[S2000magic]

We've all been subjected to nastiness at the bridge table - nasty opponents, nasty partners, and so on - and sometimes we've even done something that, while it may not justify the nastiness, could certainly be said to have contributed to its precipitation. People tend to dwell on these memories.

I'd rather focus on our positive experiences at the bridge table.

What's the nicest, greatest, best compliment you've received at the bridge table? What did you do to deserve it? A spectacular bid? A devastating opening lead? A brilliant defensive coup? An honorable self-sacrifice to uphold the proprieties?

Why was it the best? Was it an accolade from someone whom you admire? A wry understatement from a partner?

I have one in mind, but the background is a bit long, so I'd rather save it for a bit and give others a chance first.

[aguahombre]

My favorite is "You did the best YOU could, partner."

[Phil]

The biggest compliment someone can give you is that you are pleasant to play against. And there's nothing better than when they compliment you on doing the right thing at the table.

Good and brilliant plays come and go. Having someone tell you that you are ethical is enduring because it is a reflection on your character.

[ggwhiz]

Not a compliment so much as an experience.

I entered the Vanderbilt in Reno as the #104 seed and we survived the first day.

Next day first 32 boards against Lea Dupont and Garazzo. We had a coffee run mid way through and I fetched for the table when I was dummy.

At the 1/2 our partners asked if we would mind playing the same way (they were in awe playing against Sam Stayman) and we sat down against Garozzo and Belladona. My heroes!

They asked if we would permit Lea to kibitz, quick yes and as soon as Benito was the dummy, she sent him on a coffee run for the table. They carved us up of course but I have fond memories of the class they showed along the way.

I'm with Phil. I would prefer to have a dozen non-descript compliments from rookies that I play against than any one big moment.

[Bbradley62]

25 years ago, my partner (jar37) and I won a Flt B event at our local sectional. The following week, the bridge column in the Trenton newspaper began with "Joan Roth and Bill Bradley have something very special at the bridge table. Win, lose or draw, they treat each other and their opponents with respect and good humor. It's always a pleasure to play against them." I framed it. We haven't played in a couple of months; I should call her...

[32519]

Greatest Compliment: Having a complete stranger at the opposite end of the globe requesting to add you as a friend to their profile. The request having absolutely nothing to do with you skill levels. Instead having everything to do with your conduct and friendliness at the table.

[blackshoe]

Probably not my greatest, and he may not have intended it as such, but we have a very good and very ethical player here who, about a year or so ago, psyched against my partner and I. Some would have been upset; I considered it a compliment, and still do.

[Free]

I was the only one to go down in a laydown contract. However, I had played the percentage line. Partner looked at the score sheet, and said: "you play too good for this field".

[kenrexford]

Not exactly a compliment, but sort of along those lines and enjoyable for me.

Years ago, I was defending a contract against Jeff Meckstroth. At one point, I had made a falsecard that was not catered to by a related falsecard from my partner. The read on which was real and which was fake was critical to Jeff's decision as to which squeeze to pursue. At the critical point, Jeff went into the tank. If his next card was one suit, he had guessed the wrong squeeze; if another, he guessed correctly. After a long think, he played the card that told me that he had guessed correctly and, to some degree, gave me cred for the falsecard. When that card hit the table, I conceded the number of tricks the squeeze yielded, whatever that was, and put my cards away. When Dummy and my partner were startled and bewildered, Jeff noted simply that I had worked out which of the two possible squeezes he was pursuing.

That type of situation happens a lot in the right circles. But, that was my first, and the quiet non-surprise from someone like Jeff was the compliment I most cherished.

[Fluffy]

Jan Jansma came to our table while we were having dinner just to congratulate me as "man of the match" after beating the Orange1 team that had just finished second in BB some months ago 24-6* on the inaugural 16 board match in Tenerife 2005. Those were the best 16 boards me and my partner ever played, including a variety of judgement, anticipation, and excellent defending. Not only did we play extremelly well, is that all our moves had the exact agresivity to put world class opponents on a guess situation, and they guessed wrong all of them. If I could just play at that level more often and not only on the first match :/.

