The Bridge CentreThere is one lesson here for every week of the course. Each one has a quick refresher, some exercises to do alone, and some drills to do with a practice partner. The answers are at the end of every lesson, hidden behind a little button, because I believe in you and also because I know you’ll peek. Everyone peeks. I peeked at my own answers while I was writing them.
How to use this workbook
After each class, spend about 45 minutes on your own and then about an hour with your practice partner. That’s less time than you spend each week deciding what to watch on television, and at the end of it you’ll know Stayman, which television has never once taught anybody.
You will need
One pack of cards (two is better, because one of them will always be missing the seven of diamonds), a pen, some paper, and this workbook.
Reading the hands
Hands are written suit by suit, highest suit first: ♠ spades, ♥ hearts, ♦ diamonds, ♣ clubs. “10” is the ten. Every hand has 13 cards. If a hand looks odd, count it. If it still looks odd, it may be a typo, in which case please tell us so we can feel bad about it.
Setting up a hand from the page
Take the actual cards and lay them out face up in four rows, one row per suit. This turns every quiz question into a real hand you can play out afterwards, which is the difference between reading about swimming and getting in the pool.
Each lesson has three parts
- Key points. A short refresher of what we covered in class, for those of you who were thinking about lunch.
- Solo exercises. Decide your answer, write it down, then check. Writing it down matters. Otherwise you will check the answer and tell yourself, “Yes, that’s what I was going to say,” and we both know you weren’t.
- Practise with a partner. Drills for two people at one table.
Playing with only two people
Bridge is a four-person game, and it is very hard to find four people who are free at the same time and still like each other. So: deal four hands. You sit North and turn South face up as your dummy. Your partner sits East and turns West face up as theirs. Each of you plays your own hand and your dummy. You’ll see half the cards, which makes learning easier while still being a real hand. It’s like bridge with training wheels, and nobody can see you wobble.
Bidding with only two people
Deal two hands of 13 (North and South) and set the rest aside. Bid them together as partners with no opponents butting in, then turn both hands face up and check the auction against the lesson. Enjoy the peace and quiet. It never happens at the club.
Before you start: the cards
Bridge uses an ordinary pack of 52 playing cards with the jokers taken out. The jokers are not invited. Nobody is quite sure what they did, but it was bad, and we don’t talk about it.
Learn these words first. Every lesson uses them, and the people at the club will use them at you very quickly, as if you were born knowing them.
The parts of a card
Hold your cards in a fan so the little index in each corner shows. You never need to see the middle of the card. The middle is just decoration, like the parsley on a plate.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Face | The printed side that shows what the card is |
| Back | The patterned side. Every card’s back looks the same, which is the entire basis of the game |
| Face up | Lying with the face showing, so everyone can see it |
| Face down | Lying with the back showing, so nobody can see what it is |
| Index | The small rank and suit printed in the corners, so you can read a card held in a fan |
| Pip | One of the suit symbols printed in the middle of a card. A 7 has seven pips. A 2 has two. You see where this is going |
| Spot card | A card from 2 to 10, marked with pips |
| Picture card | A King, Queen or Jack, which shows a person instead of pips. Also called a face card or court card, because bridge players like having three names for everything |
| Ace | The card with a single large pip. In bridge it is the highest card of its suit. Do not let it go to its head |
The deck
The other three suits have exactly the same 13 cards. There are no surprises. This is the last time in bridge that will be true.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Deck or pack | The whole set of 52 cards |
| Suit | One of four families: spades ♠, hearts ♥, diamonds ♦, clubs ♣. Each has 13 cards |
| Red and black | Hearts and diamonds are red. Spades and clubs are black |
| Rank | A card’s value within its suit: A (highest), K, Q, J, 10, 9 … down to 2 (lowest) |
| Honours | In bridge, the A, K, Q, J and 10 of each suit |
| Suit ranking | For bidding, suits rank clubs (lowest), diamonds, hearts, spades (highest). Alphabetical, for once. Enjoy it |
Handling the cards
Cards are dealt face down, and nobody picks up their hand until the deal is finished. I know you want to. Everyone wants to. Sit on your hands if you have to.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Shuffle | Mix the deck face down so the order is random |
| Cut | The player on the dealer’s right lifts part of the deck off the top, and the dealer puts the bottom part on top. It’s a tiny ceremony of trust between people who don’t trust each other |
| Deal | Hand out the cards face down, one at a time, clockwise, starting with the player on the dealer’s left |
| Hand | Your 13 cards, or one whole deal from start to finish |
| Sort your hand | Arrange your cards by suit, highest to lowest, alternating red and black suits so they’re easy to tell apart |
Words you’ll hear at the table
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Trick | One card from each player, four cards in all |
| Lead | Play the first card to a trick |
| Follow suit | Play a card of the suit that was led |
| Trumps | The suit chosen to beat all other suits |
| Void | Having no cards in a suit. Sounds sad. Is often wonderful |
| Singleton / doubleton | Having exactly one / exactly two cards in a suit |
Try this
- Solo: shuffle a deck, then sort it into the four suits, each from A down to 2. Time yourself and try to beat it. My personal best is not something I’m prepared to share.
