4 essential tips for head to head bridge combat

I was challenged to a duel this week!
What was at stake? Just a bit of pride…

I had downloaded a brand new app onto my ipad (you won’t find this app anywhere on you keyword search – it is buried deep in the vaults at the core of apple)… Anyway, there I was playing away on my own against a robot feeling all contented and happy when, “ping”, into my email box landed this anonymous invitation for a head to head, 8 deal duel…

Not one to let a challenge pass me by, I was tempted and soon after accepted the invitation.

My ipad downloaded the 8 hands automatically, and soon after I was playing bridge with my ipad in one hand whilst cooking a delicious steak and veg stir fry with the other in my kitchen.

All the deals seemed unnaturally interesting, so I was curious about how random they might be and suspicious of any tempting extra tricks that may have been up for grabs. (Note well… some of these programmes weight the deals significantly – Yes I know… it is very naughty for them not to tell you.)

After four deals I was feeling pretty cocky, to be truthful. I had made my contracts and created a couple of extra tricks, whilst defeating one of the robot opponent contracts.

Feeling good about the first few deals was my mistake though… I got cocky! – A big bridge ‘no no’:

On the next deal I was in 3NTs. With nine certain tricks, I could also see with tempting clarity that their was an opportunity for me to take a double finesse for an extra trick or two…

And so I put the wok down. ‘Charred veg is quite nice’, I decided as I lunged for the kill.

But the first time through the finesse, I lost. Ouch… ‘However I have one more go’, I reassured myself.

Dare I risk the contract for this 10th trick?

Yes I dare…

But within 5 seconds the deal was finished and I had been set one trick… I felt shellshocked. How could I be so stupid?; and greedy? 8,5… I stared at the result with disbelief. I was so annoyed with myself as blood oozed from the wound that my opponent was sure to inflict when he played the same hands.

To rub salt in the wound further, when the final results were actually sent to my email box I was staring at a humiliating defeat – my pride was badly wounded.

Tip 1.
Don’t make my mistake of becoming over confident when things are going well. The reverse is true too. If things are going bad, don’t loose hope because you never know what top scores you might claw back toward the end of a session as others tire or loose interest. It’s all about composure!

Tip 2.
Don’t risk sacrificing a good contract for an extra trick… unless you are desperate for the result.

Tip 3.
Remember some programmes weight the deals. This is useful to know when it comes to bidding and deciding how bold to be.

Tip 4.
Beware of who you play online (particularly if money is involved). My challenger was the apps game designer who informed me he was helped out as he showed off his app during a session of rubber bridge by amongst others, a bloke who plays bridge for the under 23s England team.

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