Introducing myself

Hi. I'm Michaelangelo Matos, and I mostly write about music. I've also been playing bridge off and on since I was 13, and recently--I'm 31 now--I've decided to get serious about playing. So I've started this blog in order to discuss the game. I am no one's idea of a great bridge player. I have good instincts and know the basics, and my play is generally solid. But I'm a pretty artless bidder, my defense needs some work, and I could stand to be more cunning in contract situations, especially tight ones--effective suit discards for later overtricks, for example. So this is a kind of public diary of that process, complete with a comments box that I hope will engender tips and advice. Hopefully I'll figure out how to paste in visuals appropriate to representing full deals; apologies for the rather amateurish presentation that'll have to hold in the meantime. But hey--it's a blog.

I'll be joined by my friend Paul, a much more seasoned and better player than I. My hope is to have him comment on my puzzling ideas of what constitutes "bidding" and "play," as well as contribute any other thing he feels like. We may expand it to include other players' commentary and questions and advice, as well. Paul plays a lot socially, and when we play together chances are we'll include highlights of those games. Informally, we're part of a foursome called the Big Beat Bridge Club, where we play bridge while listening to Fatboy Slim and Cut La Roc mix-CDs, among other things. He likes music a lot, too, and knows a lot about food. The more we talk about bridge in relation to other things, I feel, the more fun this will be. Enjoy.