- With a partner: take turns to shuffle, cut and deal four hands of 13. Each of you picks up a hand, sorts it and reads it aloud, suit by suit, highest first (“spades: ace, queen, four”). Say it with confidence. Confidence is half of bridge. The other half is the cards.
Lesson 1
How the game works
This week you learn the whole game. Not the whole game well, obviously. Nobody has learned the whole game well. People have tried for a hundred years and they’re still writing books about it. But you’ll learn enough to play a hand, which is more than most people at your last dinner party could do.
Key points
- Follow suit if you can. The highest card of the suit led wins, unless someone trumps.
- Points: A = 4, K = 3, Q = 2, J = 1. The pack has 40. An average hand has 10.
- You need 6 tricks (“book”) plus the level you bid: 1♠ needs 7 tricks, 4♠ needs 10.
- Games: 3NT, 4♥, 4♠, 5♣, 5♦.
- Play the high card from the shorter hand first.
Solo exercises
1.1 Count the high-card points (HCP) in each hand.
- ♠ A K 7 3♥ Q 8 4♦ J 9 2♣ K 6 5
- ♠ 8 6♥ K J 10 7 5♦ A 4♣ Q 9 7 3
- ♠ Q J 10♥ A 9♦ K Q 8 6 4♣ A J 2
1.2 How many tricks must declarer take?
a) 2♥ b) 3NT c) 6♠ d) 5♣
1.3 Which of these contracts are games?
3♠, 3NT, 4♦, 4♥, 5♣
1.4 Playing a suit
You hold ♥ A Q 7 3. Dummy holds ♥ K 2. Which card do you play first, and how many tricks can you be sure of?
1.5 Trumps
Hearts are trumps. A spade is led. You have no spades, but you have the ♥ 5 and the ♣ A. Which one wins the trick for you? (This is the question where a lot of people learn that an ace is not always the boss. It’s humbling. For the ace.)
Practise with a partner
- Point race: each deal yourselves 13 cards, count your HCP aloud, then swap hands and check each other. Then add up all four hands. It must total 40. If it doesn’t, someone can’t count, and it’s time for an honest conversation.
- Minibridge for two: deal four hands as described in “How to use this workbook”. Each player counts HCP. The side with more points declares and chooses trumps or notrump. Play 6 hands.
- Trick race: play in notrump with no bidding. Count the tricks each side wins. The point is practising following suit and cashing your winners, not gloating. Gloating is Lesson 7, which doesn’t exist.
Answers to Lesson 1 (you wrote yours down first, right?)
- 1.1 a) 13 b) 10 c) 17
- 1.2 a) 8 b) 9 c) 12 d) 11
- 1.3 3NT, 4♥ and 5♣ are games. 3♠ and 4♦ are part-scores.
- 1.4 Play the K first (high card from the short hand), then lead the 2 to your A Q. That’s 3 sure tricks. A 4th comes if the six missing hearts split 3-3.
- 1.5 The ♥ 5 wins by trumping. The ♣ A is just a discard and can’t win a spade trick. A five beat an ace. Welcome to bridge.
Lesson 2
Opening the bidding and responding
Bidding is a conversation between you and your partner using only fifteen words, while two strangers listen in and try to ruin it. It’s like texting your spouse with your mother-in-law reading over your shoulder. Every word has to count, and somebody is always judging.
Key points
- Open with 12+ HCP, or when your HCP plus the lengths of your two longest suits add up to 20 (the Rule of 20).
- Balanced 15–17: open 1NT. Balanced 20–21: open 2NT.
- Five-card majors: open 1♥ or 1♠ only with 5+ cards. With two 5-card suits, open the higher.
- No 5-card major: open your longer minor. With 3-3 in the minors open 1♣; with 4-4 open 1♦.
