Wednesday, April 23, 2003 1:18 AM

Pace of Play

PITBULLS:

Still another “strategy” to be aware of in high level Bridge is the pace of play . If one partner plays much faster then 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 can not .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 and as defender . Do this regardless of how fast your partner plays and especially how fast the declarer plays . Lee Barton has played Bridge for eons . The opening lead hits and he plays so fast that the opponents get caught up in his tempo and play too fast. They try to match his speed of play and all of a sudden a oops and 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 and 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 and 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 and 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 and assist the opponents. By having your “putting routine” where you always pause at critical points like trick one and 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 and wait after the round where you could have used that time a little more wisely at the table . Speed kills at Bridge sometimes when they cause careless errors . Be aware of the pace of your play and have your “putting routine” rehearsed and use it at the table !!