It was another relatively quiet week, and I got a lot of work done. I played robot games online most days and did some VuGraph study. I got another episode of my podcast recorded and got some work done on my website. Plus I made it to the opera and Philharmonic, so it wasn’t all work and no play.
Greg and I finished going through our notes. It took quite a while, and there were a number of things we changed or added, so we’ve got a little work ahead of us getting everything into memory. Lots of Cuebids practice coming up! I still need to format the notes a bit to get them as readable as possible.
I leave for Memphis Thursday morning. Greg and I will be playing in the Platinum Pairs on Friday. (And hopefully on Saturday and Sunday!) I’m pretty curious to see how all of my work so far this year translates to at-the-table performance. I’m ready for the results not to show up yet, but I hope they will.
A reminder, if you’re going to be in Memphis, please say hi. I’d love to hear about what you’re doing to level up your game. The easiest way to find me will be at the two lectures I’m giving:
Monday, March 17, at 9:15. Topic: Modern Defensive Thinking (literally wrote the book on this one!)
Friday, March 21, at 9:15. Topic: How to be a Good Partner (Greg always likes coming to this one!)
I hope you enjoyed last week’s episode of the podcast with Fred Gitelman. Here were some of my key takeaways:
There is a small group of players—maybe 10 or 20—at the top of the heap who are just so good that reaching their level is impossible. They almost all started playing as kids, and combined with some innate ability are just operating on a different level. Fred considered himself in the next tier down, which is a lot larger, and acknowledged he was never going to enter that elite class. But “on a given day, if I play my my best bridge and they maybe play a little less than what they're capable of and I get a little more than my share of luck, I sometimes have a chance to beat them. But if everything goes their way, they're just always going to beat a player like me.” My goal has never been to reach that top level—I know that’s unattainable. But that next tier down, that is in contention for the Spingold if those monsters have an off day, that’s realistic. I hope.
Like most of the people I’ve talked to, Fred thinks the mental aspect of the game is what separates people like him from people like me. “The main thing that differentiates someone like you from someone like me, or at least what I was, is probably just experience and focus that, in a given set of 16 boards, I might do one stupid, costly thing that I later regret. You might do one and a half… Maybe there's a few tricks that I know because I've been around the block a few more times than you, but in likelihood, you probably know 99% of what I do.” I think Fred sells himself short on his knowledge of the game, but his analysis of the importance of concentration and focus is consistent with everything I’m hearing.
Last year, Fred had a great idea for his wife, Sheri, that sort of emulates the “play money bridge to make your mistakes more costly” advice that I got from Zia and others. Sheri needed around 1800 masterpoints to reach Grand Life Master, and Fred gave her a challenge: get them by the end of the year playing robot games on BBO. It would require around 5 points per day. That made errors costly, since a bad board meant she’d have to play another game. Did it work? “I can tell you for sure her level of focus and her general card play skills improved.” I wonder how I can incorporate that idea into my training.
My podcast episode will be a little different this week. I’m interested not just in getting better at the expert level, but also in how everyday players improve their game. I’ll be talking with Charlie Wilkins, who describes himself as a bridge “enthusiast,” but has put a lot of work and thought into his bridge. I think you’ll really enjoy it. A new episode of the podcast will come out every Tuesday.
Here’s what I did this week:
VuGraph
I studied three more segments of the 2024 USBC. I’m almost through the finals. I’ll have to find a new event to study soon.
Robots
I’m still enjoying the Zenith tournaments—trying to play everyday. I found there’s also a ten-board one. I’m also playing some on IntoBridge and some regular robot tournaments.
I’m most of the way through Level 3 of Bridge Master. Most of the problems at this level are pretty familiar to me, but every once in a while I come across one that stumps me. Even if I know the techniques, it’s good to have a reminder and have them top of mind.
Play
I played a couple of games with students this week. Greg and I won the Speedball we played—11 IMPs ahead of second place! Always feels good to play well, especially heading into a big tournament. We also had a practice session with the Egyptian national team on Sunday.
Reading
I started Thinking on Defense by Jim Priebe this week. It’s pretty interesting and very dense. It’s going to take a lot longer to get through than I had anticipated. It’s a thin book, but it requires a lot of thinking. I like that!
I’m mostly through The Champion’s Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive. It’s pretty basic sports psychology, but there have been some helpful nuggets.
Partnership
Greg and I spent a few hours finishing up our notes and played a few times. We’re working hard on the things we have changed and added on Cuebids.
Beyond Bridge
I think walking and meditating every day are having positive outcomes. I’m feeling great. I’ve been eating pretty well, though I’m still trying to lose a little holiday weight. I managed to reach my pre-Memphis goal, which is encouraging. Hopefully finding a gym after I get back will help shed the remaining pounds.
I’m planning not to drink at all during the tournament in Memphis. We’ll see whether that helps my performance at all. It can’t hurt. We have some nice meals planned. I don’t think that will interfere with how I play. But that’s what I’ll blame if things don’t go well. :-)
I encourage you to share your progress in the comments. We’re all in this together!!
Have a great week.
Given all the discussion about your notes with Greg it would be interesting to see a blog post on how you organize them and how you chose that method even if you don't want to make public the full notes.
Adam, hope you and Greg have a good time!