Saturday, July 12, 2003 10:18 AM

Bridge Experience

PITBULLS:

A good Edmonton Bridge player once told me that a persons bidding system is just a product of his/her experiences at the Bridge table over the years . If that is true for that person it should not be for an expert playing high level IMPS . The fallacy in that way of thinking is that your bridge experience can stem mainly from weak rubber Bridge games or local match point games. In fact your Bridge experiences can be a deterrent to improving your bidding to play IMPS at the highest level. Your bidding system should be geared to play against “tough opponents” at a high level . Not too many baby seals to club at the Bermuda Bowl.

If you are good player , a good strategy in local games is just sit there and wait for them to make mistakes and they will . This is wrong strategy at high level IMPS . You must earn IMPS by making appropriate gambles and psychological tactics. “Sitting there” waiting for mistakes that will rarely happen will just result in a losing set time after time.

Gearing your system to bad bidders is a losing strategy . An over dependence on “trump stack” penalty doubles is a good strategy in weak games but not at a high level . Good opponents play the vulnerability and put maximum pressure on you to take losing options to double them at the expense of your vul games and slams. System bids should be geared to pulling doubles when appropriate and not just blindly leave doubles in . “Never pull my penalty doubles” is the worst strategy at high level IMPS that one could possibly conceive.

“4NT is always Blackwood” is a horrible platitude to follow at high level IMPS . Bids should be employed based on their frequency of occurrence . If 4NT has a more frequent and useful role then ace asking then Blackwood should be thrown out . 6 hands at 12 IMPS a piece could come up before a hand for which Blackwood could be suited. Blackwood in your system for these auctions could be very destructive.

Most IMP players experiences stem from weak match point fields . Match points re-enforce the “plus” on any particular board. Get rid of that type of thinking at INPS. IMPS by its very nature is accumulative . Avoid disasters by “taking out cheap insurance” instead of going for a plus. In match points a disaster is only one board. In IMPS it can be 17 IMPS and take a ½ dozen boards to make up.

I was watching this hand in Penticton .

K	Q	x	K
Q	J	x	x
10	10		x
			x
			x

In 3^rd chair partner vul against not opens 4♠ . All pass and then a 5D bid from the last bidder and around to you . In Match points your action is clear. 5♠ has no guarantee to make and they are obviously “sacrificing” so you double. In IMPS it is a different matter. Partner bid 4♠ vul without the KQ10 of spades. The spade suit is dead for defensive purposes . 5♦ might even make ! Given the spade suit , partner probably has outside cards for the 4♠ bid. These cards will defeat 5♦ might they might also make 5♠ ! When in doubt bid in IMPS . In this particular hand 5♠x makes ( with a shot at 6 ) and 5♦ x nets you +100.

You just do not rely on your experiences in high level IMPS because they are usually based on weaker players in a different form of Bridge . Think IMPS when you are playing that game !!