Badmonster's bridge log - A beginner's journey

He who hesitates

2009-04-10T11:07:00.003-04:00

Well, I woke up thinking of bridge. It's been so long since that happened.

I've been thinking about Walsh. I like Walsh, but I'm not sure why exactly. Maybe it's because Luis Argerich indicated that he plays it. Maybe it's because it makes me feel like I know a code - it makes me feel smart.

Some of the people I know gasp in horror at the mention of the W word. And then there is the debate about Walsh Style vs Walsh.

Yesterday I had a hand that I wanted to bid. I liked it. I like to bid. Now all sorts of experts are telling me that sometimes pass is the right bid. Clearly, that is just a conspiracy. They just want me to shut up and stay out of their auctions. Clearly. Right? But I'm on to them. And I like to bid.

Here is the lesson I learned, if you have a hand that you really feel the need to chime in with, and you wonder if your partner's head might explode when you do, it's probably better to do it at the lowest level you can rather than waiting and coming in at the 5 level.

Yesterday's hand:

Axxx

QTX

KJTxx

You are south and east opens 2S. His p bids 4s. 5clubs = not right.

In the cold light of morning, I think passing looks more attractive. But I am not officially embracing the P bid.

Good advice

2009-02-08T12:32:00.001-05:00

I was whining (you know how I do) about how badly things were going. About how I wanted to play better. Bid better. Think more. Make fewer mistakes. My friend HagarH said: Play slower.

Damn. He's right.

Hint: Play barefoot

2009-01-24T21:58:00.004-05:00

My time away from the table leads me to believe that the memory is an interesting thing. You forget the good habits and remember the bad. The muscle of the mind learns to recognize patterns and keep running tallies, but without practice that reflex will atrophy.

Counting is crucial. One way to get it back is to count outloud as each card is played.

Take note: This practice may be better suited to computer bridge than live.

Not a bridge post really

2007-08-26T10:40:00.000-04:00

For someone who doesn't like bridge books, I'm sure reading a lot more of them. This is due in large part to commuting by bus. The truth is, I still do not read at home very much. But I read during my lunch hour and on the bus. I'm enjoying it. I'd like to think I'm learning something.

The problem is I'm not learning/retaining as much as I'd like. There's an awful lot of to take in. I'm under the impression that there are techniques you can employ to boost the efficacy of your study time. Anyone know of anything I can read on the subject?

"I Love This Game"

2007-07-17T19:33:00.000-04:00

I'm reading on the bus, again. I was reading Hardy - 2/1, and then last night I played with Dano. Dan's my favorite partner. I thought about this some today. I get to play with some incredible people. Many of them are so much better than I that I always feel as though it's a special treat when I get to play with them. And it's great fun, but there isn't always the ease that comes with playing with someone who's in step with you. Dan's a stronger player than I, in many ways, maybe chiefly in that he's more consistent. But he's also still learning many of the same things I am. It's hard to explain why that's so nice. It just is. Of course, there are many people learning things, so it's not just that. I play some of my best bridge with Dan. And we have a meeting of the minds, where we can a feel for what might be going on with our CHO. Also, I think our outlook and approach to the game is very similar. I like that we don't do much discussing at the table, and that we review after.

Anyway, before I digressed I was about to say that I have been reading Hardy, with Dan. And I think we've agreed that we are going to read through, then think about where we're going to make changes. Because at this point, we're thinking we'll use everything, and really, I think we'll just end up confused. There's too much candy in the store to try it all in one day. So, we'll read through then decide what to incorporate and reread there. We might read Lawrence before doing that to see what else is out there, before settling on anything.

Well, we played in the 299er last night. We had some bad boards. Dan pointed out (very gently and tactfully) that I made some mistakes that were not things I'd usually do - he forgets how unfocused I can be, and he thinks I might need a brain rest. He finds that sometimes when we try to read and practice and read, practice there’s a dip in performance at the table, and we can use a little time to rest our brains.

So, with Dan's blessing I took a break from Hardy, which is nice because I've been trying to find time to read Sabine Auken's I Love This Game.

I have such hero worship for Sabine. You know, it's easy to explain why you think something, but much harder to explain why you feel something. What is my fascination with great women players? I cannot define it in a way that makes sense. But maybe it's not so unusual, really.

On Sunday, I went to the museum with my family. My father, who is getting older, I suppose, was very fascinated by the fact that there were two paintings by Miro that were done in his seventies and eighties. Maybe we like to see proof that greatness is possible, regardless of our age or gender or whatever. Maybe I just want to be Sabine when I grow up. Of course, it's too late for that, and I'm far more likely to turn out to be Mrs. Guggenheim than Ms. Auken at the table. But I can dream.

I'm surprised at how accessible the book is. I can follow it, I can understand it, and I'm excited by the exciting parts. She's a wonderful writer, and storyteller. If you haven't read this book, you might take a look.

Automatic trump lead

2007-06-07T21:37:00.000-04:00

1x-p-1y-p-2z-p-4z.

They probably need ruffs to set up their side suits. We need to cut down on them.

The Master List of Things Everyone Knows, but no one told me!

2007-05-12T09:37:00.000-04:00

I keep stumbling across little normalities that I had no idea existed. So, I'm making a list. - So I don't forget them. You all feel free to chime right in.

1. In this auction 2c-2d-3nt... 4c can be stayman, and that's fairly standard. (Is it standard enough to be the default?)
2 If you make a take out x and then bid 1nt on your next turn you're not showing shortness in openers suit, you're showing a balanced 16-18ish nt hand.
3 Make that 18-19ish.
4 Don't signal with your high cards if it means setting up the suit for the opps. (Ok, maybe that's a bit obvious for this list, but I sometimes need reminders)

I Have A Theory

2007-05-03T19:05:00.000-04:00

I have a theory, which is great cause for celebration around my house. Most days I don't just not have a theory, I barely have opinions and have to borrow some from other people. But I have a theory. It's this: I think whatever the relative merits of discard systems or lack or merits, it's got to be more profitable to just learn to discard wisely and signal well, before adopting one.

Recently I was talking with a friend about UDCA and she was shocked that I don't use O/E or Lav. And I didn't go into all this because I like her, and I didn't want to bore her, but I was thinking it all. I was thinking about when someone, about a year ago, pointed out to me that my discard was giving away a trick. I was so busy trying to signal what was in my hand that I didn't bother to think about what I was looking at in the dummy, what declarer might be planning or anything but the fact that I had an honor and p could lead that suit to me and I could take a trick.

Now, clearly, O/E as a device is in no way to blame for my shortcomings as a defender. But I find that not having to worry if my card is odd or even frees me up to think about what I should be discarding. It's one less distraction. Once I can be distracted by bright shiny things and still throw the right card I can revisit the issue.

On The Short List Of Things To Do

2007-04-20T22:35:00.000-04:00

I made a list of what I need to do to become good at bridge

#1 Develop good habits (always count. Always make a plan. Don't be lazy. Think.)
#2 Learn what hands are really worth, ( and accurately adjust with each new piece of information as valuation is a fluid thing that changes every time anyone bids.)
#3 Learn to be a better partner. Get a better grasp on when to ask p develop your hand, and when you want to help partner set up hers.
#4 Concentrate. Maintain focus.

