Monday, August 29, 2005 3:34 PM

Hand Evaluation – Partnership ( Level of Competition )

 

PITBULLS:

 

            In Hockey & other sports you have often heard coaches & sports writers say that a team played down to the “level of competition” . What does this mean exactly ? In hockey , if a good team plays badly against a poor team it usually means that the caliber of opposition “lulled them to sleep” so they did not bring their normal game to the ice.  It can mean that the good team was over confident , did not try hard enough . It could mean that the good team was adopting bad habits or showing a lack of discipline against the poor team. Sometimes just by osmosis the bad team drags you down to their level.

 

            In Bridge , of course , the same scenario exists. Playing against a steady diet of weak opponents or with a weak partner will destroy your Bridge game eventually if you allow it to happen. The single handed aspect of the game which is declarer play will be the only part of your Bridge game not to suffer. Your defense will deteriorate as partners signals or defensive plan of attack are meaningless. Your bidding suffers the most. You end up playing down to the level of your partner & the opponents. Forcing passes do not exist. Delicate Q bidding auctions do not exist . Bridge bidding is just straight Casino style “taking shots” as the partnership element of Bridge is missing. You get fixated on your own hand & mastermind thereby  leaving partner out of the equation. It’s almost like you have contempt for the opponents as well as your partner. Your bidding leaves the opponents & partner out of the equation whenever possible as you rely solely on your own judgment.

 

            Playing in weak fields has this adverse effect on your Bridge discipline. You tend to take risks because the caliber of the opponents has let you get away with it in the past. Your openers get lighter & lighter trying to con the opponents out of their rightful contracts & of course it works more often than not. You do not need quick tricks for openers as if partner’s decisions are thrown off – who cares ?  You make vulnerable pre-empts vrs not  on ♠x ♥Kxx ♦KJ10xxx ♣xx because all the years against weak competition you have not been punished by making such bids. You make undisciplined overcalls because again you can get away with it as it confuses the folks. You do not wait until partner is a passed hand to make tactical bids because partner is just the 3rd opponent anyway. Bridge is not a partnership game as I control this table. You do not plan your bidding to allow partner some input but place the final contract yourself. You guess partners hand & bid it for her.

 

            Match points vrs IMPS is another factor to consider. You take many more risks at matchpoints because a zero is just a zero. In IMPS , 14 IMPS may take half a match to recover against a good team. A lack of discipline in Matchpoints & in weak competition of course may work but what will it do to your partnership in the long run ? Like the hockey teams , do these bad habits get ingrained so the lack of discipline carries over to good competition ? I think it does. I have seen many good players show the same lack of discipline with pre-empts , opening bids & overcalls at the CNTC level. These “errors in judgment” now costs the team big time. The partnership does not trust each other so numerous slams are missed. Opponents make many games because of bad leads due to undisciplined overcalls .  Confusion arises because these bids have always worked at club games , sectionals and regionals. These undisciplined players make single handed decisions to get bad boards back on the next hand as they are so used to making decisions for the partnership. These players need a reality check , as a lack of discipline in Bridge is a killer not an asset at higher levels.

 

            You play so often in weak fields that you bid 2♠ with ♠10xxxx & hardly any HCP’s in a 1♦-1NT-2♠ auction. Just shooting dice as you get doubled in 2♠ going for -500 but your team mates save you by getting to a close vul 3NT game for 600. Partner had no say in this auction.  You overcall 2♣ vul after a 1♠ opener with ♠void ♥AJxx ♦Axx ♣AKJxxx effectively taking partner out of the bidding. You leap to 5♣ hoping to get doubled as you hide the strength of your hand both from partner & the opponents. Even if it works , are you not insulting your partner ? Playing in weak fields is not a Bridge sin unless you let it become your default style of Bridge. Lapses in concentration will allow you to slip into your default mode of Bridge. Unfortunately your default mode of Bridge has become weak fields with a weak partner. Your expert partner has a right to expect that you will acknowledge her presence at the Bridge table , so does not appreciate this default.

 

            In any sport , you succeed if you develop good effective habits. Unfortunately ,  bad habits creep in also. The anti-dote of course,  is to be aware of your bad habits & where they originated. To combat the single handed approach , look for creative ways to include partner into the decision making process instead of doing everything yourself. Your expert partners & team mates will approve of that message.

 

            Have you ever watched Alex Fowlie , Gary Karst , Vince Nowlan , Lucile Barton try to determine who has their bid at the table ? Who do we trust ? Does partner have his bid this time ? I do not play Bridge that way. When a modern bidder opens a hand with one or no quick tricks , 11 or 12 HCP’s with queens or jacks or pre-empts vul against not with ♠x ♥Kxx ♦KJ10xxxx ♣xx, overcalls vul between two nv opponents with ♦KJxxx ♥Kxx ♦xx ♣xxx I call it undisciplined & very bad Bridge. It just means the caliber of opposition allowed him to get away with it in the past & nothing more . It is the so called “modern bidding”.  Others who follow the same style are the same undisciplined players whose partnerships must & will suffer in the long run. Bank on it.