Chapter 1 – THE VERY BEGINNING

……….Jim was experiencing mixed feelings as he pulled out of Lake Charles on December 31, 1999. He couldn’t believe it’d already been six months since he first envisioned this project. Despite the prior months of preparation, he wasn’t all that excited to finally be on the road. Already, he was feeling the stress the year would bring.

Chapter 2 – POSTCARD COUNTRY

This was to be his first tournament with Jim Robison with whom he hoped to establish a partnership, making things considerably easier throughout the year.

……... The club system was a sure recipe for disaster, though they were able to muddle through for a while. Jim found himself frequently bidding the wrong thing from sheer force of habit. "It was fun to play but very foreign," he lamented. "It required so much memory work and was hard to master with so many other things cluttering my mind."

Chapter 3 – NOT ‘MASTERS’ WEATHER

……….He was going to play with Potter some at this tournament, but admitted John’s tempo drives him up a tree. "He’s an excellent player, but on rare occasions, loses his train of thought completely; and truly unbelievable things happen. Consequently, whenever he goes into the tank, I spend the whole time sweating that this is going to be one of them. His favorite ploy is to have the lead in a two-card ending, start to make the obvious lead, and then sit back and double-check everything. Aye yi yi!"

Chapter 4 – CLUB SYSTEM TANGO

……….By this time, Jim was pretty disappointed with the way things were going; he’d earned just over 40 points. It had become apparent he wouldn’t be reaching his minimum goal in Augusta. Accordingly, Jim grabbed Greg Roberts to try the midnight zip knockout, and caught Mike Cappelletti and Michael White in a "There must be some excuse why we can’t play in the zip but we’ve been caught totally off guard and can’t think of it," situation.

Chapter 5 – THE HILLBILLIES

………..Don is Pensacola’s city attorney and Jim’s first bridge partner. He was already a Life Master when the two began hanging out together at Pensacola Jr. College in the early ‘60s. Jim and Don used to study together for an accounting class they were taking, the boredom of which would soon have them talking about anything but—girls, the dog track, sports, and more and more often, bridge

Chapter 6 – DISASTER

………"Houston has been an absolute nightmare so far. It’s been so depressing I haven’t even wanted to keep notes or talk about it. I mean it’s just been disgusting." These were the first words I heard from Houston, and it didn’t get better. "It just seems anything we or our partners do that is just a little off kilter backfires terribly, and it’s been one disaster after another. It’s really very frustrating."

Chapter 7 – BACK TO THE BEACH

………….. The knockouts in the mid- Atlantic are the largest in the country; losing the second match cost them well over 20 much-needed masterpoints. Jim was definitely in a slump.

………….. As they sat down to play, Jim got a very uncomfortable feeling in his chest and felt he needed to take a break for a while…….. Since he was so uncomfortable, and people were telling him how bad he looked, he was persuaded to let them take him to the hospital. It did turn out to be esophagitis (as Jim expected), for which he was treated.

Chapter 8 – REGROUPING

…………. He spent the greater part of three days at home sleeping. "You don’t realize how tired you are at tournaments until you’re finally home and able to relax," he said.

Chapter 9 – MASTERPOINTS, GAMBLING, AND THE BEACH

……….. Thursday evening’s knockout started the whole thing over again. This time, they won two matches before being dumped in the semis. At least Jim had picked up 12 more points. Revealing his frustration, he wrote: "I tell you, it’s up and down, up and down, up and down. The knockouts have been absolutely pathetic. So many ridiculous things keep happening. It’s been maddening."

Chapter 10 - ROCK BOTTOM

………. Since the tournament was going to be very small, the knockouts would be hardly worth playing for Flight A players. This proved to be the case in all Los Angeles area tournaments.

…………The two of them got in the car and headed to Laguna Beach where they spent the afternoon sipping margaritas while looking out over the Pacific. The beach had always made Jim feel better, but that day, there wasn’t any way for him to put on a happy face.

Chapter 11 – THE FROZEN NORTH

……… An Email came from Jim with subject, "Bad, Bad, Bad"—written Thursday at 12:24 p.m………. Jim wasn’t the only one discontented. His next Email began, "Stop it, stop it, stop it. I really hate your being depressed. I only tell you a lot of these things because I know you want to be able to give an accurate characterization in the book. What we’re doing is going to be lots of fun. It just requires a certain amount of misery to get to the fun part. If it were smooth sailing, it wouldn’t be that good a story."

Chapter 12 - ROOM WITH A VIEW

……….The first two and a half months of the year had ups and downs, but clearly since the beginning of February, there’d been significantly more downs. He was approximately 150 points behind his projected pace.