Speaking of That

2007-04-15T12:24:00.000-04:00

Two of my favorite partners really like weak nt. I've promised to learn it. (Partnership is a reciprocal thing, isn't it? I try what they like, they try what I like, in the end you play what works for everyone, but you try it. - I went to culinary school. It's the same thing. You try it before you say you don't like it.)

I posted on the BB Forums asking about the benefits and risks of Weak NT. My favorite response came from JDONN, who made the explanation clear enough that I felt like I knew what was going on. I don't know that I'm going to like weak nt. But I do know that I want a good defense to it.

This or That?

2007-04-15T00:58:00.000-04:00

Something that comes up fairly often is the question of whether to learn something new, or try to master the basics. For a year, I tried not to add a single new convention, a decision that came on the heels of realizing that I had no idea what many basic bids meant. Sadly this still comes up. Sometimes in a perfectly normal auction I'll draw a blank. Its scary.

Many of my friends who are much better players than I tell me, "Don't worry about that now, Deb. First get a better grasp on standard." And I acknowledge that they've got a very valid point.

On the other hand, much of what I encounter at the table is not standard. It's nice to know what's going on. It's nice to feel that you're clued in. And of course knowing how the super-sonic forcing pass of death work, doesn't mean you have to play it. Sometimes it's just nice to know what it is.

What was standard yesterday becomes less standard tomorrow. Just today someone said. "No one plays Bergen anymore." Which is an exaggeration, but there's something there.

Is the examination of various options just a distraction at this point, or does it give a beginning player a better handle on what's going on? Can it hurt to think about new ideas?

Where p knows you have a sequence

2007-03-18T21:16:00.000-04:00

Lead the top of your sequence to show entries in high suit and bottom to show entries in a lower suit.

In balancing seat

2007-03-18T20:20:00.000-04:00

As an unpassed hand, 2nt is not unusual but shows a balanced 18-21.

Right Through The Pack

2007-03-07T19:14:00.000-05:00

I borrowed Right Through The Pack from the local library, and I think I'll have to buy it. It's one of those books I want to reread as I improve. It is a bit above my head, but I have some strategies for handling that. The most important of which is that I'm not reading the book like a novel. Instead I read a chapter at a time. This let's me really digest what that chapter was about.

I started out saying someone should right a book from the pov of the 2 of spades. So, did I enjoy that chapter? Yes, one of my favorites. My very favorite was the Ten of Diamonds's story of how a smart player threw away an ace. He started with
qx

AK

He had some clubs in the dummy he couldn't cash. So, by throwing away the ace, he didn't so much make an entry as force the opps to lead the red suits for him.

Something that came up at the table that I should have known recently was this:
KT9x - I lead x in nt. When I lead again, I must lead the T not the 9.

Recurring themes

2007-02-27T08:55:00.000-05:00

Strange how something will come up and then suddenly it's everywhere. I think it's the collective unconcious, but my friend the physicist assures me it's just coincidence.

The other day in a class in the 2/1 club an expert pointed out that when partner opens 1c in fourth seat it's almost never right to pass.

Today, I'm running to the library to pick up Right Through the Pack. I was lamenting that bridge text doesn't excite me like I'd like it to, and and that I'd learn better if somoene was writing them in narrative from the point of view of the two of spades (or do I mean Two Of Spades?) and it turns out someone did. Sadly, the Nassau County Library system doesn't have Bridge in the Menagerie.

From the table

2007-02-25T09:14:00.000-05:00

Last night I learned many things. I woke up this morning thinking of three of them.

The first of these, I found complicated and hard to grasp, but I think I've got it. Hopefully, I understand well enough to write about clearly.

P led the 8 of spades against 1nt. Declarer played K from K 4 in dummy. I held J523. What to play?

(We play UDCA) Turns out we should give attitude here. We play the 5. The 5 says I don't have the queen. Had the dummy had the queen the 5 would have denied the Jack and the 2 would promise it. Ok, so hopefully I can break this down. P takes a lead. 8 could be fourth best. P could hold the Queen, but so could declarer. And P might be wondering where that honor is. He knows I don't have a higher honor, because I'd have covered. So, it's the honor below the one played in dummy that we want to tell p about. With the honor under the one played we give positive attitude, without negative. We don't however do this with the 10.

With a five card major we want to bid when p opens a minor. I held QTX QTxxx XX XXX. Han opened a club. I passed. We got creamed in clubs. And you know thinking back it's not the first time this has happened. In fact, it might be right to bid a heart even without the Q spades.

The third thing last night, reminded me of something that Justin said last year. Sometimes in a suit contract you need to count your winners. Ax AQJx AKxxx Ax. I opened 2nt we play in 4s.

So, here we are:

KQXXXX xx xx xxx

Ax AQJx AKxxx Ax

I count my losers. Two clubs a possible heart, and with a bad split a spade. I didn't have a plan. I had a thingy (a thing like a plan, only less specific without the details.) And I thought, Can I somehow trump a club, and then I didn't pull trump and bad things ensued. And bad scores ensued. And yes, this is a story about how if you plan the hand this doesn't happen. However, it's also a story about counting your winners. 5 spades (six on a good break) 2 hearts 2 diamonds and a club is 10. The moral is, if you have your tricks, take them. Sometimes you have to stop and count your losers and go right on ahead and count your winners too.

Like a dog with a bone

2007-02-10T14:08:00.000-05:00

So, here we are, a few days later, and still I'm thinking about Bergen raises, whether to play them, and if not how to replace them. I've talked to a lot of very good and even great players. I've run it over in my head. Here's some of the conclusions that I've reached.

I play bergen because when I was learing bridge the first time I was taught by someone who played Bergen. He said : This is the only way righteous people play and any one who doesn't is a heretic who should be bbqed. G_d fearing folk play Bergen, he said.

So, I played Bergen.

But I didn't want to play something because a million years ago someone I no longer speak to said I should. There should be a better reason.

Some of those reasons include:
Many people play this way, and when you sit down with a stranger it's nice to have common ground.
Most intermediates who play 2/1 play Bergen, and when I'm looking to sit down at a table, it's often an intermediate table.
I think I like the preemptive bid 1M-3M.

Why try something else?
While I like the 1M-3M bid, I'm less excited about the jump raises. I'm not sure if they are descriptive enough to give up bids that reveal a great deal about my hand. For instance invitational jumps which show a 6 card suit, or minisplinters which show a distributional supportive hand.

I'd like to expand my vocabulary. Look at a new idea. Test something against what I'm used to and see which I like better.

I came up with the above all by my self. (Right or wrong I like to come up with an opinion. It makes me feel like I know something.) People have said some interesting things on the subject which I am weighing as well.

Bergen is easy.
The preemptive 1M-3M may not have as much value as I've assigned it, and that auction may be better used for mixed raises.

Inv js are common too, and a lot of people I respect use them.

I don't have to choose. I can play Bergen with some people (random pick up partners and those with whom I don't have detailed agreements) and something else with others.

What I'd like to try is to use 2nt as limit plus, the jump shift as an invitational suit showing bid, and maybe try these mixed raises all the kids are dancing to. Now I just need victims to bid them with me.

What if I gave up on Bergen?

