McKenzie and I drove up to Tacoma from Portland for this sectional in December 2009. It’s technically the Fircrest Sectional, held at the Fircrest Community Center just outside of Tacoma. As with most sectionals, this one was mostly locals, but the Seattle-Tacoma region is rich with good (and young!) bridge players, so you won’t be disappointed with the competition if you travel to play in this tournament.

The community center is in a residential neighborhood with no hotels really close by. We got a good deal at the Tacoma Red Lion, about a 15-minute drive away.  Most of the hotel options are going to be at least a 10-minute drive.  This is a bit of a downside, but not a huge inconvenience.

The tournament is on the large side for a sectional, though Director in Charge Matt Koltnow said attendance was down.  I wasn’t crazy about the schedule of events.  All pair games were single-session events, and while Friday had normal 1:30 & 7:30 start times, Saturday was 10:30 & 4:30.  I’m fine with 10&3 but that’s just a really long gap, and it makes the evening session really drag.  I’m not sure what other feedback they got about these times, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they go back to a more normal-ish schedule next time.  I’m also not a fan of the forced lunch on Sunday — you’re required to pay for a lunch provided by the tournament as part of your entry.  It was only $3 extra per person, so not a big deal, but there were NO vegetarian options.  I’m probably not the ONLY vegetarian in the whole bridge world, and I don’t really appreciate this.  I had leftover bagels from breakfast for lunch.

Overall, I did enjoy the tournament, despite the weird start times and the lunch (it happens everywhere, really).

We found a really fantastic Thai restaurant (and I’m not normally a Thai fan) near the playing site called Chili Thai.

Check out the results of the tournament here.  You’ll see some familiar names at the top of the list — and keep in mind that I didn’t play on Friday