AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:
BARBARA SEAGRAM
Master Point Press publishes the work of many terrific bridge writers, and we would like you to get to know some of them a little better. This month, we will focus on the illustrious writer and teacher, Barbara Seagram.
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CHECKBACK STAYMAN
Checkback Stayman occurs after 1 of a minor -- 1 of a major response and opening bidder jumps to 2 NT.
1 ♦ - 1♥
2 NT - 3♣ by responder is now checkback stayman
Why are we doing this??
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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Paul Thurston
Paul Thurston is an old hand at the bridge writing game – an avid player since high school, he’s been writing about and teaching bridge for over 40 years. As an author, he’s recently become known for his book 25 Ways to Win 2 Over 1. Some of his lessons on the 2 Over 1 bidding system will be appearing on Mastering Bridge over the next month; in the meantime, we thought you might like to know more about the author.
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BIL LESSON WITH LINDA LEE
On Saturday, September 26th 2009, Linda Lee hosted a practice session on BBO in the Beginner/Intermediate Lounge. Download the PDF from this session, complete with full hand diagrams and a write-up of each practice hand.
TRUMP INDICATORS - SOME OF MY FAVORITES
Many of you have a favorite deck of cards or even several decks which I’m sure give you a great deal of pleasure every time you look at them. I often find myself looking at my collection of trump indicators and cannot describe the joy I derive from it. I never tire of viewing it, appreciating the diversity and creativity of the many pieces.
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Redoubles
There are many uses for the word “Redouble”. I am only going to give you the simple version of the commonest use of the Redouble. Later on, you can change your use of it or add it to other scenarios.
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Squander the Queen
We all know the basic high-low signal that we use when defending against a trump suit contract. For example, if West leads the ♥A and East has the ♥Q92, East plays the ♥9 to signal encouragement. West will now continue by leading the ♥K and a third round of ♥ follows to East’s Q. However, East would also signal with the 9 if he had only a doubleton and could ruff the third round of the suit. West does not know when East signals high whether he has the Q or a doubleton in the suit.
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Having a Fit
Since the dawn of civilization, superstars have dreamt up conventions that help us locate a major-suit fit: Stayman, Michaels Cuebids, and Negative Doubles among many others.
With this in mind, what will you bid when partner opens 1♣ and RHO (right-hand opponent) overcalls 1♦?
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April is SAYC Month!
April is SAYC Month here at Master Point Press. Visit SAYC Month Central for selected articles, practice hands, suggested reading materials, free downloads of the SAYC convention card with accompanying system booklet and more.
New articles added this week: An Interview with Maureen Hall, Attitude signals, parts 3 and 4, and Count Signals.
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WHAT'S THE SCORE? THE T.I.'S KNOW
Playing card collectors often forget that card games, especially those of the past, required not only a deck of cards, but other highly collectible items like rule books, score pads, card tables, card shufflers, pencils, tablecloths, markers, and... trump indicators.
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A Motto to Live By
Left: This proverb is engraved on a wooden trump indicator 4 inches long and 3 ½ high with a diamond shaped wooden insert that rotates at the top to indicate the trump suit.
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BEING A BRIDGE DETECTIVE
When you are playing a bridge hand you often have the chance to be a detective. If you get out your magnifying glass, your decoder kit but most importantly your think cap you can be a better declarer or defender.
In today’s example which is a real life hand I played a few days ago I am going to focus on listening to the auction for clues. Here is your hand:
You have:
Not vulnerable against vulnerable
♠ 109
♥ 102
♦ 2
♣ AQJ10985
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THE CUBID OF OPPONENT'S SUIT AS A LIMIT RAISE OR BETTER
You are south and you hold:
Kxx xx AQxx xxxx
The bidding proceeds:
West North East South
1H 1S Pass 2S
As beginners, we are taught to raise partner’s overcall one level with 8-11 pts and to jump raise with 12-14 pts. including distribution.
Now that you are all grown up, we strongly recommend a change in strategy.
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LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP
Less experienced players are frequently distraught when their partner passes what they thought was a forcing bid. The reverse can also be true…they make an invitational bid and partner bids again without the values to do so. Newer players always feel obligated to bid again in these situations – after all, partner jumped and no one wants to be a poor sport!
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What's Trump?
Both Linda Lee and Nick Fahrer have blogged recently about bridge ephemera – curiosities and collectibles related to the game in some way. On of the first things I saw when we arrived here at the Nationals in Boston was a display of trump indicators.
Trump indicators date back to whist, a game in which sometimes the last card dealt was turned up as trumps, or in some forms of the game the deck was cut to decide trumps before the deal. The result was that it was quite easy to forget what the trump suit actually was. In early forms of bridge, trump indicators continued to be useful too.
