BBO Discussion Forums: Best way to study? absorb and apply - BBO Discussion Forums

When I just read a bridge book I can't remember anything i just read. If I read and write down on what to bid and read it aloud and record it onto my phone of what i have written i seem to able to remember for a short time. 2 days later i can't remember anything. How do you study? How do you absorb whats written in the books?

Probably playing with a partner with the same level and debating the bids that are wrong for you or for him.
Or with an expert player that explain with patience the correct bid for him.
And play play play, and get wrong, get wrong, get wrong.
you will see that you will learn.

Get out and play, ideally with somebody who's better than you, and somebody who will go through the hands afterwards, you often learn most when you get something wrong and it's explained why it's wrong. The point of doing this with the right sort of partner is that they'll point out the cases where you did something horrendous but it didn't cost.

Learning specific points as a beginner is much less important than learning general principles. Once you have a slightly better understanding and grounding is the time to go for the books, when you have the base to work from.

It helps not to try to learn too much at once - one important thing a day is quite enough.
When you finish a tournament, or a chapter of a book, always try to pick one important lesson that you have learned, and if necessary research it internet or discuss it with someone more expert until you are sure you have it right.
Forget any other doubts that are nagging you, that one lesson is your gain in experience for today.

Many, many years ago when I was a teenager and my parents played bridge I learnt by playing solo bridge up in my bedroom, with my notes, and a few beginner level bridge books dealing single hands, pairs hands, and hands for all four players, bidding them as I thought was right. Whenever I felt unconfident with what I was doing, I would resort to the notes and books, again noting down what I had done. Yes, playing by rote (repetition), and practicing by yourself for at least an hour (or even two) a day will hopefully give you the basics.

FelicityR, on 2018-March-25, 07:21, said:

I will use bridge hand generator and practice playing the hands for each player.

If you're a newer bridge player, it does get tough to absorb the material. There definitely is a lot you have to pick up to get minimally competent. Chances are you're going to make a lot of errors or miss a lot of stuff. That's OK, you're a newer player. If you think of yourself as a "baby" bridge player, it may be helpful. A baby has to first learn to crawl, then stand upright, then take a few unsteady steps, and ultimately learn to walk. But learning to walk doesn't happen in a day and is a process that must be gone through. It isn't easy because it requires lots of learning and lots of repetition. Likewise, when learning bridge, you go through a similar process. It requires both a learning element and a repetition element. You learn concepts through books, lessons, or asking questions. But it also takes playing to cement the concepts in your mind and incorporate them into your play. You'll probably find that at first you'll miss opportunities to apply them. But eventually you'll find yourself starting to recognize when they apply and start to use them. Don't be surprised if there isn't an "aha" moment either but more of a gradual increase in recalling and recognizing when things apply. That's entirely normal.

As a newer player, you first need to know what to focus on. Your first objective should be getting the fundamentals of bidding and play down rock solid. That means learning basic bidding, basic declaring, and basic defending well. So the simpler you keep things at first, the better. A player who can do the fundamental things consistently well is a formidable player and a winning player. Let me repeat that. A player who can do the fundamental things consistently well is a formidable player and a winning player.

Also, understand that improving as a bridge player is this same constant process of learning more about the game and repetitively working to incorporate that knowledge into your play.

Reading a bridge book isn't about how fast you read, but more about trying to get the principles being taught firmly in mind. So I think the advice about learning one thing at a time is very good. And nothing prevents you from going back and rereading if you have questions or something doesn't seem clear.

When newer players ask me about how to play better, I usually recommend a book on play that has two sections - fundamentals and advanced play. I tell those players to methodically work their way through the fundamentals section only and not even worry about the advanced section. I tell them they should play a lot and try to apply what you've learned. Then I advise them to go back and completely reread the fundamentals section again. If they do so, they'll find there was lot more they pick up that wasn't apparent the first time through. I also tell them that only once they are thoroughly proficient in the fundamentals should they move on the Advanced section.

I might add that even after 40+ years of playing, I still go back and reread that book. It always reveals something new and gets me back to making sure I'm completely solid on my fundamentals. Even when I'm working on incorporating more advanced concepts and principles into my play, I'm not adverse to following this process reading, playing, and rereading the material covering those advanced concepts to get them down cold. It works.

I felt like polarmatt the first time I read Killing Defense.

The 3rd time I read it, I was more confortable.

By about the 10th time I felt I fully understood all of the themes.

However, through this process there is rarely a book hand that I face that I can't get on the 1st or 2nd try.

Bridge is fun because its hard. We all forget that sometimes.

Phil, on 2018-March-29, 06:07, said:

Exactly!

When you try to use the principles, techniques or plays you learn from reading/lessons actually at the table, it's about increasingly recognizing when they apply and how to execute them. That works for both fundamental plays and even highly advanced plays. But in either case, it tends to follow a similar progression.

First, you learn the technique or play from study.

Then, you'll play some hands and fail to see when it applies. It's not uncommon to recognize that it would have applied some time after the fact. As in, "Oh Gee, I should have ...". That recognition could 2 or 3 seconds after you've done something else or several hours later in the post mortem.

