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B B
1 BETTER
VOL. 16, NO. 2
BRIDGE
N OVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
P ulitzer Prize winner Joseph T.
Hallinan offers some insightful
information in his book WHY WE
MAKE MISTAKES. He writes: “In many
cases, our mistakes are not our fault,
at least not entirely.”That’s good news.
“After something goes wrong, we
tend to look down—that is, we look
for the last person involved in the chain
of events and blame him or
her for the outcome. But this
approach, satisfying though
it may be, usually doesn’t
stop an error from being
repeated. If multiple people
make the same mistake,
then that should tell us
something about the nature
of the mistake being made: its cause
probably isn’t individual but systemic.
And systemic errors have their roots
at a level above the individual.”
Hallinan gives examples to prove
that we’re “all afflicted with certain
systemic biases in the way we see,
remember, and perceive the world
around us, and these biases make us
prone to commit certain kinds of
errors.” In a chapter titled “We Like
Things Tidy” he says that if we were
to ask someone the direction from San
Diego, California to Reno, Nevada,
most would say, correctly, that Reno is
north of San Diego. Then ask whether
Reno is east or west of San Diego.
Most of us make the mistake of
thinking Reno is East of San Diego.
The author writes: “The problem is
that in remembering maps, we
systematically distort them. We
straighten curved lines, make odd
shapes more symmetrical, and align
parts that shouldn’t be aligned. In
short, we clean up the picture.” We
like what is referred to as information
hierarchy; everything tidy.
Do bridge players have systemic
biases that could be causing avoidable
errors? We like to show favoritism to
the high cards. They’re comfortable,
easy to handle. When we first learn
the game, we refer to high cards as
sure tricks. Some players only give
points to high cards and ignore the
impact of distribution. We might have
a foregone conclusion that the outcome
of a deal depends on the careful use
of the high cards to take tricks. In
Play of the Hand, David Lindop
looks at how we can make better use
of our low cards.
Hallinan’s research could
encourage us to spend time
moving beyond the first bids
of opener and responder.
It’s often straightforward to
keep the rules ‘tidy’ at the
beginning. But to improve
our game we need to move
further into the bidding conversation
and be prepared to make decisions
when no call is ideal. In this issue,
Point of View, Master Solvers’Club,
What’s Forcing? and Quizzical Pursuits
do just that. We move beyond the
safety of the first move by opener and
responder into the adventure of rebids.
The most important information
on defense can come from the opening
lead of a low card. This information
is often overlooked. Defenders’Corner
sets the stage when partner leads a low
card in the suit we bid. If we focus
on the message the low card delivers,
we may then defeat the contract.
At a recent workshop on Modern
Competitive Bidding, there were
questions about how the Laws of
Bridge influence our freedom to
make what we feel is the right call.
Rick Beye, National Tournament
Director, clarifies the situation in
Come to the Party.
The very best wishes for the
holiday season; and thank you for
being part of BETTER BRIDGE .
— Audrey Grant, Editor
888-266-4447 • www.AudreyGrant.com
Editorial
For questions about your BETTER
BRIDGE subscription, contact Baron
Barclay 1-800-274-2221 .
Editorial by Audrey Grant . . . 1
Play of the Hand
by David Lindop . . . . . . . . 2
Master Solvers’Club . . . . . . . . 4
Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . 4
Preference —True or False?
by Audrey Grant . . . . . . . 5
Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Defenders’ Corner
by Audrey Grant . . . . . . . . 8
Come to the Party . . . . . . . . 10
The Real Deal
by Larry Cohen . . . . . . . . 12
What’s Forcing?
by David Lindop . . . . . . . 14
The Play’s the Thing . . . . . . 16
Quizzical Pursuits . . . . . . . . 17
Look-Alikes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Ask Jerry by Jerry Helms . . 19
Answers to Quizzical
Pursuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
In This Issue
BETTER B RIDGE
THE MAGAZINE FOR SOCIAL AND
DUPLICATE BRIDGE PLAYERS
Audrey Grant Editor
David Lindop Technical Editor
Contributing Writers:
Rick Beye, Larry Cohen
Henry Francis, Fred Gitelman
Jerry Helms, Shawn Quinn
Andrew Robson
B ETTER BRIDGE is published bimonthly by
Baron Barclay Bridge Supplies, 3600
Chamberlain Lane, Suite 206, Louisville
KY, 40241, USA. No part of this magazine
may be copied or reprintedwithout written
consent of Baron Barclay.
Copyright © October, 2011. Printed in USA
Vol. 16, No. 2, November, 2011. (Issue #99.)
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