[ggwhiz]

It's a 2 edged sword.

If you can make a really strong play quickly and smoothly it will work out more often than if you give declarer time to think along with you.

Meanwhile, my favorite quote from a Kokish article is "West ducked smoothly, often the second best play".

[Rossoneri]

Probably some truth in that.

I had at least 2 boards over the weekend where I've paused to think for a while, and ended up forgetting to draw trumps, thus going off in 2 cold contracts.

[dburn]

When asked how he managed to find successful actions so quickly, Skid Simon (perhaps not quite in Meckstroth's class, but certainly a great player) replied that he had a natural gift for realising in seconds that he would not know what to do if he thought for several hours.

[Phil]

dburn, on May 4 2010, 08:01 PM, said:

When asked how he managed to find successful actions so quickly, Skid Simon (perhaps not quite in Meckstroth's class, but certainly a great player) replied that he had a natural gift for realising in seconds that he would not know what to do if he thought for several hours.

Yep - see: Gladwell's "Blink".

I guess I can't let go and play like that however.

[nige1]

Arguably ....

• Intelligence is an asset at Bridge.
  
• A crude definition of Intelligence is speed of thought.
  
• Fast and accurate play, on most boards, is a sign of intelligence.
  
• A fast-player may pressure opponents into playing at an uncomfortable pace for them, if they have a naturally slower tempo.
  
• Saving time on most boards, keeps the fast-player fresh and allows him more time, if he needs it, on difficult boards.

[ajm218]

Anyone remember Meck's play of the T♦ from ATx opp x in 5♣ years ago?

Almost no one else on the planet could have made that contract on that lead because to pull the wool over Geir's eyes; you would have to find it pretty quickly...

Full hand below in case someone hasn't seen it:

Scoring: IMP

1NT 3♣
3NT 4♣
5♣

---

[Phil]

ajm218, on May 5 2010, 07:52 AM, said:

Almost no one else on the planet could have made that contract on that lead because to pull the wool over Geir's eyes; you would have to find it pretty quickly...

A few months ago I was reading TBW from maybe '04 - '05 and Rosenberg had the write-up of a major team championship or the trials, and Meck was in a dicey 4♠ contract with something like Axx across from Jxxx as his trump suit. His quote about Meckstroth was something along the lines of:

"Characteristically he played with great alacrity"

"Uncharacteristically, he chose an inferior line" (or words to that effect).

[jjbrr]

I think this is similar to "slowing the game down" in sports. You're not actually playing slower, but instead you see things quicker and are able to process, react, adjust, maneuver more quickly. The world around you moves more slowly.

As everyone has said, if you can process twice as much information in the same amount of time as the average player, you're more likely to get a problem right without giving up anything at all. I believe that is what this means.

[cherdanno]

Phil, on May 2 2010, 11:32 AM, said:

cherdanno, on May 2 2010, 11:26 AM, said:

Then either you go along with his tempo, and miss some great plays from Kxx, or you stop to think when you have Kxx in that suit and then you give away the position of the king EVERYTIME at trick 2.

Didn't you consider this before you played at T1?

Justin would say, by thinking at T1, that you've already spilled the beans, and I will concede this, but I think he would concede that if I always think a lot at T1, then it mitigates this tell.

I guess I shouldn't have picked a trick 2 example.
Say you have to pick between different squeeze lines, which will require you to read the ending at trick 11. If you quickly realize which line is best (or that they are all about the same) you can play the hand in tempo and hope to learn a lot from the discarding tempo. If you spend 10 minutes computing which line is a percent better than opponents can plan their discards during those 10 minutes and not give away anything with their tempo later.
Yes they might stop to think at their first discard anyway, but as it is unethical to stop when you don't expect to have a problem (and players don't seem to do this anyway) declarer will get some information.

I think ajm's example is quite nice also.

[Jlall]

Weird I was thinking exactly of ajms example. It is one of my favorite hands ever, especially because it was against the guy with aguably the best table feel in the game...if meck had thought for a long time it is not outrageous to me to think that Helgemo might have gotten it right. What makes the hand super special is not just the play, but the fact that meck found it quickly.

[Fluffy]

A quick example of acting fast to your advvantage:

1♥-(4♠)-??

I had 6-6 in the minors I think, I found quickly I couldn't know what 4NT meant now, so I jus tbid it regardless.

Partner bid 5♥, but RHO bid quickly 5♠ doubled for +800. If I had hesitated this wouldn't happen most likelly.