Bridge personalities of the experts

[EricK]

At the clubs I play, the players all have distinctive bridge personalities. But to a large extent these relate to the mistakes they make - some are compulsive overbidders, some love underleading aces, some always draw trumps at the first opportunity, some bid their hands twice (or three times!) etc. I think that I would have a good chance of working out which pair I was playing against purely on the bids and plays they made.

 

But to what extent do the top players have such distinctive bridge personalities?

 

If, say, the top 20 US players were to play against each other in an individual tournament on BBO, where they were all compelled to use the same relatively simple system (but one which leaves lots of room for judgement), would they, after a sufficient number of hands, be able to work out which player was who? [To clarify, each player would know the list of competitors, but they wouldn't know which player corresponded to which BBO nickname. Also, assume there is no chat or post mortems etc so all conclusions are based purely on the bridge]

[blackshoe]

I have no idea. It would be an interesting experiment.

[Codo]

I guess: No way.

 

You can rate your club players because they make quite unusual things, which are easy too spot.

 

But what are the typical things Fred does which Bod does not do? I would guess that there are differences but they are so slightly that they would be hard to find even for them.

 

Of course, you may find a Marty Bergen or maybe Zia or some other quite unique players, but I would bet that you cannot find more then 4 or 5.

[Jlall]

But what are the typical things Fred does which Bod does not do? I would guess that there are differences but they are so slightly that they would be hard to find even for them.

Who is Bod? Do you mean Brad (Fred's regular partner)? If so... L.O.L. I have played very few boards against them but I'm sure I could tell which was which very quickly. Brad has a very...distinct style :)

 

If you were trying to tell which person it was if it was like Joe Grue and Brad then it would be hard though.

 

I think you could tell the difference between Meckstroth and Rodwell, between Hamman and Zia, etc also, but it definitely depends on which 20 players were playing. Some players have very distinct styles and are much different than their partner though.

[Codo]

I meant your Partner, a man called Bob. :)

[Jlall]

I meant your Partner, a man called Bob. :)

Yeah, I'm sure there are some people who know Fred and Bob's game enough to tell the difference, but most probably could not. Again it is kind of random depending on who knows whos games etc. I'm sure there are a group of 20 experts I could nail and a group of 20 I know nothing about and would just be guessing a lot. My impression is that Fred and Bob have very similar bidding styles though, but again I don't know Fred's game from personal experience very much at all.

[EricK]

I meant your Partner, a man called Bob. :)

Yeah, I'm sure there are some people who know Fred and Bob's game enough to tell the difference, but most probably could not. Again it is kind of random depending on who knows whos games etc. I'm sure there are a group of 20 experts I could nail and a group of 20 I know nothing about and would just be guessing a lot. My impression is that Fred and Bob have very similar bidding styles though, but again I don't know Fred's game from personal experience very much at all.

When I said the top 20 US players, I was sort of assuming that this was a group who played against each other frequently, and so would know each other's bridge personalities if such things existed.

[H_KARLUK]

I don't think any WGM & WLM has such worries.

 

The question : If someone really wants to buy something should care seller beautiful or ugly ?

[gwnn]

I don't understand your post Hamdi. no offence intended but I just don't understand what your words mean.

[H_KARLUK]

I don't understand your post Hamdi. no offence intended but I just don't understand what your words mean.

Hi Csaba, I am pretty much sure about your goodwill. So please no worries.

 

Say you found a gold in a very dirty and deep mud.

 

Which one you care please?

 

To dirt or to gold ? :)

[gwnn]

I think I understand this last post. I would pick up the gold from the mud and clean it from the remaining dirt. I would not pick up the mud from around the gold and clean it from the remaining gold.

[JoAnneM]

I imagine that in the top 20 or top 50, just like in a club game, the goal is to find partners you are comfortable playing with, and can win with. It is, after all, a partnership game and individual style must enhance a partnership not harm it, in order to make a winning combination.

[jdonn]

Hamdi, I say this with good intentions as well. I have no clue at all what either of your posts mean! I think you are trying to make some kind of analogy, but I don't know what the analogy is or what it's relating to.

[H_KARLUK]

Hamdi, I say this with good intentions as well. I have no clue at all what either of your posts mean! I think you are trying to make some kind of analogy, but I don't know what the analogy is or what it's relating to.

Thanks giving me a chance to explain and for your politeness.

