[mike777]

Tournament bridge is a timed event, especially on BBO.

Any advice on how to get back on track when feeling rushed. When you find yourself not counting out the opponents Hcp and shape?

[helene_t]

mike777, on 2025-February-10, 15:03, said:

Tournament bridge is a timed event, especially on BBO.

Any advice on how to get back on track when feeling rushed. When you find yourself not counting out the opponents Hcp and shape?

Play with three friends, either online or at home

[mycroft]

• Relax. You might run out of time. You might even get A- for it, or an adjustment that implies you didn't know how to play bridge. It won't ruin your life or cost you thousands of dollars; might not even ruin your game. But I guarantee that if you aren't relaxed about it, you will both slow down even more and make mistakes that will cost you more than a bad board adjustment.
  
• Take your time - in the right places. That also sounds like it won't help, but most slow players don't think until it's too late. Yes, count the HCP and the shape - but you should be starting that count with dealer's call. And reviewing at the end of the auction. And when dummy comes down (hence the desired, and in some RAs required, pause at trick 1). And hopefully once more after "the relevant few tricks" (trumps pulled, A-K-ruff a suit, run the clubs, whatever), and maybe one final one at the pivotal point if there is one. Slower players think far enough to make a play, then stop - and think again when it's time to play from dummy.
  
• Make a plan. Don't care if it's as limited as "I'll play LHO for the A rather than the Q because..." or "okay, pull trumps, set up diamonds for heart pitches and concede the CA. So that means I have to finish trumps in my hand so the high trump is on the board for the diamonds,..." You can follow a plan in tempo, and being late won't throw you off it, unless the hands are such that the plan needs rethinking. Nothing worse under time crunch than leading low up to the KJx and, when LHO plays small, *then* thinking what to do. Nothing worse than pulling one round of trump and then restarting the count to work out what your next card should be.
  
• Don't waste time. Online, it's harder (except for distractions), but at the table, do you tell your partner what you could have done/what he should have done? and only then shuffle (a lot) your 13 cards, and put them back in the board, then pull your scorecard out from wherever it's hidden, uncap your pen, write in the score, your guess of the MPs and your comments for partner after, then pull over the Bridgemate and put that in, get them to accept, put everything away and then turn the board over? Does it take you 15 seconds to put 13 cards into your hand one at a time - and only then do you look at the shape and start counting HCP? Yeah, find ways to streamline this.
  
• Don't waste time. Again, this doesn't happen online (well, yes, it does, but you get moved anyway), but players that really enjoy their conversation, then when they hear the round called, remember they have to get their water refilled/bathroom break/... Or that don't hear the round called and just keep talking until the next people kick them out. Or who look at the next table, see they're not done yet, so stay in their seats even *with* the next pair trying to kick them out. Or who sit for 3 minutes after the round, hear it called, look over and see their opponents aren't ready yet, so *then* go water refilling/disposing (they were just about to claim, they're trying to catch up, they get to your table and...) Or who haven't figured out "E-W Higher, boards lower" in 30 years, and can't figure out where the boards from table 5 should go.
  
• Be aware throughout the round. Check the clock. You get a specific time per hand - FtF, 15 minutes for 2 boards, 21 for 3, something similar for 4; online it's usually 6 minutes a board because no scoring or board-passing or player moving is necessary. At the end of the first hand, see if you're ahead or behind. If you're behind, start to correct. If you're "on time", start to correct a bit - that last hand could be the 10-round auction or the careful double-squeeze that takes more time. Do that recalculation every board. It is much easier and calmer to play 2 whole boards "a little quicker" than it is to play the last board in 3 minutes. If you do end up with "3 minutes to play this board", at least it won't be a surprise because you've been paying attention.
  
• Make it easier to be less distracted when under time crunch. If I know I'm behind, before the round is called, I make sure to pull the done boards from the bottom of the stack and put them on the side table where the director or other players can grab and move them. I do that *before* the director, usually with a "we're calling the round soon", reaches in over the entire trick in play and dummy, grabs the boards, spills the other one, and walks off. Or the next round players yell at you or bang boards at your shoulder to get the next ones. And I don't hide them in my bag/under my scorecard/facing the wrong table/with a bidding box on them, where people have to check all four corners to find them. Not distracting at all, any of that is.
  
