03:02 27 February 2014 by GS Jade Barrett, CsbNews correspondent
“Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn’t listening” – Emma Thompson
A large number of bridge accidents are the result not of bad methods, but poor choices. Most rational bidding systems have the conventions required to solve the vast majority of problems that face the typical athlete, provided that adequate effort is applied to utilizing these tools to their best advantage.
But the failure to remember system plays another factor. Most casual competitors fill out a convention card quickly, playing for years without further in depth conversation until after a poor result is achieved – simply due to memory loss.
Less experienced athletes are more likely to modify their understanding of their agreements to fit the hand that they are looking at as opposed to staying firmly within the parameters of their methods and bidding accordingly. This “reaching” more often leads to a unfortunate result, though occasionally a superb one is achieved. The issue here is that humans being what they are remember the positive and discard the negative. In effect, players are more likely to repeat the weaker alternative because it worked in the past, despite the fact that the action has actually failed far more often than not.
This “do not confuse me with the facts” attitude prevents a fair and balanced view of the decision made and obstructs the growth of the individual.