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This is the umpteenth attempt to start this topic, which is hard enough to formulate, let alone develop more or less comprehensibly. So I will scatter the notes around, and if you have the patience to read to the end, you'll make your own story of it.
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Maybe the market is too small for a John Gray to write "Saycers are from Mars, Precisionists are from Venus", but even if he did, I'd rather stick with Eric Berne as his Games People Play is more readily transposable onto the bridge table (and surrounding chairs), albeit it may be lacking practical advice.
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Or we can try and rehash "Zen, or the art of partnership maintenance". This extract is copied from an article on other types of relationships but, in my opinion, even a pick-up partnership or a close encounter in an indy tournament has all the features of a relationship dynamics.
A young woman approached the Zen master in a meditation hall. "I am searching for perfection so that I may be truly happy," she said. "How do I find perfection?"
"Bring me a butterfly and you will have your answer," he replied.
So the woman set off for a nearby field of wildflowers dotted with beautiful butterflies. Anxious to learn the secret, she chased a butterfly until she captured it. But when she returned to the master and opened her hand, all that remained were the crushed wings of a once-lovely creature. "What have I done?" the bewildered woman asked.
"Bring me a butterfly and you will have your answer," the master said.
The second time she returned she opened her cupped hands and exclaimed, "Master, I have brought you a butterfly." But this time the creature lay in a circle of glistening dust; it had beaten itself to death. And once again the woman asked, "What have I done?"
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"Bring me a butterfly and you will have your answer," the master said.
When the woman returned to the field a third time, she noticed a glorious butterfly drifting from wildflower to wildflower, drinking deeply from dewy petals. Gently, she picked a flower and set it on her shoulder. After a while, the creature landed on it. Slowly, the woman began walking back to the meditation hall. When she arrived, the butterfly was still perched lightly on her shoulder.
"Now you have your answer," the Zen master said.
Easy does it.
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In Success at Bridge Victor Mollo writes:
"Technique in bidding or play can be studied, practised and eventually mastered. Kindness to partner is a virtue requiring a rare combination of gifts - patience, detachment, forgiveness, and above all, the ability to dissimulate.
You are either born with these precious gifts or more likely you are born without them. It is purely a matter of luck."
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Allegedly Easely Blackwood warned that if you try to convince partner that he is in the wrong he will play badly on the next deal. If you succeed, he will play badly on the next ten. Dare try?
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Last but by no means least, my absolutely favourite bridge teacher Bob (bobh2 on BBO) put it best in his post on the BIL forum:
Now, here's some advice for you. If your object is to win at bridge, play with partners who are playing winning bridge and keep them playing that way. This is a simple fact. Bridge is a partnership game and a huge factor of winning has to do with taking good care of your partner. They do best when they are chirping along, not stressing out. Your behaviour and style at the table matters a lot. This is not hard to accomplish, you just have to be aware of this, and do it. What I have just said applies to the game regardless of your skill level or anything else. It is a universal truth.
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Or, to quote Right Said Fred, "You're my mate, and I will stand by you" pretty much sums in up.
Btw, this is the official partnership song for the Summer Wine Teams matches. As to the guys who are too sexy for your table, you might politely suggest that they take their little tush some other where, in the hope it will be better appreciated by someone else. No hard feelings here, we are all different, and that's fine; yet you might wish them luck cos, I suspect, they might need quite a lot of it. ;)
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