Tolani Nationals - Pairs Final
Twenty 8 pairs, let by Gopinath Manna and Sandip Datta are participating in the finals of the Tolani National MP Pairs event today. Almost all the usual suspects are there today.
It is heartening to see the young pair of Soumalya Ghosh and Shubham Acharya participate in the finals finishing a very creditable 13th in the third elimination. Another pair which is different from the usual list is that of S M Nigam and Prabhat Gupta (this could be the author's oversight, but it is refreshing to see a relatively unheralded pair).
Ashok Goel and K Venkataraman, who were 10th, could not participate in today's final due to their personal reasons. The lucky beneficiaries were 29th placed Subhash Dhakras and Raju Bhiwandkar.
Notable exceptions are Subhash Gupta / Sapan Desai and Badal Das / P S Mukhopadhyay who unfortunately could not make the cut.
The pairs are competing in an all play all game of 27 rounds, spread over 3 sessions. The finals will be broadcast with a delay on the RealBridge kibitzing server
Partner O Partner - Whither art thou?
Priya Balasubramanian
Lebensohl, Stayman, Bergen is a breeze
When compared to finding a partner who is patient please
Elimination, End plays and did you say Squeeze?
There are books to help you take the crease
And when I pass the artificial bid as I focus on my nachos and cheese
I am happy if my partner doesn’t call the police
So many websites to find a life partner , Oh Jeez
How about some help to find a bridge partner please
Just like trouble, my mistakes comes in threes
Thank god my partner is online or the only solution will be to run for the trees.
Finding a partner is hard enough as it is
Building a partnership is tougher than learning Chinese
But the secret is simple and it is this
Treat your partner as you would a golden chalice
Only with mutual respect will your partnership burn brighter than aurora borealis
Note from editors
The advent of online bridge has triggered an entirely new class of bridge writers. While most columnists write about bridge hands featuring good bidding, play or defence or some combination of the three, we now have a budding wave of contributors who write about the game in prose and in verse and bring a lot more feeling into what used to be otherwise dry articles attracting the attention of just the bridge afficionados. We welcome all such contributions from all of you
Tolani Nationals Mixed Pairs Championships
We are pleased to report that, with around 5 days left to go for the start of the event, 61 pairs have already registered for the event. Also, taking a closer look at the entries, we note that 4 or 5 entries are definitely coming up.
Therefore, contestants should be expecting that the second of the options suggested by the BFI, i.e. a start on Friday, July 2 seems more or less certain. Participants should be gearing themselves up for this option and making their schedules accordingly.
For those who have yet to register may do so by clicking here.
We have this observation to make which is not an epiphany so to speak. For every mixed pairs event, we receive plenty of calls from gents requesting us to pair them with suitable partners for the event. While the ladies use the skew to the hilt, all of them have the same complaint. We want a partner who will play with us more often than just specific events.
Gents would do well to bear this in mind and work towards building up partnerships with ladies and play with them in events other than mixed pairs as well.
Hoping to see 100 pairs in the event!!!!!