Contract Bridge

It was during this early period that I became acquainted with the game of bridge — by kibitzing the games that invariably went on during the noon hour. During my basic data days the bridge foursome included Charlie Hurd and one John Valentine, the other two being variable. In the fractionation group Sarno and Shiras always played, Jarman often with a fourth member a fill-in. This game continued after the move to Emeryville and then the fourth was one Kunstman, a younger engineer.

Following the conclusion of the actual playing there was often an extensive rehash of the hands that had been played. Shiras would defend his playing, which was often queer and erratic, and I recall that Kunstman was almost lived in his assessment of Shiras’ playing. I’ve often wondered how much of Shell’s time was absorbed and wasted in these post-game discussions.

When I started kibitzing was when honor count was the way used to evaluate a hand — it was only later that Goren’s point came into favor. But it was through watching these noontime games that my knowledge of the game developed and my liking of it as a card game.

After Jean and I were married I participated occasionally in the Shell tournaments sponsored by the Shell Development Recreational association. I recall playing in these with Jean as a partner, and also with Dwight Johnston. The latter was actually in a tournament outside of Shell and we actually garnered a few master-points. I believe I have them tucked away somewhere as a memento of the evening. I’m sure that they will not be joined by any further master-points.

Although I like to play bridge it is just that — “play” and not the serious business that really avid players make of it. For one thing, although I have a fair idea of the conventions as to bidding, I lack the fine points and do not have the experience to cope with unusual situations or to make lead-indicating signals in the bidding process. My technique on the play of a hand, either as a declarer or defensively, is even more fragmentary and my ability to keep a count as to what has been played in the course of the play of a hand is quite limited. Thus a substantial fraction of the time I bid and play is sort of by intuition.

All of this is in part I think, the result of the kind of bridge I was trained in initially — the Shell noontime contests. The level of bidding and play there were pretty much on the level of my bridge-playing skills. Always present at the Shell games was a considerable level of psychological play (almost as in poker) and this was the result of the players involved and the relationships between them. There was also the factor that the payers were acquainted with the type of play characteristics of the other players so that in certain situations the play was dictated not so much by the rules of the game but by the knowledge of what the players would do in certain situations. Typically there was as much glee expressed when an opponent succumbed to a psychological ploy as when the technically correct play was done. All of this rubbed off on me so that my type of play is suitable for friendly non-competitive situations but not where the level of play is serious.

In Ashland Jean and I used to play once a week or so with a couple from church who lived nearby. Their level of play (particularly of the husband) was similar to Jean’s and mine; the lady’s was somewhat erratic. These were pleasant social evenings but they were discontinued when Jean developed difficulty with going to sleep after them. Since then we tended to keep our evenings quiet and peaceful. Even the kind of social contact involved with an evening of bridge and table conversation was to be avoided if Jean was to be able to get to sleep easily afterward.

For awhile I also played duplicate bridge with an Ashland acquaintance, Colver Anderson. This was in a league that had a regular Friday session of play at Ashland’s recreation department hall. It was congenial enough and we continued to participate until a hand occurred in which an opponent objected to my bidding as not following bid conventions. It was a hand of somewhat unusual character so I had had to compromise in what I bid. The opponent called the tournament director over to review the situation. No action was taken but the whole episode left a very bad impression on men and I told Colver that I was not interested in continuing. Since then I don’t think I have played bridge at all.