01:44 22 March 2015 New Orleans, Louisiana NABC by GS Jade Barrett Csbnews correspondent.
“Time will tell how you rate against the rest of the competition. I’ll let everyone else worry about championships” – Larry Dixon
Qualification day for the Jacoby Open Swiss – the last major team event held at the Spring North American Bridge Championships – is always stressful. Half of the one hundred and thirty entrants in the very strong field gain an entry into the Finals, with many excellent contenders failing to gain a spot in that intimidating group.
Each of the eight matches of the first day are challenging contests as our TEAM HEIFER USA faces one collection of World and North American Champions after another. If you do not have your best game with you, it will be a very long and excruciatingly painful day. Our ten hours of practice immediately before the tournament stands us well as we manage to survive to the second day, proudly holding a place in the top fifteen percent of the field. Even so, our fate was uncertain until after match seven, with each of us sighing with relief after the successful comparison of scores.
We have all been here before, fighting this good fight – often victorious, but occasionally failing. As with almost all bridge events, most matches are lost as opposed to won, but avoiding defeat is far more difficult to accomplish in the face of active adversarial actions. Even simple hands become difficult – from time to time, nearly impossible – when the opponents generate the fog of mental war.
All in the friendliest of manners.