Planning the Campaign

• Where the Points Are
  

  First I checked the ACBL site for its Tournament Calendar, looking for Regional Tournaments within driving distance. "A substantial number of Gold and Red points are awarded at regional championships, held by the 25 ACBL districts. View a schedule of upcoming regional tournaments in your area."

  I figured that if I leave here early on a Friday, I can get to most of the "nearby" Regionals in time for the Friday Night session, and stay for the Saturday and Sunday sessions (Monday too for holiday weekends). I've found it easiest to win points in the Swiss Teams competition, usually held the last day of the tournament.

• Where the Players Are
  

  The next challenge is finding regular partners and teammates for these tournaments. My partner for the coastal resort Regional in December 2005 will be swamped with work until at least mid-April, and maybe beyond as well. Given our Regional results, I'm not even sure this partner will want to continue with me even after the workload eases.

  So I'll have to seek out strong players, probably local, who are willing to partner with me on a regular basis. I doubt I'll find one full-time partner, but if I can that's an added bonus. Why local players? They are the ones who know me -- or at least have seen me. They are the ones for whom it should be easiest for me to determine their skill level and ambition. They are the ones who will be able to assist in recruiting local teammates. They are the ones who will be playing at the local Sectional tournaments. Most important, they are the ones with whom I can play at the local games. Experience playing together should make the partnership much more effective at the tournaments.
  

• Planning Strategy
  

  What other strategy elements am I considering?

  My game can certainly use much improvement, as shown by the December 2005 Regional experience. Some of this improvement will come with playing more, and against better competition. Some can come from study. I plan to study and learn all I can from the monthly ACBL Bulletin, and our District and Unit Newsletters. I plan to attend as many teaching sessions and lectures as possible; these are held at most of our local Unit Games and at many Sectional and Regional tournaments. I'll even buy some Bridge books to add to my library, and seek to master the material therein.

  Is the goal just to earn the Life Master rank? If so, then I may be able to prosper by being a "big fish in a small pond," picking up points in Intermediate/Novice and non-Life Master events. However, in small ponds only small point awards are available.

  I'm certainly better off competing against more experienced players, in the larger ponds where the Master Point awards for success are correspondingly larger. In addition, with sharper competition I'll be challenged more and have to continue to grow in skill to compete effectively. At the end of 2006, whether or not I've reached the Life Master goal, by competing against the best I'll be a much better player.

• Where the Tournaments Are
  

  In addition to the Regional tournaments, there are eight local Sectional tournaments in which I can compete in 2006, and several others within a short drive. My next entry explains why I need to play in Sectional Tournaments, as well as the larger Regional ones.

  Finally, there are the three National tournaments. Although they are listed in the schedule in this post, I don't plan to compete at them. See this post for how and why that might change.

  Here's my tentative 2006 tournament schedule:
  

  
  

  Type	Dates	distance	note
  Sectional	Jan 5-8	local	going to Boston Friday
  Regional	Jan 6-8	Boston	the annual trip
  Regional	Jan 16-22	3 hours drive	play Jan 20-22
  Sectional	Jan 27-29	1 hours drive	play Jan 29
  Sectional	Feb 3-5	2 hours drive	play Feb 5
  Regional	Feb 6-12	11 hours drive	coastal resort, could play all week
  Sectional	Feb 23-26	local	play all four days
  Sectional	Mar 2-5	local	play all four days
  Sectional	Mar 24-26	1 hours drive	play Mar 26
  National	Mar 30-Apr 9	Dallas TX	probably won't go
  Regional	Apr 17-23	10-11 hours drive	may or may not go (Apr 21-23)
  Sectional	Apr 27-30	local	play all four days
  Regional	May 23-29	4-5 hours drive	holiday weekend (May 26-29)
  Regional	Jun 19-25	3 hours drive	play Jun 23-25
  Regional	Jun 28-Jul 4	local	holiday weekend
  National	Jul 13-23	Chicago	probably won't go unless in Grand National Teams
  Regional	Jul 24-30	2-3 hours drive	play Jul 28-30
  Sectional	Aug 3-6	local	play all four days
  Regional	Aug 14-20	1-2 hours drive	play Aug 18-20
  Regional	Aug 29-Sep 4	5 hours drive	holiday weekend (Sep 1-4)
  Sectional	Sep 7-10	local	play all four days
  Regional	Oct 16-22	8 hours drive	probably won't go
  Sectional	Oct 19-22	local	play all four days
  Regional	Oct 23-29	3 hours drive	coastal resort, play Oct 27-29
  Regional	Oct 30-Nov 6	3 hours drive	play Nov 4-6
  Sectional	Nov 9-12	local	play all four days
  National	Nov 16-26	Honolulu	won't go unless I win the LOTTO
  Sectional	Nov 17-19	1 hours drive	play Nov 19
  Regional	Dec 26-30	4-5 hours drive	play Dec 29-30