FEBRUARY – A MONTH OF EXCESSIVE GESTURES By Marti Ronemus
Don't miss Marti's hands below this text!
What could be more depressing than February? The little blip in the middle, Valentine’s Day, does almost nothing to ameliorate the deep, deep ennui and boredom. The key to survival is to go BIG!!
Did you know that February is “Dessert for Breakfast Month?” That’s a help, but not quite enough. So we are encouraging Vu-Bridge Faithful Readers to make some grand gestures of their own. Wear stripes with plaids! Put on that purple hat! Buy something you’ve always wanted but so far resisted! Read a book you might normally ignore! Get a tattoo!
And let’s not forget our bridge game. We’re bringing some serious help to enable you to “Go Big or Go Home.”
We begin with DAVID BIRD. David shows how to defend when we know Pard is broke (and how to figure that out!). Next, we get to practice placing cards in the right hands…it’s not as hard as we think! He also reminds us that victory comes more often through taking advantage of an opponent’s mistake than brilliance. We need to be alert to those errors and prepare to pounce. And two more grand pleasures… killing entries and avoiding guesses.
BEN NORTON drags us out of the doldrums by focusing on card play techniques. He has challenging hands covering a veritable potpourri. Be prepared for an “intra-finesse” (I hear cries of “huh?”), a surround play, unblocking, reading the position of a suit to kill, and finally, if it quacks, should we duck? We’re feeling better about February already!
PAUL BOWYER, one of our absolutely favorite British teachers/players, brings us an eight-hand skill drill. He’s chosen “covering an honor with an honor” as his theme. When, why, why not (equally important), how… by the end of these hands, we’ll have a solid grip on the technique.
MATTHIAS HUBERSCHWILLER has two quizzes for us, built around one concept: Using the bidding to tell us what to lead. One quiz is about choosing after long bidding sequences, and one after short sequences. Much to think about.
And for a warm-up, I have two hands on excessive gestures for you.
Enjoy! And turn February into a grand month.
Don't forget: if you like Marti's style, have a go with her Bridge Boot Camps. Click here to ask Marti about the schedule...
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