- Responses: a new suit at the 1 level shows 6+; raise partner’s major with 3+ cards and 6–10; 1NT is 6–10 with nothing else to say; a new suit at the 2 level shows 10+; a jump raise shows 10–12.
Solo exercises
2.1 You are dealer. What do you open?
- ♠ K Q 8 5♥ A J 6 3♦ 7 2♣ K 9 4
- ♠ A 7♥ K Q 10 9 6♦ A 8 4♣ 10 5 3
- ♠ K J 4♥ A 10 3♦ K Q 5♣ Q 8 6 2
- ♠ Q 7 3♥ K 6 2♦ A 9 5♣ K J 8 4
- ♠ A 10 8 6 4♥ 7♦ K Q J 9 3♣ 8 5
- ♠ J 8 5♥ Q 7 4♦ K 6 3♣ Q J 5 2
- ♠ K 9 7 6♥ 8 5♦ A Q 6 4♣ A 7 3
2.2 Partner opens 1♥. What do you respond?
- ♠ 8 6 4♥ K 9 7 3♦ Q 10 5♣ J 6 2
- ♠ A Q 7 5♥ 6 2♦ K 8 4 3♣ 9 7 5
- ♠ K 7♥ Q J 8 4♦ A 9 6 3♣ 10 8 2
- ♠ 9 5♥ 8 3♦ K J 7 4♣ Q 10 6 5 3
- ♠ 7 4 2♥ J 6♦ 9 8 5 3♣ Q 7 6 4
- ♠ K 10 3♥ 7 2♦ A Q 9♣ K J 8 6 4
Practise with a partner
- Open-or-pass drill: deal four hands. Each of you looks at two hands in turn and announces the opening bid or “pass”. Check it against the rules above. Do 10 deals. Saying “pass” firmly is a skill. Practise it in other areas of your life too.
- Two-hand auctions: deal North and South only. North opens, South responds, and you stop there. Turn both hands up: did you find your 8-card fit? Do 10 deals.
- Play it: on the last 4 deals, bid to a contract together, then play it using the two-person setup.
Answers to Lesson 2
- 2.1 a) 1♣. 13 HCP but no 5-card major, so open your longer minor (three clubs, two diamonds). You’ll show a major next. b) 1♥. 13 HCP, 5 hearts. c) 1NT. 15 HCP, balanced. d) 1♣. 13 HCP, no 5-card major, and clubs is the longer minor. e) 1♠. Only 10 HCP, but Rule of 20 (10 + 5 + 5). Two 5-card suits: open the higher. f) Pass. 9 HCP. You have a lovely personality, but that doesn’t count. g) 1♦. 13 HCP, only four spades, so open the longer minor.
- 2.2 a) 2♥. 6 HCP with support. Partner has 5 hearts, so you have a fit. b) 1♠. Show your 4-card major at the 1 level. c) 3♥. A limit raise: 10 HCP with support. d) 1NT. 6 HCP, too weak to bid a new suit at the 2 level. e) Pass. 3 HCP. Let partner have their moment. f) 2♣. 13 HCP. A new suit at the 2 level shows 10+.
Lesson 3
Opener’s rebid and notrump bidding
This is the week you learn to bid diamonds when you have hearts. On purpose. When I first heard about transfers I assumed someone was playing a prank on the new guy, which, to be fair, they often were. But transfers are real, everyone plays them, and by the end of this lesson you’ll be explaining them to people who didn’t ask.
Key points
- Opener’s second bid shows strength: 12–15 minimum, 16–18 medium, 19–21 maximum.
- Balanced 12–14: open a suit and rebid 1NT. Balanced 18–19: open a suit and jump to 2NT.
- Over partner’s 1NT: 2♣ is Stayman (8+ HCP and a 4-card major); 2♦ is a transfer to hearts; 2♥ is a transfer to spades.
- Replies to Stayman: 2♦ = no 4-card major, 2♥ = four hearts, 2♠ = four spades.