2007-02-08T12:04:00.000-05:00

Assume this: p-p-1s-p-3c. This scares me. 3c has to say no spade support, 6+clubs and invitational values. This is scary. You're at the 3 level with no known fit and p could have opened on a good 8 count and a club void. What happens here?

In you're a passed hand you can't use Bergen, and really would you want to? That's what drury is for. And two way drury you can even show a fourth trump if you have one.

This all started when at a class in 2/1 an instructor said that bergen should be on in all seats. I question this. First, as just stated we have a bid for an invitational hand with support. Second if we don't have invitational values is it crucial that we go to the three level? Just because with 9 trump we can play at the three level, does it mean we must? If p makes a game try then we can, ith a 7-10 point hand, look at our 4th trump and factor it in. I don't think I want to use Bergen in all seats.

So, I asked an expert. (When in doubt ask an expert.) He said Bergen raises are silly. He suggested I give them up. Well, I believe him. I mean if you ask someone a question because you trust their expertise, isn't it foolish to dismiss their response because it wasn't what you wanted?

So, what if I gave up Bergen? What do I gain? What to I lose? I gain a way to show an invitational hand with a long suit.
What scares me isn't that I lose the ability to show a fourth trump on the hands where I have 7-12 points, though I worry about giving up my preemptive 1M-3M. What scares me is being out of step with the other players at my level. Now, I recognize that the players at my level aren't going to make me better. But playing a lot will. And they're the people I get to play with most.

What would happen if I gave up on Bergen Raises? And do I ever want to bid 3c invitational when p opens in 3rd seat?

The Forums

2007-02-05T17:53:00.000-05:00

On the forums today, there’s a discussion about leads. Something I’ve thought a lot about lately is leading from 3 small. What I decided is this: I want to lead low. The reason is that I think it’s often easier to discern from the bidding where the honors live, but it can be of great use to know the more about how the hands break down.

Again, I don’t have a firm enough grasp on logic to defend this position. I know some experts say I’m entirely wrong. Richie Reisig says anything but low from three. It’s an interesting question and one I may just ask on the boards and see what answers come back.

Also on the forums Fred Gitelman posted some thoughts on learning bridge. He said:

In response to this question: Fred,

What would you recommend to the student of basic bidding theory? Any particular good books or articles? Anything else?

I am sorry, but the only good books I know of on this subject were written more than 50 years ago. Probably for some they would still be interesting to read, but the game has changed so much since then that I expect most non-experts reading such books (if they could even find a copy) would end up becoming confused.

I see most of today's books about bidding as analogous to those spam-like ads "work part time from your home and earn $100,000+ per year!" or "eat all the chocolate you want and never gain any weight!". Most modern books on bidding I have seen are nothing but hype and what they are hyping is some bidding system or collection of conventions that will "improve your results by 10% without you having to learn the basics!".

Here is what I would suggest:

Don't give a great deal of consious thought to this subject in your first few years of serious play. Learn a simple bidding system and only the few conventions that are so popular that they have essentially become part of "standard bidding" (unfortunately there are now quite a few conventions that fall into this category).

Keep your mind uncluttered with conventions that you don't really understand and play as many hands as possible, ideally with either a keen regular partner who is at roughly the same level as you or with a much better player who understands that it will help you more to spend your time discussing concepts like "a jump shift is forcing to game but a reverse is not" rather than the latest flavor of modified DONT.

Your brain is a remarkable machine. You will learn a lot of what is important by osmosis, especially if you manage to avoid distractions (like trying to come up with the best possible scheme of rescues when the 10-12 1NT opening that you shouldn't be using get doubled).

If you can afford to hire a professional player to be your partner or to give you online lessons (or whatever) you should do so, but do not hire anyone unless they are highly recommended by a person you trust and respect. If the pro or teacher starts by telling you that you must learn to play "4 of our minor is always 1430 Keycard Blackwood with specialized followups to the trump Queen ask" then find someone else - this person is trying to sell you snake oil.

After each session you play you should think about the hands and talk them over with your partner. If your partner is at the same level as you, try to make friends with an experienced player who is willing to discuss the hands you are not sure about (and who is the type of player whose idea of good advice does not involve teaching you that you would not have had a problem if you used his preferred variety of Extended 2-way Reverse Drury).

If you are fortunate enough to have access to an experienced player who is willing to help you, do not waste this opportunity by asking him questions that are designed to boost your ego (by trying to convince him/her to agree that your disaster on a particular hand was your partner's fault for example). LISTEN to your expert friend/teacher even if you disagree with him or her. Then THINK about it later. Do not get defensive when you are told that one of your bids was horrible. Instead try to understand what went wrong with your thinking process so that you can learn from your mistakes.

Once you get to the point that you consider yourself to be solid intermediate player (this should take 2 or 3 years of hard work) you should buy a subscription to The Bridge World magazine (and if you have friend who has a collection of back issues try to borrow them). Each month this magazine has a feature called The Master Solvers' Club. Read it and think about what you read. Re-read it and think about what you read.

You may find the other features of this magazine to be interesting as well, but it is fine if you read only The Master Solvers's Club in each issue.

This will help you to learn things like:

1) That bidding is not just an exercise in language, it is also an exercise in logic
2) How strong players apply logic to solve unfamiliar problems
3) The axioms that form the basis of this logic (which are "the basic principles of bidding theory" that I referred to in an earlier post)
4) You will also learn plenty about the language aspects of bidding, but most of these lessons will not involve learning the names and mechanics of new conventions.
5) That bidding situations in which the "right" answer is not at all clear are far from rare, regardless of how well you play.

This will also help you to improve your bidding judgment. Good bidding judgment is largely a function of experience. Reading what a bunch of good players have to say about a bunch of interesting bidding problems allows you to benefit from their vast experience without having to experience the same hands yourself.

Keep in mind that in many ways "learning the basics of bidding theory" is similar to things like "learning the basics of probability theory" or "learning the mechanics of compound squeezes" - these are all just parts of the game. On any given hand any given part of the game is unlikely to matter. You can survive (and you can certainly enjoy bridge) without learning such things.

All players are better at some parts of the game than others. For most parts of the game it is not necessary to be highly proficient in order to achieve reasonable results at the table.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

The post is here.

I can however retain water

2007-01-29T15:25:00.000-05:00

A friend recently tested me with this: how do you play AJXX opposite K89x, for three tricks every time? I thought and pondered and pulled at my hair. I got out cards. I couldn't figure it out. Finally, the next morning, I went over all the options with him until we eliminated every bad choice. It took the two of us about twenty minutes. By the way once you know the answer, it's so very clear, and embarrassing that it was so hard to cipher out.

Last week, at work, I opened up Root's How To Play A Bridge Hand. (It's a great book) I read it about a paragraph at a time in between working. I'm sure I will finish the book this year. The first chapter is all about suit combinations. The thing I realize about reading is that my comprehension is sometimes pretty good, but I usually don't feel like I'll remember it at the table. I'm going to look for a way to make quizzes online and use that as a mnemonic tool.

I guess the upshot is that I'd like to be able to look at these problems a quickly reach the correct conclusions. Since that's not going to happen what I need is better habits and preparation at the table. I guess that means memorizing suit combinations. Consider this an open invitation to suggest quiz questions.

