A tool for self-imrovement
Getting better at bridge takes time and effort – there are no shortcuts. In years gone by, many players would read books to improve. That's still an option, but thanks to the Internet, there is also the opportunity to play many hands and review the line you have taken, for better or worse. If you play club-bridge once a week, you might have just six hands as declarer, with no access to card-by-card replays. Supplement this with some on-line play, and it’s easy to declare and review 50 or more boards per week.
One downside of growing up in the UK is that you begin by learning Acol, while most of the rest of the world plays a form of 5 card majors, which dominate on-line bridge. However, now it’s possible to practice by yourself for free playing Acol (or 2-over-1, Precision, etc.). To do so, join IntoBridge (https://IntoBridge.com/).
As well as playing plenty of boards against random opposition on IntoBridge, each day you’ll have the opportunity to play 5 boards against an expert. Often these international players release videos, recording their thoughts while they are playing. Thanks to this, afterwards, you can learn where you – and possibly they – went wrong. You can find out more about the daily challenge here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVkkq2hZQHk
The unassuming cue bid
When partner opens the bidding and you have strong trump support, you want to keep the opposition out of the bidding and immediately jump to game. So, what should you do when you have opening points and trump support? Maybe you will also jump to game? But that can put partner in a quandary. Bidding is a communication between you and your partner, describing your hand so partner knows whether to consider a slam, a pass, or a double.
Distinguishing between simply trump support and a strong raise is possible by adding to your armoury the unassuming cue bid, which is a bid of opponent’s suit. Offering an explanation of when to use the unassuming cue bid is professional bridge teacher Rob Barrington, playing against the robots in the Wednesday Morning Tournament. Head to board 4, starting at 18:50, to enjoy his insights. See: The Unassuming Cue Bid.
What to open?
Hands with a 6-5 distribution are incredibly powerful, hence the phrase ‘6-5, come alive’. So, if you have enough points, you’ll open. But what do you do if you have a 6 card minor and a 5 card major. Do you bid the major first, given that you need less high-card points to make major game than a minor game? Or do you fear if you open a major, you’ll never described your shape to partner? Offering clear advice on what to do is recently crowned World Grand Master Gavin Wolpert, playing in The Wednesday Morning Tournament. The hand in question is board 3, starting at 16:46. See: What to Open?
Aces and spaces?
Bridge has a number of well-known phrases. You may be familiar with ‘six-five, come alive’, ‘the five level is for the opponents’, and ‘aces and spaces’. But what are your thoughts on the latter?
According to leading bridge theorists Aces are undervalued by the Milton point count (Ace =4 points, King=3 points, etc.) - a value of 4.5 is a better representation of an ace's true value. But what about all those spaces? If you want the view of an Australian bridge pro, take a look at board 3 from his efforts in the BBO weekly free tournament (his play on board 3 starts just over 9 minutes in to this 28 minute video and the Aces and Spaces comments follow after he has played the board. See: Aces and Spaces.
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