Bridge Philosophy

Thursday, April 08, 2004 9:57 AM

Bridge Philosophy

PITBULLS:

There are two ways or philosophies ( if you will ) to play IMPS . One is constructive and won is destructive. The purpose of the constructive way to earn IMPS is to maximize partnership discipline so as to be accurate in bidding partials , games and slams. This partnership discipline also assists defending and sacrificing decisions. In constructive auctions , partners bids are always taken at face value and the assumption of discipline is paramount in all decision making. By the term discipline , I mean that 1^st & 2^nd pre-empts never hold outside controls , Suits for weak two’s are not destructive Jxxxxx or the like . Overcalls at the one or two level do not have bad suits. Opening bids have the values expected & defensive tricks for opening bids. Vulnerability is respected and more values are expected when vulnerable. Psyches or tactical bids are always done when partner is a passed hand and always at favourable vulnerability. Disciplined take out & penalty doubles and the appropriate use of the green pass card. 1NT overcalls have a stopper in the bid suit and no singletons. In competitive auctions , bids have a meaning rather then “just pushing them up “. Constructive bidding brings out the partnership element of Bridge . Forcing passes show the beauty of the partnership element of Bridge . Single handed actions are rare and only if the hand dictates it. Otherwise you try to get partners input in all your bidding decisions. You respect you partners ability and do not gamble poorly and risk going for huge sets. Trapping and balancing are a big part of maintaining partner ship discipline in bidding. The gambling element of bridge is done intelligently and not like in a Casino.

The destructive approach to Bridge is to win IMPS by causing the opponents to go wrong . Good partnerships also have that weapon in their repertoire but not at the expense of partnership discipline . If a bid might get partner as well as the opponents , the bid is not made in a constructive partnership. With the destructive partnership , partner is fair game also. If you pre-empt with an outside Ace and miss a slam or cause partner to make a pseudo sacrifice then you are “unlucky” . If you overcall vul on a Qxxxx suit and go for 1100 you shrug your shoulders and say “these things happen”. If you overcall 1NT without a stopper in the opponents suit and they cash 5 tricks in 3NT when another game makes it is “unlucky” . You overcall 1NT with a stiff and partner bids a game in that suit and goes down when 3NT is cold again it is “bad luck “ . You open a weak two vul with Jxxxxx and the opponents convert the balancing double and you go for 800 it is “unlucky” . You play 10 HCP 1NT vul against non vul and get doubled for 1400 and your partners come back with +460 in 3NT is unlucky. You overcall or open 1NT on 14 one time and 18 another time and partner has to field it . You get to 22 HCP games and go two down vul or get misdefense and make it. You make a single handed sacrifice to 7♣ and push the opponents into a vul 7♥ that your partners do not get to . Unlucky ! Conventional toys like Michaels and Unusual 2NT bids are total undisciplined with a range of 0-40 HCP. Does not matter if partner has any idea what your range is as the opponents being confused are more important then partner judging correctly in competitive auctions. Again partner is an unnecessary complication.

The destructive style is based on gambling . You are gambling that the opponents do the wrong thing and partner does not get in the way by believing you . This style of Bridge works best in weak fields where you are taking advantage of the opponents inexperience in dealing with such situations . Your system is geared towards destructive bidding and single handed decisions are the norm . What this does of course is erode partnership discipline and trust. I was playing against a team recently that employ such tactics. Partner opens two spades vul and you hold Jxx KJ109x xxx xx and RHO passes . If you play undisciplined weak twos vul you are scared to take tactical action. If you bid 3 you may go for a tremendous set if partner has xxxxxx for example. For a disciplined partnership this hand is a natural for a 2NT bid or a 3 spade bid as the opponents are in the +26 HCP range . Partner this time had quite the weak two KQ109xx Axx xxxx void and 4 spades makes . 3NT , 5♣, 5♦ all make the other direction but you can jam the opponents out of the auction.

Playing this destructive style , partnership confidence is put at risk . In competitive auctions you believe the opponents rather than partner. In fact , the opponents guide you through the auction rather then partner. This works well if partner does not have his bid but back fires if partner does have his bid and the opponents do not . The destructive style is by necessity a “master minding” approach . You can not pass the ball to partner as neither of you might not have your bid . The opponents escape unscathed because you are “compensating” for partner not having his bid . This is a win win situation for the opponents . Sacrificing is a pure gamble as we do not know if we have defensive tricks or not .

Slam bidding is one of the victims in this destructive style. Partnerships who do not trust each other leap to game quite often . Slams that require delicate Q bidding are missed . Actually games are missed because you make very heavy invitational bids incase partner “does not have a opener” after he has opened. Does partner now accept the invitation if he just has what he has shown or does he bid game because he is not an Ace short of his opener ? Opening leads take a beating playing the undisciplined style. If you lead from Kx against 3NT after a weak two auction you risk hitting the opponents AQJ10 suit . Unlucky as overcalls and weak twos are just to disturb the opponents and not for leads !

The style you choose I guess is up to the partnership. Frankly I will not play Bridge the destructive way as I feel insulted by all the straight Casino like gambling. There is an element of gambling in Bridge but I think the game is above that . The partnership element of Bridge is just to huge a factor to sacrifice to play this style .

There are local experts who play the destructive style of Bridge in match points. Bad overcalls , bad opening bids , constant risk taking & overbidding , suicidal weak 2’s and pre-empts. This is a winning style in matchpoints that they have proven over the years. The trouble is though , you get so used to this style you carry it over to team games where this style is a losing proposition against good teams. If you have the ability to “switch modes” than OK but in the heat of battle you may revert to the style you play the most frequently. After a while maybe you can not switch back to disciplined Bridge any more.