Every Bridge Question has a Right Answer
Author: Larry Cohen
Date of publish: 03/19/2020
Level: General Interest
Conception: Every Bridge Question has a Right Answer
The Truth: There are some "right answers" and a whole lot of "maybe" answers.
The most common type of question I get starts with, "What would you bid with..." While occasionally I receive a question and can say what 99% of experts would choose to bid in that scenario, more often the answer is in a gray area.
There's a reason every bridge magazine has bidding polls. With a given hand, experts might find not just one, but six (or more) possible paths. There isn't always a right answer, but it's good to make sure that your choice is one of the "considered" options. For instance, if I say, "I might bid 3 or 4 spades" and you passed, you should adjust your evaluation.
Sometimes I'd like to go back and choose the other option based on the outcome, but that's not how bridge works. Bridge is beautiful because of those gray areas where you could choose different options.
This doesn't mean that it's a bad idea to ask questions. Sometimes, by understanding the thinking of a good player, you can see where your analysis went wrong.
The other type of question I get frequently is something like, "What should we play over their 1NT."
The answer is: the same thing as your partner. There are many choices. Pick what works for you and your partner. Some systems would have worked beautifully on that deal from yesterday, but don't help you with today's dilemma. If there was one right answer, everyone would play the same system!
