V N Ramamoorthy
If I recall right, I wrote in November 2020 about the evolution of the modern game of bridge we play it today. It originated as a game called " Whist drive " back in 17th century in U.K.
As recently as in 1970's / 1980's , I have played whist drive in our Godrej colony at Vikhroli, Mumbai. At every progression you get a new partner! (Hooray! What a relief 😅)
Today the game has a plethora of conventions, systems, gadgets and what not! Still there are Lucky Larrys and unlucky morons a plenty, 😓.
In modern day Bridge, you need a pack of cards, 4 players, bidding boxes, bridge mates, convention cards, IMP / VP Charts as paraphernalia! Still you miss something for winning 😂
An abacus, may be! If you are playing in China it is "Suanpan", go further east to Japan, it will be "Soroban"! Essentially, these are all words for a simple critical skill required in bridge, namely counting.
It may be hard to believe, but that's the critical skill to playing winning bridge 🙃.
Learn to count from 1 to 13 ! Simple as it sounds, it is difficult to practice. When you need to count from 1 to 13 of all 4 suits, and to remember the count, initially it is an uphill task 😉.
Your bridge guru must have taught you to "Count trumps" and the simple maneuver of "Count your losers in a trump game and Count your Winners in a No Trump game", right?
Still my recommendation is count both - losers and winners, a sure way to winning bridge, my dear Watsons 😀
A Norwegian expert, friend of mine by name Rolf Schunde used to advise: As soon as the first card is led, start counting!
( by the way Rolf played in my team back in 1983 and we won the board - a match in A. P. State championship held at Vizag that year 🥰).
Start counting from trick 1, keep counting, keep on counting from dawn to dusk. Looks difficult but practice will make you perfect 👍
So next time you are at the Bridge table, remember, you must start counting, else you are counting your chickens before you they!
You can count on it!
Happy bridging,
VNR
Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.
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Thanks for this simple but most valuable advice.
Thank you Santanu da ( I hope that is the appropriate way to address one from Bengal).
Yes it is a simple thing to remember but the fact is there are numerous players at all skill levels kicking themselves for not counting correctly!
Trust it helps to save many hapless players sometime or other.
Regards
VNR