………. Jim added up his points from events played the last five days, and couldn’t believe they totaled a pathetic nine points. "I’m just so aggravated. It’s hard not to blame everybody, yourself included," he said.

Chapter 13 – OKBRIDGE

…………. Thursday, he played with Schreiber, someone he’d known since his first run in 1980. Their personalities don’t mesh well, but they’re both mature enough players (most of the time) to perform at the table. Their two 65% games would’ve normally made them easy winners. That day, however, they were second, with third trailing some 40 points behind.

Chapter 14 – SOME LIKE IT WARM

…………..As Jim caught a late night plane from San Diego to Miami, he was feeling better—not physically, but mentally. The last ten days had been good; he’d averaged almost 15 points a day. Hugh Maclean was coming to Fort Lauderdale, and David Siebert, the following week, to Gatlinburg. He knew he had every opportunity to stay "hot".

Chapter 15 – SPRINGTIME IN THE SMOKIES

………….. Sunday morning, several Lake Charles friends pulled up chairs beside Jim, and watched the semifinal match. David and Jim were playing against Dennis and Jerry Clerkin, top professionals from Indiana. It was interesting to observe the often, long time-lags between play. Though they weren’t actually clocked, it seemed several minutes would go by while declarer was planning his play or defender deciding his lead or discard. Then, after a few cards were played, they’d suddenly throw them all down and declare. Each had unique mannerisms, and his own way of arranging his cards…….".

Chapter 16 – REST, ANNOYANCE, AND THE KIDNEY STONE

…………. The second match had just gotten under way when Michael started grimacing. He told Jim to get a substitute. He was feeling pain; similar to what he'd felt years earlier when he’d had a kidney stone.

………….. They were barely above average the first session and weren't doing much better in the second, when Michael’s pain started again. Once more, he headed for the hospital.

Chapter 17 – HOME AND MOBILE

…………… From the beginning, Jim had looked forward to this week in Lake Charles. Since Mother’s Day was on Sunday, May 9, there were no Regionals scheduled, and only a couple of distant Sectionals. There wouldn’t be another week like this until December, so he’d planned all along to spend this time at home. It was the height of crawfish season, and he mainly feasted on mudbugs and slept.

Chapter 18 – BUT NO FINE WINE

………….The next day, Jim and David played an open pairs and only got a couple of section awards. Misery! The usual aggravation and worry set in again. After all, Jim was witness to the fact that 22-point tournaments were possible, or even—shudder—a nine pointer! He really couldn’t stand another one of those.

Chapter 19 - AMERICAN AIRLINES AND A.C.B.L.

…………. He hit the ground on one concourse just 18 minutes before he’d be leaving on another. Carrying a fairly heavy hanging bag, he was gasping for breath by the time he got to the other gate. The attendant yelled at him, "You should’ve been here at least ten minutes before take off!"

Chapter 20 - A VERY PLEASANT STOP

………. Three hours after the Swiss ended in Denver, the first knockout in Sacramento was getting underway. Jim couldn’t make the first session; but if John and Richard Potter (who’d been in Oregon trout fishing for most of the previous month) could put a team together and survive the first night, Schreiber and Jim could join them.

Chapter 21 – SCENE OF THE STING

………… Some weeks just seem to go well, and so far, Columbia was one of them. Thursday was more of the same, as both of Jim’s teams won their matches. The morning team gained the semis; and the other went on to win the Wednesday/Thursday event. He was well over 60 with three days to go. A 100-point tournament was again in reach.

Chapter 22 – HE DIDN’T KNOW

…………. What a difference 20 years made. The last time he’d played in Cherry Hill, it was with Roger Jourdan during their 1980 attempt. Then they’d looked forward to it because Atlantic City, 90 miles down the freeway, had become a popular gambling spot. Twice, they’d gone to the casinos following evening sessions and stayed until closing. Jim remembers lots of fun and getting home at dawn, but very little about the bridge. This time around, fun was the last thing on his mind. This time, he much preferred sleep.

Chapter 23 – "POTTERED"

………….. John Potter is a favorite partner of Jim’s. True, he frequently drives Jim nuts at the table; but at least he’s a known quantity and can be fun.

………….. Besides his constant aggravation, by this time, he was almost always bored and tired.

Chapter 24 – THE EASY HUNDRED?

…………. Jim looked forward to this week for several reasons: he’d be playing on a topflight team: Paul Soloway, Mike Passell, Bobby Wolff, and Jim Whitaker; he’d only have to play half the time; and when he played, Soloway would be his partner. This ought to be his least stressful tournament so far.