Its all about the goats

2006-06-25T13:59:00.000-04:00

Two Wednesdays ago Curtsolo did a class on the Principle of Restricted Choice, (yeah, pretty sure we wanted to go with title case on that) which is where if someone plays an honor and the honors could be split or he could be throwing from two, IN THE ABSENSE OF OTHER INFORMATION, you play for the other guy to have the other honor.

Yeah, this is where Monty Hall and the goats come in. Let's say you're in your chicken suit and Monty is asking if you want to keep what's in your prize, or trade for what's behind one of the two doors. Ok, it's two to one that the good prize is behind one of the other doors. Then to make it more interesting Monty shows you what's behind door numbe 2. Goats. He's not going to open the door with the car right? Take what's behind door number three. Switch. Because the door he didn't open is still two to one to be the car.

Good Stuff from Bob

2006-06-15T22:06:00.000-04:00

Leading akjt against nt lead the A asking for an unblock. KQT9 lead the queen.

_______________________________________________

You lead A from AK dummy comes down with qjxx you should shift. Almost every time. The exception is when, There are a lot of tricks in dummy and if we don't take it our trick may escape.

Very interesting

2006-06-06T16:59:00.000-04:00

Today, at work, we've been kind of busy, so I kibbitzed the bbo juniors tourney and the lesson after with half an eye. Frankly, the level of discussion is much higher than a lot of the other classes I get to attend, so I really wish I could pay closer attention.

This came up though, and I found it extremely interesting: 1d 1h 2h x What's X? Wellm it shows a heart honor and a declining to raise. Very interesting. Something I want to think more about.

Protecting Partner

2006-05-29T15:43:00.000-04:00

I was talking with someone last night and they introduced a new concept. You play negative docubles. Let's say you hold:

x Axx Akqxxx Ax

As dealer the bididng goes 1 d, 1 s, p, p, to you. My inclination is to rebid my diamonds.

No! We x. Because if p holds a hand full of spades they cannot. So, we x and if p converts it's probably right.

Three Kings

2006-05-26T10:32:00.000-04:00

I was speaking with Bob about 2h supernegative. I'd been debating with another beginner about whether 2 Diamonds shows a hand that is bad but not bust. (My feeling is that it doesn't imply anything negative, only that you have a hand without a suit good enough to justify getting in the 2 clubs opener's way. ) Eventually the conversation turned to the cost of bidding a suit without compelling reason. For one thing.. you wouldn't want to bid 2n unless you were sure you'd play in hearts, or at least, not in nt. Right? But Bob mentioned that the two nt bid for hearts is one of the things he most dislikes about the 2h neg. He said... and this is the interesting part... if you have three kings you want to be the declarer in nt. And how do you make that happen if 2n is hearts.

But can we extrapolate? If we have three kings do we usually want to declare period?

The Power of Positive Pessimism

2006-05-26T10:20:00.000-04:00

A smart person (Justin Lall) explained to me that the more rocks solid your contract looks the more you must visualize what could go wrong. Encountered this doing BridgeMaster the other day. And after looking for a moment at a hand that looked cold I realized the problem was here: akqj2 in a side suit. It was that innocuous looking 2 waiting to get me. Very satisfying to catch it.

I find the obverse much more difficult... if a contract seems doomed I find it very hard to visualize the perfect scenario that will save me.

And I really always thought I was a glass half full kind of person.

The last few days

2006-05-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

Today I encountered this situation for the first time, but I'm sure not the last.

I held 11 points. 4 spades a couple of hearts four clubs and three diamonds. Partner opened a spade opps overcaleld 2 nt (unusual.) I wanted to cue. Because that seems right. But would partner know what I meant? Which do I cue? The suit with the better cards or the worse? Well, I asked around and here's what I learned. 3c shows a limit raise for p's suit. 3d for the other major and 3s is competitive. And apparently that's pretty standard (Unless I got this backwards.)

Yesterday I learned about the covention with no name. 1d 1h 4d showing a solid 64 diamond and heart hand. Nice.

And I learned about signalling to p's lead in a trump contract with a doubleton honor or a sequence.
With the doubleton you play low. With the sequence you play the top and p knows it's a sequence because had it been a doubleton you'd have played low.

Turns out there's more to it

2006-05-16T15:14:00.000-04:00

Things I didn't know about Italian Cues:
NT shows a second control in the suit just bid ie:

1h-p-3h-p-3s-3n (shows a spade control)

If a suit is skipped next suit bid shows the skipped suit

1h-3h-4c-4d (4d shows a spade control)

After two cues at the four level you cannot use bw

1h-p-3h-4c-4d-4n (shows a d control)

Over splinters a cue of splinter suit shows only a first round control

Trying not to be the person who...

2006-05-13T10:03:00.000-04:00

My desire to be helpful is not extraordinary. People like to be helpful. That's why we hold doors even for people we don't know, and point out when someone's shoe is untied. Unlike the door situation I think a helpful beginner is a dangerous thing. I still remember (this example may be a bit extreme mind you) when I found out that after you bid your weak two there's more to the whole weak two treatment. I remember I stared opened mouthed, squinting supiciously at the person who said (irritably) "You can't pass. 2nt asks for a feature!" Because, well, no one had ever told me. In fact my earliest bridge education came from a man named Paul who would say before five minutes before the game began, "OK and tonight we'll play weak twos, gambling nt, supersonic three spades of death and killer reverse illuminati" "How are we going to do that Paul?" "Easy Deb, if you have a six card suit and a weak hand bid on the two level, if you have a long strong suit with no outside entries bid 3nt, if you have a slam going hand bid three spades and wink, and if you think the opps are enemy agents try mind control." "Alright Brain but what should I do with all the jelly jars? Narf!" (Sorry tangent) And then as we were already late we'd run to the table and I'd have no idea what we were doing and hope like anything I'd get only weak hands with six card suits so I could bid at the two level. I cried a lot at the table and eventually gave up bridge for about ten years.

Still, I think Paul was really trying to be helpful. I try for the most part not to be the helpful person doing more damage than good. I recognize that I'm not ready to start giving lessons. But ...

What happens in a partnership where you'd like to try a method you think is superior and p doesn't know it? In the age of the internet happily there are a great many good articles floating around. You can email your notes when you have them. You can find essays by the great bridge minds and give them the links. For the most part I'm not put into the position of playing teacher, which makes me far happier and more comfortable, and no doubt leaves my friends better informed than if I tried to explain things to them.

I have a partner who doesn't bid Italian cues. I really think they should, and tell them so repeatedly. Finally they yelled at me, or at least typed at me in capital letters: I DON"T KNOW HOW! And I wanted to say "look you can bid your first or second round controls as you go up the line. so if you have the king of clubs and the ace of diamonds, cue your clubs first, or you're denying the king of clubs. It's really simple. As for figuring out if it's an ace or a king you bid well if it really looks like we have slam, rkc is going to clear up any residual confusion." But I don't ever want him to be the person with the open mouth squinting supiciously at the person saying, "Didn't you know with italian cues you must..." And I can't find anything really substansive on Italian cues when I google.

Confused by this concept

2006-05-10T11:35:00.000-04:00

Luis says that if you open a club and p bids a heart and you bid a spade you're promising 4 clubs.
Well, the good thing here is that if you as responder have three or four clubs (likely enough) and a poor hand you now have the option to play in 2clubs rather than 1nt. And that can be nice.

