Ann Kuperberg
Thanksgiving is fast approaching and most of us won’t be able to share a festive meal with family, but we’ll be thankful to have good health.
Of course, we can still play bridge online, in virtual club games or play at other venues.
The October issue of Bridge Bulletin included problems people are having with online games, especially mis-clicks. The only way you can correct them is by using the “confirm bids” setting, but that can become a nuisance.
I have found that the phone rings quite a few times while I play a game. It seems my “grandson needs money” (scam) or someone wants to sell time-share, windows, etc.
We have to make an extra effort not to be distracted because then we’ll make errors.
Adam Parrish had an article about mistakes. He said we need to develop the proper thought process. If a partner opens and we have a game or slam-going hands, we need to show it. He gave the example of partner opening 1 diamond; we have 6 spades and this hand:
AK9642
KQ5
8
K63.
Our first bid is 1 spade. Then, we need to make a forcing bid after the partner bids 2 clubs. Parrish says, “bid 2 hearts,” forcing the partner to bid again.
We should aim to learn from our mistakes. Playing too fast happens, but not so much online. The problem seems to be clicking the wrong card.
We can still enjoy a good bridge game, even if we’re playing on a computer at home.
Relax, have a glass of wine, munch on some turkey next week.