds, and a 3 level in a No-Trump contract. In this way, partners can establish which suit to play and to which level to make a contract with each other to win the game. Not, as I used to think that I could outwit and outplay everybody at the table on my own with my own great cards and clever plans.
I wonder now how we managed to play a game to a conclusion before someone knocked the cup of tea over all the cards as often happened. For those who, like me, had never seen a proper bridge table set up for a wordless play game. Nobody talks! Now that I think about it, I had foolishly fallen into the identical trap that I had embarrassed myself over before. I offered my bridge-playing talent to a lady who was desperate for a partner. This was about ten years ago, and I am still the brunt of some jokes about that day. These ladies are of such a high standard of Bridge that even though I do now understand the basics of a contract hand I wouldn’t dream of offering my talent there again. I had entered the club early to not hold anybody back. There was not a soul in sight but the hall had approximately seven tables with four chairs each.
This was the thing that really surprised and shocked me, there were four wooden boxes on the table, one at each seat, and in each box were cards depicting the four suits of cards, plus other cards like for example pass, stop green cards, and red cards. What could they be for, I thought. Anyone who plays contract bridge will know that these were the bidding boxes. Nobody speaks! You receive your cards, no comment, everyone shuffling and muttering to themselves that there are indeed 13 cards each and putting them in order then when you wish to bid in turn you simply take a card out of the perfectly aligned and properly sorted box and lay it down and so the bidding goes using all sorts of diabolical sets of rules that should certainly never be confused.
Don’t forget to say thank you when your cards are dealt to you. It’s a good thing if your cards are touching and count your points correctly before launching on a hopeful win or you could be using false aggression. The jargon is vast but let it be said that I learned new heights of sweating to the point that I couldn’t let my cards go and my migraine lasted a week. I was shaking so badly but blamed it on a sugar spike.
I never returned to that Tuesday Bridge club but at least those people whom I had to play against are still talking to me socially. I need to go now as I have some conventions to learn. Maybe you would like to enter this amazing world of Bridge and learn how to make a successful Stayman.
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What a post! Not because I can play bridge, not at all, I never have. I remember my childhood years when my friends and I would get together to play cards. I have forgotten everything, even those "easy" games. Later, when I had to study so many other things, I never found time to learn the more difficult card games, the ones that are whole sciences and about which books are written... Now I regret it.
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