Nothing Like Furniture as Bridge Art!

Source: http://www.hometalk.com/1904613/nothing-like-furniture-as-art – http://www.gypsybarn.com/

Oh wowzas. She took soooo long to do! I was given this dresser and thought – i need to do something fun. I saw this old card and of course, the Queen of Hearts is ideal for a nice shape. I blew the card up to see the details better and then got out the paint brushes. A month later, she’s done! Well, not quite, I still need to add hardware to open the drawers. And maybe push the drawers in properly for a photo shoot. but man o man I am just so happy she is done! First time around I painted her black, then when she was done I thought no no no she needs to be red. And there you have it. The Queen of Hearts!

Time: 4 Weeks Difficulty: Challenging

I knowwwwwwww i forgot to push int he drawers. The excitement to be done got to me!

The card i used blown up to see the details

Her standing all alone

The distressing close up

Tournament Bridge Services – Bridge Articles

Source: http://tournamentbridgeservices.com/bridge-articles

    Instruction – Training – Partnering

 

Bridge Articles

Lectures

It’s All In Your Head  –  May

It’s All In Your Head  –  August

It’s All In Your Head  –  Loss

It’s All In Your Head  –  In the Zone

It’s All In Your Head  –  New Methods

It’s All In Your Head  –  Stamina

It’s All In Your Head  –  Teammates

It’s All In Your Head  –  Zero Learning Curve  –  January

Learning Curve  –  Signals

Learning Curve  –  To Raise or Not To Raise

Learning Curve  –  GIGO Learning Curve  –  Double

Learning Curve  –  To Save or Not To Save

Bidding Theory

Barrett’s Forcing 2NT Response to 1H or 1S WHIRLWIND Defense to 1C Forcing Opener

Advanced Lesson 3 – Balancing Seat Bids for Duplicate Bridge Players

Source: www.bridgehands.com –  By BridgeHands – Free & Paid Memberships Available

Next up on our journey navigating competitive bids, we switch gears and turn our attention to balancing seat bids. Sometimes your partner has a nice hand but simply does not have the correct shape to make an overcall (suit bid or a takeout double). In situations like this as well as followup bidding, when you are in the passout seat it’s often time to “borrow a King” from partner and keep the auction alive and competitive (two passes so far and the auction goes to the opponents unless you make a call). Just remember that when partner made a call in passout seat, resist the urge to punish partner by then advancing the bidding to the 3 level. In this lesson we also demonstrate the inadequacy holding a Jack-doubleton (including Ace-Jack). We will also take a look at competing when Left Hand Opponent opens 1 Notrump and you are in the passout seat – time to use Mel Colchamiro’s “Rule of 2″ (guideline), responder’s “Stayman double” after RHO overcalls 2 Club, a tip on how to avoid an endplay when LHO has a trump stack sitting behind you, as well as the classic distribution when to try a “strip and endplay.”

Click here to view Teaser – Hand 1 of 5

We hope you enjoy the show!

Advanced Lesson 2 – Freebids in Competitive Auctions in Duplicate Bridge

Source: www.bridgehands.com – By BridgeHands – Free & Paid Memberships available at this site

Continuing our journey navigating competitive bids, we take another look at what can go right and wrong when bidding in the direct and balancing seat. When use wisely, freebids help us show partner additional length or side-suit values, while balancing seat bids in the passout seat are all about hand-to-hand competitive bidding – mano-a-mano. In this lesson we also compare and contrast allowing the competitors to win the auction in the event they overbid, making a seemingly odd Notrump balancing predicated on the opponents and partners bidding, underscoring the difference between a chunky 5 card suit with top honors versus a hand with spread honors and much more.

Click here to view Teaser – Hand 1 of 6

We hope you enjoy the show!

Advanced Lesson 1 – Freebids in Competitive Auctions in Duplicate Bridge

Source: www.bridgehands.com  – By BridgeHands – Free Membership & Paid Memberships Available

As promised, we are beginning the new year with shorter, more frequent lessons for the social and advanced players.

In our advanced lesson, we delve into competitive bidding – contrasting freebids from balancing seat bids in the passout seat. We will explore when not to make a negative double, “The Law” of Total Tricks, misfits, using the Rule of 10 to consider penalizing mischievous opponents and other provocative topics.

Click here to view Teaser

We hope you enjoy the show!