Solo exercises
3.1 You opened 1♦ and partner responded 1♠. What’s your rebid?
- ♠ K 5♥ Q 8 3♦ A J 7 4♣ K 10 6 2
- ♠ Q J 7 3♥ 6♦ A K 9 8 5♣ K 4 2
- ♠ A 6♥ K 4♦ A Q J 10 7 4♣ K 8 3
- ♠ A K 8 2♥ 7♦ A Q 9 6 3♣ A J 7
- ♠ K 4♥ A Q 6♦ A J 8 5♣ K Q 7 2
3.2 Partner opens 1NT (15–17). What’s your plan?
- ♠ K 9 6 4♥ Q 10 7 3♦ A 8 2♣ 7 5
- ♠ 8 5♥ J 9 7 6 4 2♦ Q 6♣ 10 5 3
- ♠ A J 8 7 5♥ K 3♦ Q 9 6♣ 8 4 2
- ♠ Q 7 2♥ K 8 5♦ A 10 6 3♣ J 9 4
- ♠ 6 3♥ 9 8 4♦ Q 8 7 5 2♣ J 6 3
3.3 You opened 1NT with ♠ A Q 7 3♥ K J 8 2♦ K 5♣ Q 6 4. Partner bids 2♣. What’s your reply?
Practise with a partner
- 1NT drill: sort a pack so North gets a balanced 15–17 hand (keep re-dealing North until it qualifies; yes, this is cheating, and yes, it’s allowed in homework). Deal South at random. Bid using Stayman or transfers, then turn both hands up and check. Do 10 deals, swapping roles every 5.
- Rebid ladder: North opens and South makes any 1-level response. North says the rebid aloud and names the range it shows (“1NT, 12–14”). South checks the HCP, ideally without smirking.
- Play it: play out two transfer hands. Notice how the strong 1NT hand ends up as declarer, hiding its good cards from the opening lead like a squirrel with a nut.
Answers to Lesson 3
- 3.1 a) 1NT. 13 HCP, balanced. b) 2♠. A minimum with 4-card support. c) 3♦. 17 HCP (medium) with a strong 6-card suit. d) 4♠. 18 HCP plus a singleton and 4-card support: worth game. e) 2NT. 19 HCP, balanced.
- 3.2 a) 2♣ Stayman with 9 HCP. If partner bids 2♥ or 2♠, raise to the 3 level (invitational). If 2♦, bid 2NT. b) 2♦ transfer, then pass partner’s 2♥. You’re weak, but hearts plays better than 1NT. c) 2♥ transfer to spades, then bid 3NT. Partner picks 4♠ with 3+ spades. d) 3NT. 10 HCP, balanced, no major. Simple. Enjoy it. e) Pass. 3 HCP. Partner will be fine. Partner is always fine. Partner has 15–17.
- 3.3 2♥. With both majors, show hearts first.
Lesson 4
Competitive bidding and preempts
Up until now the opponents have been polite enough to sit there and pass. That ends today. This lesson is about interrupting, which bridge players have turned into an art form. It is the only place in polite society where you can cut someone off mid-sentence and they’ll compliment you on it afterwards.
Key points
- Overcall: a good 5+ card suit. 8–16 HCP at the 1 level, 11–16 at the 2 level.
- 1NT overcall: 15–18 balanced with a stopper in their suit.
- Takeout double: 12+ HCP, short in their suit, support for the others. Partner must bid.
- Weak two (2♦, 2♥, 2♠): 5–11 HCP and a good 6-card suit. A three-level preempt is a weak hand with a 7-card suit.
Solo exercises
4.1 Your right-hand opponent opens 1♥. What do you do?
- ♠ K Q J 8 4♥ 7 3♦ A 6 2♣ 9 5 3
- ♠ A 8 5 2♥ 6♦ K Q 7 3♣ A 10 8 4
- ♠ K 7♥ A Q 9♦ K J 8 4♣ Q 10 6 2
- ♠ 8 6♥ K 9 4♦ A Q J 10 7♣ K 5 2
- ♠ Q 7 4♥ K J 8♦ 9 6 3♣ Q 10 5 2
4.2 Left-hand opponent opens 1♥, partner doubles, right-hand opponent passes. What do you bid?
- ♠ 9 7 6 3♥ 8 5 4♦ 10 7 2♣ J 6 3
- ♠ K Q 8 5♥ 9 6 3♦ A 7 2♣ 10 8 4
4.3 You are dealer, nobody vulnerable. What do you open?
- ♠ K Q 10 9 6 4♥ 7 3♦ 8 5 2♣ J 4
- ♠ 8 4♥ A J 10 8 7 5♦ Q 6♣ 9 7 3
- ♠ 7♥ 9 4♦ K Q J 10 8 6 3♣ 8 5 2
- ♠ 6♥ J 8 7 6 5 3♦ K 4 2♣ Q 7 3
- ♠ A Q J 9 7 5♥ K 4♦ A 8 3♣ 7 2
Practise with a partner
- Interference drill: deal four hands. You hold West and partner holds North. Open with East if it qualifies, then West and North both decide their action. Turn all the hands up and discuss. Discuss, not argue. There’s a difference, and the club committee is very clear on it.
