The theme of my new book, Method Bridge, is to use the theatrical Method employed by many famous actors. They memorize their lines but recall an emotional moment in their lives similar to their character’s situation, and they read the lines “over" their memory-recall emotions. This translates to the bridge table as we find ourselves in positions and strategies, and we recall when we saw this before, and use it. For example, you’ve seen a finesse a thousand times, so you recognize a finesse without even thinking about it.

The same can be done with picturing shapes of suits and hands around the table. By memorizing shapes of 13, you can use your memory-recall at the bridge table, instead of counting cards. This method will help you tremendously not to waste time counting and to concentrate on your strategies (which you can also memorize for the future).

The top two shapes are 4432 and 5332. The Method is to remember shapes from highest to lowest. If a hand is AKxx K10xx Ax Jxx, you would still say to yourself 4432.

Here is an example of how you would use this to advantage in your declarer play.

Suppose you reach 6NT or 7NT, and want to take 13 tricks. You have 12 tricks easy (2 spades, 3 hearts, 4 diamonds and 3 clubs). The 13th trick may come in the heart suit, if you can score four heart tricks. Think of the heart suit as the FINAL SCENE, or CLIMAX, of the play. This is a frequent strategy you employ. In other words, you don’t want to play this suit until the very end, because you don’t want the opponents to know about it, because someone might discard from the suit to help you.

West leads the ten of clubs. Your strategy is to reach the end-position of AQ4 of hearts facing K1032 four tricks from the end of the hand. You can cash four diamonds, discarding two spades, then two more clubs. Then the AK of spades.

You reach the final scene:

Along the way you watched the opponents follow suit or show out.

You won the club lead with the queen.

All 52 cards:

You cashed four diamonds and note they split 4432 around the table, West discarding a spade on the last diamond. (Note a Method bridge player does not count to 13 in diamonds — he pictures the shape as 4432.) You cash the other clubs and all follow, so the club suit was 4333 around the table. You cash the AK of spades and East follows once and then discards a club. You now know that West STARTED with 5 spades, 3 diamonds and 3 clubs. He was 5332! So when you cash the ace and queen of hearts, and lead a third heart, you can finesse the ten with assurance.

You won the club lead with the queen.

Takeaway: Memorize shapes, and begin with 4432 and 5332. Keep them in your memory-recall for every hand you play.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Granovetter is a renowned American bridge player and prolific writer hailing from Jersey City, New Jersey. Matt has achieved notable success in bridge, including winning the 11th quadrennial World Mixed Pairs Championship in 2006 and earning second place in the 1974 Mixed Teams and the 2008 Seniors Teams.

With a career extending from playing on international platforms to co-editing the magazine Bridge Today with his wife, Pamela, Matt has penned numerous books on bridge, many in collaboration with Pamela, and contributed creatively as a composer, lyricist, and author of children’s musicals and mysteries set in the bridge world.