Issue 5 - Standard American

Editorial by Paul Bowyer

Welcome to the fifth edition of V-Blue, the e-magazine for those “experienced learners” of the wonderful game of bridge. Oh, yes, and a happy new year!

In this issue there are four series. In two of them we are looking at how to make tricks by trumping but – in the process – avoiding being overtrumped. You may think of this as being careful – declaring with due care and attention. As ever, VuBridge, your ever-attentive bridge tutor, will be by your shoulder, ensuring that you are on the right path.

When you have worked your way through these twelve interesting deals you may like to head for the two “General Series” of six and four hands respectively. The first series has been written by our guest author from England, the famous and prolific writer David Bird. There’s no theme to these half a dozen deals and the level of difficulty varies from hand to hand. That’s precisely as it should be of course – when playing the game in practice some hands are easy and some... aren’t.

The final set of four deals does have a theme and we put you in the defensive seat for four opening lead problems. Easy? Maybe – maybe not.

No hints at this stage – let’s just see how you do. We also have a quiz for you to try. Ten questions on the 1NT overcall.

There’s plenty for you this new year edition – enjoy!

Series #2133 - Avoiding over-ruffs - Part I (SA version)

This set of deals is all about playing in suit contracts where you need to ruff losers in the dummy (maybe in the closed hand too).

In many of these examples there is the risk of an over-ruff by the opponents so you need to know when you have to ruff with a high trump to prevent that from happening.

Series #2133 - Avoiding over-ruffs - Part I (SA):

Preempts Quizz

In this section, we will be looking at opening three and four-level bids which are purely weak (about 6-10 points) and preemptive in nature. Important factors such as suit quality, vulnerability, and hand distribution should all be considered in judging whether a hand is suitable for a preemptive bid or not.

Preempts at the 3-level usually delivers a 7-card suit, and likewise at the 4-level it usually delivers an 8-card suit. Pre-empts Quiz: click here

Series #2134 - Avoiding over-ruffs - Part II (SA version) This collection of six deals is the second set on the topic of playing carefully when ruffing losers. In many of these (more difficult) examples there is the risk of an over-ruff by the opponents so you need to know when you have to ruff with a high trump to prevent that from happening.

We also introduce a twist in the play of some of these deals - sometimes you may choose not to ruff at all!

Series #2134 - Avoiding over-ruffs - Part II (SA version):

Series #2136 - Improve your Card Play by David Bird (SA):

Series #2129 - General Hands (SA):