Goren123 Board# Bergen20 Dealer ZarPoints vulner. Lawrence Declar.	... DUMMY ...	w-play LTC N-play WTC E-play Goren135 S-play Goren147
length length length length HCP		length length length length HCP
	..DECLARER..

Based on the BIDDING, set LHO and RHO hands above by adjusting the sliders OR typing values

During March (test period) only 2 sets of Bermuda Bowl will be presented, plus the Culbertson Match of the Century. Please let me know of any "misbehaviour" you might notice. Thank you.

Competitive Matches

Counting in Bridge is a lot like getting into the straps in windsurfing - it's simple, yet most people don't ever get there. I remember Roger (a world champ in windsurfing) teaching me in the bay of Cape Hatteras how to it: "Zar, getting in the straps is a wall which 90% of the windsurfers hit, failing to get through - but once you do it, it's a whole new ballgame".

I have seen Life-masters of all flavors (bronze, silver, gold etc.) which go just as far as counting trumps, and only if they break 3:2. Once trumps break 4:1 or God Forbid 5:0, thick fog spreads over the table and they start pulling cards around from hand and dummy alike, just to see what happens and have the game over (3 down, needless to say).

You have probably heard that imagination is the most valuable quality in bridge. While that may be true, let me tell you something - if someone tells you that it is possible to manifest imagination without counting, don't believe him. He is probably going to offer you a high-stake rubber bridge in a minute or so.

Imagination without counting is hallucination. The moment you see a discard, a bell should ring in your head and you have to re-evaluate the distributions known so far. For the uncounted portion of the suits you have to always rely on the odds and "guess" what the probable remaining distribution would most probably be. Use the sliders in the Zar Count Machine to train this particular "guess" work" - and watch the Explanation Window for the "alarms" that you have to "ring" yourself in your head when a "guess-work" have been proven wrong (typically by the holdings of the OTHER opponent).

Another good mental "milestone" is the moment everyone has 5 more cards in his hand - at this moment, after 8 rounds of the game have already been through, you have to be able to "see" the cards of the opponents (or the declarer, if you are in defense). Make a stop after round 8 and "see" through the back of the cards. Once you can do this confidently, move the "marker" to the point after 7 tricks have already been through.

Start counting ONLY the HCP and your 2 longest suits in the beginning - forget about the other 2 and the complete hands. You should be able to get through this pretty quickly. Then include the other 2 suits, enabling you to count the complete hands.

Once you have "automated" this process, start reasoning about honor combinations and how they fit in the overall picture starting with the bidding, the lead, HCP count, signaling, tempo, and line of defense (or play, if you are in defense). The way to master this is to watch the line of play that the actual world-class declarer (featured in the Zar Count Machine) has taken on the table, in other words to ask yourself WHY the declarer has played what he has played - very often it is a "side" discovery play, aimed at counting-out the hands, followed by a confident maneuver coming as an "imaginative" move for the public.

You can progress quickly, once you set the goal.