However if you also have 4 spades and you don't have clubs then you're sad. You wanted to be in spades.

Bob uses this example to make the point What if you held qxxx qxxxx Qx xx. (If you're playing 2way checkback can you bid 2h with this holding?) You'd really rather be in a spade fit here, wouldn't you? If p held xxxx xxx xxx xxx? And his 1nt makes you feel just a little tragic.

So, pros and cons on both sides. Luis points out it's a matter of style and benefits and losses either way. My question is how standard is this treatment? Which has the bigger benefit, and the greater drawback? Which method profits more often?

Card play

2006-05-10T11:25:00.000-04:00

Edited For Clarity I Hope

Let's say that you can count the hand, maybe slowly but let's say you can do it.
Now let's say you're south declaring and your holding looks like this:
KTX

QXX

Also you have worked out (cause you can count) that the AJX are over on your right. If Let's say the suit in question is spades. Let's also say that your only losers are in spades. Before you give up the spade trick (that you must lose) you run off the other suits. Now, let's say you did not play your winners in the outside suits first. You play your king they take their ace and play your side suit. Then you have not excecuted a strip endplay. They don't have to exit the suit you want. But if you take your side suits first, voiding yourself so if they play that suit they give you a ruff, they have to play the suit you want or give you a ruff and sluff. And that is a strip endplay. Wheeee!

Some other interesting facts about cardplay... usually if the opps have bid a suit, especially preempted in a suit or shown length and they don't lead their suit, they are often leading their singleton. If they don't lead their singleton it increases (not guarantees) that if the trumps split badly the other defender has the length in the trumps.

Play with an expert if you can

2006-04-29T11:15:00.000-04:00

The other day I was talking with a friend who said that he'd never played with an expert partner, but had played against a few. He worried that he might be intimidated. Emotionally I can relate to this. I remember the feelings of total panic in that seat, and your brain shuts down and you're too nervous to really enjoy the experience or learn something from it. Emotionally, I get it. But intellectually, I think that there's so much to be gained that if you have the chance, you ought to take it. BBO is really interesting in that you do have the chance. It's often as simple as looking at the partnership desk for a Tourney (Home Base is always a good choice.) You might have to pay their card fee, but really, it's worth a dollar, isn't it?

I think that in the 45 minutes to an hour and a half that you're parked across from this expert (or advanced or whatever other adjective adds up to good player) the most important thing to learn is what to do when things don't go right. And even for the world class players things don't always go right. The thing is, if it's a mistake you put it behind you. If it's a misunderstanding you discuss it, and if it's something you didn't know then when this good player points it out, you now know something you didn't, and you can be pretty sure their advice is good and their criticism is constructive and warrented. Maybe the biggest lesson is that if you're going to play bridge you're going to have bad boards, and it's ALRIGHT. Bridge is more fun when not every negative score is a tragedy.

Meanwhile when I'm not steering people to the partnership desk, I'm trying to really learn to count cards. And learn is a strange verb here, because in theory, if you can count beans or apples or from one to fourty you can count cards. In theory. I find while I'm counting points and suits and winners and losers and how many imps I'm behind, I get mixed up. But I have been assured, people have promised, that this gets easier. And one day I'll be able to count cards the way that people count change. Maybe.

Do it. Do it not now, but right now.

2006-04-17T19:35:00.000-04:00

P preempts and you think you might raise. Raise immediately.
Played this morning in the BIL play with Luis Tourney (my favorite hour of the week, and the only thing better than playing with Luis is playing against him) and partnered with Luis who bid 3c. I had 11 points and the atx of clubs. I passed. They bid hearts I bid 5c and we went down one. He pointed out that had I bid 4c the auction was likely to end there.

Yesterday this excited me.

2006-04-13T15:49:00.000-04:00

A jump shift when p opens is different depending on whether you're a passed hand. Go figure! So, what does it show? Maxish pass and support. Wow. I had no idea.

Today's debacle went like this...
I hold Axx of h. Declarer plays singleton h from dummy and I play low. And never take my ace. I'm going to bed with honors too often. I need to rethink something.

Faster

2006-04-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

Well, the other night, I trumped p's winning trick. I have no idea why. He asked if I really wanted to be on lead. That's as good an excuse as any.

Other fugue moments recently include brilliant plays like Leading the ace when declarer and p are both out of a suit. If p wants to over ruff he'll over ruff. Meanwhile why set up dummy's suit. Of course, if I lead low, then declarer needn't ruff... but unless p wanted to play a forcing game, and I was unaware maybe it doesn't matter.

I had 47 thousands hearts, dummy had 47thousand hearts to the AkqjAqk. In Nt. No outside entries. I... um... lead a heart. I didn't occurr to me that no one else had them. Perhaps if I'd counted.

Why am I telling the world I'm an idiot? Maybe writing it down will trigger a long term memory and next time I'll remember to count hearts, not beat p's tricks etc. Course maybe not. See post below.

Mind like a steel sieve

2006-04-08T20:35:00.000-04:00

Last month I was quite proud of myself for having learned something new. I even wrote it down so I'd always remember this new thing. Now I look at it and think: Huh? Anyone? What's this? :

1W-x-p-1Z-p-2Z. 2Z is a strong raise. I don't know how it happens but really basic things get lost in the shuffle of the whole learning process.

Choosing My Religion

2006-03-29T13:13:00.000-05:00

There's the church of the nt with a five card suit, and then there's the temple of never nt with a five card suit and then the sect of the sometimes. How do you choose? Those people who always bid nt will never have a problem with a rebid, but how do they show show that fifth card? And are the people who will sometimes at an advantage because they pick their spot, or a disadvantage because their p never knows what they're holding?

I may have to learn to pass

2006-03-29T11:13:00.000-05:00

On the BBO Forums I came across a new idea. Well, new to me. Passing because you want to defend. See.... I always thought we were passing because we didn't want to declare. No, it's not really the same thing, is it? Now, I am not willing to embrace the lure of passing to pass, but I like the idea of passing to punish.

So, this is the new blip on my mental radar, some hands are good for defense. And there's even a book about it. And theory. The Book is Robson and Segal's "Partnership Bidding in Bridge" And the theory is called the Offensvie to Defensive Ratio.

Hard to explain this but I feel like I just found a new door in my house that leads to a room or a closet I didn't know was there. Bridge is interesting.

Over !nt

2006-03-28T23:13:00.000-05:00

I've been learning garbage stayman, serious 3nt (over 1nt auctions though I understand that you can use them once you have a trump agreement as well) smolen and four way transfers. I like this four way stuff. It means there is an extra step to get to an invitaional 2nt bid, but it's worth the trip.

I'm loving this garbage stayman. Good stuff there. Easy. 2h shows both majors and no reason to go on. P corrects to 2s when they have three of them.

The balanced slam tries are nice. But less intuitve I guess. Very different concept in hearts than spades. In spades responder bids 3h and 3s is getting out of the way. They can bid serious 3n. They can cue. But the 1nt opener can show a control rich hand by stepping up and bidding the serious 3n themself. Nice.

You don't have that option in hearts where responders 3s can be a balanced slam try or a splinter and 3n is waiting to find out what's what.