I only recall last board, when all I could think about was "Oh lord, please a flat board", and no, they landed on thin vulnerable game, partner made the only lead to have a chance (a trump, instead of QJxx in a suit not mentioned), I entered at the same time partner discouraged the obvious switch, and found the killing defence thanks to it. It was not over yet, but partner yet again made the right continuation to win 12 more IMPs.

I envy Jansma in that he could do that with a smile, and after that they just won every single match the next 3/4 days to win the competition. I let big loses affect me too much.

*My father was playing with a sponsor at the other table, and he was afraid we could be losing 25-something.

[kenberg]

This was inadvertently put in the wrong thread at first, thanks for fixing it.

Not a compliment but on the general theme of nice things happening at the bridge table:

I was fairly inexperienced, my partner even more so. A competitive auction with Peter Boyd on my left. At some level Peter takes another bid, partner thinks a bit and passes, it comes to me and I bid on. No comment from opponents. At the end of the hand I spread my cards and say "For what it's worth, I was going to bid regardless of the speed of the pass". Partner indignantly announced that she had a right to think, I assured her that it was my action that was in question not hers. Peter calmly assured me that he recognized that I had a problem. Whether he approved of the way that I solved my problem he didn't say, but I appreciated his kindness.

In a similar vein, on defense (I forget against whom) I hesitated before a play. My opponent subsequently took the correct line and afterwards commented that if I was hesitating he was sure that it was because I had something to think about. I lost the board but again I appreciated the comment. And learned to try to prepare my plays in advance.

One more word about Peter and his regular partner Steve Robinson, and this goes back to Phil's contribution to this thread: Playing at their level is beyond my abilities, but they set an excellent example of grace and ethics at the table that we can all aspire to. I hope that this assessment does not embarrass them.

[Yu18772]

Two complements I particularly liked:
1. When I was playing for about a year my partner and I were playing against a completely novice pair. We just started playing Gestem at the time and my partner overcalled a 2 suiter, I explained the bid - remembering the wrong suits....and the oponnents ended up in 4♥. At this point, before leading my partner corrected the explanation (which she shouldnt have done), and opponents said ok - without knowing the rules. So I called the director to explain to them their rights etc....it didnt change anything in the bid or play, but they said "thank you, none was so nice to us so far."

2. A year ago my partner and I were playing teams in Tel Aviv international, and were lucky enough to get to the knockouts, and unlucky enough to have Israeli Juniors as our first opponents (they now hold world championship, and european U26, and transnational in the bermuda) - a team that is by far better than we are. One of our opponents is known to talk a lot at the table, especially if he has nothing to worry about. The match was 6 boards and at board 4 he stopped being talkative. We finished before the other table, and he said "well, if your other pair played as well as you did, you might have knocked out world champions. Congratulations".

[han]

Phil, on 2011-November-11, 21:01, said:

The biggest compliment someone can give you is that you are pleasant to play against.

Really?

I can think of two situations in which you would make such a "compliment". The first is, you just played against somebody you liked, you want to say something nice after the match but they played so horribly that the best you can think of is that you enjoyed the match.

And then there is:

Phil Clayton? Oh yeah, he's a pleasant guy to play against, let me show you this hand that he bid against us last last week...

[MrAce]

If you are playing in BBO and an honest player, best compliment is to be called a "cheater".

If you reply "Thanks for the compliment" They will usually stop making compliments to you.

[JLOGIC]

han, on 2011-November-13, 15:41, said:

Really?

I can think of two situations in which you would make such a "compliment". The first is, you just played against somebody you liked, you want to say something nice after the match but they played so horribly that the best you can think of is that you enjoyed the match.

And then there is:

Phil Clayton? Oh yeah, he's a pleasant guy to play against, let me show you this hand that he bid against us last last week...

