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Status Reports
Status: Bridge (2017 - June)
(Text as at 20/07/2017 14:34:05)
*** THIS IS NOT THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS NOTE ***
(For the live version and other versions of this Note, see the tables at the end)
Rationale for this Project
- I showed some natural talent for bridge in my youth1, and want to see how far I can get with a bit of application (but – given the breadth my other interests – without fanaticism).
- However, this project has to be kept rigorously in hand, something that has rarely been the case since I returned to the game. Basically, Bridge is fun – and I do reasonably well, but not well enough.
- I withdrew from the game2 for most of 2015, but returned in the final quarter. This absence allowed me to get things in perspective, and I now play twice or three times a week, with the occasional tournament.
Summary of Progress during April – June 2017
- Overview:
- I continued playing mostly twice a week in total with David and Colin, and occasionally with Albert. I also played in a few tournaments and matches.
- Results were rather depressing, and my rating crashed from AD at its recent peak to a K.
- I spent only 91% of planned effort on this project; details below. This was mainly due either to two holidays (though I played estimation whist!) or to the bloated budget rather than to lack of zeal.
- The Highlights of the quarter were:-
- ECBA League Div 2: Played our final match (with David, and TC+SE) against a County A team and won comfortably. If we’d won 17-33 rather than 15-5 we’d have been promoted to Div 1. At least we avoided demotion.
- ECBA Club Pairs (Sunday 4th June), with Colin, representing Hutton. Came 3 / 17 and the team came top.
- ECBA Championship Pairs (Sunday 23rd April), with Albert. Dismal. Came 20 / 30 in the qualifier and 7 / 21 in the Consolation Final.
- EBU Easter Championship Pairs (Friday / Sat 14-15th April), with Colin. A mixed bag. Got off to a great start, then had a middling second session and wilted in the third. Overall, about par for our ratings. 68 / 109, 48.65%, 1.23 GPs gained. The good thing from the perspective of experience was that as this was not a Swiss, there was a risk of coming away with nothing, which had previously put me off entering (as it does most Essex players).
- ECBA Teams of 4 Final (Monday 3rd April 2017), with David, Albert & Chris T. We were playing Marc Chawner’s team and got crushed – we conceded after 24 boards. Still, a good run.
- I’ve continued supporting the ECBA website (Essex Contract Bridge Association) and Bernie’s Website (First Class Bridge) as well as various sites for small clubs (Essex Bridge Results).
- I spent a lot of time on system and session reviews which, as always, needs to be kept in check.
- Effort Expenditure: During 2Q17 I expended 224 hours on this project (782 hours YTD, where for “YTD” – Year to Date – I mean the (academic) year commencing in October 2016). That’s 91% of the planned effort, 120% YTD. Overall, 35% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 40% YTD) – as against 35% planned (33% YTD).
- Statistics: by partner and club-category can be obtained by following these links – for the last quarter and to date.
- Recent Results: Follow this link. Further information can be found from my Bridge_Page4.
- Local Points:
- 33,556, bagged to date, including 1,175 Blue Points, 97.56 Green Points and 0.22 Gold Points5.
- That makes me a National Master. My next aim is to achieve Premier National Master status (40,000 LPs, including 100 GPs) – so just there as far as GPs are concerned6, but still a long way to go for local points.
- I think I had about 5,000 LPs from my student days, but never registered any, more’s the pity.
- EBU Grading:
- My rating collapsed in 2Q17, and was down to a low K at the end of the quarter.
- See EBU: NGS for full details of the scheme, and the summary7 and previous reports for my detailed meanderings over time.
- Summary of Progress to Date: I’ve hived off the history to a separate document8.
- Further Details: of time expenditure against task are given below, extracted from the relevant version of my Summary Task List9 (which is regularly updated between Quarterly Status Reports).
