Enjoy Beginning Bridge
How to Enjoy Learning Beginning Bridge
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
CHAPTER 4
FIRST SEAT DETERMINES THE “HOW HIGH AND WHERE” OF THE OPENING BID
In the previous chapter, we restricted an opening bid’s description to the “How High” part of the bid.. While that facilitated the teaching of the point-count system, it was not realistic, since a legal bid needs to include a strain as well as a bidding level. For example, an opening bid of 1-heart indicates the level of the bid as well as the suit proposed as trump, Hearts. While the “How High” part of a bid is important since it governs the number of tricks the contract requires, the right to select the strain is the auction’s real prize since whatever strain the auction’s winners choose, you can be sure that it is usually bad for the defense.
WHERE YOU SIT IS WHAT YOU ARE CALLED
Bridge players assume four different identities, depending on the roles assigned to their seats: The First Seat opens the bidding; the Second Seat challenges the opening by overcalling or doubling; the Third Seat responds to the first seat’s opening bid; and, the Fourth Seat ADVANCES the second seat’s overcall or takeout double. While the dealer always assumes the First Seat, his CALL, any bid, double or pass, may be a pass. When a pass occurs, the opportunity to open the bidding goes to the dealer’s LEFT HAND OPPONENT (LHO) and if the LHO opens the bidding, he becomes the First Seat. To clarify if the dealer is South and he opens the bidding, he is the First Seat; his LHO is West, who now the Second Seat.
THE PRIORITIES WHEN CHOOSING THE “WHERE” PART OF THE OPENING BID
A Notrump opening bid is always preferred over any other opening bid because it more precisely describes the opener’s shape and strength than an opening bid in a suit. However, Notrump is not the preferred strain for the play of the tricks. The “Bridge-Logic” for that anomaly is derived from observations showing that play in a major suit with an 8-card or longer fit will usually yield one or more tricks than play in Notrump, whether it’s played in partscore or game. Note this guidance well as it is an important part of your bridge strategy.
When a hand is not suitable for opening in Notrump, the second priority is to open in a major and the last priority is an opening bid in a minor suit. Minors are ranked last because a game contract in a minor requires 11 tricks, the most tricks of any of the bidding options. Because of the high number of tricks required by a minor suit opening, it carries the highest risk of being SET, defeated.
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OPENING BIDS AT THE ONE-LEVEL
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Book Details
About the Book
Most beginning bridge books are written by truly gifted experts who have long forgotten what it was like to be a beginner. They have understandably forgotten that learning bridge is akin to learning a second language. As a result, most beginning bridge books are written in “bridge-speak” and the beginner has the same experience as anyone watching a foreign film without sub-titles. This book is unique in that the author was a real recent beginner when writing this book and knew how to convert “bridge-speak” into language a beginner can understand.
Because of the need to teach in the same language that the beginner speaks, the author employs an effective technique for introducing bridge terms for the first time. For example, the term VULNERABLE is first introduced capitalized in bold, followed by a clear definition of the term. Also, a robust 8 page Glossary is provided. With this approach, the beginner becomes “fluent” in bridge as he is being introduced required bridge skills.
Enjoy Beginning Bridge is also unique in that it recognizes that a bridge player must be prepared to assume four different roles, requiring four different skill sets depending in which of the four seats he is assigned. To prepare the beginner for this challenge, each one of these four roles is assigned a separate chapter. The book’s format is specifically designed for a beginner, with three separate sections within each major chapter: a narrative that explains the specific bridge skill that is introduced; a matrix that summarizes the guidelines discussed in the narrative; and, lastly, a series of quizzes which include solutions and a “lessons learned” section that transcends the specific problem.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for a beginning bridge book is the narration of all the bridge skills needed to enable the beginner to participate in the END-GAME, the final event in bridge which includes the playing of the tricks. As in opera, when it is not over until the “fat lady singes,” bridge is not over until all the tricks are played. Enjoy Beginning Bridge employs a unique teaching technique to simulate an actual bridge game, short of providing the bridge table, the four chairs and the two decks of cards.
About the Author
Andrew Giordano, having retired twice: once, from a 31 year career in the U.S. Navy; and, the second time from a series of executive positions in “corporate