What makes bridge partnerships break up?

[vuroth]

The one regular partnership I had is on hiatus due to each of us adding children to our respective families.

 

Work schedule/family commitments are probably a principle reason that I haven't formed another solid partnership yet.

 

0.02

 

V

[ArtK78]

Rumour has it that, at one local club, they're in and out of each other's beds - I think this is probably a gross exaggeration - but it seems that some of it has gone on.

That used to be the story going around in the Washington DC bridge scene. Just check out Jerry Machlin's book.

 

Jerry had one story in his book about a very pretty female player who was rumored to be sleeping with a number of the local experts. At one tournament, where the air conditioning was turned up quite high so that the room was very chilly, she showed up wearing a very short skirt. Seeing this, Jerry turned to one of his fellow directors and said "If I didn't know better I would say that that was the coldest ass in the room!"

[y66]

I voted "other". Changing that to "different objectives" after reading your definition.

[mike777]

I wonder what it takes to make a bridge partnership, at least for your purposes.  If I play with someone off and on for a few months and nothing ever comes of the partnership, was there a partnership break-up or did it never really form?

 

I think partnerships fail to form primarily because of bridge reasons, be they different skill, different style, preferred system, different objectives, different temperament (which is sometimes a good thing), etc.  But, that once partnerships form, the non-bridge reasons (family/relationship, career, geographic move, etc.) predominate.

I think money drives many partnerships, but no doubt you can find other reasons why people play at very top levels for more than ten years.

 

Please, below list top hundred partnerships that have played last ten years and still play.

[mike777]

I wonder what it takes to make a bridge partnership, at least for your purposes.  If I play with someone off and on for a few months and nothing ever comes of the partnership, was there a partnership break-up or did it never really form?

 

I think partnerships fail to form primarily because of bridge reasons, be they different skill, different style, preferred system, different objectives, different temperament (which is sometimes a good thing), etc.  But, that once partnerships form, the non-bridge reasons (family/relationship, career, geographic move, etc.) predominate.

I think money drives many partnerships, but no doubt you can find other reasons why people play at very top levels for more than ten years.

 

Please, below list top hundred partnerships that have played last ten years and still play.

I may have been unfair:

 

 

List top =20 that play today

ok ok...LIst your top ten world..wide that play last ten.. ten years.................only ten years......Assume money did not matter

[brianshark]

I think that if there is a gap in skill level, or bidding style differences, then a partnership will fail to form rather than last a long time and eventually end. So I don't think those two are the main cause of partnership break up.

 

I don't think a difference in temperament is necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes a person who gets worked up and worried and overly focused can be complimented well by someone who is chilled and laid back. Same with dominant and submissive personality, or aggressive and passive personalities.

 

I think one major reason that seems to be missing from your list: Sometimes a pertnership who gets to know each other better and become more familiar just gradually get on each other's nerves.

 

And I do think that it is common enough for one person in a partnership to slowly lose interest in serious improvement and competitive bridge while the other still wants to work hard and compete in everything and take everything seriously.

 

I myself haven't had a real serious partnership that I've played in everything with, mostly because I haven't been playing bridge all that long.

 

That said, my opinion on the top 3 reasons for partnership break up is:

1. Non-bridge lifestyle changes, changing of free time availability, people moving to different countries/cities, etc.

2. One of the pair loses interest in serious competitive bridge.

3. Getting on each other's nerves leading to falling out or mutually agreed bridge split up.

[onoway]

In my choice, enjoyment vs winning, I think there is a balance that partnerships need to find that both are comfortable with.and this seems very difficult to achieve. To wish to enjoy the game doesn't at all mean a player is not competitive, but that his/her ultimate priority might be different than that of a player who wishes to win to the point that enjoyment of the game is secondary.

 

I would assume this applies more the further down the scale you go from professional players...

[TimG]

Please, below list top hundred partnerships that have played last ten years and still play.

Talking about the very top partnerships is different from talking about the best partnerships in a region let alone the average partnerships. My, perhaps naive, opinion is that money plays a role in very few partnerships. At least money passing between partners. Similar abilities to spend money on bridge travel would add to partnership compatibility.

[MickyB]

I've been through a fair few partnerships in the juniors over the past few years. I think all of the factors listed have played a part. Some have ended due to one member becoming too old for the U20s or U25s; A couple only really started because there was no-one else of a similar standard available, and, in those cases, bidding style+system contributed to the split.