Bridge (Total Hours = 224.25)
- Bridge - Reading / Writing (Total Hours = 4.25)
- Bridge - Admin (Total Hours = 26)
- 1Q17 Status Reports (3 hours)
- Albert's Convention Card to Ian Moss (0.25 hours)
- Bridge - Convention Card Update (Colin) (1.5 hours)
- Bridge - Discussion with Ian Barren (0.5 hours)
→ See "Admin - Bridge - Admin"
- Bridge - ECBA Website - Committee Involvement (11 hours)
- Bridge - ECBA Website - Committee Involvement - AGM (1.75 hours)
→ See "Admin - ECBA Website - Admin & Maintenance"
- Bridge - Email to David (0.25 hours)
- Bridge - Email to Tony (1.5 hours)
- Bridge - Year Planning, Investigations and Organisation (5.75 hours)
- Master Point reconciliation (0.5 hours)
→ See "Admin - Bridge - Admin"
- Bridge - Play (Total Hours = 130)
- Bridge - Bernie's (Albert) (9.5 hours)
- Bridge - Bernie's (Colin) (16 hours)
- Bridge - Club Pairs (Colin) (7.25 hours)
- Bridge - EBU Easter Pairs (Colin) (11.25 hours)
- Bridge - ECBA League Match (David Tennet) (3 hours)
- Bridge - ECBA Tof4 KO Final (David Tennet) (3.25 hours)
- Bridge - Essex Pairs (Albert) (7 hours)
- Bridge - Hutton / St Edith's (David Tennet) (3.5 hours)
- Bridge - Mayflower (Albert) (3 hours)
- Bridge - Mayflower (Colin) (16 hours)
- Bridge - Mountnessing (Colin) (9.5 hours)
- Bridge - Mountnessing (David Tennet) (16.25 hours)
- Bridge - Woodham (Albert) (6 hours)
- Bridge - Woodham (David Tennet) (6.25 hours)
- Holiday - Estimation Whist (12.25 hours)
→ See "Admin - Bridge - Playing"
- Bridge - Study (Total Hours = 64)
- Bridge - Discussion with Dennis (0.25 hours)
- Bridge - Session Reviews (Albert) (4.25 hours)
- Bridge - Session Reviews (Colin) (17.5 hours)
- Bridge - Session Reviews (David Tennet) (12.75 hours)
- Bridge - Systems Review (Albert) (5.25 hours)
- Bridge - Systems Review (Colin) (15 hours)
- Bridge - Systems Review (Strong Diamond) (7 hours)
→ See "Admin - Bridge - Study"
- "Chawner (Marc) - Competitive Bidding" (2 hours)
Plans for the Near Future:
- I intend to play twice a week in clubs, and in National competitions, but to accommodate other activities I’ve reduce the schedule to 16 hours a week throughout the coming quarter.
- Up-coming competitions: The following are scheduled:-
- Felixstowe Swiss Pairs (Saturday 30th September): Ware; partner unknown.
- Essex / Herts Swiss Pairs / Teams (Saturday / Sunday 23-24th September): Ware; partner unknown.
- Essex / Herts Swiss Pairs (Saturday 22nd July): Ware, with David.
- London Swiss Teams (Sunday 16th July): With Albert, plus PS & PJ.
- Essex “C” vs Cambs & Hunts (Sunday 2nd July): With David.
- To keep “within budget” it is essential that I don’t get involved in lengthy post-mortems.
- Bridge Study10:-
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 2:
- When not playing, I didn’t miss the game at all, but maybe this was mainly because acting as the Essex County Bridge Association (ECBA) Webmaster performed as a psychological substitute.
Footnote 3: 16-4 would have led to a tie.
Footnote 5: These have been amortised over the years.
Footnote 6: Taking into account the BPs, which are converted at the rate 300 BPs = 1 GP.
Footnote 10:
- There may not be time or enthusiasm for much of this!
- However, it is essential if I want to improve.
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Table of 12 Later Versions of this Note (of 30)
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- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2026