UCC for Bridge

V N Ramamoorthy

Ladies and Gentlemen,

All of us, irrespective of our depth of knowledge or skill level game play this game for  pleasure, not pain.

To ensure this pleasure for all of us, it is necessary that, notwithstanding the sanctity of our system, personality and gender, we follow UCC on bridge table!

UCC is nothing but Uniform Civil Conduct. You don't need a discussion, legislation or a political debate to implement or follow UCC.

You may abuse your system but not the players around you which includes your partner.

Easy to preach but difficult to practice! Sometimes you lose your marbles when you see partner making mistakes (blunders?).

The reasons for these explosions are many. Sometimes it is frustration. Sometimes it is just to show one's superiority. The number of amateurs who have been at the receiving end of their professional partner's tongue lashings is legion.

Sometimes, this chastisement is even carried on off the table, and to a point where the better player bad-mouths the inferior one.

We, mistakenly, think that a volley of harsh words will chastise our partner. But actually what ensues, quite often, is exactly the opposite. In some cases, the partner fears the thought of playing with you. In more extreme cases, the partner shudders at the thought of playing bridge per se.

We have to develop some yoga technique to follow, especially when one is the dummy!

Civility must be a part and parcel of your system notes 😉.

It is much better to teach than preach. And certainly, preaching to the opponents is strictly a No- No.

You must be grateful that UCC is indirectly enforced when you play online. Yes, still an errant player can spew venom through table chat, but it will be recorded for any disciplinary action, post-facto.

Moral of the story? Keep your preachings to yourselves and try to teach. If both not possible, adopt "Moun vrat" on the table🙂

It is every bridge player's bounden duty to be civil in your conduct, uniformly!

Happy bridging ,

VNR

Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.