Issue 6 - ACOL

Editorial by Paul Bowyer

Welcome to the sixth edition of V-Blue, the e-magazine for those learning the wonderful game of bridge.

In this issue there are (as ever) three excellent series for you to get your teeth into. Two series (of six hands each) are on suit establishment, whereby you have to develop long suits both by knocking out opposing high cards and by taking advantage of the way the suit breaks. This topic is backed up by our quiz on suit combinations and breaks. The key to success here is for you to count the cards as they are played. Don't worry! As ever, we will talk you through this carefully, starting with six very gentle hands in the first series.

The are, naturally enough, six slightly harder hands in the second series. When you have absorbed the lessons of suit establishment (and practice with counting out the suits as they are played) you may care to try out our "General Series". Here we have eight assorted deals for you to see what you have gained from previous editions of VuBridge. Four of these hands place you as declarer and four put you as a defender. Can you make your contracts and defeat the opponents' contracts? That's not asking too much, is it?

There is plenty here for you to enjoy. Good luck.

Series #2152 - Setting up tricks in long suits - Part 1 (ACOL)

This series is all about developing tricks in No-trump contracts.

In this set of six deals we are looking at that perennial source of extra tricks - long suits. The "twist" here is that we need to do two things to set these suits up - one is to drive out the opponents' high cards, the other is to count the suit so that we can take advantage of the way the suit breaks.

Yes, we are back to Counting. Sorry, but it's a subject that is never far from our minds. In fact, it's an essential skill of the game.

Series #2152 - Setting up tricks in long suits - Part I (ACOL):

Suit breaks 2 Quiz

In this quiz we are looking at card play again - in particular the way that suits break or split. Here, though, we do not have all the top cards and need to think about knocking out the opponents' bosses in order to develop a suit.

You have to consider breaks such as 4-4, 4-1, 3-3, 3-2, 3-1 and the like in order to work out how many truicks you might make if it's your lucky day. When playing the hand in practice it is, of course, important to count the cards as they are played so that you keep track of your suit.

Click here to run the Quiz.

Series #2153 - Setting up tricks in long suits - Part II (ACOL)

Here, in this set of six deals, we are continuing to look at setting up long suits. Again (as in the first series) we are seeking to take advantage of the way suits break.

Series #2153 - Setting up tricks in long suits - Part II (ACOL):

Series #2145 General Hands (ACOL):