When I practiced law in Rochester, New York, I was fortunate to have as a law partner Kaye Thomas. Kaye practiced tax law for our firm and was my “go to” guy for all complex tax matters and everything else that required raw intellect. Not only was he an incredible resource but he had writing skills that could boil the most complex legal concepts down into a language that even I could understand. Kaye took a law job in Chicago many years ago and then went into the publishing business in that area. Recently I got an e-mail from Kaye saying “I have taken up bridge and am playing on line. In doing an on line internet search I came across your bridge blog. I recognized the writing style as it looks like you stole it from me.”
Maybe he is right, because certainly I didn’t come by this “Rock and Roll” style honestly. He thought I might be able to repay him for all the advice he had so freely given to me. Now get this, this guy has never played in a club game and is one of those BBO night riders who has never seen a real opponent with a face, doesn’t know what a convention card is and has never experienced the ignominy of having all the bidding cards fall out of the bottom of the bidding box. He has no partner, doesn’t know what a score card is and doesn’t have a clue about registration or the partnership desk. So he says “there is a Sectional Tournament in nearby Elgin, Illinois next weekend and I thought I might as well saunter over and start half way up the ladder. Start me off at the front door and spare me anything that I can pick up on the fly.”
Unless you have written “tech manuals”, it is hard even get your arms around this problem, much less organize it and detail it. After about a week of furious e-mails back and forth daily, I am pleased to say that Kaye has joined the ACBL and has a vague idea of the match point duplicate protocol. I, on the other hand, am exhausted, and now realize it would been less of a headache to fly to Chicago and be his first partner. I expect that it will not be too long before Kaye is on a first name basis with the ACBL directors since BBO players alert their own bids and are prone to making strategic aggressive claims.
In a future blog I will report if Kaye manages to retain the same partner for more than one session, for that matter for one complete session. Look out you 299ers, he is on the way. Now that I have concluded all my pay, deal, sort and play advice, I realize that I haven’t given him a strategy for knocking some of those 299er heads together, so here are some guidelines Kaye to get you through the first 24 boards:
1. Identify vulnerability before the cards come out of the tray and make vulnerability part of your bidding strategy? If vulnerability is unfavorable, don’t be carried off the battle field on your shield. If vulnerability is favorable, don’t let them play a contract if you can hold your losses to down 1 or even 2. Remember that when opponents play the hand, a score of -90 to -120 is the “death zone”. Even the best players find it near impossible to double low level contracts, and the urge to take another bid, rather than suffering the ignominy of letting the hand be stolen, is almost irresistible.
2. Accept that in match point duplicate that you are not the master of your own result? In match point games, inequity plays out on every hand. Good players defending will steal an extra trick from poor players and good players declaring will do the same thing. Play the hand for its full potential and don’t worry about the “gifts” that other teams may be getting on the same hand. Pouting about “fixes” is the quickest way to fix yourself. “If you want justice, go to night court!”
3. Do not fret over any hand that has been played. Can I say that again or often enough? Once the hand is done, it is over!! You are never going to see that hand again; the odds are 1 in 465 billion! Looking backward only will set in motion mood swings of highs and lows (more lows than highs) and will prevent you from playing with equanimity. Don’t give away the next board worrying about the last one.
4. Accept the fact that a badly defeated contract can still be a great board. If you are in a contract that is going down from the minute the dummy hits the table, play extra hard to minimize your losses. If you have bid the hand correctly, other teams will keep you company.
5. Realize the value of average plus boards and their place in determining overall results. Good results in match point duplicate are not produced by a massive array of high boards. High and low boards will frequently even out. At the end of the day if you have more boards in the “average plus” range than in the “average minus” range, you will have a good result.
6. Be a winning coward. Grand slams are for bridge heroes. Heroes are usually carried off on their shields. The risk-reward ratio is out is whack because we are competing against teams composed of imperfect people and not robots! Bidding and making a small slam in the right denomination will invariably get you an average plus good board even if the hand makes 13 tricks.
7. Be a tranquil declarer. When you declare, do not panic. You can’t develop a playing strategy if your mind is running in all directions. Tranquility is a state of mind and no battle plan was ever created in the middle of a full retreat.
8. Plan your work and work your plan. Once you have a plan, execute it with confidence. Don’t appear to be frazzled and torn by indecision. Thank partner for coming down with exactly the cards that he bid (effusively if you are disappointed). If opponents think you have it “in the bag” and are about to “claim”, they might just fall asleep and start pitching cards carelessly. Never give the opponents even the slightest reason to kindle their hope.
9. Bid on the KISS principle. If you have two choices, make a bid that you are sure partner will understand. Game day is not a bidding examination. If there is any concern that your bid will send partner “into the tank”, then it is wrong even if it is 100% right. Save the bidding lesson for later.
10. Reward partner for balancing. If partner acts courageously in a balancing situation, give him a little room for his bravery. Don’t hang him out to dry. Remember that he has already bid some of your points. It is not necessary or advisable for you to bid the same points again!
Well, Bon Voyage Kaye. If the door prize is a watch, send it to me.
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4 comments:
It's the first day in my new office in the tax department. The previous occupant had stationed the desk sideways to the door, with the view of the hallway partly blocked by a file cabinet. I'm reading a tax journal and I hear a voice say, "Kaye, come see me in my office." By the time I look up, there's no one there. I hustle to the door but by that time there's no one in the hallway either. I'm gripped with fear: I've been summoned by a partner, but I don't know WHAT partner. He'll wonder why I didn't show up, and my career at that firm will be off to a glorious start.
Fortunately one of the secretaries was alert enough to tell me where I needed to be, so I grabbed a legal pad and scurried off to meet Mr. Solberg. Over the years I would spend a great deal of time in his office. Fifteen minutes there provided more education than an entire course in law school, not just on legal matters but also on how to relate to clients and approach a task with intelligence and humor and genuine enthusiasm. My only regret is that we wasted so much time in the practice of law that could have been spent playing bridge.
Many thanks, Tommy, for all the advice as I prepare for my first bridge competition with carbon-based beings.
Tommy, great comments as usual. I would add that a plus score is GOLDEN. My experience is that a plus is worth twice as many match points as a minus. Dont give up a likely plus for a minus. Sounds simple but it is not. I hope to see you in the spring. Your friend, LARRY
So, how'd he do? My husband and I played on Saturday at that tournament.
The one piece of advice I'd add is, "Once you're comfortable playing in live tournaments, consider moving from the 299 section to the open section." We call this No Longer Swimming in the Kiddy Pool.
There are two reasons to do this:
1. If you want to make inferences on distributions (both in suits and points) by the opponents' bidding and (more importantly) failure to bid, you're much more likely to be right in the open section.
2. Your game won't get better unless you play against people who are better than you.
Anyway, hope your friend did great at the tourney!
Ginny
Ginny: Since you posted anonymously I can't e-mail you back so I hope you look for this comment. Kaye did very well.Playing out of th 299er section he scratched in almost every session and actually won some B strat awards.In total master points he placed 90 out of 240 and did not play in the Swiss event.More importantly he had fun and is looking for competitive partners for club games.Give him a call if you would like to play. tommy
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