Social Lesson 3 – Opener in Major, Responder Bids Game

Source: www.bridgehands.com – By BridgeHands – Free Membership & Paid Memberships available

Continuing our journey navigating major suit raises, opener again starts the auction bids 1 Heart or 1 Spade promising at least a 5 card suit. When responder has a good 12+ distribution points, the bidding typically continues with responder making a “temporizing” response of 2 Clubs or 2 Diamonds (perhaps responding with a Jacoby 2 Notrump conventional bid with 4+ trump and interest in slam, or immediately responding with a Blackwood 4 Notrump ace-asking call). On the other hand, when responder has a very weak hand with lucky 5+ in partner’s major suit then responder should consider making an immediate response with 4 of opener’s major suit – a preemptive bid.

Click here to view Teaser – Hand 1 of 7

In this lesson we will learn to differentiate useful short side suits to help partner develop extra tricks through ruffing, as opposed to honor heavy trump which can result in double counting. Additionally, we will illustrate the perils of crashing honors with partner, the importance of unblocking the “short side” to promote a long suit in the other hand, the joys of “tapping” declarer’s trump suit as well as touch on how a squeeze play can generate extra tricks.

Even if you understand the basics, be sure to check out our topics on how counting can influence which way to take a finesse, suit quality, losing trick count, cover cards and more.

Social Lesson 2 – Open in Major, Responder Invites Game

Source: www.bridgehands.com – By BridgeHands

Continuing our journey navigating major suit raises, this time the opener begins bidding 1 Heart or 1 Spade promising at least a 5 card suit. On a good day Responder will support the suit and perhaps even make an invitation 3 level raise with 10-12 distributional suit. On other days, Responder will not have 3+card support and rummage up another bid. Still, not all is lost and Opener may rebid the major suit with a 6 card suit. But that’s just the start – tune in to our video for 43 minutes of enlightening and entertaining instruction at BridgeHands!

Click here to view Teaser – Hand 1 of 6

In this lesson we will learn to appreciate the value of dummy side suit shortage points, useful for declarer to make extra tricks by ruffing losers in the dummy. And when those pesky opponents immediately pull trump and deplete the dummy’s trump, we’ll go to the proverbial “Plan B,” giving it the good old college try and take our luck at promoting the dummy’s side suit.

Even if you understand the basics, be sure to check out our topics on how counting can influence which way to take a finesse, suit quality, losing trick count, cover cards and more.

Social Lesson 1 – Major Suit Raises in Contract Bridge

Source:  http://www.bridgehands.com – By BridgeHands – Free & Paid Memberships Available at this site.

As promised, we are beginning the new year with shorter, more frequent lessons for the social and advanced players. Premium and ULTRA members are welcome to enjoy both lesson segments.

Click here to view Teaser

In our social lesson, we discuss some of the nuances associated with major suit raises for our social contract Bridge players. As you will recall, most opener and responder hands come in one of three sizes: Minimum, Medium and Maximum. Assuming the partnership at least a 5-3 or 4-4 fit between the opener and responder then…

Opener
Minimum: 12-15 points, Medium: 15-17 points, Maximum: 18/19-21 points

Responder
Minimum: 5/6-9 points, Medium: 10-12 points, Maximum 13+ points

Bidding generally goes:

Minimum + Minimum = stop in 2 of the major suit
Medium + Minimum = invite to 3 of the major suit but do not accept a 4 level game
Maximum + Maximum = force to at least 4 level major suit game

Even if you understand the basics, be sure to check out our topics on how counting can influence which way to take a finesse, suit quality, losing trick count, cover cards and more.

Strong Jump Shift bidding skills

Source: www.bridgehands.com

Aloha and welcome to our Hawaii edition of BridgeHands lesson #80 where you will again have an opportunity to demonstrate your Strong Jump Shift bidding skills as well as some play skills from our prior lessons.

In these exercises, South will hold very distributional hands with a 6-5 shape in the major suits. As the Bridge cliché goes, when holding six-five, “come alive.” True, some would rather not spend much time thinking about “freak hands” considering that the six-five combinations only come up 1.4 percent of the time (6-5-1-1 and 6-5-2-0 are each .7 percent). Yet as we’ve seen in our prior lessons, even with so-called freak hands, wise players always consider Suit Quality, Self or Semi Self-Sustaining-Suits, Losing Trick Count and partner’s receptivity considering fit, Cover Cards and honors.   In fact, in our next lesson we will give special consideration when both our long suits are in the minors where we must choose between an 11 trick minor suit game, slam or risking a 3 Notrump game contract. But for now, let’s focus on 6-5 hand in the major suit. In both lessons we will evaluate the worth of singleton honors, a side suit doubleton with a primary honor as well as a worthless doubleton. And as always, we will move around a card here and there, measuring the impact on the bidding, line of declarer play and available tricks.  In fact, most of these hands will require careful declarer and defender play to find the best contract so be forewarned, alert and put on your thinking cap!  Finally, be sure to view our entire video lessons along with the concluding remarks for additional details.

