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Mar. 26th, 2007 08:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jianantonicWhat a bizarre weekend.
First off, I'd like to say that the Lancaster, PA sectional tournament SUCKS. I'm not just saying that because I drove a zillion miles and then got my ass kicked. It's not like that. It's just a bad tournament. We played in two sessions on Saturday and the all day Swiss on Sunday. This is a tiny tournament; no more than 20 tables in any session, and yet they separated it into a NLM game and an open game, which they refused to condense, even though by doing so, they could only have two strats in the open game, and there were only 5 tables of babies. Ahren and I played in the open the whole time and got absolutely creamed in the afternoon session. We knew we hadn't done well, and I wished I'd used a fake name so no one would realize that the only out-of-state players in the whole fucking tournament came all that way for a 37% game. Ouch. But we went back for more in the evening, and after a nice relaxing break, we were much more in the zone. We finished that session 6th overall but first in our strat. Not too shabby. So we felt like we were ready to compete with the big boys in the Swiss.
Part II of why I hated this tournament: NOON start time on Sunday. NOON! And a full 90 minute "lunch" break (at 4:15). We were up at 8 like we always are, so we had lots of time to kill before the game. We hung out and played a pickup game of bridge downstairs with some other guys who were waiting around. Then the tournament chair came in and started hounding the director, asking him to make it 8 rounds of 7 instead of the usual 7 7's. I made my "If you agree to this I will make you drive us home while we sleep in the back seat" fury eyes at the director, and he kindly reminded the chairwoman that "some people have a long way to drive home before work tomorrow." They "compromised" and made it 6 8's, which makes no sense because it's even fewer boards than 7 7's and even less opportunity for match awards. With the way the strats were done, I wasn't really expecting to place in one of the 2 top spots in X, so I was hoping that a few good wins, whether we placed or not, would give us enough masterpoints to make the day worthwhile.
Ahren and I felt like we had a good game together - we've added Bergen raises, reverse 2-way Drury, and DONT to our card in the last few days, and Ahren amazingly remembered them every time. (He still forgets to announce forcing 1NT and our NT range half the time, so I was not exactly confident he'd remember these, but he did. He did give me a 2/1 bid with only 4 points in the first round...) Anyway we felt good about our play for the most part, but it just did not pay off.
Long story short: 1 win, 1 tie (with the last place team - boo), 4 losses, some bad, final score: 47 on a 60 average.
The irony: Tied for 1st place in X, picked up 2.5 masterpoints on the day. It kind of makes up for 5 wins last week in Fredericksburg without placing. But I still hated this tournament.
We had lunch with our teammates at Panera, and I ordered a bagel and black bean soup. There were few options on the menu that I was interested in, so even though I knew Ahren would have to pay for it, I ate the soup. It was good. In the car on the way home, it kicked in, so to speak.
Meg: Well, the bean farts are here.
Ahren: I know, the whole car smells disgusting. (Rolls down the windows)
Meg: Please roll them back up, it's really cold.
Ahren: I can't.
Meg: That's bullshit. I've been farting for a good 15 minutes already and you didn't even notice.
Ahren: I definitely noticed, but I was willing to believe that it was coming from outside the car until you said something.
It was a long car ride home...
Random side story: Ahren did make a few wtf? bids and non-bids yesterday, but he has a good excuse for his most egregious error. Right as he was starting to study his cards, the guy behind him let one rip. It completely disrupted everyone's concentration, sent our table into giggle fits, and Ahren said he nearly had to get up and walk away until it dissipated. Poor guy.
So that was my weekend. Next weekend is more bridge, but this time the tournament is in Charlottesville, so we don't have to travel. Yay:)
Peace.
First off, I'd like to say that the Lancaster, PA sectional tournament SUCKS. I'm not just saying that because I drove a zillion miles and then got my ass kicked. It's not like that. It's just a bad tournament. We played in two sessions on Saturday and the all day Swiss on Sunday. This is a tiny tournament; no more than 20 tables in any session, and yet they separated it into a NLM game and an open game, which they refused to condense, even though by doing so, they could only have two strats in the open game, and there were only 5 tables of babies. Ahren and I played in the open the whole time and got absolutely creamed in the afternoon session. We knew we hadn't done well, and I wished I'd used a fake name so no one would realize that the only out-of-state players in the whole fucking tournament came all that way for a 37% game. Ouch. But we went back for more in the evening, and after a nice relaxing break, we were much more in the zone. We finished that session 6th overall but first in our strat. Not too shabby. So we felt like we were ready to compete with the big boys in the Swiss.
Part II of why I hated this tournament: NOON start time on Sunday. NOON! And a full 90 minute "lunch" break (at 4:15). We were up at 8 like we always are, so we had lots of time to kill before the game. We hung out and played a pickup game of bridge downstairs with some other guys who were waiting around. Then the tournament chair came in and started hounding the director, asking him to make it 8 rounds of 7 instead of the usual 7 7's. I made my "If you agree to this I will make you drive us home while we sleep in the back seat" fury eyes at the director, and he kindly reminded the chairwoman that "some people have a long way to drive home before work tomorrow." They "compromised" and made it 6 8's, which makes no sense because it's even fewer boards than 7 7's and even less opportunity for match awards. With the way the strats were done, I wasn't really expecting to place in one of the 2 top spots in X, so I was hoping that a few good wins, whether we placed or not, would give us enough masterpoints to make the day worthwhile.
Ahren and I felt like we had a good game together - we've added Bergen raises, reverse 2-way Drury, and DONT to our card in the last few days, and Ahren amazingly remembered them every time. (He still forgets to announce forcing 1NT and our NT range half the time, so I was not exactly confident he'd remember these, but he did. He did give me a 2/1 bid with only 4 points in the first round...) Anyway we felt good about our play for the most part, but it just did not pay off.
Long story short: 1 win, 1 tie (with the last place team - boo), 4 losses, some bad, final score: 47 on a 60 average.
The irony: Tied for 1st place in X, picked up 2.5 masterpoints on the day. It kind of makes up for 5 wins last week in Fredericksburg without placing. But I still hated this tournament.
We had lunch with our teammates at Panera, and I ordered a bagel and black bean soup. There were few options on the menu that I was interested in, so even though I knew Ahren would have to pay for it, I ate the soup. It was good. In the car on the way home, it kicked in, so to speak.
Meg: Well, the bean farts are here.
Ahren: I know, the whole car smells disgusting. (Rolls down the windows)
Meg: Please roll them back up, it's really cold.
Ahren: I can't.
Meg: That's bullshit. I've been farting for a good 15 minutes already and you didn't even notice.
Ahren: I definitely noticed, but I was willing to believe that it was coming from outside the car until you said something.
It was a long car ride home...
Random side story: Ahren did make a few wtf? bids and non-bids yesterday, but he has a good excuse for his most egregious error. Right as he was starting to study his cards, the guy behind him let one rip. It completely disrupted everyone's concentration, sent our table into giggle fits, and Ahren said he nearly had to get up and walk away until it dissipated. Poor guy.
So that was my weekend. Next weekend is more bridge, but this time the tournament is in Charlottesville, so we don't have to travel. Yay:)
Peace.
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Date: 2007-03-26 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-26 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-26 10:34 pm (UTC)