[vuroth]

I'm starting to get frustrated with my lack of ability to solve intermediate declarer problems (here and at the table). Inevitably, the solutions are clear and obvious to me once they're pointed out.

Short of playing a million hands (my time is compressed), is there a good reference out there for declarer play - something that will walk me through a checklist of things to look for - like counting entries, looking for blocked suits, recognizing endplays, when to strip, everything I guess up to squeezes? I feel like my approach just isn't consistent enough, and that I sometimes look for the key element (such as an endplay) but don't always recognize it when it's there.

Thanks.

V

[pooltuna]

vuroth, on Apr 9 2010, 10:40 AM, said:

I'm starting to get frustrated with my lack of ability to solve intermediate declarer problems (here and at the table). Inevitably, the solutions are clear and obvious to me once they're pointed out.

Short of playing a million hands (my time is compressed), is there a good reference out there for declarer play - something that will walk me through a checklist of things to look for - like counting entries, looking for blocked suits, recognizing endplays, when to strip, everything I guess up to squeezes? I feel like my approach just isn't consistent enough, and that I sometimes look for the key element (such as an endplay) but don't always recognize it when it's there.

Thanks.

V

I don't think there is a fast way to learn these. The fastest has to be reading books. I would start with Watson's "Play of the hand" and rather than read thru the solution try to work each one like a problem.

[gwnn]

Test your timing

[mikeh]

you might consider buying one of Fred's products: Bridgemaster. Some very good hands to play, with clear explanations afterwards, and I think they are far better than any text, because they require you to think before you see the answer...and the problems are not grouped under category of play...which is more like real life.

There is no-one at the table to say: this is an endplay hand, or this is a double squeeze hand, so facing a problem where all you know is that there IS a correct approach is a good way to learn.

(note to Fred: no need to send me a commission )

[Phil]

Agree with Mike - if you can get through all of the Level III Bridgemaster hands and half of the Level IV hands, you would be a 'good' declarer in my book.

I would recommend (and have read / re-read over the last two years):

- Logical Bridge Play - Kelsey
- Advanced Play at Bridge - Kelsey
- Masterpieces of Declarer Play - Pottage
- Test Your Match Play - Kelsey (good luck finding it!).

[mikeh]

Phil, on Apr 9 2010, 11:35 AM, said:

Agree with Mike - if you can get through all of the Level III Bridgemaster hands and half of the Level IV hands, you would be a 'good' declarer in my book.

I would recommend (and have read / re-read over the last two years):

- Logical Bridge Play - Kelsey
- Advanced Play at Bridge - Kelsey
- Masterpieces of Declarer Play - Pottage
- Test Your Match Play - Kelsey (good luck finding it!).

Kelsey wrote (I think) 3 of these 'test your match play books'...going by memory...I think I lost one when I loaned it out and still have the other two (but will never sell them). One is called The Needle Match, and the other The Tough Game...I think.

Anyway, they are all very, very good...you do have to ignore the bidding and the defensive carding (from which you have to draw inferences both as declarer and defender) are not what we may be used to seeing, especially in North America, but the themes are excellent and the setup (where you 'compare' after every 8 hands out of 64) is very life-like...you can lose imps even with a great result, if your teammates have a disaster, and vice versa. The Needle Match, for one, is available to buy online: just do a google search.

[Phil]

mikeh, on Apr 9 2010, 11:56 AM, said:

Kelsey wrote (I think) 3 of these 'test your match play books'...going by memory...I think I lost one when I loaned it out and still have the other two (but will never sell them). One is called The Needle Match, and the other The Tough Game...I think.

Yeah - The Needle Match is at the Newport Beach public library but thats the only copy I've seen in years.

The Tough Game was lent to me by a bridge partner a few years ago. Hard to give that one back to him.

All great stuff.

[vuroth]

I wonder if the bridgemaster stuff is still supported. It does use the client rather than the browser, which I thought was obsolete, or soon to be.

I think I'll ask in the relevant forum - thanks for the reminder.

V

[kenrexford]

Not remotely what you asked for, but my answer nonetheless. Sit down and read Adventures in Card Play. Take the 1 hour necessary for each page, to actually understand what is happening. The experience I had when I read this the first time was incomparable. You won't see these actual problems arise very often, if at all, but the problems force you into a way of thinking that is completely different and opens up a different world.

[Jlall]

kenrexford, on Apr 9 2010, 02:19 PM, said:

Not remotely what you asked for, but my answer nonetheless. Sit down and read Adventures in Card Play. Take the 1 hour necessary for each page, to actually understand what is happening. The experience I had when I read this the first time was incomparable. You won't see these actual problems arise very often, if at all, but the problems force you into a way of thinking that is completely different and opens up a different world.

Seems like the exact opposite of what he wants to do

[mikeh]

Jlall, on Apr 9 2010, 02:23 PM, said:

kenrexford, on Apr 9 2010, 02:19 PM, said:

Not remotely what you asked for, but my answer nonetheless.  Sit down and read Adventures in Card Play.  Take the 1 hour necessary for each page, to actually understand what is happening.  The experience I had when I read this the first time was incomparable.  You won't see these actual problems arise very often, if at all, but the problems force you into a way of thinking that is completely different and opens up a different world.

Seems like the exact opposite of what he wants to do

I have read Adventures several times over the years, and have never seen a backwash squeeze in real life...I suspect they have been there, but I haven't and never will recognize one.

The passages on elopement are well worth reading, but there is zero need to master or even be familiar with the other positions that he discusses. Indeed, I would say that recommending this to the OP is like telling a beginning player that he should borrow Meckwell's notes as a good start towards understanding basic bidding.

[jdonn]

Winning Declarer Play by Dorothy Hayden Truscott, one of the great books on declarer play that few ever talk about. Perfect for intermediates who are improving.

