Counting

The Presentation

You can step through the slides by clicking on the graphic, right.

Alternatively, print or read a PDF big file with links or quicker download (lower quality).

All formats are without animations or reveals.

Links

The Examples

For hints on using the BBO Handviewer, see end.

Most of these come from club play.

  1. Counting and watching

    1. Trying for overtricks: Bd. 14

      1. As dealt
      2. Variant
    2. Bd. 16 an overtrick from nowhere
    3. Bd. 28 Murdoch for Scotland in Senior Camrose – pure counting

  2. Suit establishment

    1. Bd. 9 Ruffing a suit good: Helness plays 7 at 2015 Europeans

    2. Matchpoints where taking overtricks is important. You can see how taking 13 tricks in 4 would have scored from the traveller.

      1. What happened

      2. What should have happened

  3. Ruffing

    1. 4 from 2015 Suffolk Teams Final

    2. Bd. 2

      1. As played – accurate defence
      2. Improvement

    3. Bd. 4 recounting as the play develops

      1. As played – accurate defence
      2. Improvement

Using BBO Handviewer

This is simple Internet application that steps through a bridge deal.

It has a small number of settings in 'Options' which should be self-descriptive. At the seminar I tended to use 'Show played cards' and 'Advance card by card' for clarity. Also 'Hand diagram' rather than 'Pictures of cards' – because I'm used to it and that's how deals in appear print (which you'll need to study).

There is a hidden option that allows you follow ('kibitz') a seat, seeing the table from that perspective, just 13 cards and, when play begins, dummy. This is achieved by clicking on the blue 'N', "E', 'S', 'W'. When I showed deals I always pre-selected declarer so we could consider the play problem without seeing how the opposing cards were lying. To return to the four-hand view ('double dummy') click the kibitzed seat again.

There are two additional buttons: 'GIB' (Ginsberg's Intelligent Bridgeplayer) which produces a hand-analysis similar to the one on the hand-records at the club or on the website (when not in kibitz mode). It shows the result each card produces, green means the contract makes ('=' exactly or number of overtricks) and red is undertricks.