Back posting from Reno. After a couple of days at a national, you enter a bit of a bubble. As I mentioned in a previous post, you have over 3,000 people confined to a single space where bridge is the one and only topic. All day long, anywhere you go in the hotel, including the fitness center, you continually overhear conversations starting with the phrase, “You hold…”. Being in this artificial environment does mess with your mind, and I have actually had to use in which event I’m playing in order to figure out what day of the week it is.
The Vanderbilt ended rather ingloriously for us. After getting through the first day to earn our spot in the field of 64, we faced one of the best teams in the field captain (and sponsored by) John Diamond. The first quarter saw us fall to a 49 IMP deficit, from which we never recovered. So, as with last year, my Vanderbilt run ends after two days, although with considerably less drama and fanfare than last year. The Vanderbilt continues all week. Today is the Semi-Final Round.
The Vanderbilt is covered online on Bridge Base. In the match covered on Bridge Base, a computer operator sits at each of the tables in the match and records the bids and play. Those bids and plays are displayed live on the internet, where expert commentators discuss the match for kibitzers.
If you weren’t in the Vanderbilt, there were also Nationally rated pairs games going on.
After a day off, Morrie Kleinplatz and I entered the Silidor Open Pairs. While we qualified easily into the finals, we didn’t have as much success in the finals, with two 47% games. So, as the title suggested, today is the qualifying day for the Open Swiss. One more chance to qualify for the finals of a national event.
A few more pictures:
Finally, for those that do not take the game as seriously as those of us in the nationally rated events, there are the regionally rated games. Here’s what that room looks like in action.
Tomorrow is the last day of this tournament. I fly home the day after the Open Swiss finals, which I understand other people not here in Reno refer to as Monday.
Apropos of Mark 