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FOCUS

Did you know that it is impossible for the mind to think of 2 things at the same time? Try it. Fully concentrate on these words and think of something else at precisely the same moment. You can’t can you?

In the final of the Bermuda Bowl a momentary lapse of concentration cost the Italians a chance to play another 8 boards to decide the winner.

The Italian declarer wrongly assumed Paul Solway was cashing a winning Heart and chose to discard a small spade from dummy. He then realised that Paul had mistakenly played a spade, and wanted to change the card played to the Queen which would have won the trick. The USA called the Director who upheld the claim, and so the result was a win for the USA.

What also may have come as a surprise was the amount of time taken by these top players before making a bid or a play. This ability to focus, analyse, and make a judgement based on the information given, is why these experts make so few mistakes.

To help you to focus, imagine you have on your head a soundproof helmet, with just a small slit for the eyes. The only thing you can see is the table.

On view are only the bidding boxes, and after the auction is finished, just the cards.

This is a magic helmet, which banishes all emotional thoughts from your head. You cannot remember how well or badly that you played the previous board.

You cannot remember if your partner played well or badly the previous board.

You do not feel superior or inferior to the opponents at the table.

You cannot remember previous results against these opponents (good or bad).

These opponents have no personality (positive or negative).

You feel neither hot nor cold, well nor unwell.

You have not been lucky or unlucky so far today, yesterday, this week, this month.

All you are able to do is to fully concentrate on this hand. On this hand ONLY and nothing more!

TAKE YOUR TIME TO COMPLETE YOUR ANALYSIS

Ask these questions during the bidding, and take your time.

What do you know about your partner’s hand?

What do you know about the opposition’s hand?
Do you know what next to bid to give your partner more information?
Is this bid going to "tell" or will it "ask"?
To what level should you be bidding?

On making a lead, ask yourself

Should you be making a safe lead or an attacking lead?
What is a safe lead?
Should you be leading a trump?

On playing the hand, take your time at trick one before playing a card from dummy.

How many top tricks can you see?
How many tricks can you develop?
How many top losers can you see?
Where is the danger?
What clues are there to the lead?

On defending, count your points.

From the total of your hand and dummy and assumed points from declarer, how many points has partner got?

What has partner led from?
When you get in, do you know what line of defence to take?

There are many books to read on this subject, so this is just a taste.

You MUST get into the habit of taking more time if you want to improve your bridge.