[Mbodell]

vuroth, on Apr 9 2010, 09:45 AM, said:

I wonder if the bridgemaster stuff is still supported. It does use the client rather than the browser, which I thought was obsolete, or soon to be.

I think I'll ask in the relevant forum - thanks for the reminder.

V

It still works, and it is still good. This software is really the best thing ever for improving (IMP) declarer play IMO.

What I like to do if I'm focusing on the declarer play is to play one hand from each of the 5 levels. And when I play the hand I think about it and take the time I would at the table. And if I go wrong on a hand I don't skip to the answers, I reconsider and keep thinking about it. Finally, after each hand, regardless of if I got it right immediately or struggled with it forever and eventually gave up I watch the explanation (to make sure I got it right for the right reasons or see if there is anything else to learn).

It is possible that you'll find one or more levels "too easy" or "too hard" to be off much use, but I find playing the level 1 hands worth it to make sure I don't screw up the obvious and the level 5 hands worth trying because they are fun and over time I can actually solve some of them on the first try now.

[kenrexford]

mikeh, on Apr 9 2010, 02:32 PM, said:

Jlall, on Apr 9 2010, 02:23 PM, said:

kenrexford, on Apr 9 2010, 02:19 PM, said:

Not remotely what you asked for, but my answer nonetheless.  Sit down and read Adventures in Card Play.  Take the 1 hour necessary for each page, to actually understand what is happening.  The experience I had when I read this the first time was incomparable.  You won't see these actual problems arise very often, if at all, but the problems force you into a way of thinking that is completely different and opens up a different world.

Seems like the exact opposite of what he wants to do

I have read Adventures several times over the years, and have never seen a backwash squeeze in real life...I suspect they have been there, but I haven't and never will recognize one.

The passages on elopement are well worth reading, but there is zero need to master or even be familiar with the other positions that he discusses. Indeed, I would say that recommending this to the OP is like telling a beginning player that he should borrow Meckwell's notes as a good start towards understanding basic bidding.

Obviously, you didn't understand the actual words I typed, let alone the meaning intended to be conveyed. Otherwise, you would not have responded by pointing out something that I pointed out as a means of persuading me.

Look, I learned ARCH just like everyone else when I was a kid. You could spend all day on lists and acronyms and such. AICP is like sex with a lesbian, on the other hand. You may have had experience with this and that, and you might even have read about such and the other, but nothing compares with experiencing a different level of the game from the point of view of someone who really gets it. Sure -- you won't likely use all that you learn, or even much of it, in the normal game. But, a better appreciation for the deep game makes the regular old stuff seem easier, because you become familiar with the secret, greater game if the real pros.

In one specific situation, for example, not in the bridge area, I had heard of a method that involved, for example, "spelling letters" as a substitute for genuine thought. Sure, that works OK. But, people who spend hours with that particular issue don't "spell letters" any more. Instead, they have a sense of what should happen, from experience at a different vantage point perhaps, and thus have a better ability to improvise intelligently. Rules like "spell letters" are desperate attempts (often by those who don't understand the problem of the student, or who may not even know how to handle the problem themselves) to solve a problem that is not a problem for those who understand the deeper game from a theory perspective and not simply as a matter of technique shortcuts.

Entering the rabbit hole, IMO, allows you to better handle life out of the rabbit hole without acronyms. I truly suggest it. Oh, and read Adventures, too.

[y66]

V, you've seen enough posts on this topic to know what the good books are on declarer play. I would be surprised if any of them will solve your problem. If you can take the heat, I suggest you try playing rubber bridge for money with a partner who does not like to lose and who will not be shy about asking you wtf you were thinking about on that last hand. Yes, you will probably get killed. But if you survive, I will bet a lot that your declarer skills will improve a lot over the next 6 months or so and the "magic checklist" you seek, which is really a sorting process, will reveal itself.

p.s. Let me know if this works. I've got the same problem.

[wyman]

kenrexford, on Apr 9 2010, 04:59 PM, said:

AICP is like sex with a lesbian, on the other hand. You may have had experience with this and that, and you might even have read about such and the other, but nothing compares with experiencing a different level of the game from the point of view of someone who really gets it. Sure -- you won't likely use all that you learn, or even much of it, in the normal game. But, a better appreciation for the deep game makes the regular old stuff seem easier, because you become familiar with the secret, greater game if the real pros.

♥

You are my hero.

[y66]

V, sorry about that flip post earlier. Although I actually believe that might work, it is obviously not practical and therefore not helpful. Have you ever read any of K Anders Ericcson's ideas about deliberate practice and expert performance? David Brooks talks about some of them here and the Freakonomics guys talk about them here. If you're interested, you can probably get Ericsson's book via interlibrary loan. His ideas are obviously not bridge specific. But if they make sense to you, maybe you could find someone to act as a mentor or coach and help you come up with a routine that works best for you. Although my bridge game is firmly stuck at the intermediate level, there have been times when I made what felt like solid progress toward the next level by following some variation of this approach.

[frouu]

the first book I read was "How to Play a Bridge Hand" by William Root. I had liked it, it was clear and organized, lots of examples. I can't compare with other books though.

[kgr]

pooltuna, on Apr 9 2010, 05:56 PM, said:

I don't think there is a fast way to learn these. The fastest has to be reading books. I would start with Watson's "Play of the hand" and rather than read thru the solution try to work each one like a problem.

I really didn't like this book. I bought it and had a hard time reading through it. (not that it was that difficult, but I really didn't like the way it was written). I would never buy it again.

[Little Kid]

Not a great fan of Watson's Play of the Hand either. I would strongly recommend some of Mike Lawrence's bridge software too, it really teaches you how and what to think about when you see dummy.