Sunday, February 02, 2003 10:50 PM

Hand Evaluation - Learning

PITBULLS:

Learning is defined by psychologists in part by saying it’s a change in behavior . If your behavior as a human never changes you have stopped learning . We have all met Bridge players who have played the game for 20 years but have never really learned . They have one years experience 20 times rather than 20 years of experience .

Age should not be a detriment to learning . Just because you have an age starting with a 6 does not mean you can not learn. The only thing that prevents you from learning is a disease which makes you think you know everything so you do not have to learn. I must admit learning at my age is tougher. Peter Jones wanted me to change to upside down count & attitude. It cost him about 40 IMPS over 6 Thurs nites before I got it straight. Ditto for BJ Trelford getting me to change to 3^rd & 5^th best. It cost him the same # of IMPS on Thurs nites before I eventually got it implanted in my old brain.

Nancy Cook relayed a story tonight about a friend with whom she used to play Bridge . He declared he was “too old to learn” & has decided to play in the weaker games around the city. In his words , “he wants to be a big fish in a little pond” so he has a chance of winning. How sad . I am 60 so if a live to 85 another ¼ of a century , at which age do I determine that I am too old to learn ? I do not ever want to stop learning as learning is fun for me !!

There is nothing more annoying than partner repeating her mistakes time after time. This is an attitude or ego personality problem which prevents learning . Not learning over time becomes a cancer that ends Bridge partnerships. Learning should be fun & an ongoing part of playing Bridge ! It should not be woe is me , because I must exert some effort to learn or admit to myself that I am not perfect in the game of Bridge.

Maurice & Susan have developed an excellent habit over the years . After the session they go over the hands & discuss auctions in detail . If you keep your ego in check , forget the “blame game” this is a superb way to improve your Bridge . The caliber of Susan’s bidding today is based on years of discussing hands after events . Today’s Susan is a much better bidder than the Susan of 6 months ago or a year ago .

Another excellent way of learning is what I am attempting to do with my articles . Learning from my mistakes or the mistakes of others who should know better . Bringing hands up from the boys who are in Japan , rubber Bridge hands & discuss the merits of their thinking or lack thereof . This is excellent for learning also as you get many different perspectives on the problem & if you have an open mind , your Bridge will improve .

In our hobby , we do not improve by leaps and bounds . It is a slow process because we have already put so many years in we get “set in our Bridge ways” . Judgment is due to our experience so we all have our own styles & philosophy towards the game of Bridge . This will never change much but it can get “fine tuned” . The mechanical aspects of Bridge is different though & can be learned quite drastically though with some effort on your part. Hand evaluation & judgment can be learned by an honest assessment of your own results . This of course means you check your ego at the door before you enter. Hand evaluation can be learned but it takes effort on your part & hopefully my articles will help. I am trying to jot down 40 years of playing Bridge on paper.

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Do not be a defeatist & think that making a hand on a squeeze or by counting out a hand is beyond you because it is not . Memorizing & applying patterns is certainly not a skill that is above your intelligence . It just requires the right attitude & practice . Your overall play will improve immensely with patterns. You have chosen a lofty goal to attempt to represent Canada in international competitions . Bringing your Bridge to the next level seems to be an excellent idea from my perspective. Having the Pitbulls represent Canada in international competitions will certainly make all my efforts worth while.