"Feeling a Little Blue?" By Marti Ronemus
Don't miss Marti's hands below this text!
Stop Giving Gifts!
Yes, yes, yes. It’s the holiday season. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza or some other mid-Winter festival for you, we at Vu-Bridge want you to STOP GIVING GIFTS! Are you the bridge pair people love to face? Do you blindly return your partner’s lead? Do you always play Third Hand High? Is following Granny’s maxims how you defend?
Thank goodness you’ve come to us in time. We want you to limit your gift-giving to small velvet-covered boxes or things coated with chocolate. At the bridge table, we want you to be blood-thirsty demons – but polite of course!
And wait till you see how we’re going to help you.
First, DAVID BIRD advises on: How to give a suit preference signal so you can tell your Pard what suit to play. Then, a reminder on how to unblock a suit. Did you know that the play of an Ace mid-hand doesn’t guarantee also holding the King? He continues with a reminder of how if we Read the Lead, we might not always play third-hand-high. Lastly, a reminder to keep possible dummy winners covered.
Then we move on to BEN NORTON, whose hands are selected to give us the ability to visualize the layout of the hands. Read the Lead, see the suit. Why it’s so important to know how many points Pard has. How to follow through when Pard has made the perfect lead. How knowing the layout enables us to find the perfect shift at the perfect time.
PAUL BOWYER rings the holiday bells with eight hands all about how to use positive and negative discards. Back in the day, we just discarded a card from the suit we wanted led. Now, it’s oh-so-much more. Paul tells us to throw subtlety to the wind… discard that Queen if you can afford it. Don’t make Pard guess. If he misjudges the suit, it may well be your fault. Follow Paul’s guidance and you’ll clear the fog from his head.
In addition, we’ve got two quizzes from Matthias Huberschwiller. You’ll benefit greatly from his ideas.
Lastly, I have two little hands for you as a warm-up. My theme is when it makes perfect sense to trump your Pard’s perfectly good trick.
And there you have it. Once you’ve worked your way through this issue, you will be masters of the Scrooge approach to defense. No gifts, ever! And a ho ho ho to you, too!
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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