Bridge

Nov. 3rd, 2006 04:19 am
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[personal profile] jack
The Carlton was jolly. And we slotted in some rounds of bridge at the end.

Making bridge gossip interesting to people who weren't there is harder than using a metaphor without it sounding like an innuendo. But I will try.

Opening hand, n. A hand of cards better average (average being about 1/4 of the pack), which is the point where you say "Something" instead of "Nothing, I hope my partner does something." It's also under the heading of "what I didn't have all night."

Cowardice, n. Where you have the chance to bid an ok hand with a crazy layout that could be good or bad depending the way things break, or other hands on the wrong side of margin, or wading into deep water in the teeth of opponents and don't.

Bidding convention, n. A trade off between conveying information accurately or precisely. As heavily compressed data, the more complicated, the more potential you have to do what you want, but the more chance that a minor error will turn an economics report on chillis from mexico into a load of wingdings. Yes, we tried too much, and made a mistake. I nearly survived it.

Two-thousand, five hundred, and something, n. Congratulations, Naath and Matthew. Your natural bidding system and procession of slam-worthy hands worked nearly perfectly. This was just above myu estimate for a reasonable maximum swing in one evening, translating to "Two rubbers, a slam, and a lot of solid games" or "£25 between two people at penny a spot" or "Naked and second-degree burns on torso at strip"

Faith in self, n. Recognising the level of experience in this situation where your estimation of your actual hand is more reliable than other people's better judgement of your likley hand. And sticking to it even if they glare at you until they see it. I am reminded of atreic describing talking to supervisor, and reminding herself that she actually knows about this, so her convictions carry more weight than his assumptions, even though she may be in the habit of not thinking so.

(Not a big deal, brief explanation: N&M were bidding to a big slam contract. Ian interrupted bidding three spades, estimating the sacrifice may cost less than losing. I, obviously, have nothing I can possibly bid. Except I have silly spades too, so against ALL the odds, us in spades is good. In the end, even though we could have undeservedly made most of the tricks, it doesn't matter I pass, because even if I bid, M wants to bid more. And when he bids slam, I don't know he's going to succeed, so wouldn't sacrifice then either. But it was one of two hands where I had the chance to do much at all, so of course I wonder what might have happened. )

BTW, does anyone else I haven't seen playing bridge with people playing bridge with SGO people play bridge at all at the moment?

Date: 2006-11-03 05:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com
Ah! Thank you. I played with the university club a few times when I came to cambridge, but did not really get into it at the time. I think I would prefer to play rubber for a while before trying duplicate; the option to not *have* to be rushed, and to table-talk, and to review a hand immediately afterward I think are still more helpful than seeing exactly how everyone else does it. Certainly bridge club makes sense at some point :)

By the way, I'm sorry, I can't remember from where I met you, I think I added you as a friend because you were commenting on a friend's journal, and I liked your paint cartoons :) May I ask if you know if I know you? :)

Date: 2006-11-03 08:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xraycb.livejournal.com
We've never met, you just turned up on my "Friend Of" list one day :)

It's definitely worth trying duplicate once you've basically got the hang of the game. I find the scoring makes it a much more interesting game than rubber bridge. There's also more opportunity to learn.

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