Let's Improve our Bridge
We may already be more than two months into 2025, but it’s better late than never to start working on those resolutions.
I really enjoy reading about, learning, and playing bridge, and this year my goal is to take a more consistent and deliberate approach to improve my game.
My primary motivation is Adam Parrish's excellent Substack about how an expert player levels up to be world class. I’m not nearly as skilled or talented as Adam, but I’m hoping that by regularly recording my results (and mistakes), while also spending time dissecting them, I can more systematically address the holes in my game, and hopefully improve enough to be competitive at the highest level.
I’m an aspiring player from Houston, who as of the beginning of this year, has about 1100 masterpoints (roughly 70 platinum, 180 gold, 350 red/silver, and everything else black/online). Unfortunately, it’s quite difficult to find a nearby club game in Houston that fits a 9-5 work schedule, so most of my practice needs to be done online. I am also very lucky in that there are a handful of world class players in the Houston area who can help with guidance.
In terms of what I hope to do with this blog:
Post at least one video of a week of a 20-board daily Funbridge tournament (usually MPs, but sometimes IMPs)
Post videos of the IntoBridge daily and ranked (BAM style) occassionally
Supplement this blog with Youtube videos as well
Have a running record of mistakes, and post a weekly post-mortem of the things I could be improving or thinking about
Have a post for each session of any NABC+ event I play in, going over all 26 hands: what happened at the table, what I could have done differently, and what skills generally I can improve
As Adam pointed out, the best goals are SMART - they are measurable and achievable, even if optimistic. For now, this is what I’m thinking:
Nonquantifiable - things to do until they are second-nature
Consciously count the shape of opponents’ hands
Consciously count the outstanding HCP
Follow every spot card
Quantifiable for 2025
Earn at least 50 platinum points this year
Finish in the top 25 of an NABC+ pairs event
Long-term
Win one of the events that qualifies for Grand Life Master (in practice, an NABC+ event or a US Team Trial)
Win enough masterpoints or qualifications that I never to think about whether I qualify for any of the NABC+ events
I hope this blog is the first step in my improvement as a player, but one thing that is also invaluable is multiple perspectives. I want this to be a place of discussion, whether I’m missing something in my analysis, or misjudging something badly, I want to hear about it. I welcome any feedback on the content, its frequency, or anything else I can do make reading this as enjoyable an experience as possible.
My goal is not financially driven - I’m posting publicly so I can get the most feedback I can, while also holding myself accountable for being consistent and honest about areas of improvement. I do not intend for this Substack to cost anything. If, at some point in the far future, it makes sense to add paid tiers for additional content, I might revisit it, but all that would be in addition to the regular content I plan to post above.
Thanks for going on this journey with me - I hope we can all learn something along the way!