Three treats at the Long Beach NABC
 		  By Eileen Finlay (Club Master)

	My husband Tim and I had great aspirations to snag a trophy in the 299'er pairs at the 2003 Long Beach North 
American Bridge Championships.  You see Tim was about 30 points shy of Life Master, and we expected this National to 
be our last chance to play together in this bracket.  With my point count sitting at 15 and few large wins to my credit,
that trophy was looking like the World Cup.

	Our first weekend proved fruitless.  Two sessions on Saturday, and two on Sunday, but still no trophy.  Not 
even close!  Undaunted, we returned the following weekend for attempt number two.  After another hopeless Friday evening
session, we decided to play in the open stratified pairs on Saturday and our game showed slight improvement, perhaps from
the relaxation of the micro-brewery down the block and the fantastic comfort of the Westin hotel.  On Saturday afternoon 
fate stepped in and we crossed paths with (treat #1) Sue Stokes, a not-yet life master with computer bridging expertise, 
a wicked grin, and an agility with switching conventions I hadn't witnessed before. Sue was hankering to play as a D team
in the Swiss teams event on Sunday but was short 3 mates. We agreed to play with the intention of having some major fun.  
Sue called us that evening and confirmed she had found the third player.

	Sunday dawned and Treat #2 arrived in the form of Evan Markowitz, a friend of Sue's with over 1,000 points, which 
meant that we were a B team and had to do very well to get on the overall placings. Evan's discussion with Sue of bridge 
conventions like Suction and Unusual vs Unusual was gibberish to me, although Tim seemed to follow easily enough.  (At this
point I'm getting pretty nervous about my lesser experience.)  Match after match followed with no breaks between the sessions.
We won our first four matches, lost the next, and won the sixth match to set up a head-to-head match with the other team 
leading the field. We won it. Unforunately, the team of Rae and Jerry Murbach, acquaintances of my husband, had blitzed their
final match to edge us out for the win at 106 IMP's.  At 103 IMPS we took 2nd for a whopping 16.34 gold points (BIG TREAT #3).
The win represented my first gold points received, and doubled my total in one fell swoop.  It was Tim's largest win ever.  
We decided this kind of gold was A-OK....who needs a trophy?!

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	Editor's commentary:  Many, many thanks to Eileen for breaking the ice on this column! Actually, Tim and Eileen came 
closer than she admits to the Gold on the preceding Sunday.  They performed quite creditably in the first session of a 
Knockout, handily defeating the other two teams in a three-way match.  But then disaster struck.  The team ran into the 
eventual winners, who could do no wrong.  Every close decision went to the other team; staying out of close games that failed, 
and bidding thin games that succeeded.  It happens.
	Tim and Eileen met at a bridge club ... discovered they had interests in common besides bridge ... he proposed at the 
Eiffel Tower (yes, the one in France) and they were married this past June and seem quite happy.