- Weak-two hunt: deal 20 hands one at a time and set aside any that qualify as a weak two or preempt. Compare piles with your partner.
- Play it: play two preempt hands as declarer. Count how many tricks you lose. It’s often fewer than the points suggest, which is the whole dirty secret of preempting.
Answers to Lesson 4
- 4.1 a) 1♠. 10 HCP and a strong 5-card suit. b) Double. 13 HCP, short in hearts, support for everything else. c) 1NT. 15 HCP, balanced, hearts stopped. d) 2♦. 13 HCP and a good 5-card suit. e) Pass. 8 HCP, no 5-card suit, and your length is in their suit. Sit quietly and look wise.
- 4.2 a) 1♠. You must bid, even with 1 HCP. Pick your longest unbid suit and try not to let your face show anything. b) 2♠. A jump shows 9–11.
- 4.3 a) 2♠. b) 2♥. c) 3♦. A 7-card suit. d) Pass. The suit is too weak for a weak two. There is weak, and there is too weak. e) 1♠. 14 HCP is too strong for a weak two.
Lesson 5
Strong hands, slams and declarer play
Some days you pick up a hand so good you have to stop yourself from smiling. This lesson is about those days. It’s also about the single most important habit in bridge: stopping to make a plan before you play to the first trick. I didn’t do this for years. I just played the first card that looked nice. I would like you to be better than me, and frankly the bar is low.
Key points
- 2♣ opening: 22+ HCP, or an unbalanced hand with about 9 playing tricks. Partner’s 2♦ reply is a waiting bid.
- 2NT opening: 20–21 balanced.
- A small slam needs about 33 combined HCP. A grand slam needs about 37.
- 4NT is Blackwood. Replies: 5♣ = 0 or 4 aces, 5♦ = 1, 5♥ = 2, 5♠ = 3. Don’t use it when you hold a void.
- Before trick 1: count your winners (in notrump) or your losers (in a suit contract), then make a plan.
Solo exercises
5.1 You are dealer. What do you open?
- ♠ A K Q 9 7 5♥ A K 4♦ A 6♣ 8 3
- ♠ A Q 5♥ K J 7♦ A K 8 4♣ K 10 3
5.2 Partner opens 2♣. You hold ♠ 8 6 3♥ Q 9 7 4♦ J 5 2♣ 10 8 6. What do you bid?
5.3 Partner opens 1NT (15–17). You hold ♠ A Q 4♥ K J 6♦ K Q 10 5♣ Q J 3. What do you bid?
5.4 Partner bids 4NT (Blackwood). What do you reply?
- ♠ A 8 7♥ K Q 9♦ A 6 4 3♣ J 10 5
- ♠ K Q 6♥ J 9 8 4♦ K 7 2♣ Q 10 3
5.5 Hearts are agreed. You hold ♠ —♥ A K Q 9 7 6♦ K Q J 4♣ A 8 5 (no spades). Should you bid 4NT?
5.6 The finesse
You hold ♠ 7 5 2. Dummy holds ♠ A Q 3. How do you try for two spade tricks?
5.7 Ruffing in dummy
You are in 4♠. West leads the ♥ K.
- You♠ A K J 7 6♥ 8 4♦ A 7 3♣ K Q 2
- Dummy♠ Q 10 5 2♥ A 9 6 3♦ 6 2♣ 8 7 5
Count your losers and make a plan. Then make a plan for your plan. That’s how the good players do it, and they are insufferable, and they win.
Practise with a partner
- Set up 5.7: lay out your hand and dummy, and give your partner the other 26 cards split into two random hands. Play it 5 times, then swap roles.
- Finesse drill: set up ♠ A Q 3 in dummy and ♠ 7 5 2 in your hand. Partner secretly places the ♠ K with East or West. Play it out 10 times and keep score of how often the finesse wins. If it wins all 10, your partner is being nice to you. Thank them.
- Big-hand bidding: deal North 20+ HCP (re-deal until it qualifies). Bid North–South to the best contract, including Blackwood where it fits. Bask in it. Hands like these are rarer in real life.
Answers to Lesson 5
- 5.1 a) 2♣. Only 20 HCP, but about nine playing tricks (six spades, two hearts, one diamond). Rebid 2♠ after partner’s 2♦. b) 2NT. 20 HCP, balanced.