Chapter 25 – LOTS OF FRUIT AND PITA TOO

………….. Even though he was now on pace for breaking the record, it would continue to be unbelievably hectic. He knew he couldn’t afford a real slump of any kind. He had to have competent partners, and perform well at the table.

………….. It was quite a week considering Jim arrived with only minimum expectations. He’d won four times and come in second, once…… He was "hot" and hoped he could keep it up. Grand Rapids was next. What a pace!

Chapter 26 – SUMMER CAMP – REAL TOURNAMENT

………… The first fly in the ointment was crossing Lake Michigan on American Eagle. Sure enough, they’d just gotten in the air and were circling the city, when the pilot came on and announced there was smoke in the baggage compartment.

..……….. This win gave him 55 for the week and put his grand total past the 1800 mark. He knew he should be happy after the start he’d had, but wasn’t particularly. He’d become less and less satisfied with this kind of sub-par week.

Chapter 27 – ONLY A MATTER OF TIME

…………. There were only a few people on it, and they all punched buttons, with the first stop being on the 27^th floor. A lady got off, and the elevator, instead of going higher, started down fast. One person remarked they were going down "express" as they were picking up speed. They soon hit bottom with a jar. Jim wasn’t at all surprised when the door wouldn’t open.

Chapter 28 – WHERE THE HEART IS

………… Jim was in great shape—a reasonable cinch to break the record. He had a tournament every week through the Boston Nationals the end of November. In December he’d have three Regionals and a Sectional. All he needed to do now was show up every day, day in, and day out, and average about 250 points a month.

…………..Second place in Sunday’s Swiss brought him another 20 for a final total of 108 points.

Chapter 29 – CAT’S "OUTTA" THE BAG

………….. Jim was now racking up points at such a pace that others were starting to take notice. An announcement was made in Omaha before the Swiss on Sunday, that he’d passed 2100.

…………...Taking stock of things, Jim marveled at the roll he was on. With over 92 points in, he was on the verge of a second straight 100-point week—after having gone seven months with none! Of course, he came back to earth the next day.

Chapter 30 – THEY PLAY BRIDGE IN GREENBAY TOO

………….. Jim’s plan was to drive up with David after St. Louis, and the two of them play with Dick and Colby. Things began falling apart mid-week in St. Louis. First, Jim found out Colby had a health emergency and had cancelled. Then, on Sunday, David had a reaction to a new prescription drug, and Jim lost his partner and his ride in one fell swoop.

………….. After the first half of the finals, they were up 28 IMPs. The second half seemed routine and he was sure they’d won. When they compared scores, though, he found they’d lost the second half—16-59. What had seemed like routine hands to Paul and Jim had really not been.

Chapter 31 – THE KIDS REALLY COULD TAKE TRICKS

………… Boris had recommended a pair of kids, John Zaluski and John Smith, who were supposed to be good. When Boris introduced them, Jim, trying to be cute, asked if they took any tricks. They both grinned kind of sheepishly, and nodded in the affirmative.

…………. Unbelievably, the kids had won again! In all Jim’s years at tournaments, he’d never known anybody to win five team games at one fairly large Regional. They went an incredible five-for-five! Yes indeed, they took a lot of tricks!

Chapter 32 – THE KIBITZER

………… Wednesday they entered the open pair and, at the same time, picked up a lucky kibitzer.

…….…..Jim finished the week less than a point short of 100—99.14, to be exact. He was now over 2500 to date. Could things really continue this well? Of course not!

Chapter 33 – SLOW DOWN

………..This was a Southern California tournament with most of the players being commuters. They had little interest in fighting early morning traffic for these increasingly smaller events. The knockouts were bracketed and handicapped. Also, the Los Angeles area guaranteed, that even if you were in the top three or four teams, masterpoint-wise; you still couldn’t be made to play in the A bracket unless you had a pre-prescribed minimum number of points. It looked like pair games would have to be the way to go.

Chapter 34 – CLOSER TO HOME

……..… As well as being disgusted, Jim was quite weary. The time change, coupled with playing three sessions a day, had left him numb. He decided to skip the side game and sleep instead.

Chapter 35 – A NICE LITTLE TOURNAMENT

……….. He was playing the week with David Adams and Alan Stout’s contingent: Jim Nash, Don Stack, and Tom Kniest. As in Omaha, they’d come in for the opening session, allowing Jim to arrive late so he’d have a day at home. Bumping into Adams almost immediately, Jim was happy to find they’d won the first match.

Chapter 36 – A GEE WHIZ TOURNAMENT

…………One of Jim’s teammates was feeling so good about the way things were going, he took pity and failed to double the opponents, when they bid hopelessly out of their depth. This turned out to be a big mistake. They got 400 rather than 1100, which didn’t seem important until they compared, and found they’d lost by a single IMP.

