Editorial by Paul Bowyer
Welcome to V-Blue, issue #2 the e-magazine for those learning the world's most popular card game.
In this second issue there are three series for you as well as a quiz (a further test of your understanding of Stayman).
Two series (of six hands each) are on Timing - the difficult art of knowing what to do after dummy goes down and you have to plan the first few tricks. What do you do first? In your early work on card-play you should have met the twin (but contrary) ideas of drawing trumps and of taking ruffs in the dummy. Here we take you one step even further along this road and ask you what are your priorities when you make your plan of action.
Getting the timing right, as in many walks of life, is very important. The primary question is what you do when you have too many losers. You can only trump them or dump them so you have to decide what to do.
The first series has some straightforward hands, the second set of deals is decidedly more testing.
Our "general" set of eight hands is, as will become the norm, a set of unrelated deals with ideas that you should have met before. This means you don't know what's coming next – good preparation for how the game is played at the table.
20 deals for you to chew over this edition but don’t worry, VuBridge is the best teacher you will ever have. Patient and attentive we are always at your shoulder, helping you along, helping you learn.
Series #2065 - Timing your Play - Basic examples (SA)
This series is about timing the hand. All the deals are played in trump contracts and you have to decide what to do.
Do you draw trumps?
Do you play to ruff losers?
Do you plan to discard your losers?
Remember, all you can do with excess losers is trump them or dump them.
Stayman over 1NT Quiz by Paul Bowyer
In this section we are looking again at opening 1NT and also at the Stayman Convention. This is one of the simplest conventions at the bridge table - a response of 2♣ to 1NT asks for a four-card major. Opener bids one if he has one, else denies one by bidding 2♦.
Assume in all cases that 1NT is 15-17.
Stayman 2 Quiz: click here
Series #2065 - Timing your Play - Harder examples (SA):
Building up on the knowlege from the previous (above) series.
This set of 6 deals is all about disposing of excess losers (or trying to increase an inadequate number of winners).
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