Editorial by Paul Bowyer
Welcome to the tenth issue of V-Blue, the e-magazine for those fresh to the wonderful game of bridge.
Here, as usual, we have three excellent series for you. Two series (of six deals each) are dummy play and focus on the play in suit contracts. We are looking at ruffing in the dummy and the important principle of ruffing in the short trump hand. We aim to show you how you can "extend" the length of your trump suit by trumping – but that doing so on some occasions can be harmful to your health. Confused? Well, we are here to help. There are six straightforward hands in the first series and six slightly harder hands in the second.
When you have absorbed these very important lessons on playing the dummy you may care to play an assortment of deals in our "General Series". Here we have a mixture of eight deals, some as declarer and some as a defender. All the fun of the fair – you don't know what's coming next. Don't worry, though. VuBridge is an immaculate teacher, always by your side to give you hints, tips and wheezes of how to cope with the demands of this fascinating game.
You can further test yourself with our quiz – this time on the topic of rebidding as opener after your partner has responded 1NT.
There's plenty here for you to get your teeth into. Good hunting and good luck.
Series #2255 - Ruffing losers in dummy - Part I (SA)
This series is all about playing the cards in suit contracts. In previous deals we have emphasized the necessity of drawing trumps. Well, there are many hands on which that would be unwise. In these deals you need to ruff your losers before you pull the opponents' trumps.
How can you tell what type of hand it is? How can you tell as declarer whether you should draw trumps or not? Well, it's all down to counting. Much of bridge relies on counting skills. When dummy appears you must carefully count your winners. If you can see sufficient for your contract then - in general - you should draw trumps. If you can't see enough tricks then you should look to ruff some of your losers.
One crucial point of technique is not always understood. It is only worthwhile ruffing losers if you ruff in the short trump hand. If you have five trumps and dummy has three then ruffing in the hand with five trumps is unlikey to achieve anything at all. However, ruffing in the hand with three trumps will allow you extra tricks.
Hopefully, some of these deals will clarify this important point.
Rebidding as opener
This quiz is about rebidding as opener after your partner has responded 1NT.
Click here to run the Quiz.
Series #2256 - Ruffing losers in dummy - Part II (SA version)
This series continues the theme of ruffing losers in the dummy. Remember, many hands demand that you draw trumps as quickly as you can. However, there are an equal number of deals where you need to do something else. How can you tell what type of hand it is?
Remember, success is all down to counting. When dummy appears you must carefully count your winners. If you can see sufficient for your contract then - in general - you should draw trumps. If you can't see enough tricks then you should look to ruff some of your losers.
It is only worthwhile ruffing losers if you ruff in the short trump hand. Ruffing in the long hand - generally - achieves nothing and should be avoided unless forced to do so.
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