Just wanted to post a welcome message to the J1s if they are reading this:
Hello! We're very glad to have you with us and be part of the Bridge family! This game might be a little different from the normal style of bridge you play with your friends casually, but I can confidently assure you that you'll find more satisfaction and fun in Contract Bridge. The initial learning process may prove to be a challenge, but hey, every journey begins with the first step, so as long as you're willing to take the first step and persevere on, your efforts will pay off tenfold. In addition, you will come to realise that many of the strategies in Contract Bridge can be applied to Social/Floating Bridge as well. These are many principles that casual players neglect and therefore end up losing. But you, as a student of Contract Bridge, are well-versed in these principles and can make accurate decisions, instead of leaving it to luck.
Allow me to give a brief history of myself; how I learnt this game. It was at a class chalet in 2006. If I did not remember wrongly, Downtown East was undergoing some renovation and we got bored of the facilities around. So my friends started playing bridge, a game new to me. At first, I thought it was just another silly card game, but they played for hours, and I was curious how this 52 cards can entertain so many people for so long. Some time later, I found out I've a friend who plays Contract Bridge too, so I got him to explain the game to me and I just got more and more interested in the game. Initially, he told me I needed to memorise quite a number of things and I admit I did think of stopping, but somehow I didn't. I ended up learning it throughout my O levels year, and the peak peiod was around June where I just played everyday online. Fortunately, I didn't flunk my exams as a result. But playing everyday helped me revise what I learnt. Soon, I did not even have to think to recall. It just came naturally. It's like how you still remember how to walk and how to talk etc.
So, the point is, do stay on and you'll be vastly rewarded for your hard work :)
Cheerios,
Bridge Head '08/'09
hongaik madesix at 9:48 PM
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Sunday, February 8, 2009
2H-3C-3H-3NT
2H: Preempt, 6 H.
3C: Forcing one round, 5+ C, game interest
3H: Waiting
3NT: To play
1D-1H-1S-2C-2NT-3NT
1S: 12+ HCP, 4 S (cannot be 5 else would open 1S)
2C: Artificial, gameforcing
2NT: 12-15 HCP, C stopper. With 16-18 HCP, bid 3NT
3NT: To play
1S-2D-3C-3H-3NT
2D: 10+ HCP, 4+ D, may have S support, Forcing
3C: 15+ HCP, 5-4 S-C, Gameforcing
3H: Natural 4 H. With 5+, bid 2H instead of 2D
3NT: To play
1H-1S-1NT-3S-4S
1NT: 12-15 HCP, exact 5 H(else would 2H), no 4card S
3S: Invitational, 6+ S
4S: To play
1H-1NT-2C-2S
1NT: 6-9 HCP, no 3card H, no 4card S
2C: 12-18 HCP, 5-4 H-C, non-forcing
2S: Undefined/Partnership agreement
*If 2S was 2D, it'd be a self-sufficient diamond suit playable with minimum support from partner. To play.
AQxx - Jxx
Finesse the Q against the K on the first round. Do not finesse the J as you don't have T or 9. If the Q holds, cash the A and hope the K falls.
KJxx - T98x
Finesse against the Q by leading the T and letting it run if the next opponent plays small. Do not finesse against the A. Finesse against the Ace only if you have a singleton in the other hand and can ruff. However, sometimes when you have singleton, you can still choose to finesse against the Q, because if it works the K can provide a discard elsewhere. If this sounds abit confusing, consider this case:
S AKx
H KJx
S xxx
H x
Finessing against the Q usually has higher chance than that against the A. So if you finessse the J here and it works, the K can be used to discard the spade loser. If you finesse the K and it works, you also reduce your losers by one. So you take the finesse with a higher chance (J). Unless you don't have other losers or no entries, then play towards the K.