 

Then I moved to Scotland. Here, the elite players (who are probably not quite so elite) have a very high level of churn in partnerships. It is how I imagine the professional scene works, except that there are no professionals! Players make agreements to play for one or two seasons, and then everyone gets on the merry go-round and finds a new partnership.

 

I suspect that professionals have more reason to stick together - it's more attractive to hire an established partnership.

[JanM]

Please, below list top hundred partnerships that have played last ten years and still play.

Talking about the very top partnerships is different from talking about the best partnerships in a region let alone the average partnerships.

I'm not sure what the first quoted sentence means. There are certainly a large number of long-term partnerships among the top pairs in the world. There have also recently been a number of partnership break-ups at that level, and I think that they have been caused by several of the things on Frances' list, just as break-ups at lower levels are caused by different things. Among top pairs who've been together for at least ten years:

In the US:

Meckstroth-Rodwell

Garner-Weinstein

Levin-Weinstein

Gitelman-Moss

Greco-Hampson

Cheek-Grue

Smith-Cohen

Boyd-Robinson

Martel-Stansby

 

Note- these are listed as they occurred to me, not in any particular order (except I politely put my husbands last :D).

 

Recent break-ups and causes:

Berkowitz-Cohen - different objectives (Larry didn't want to play "bridge at the top" any more)

Rosenberg-Zia - it wasn't fun for them to play together any more (I know some will say it was because Hamman asked Zia to play with him on the Nickell team, but I don't think Hamman would have asked or Zia accepted if Z-R were still having fun together - sort of like I don't really believe marriages break up because one of the spouses meets someone new, that happens because the marriage was shaky to begin with)

 

In Europe:

Lauria-Versace

Fantoni-Nunes

I guess Lanzarotti-Buratti, although I haven't heard anything of them recently

Helgemo-Helness

Balicki-Zmudzinski

Gromov-Dubinin

Elinescu-Wladow

Elahmady-Sadek

Auken-von Arnim

Brink-Drijver (I think they've played together more than 10 years)

 

Recent break-ups (don't know any reasons, sorry):

Bocchi-DuBoin

Brogeland-Saelinsminde

 

These are just the ones that I thought of without putting any effort into it. Still don't know the point, though. Obviously long-term partnerships have a big advantage - they have had time to develop their bidding system, they know what sorts of things their partners will and won't do, they're usually comfortable together. So it's no surprise that good pairs stay together.

[jdonn]

Among top pairs who've been together for at least ten years:

In the US:

...

Cheek-Grue

...

Really? I don't even think it's been half that long, although I wouldn't stake my life on it.

[JanM]

Among top pairs who've been together for at least ten years:

In the US:

...

Cheek-Grue

...

Really? I don't even think it's been half that long, although I wouldn't stake my life on it.

You're probably right, although it seems like a fairly long time.

[y66]

Saw a thoughtful blog entry on this topic the other day.

[Phil]

I missed this one during my hiatus.

 

I think I wrote about this a few years ago. In the last 20 years my experience has been with these partners:

 

1. Blowup after an event.

 

2. Drift (as Adam describes it) mostly due to work commitments.

 

3. Conscious effort to stop playing due to unrealized expectations and poor results.

 

4. Still play, but on an infrequent basis, mostly due to professional commitments.

 

Fortunately, I am still very good friends with these four. I have several 'dormant' partnerships too that I don't count. I hope to revive these when things change a little.

[keylime]

I think what makes Larry and I function so well, is that there's a genuine friendship, and we are each other's favorite partner.

 

Besides that, our style is so similar.

[xcurt]

I think what makes Larry and I function so well, is that there's a genuine friendship, and we are each other's favorite partner.

 

Besides that, our style is so similar.

Both of these matter a lot.

 

There was one very good player I tried to play with. We played a pair game where we doubled the opponents, making, on about a quarter of the hands. We pretty much realized it wasn't going to work out right then.

 

Also, I find I cannot play well unless I'm rooting for partner to make the right play every time he/she has a tough decision. An infrequent partner once commented to me that she felt I got good results with people like <$a_specific_random_player> because I was easy to play with and really wanted partner to do well. I had never understood before how much you can depress your partner's apparent skill level by making things difficult for him or her. So I would add that a number of breakups are the outcome of a lot of partner torture. You see the breakup, but the rot in the relationship set in many sessions (months, years) before. That option isn't in the poll AFAICT.

 

Life also gets in the way -- I haven't played live bridge since '01 for life and work reasons.

[keylime]

Let me offer an example of how good I have it with Larry.

