I mean, yes and no. There bidding was chaos, but modern beginners would not be regularly turning there hand face up and announcing "and you sir are squeezed for one more"
The bidding in the whole series is primitive by modern standards, it's true, and it is bidding that has improved strongly in the decades since. However the assumption that play and defense have not hugely improved since then is belied by some of the clear play and defense blunders made in the TV series. One 'expert' in NT led (from a hand with only two side entries) the Q from QJT8xx opposite 9x and dropped two tricks when one opponent had all of the AK7xx ... sure, that's unfortunate, but a 5-0 split is the only thing to think about in the suit! Similarly, one declarer played a trump suit of Axx opposite KQ9xxx in a slam by playing King first, dropping a trick to the JTxx sitting on the right, an absolutely jaw-dropping error in top level bridge. Another declarer happily investigated a side suit of AKxxxx opposite xx before drawing trumps with his 5-5 fit, getting the side K ruffed needlessly. Maybe we can charitably assume that being surrounded by cameras the size of a small car and playing under lights burning at oven temperatures might have affected the players abilities ... because if they made plays like those in a modern world-class tournament, they'd be in the bottom half.
Thanks
those experts of the fifties would be considered beginners of today
Somehow I feel like Sobel, Goren, and Jacoby would have adapted like everyone else.
I mean, yes and no. There bidding was chaos, but modern beginners would not be regularly turning there hand face up and announcing "and you sir are squeezed for one more"
The bidding in the whole series is primitive by modern standards, it's true, and it is bidding that has improved strongly in the decades since. However the assumption that play and defense have not hugely improved since then is belied by some of the clear play and defense blunders made in the TV series. One 'expert' in NT led (from a hand with only two side entries) the Q from QJT8xx opposite 9x and dropped two tricks when one opponent had all of the AK7xx ... sure, that's unfortunate, but a 5-0 split is the only thing to think about in the suit! Similarly, one declarer played a trump suit of Axx opposite KQ9xxx in a slam by playing King first, dropping a trick to the JTxx sitting on the right, an absolutely jaw-dropping error in top level bridge. Another declarer happily investigated a side suit of AKxxxx opposite xx before drawing trumps with his 5-5 fit, getting the side K ruffed needlessly. Maybe we can charitably assume that being surrounded by cameras the size of a small car and playing under lights burning at oven temperatures might have affected the players abilities ... because if they made plays like those in a modern world-class tournament, they'd be in the bottom half.