Bridge

The other thing we've started this week, is attending the local Bridge club, about half a mile from home. Mondays they run a 0-300 night - more or less equivalent to a B grade night, I think - and Wednesdays they run a 0-20 night, for beginners (the other nights are either open, or for higher graded players).

The Monday night crowd was about 30 - 8 tables, so we played 3 hands per table, 21 hands for the evening. That worked well, as it meant stopping around 10 p.m. Given it was our first time playing for 10 years or more, we did pretty satisfactorily I think - 43% & slightly under halfway: a couple of fiascos, as to be expected when we were so rusty, but also a few good top boards, including a slam noone else bid.

Wednesday night was only 7 pairs, so we played 6 rounds, 3 hands per round, shifting from N/S pair to E/W pair partway through, to allow all the pairs to play eachother. This was much more relaxed, with time (and the inclination) to stop and discuss tricky hands afterwards, which made the whole thing feel much looser and friendlier. We did fairly well again, placing right in the middle this time (4th of 7), after a couple of blips - and again a few really excellent hands. Overall I think our bidding is working fairly well, but we need to work on defensive play.

All in all, a good start, and hopefully a small bridge to congenial companions.