We hope you enjoy over 90 minute of video, online commentary and downloadable files – see you at the movies!

you may click here to view the video associated with Hand 1.

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Try our Polling You question:   Polling You #80 Strong Jump Shift w/6-5 hands Click above to go to BridgeHands for the Poll, video and more Click here if you have problems accessing the Poll

What Next ? After going to our “Polling You” website to register your vote, drop by to view comments and share your thoughts, too. If you haven’t signed up yet, why wait? Come on down and sign up today for our no strings attached complimentary FREE lifetime Membership Subscription.  Incidentally, if you received this EMAIL from a friend, when you sign up for our free Membership Subscrption, we will also sign you up for eMagazine newsletters like this one.  See you there!   About Us Want to Learn More ? BridgeHands – our goal is to offer you enlightening, entertaining, and educational Bridge instruction that’s fun for everyone.  First came our comprehensive website, then our free eMagazine newsletters and BridgeBlog with online audio interviews.  And now in addition to this free polling survey and animated card play with narration, we are also include video instructional lessons from our studio.

AZ Bridge Works – Bridge Classes

Intermediate Bridge Supervised Play – Mondays Only September 10, 17, and 24th, 9:30-11:30a $15 per session – No need to sign up…come when you can   Classes: Strategies to Improve Your Score Monday Session – October 1, 15, 22 and 29, November 5 and 12 – 9:30-11:30a No class October 8 …Phoenix Regional Tournament Wednesday Session – October 3, 17, 24 and 31, November 7 and 14 10:00a – 12:00noon No class October 10…Phoenix Regional Tournament $90 per 6 week session … Sign up for either day, but one may come on alternate day if necessary Supervised Play – Mondays Only December 3, 10 & 17, 9:30-11:30a $15 per session, no need to sign up….come when you can Jerry is available for individual play and lessons.  Adele Verkamp, Instructor Jerry Gaer, Instructor (480-598-9929), e-mail: addiev3@cox.net	Adele Verkamp and Jerry Gaer
Woulda’, Coulda’, Shoulda’ Defense Thursday, September 13, 9:30 to 11:30a: Introduction & Opening Leads Thursday, September 20, 9:30 to 11:30a: Defensive Play during the HandThursday, September 27, 9:30 to 11:30a: More Defensive Plays during the Hand Don’t be discouraged when you miss an opportunity to take more tricks on defense. Improving our defense is a goal we work on forever!  It is complex — highly dependent on partnership trust and our own ability to imagine and count the concealed hands.  In these classes we will learn more about: Leads and carding, Maximizing your defensive winners, Recognizing and Thwarting declarer’s plan, Creating losers for declarer. The emphasis of this series is on practical experience with various defensive situations.  2 or 3 “hints” will be given at the beginning of each class and then we will play 8 hands. After each hand you will be given a “Woulda’, Coulda’, Shoulda’” analysis of the hand and the best defense for the situation. Remember, the better you defend, the more you can confidently double the opponents’ contracts! $15 per class Hand-outs with notes on hand analysis.	Phebe Packer
Tuesday afternoons – for about 1/2 hour following the game – Ron Fischer will review play, hands and answer questions you may have about any given hand. This mini-lesson is free.	Ron Fischer
BEGINNING BRIDGE (Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday Mornings and Monday Evenings) Tuesday, September 18, 9:00-11:00a Wednesday, September 19, 9:00-11:00a Thursday, September 20, 9:00-11:00a Tuesday, September 25, 9:00-11:00a Wednesday, September 26, 9:00-11:00a Thursday, September 27, 9:00-11:00a Monday evenings, 7:00-9:00p October 1 thru November 5 Six week/lesson course: $75.00 COMMON CONVENTIONS (ADVANCING BRIDGE ) Thursday evenings, 7:00-9:00p November 12 thru December 3 Four week course: $50.00 Register at the club, phone (480) 990-3999 or call Stephanie at 480-816-1698 or e-mail: SHaddy@cox.net	Stephanie Haddy Beginning Bridge
Not sure which class meets your needs?  Come try us out for a lesson. If you are beyond the class or not quite ready yet there is no fee.  Try another to see if it fits.