 

For sure you are clear here. I have not a small doubt about that.

 

With analogy I tried to tell that there will be always barriers (less or much) to reach "useful values" in any phase and field of life. Similar to Bridge game, frankly speaking that big enough partnerships at any level are a product of hardwork and time.

 

Shortly, patience and sometimes nerves like steel required. To me seems what everybody have is just a "growth process" :) Sad to say, he/she who tries to skip and jump to next level very quickly as not became enough matured will shout "HELP" somewhere.

[kenrexford]

When you feed a pig, try to wear your hats left.

 

Don't look at a gift horse, he may be looking at you, or not.

 

Abba dabba doo.

[Vilgan]

Not sure how Karluk's analogy has anything to do with the original post.

 

Original question is interesting. With a few exceptions it seems like identifying partnerships would be doable due to system/tendencies but it'd be much harder to identify who in a partnership is who.

 

Another interesting thought would be "Identify your partner!". Where experts play with different partners than usual and each expert is told "your partner is in partnership X", based on their bidding/play, which of the two is your partner?

[H_KARLUK]

Not sure how Karluk's analogy has anything to do with the original post.

Keep expectations low unless you engage fine arrangements with any partner no matter players skill level. And for sure need time to recognised as regular.

[jdonn]

I don't think any amount of posts will help me understand what he is trying to say.

 

It would be a fun game to try to figure out just based on plays and style which expert is which.

[gwnn]

Hamdi did you read the opening post? I think you misunderstood it. The question -paraphrased- was that how much the leading experts' style differs. How different they are, the way they play bridge. This was the question and I don't see how your posts relate to it. I would like to see but I just can't. Could you help me? :)

[H_KARLUK]

Hamdi did you read the opening post? I think you misunderstood it. The question -paraphrased- was that how much the leading experts' style differs. How different they are, the way they play bridge. This was the question and I don't see how your posts relate to it. I would like to see but I just can't. Could you help me? :)

Oh yes, i also believe there's some misunderstanding. Most probably my mistake.

Seriously, sorry for that.

 

1) How different they are : Yes, much different. Such as a simple example, IMP, Teams, both vul, uncontested,3rd seat I use 2♣ stayman with 852 - KT92 - AK4- 985 over 15-17 1NT. Some other internationals just go with 3NT. I bet they dislike to use it with balanced.

 

2) The way they play bridge : I think it's all about visualisation.

[JanM]

Interesting thread. There's no doubt in my mind that each expert has propensities that his partner and most of his expert opponents know about. So I'm sure that if you chose a field of the top 20 players in the US or the world and put them in random partnerships and had them play something like 20 boards, each of them would be able to do a good job of identifying his partner at the end of the session.

 

On the other hand, I'm equally certain that if your 20 players played an individual, where they played 1 or 2 hands with each other player, and thus experienced each of the other players for 3 or 6 boards (1 or 2 as partners, 2 or 4 as opponents), they wouldn't be able to do a good job of identifying each other. That's just not a big enough sample size.

 

Expert propensities are more subtle than those of less expert players. They don't make serious mistakes of the kind listed in the opening post. What they do is more subtle. Some of them compete more aggressively on certain kinds of hands. Some are more or less likely to psych. Some lead aggressively, others passively. Some tend to make the technically correct play all the time, others go for psychological advantage even if that involves a slight technical minus. Some like to use Blackwood, others prefer cue bidding. Some often psych cue bids, others never do. Those sorts of differences are pretty well known to their peers, but they don't come up often.

[ritong]

i think hamdi has a very identifiable style :)

 

how so, "some other internationals"? :)

[kenrexford]

I don't think any amount of posts will help me understand what he is trying to say.

 

It would be a fun game to try to figure out just based on plays and style which expert is which.

It might also be fun to figure out anonymous posts that way. LOL

[jdonn]

I don't think any amount of posts will help me understand what he is trying to say.

 

It would be a fun game to try to figure out just based on plays and style which expert is which.

It might also be fun to figure out anonymous posts that way. LOL

You would be one of the easier to pick out! But not as easy as.... ahem I won't say it.

[Ulrich]

In der Duchy of der Lichtenstein we ist taking der silk purses and making sows ears out of them so that horses can be drinking when led to the water. With consequencing der postings from der Rexfords and der Hamdis ist making der big sense and glstening like der gold in der mud.

 

Ulrich, Freiherr von Lichtenstein.