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Advanced Lesson 12 – 2/1 in Competition (Two over One) Part 3

August 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Continuing on our bidding saga using the 2/1 system, enter the world of competitive bidding.  Yes, mother told us that Bridge bidding and play would not always be easy.  Sure enough, after partner opens 1 Heart and our Right Hand Opponent overcalls 1 Spade, our hopes of using the 2/1 system has vanished!  So our 2 level bid in a new suit is no longer game forcing.  Ditto with our 1 Notrump response, suddenly changing from a forcing call to simply showing 8-10ish points, “to play” and a few stoppers in nasty RHOs suit – drat.

And should RHO make a takeout double call, like the Standard American bidding system, enter a NEW set of calls to deal with interference.  As with other systems, a redouble shows 10+ points and implies no fit, a new lower suit bid at the 2 level is “to play” (non-forcing).  And now a 2 Notrump response becomes an artificial bid showing 3+ card trump suit (4+ for some) and invitational+ values.  Wow, so much for our beloved 2/1 system in competition!

But wait, there’s more… When the opponents compete and we do not have a fit, we need methods to explore 3 Notrump contracts with stoppers, right?  And we also need methods to efficiently explore slam auctions when the opponents compete (cuebids).  And of course we will need efficient methods to explore major suit slams with 5+4 suit fits and no competition, i.e., the Jacoby 2 Notrump convention.

So with almost 100 minutes of instructional video material, you won’t want to miss this lesson and consider our BridgeHands recommendations.  Of course, bidding is only half the game and we will have lots to ponder when it comes to declarer and defender play.  So whether you play the 2/1 system or not, over the course of 12 hands as always you will definitely get your money’s worth.  And as always, we have a plethora of  additional Bridge hands here at BridgeHands – we welcome you to view our online archive with hundreds of hours of Bridge videos are always available here:

“Index to Videos” on the navigation above or simply click this link.

All audiences – Part 1, lesson and 2 hands – 27 minutes

Free, Premium an ULTRA audiences – Part 1b, Bid and play 2 hands – 15 minutes

Premium and ULTRA Members – Part 2, 2/1 competition – 35 minute video

Premium and ULTRA Members – Part 3, 2/1 with more competition – 31 minute video

Premium and ULTRA Members – download PowerPoint slides

We hope you enjoy the show!

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Happy Trails,

BridgeHands

Filed Under: Advanced

Social Lesson 11 – Bridge Declarer Play, Part 2, Pull trump?

August 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

You are playing in a suit contract and you have two choices – pull trump and either promote a side suit, or first ruff losers in dummy’s short side suit.   But wait, there ARE other considerations when we should “do something else” before playing trump, right?

In this lesson we will start off considering what to do after the dummy hits the table and we say, “Thank you partner.” Sometimes we count winners, sometimes we count losers, and for those who love counting you’ll probably do both!

In this lesson while we will focus on bidding and play, we will start off segment one and two reviewing the fundamentals of making your best lines of play.  Certainly paying attention to entries and transportation is important, yet knowing the odds based on normal suit distribution as well as “extra information” learned during bidding and play can also help you bring home that close contract.  And yes, at BridgeHands you can count on us to take a close look at “human factors” – considering opponents gestures, mannerisms, delays, hesitations and the like (as well as tips on how to avoid doing so ourselves).

To get warmed up, we will start off slowly bidding and playing an easily attainable contract suit contract using our classic declarer play methods.  Then over the next 11 hands, we will learn from the Good, the Bad and the Ugg (in fact, sometimes even the opponents give the declarer an unnecessary trick).  So better we learn from our animated screen players than when your are orchestrating your declarer play with your hopeful partner praying for you…  So as always, we will entertain you with hand variations to underscore valuation with illustrative bidding examples with lots variations including animated card play and commentary.  Of course here at BridgeHands, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and as always you’ll see lots of action playing hands at the table!

So sit right up and tune in to our BridgeHands videos!

Premium and ULTRA members are welcome to enjoy the three-part lesson segments (part 2 is 46 minutes, split into Part 2a and 2b).   Additionally, be sure to check out the hundreds of hours of videos in our archive by clicking “Index to Videos” on the navigation above or simply click this link.

Part 1 – Declarer play in suit contract – for all audiences – click here to view 29 minutes of video

Free, Premium and ULTRA Members click here to view Part 1b with 5 hand variations and 23 minutes of video

Premium and ULTRA Members click here to view Part 2 discussing when NOT to pull trump – 16 minutes of video

Premium and ULTRA Members click here to view Part 2b with 3 hands and 24 minutes of video

Premium and ULTRA Members click here to view Part 3 with 4 hands and 27 minutes of video

Happy Trails,

BridgeHands

Filed Under: .Social