I still haven’t gotten into a routine to do VuGraph study every day. It seems so simple. Doing a 15-board segment takes 30-45 minutes. And I enjoy doing it. Somehow prioritizing it hasn’t happened yet. Doing it every day—and a robot tournament—is still a goal. It’s all about finding time and energy.
I finished I Fought the Law of Total Tricks. I have started reading Victor Mollo’s I Challenge You and, inspired by my conversation with Dan Korbel, re-reading Bridge in the Menagerie. I had forgotten just how good a writer Victor Mollo was. It’s inspiring, both as a bridge player and as a writer. If you haven’t read the Menagerie series, I highly recommend it. And if you have, it’s worth going back to.
Greg and I started working with a coach this week—Joyjit Sensarma. He has worked with a number of top players and partnerships. Dan Korbel talked about working with him in our podcast conversation.
We did a focused session on 2NT auctions. We identified a number of holes and areas for discussion in our system. That’s exactly the point! Greg and I talked the next day and came to some agreements on the issues that got flagged during the session with Joyjit, and then we did another set of 2NT hands he gave us on our own. And did pretty well. It was really helpful, and we’re meeting with him again this week.
The experience just reinforces how useful a coach can be. We could have set constraints ourselves for a random set of 2NT hands. But we never had. And having someone there to curate the hands and facilitate discussion was incredibly helpful. I really recommend working with a coach if you can.
The gym is going well. I’m aiming for 3 times each week. I did 4 sessions this week! I’m getting out for a walk on the other days—and sometimes on days I work out as well. Still meditating every day. I feel like I’m taking pretty good care of myself.
Have a great week!
I just finished I challenge you. While Mollo is rightly famous for his Menagerie series, he has produced some superb play and defense collections, this is one of them. Practicing deals like these is a great way to make them second nature, especially when they arise at the table.
I had long conversations with Joyjit when he came to play in the Express Avenue tournament in September, he is awesome. I’m also working on Victor Mollo’s I Challenge you now! Mollo also has a defense quiz book, which is equally amazing.