 

I can't remember which tourney it was, but Larry goes down in an ice cold contract. I mean, it's diamond series ice cold. I didn't utter a word - then again when I'm the dummy I'm either listening to music (when I am allowed to) or reading the comics or letting my mind wonder so I wasn't really paying attention.

 

Three boards later, I chunk a 3NT hand. A good, chunky, shank job of 3NT where if I count my winners and develop the correct side suit, I'm making 4. Instead, I make 2.

 

So as I mark my minus 10 imps for going down in a game, Larry says to me something like: "Dwayne, you're not supposed to imitate all of my greatness." Talk about disarming the anger I had over chunking an easy hand.

 

We ended up winning that KO match by 47. And, I hope that in D.C. at my home national, when I make the next LM rank, he'll be the one across the table to steer me through. I hope it's similar to how I made LM a few years ago - to go out and win when you need to.

[sireenb]

I think the answer might depend significantly on the experience of the players.

 

For less experienced players then skill level would be a major factor.  The partnership may have started off with similar skill levels but one partner or the other progresses at a different rate.  I know of several partnerships that have ceased with one member progressing to a higher level and the other content playing at a lower level.

 

For more experienced and better players with less difference in skill level and less room for improvement skill level is a lesser factor.

 

That is so true - I went through this many times. I voted for 'different objectives' because from day one I wanted to win and compete nationally and internationally whereas my partners in the early days just wanted a bridge evening out and did not have further ambitions. They usually ended up telling me to find a more serious partner.

 

I have been playing with my regular partner for over 20 years. We started as partners for the mixed pairs only. He had another partner for open events and I was a sort of 'standby' when his partner could not travel to tournaments. In those days I changed my 'open' partner every few months. That was very frustrating and it made me appreciate my mixed pairs partner even more, despite our volatile temperaments!

 

I have two other long-term partners. I have been playing with the same partner in ladies' events on and off for twenty years. I have been playing with my third partner for over ten years. Why did those partnerships last? Because they both play to win, and love to read and improve their game!

 

I tried many non-starter partnerships that did not work because of different styles, different approaches to the game, etc.

 

My current partner and his previous partner eventually split up for a different reason than any of the ones you mentioned. We come from a small country with a very small bridge-playing community. They had difficulty forming a competitive team with another pair willing and able to travel. So they decided to play with their best 'second' partners and form a team that way. That decision was taken many years ago and since then our team has regularly won the national open team trials. Over the years the secondary partnerships drifted into main partnerships.

[sartaj1]

I think that in any bridge partnership there is an underlying tension.

 

The tension covers ability, ego, temperament, behavior, compromise, self doubt.

 

Sometimes, an event occurs which breaks open the dam and the deluge is too hard to handle in one hit. On other occassions, the tension grows with time and starts eating at one or both ends till it bursts through one day.

[mike777]

The game of bridge is not conducive to long lived bridge partnerships. Out of perhaps a million bridge partnerships worldwide in the last 20 years, only a tiny tiny fraction still exist.

Let's come back in twenty years and see if Keylime and Larry still play alot together. :)

 

To use JanM's analolgy, relationships break up because they were shaky to begin with but the vast majority of relationships are shaky to begin with by definition. :)

[babalu1997]

I would like to add the point of view of a player who only plays online.

 

And I started from nothing playing online. The first day I logged on I was told not to come back, and yes, there are places online where one can play and the acme of expertise is the (in)famous stolen bid double.

 

I was interested in more. I have played with one partner with whom i always score well and when i asked him to get a 2 over 1 book and learn he said he played for social reasons, there were also time-zone differences. We have never stopped playing and I am happy to find him online-- he has also gotten used to the fact that I will bid conventions with no agreement (oh, btw , partner, that was a bergen raise lol). We have also agreed that he will bid a slam on the last hand-- so when he says last hand, i know it is a slam, lol.

 

But, in addition to general mixture combination of skills, compatibility, availability, there is one fact which i would like to add.

 

I would wish a partner who says, when next? And, who says when next every time. Yep, Friday at 8, send email if any changes.

 

Also-- postmortem. the postmortem, together with the set time to play again, will allow me to make preparations to correct some of the last blunders.

[1eyedjack]

I suspect that the relative frequencies of causes of partnership breakups is likely to be a function of the length of time over which the partnership has survived prior to dissolution.

 

A short-lived partnership is likely to break up for bridge reasons (probably any of them ranking reasonably pari passu). A long-lived partnership for non-bridge reasons.