- 5.2 2♦. The waiting bid. You must not pass 2♣, no matter how sorry you feel for yourself.
- 5.3 6NT. Your 18 plus partner’s 15 or more gives at least 33.
- 5.4 a) 5♥. Two aces. b) 5♣. No aces. Say it proudly.
- 5.5 No. With a void, partner’s answer won’t tell you which aces they hold, and the ♠ A is useless to you. Cue-bidding handles these hands, and it’s beyond this course. Something to look forward to.
- 5.6 Lead the 2 from your hand toward dummy. If West plays low, play the Q. It wins when West holds the K, giving you 2 tricks.
- 5.7 Losers: 0 spades, 1 heart, 2 diamonds, 1 club = 4. One too many. The fix: play the ♦ A and another diamond, then ruff your third diamond in dummy. That’s down to 3 losers. Keep a trump in dummy for the ruff; don’t draw all the trumps first, or dummy will have nothing left to ruff with and you’ll have outsmarted yourself.
Lesson 6
Defence and scoring
Half the time you won’t be declarer. You’ll be defending, which means working with your partner to stop the other side, using only the cards you play to send each other messages. It’s like passing notes in class, except the teacher is allowed to read them and you’re not allowed to write words. Then, to finish, you learn how the scoring works, which is where bridge reveals that it was secretly an accounting exam all along.
Key points
- Against notrump: lead the top of a sequence (K Q J). Otherwise lead the 4th highest of your longest suit.
- Against a suit contract: lead partner’s suit, the top of a sequence, or a singleton. Don’t lead away from an ace.
- From three cards headed by an honour in partner’s suit, lead low.
- Signals: a high card encourages; a low card discourages.
- Trick scores: ♣/♦ 20 each, ♥/♠ 30 each, NT 40 for the first trick then 30. Game bonus 300 (not vulnerable) or 500 (vulnerable). Part-score bonus 50. Undertricks 50 each (not vulnerable) or 100 each (vulnerable).
Solo exercises
6.1 What do you lead?
- Against 3NT♠ K Q J 7♥ 8 5♦ 10 7 6 4 2♣ 9 3
- Against 3NT♠ 9 3♥ K 10 7 5 2♦ Q 8 4♣ J 6 3
- Against 4♠♠ 7 4♥ Q J 10 5♦ A 8 6 3♣ 9 7 2
- Against 4♥, partner overcalled diamonds♠ J 8 5 2♥ 9 4♦ Q 7 3♣ K 10 6 4
6.2 Against 4♥, partner leads the ♠ A. Which card do you play?
- You hold ♠ K 9 2
- You hold ♠ 8 5 2
6.3 Score these results. (Get a pen. Bridge players pretend they do this in their heads. Some of them are lying.)
- 4♥ making 4, not vulnerable
- 3NT making 4, not vulnerable
- 2♠ making 3, vulnerable
- 4♠ down 2, vulnerable, not doubled
- 1NT making 2, not vulnerable
- 3NT making 3, vulnerable
Practise with a partner
- Lead drill: deal four hands. One of you bids a contract for North–South using the cards. The other, holding West, chooses the opening lead and explains why. “It felt right” is not an explanation. Swap roles each deal.
- Signal drill: one player leads an ace; the other signals with a card from a hand set up in advance. Say aloud what the signal means. This is the only time in bridge you’re allowed to say it aloud, so savour it.
- Mini duplicate: deal 4 boards and keep each hand in its own pile. Play all 4 and record the scores. Swap seats, replay the same boards, and compare who did better on each. Congratulations: this is exactly how a club duplicate works, minus the tea urn.
Answers to Lesson 6
- 6.1 a) ♠ K. Top of a strong sequence. b) ♥ 5. 4th highest of your longest suit. c) ♥ Q. Top of a sequence. d) ♦ 3. Partner’s suit, low from three cards headed by an honour. Partner bid it. Partner wants it led. Partner will remember if you don’t.
- 6.2 a) ♠ 9. Encourage, because you hold the K. b) ♠ 2. Discourage.
- 6.3 a) 420 (120 + 300). b) 430 (100 + 30 + 300). c) 140 (60 + 30 + 50). d) −200 for declarer. e) 120 (70 + 50). f) 600 (100 + 500).
That’s it. You’ve finished the workbook.
You now know more about bridge than roughly 99% of the people you will ever meet, which is a strange and specific kind of power. Use it wisely. Come and play at a supervised session. Bring your practice partner. Bring your questions. Leave the jokers at home.