Sunday, September 22, 2002 7:50 PM
The
Counting Habit & Mindset
PITBULLS:
Kiz
suggested that I move the topic of these E-mails away from bidding to
defense/play for a while . O.K. my law on defense & declarer play is
patterns . Developing the counting habit & mindset is the essential element
to defense & declarer play . It has been compared to actors memorizing
their lines . If you do not , you are doomed to failure . If you “think in
patterns” as a declarer then advanced plays like endplays & squeezes become
apparent . It is something that is second nature to me now but I remember
developing the habit was not an easy process .
This article taken from the net
This month we
begin a series on the important topic of counting, a subject new players often
wrongly presume to be strictly for the experts. The role of counting in
bridge has been likened to that of an actor learning his lines, i.e.
learning the lines does not ensure acting success, but not learning the lines
will ensure failure. Whether as
declarer or defender, developing the habit of counting both distribution and
points is essential.
The
math is actually quite simple, requiring only the capacity to count to thirteen
when counting distribution, or to forty when counting points. More
challenging, but also ultimately more satisfying, is developing the counting habit and mindset.
On this hand, declarer made a losing "guess" at trick eleven when a simple counting of opponent's distribution could have eliminated the guesswork.
|
WEST D A9 |
NORTH D 2 |
EAST |
|
SOUTH
|
Vulnerable: All
Dealer:
South
Opening lead:
Spade four
|
South 3 clubs |
West
3 spades |
North |
East all pass |
In the play, declarer won the opening spade
lead in dummy and led the singleton diamond to the king and ace; West returned
heart three to the ten, queen and ace (not the best defense or declarer play,
but those are stories for another day); now diamond ruff in dummy, spade ruff
in hand, another diamond ruff in dummy with WEST SHOWING OUT; dummy's last
spade ruffed in hand, EVERYONE FOLLOWING; ace and king of trumps, WEST SHOWING
OUT ON THE SECOND TRUMP LEAD.
The good heart jack cashed, EVERYONE FOLLOWING, leaving this three card end position with declarer needing two of the last three tricks:
NORTH
S -
H K7
D -
C
Q
|
WEST S K H 95 D - C
- |
EAST S - H - D QJ C
9 |
SOUTH
S -
H 8
D 87
C -
The heart eight was led and when West smoothly played low, declarer "guessed" to play the king hoping East held the last heart. Instead, East ruffed and led a diamond, dummy ruffed but had to concede the last heart to West for down one; had declare let the heart eight ride, East could ruff but dummy would now win the last two tricks. Before reading further, do you see how declarer could have eliminated the need to guess the ending heart position?
When West shows out on the third round of diamonds, East is marked with five. Since it is easier to count one opponent's hand than two, declarer should turn attention to East, the hand with the fewest number of unknown cards. When West shows out on the second round of clubs, East--the hand being counted--is marked with three, so eight of his original thirteen cards are now known. When East follows to the third round of spades, eleven cards are now known, VOILA, there was only room in has hand for two hearts; with two rounds of the suit already played, there is no need to guess, EAST CANNOT HAVE ANOTHER HEART. His pattern is 3 2 5 3 .
I trust all readers will agree, the math required here is simple; the challenge is to develop the habit of concentrating on the count as the hand unfolds.
MORAL: Counting is not just for the experts, anyone can do it. Learning to count can improve your guesswork, or sometimes--as in today's hand--eliminate it all together.