{"id":12733,"date":"2018-11-19T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T07:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funbridge.com\/blog\/?p=2454"},"modified":"2021-02-10T14:22:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T12:22:58","slug":"10-advices-for-making-immediate-progress-on-funbridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funbridge.com\/blog\/en\/10-advices-for-making-immediate-progress-on-funbridge\/","title":{"rendered":"10 advices for making immediate progress on Funbridge – Adrien Rahier"},"content":{"rendered":"

🇫🇷 This article is also available in French at http:\/\/adrienrahier.com\/blog\/quelques-conseils-pour-progresser-immediatement-sur-funbridge\/<\/a><\/p>\n

As I said in my Funbridge interview<\/u><\/a> (in French) not too long ago, I have noticed an interesting fact: I perform better or worse depending on the time of day that I play.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, paradoxically, it\u2019s at the end of the evening that I play my best contracts. However, intuitively, I ought to be more tired and play the deals less well.<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s up with that?<\/em><\/p>\n

Adrien Rahier
\n<\/em><\/strong>Bridge player and blogger.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

#1 Taking a step back<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Actually, during the day, as I am working, I don\u2019t generally have much time to spend on bridge. I settle for doing the minimum and not pondering over the individual situations too much. In short, I play semi-automatically.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On the other hand, at the end of the evening, as I am much more relaxed, I take more time to do things and concentrate (the winning combination!).<\/p>\n

My first piece of advice is to analyse your way of playing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there is no magic formula. Even if you play 2,000 deals of bridge, if you don\u2019t take the time to understand what you can improve on, you will not progress.<\/p>\n

To help you, here is a list of questions you can ask yourself:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • At what time of day do you play your best bridge?<\/li>\n
  • What about tournaments: are you better at MPs or IMPs?<\/li>\n
  • Which types of deal consistently land you at the bottom of the rankings?<\/li>\n
  • Card play or bidding: what gives you the most problems?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    In my own game for example, I\u2019ve worked out that the area in which I can improve the most is defence and just card play in general.<\/p>\n

    #2 Play more slowly<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Another determining factor for me has been taking more time to think.<\/p>\n

    The advantage of an app such as Funbridge is obviously its fast handling: no more adding up HCP at the beginning of the round, instant results and very fluid card play.<\/p>\n

    Unfortunately, these advantages can also become huge disadvantages. As everything seems so easy, it is tempting to play the deals very quickly… and to let lots of things pass you by.<\/p>\n

    So take more time. <\/strong>A good indicator to keep in mind: in \u201creal\u201d tournaments, the minimum amount of time allowed for a deal is 7 minutes.<\/p>\n

    #3 Play every deal to the best of your ability<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    It was in discussion with Christophe Grosset that I realised this important point: in bridge, every deal is interesting to play<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    In fact, seeing as I have already played thousands of deals on Funbridge, it is tempting to think things such as: \u201cIt\u2019s always pretty much the same. So I\u2019m not too bothered about thinking overmuch\u201d.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    The magic of bridge is just always having new problems to solve.<\/p>\n

    Furthermore, though I imagine you already knew this, it is the small details that make the difference in bridge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    #4 There are moments of bad luck
    \n<\/strong>The main thing is not to linger on a deal<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    And yes: from time to time, you may well have played perfectly but, for whatever reason, your result won\u2019t live up to your expectations.<\/p>\n

    Never mind: the important thing is to move on to the next deal without thinking back to the previous one.  My English friends never miss the opportunity to remind me: C\u2019est la vie!<\/em><\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    #5 We take actions according to the vulnerability and the scoring (imps or mps)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Another point which seems obvious when you think about it but is worth being reminded of. When you are bidding, it is very important to consider your vulnerability as well as the type of tournament you are playing.<\/p>\n

    I have also noticed that on Funbridge, the robots had more difficulties in handling an aggressive or psychic bid when it was made as a first bid…<\/p>\n

    #6 Watch other people play<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    This must be one of the best discoveries of 2018.<\/p>\n

    Thanks to the videos posted by Christophe Grosset<\/u>, Peter Holland<\/u> and Milan Macura<\/u>, I have progressed enormously in terms of my mindset whilst playing.<\/p>\n

    I shall let you judge for yourself:<\/p>\n