Book Review and The Lew

Today I finished reading 'Calf,' one of Krzysztof Martens' books from his 'University of Defense' series. I originally picked it up because of a recommendation that advertised it as an expert/world-class book on defense. While the plays in the book may well be of that caliber, the way in which they are presented sometimes obviate the plays from a problem perspective. So, while I would certainly recommend the book as an instructional piece on how to think as a defender, I did not find it to be on par with, say, Kelsey on Defense in how the text and plays are organized.

The book is so named because Martens compares the average player to a calf, wandering aimlessly through the wilderness. 

Here is a hand from the 4th quarter of the recent Vanderbilt in which my old coach, Lew Stansby, defended a hand that seemed to have come straight out of Martens' book (accurate defense would have ensured victory):

Well, I could have done with a lighter warm-up post, but hopefully this wasn't too bad, and hopefully I'll be able to posts some hands with mon ch00 soon.

Last Chance?

I received a call from Jason two days ago informing me that I've oficially been added onto the USA1 roster for the World Junior Teams in Philadelphia, this October. Needless to say, I am happy and honored that my friends and peers would choose me to play in this important event.

Whether I will be able to play is still a little cloudy, but hopefully that will all be resolved very soon. In the meantime... maybe I should try to take it to the next level? That's what my brother Pat would advise anyway. This year is my last cycle as a Junior, and after having come so close to gold in Istanbul... I really want to run it back and put the US back on top.

Recently, Jason and I have been playing a series of matches against Val Kovachev on BBO. In general these matches keep me up really late since everyone is going by GMT-8 while I'm at GMT-5 (now -4 on account of daylight savings) so I don't play my best bridge. However... considering recent developments I'm going to put a renewed energy into them and really start to hammer out some definitive agreements with Jason -- limited though they may be.

Hopefully I'll be able to post a few of our more interesting problems on here as a run-up to Philly. Vugraph from the Vanderbilt begins today... so maybe I'll try to get back into the swing of blogging by posting some of the hands played by the best.

Cheers!