Axx - JTxx
Cash A and play towards JT. This play loses only when KQ is sitting after JT. All other layouts (split KQ and KQ sitting behind JT) yields at least 2 tricks. Finessing twice by leading the J will never work. Cashing A picks up singleton honour anywhere.
AKxx - T98x
Cash the A and finesse by leading the T on the second round. If the finesse fails, the last honour will drop on the K. If T is covered then you only have one loser.
Alternatively, you can cash the A and play small to T, conceding one trick.
Both lines of play catches everything except for QJxx and QJxxx sitting after the AKxx. They work equally well. In fact, I'd prefer the second line since you need an extra entry to get back to the hand to lead the T.
hongaik madesix at 4:53 PM
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Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Hi. Some new problems to ponder over.
A) 2H-3C-3H-3NT
B) 1D-1H-1S-2C-2NT-3NT
C) 1S-2D-3C-3H-3NT
D) 1H-1S-1NT-3S-4S
E) 1H-1NT-2C-2S
Something special, card combinations. Please explain how you would play these combinations with the given quota of tricks.
AQxx opposite Jxx (best chance to take 3 tricks)
KJxx opposite T98x (best chance to take 3 tricks)
Axx opposite JTxx (best chance to take 2 tricks)
AKxx opposite T987 (best chance to take 3 tricks)
hongaik madesix at 7:32 PM
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Tuesday, February 3, 2009
I'm always paranoid that people will forget about training, so it will be ON on thursday, 3pm at C11. I doubt attendance will be good but oh wells.
Declarer play:
You have 9 top tricks, 5 trumps, 3 diamonds and the club Ace. Where's the 10th? The club finesse might work, but we don't have to rely on that. A better line of play would be an endplay.
Endplay basically is technique where you allow a particular defender to be on the lead, such that no matter what he leads, he will give you a free trick which is not available if you were to play without letting him lead.
In this case, first drop all the outstanding trumps and cash 3 diamonds. Cash the club Ace and concede the queen club to whoever has the K. The defender that has it will be endplayed. If he returned a minor you'll yield a ruff&Discard, giving you your 10th(via a ruff). If he returns a spade, simply 'second-hand-play-low' and you're confirmed to win a 10th in spades regardless of how the spade suit is divided.
The key here is, do not take the club finesse for an extra chance. If it failed, defenders can return a club to your Ace and you'll have to play spades yourself, which will probably end up with 3 losers, with the club K makes 4.
I guess the first few bids are more or less familiar. So I'll just state the conditions that are more commonly forgotten.
1D-2C-2D-2NT-3NT
1D: No 5card major
2C: 10+ HCP, 4+ cards, may have 4+ cards in majors
2D: Waiting
2NT: Minimum, 10-12 HCP, no 4card major
3NT: To play
1D-2S-3S-4C-4H-4S
2S: 16+ HCP, strong 6+ cards
3S: Agree on S, slam interest. Without slam interest go to 4S immediately.
4C: First round control in clubs (Ace or void). Slam interest
4H: First round control in hearts, no first round control in diamonds (up the line)
4S: To play. If still have slam interest should Blackwood. No point bidding that suit just to ask partner to bid 4NT. Bid it yourself.
*Cue-ing of trump suit does not show first round control. It denies any further first round controls.
1S-2NT-3S-3NT
2NT: 10-12 HCP, balanced no support.
3S: Accepting invitation, 6+ S. If deny invitation can pass 2NT even with 6+ S.
3NT: To play
1H-1S-2NT-3S-4S
2NT: 16-18 HCP, exactly 5H (else would 3H), no 4card S(else would 3S)
3S: Accepting invitation, 6+ S. (Can be 5+ but I prefer 6+. Partnership agreement)
1C-1H-2NT-3S-3NT
2NT: 19-20 HCP, GF, may have 4card major
3S: 4-4+ H-S. Can be 5-4 or 6-4 or 6-5(strong hand) but not 5-5 or 4-5 else would bid 1S first.
hongaik madesix at 8:04 PM
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