Bridge of AngST

Term has ended so I will be on travelling around till Christmas.

Will post more updates then.

1) RJC Days (2004-2005)
(Note: For those who wish to correct me, yes I do know that RJC is now known as RI(JC) after the merger, but I think it makes more logical sense to refer it to RJC throughout!)

My batch in RJC bridge club consisted almost entirely of people I have known since RI. Most of us had just barely learnt bridge. Andre, who was partnering me, was different though as he had played the game for a far longer period of time.

Andre and I only played in one tournament together in 2004 though, which was the NUSS Tournament. Of course, we didn’t do very well, but everyone had fun which was perhaps the most important. Psychologically and emotionally, I was not in the frame of mind for a tournament, having gone through a very demanding schedule due to chorale for the previous 2 months and having suffered a personal setback barely 3 weeks before which affected me badly in emotional terms. This setback would haunt me for quite some time thereafter. It is pretty interesting thinking back about it – it is something I have gotten over a long time ago – but I still recall it with mixed feelings, and feel amazed that I actually managed to play bridge under those conditions!

In any case, Andre left for the UK 2 months after and I was without a partner. The rest of my time in RJC was without a fixed partner, which was alright as I was too busy with chorale to make much of an impact in bridge anyway. I continued to read and learn by myself, but did not get much chance to hone my skills.

I would say the highlight of this period was having Poon Hua coach us. This was before he won the bronze at the World Youth Team Championships. I think the most useful stuff I was taught was Losing Trick Count and 2/1 GF.

Of course, being ignorant, I did not really see the mistakes made at that time. However, looking back I would say that the batches after us fell into the same mistakes. On hindsight, I think some of these could be avoided.

Firstly, there was a wave of obsession with bidding systems. We had pairs playing Relay Precision. Having only learnt the gist of what Relay Precision is a year back then do I realise that it is perhaps a tool that beginners shouldn’t even be touching! This is something not lost on the batches after us. I notice that it is the male players (not that there are that many females in RJC Bridge club!) who are the ones falling into this trap. Perhaps this has to do with male ego and the fact that we often out-smart ourselves? I can only look back wistfully as I see the futile attempts: MONK, multi 2D (imagine how dangerous this is when one doesn’t even know how to pre-empt), the possibilities are endless. And honestly, how much is system going to gain at beginner level?! What is the point of right-siding a 3NT if you lack the declarer techniques to bring it home? Bridge is a game of mistakes, and learning to make less mistakes is a lot more important at the beginner levels than trying to gain through system.

Which brings me to the next point – cardplay. I did not touch any squeezeplay until 2 years ago. Even now, I probably can’t execute a double squeeze properly. The number of times where I have seen a squeeze being the legitimate correct line of play to bring home a contract is definitely countable with 2 hands. However, some of my contemporaries decided to delve into the world of squeeze play. This is not to tar everyone with the same brush, there were a few individuals who were very gifted in card play and thus they went into squeeze play after they have mastered the basic techniques. For the less gifted like me, learning something easier like choosing the correct sequence of finesses or endplay technique would be a lot more beneficial. I recall at a weekly game a few months ago during summer break where my table opponents were the juniors who are still currently in RJC. Well, they were in 6NT, and declarer decided to pull it off on a squeeze. No luck. What disturbed me was the fact that during the post-mortem, they were discussing what kind of squeeze would possibly bring it home. There was no legitimate line of squeeze play at all. I would hope I have to chance to address this unhealthy obsession with squeezes!

The very big drawback is, having learnt all the wrong stuff, you have to unlearn them. Thankfully, this process was not very painful for me! A similar situation in chess would be learning all the book moves of the Sicilian Najdorf and not knowing any real tactical play etc. My worry is, will the juniors unlearn all these bad habits?

The big problem is, at this stage in learning, most people are still in the unconscious incompetence stage. It is at this stage where one thinks one knows everything, but one hasn’t learnt enough yet to know that one actually does not know anything. Perhaps the best policy is to stay humble throughout one’s learning process. I think this is best applied to anything. I myself have been guilty of making wrong assumptions of knowledge!

Back to my own story: After I graduated and started National Service, I stopped playing for months. However, I would soon restart again…