Play Bridge with Mike Lawrence

Bridge has changed a lot in 40 years!

Play Bridge with Mike Lawrence is an over-the-shoulder telling of a two-session pairs event, with the highs and lows inevitable at matchpoints, and the quirky characters inevitable at a bridge tournament. We sit with Mike as he plays with his somewhat-regular partner Alex. There is an interesting mix of technique and psychology. It’s always a treat getting inside a world-class player’s mind, and Mike’s writing is always enjoyable.

The book was written in 1983, and it’s striking how much has changed since then. They spoke their bids out loud—no bidding boxes. They had to duplicate the boards before the first round—no Duplimate machines. (I actually remember this from my early tournament days!) The directors did the matchpointing by hand at the end of the session—no ACBLscore. (Even I’m not old enough to remember this!) And most egregiously, they smoked at the table. One of the few things I can imagine that would get me to quit bridge and never look back is if they allowed smoking again. Yuck.

It's interesting, though not surprising, how bidding has changed, too. Mike and his partner Alex play several treatments and conventions that, given the way he describes them, were clearly novel at the time—only used by some top players. They alert things that are common—even ubiquitous—now, such as 1♣ (1♥) 1♠ showing 5 because they would use that newfangled Negative Double with 4 spades. They don’t play things we would consider routine, like Inverted Minors.

There were a few deals where Mike came up with something I wouldn’t have thought of. I wish the thought process was a little more detailed on every board, but as an author, I understand the delicate balance between readability and getting into the weeds. You don’t want the book to get too long and boring. And Mike is great at keeping the tone and pace fun and lively.

Here’s one where Mike’s bidding surprised me.

                             1♦                Pass
1♥          Dbl        2♦                ?

♠ KJ2 ♥ J963 ♦ 842 ♣ KT8

I would pass without much thought, but Mike bid 2♠.

“Since I have so much in the two suits partner is offering, I’m going to take a positive action. TWO SPADES. This is likely to end in a four-three fit. But my hand is good enough in terms of high cards that it should make.”

Here’s an insight I related to:

“In a pair game of two or more sessions, you will frequently find during the later sessions that some opponents have adopted a ‘give up’ attitude. They are out of contention and they play like it. If you are in the right place at the right time, all you have to do is show up and get tops.”

And one I would like to quote to young pros still developing their game:

“Mixing learning with earning is a sure way to hold back one’s development.”

I hope those of you who read along with me enjoyed this one. February’s book is Method Bridge by Matthew Granovetter. March is Thinking on Defense by Jim Priebe.