Wednesday, April 23, 2003 1:18 AM

Hand Evaluation – Tactics ( Tempo )

PITBULLS:

Still another “strategy” to be aware of in high level Bridge is the pace of play . If one partner plays much faster than her partner it can throw off the rhythm of the partnership . Careless mistakes all of a sudden appear , as one partner tries to keep up to the fast pace of play but cannot. .Playing too fast does not allow you time to do appropriate planning as declarer or defender . The cure is too take a cue from the golfing world . All good putters have a routine where they slow things down with rituals until they are absolutely ready to stroke the putt.

In Bridge , you should have a built in routine ( habit ) to always slow down to a crawl at trick one as declarer & as defender . Do this regardless of how fast your partner plays & especially how fast the declarer plays . Lee Barton has played Bridge for eons . The opening lead hits , he plays so fast that the opponents get caught up in his tempo & play too fast. They try to match his speed of play so all of a sudden a oops & Lee has just made an unmakeable contract . Putting routine mentality here . Pause , just for the sake of pausing at trick one . Even if the hand is relatively simple to defend from your perspective , pause anyway . This routine will eventually become a habit & save a lot of IMPS in the long run .

Another aspect of this tempo is slow play by the opponents . Some players take far too long to play hands or defend hands . This can induce errors also . The “insomenex coup” is where declarer or defender takes so long you forget what the hell is going on , so you make a mistake . I swear some of the “experts” I have played against use that as a tactic as well as those who use lightning speed as a tactic . Do not let them get away with it ! Call the director frequently when you have pairs that go into indeterminable tanks & huddles . Maybe some slow play penalties are in order for these type of players . Although screens improve things with hesitations , they are not infallible. Good players draw inferences from hesitations . If you have an uneven tempo , this will give unauthorized information to your partner & assist the opponents. By having your “putting routine” where you always pause at critical points like trick one & give Bridge decisions adequate thought , you are leveling the playing field .

You do not get rewarded for finishing 6 boards before your team mates . You wait & wait after the round where you could have used that time a little more wisely at the table . Speed kills at Bridge sometimes when speed causes careless errors . Be aware of the pace of your play so have your “putting routine” rehearsed & use it at the table !!