• Practice (with an understanding partner, or robot) speedballs. When you play 5 minutes a board instead of the regular 6, sure, some of the detailed thinking has to go out the window, or maybe one of your normal pattern "thinking spots" needs to be truncated. But with practise, you'll find (unless you're Peter Weichsel or B- ) you can play pretty much a 95% game at that speed compared to your regular. Once you *know that*, and are comfortable that you have that extra gear when you need it, you'll be more okay and more relaxed (remember point 1?) when you get behind and have to play in time crunch. It is also likely that you will find your regular game speeding up just a bit, and the number of times you are in time crunch will go down. (This can go too far; some players are too fast for their own good. I see one almost every day - in the mirror. But since I *know* I'm almost never in time crunch, when I see a hand that I might underthink, I have time to slow myself down and take that extra look. I might not realize I should have until too late, but...)
  
• Again, take your time, but don't waste time. I don't know how many times I have recommended McBruce's Hurry up and Think article, but it's once more than yesterday. Sure there are things in there that have gone the way of the dodo, and some that don't apply online, and at least half of it I've already mentioned here, but read it anyway. It will help.

[jdiana]

As long as we're recommending favorite articles , I've always liked this one about what to do when it IS a good time to stop and think for a second. https://www.bridge.b..._what_final.pdf

[mike777]

Ty very helpful

I only played F2F one time in many years. Few days ago..
Took me forever to try and sort my hand so just stopped sorting. that worked ok until I had to put my hand down as dummy..then chaos..as I just plopped my hand down..

Playing this Saturday on pick up team with the same nice lady, stayman ,transfers and weak twos..

It really helped to not discuss anything once the game started , I did not record scores at all, also as dummy I just tuned out..

I was pretty busy at end stretching out my back, rubbing my headache, and frequent bathroom breaks.

Online I really need to follow your advice in these tournaments ty..need to get up to speed...smile

[jillybean]

Don’t let the opponents rush you.
When they say “ you are not allowed to think that long” , they are wrong. Call the Director.
You can take as long as you need , within reason. Your tempo may restrict your partner but the Director will handle that.

Look at how long some vugrapgh players think before bidding.

What is much, much worse than players who take time thinking are the players who say “oh well, we are not vulnerable” before placing the 4S card on the table.

Or
1H 1S
2H 2S
Glare
3H forcibly banged down on the table

That little black magic

Ignore all of the above for online games, if you think too long you may be replaced.



I see mycroft is challenging mcbruce for the title of most verbose Director

[AL78]

A small amount of planning ahead can make you more time efficient so you are less likely to be in a situation where you are feeling rushed because you are behind in time.

Anecdote:
South-east England has a substantial number of people who have poor situational awareness. As an example, someone will stand idly in a checkout queue, gradually moving down until it is their turn to be served, then the cashier asks for payment and they spend a not inconsiderable amount of time ruffling around in pockets/bags looking for their wallet/purse. Every time I think to myself "you could have moved your payment method into a quickly accessible place whilst you were idle in the queue". It may not be much wasted time on paper, but numerous such situations over the day add up, and non-linear interactions mean a small delay in one place and time can result in a much larger delay in another place and time.

There are situations in bridge that are comparable. For example, suppose RHO opens 1NT, LHO starts a transfer sequence and both you and partner are silent. It is pretty-much guaranteed RHO is going to be declarer in either a major or NT contract and you will be on lead. Whilst they are bidding you can immediately look at your hand and think about what you will lead should the contract be some number of NT or some number of LHO's major. When the auction is over you can put a card down on the table immediately because you have done all your lead thinking during your idle period in the auction. Some people pick up a flat four count, roll their eyes at the ceiling at getting dealt another bag of rubbish, then when the auction is over, realise they are on lead and then it's oh-God, what do I do here?

Efficient use of time would be my advice.

[mycroft]

Oh, I think this has been a "competition" for at least a decade...

But, on "look at vugraph". First, remember that it does take longer to play with screens. Also, note that yeah, there's this 5-minute tank, but then the next three tricks are played so quickly that the operator can't catch up and then they claim. Again, "think at the right time, and efficiently".

But also, there's a reason the Spinderbilt isn't the "perfect" 16 board segments any more. There's a reason there are time controls and several penalties assigned every event.

Having said all of that - don't let the opponents rush you is a good idea. And yes, if they have a problem, they can call the director - who can rush you. But if you follow my suggestions (and McBruce's, and Susan GOss Johnson's, and...) you will find that you're ahead of the game much more often and don't need to rush - and are prepared for it when you do need to, because you'll know that much earlier.

[pescetom]

One thing to watch out for is that if you are known/obvious to be slow/fragile in counting then many opps will game this when you are Declarer by insta-playing when they win a trick (whether or not it also transmits useful UI to their partner).
Don't allow it: start by firmly instructing partner to always wait for your call as Dummy (even if the card to play is obvious or even obligatory) and have little compunction about calling TD if you think there was a clear variation in tempo.
Similarly, do not passively accept any mannerisms that suggest undue impatience or a sense of superiority: ask them politely to stop, call TD if they do not.