12:46 26 January 2014 by GS Jade Barrett CsbNews correspondent Carolina Herrera
“I believe that you have to treat the people who work with you like your family” – Carolina Herrera
Our team participated in the Opening Charity Pairs on Saturday, decked out in all our finery. While we did not perform as well we were attired, our collective results were certainly acceptable.
Pair events are an entirely different beast, far removed from the team tournaments we are so much more accustomed to. Our bridge family is built for IMPs, a scoring system which requires a dramatically different philosophy. Beating their contract, making your contract, aggressive vulnerable game bidding and accepting that the occasional minus 200 will occur are part and parcel of the world of IMPs – anathema for Matchpoint strategy. While we train extensively for Knockouts, Swiss and Round Robins, we have been known to win our share of other disciplines.
Teams also require more chemistry, given the larger number of athletes who are intimately involved in this group endeavor. The Icelandic team who won the Bermuda Bowl so many years ago has served as my model for many years. Not only did they play constantly, they trained physically together, stayed together, socialized together- and as they grew more comfortable together, they became far greater than the sum of their parts.
And they were great parts to begin with.
So these Bermuda tournaments that have been so good to me, have done so due to the exceptional quality of the experience my teams have enjoyed. Dining and celebrating both together and as unique individuals, our organization bonds, grows and thrives.