Too much information not enough

2006-03-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

What I'm slowly piecing together is that many people play systems they have no idea how to play. I am one of these people. Months ago I decided not to try to learn any more conventions until I had a better understanding of basic bidding. I think over all a good decision. What I didn't realize was how many of the conventions and treatments I thought I knew how to play I only half knew. As I read about the things I play in theory (for example Better Bidding with Bergen) I'm faced with learning tons of stuff I thought I knew but don't. So, do I decide to play nothing and not read any books on bidding? Do I read only books written by people writing about non-systematic bidding? Do I decide that I'm going to have to learn these conventions?

Ultimately, I think I'd rather play 2/1 than standard american. But if I'm playing 2/1 the way most players of my level are playing 2/1 then does the reading help? I'm not sure that most intermediates are necessarily in a better boat than mine. I think the best solution is to find partners who are much better than I am. The only problem there is, it works for me better than it works for them.

Also, at the risk of sounding truculent, the other problem with intermediate players is that we're very critical. I hate being criticized every hand. It may be deserved, but it's damn disheartening. Shade is an excellent partner, but he's not playing often enough. Will is also one of my favorite partner's but he's not playing at all. I wonder if it's my fault. Last time we played together I believe we did terribly. I wonder if I broke him. I also like to play with Anna, but our times don't always hook up. Hopefully that will change fairly soon. Last night Han suggested that I find a regular p. I think he's right, but I'm also finding the suggestion daunting. Of course Marty Bergen doesn't have a regular partner these days, and he really knows all the systematic stuff. I think I have his email too. Maybe...

I wanted to say, but then I forgot.

2006-02-27T16:33:00.000-05:00

Seems like everyday I pick up some grain of information. And wait to blog, because it's just a thought, or an idea or a concept. And then I promptly forget what it was till it comes up again.

So, here's some things I'm noting before I forget:

1W-x-p-1Z-p-2Z. 2Z is a strong raise. I don't know how it happens but really basic things get lost in the shuffle of the whole learning process.

Western Cue: If they bid one suit, and you cue, you're asking. If they bid two and you cue you're showing.

kqt is a great holding to lead from, and you generally should.

I need to do a lot more reading.

None of the good strong club systems have cool names. The obvious answer is to just rename the best one to something cooler. I vote for Thud.

Over an x on the 1 levl (p opens they x) a new suit even at the two level denies 10 and promises a playable suit.

When playing in a misfit better to play from the weak hand for transportation.

The Secret Lives of Robots

2006-02-20T11:09:00.000-05:00

"If you have a decent shot at game opposite a flat 0-count then you should force to game."

Hannie was explaining about MisIry and we talked a little about strong two suited hands generally. We went to bid some and I got this monster red hand. I signed off someplace below game, and when we looked at it we realized that I had underestimated my trick taking power, assuming we played in a red suit, of course. That's one thing I learned this week.

Playing the known card:

This came up before. Bob talked about it. It's hard to internalize though. The idea is this Say you hold the ten and the queen, and the jack has already been played. There's this temptation to take the trick cheaply as possible. However, if you're already known to have the queen you should play it, then declarer still has to guess the position of the ten.

Both Mike (MickyB) and Hannie pointed this out. I played 3nt and went down one on a hand that should make. I kind of choked at the table. I was playing with MickyB against Hannie and Jlall and I had this moment where I just lost focus and wanted to go hide for a while till I felt better. But this known card came up in clubs.

Yesterday, watching the last table finish up at the HB tourney, I was chatting with one of the GIB robots. East. East is far more talkative and forthcoming than west. It's nice to see them out, kibbitizing and socializing.

On a less extreme note.

2006-02-11T18:20:00.000-05:00

I found this on the web, and I thought, anyone who wanted to explain bridge to the uninitiated might find it useful: http://www.kerp.net/cronjob/cron31.html

Of course explaining the game is far easier than explaining the concept of masterpoints. I've decided to just agree that if you get enough of them you can trade them in for a vcr or a new car.

Warning crackpot leftist rant to follow (VMISFWAMB)

2006-02-11T18:11:00.000-05:00

One of the best things about BBO is the great people that I meet. Take Justin Lall. What a nice young man. He’s articulate and polite, very accessible and of course, a great bridge player. He’s answered questions for me, including personal questions, like what he thinks of Ghestem. I’ve watched him play, often with others from the US Jr. Team. I played against him in a team match, his team largely made up of the US Jr. Team; they creamed us, but what a thrill. But there is one thing about the young men that troubles me… none of them are girls. (Certainly not their fault.) Where are the great American players under the age of twenty-five without a Y chromosome? I blame the media.
The American media paints us in a troubling light. The world often sees us as a society of vapid materialistic indiscriminate sex fiends who are morally bankrupt, which is sad, but sadder if we see ourselves that way. Granted, there is progress since the days when the prevalent view accepted that women were less intelligent and less capable then men. I would guess that few men believe that, or at least would admit to holding that opinion. But while we agree that women are smart and capable, are we telling young women that intellect is as important as popularity and sex appeal? If we were, would more young women play bridge?

Playing live with a partner with no pants

2006-02-06T18:27:00.000-05:00

When I started playing bridge in May, I thought I'd never play live. I remember when I played in 1997 that almost every trip to the club involved tears. I have no idea why I decided to try again, but I remembered that the Culbertson was always nice. I liked the people there. They didn't serve a big fancy dinner, and they weren't in a big fancy space, but it was nice there. So, I decided to see.

Anne, the owner, really went out of her way to find me someone wonderful to play with. And the club has moved to an art club. It's very pretty and they have a fancy dinner available. http://www.culbertsonbc.com/ Check it out.

None of the horrible things I envisioned came to pass. I didn't revoke, or bid out of turn. No one cried. No one called the director. And, I had a very nice time.

Ok, the pants. And how odd that pants figured prominently in my entries the last couple of days. First Larry's now Erics. What can it mean? I arrived. I was asked to check my coat. I went downstairs. Anne was busy getting lunch sorted, when I introduced myself. She paused to tell me my partner was already there. She said something like, "What was he wearing? Is he wearing pants today? Oh, no he's not." And I thought, "Oh My!" And I thought, "When I used to play everyone wore pants." Then I thought, "I've taken off my coat, but that's where I draw the line."

Eric, was a charming man, who went out of his way to make me feel comfortable. He's also a very good player. He also has a nice sense of humor. In spite of a couple of bad boards we came in third. Our worst hand follows:
Opps opened 1s, Eric bid 1nt, pass to me. I had six points, the Ax of hearts, and Q seven in clubs. With some other junk thrown in in spades and diamonds. I bid 2s, lho x'd. Eric duitifully bid 2c, and rho bid 3h, p-p- to Eric, who x'd. And I did not bid 4c. And they did make 5h. And it was not a good board. After, I asked Eric, would you have been horrified if I'd bid four clubs? Turns out he was a little perplexed that I failed to. Funny thing is, I'd decided to, but when I reached into the bidding box, all I came out with was a pass.