Post of the decade. I was once told I was as funny as hanp, too bad it must have been sarcasm!

[Phil]

JLOGIC, on 2011-November-14, 00:02, said:

Post of the decade. I was once told I was as funny as hanp, too bad it must have been sarcasm!

And to think I've been called sarcastic. I think Han has the market cornered on that too!

[gordontd]

Some years ago my partner & I had a lot of luck and were doing well in a three-session major pairs event. We went into the final session leading, with Zia & Robson in third place. They had a good final session and by chance we played them in the last round of the event. I shall forever cherish over-hearing Zia say to Robson, as we approached the table, "these are the two who are our competition".

Someone who makes a point of making compliments that can be overheard is Tony Priday. If he realises you are within earshot and is about to play against you, or is scanning down a ranking list, he will often make a flattering comment about your bridge.

[mikeh]

Back in about 1974, when I had about 50 masterpoints and my partner only a few more...but we were very serious about the game... we played in a Sectional against the late Jim Donaldson and Alan Graves......these two being two of the best players my area has ever produced....right up there with Neil Chambers and Bruce Ferguson.

On the first board, we bid to a good spot and made the contract on an end-play and on the next, Donaldson was playing a contract in which he had to find one particular card....I don't recall the details other than that neither of us gave anything away on the run of a side suit....he went into the tank and finally got it wrong.

He turned to us and said: 'I don't know you guys, but you know how to play'.

Still in the 1970's but at the end of the decade, I was playing pairs with a friend whose husband was later, for a short time, to be a regular partner. I was living in Prince George, which is a small town 500 miles from the nearest Regional, and since flying was beyond my financial ability back then, playing a Regional was a big deal. Rhonda had about 1500 masterpoints to my 300, and several Regional wins, to my zero.

We came to a table at which one of my opps was also from Prince George, where I was one of the local 'guns'. Loretta, my PG opponent, spoke to her partner......'be careful, Mike is a good player'....totally ignoring Rhonda, who was unknown to her.

Rhonda, without batting an eye, said:

'Yes, and he's great in bed, too'

That did my reputation, in Prince George, a world of good

[Cyberyeti]

Scene: The young Chelsea bridge club, London, towards the end of a Friday night Butler pairs c 1984. At the time the strongest night of the week at one of the strongest bridge clubs in London.

An otherwise rational bridge player takes a traveller out of a board and after a coughing fit, climbs on his chair and shouts at the top of his voice "Who perpetrated that atrocity on board 14 ?".

The traveller read something like:

3♣=
3♣=
5♣-2
6♣XX=
3♣=
4♣-1
5♣-2

After the session, he refused to believe it was done without at least one revoke.

What had happened was that the auction started 1♦-(1♥)-2♠ and without discussion I assumed that partner's hand was still pretty big, particularly when he then supported my clubs. The actual dummy in 6♣xx of AQxxxx, x, Ax, Q1087 was a disappointment opposite my void, AQ10x, 109876, AJ96. They led a spade to the Q, K and ruff. Basically I decided to have any chance the K♣ was going to need to be stiff and beat air and I was going to need a massive crossruff so at an early stage, I thought I'd play ♥A and 10 (LHO might assume I had AQJ10 and fly the K). LHO played low in tempo but I got the sense he might have regretted doing so almost immediately, so pitched my diamond and the 10♥ held with his partner holding 3 hearts. This was all I needed now, the K♣ was indeed stiff and I escaped with 8 trumps, 2 hearts and the other two aces.

Well I took the general incredulity as a compliment.

[ggwhiz]

On behalf of 4 of our local players, one of the best I've "seen".

They had just won the North American Teams Flight C when I arrived as another local told them "I wouldn't get too excited, it's only Flight C".

Immediately after, two Jills walked up, congratulated them profusely then left.

In the next days Bulletin we all noticed that they forgot to mention that they had just won the Open event.