….…….. Locals took turns inviting visitors to their homes for dinner after the afternoon games. They even arranged rides for those who needed them. These meals were far more lavish than one might expect. The time Jim went to Ken’s and his wife, Bernice’s, they had twenty-five to thirty people with Ken grilling steaks to order,

Chapter 37 – THE GIRLS

…………. Jim went to his room for his usual nap, but found himself tossing and turning, rehashing the poor results of the last three days.

…………. Their teammates, though, kept bringing back sensational results—so many, in fact, they won the event! Jim now had 63 points with three days to go. "Aye yi yi!" he couldn’t help repeating his favorite expression. There he was again with another great start.

Chapter 38 – THE EARTHQUAKE

…………. He awoke to feel the hotel swaying back and forth, and his clothes sliding around in the closet.

………… It was about this time Jim suggested the book be named "I Never Want to See Another Bridge Hand."

Chapter 39 – VIRGINIA BEACH VA

………. Tuesday afternoon, Jim and Mike played an open pair, backing a 66% game with a 67%, to win going away. The 25 points lifted his spirits some. He was still wide-awake because of the time change; and so starved for points, he entered the compact knockout.

………..Thursday was one of the red letter days of the year—not only because his team won all four matches and 36.44 points, but because in doing so, Jim became the fourth person ever to enter what The Bulletin called, "The Stratosphere," surpassing 3000 in one year.

Chapter 40 – SECOND TIME AROUND

……… Now, he was only 260 away, and short of dropping dead, was a cinch to reach his goal. He was even fantasizing that he might break the record before the Boston Nationals.

……… His back continued to plague him all the way through Sacramento, and he guessed he’d strained it a little worse than he’d thought.

……… Earlier in the week, the guys had thought they were dumping the ladies: In retrospect, maybe they were the dumpees.

Chapter 41 – TOURNAMENT OF ROSES

………. For the third time in three weeks, it was from one coast to the other, with a maximum time change.

………. He’d proven by this time, though, that he had a great deal of stamina, and his intense drive wouldn’t quit. Once he’d set his goal, nothing could starve his focus.

Chapter 42 – THE OYSTER PUB

……… There was only one day to go. This week could be a real bummer if something good didn’t happen in the Swiss. At last, on Sunday, everybody played reasonably well, and though they didn’t win, it was good enough for second/third. The 19 points put him over 3200. As almost always, Jim knew it should’ve been better.

Chapter 43 – BREAKING THE RECORD

…………. When he called for his daily dose of Hagen Das, they were out of chocolate chocolate chip, so he went to bed without the ice cream he didn’t need anyway.

………. The second half was nip and tuck; but after comparing, they had, in fact, won by two. Just as he and John had figured the night before, he’d now broken the record with a total of 3271.21. Between sessions, Jim called home to share the news. Winning that night in the finals completed a perfect two days, and extended the brand new record to 3282.52!

……….. All day Wednesday, he had to get used to seeing his picture in trashcans, and his face walked upon.

Chapter 44 – HOME FOLKS

……….. He was now just as driven to reach 3500. He had a full month with one Sectional and three Regionals to accomplish it.

………. Jim needed to average about 60 in the last three Regionals to get to 3500. He’d start trying to do it, the next night in Indianapolis

Chapter 45 – WINDING DOWN

……… All that was left was Indianapolis and Palm Springs, a week at home for Christmas, and then the finale in Kansas City.

………. So far, they had entered four knockouts, winning two, but not even getting out of the money-round in the others.

Chapter 46 – HIS LAST GOAL

…………The previous day’s win in the Swiss had made his last real goal of the year, 3500, a virtual certainty.

. ………..Three sessions a day left little time for nice dinners, or the enjoyment of Palm Springs’ ambiance. Instead, he found himself going to the same restaurant every day, eating one scoop each of egg and tuna salad, with a glass of homemade lemonade.

…………It was close, but in the end he went flying over 3500 in style, winning and garnering 28 more!

. It was hard to believe, but the last five days had given him a 100-point tournament. Jim and his friends began celebrating. He’d gotten his Christmas present early!

Chapter 47 – FINALE : PLAYING OUT THE STRING

………. He’d met all his goals, and was planning to relax and enjoy the holiday week. This year, though, real relaxation just couldn’t include bridge.

……… Jim was still focused on bridge, but almost everyone else was focused on the year 2000.

………...Jim did something he’ll remember for the rest of his life, perhaps even fondly as time elapses. One thing he knows for sure—nobody will ever win more masterpoints in one year in the 20^th Century— 3,584.26!

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