Mistakes in bridge

[Hanoi5]

I remember this topic once where people spoke of their mistakes in bridge or the reasons behind them, can anyone link me to it, please?

 

Now, about classification: can mistakes be classified depending on how much they cost or is it better to classify them in terms of how bad they are? let's take to examples here:

 

Defense:

 

Say East holds QT93 in the suit in which partner led the Ace (against a club contract). He plays the Q under the Ace as he was discussing with his partner about unblocking honors under the Ace leads at No Trump. Contract is made. With an overtrick. Partner is amazed and a little angry as he underled the King giving declarer an impossible trick with the Jxx. And you were on vugraph.

 

Bidding (2 mistakes?):

 

North holds:

♠876

♥J432

♦86

♣Q852

 

Partner opens 2♦ (which could be weak in a Major or a No Trump type of hand (22+) RHO bids 2♠ (Natural) and you have the agreement with partner that X means pass if you hold spades bid hearts if not. LHO redoubles, partner passes, RHO passes and you pass(!). Contract made with 5 overtricks.

 

Play:

♠98

♥QJ87

♦73

♣AKQ97

 

♠AQ6542

♥A965

♦T

♣T6

 

Say you arrive to the normal contract of 4♥ and receive a diamond lead and continuation. You decide trumps are 4-1 and start maneuverng, ruffing, etc and wind up going 2 down. At the other table they finessed in trumps (which were 3-2) and made the contract without complications.

 

So where are the mistakes in the examples above? Which could be considered worse? What kind of mistakes can be made in bridge?

[helene_t]

I think the thread you want is

http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=25795

[jjbrr]

The defense and bidding examples don't qualify as bridge, if that's what you're asking. Not knowing the difference between suit contracts and NT contracts is not a mistake. It's a good indicator that perhaps golf or knitting would be a better use of villain's time.

 

Doubling with that hand is hopeless. Not pulling the double is hopeless. Perhaps the mistake here is playing a system that neither player is qualified to play.

 

The play example is not a mistake at all. Unless villain thought trumps were 4-1 because "hearts always break poorly at this tournament." We've all seen very good players make very bizarre plays.

[bid_em_up]

What jjbrr said, but in a longer version :huh:

 

Example #1:

 

Mistake#1: Applying a rule for one scenario in a situation that is not relevant.

Mistake#2: Not necessarily your fault, but partner's underleading the K is also a mistake unless he has a specific reason to put you on lead.

Mistake#3: Partner assumed you know what you are doing. :)

 

Level of Severity: Depends on your level of play. A World Class player would never defend this way, so if he did, it would be off the charts in terms of severity. For an advanced-expert defender, it would be a serious error. For a beginner to intermediate, it would be a low-level error as it is simply a misapplication of principle that can be resolved in time and with practice.

 

Being on vugraph doesn't have any actual bearing on the level of severity of the error. That only affects how many people saw you make the foolish mistake, and will only help to insure that it never happens again. :D

 

Example #2: Although you say "two mistakes?", imo, there is only one. The initial double. Why would you want to encourage partner to do anything with this pile of garbage? Furthering the preempt in hearts (if thats what he holds) is futile. Their suit outranks ours, and we're liable to go down way too many. Even if partner's suit is spades, there is absolutely no guarantee that we can beat 2S, so that is silly as well. I disagree that not pulling the redouble is a mistake. As far as I am concerned, pulling the redouble would be another mistake. Partners failure to bid 3H should indicate one of the other hand types besides the weak heart hand, imo. So he should be expecting to beat 2S xx'd. We were headed for disaster no matter what as soon as we initially doubled on this holding.

 

Example #3: Would you have made the hand if hearts had been 4-1 and the other declarer would have gone down? Was there any logical reason for you to play for a 4-1 break as opposed to the 3-2 break (i.e. one opponent preempted)? If this is the case, then I would not consider this to be an error. It is simply an unlucky choice. However, if you just randomly concluded to play for hearts to be 4-1, then it would be an error, the severity of which would again depend on the level of the player.

 

Of all of the above, for the "average" player, I would rate the error in example #2 to be the most severe as there is simply no rationale behind making the double.

[bid_em_up]

To address what kind of mistakes can be made:

 

On defense, the most common mistakes are:

 

Failure to count (partner's hand as well as declarer's),

Failure to signal properly/signalling carelessly,

Failure to pay attention to partners signals (count, attitude or suit preference).

 

In declarer play, the most common mistakes are:

 

Failure to count winners,

Failure to count losers,

Playing too fast (especially at trick 1),

Failure to count suits/distribution,

Failure to count hcp.

Failure to establish any sort of a plan for making the contract.

 

jmoo.

[pooltuna]

To address what kind of mistakes can be made:

 

On defense, the most common mistakes are:

 

Failure to count (partner's hand as well as declarer's),

Failure to signal properly/signalling carelessly,

Failure to pay attention to partners signals (count, attitude or suit preference).

 

In declarer play, the most common mistakes are:

 

Failure to count winners,

Failure to count losers,

Playing too fast (especially at trick 1),

Failure to count suits/distribution,

Failure to count hcp.

Failure to establish any sort of a plan for making the contract.

 

jmoo.

The failures you noted in the offensive section also apply to the defensive portion as well

[Hanoi5]

I definitely liked the more explained version better. Yes I agree that mistakes 1 and 2 are not bridge but, who isn't human? The ♦Q unblocking is applying a rule to the wrong circumstance, but is it that bad? As stated after it should be solved by learning the complete rule (convention). In fact I'd rate it as a slip of the mind, a sort of a lapse. Unless, of course, it occurs again. And it's a mistake bound to happen if people just hear the rule (convention) and are not properly explained when to use it.

 

The second mistake I don't like at all. It shows lack of flexibility in my opinion. Lack of 'judgement'. Doubling 2♠ is blindly following the system (partner has to pass when spades is his/her suit, bid hearts when that's what s/he has or NT in case of holding the strong hand); the redouble could be unexpected and so opener passed (which is a mistake, for partner would expect him/her of having the spades) and then doubler is faced with the prospect of playing a redoubled contract at the 2 level and either partner forgot the system or RHO is psyching and out of control. Isn't 3♥ now saying partner is dumb? On other note, I agree double was bad, but I think Pass is not that good either...

 

The third mistake I would cathegorize as falling in love. I suppose all of us have fallen for a hand and over-bid it till the end. Same with a line of play or defense. Or is that not normal? You get an idea fixed in your head (trumps are not breaking, partner has declarer's suit covered, etc) and it's hard to get away from it. Yes, it's a sign you're not concentrated or thinking about all important aspects of a hand, but again I think it can normally happen.

 

So, failure to count or plan is a cathegorised mistake but, what about forgetting? Is that a mistake? Should it go together with lack of concentration? What about the mistakes in bidding?