Ann Kuperberg
With the presidential election just weeks away, some of us have already mailed in our ballots, but the drama continues, possibly until the end of the year.
We can play bridge online to escape from the constant news. The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) offered extra points in special games at the end of September but there were some technical problems and a local site went offline one day. That’s one of the drawbacks of playing online.
However, we duplicate bridge players love the game and continue to play in virtual club games, speedball, and casual games. Many hands present a challenge and we learn from them.
Lynn Berg wrote an article, “Where did we go wrong?” in the September issue of Bridge Bulletin.
“It’s a truism that we are more likely to analyze a disaster and just bask in the pleasure of a triumph. So how do we go about figuring out what went wrong? There are 3 possibilities: Bad bid, bad play, bad luck.”
She suggests we compare with how more experienced players fared. She also said we can go over the hand, trick by trick, to see if there was a better way to play.
Berg warned not to overbid when you’re vulnerable and the opponent is not.
Another article by Robert Todd reviewed the values needed for a negative double. To summarize, he said, with 6+ points, double at the one level, to double over 2 hearts/2 spades, at least 8 or 9 high card points and certainly, more points at the higher level.
Until life gets back to normal, we can distance ourselves and keep healthy.