Then, as you play more (and maybe restudy), you'll start to recognize a hand here and there where it applies in time to be able to execute it. Then you have to think through how to execute it. Sometimes you may get the execution wrong, but you'll learn from that, too.

Eventually, recognizing the number of hands where it applies increases to where you virtually never miss one. At the same time, the amount of time to execute the play goes down and executing it properly almost becomes second nature. It's now firmly in your arsenal of tools to use. Then you should get the feeling of making progress.

rmnka447, on 2018-March-25, 15:33, said:

What book are you referring to?

They are referring to Killing Defense at Bridge by Hugh Kelsey.

The basic book I've read and reread over the years is Louis Watson's Classic Book on the Play of the Hand at Bridge at Bridge. But there are many other good books out there. My favorite partner has been praising William Root's How to Play a Bridge Hand also.

As a follow on, I'd highly recommend Eddie Kantar's Modern Bridge Defense. It covers in depth a lot of the basic defense concepts covered in Watson and other basic books on play. Because of that depth, it makes it easy to get a solid grounding in how to defend and become a much better defender.

The Kelsey Books -- Killing Defense and More Killing Defense are more advanced and probably better tackled after a good deal of experience playing. I'd also put Kantar's Advanced Bridge Defense, Mike Lawrence's How to Read Your Opponent's Cards, and a whole slew of Books by David Bird in the same category. Beginners should target these for no earlier than a year or so out. And if you're going to short cut that suggestion, then start with the Lawrence book. But all these are better after you've gotten the hang of playing down pretty well.

rmnka447, on 2018-May-21, 13:34, said:

Thanks! I was guessing that you were referring to Watson. I read the first part right after I began playing and I think it is probably time for a re-read.

I picked up used copies of Root's books on declarer play and defender play based on many glowing reviews but I have not yet been able to get much out of them. I'm not sure if it is because they are over my head or if it is his writing style.

I might have a look at Kantar's Modern Defense instead of re-reading Watson. I find that sometimes presenting the same idea just a little differently makes it "click" better.

Virtually all of the discussion at my local bridge room is centered around bidding concepts, so I try to spend most of my independent study time on card play.

tm255, on 2018-May-22, 09:20, said:

Kantar has excellent explanations and examples, then follows up with some test problems. Defense is the most difficult part of the game for most players to master. I think you'll find very worthwhile. Good defenders are almost always really good players.


If I seem to be a big advocate of spending a lot of time on fundamentals, it's because being completely solid with applying them will make you a good player. Once you're to that point, then moving forward by expanding your knowledge of the game makes more sense and becomes a bit easier.

tm255, on 2018-May-22, 09:20, said:

This is an issue for many newer students of the game.

Oh and I'd recommend anything Kantar has written about defense.

tm255, on 2018-May-22, 09:20, said:

Both books are worth reading.
But the book on declarere play is an easier read, it is more focussed, this is mainly due to
the topic.
I would also say, that you should first work on declarere play, and than move toward defence.
Defence needs the abillity to read declareres moves, and options, and to do this, you need to
know / learn declarers options.
Defence also needs a partner, declarer play can be studied alone.

And what I have seen from Kantar, his books are a little more demanding than the books by Root.

If I may be somewhat contrarian - at the Beginner/Novice/Intermediate level I'd spend my time just playing as many hands as possible. Those sort of book plays come up maybe 1 hand in 25 or 1 hand in 50... I don't think it's overly productive to plow time into that until you're getting the 98% of hands that are straightforward right.

polarmatt, on 2018-March-25, 05:33, said:

When I first started playing duplicate bridge I would come home from each session with a raging headache - to really absorb what is going on takes immense concentration that is not easy at first. The same, I think, can be said for bridge books.

Reading a bridge book is not like reading a novel or a magazine article; to absorb what is being said you need to understand the why of it, which means really digging into the material. Often it will help to have someone to talk to if you are unsure.

These suggestions aimed at helping people learn and retain stuff from the American Psychological Society may be of interest. Note 1-4 especially. Visualizing unseen cards is super important but quite different from what they’re talking about in 3.

Former game developer and highly regarded computer programming and UI author/trainer Kathy Sierra notes that everyone has a limited pool of resources for cognitive tasks. So, schedule bridge learning time when your tank is not empty.

Play a lot. Count everything. Have fun. Discuss interesting layouts and decisions with someone who shares your interest.

Read only the best stuff.

Discuss your game with a top player or bridge pro whose judgment you trust and come up with a plan that makes good use of your bridge time budget. If jdonn is available and affordable, he might be able to help you here or recommend someone in your area.

y66, on 2018-May-26, 13:03, said:

That is a fascinating article. Good info in the other posts, also.

One thing that makes bridge so hard is seemingly minor differences translate into completely different approaches. For example Kantar discusses how AQxxx is played one way and AQxx is played yet another way.

On top of that, opportunity to apply ones learning during play may not come up for weeks or even months.

I seem to learn best from my mistakes. Which is good, because I make a lot of them!