Oh yeah, so you don't get the wrong idea about the Culbertson, he was wearing shorts. There was no disrobing or odd nudity at the Culbertson today.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Larry Cohen

2006-02-05T17:13:00.000-05:00

Today Larry Cohen did a think with Larry on BBO. It was a lot of fun to watch. One of the best parts was running commentary with Luke Warm. Well, we were very disappointed that Larry didn't do a Q & A after. I really wanted to know things like, what he thinks about "I Fought the Law" and especially, I wonder, if Larry and his wife, played bridge against Marty Bergen and his wife, who would win? But Jimmy has promised that if he gets the opportunity to talk to Larry he will ask. He'll also suggest that Larry play bridge in leather pants. Why? Well...

this is so basic

2006-01-30T19:46:00.000-05:00

With 4/5 5/5 or I suppose even 4/4 in the minors with no fcM when responder bids 1M do not bid 1nt. Should open a d rebid 2c.

If the auction goes 1m-p-!s-p-1nt-p-2h pass or bid 2s. It's just preference. Neither forcing nor invitational.

Next monday I'm venturing out into the world to play at the Culbertson Club in Manhattan. I'm terrified about revoking, misbidding or missing an alert. Scary.

Utter Frustration

2006-01-29T17:39:00.000-05:00

After playing for hours a day, and watching for hours a day, reading about bridge every day, and dreaming of bridge at night, I'm still aspiring to be bad at the game some day. I truly doubt my intelligence and wonder if this is a form of masochism. Perhaps I'm just not smart enough for this game. But I still want to play.

On the other hand, I think maybe this is a natural stop on the learning train. I'm clearly not a bridge prodigy. So, maybe I just need to work harder.

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh MY

2006-01-27T12:42:00.000-05:00

I had sort of a big day yesterday on BBO. Bob held an inpromptu discussion on weak twos. He made the interesting point that not only are we taking a bidding level from the opps when we preepempt but we're taking away a big part of their convention card. One of the things he said that I liked best was: If you bid a weak two in first seat you're only preempting one partner but two opps.

I played with Bob in an Abalucy open tourney and it was so much fun. Of course, I made mistakes, and felt especially embarrassed. Bob was a total sweetheart when I did, and after we reviewed the hands that went awry. For me the most exciting moment was when I picked up this hand:
S: AKQ
H: X
D: AKTX
C: KXXXX

And RHO bid 1c. We'd been talking some about bad doubles. I think doubling here is a lie A huge lie. So, I didn't I passed, thinking surely I'll have another chance to do something, even if it's just take a lot of tricks on defense... but I worried too, that they'd play in 2h or something, which would make me sad. P balanced with 1s, I replied 4, Bob made 5 and all was right with the world. Except, I felt like I wanted to have a larger vocabulary in that situation. I KNEW I could trust him to balance.

Later, I played against Hannie and Cherdano. I played with szuetam, who was totally a doll. I thought it was really sweet of them to be willing to play with me. I think I learned something about aimless and pointless false carding.
You can't just throw an innappropriate card that doesn't really address declarer's questions in hopes that it will just confuse him. Especially if he's a better player than you are.

This week I'm reading Bergen's book on hand evaluation and Jim Jacoby's Jacoby on Bridge. I'm enjoying them both, and they both say many of the things that Bob says about hand evaluation. But even though everyone is saying the same thing, I think it's not redundant. It' s good to hear it rephrased, so hopefully it sinks in, repetition is good. Course Jacoby wrote this in 87 when people still played 16-18 nt as a rule, and he advocates a four card major open that just scares me.

I'm venturing with more frequency into the main club. I have mixed feelings about that. I suppose there are arguments for playing in BIL and playing in the main club, but one thing that's always true is that in BIL people as a rule are friendly and polite, and seem to be enjoying themselves. And that's a nice way to play bridge. Bob suggests that I make it very clear from the start that telling people when they sit that it's a friendly game if they don't want to behave they can go elsewhere. I have my speech on the matter preprinted and ready to post.

Finally Claire is back from Vegas, and I'm thrilled to have her back. Claire is my mentor. And she's just lovely and wonderful. I think it takes a special person to be a great mentor. It's a lot like any type of volunteerism, where the idea of donating one's time is far easier than actually doing it. I think this may be especially true with online bridge, where when you log in your mentee is there, and I think mentor's feel compelled to be there and on, all the time. That doesn't happen as much with live bridge I'm sure. And it's a lot of pressure. Most mentor's quit after a few sessions (this is what I heard talking with other billies.) I had a mentor before Claire who never wanted to play with me. But Claire's not given up on me yet, even though I'm sure I try her patience.
I've been really lucky to have had really great players and teachers make themselves available to me, and I feel a little like I'm cheating on Claire. But as long as she doesn't feel that way, all is right with the world.

The blind leading the lame, or is it the lame leading the blind? Anyway...

2006-01-22T15:04:00.000-05:00

My friend Prim let me talk him into trying bridge base. He played socially in college, but hasn't played for a few years. So, I've fallen into the role of explaining conventions and treatments that he's forgotten or that have evolved or come into fashion since he played. All I can think is Poor Prim. I don't feel particularly qualified, but I think while it may not do Primus much good, it's forcing me to clearly think about what means what. I'm thrilled that I converted him back into the fold. And he agrees, that bbo is light years from Yahoo.

Today I played in the BIL play with a star tourney. I got to play with Ritong. Not only is he a great player, he's absolutely charming. What a lovely man. We played in 2s making 5. Opps made some mistakes, and he capitalized on them so smoothly, it was fun to watch.

I think, therefore...it all takes longer

2006-01-20T13:44:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, Bob did a class on Short Suit Game Tries (alertable.) At the heart of the theory on how to evaluate you chances of sucess is the 30 point deck. So, I'm wondering if the thirty point deck applies to ssgt. does it also apply whenever your side has a known void or singleton.

I also noticed that while I can recite the way several conventions work, once I have cards in my hand it's much harder to apply this knowledge. I'm really confused.

Also, if you say you play a convention but never remember that you play it, do you really play that convention? I never remember about new minor forcing. Maybe it's time to start saying: no, I don't play that, thanks.

Partnership bidding is a great place to test what you think you play, but it's a little disheartening too, when you start to realize, that all the stuff you thought you knew you have only a nodding acquaintance with.

Finally, hand evaluation. Each hand I ask myself the six questions and I come up with a number of plusses and minuses. So if I have 15 points and +--+++ How do I translate this into a number. And once p bids I might think oh, well that's good, or that's not so good, but again, hard to pick a number to assign.

Your bid got good technical marks, but it sounded a little forced to me

2006-01-18T18:36:00.000-05:00

Below I noted that Rich said that 1c-1d-1h-1s is not forcing. This isn't true. He said it's not forcing TO GAME, but it is certainly forcing for one more round. Bobh2 pointed out that what I said was not correct. And then he went on to teach us the coolest thing. The above auction is not forcing to game, but what if you have a game forcing hand and want a bid that is 4th suit forcing? You bid 2 spades which deny's four spades and forces to game! I adore that Bob. Not only because he's willing to share the cool things he knows, but because he forces me to think and understand what he's telling me. And he doesn't put up with carelessness.

Dear Diary, Tonight, for the first time, I did it

2006-01-18T00:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Rock Around the Clock, was pretty exciting. I finally got a gambling 3nt hand, that I got to open. Well, we ended up in five x down 29,000,000. Turned out to be an average. -.1 I think Or something like that. They had a h game, so overall not a bad sac.
Then last round we played against a star player. That always scares me. My blood gets cold and I can feel my iq dropping, physically feel it. Well, I held
S: Jxxx
H: QT963
D: AJ
C: 52
The star player sat on my left. Rho opened 1c -p-1h-p-1s-p-2c (checkback stayman) -p-2h(max open 3hearts)-p-4h-p-p-...
Well I looked at my hand and I knew x had to be right, right? But I also knew that this woman could outplay me in her sleep. And I could imagine Rabbit cringing when I x'd. But it had to be right, right? Well, down 1 and we made 4.7 imps against a star player.