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BIDDING QUIZ FROM EDDIE KANTAR
Your partner opens the bidding with 2NT (20-21 HCP, balanced) and right hand opponent passes. What do you bid with the following hands?
| Pass | ||
| 2NT |  |
You |
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HAND EVALUATION
I love thinking about hand evaluation. When we start out playing bridge it seems so very simple:
Add up your high card points 1, 2, 3, 4.
Then add up your distribution points. When I learned to play we counted shortness points:
3 for a void, 2 for a singleton and 1 for a doubleton.
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BARBARA SEAGRAM'S NEGATIVE
DOUBLES QUIZ, WITH ANSWERS
Question 1:
You are sitting East and the auction has proceeded 1♦ by partner, 1♠ by RHO. What will you bid with the following hands?
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NEGATIVE DOUBLES
In the world of old-fashioned Standard American, if you are not playing Negative Doubles, then the following Auction
| 1♠ | ||
| 1♦ | |
Dbl |
would have to be a penalty double. This in effect dares the opponents to make their contract of 1 Spade, suggesting that they cannot make it.
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DAN ROMM'S QUIZ ANSWER
Here are the answers to last week's question.
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DAN ROMM'S BRIDGE QUIZ
How do you play the following hand at MP's? At IMP's?
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BRIDGE HISTORY
This is an excerpt adapted from my unfinished work Simplicity Bridge.
The card game of Bridge traces its roots to Whist, which was popular in Europe as early as the 1500s. Card play itself goes back even farther, to the 10th century in China. Decks of cards containing kings, queens, and jacks came to Europe from the Moslem world in the late 1300s. Suits such as spades, hearts, etc. were added by the French about a century or so later. Bridge whist evolved in the 1800s, and this allowed the dealer to choose the trump suit or permit his partner to do so. The concept of having no trump suit was added at this time. Dealer's partner placed his hand on the table for dealer to play, thus becoming "dummy". All of this was in place by 1886.
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FAVORITE DEFENCE HANDS
These are some of my favorite defence hands from Eddie Kantar.
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WEAK 2 BID (PART II)
When your opponents open with a weak two, you should have some simple defense to counteract the preemptive effect of the bid. Here is a suggested defense:
Assume the opening bid is 2♥.
| East | South (you) | |
| 2♥ | 2♠ / 3♣ / 3♦ |
Strongish 5 card suit, minimum, (usually a six bagger) at the two level, six-card suit presumed at the three level with opening bid values.
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PLAYING BRIDGE CONVENTIONS
If you are making some progress in your bridge career you will know that all your partners and friends want to play lots of bridge conventions. Even if you are just starting out you have likely already encountered some basic conventions like Stayman and Jacoby Transfers. I think that I must play more than twenty conventions. Expert bridge players use a much more complicated and rich bidding system than experts of fifty or even twenty years ago. New bridge players start to add conventions very quickly. Is this all a good idea?
It can be compared to an opening three bid, the difference is that a three bid normally shows a seven-card suit.
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WEAK 2 BID (PART I)
The Weak Two Bid is an opening bid of 2♦, 2♥, or 2♠ (not 2♣) describing a hand with a strongish six-card suit along with 7-9 HCP (6 or 10 HCP are exceptions, particularly 10).
It can be compared to an opening three bid, the difference is that a three bid normally shows a seven-card suit.
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BRIDGE SLANG
Some years ago when we had a sail boat, we had a rule: always look professional and shipshape when coming into the harbor. It was just as important to look good, as it was to be a good sailor. Similarly, when playing bridge it's just as important to know bridge talk, as it is to know how to play. You can sound like a bridge expert even if you can't play as well as one. Here are some bridge terms I hope you will enjoy.
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PLAYING BRIDGE ONLINE
Last night I logged on to Bridge Base Online (BBO), a free online game playing site, and watched some of the world's very best bridge players compete in a championship with expert commentary, all happening in real time. I also played a few hands myself.
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BRIDGE ON BROADWAY
I'm a big fan of Broadway, and it's always bugged me that chess has its own show but bridge doesn't. But as you'd expect from such a popular game, bridge has put in its appearances in film and theatre.
The best known is Grand Slam, a 1933 Hollywood production starring Paul Lukas and Loretta Young, which can still be seen on late night television from time to time. Based on the novel of the same name by Russell Herts (I would dearly love to own a copy of that, if anyone reading this knows where I can get one) it parodies Culbertson and the Culbertson-Lenz match, among other aspects of the game.
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BRIDGE QUIZ
This article is really for novices and intermediates. Tell me what your bid should be? You hold the following hands. The bidding has proceeded: 1C ? Pass- Pass to you
- S Qx H AJ10 D Kxxx C QJ109
- S Qxx H AJ10 D KQX C AJ9x
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