The first week of my 2025 Leveling Up program is complete! Thanks so much to all of you who have reached out with ideas and comments. I want this to be a group endeavor, so I encourage you to share your own experiences as we level up together.
It always takes a few days to get back into the swing of things when returning from a vacation, and I know I’ll need to ease myself in to this exhaustive regimen I’ve planned. So I’m not upset that I didn’t get quite as much done this week as I had hoped. Part of the process here is seeing what is possible and practical.
One of the important things I realized is that in order to improve somewhere, you have to start with identifying and acknowledging your deficiencies. You can’t work on something until you know what it is you need to work on.
For me, it’s being lazy and playing too fast. Especially online, where it can feel like a mindless video game. Taking time to stop and think is my main focus right now. I have very good bridge intuition, and it often serves as a crutch and has made me lazy. Playing against the robots is great for slowing down and taking time—I just have to do it.
I’ve found that recording myself and talking through my thought process out loud really helps. The goal is to create the habit of thinking through everything I know and counting out shape and strength as the hand progresses. Doing it out loud ensures that I do it. And it has the added benefit that I can share interesting deals with you.
I plan to post an entire robot duplicate each week for premium subscribers, and as many interesting hands as I can for everyone. Please let me know if there is anything else that I can share that would be interesting and valuable.
I also plan to start a podcast. So many top players have expressed interest in what I’m doing and offered to help. Talking with them will be really beneficial for me, and I hope interesting and helpful for all of you as well.
I’ve never done a podcast before, and it seems that many of them are being filmed these days. Would you like a video of these conversations, or would you prefer them audio-only? (If they’re filmed, you can still get them as audio-only.)
Anyone who has podcasting experience and has some tips for me, I’d really appreciate it! If there are guests you’d like to hear—from the bridge world or outside experts in learning and training—please let me know.
A number of people have said something along the lines of, "I want to put in the work to get better, but my partner doesn't. I want to go over the hands after the game and they don't."
Finding a compatible partner who wants the same things you do and has the same commitment is really hard. I'm going to try to help with a Leveling Up partnership desk. If you're interested in working on your game this year and want to find a partner similarly committed, fill out the form, and if I find someone who looks compatible I will let you both know.
Here’s what I did this week:
VuGraph
I went through one session from the 2024 Open USBC, using the Kibitz feature to watch my good friend and mentor Steve Weinstein. I wish I could go through the bidding with him, but it was still very instructive. I know Steve and Bobby’s system pretty well. It turns out understanding a pair’s defensive agreements is the most important thing when studying VuGraph. I’m fortunate enough to have a copy of their notes (which I help them maintain), and I had to refer to it a few times as I asked myself, “Why the heck did he play THAT?”
Overall, this was a very helpful exercise. I plan to continue it diligently. Going through the 15-board segment took about 45 minutes. I’m aiming for at least 3 of these per week.
Robots
I played almost every day on IntoBridge. They have a 5-board daily challenge against an expert that is fun and instructive. And then I played the Challenge game for a while. I tried to “level up” each time I played. I’m currently at the rank of 8 of spades. (You start at 7 of diamonds.) I imagine getting to the next level will continue getting more and more difficult as I progress and play against stronger competition.
I also played a few tournaments on BBO. They have a monthly 3-day “Stars and Platinum” tournament, which is invite-only for players who have won at least 5 ACBL Platinum Points or have a star on BBO. So the competition is pretty good. I also played a couple of Daylong tournaments. The problem with these is that you don’t get to see the full results until the next day. I really like the immediate feedback, so I think I might stick to the instant tournaments.
Duplicate
I played two duplicate games this week with students. The essential element here was going over the hands afterwards. I always go over the hands with the students to discuss their mistakes, but I took the time to go over them for myself as well.
I want to track progress, so I created a spreadsheet. It’s still a work in progress, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the data. But being able to see what I’m doing well and where I’m making mistakes seems important. I would love feedback on this and suggestions for how I might improve it. Please feel free to copy the template and use it yourself.
Reading
I’m more than halfway through my first book, Play Bridge with Mike Lawrence. I’m reading it whenever I’m on the subway, and trying to get 30 minutes or so in before bed. It’s so great to be reading about bridge again! I haven’t in a while, and I enjoy it so much. I’ll be posting some thoughts once I finish. I encourage you to read along with me. I’ll be posting my reading list for the year later this week.
Partnership
Greg and I are playing the Hawaii Regional later this month, and have agreed to start our intensive partnership routine after that. So we didn’t do anything this week. That’s the plan, so I’m OK with that. We both have a lot on our plate this month, and there’s always work to be done getting ahead of things before a trip.
I encourage you to share your progress in the comments. There’s strength in numbers! Knowing you’re not alone can be a great motivator.
Have a great week.
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I have been playing/learning bridge for 15 months. Our club has beginner classes, which I have been taking. I am interested in practical advice on how to develop the skills needed to be competitive at the 299’er level..
Taking time to focus and slow down is also my main goal. I know this improves my game but get lazy or sloppy or ? and don’t take the time to do everything I know I need to do. I don’t have a name like bridge intuition to say what it is I rely on to get through. But I often short change myself in this way. I am best at using all my skills playing face to face and better with one of my partners than others.