Speaking of star players, here's a hand that I saw at Essess's table last month that still intrigues me:
He sat north and held:
S: AJ986
H: 108
C: AJ10974

The dealer was west who opened 1h, Essess overcalled 2h, east bid 2n -p-p-4c. I was fascinated by his 4c. I mean I would have bid three every day of the weak, but 4? So, I assume the man has some idea what he's about, not only does he have a star next to his name, he has a good sense of humor. So, if we take it as a given that 4c is better than 3c why?

And EW went down three x in 6d for -.27 for NS. I think, it got a good result, if not in imps then at least in getting ew to play in a lousy contract. But why 4 rather than three? So, the best I can come up with is this, his hand has no real defensive value. And opps stopped short of game with no obvious fit, so p can be counted on to show up with something. And game contracts score more points than partscores (unless they don't make.) Just a really interesting bid. If anyone can explain for me, I sure wish you would.

All the cool kids say:

2006-01-17T00:42:00.000-05:00

What's the problem? I want to work it into my vocabulary too. Also looking at whether to work in another use for 2d. I'm happy with it as is. But Rob and Rabbit would like have it do more. Flannery doesn't seem to be that exciting really. Some people swear it's the greatest thing ever, but it seems like you get to exactly the same place without it. Rabbit and I will try out multi. If we hate it, then we'll stop. Can't hurt to know how things work.

Today at the table, I was asked to explain my pass. I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my seat. I didn't know what to say... I settled on, "not forcing." And he said, I just wanted to check how many cards you have.

Some fourth seat forcing issues, have come up lately. First was the auction 1c-1d-1h-1s, which is not forcing. I was fairly sure that it was not, but not positive. Rich confirmed that it is not forcing. Tonight at the table we had an auction that looked like this... 1d-1h-1s-2c. Absolutely forcing. But for some reason I thought I had opened a club... I guess the big bidding record there in the center of the table wasn't flashing neon or something. I was so upset I made five on a hand cold for six. Argggghhhhh.

Wtp?

Te Vejo Manana

2006-01-16T11:17:00.000-05:00

I hate bridge. I quit.

Finally... a reason to pass

2006-01-14T22:34:00.000-05:00

I like the idea of a strong pass. This comes from tonight's lesson in BIL. Susan Doty did a class on what happens over x and xx. So, over a xx if your rho bids, they're just picking a suit. There are no points left for them. If you pass, it's not weak, it's strong. If you were weak you'd find a bid and say, hurry and pick one of my suits, I opened min and I don't want to defend! Pass is stronger. I like this strong pass thing. It's like over 2c where 2c-2whathaveyou-p is stronger than 2c-2whathaveyou-x. Strong passes are the most fun.

I should point out, to avoid future confusion (most likely my own) that after a redouble and a bid from rho passing isn't the only way to show strength. Don't pass only because your hand is good.

What looks large from a distance - close up gets bigger

2006-01-13T21:30:00.000-05:00

Last night Wabbit (kaninunge) and I played against a star player in a Rock Around The Clock. (We came in 12th of 28, and were quite happy with that.) Playing against someone with a yellow star really gave me a bad case of performance anxiety. (I guess that shows, women can get that too.) Three hands with my heart in my throat. First hand we went down .15 imps. Second we made 1.77, and the final we were down .69. And let me tell you, I feel like a bridge player! Actually we had a bidding accident on the hand we went plus on, that worked against the opps. I opened a major, and opponents x, Rabbit bid 2nt and I wasn't sure if it could be jacoby 2nt over interference, so instead of bidding my singleton, I bid a second suit. We found our contract and made for 1.77 imps, and thank you very much - against a star player. I just like saying it.

The thing is, or one of the things is, that playing bridge, affords you the opportunity to have brushes with greatness. Especially online. Luis Argerich of Argentina gives lessons in the beginner intermediate lounge. As an aside, Rob (Mortinii) and I are thinking of buying clothes from bridge tournaments -with pictures of cards on them - and shaving our heads and following him around.

Bobh2 who is a very fine teacher has been very kind to me. Much of the knowledge I'm recording comes from him. Two ideas that I'm incorporating (Ripstra and not bidding a new four card suit over a t/o x come by way of Bob. Aside from being very nice and very smart, one of the really pleasant things that came by way of my aquaintance with Bob was a chance to remember John Lowenthal. I actually got to play with Mr. Lowenthal a couple of times. This was years ago, when I took up bridge, and before I put it down again for eight years. I have a great regret about that experience. I was too busy feeling stupid and apologizing to remember anything but the agony of my own stupidity, which is a total waste. Maybe not a total waste, as I remember how kind it was of him to play with me at all, and I remember him very fondly. Bob has a great story about playing against him and duplicating the boards. Apparently, John did it, with all the cards face down, like a magic trick. If you see Bob on line, you can ask him to tell you the story. He tells it better than I do.

I can't talk enough about how much I love bridge base online. There are free classes in BIL. There are free classes in I-ABC. This week, Yoder did two tourneys and classes focusing on card combinations. How to play with missing the King and Jack with A and Queen and separate hands. It matters where the Queen is. With the Q opposite A10 lead the queen or low to the Q. With QT opposite the ace, Lead the Ace first then low to the ten. And of course how to play missing jxxx and Jtxx which is in yesterday's post. Bob's doing a series on hand evaluation. Bob's becoming the voice in my head as I look at my cards these days. And tonight at Yoder's tourney I played opposite Hannie, who did a lesson on counting that has made me a much better player, in one hour, I think. I count everything now.

Bridge Base's wonderfulness lies not only in the classes, there are also the forums, and the sense of community. I wonder if the pope would cannonize Fred Gitelman.

Getting Started

2006-01-12T19:41:00.000-05:00

Bridge must be one of the hardest games in the world. It takes years to become mediocre. When you begin, it feels a bit like swimming in goo. Nothing makes any sense. They give you a thousand rules and then much like learning a langague, you find lots of places where there are exceptions. Dialogue at the table goes like this:
P: Why did you____?
You: I dom't know.

Then there's this epiphany and suddenly you're playing bridge. You feel smart! It doesn't last. As soon as you figure one piece out, you realize how many are still missing.

This week I feel on the verge of a break-through. Maybe just wishful thinking.

With so much to learn, and since I seem to be learning something new every day, this seemed like a good idea to record some of the lessons.

What I've learned this week:
Evaluate your hand.
As the bidding progresses, keep reevaluating your hand.
When missing the jxxx in your trump suit, Win first in the hand with two honors
When missing JTxx win first in the hand with one honor.
The problem with capp is that it has very little preemptive value in most of the bids.
Don't x 1nt with a hand that can be opened 1nt, x with a hand that can beat it.
Don't throw away good cards, signaling for a lead.

What I didn't learn this week:
That pass isn't overrated.
That passing is fun
That passing is not a cop out.