Monday, January 17, 2005 5:09 AM

Patterns - Declarer Play

PITBULLS:

Keeping track of every card adding them up and subtracting the total from 13 would drive a Bridge player crazy over time. This counting is better suited for a computer than a human trying to have fun at a hobby. However , counting is necessary for declarer play , defense , opening leads and bidding. So how do get around this dilemma ?. Doing arithmetic requires effort whereas dealing from memory the task can become an automatic reflex. Once information is memorized the effort is over , you just use it. Fortunately there are only a finite number of distributions that add up to 13. If you have these memorized , you can avoid the work and tedium of counting at the Bridge table.

Ok a question how many distributions are there with a 4 card suit as its longest and what are they ?

Only 3 4-4-3-2 4-3-3-3 4-4-4-1

Ok a question how many distributions are there with a 5 card suit as its longest and what are they ?

Only 6 (3 frequent ) 5-3-3-2 5-4-2-2 5-4-3-1 5-4-4-0 5-5-2-1 5-5-3-0

Ok a question how many distributions are there with a 6 card suit as its longest and what are they ?

Only 7 (3 frequent) 6-3-2-2 6-3-3-1 6-4-2-1 6-4-3-0 6-5-1-1 6-5-2-0 6-6-1-0

Actually memorizing 9 patterns backwards and forwards will get you by. The 7 card suits and higher are rare and can be figured out at the table as well as the less common ones.

Ok suit establishment or drawing trump is not done by “counting” . You look at your hand and the dummy and apply a pattern. Drawing trump or establishing a suit is just watching how many times the opponents are following suit. That is the only “counting” involved. You are in a 5-3 fit and the opponents followed to two rounds there is only one card left ( 5-3-3-2 ) . I played with a tormentee who was in 4♥. He/she had a 6-3 heart fit and they split 2-2 . There was a side suit on the board Kxxxxx opposite his Ax . Inexplicably he/she gave up two losers in another side suit and ruffed the 3 rd. This resulted in a tie for a bottom. There is a 6 card suit on the board ( 6-3-2-2) and one ruff established the suit for 6 ! This is “thinking in patterns” at the most basic level. Bridge is patterns. Try applying them in every facet of the game of Bridge : declarer play , defense , bidding & opening leads.

Here is Richard Pavlicek saying the same thing. http://www.rpbridge.net/7a41.htm Please read .