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TWiB Lesson #567 (1 of 9)
Most partnerships who play Support Doubles have had a conversation about when they apply and when they do not. Hopefully, we will have a conversation with partner about the follow-up bids as well. But one thing that many partnerships forget to discuss is how high support doubles apply and what a double at a higher level shows. Let’s look at support double auctions in detail to make sure we are on the same page with partner.
TWiB Lesson #568 (2 of 9)
Bridge players keep finding more and more ways to use doubles, especially in low-level competitive auctions. But when Left Hand Opponent (LHO) opens the bidding with a suit, partner overcalls a second suit, and Responder bids a third suit, then a double by Advancer is not a responsive double. It is a different kind of competitive double called a Snapdragon Double – a fancy name for another double that wants to compete in the bidding.
TWiB Lesson #569 (3 of 9)
Traditionally, a redouble in a competitive auction shows a strong hand (10+ points), but with everyone bidding it is not likely that Advancer is too focused on showing values. Instead, we want to design our agreements to let us best describe the most common kinds of hands. Here, we will see how using redouble as a conventional bid, called a Rosenkrantz Redouble, can be more effective than this traditional value-showing redouble.
TWiB Lesson #570 (4 of 9)
The modern game continues to create interesting auctions and we need to make sure to discuss how to respond to new situations with partner. Some of the most interesting (and useful) competitive bids are when we use a suit that the opponents have bid – called a Cuebid. There can be many different meanings for bidding the opponent’s suit. Let’s take a look at cuebids of the opponent’s suit in a variety of different auctions and make sure we are on the same page with partner about the meaning of these calls.
TWiB Lesson #563 (1 of 4)
The Ace is the most powerful card in each suit. It almost always wins a trick (especially in a notrump contract), but the Ace does much more than simply win one trick. The Ace controls the suit. When we hold the Ace of a suit, we get to not only win a trick in that suit, we get to decide when we take our trick and gain the lead. Holding the Ace gives us the power to choose how the play is going to go.
TWiB Lesson #564 (2 of 4)
We usually win tricks with little cards (other than in the trump suit) by setting up our long suits. To establish these little cards in our long suits into winners, we need to play the hand well. This requires using our large cards in the best way possible to establish our little cards. That means we need to play our combinations as best as we can, manage our transportation, and have some good luck in the way the cards divide.
TWiB Lesson #565 (3 of 4)
It is essential to stop the Declarer's attempts to take tricks with small cards in order to properly defend the contract. That means that suits that have potential winners, threat cards, must not be allowed to grow into winners. We attempt to prevent this by covering an honor with an honor (to prevent promotion) and by holding onto our cards in the opponent’s long suits – called guarding the suit.
TWiB Lesson #566 (4 of 4)
Active opening leads attempt to "go out and get" our tricks. Passive leads, on the other hand, attempt to just not give anything away or help Declarer. There are many different types of passive leads for many different situations. Here we take a look at several lead types and hands where a passive lead may or may not have the intended effect!
TWiB Lesson #558 (1 of 9)
By defining our 1NT opening bid to show 14-16 points with a balanced hand, we maintain the general strength of the opening bid while allowing ourselves to open the bidding with it more often. We discuss how you bid if you agree to play this, both as an Opener and as Responder.
TWiB Lesson #559 (2 of 9)
When LHO opens the bidding and the auction passes around to us, we are the last line of defense against the opponents buying the contract at a low level - balancing. When we balance we “borrow” some of partner’s values and add those points to our hand - usually about 3 points.
TWiB Lesson #560 (3 of 9)
A balancing 1NT bid can be a wide-ranging action, about 11-15/16 points. This 5-point range is much larger than most Notrump bids and leaves partner with a more difficult bidding situation. Range Stayman is a tool that can help Advancer better determine the values of our hand and if game is a possibility.
TWiB Lesson #561 (4 of 9)
One place that we do not need a jump bid to show a weak hand is in the balancing seat. In this seat with a weak hand, say 5-8 HCP, and a long suit, we would not bid; we would simply pass the hand out. Theses bids are used to describe different, stronger hands.
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When partner opens the bidding with 1-Major then we normally go slow and make a low level response. But we can also use some immediate jumps to high bids to describe some interesting and difficult hands. Let’s look at the meaning of this high-level jump responses.
March 2025 - Coming Soon!
Here we look at some other complex auctions and special responses to 1-level opening bids. We focus on some jump shift responses to 1-Major and 1-minor and then turn out focus to NT responses to minor suit openings.
March 2025 - Coming Soon!
When Responder makes a jump shift, either a weak jump shift or a 3/1 invitational jump shift, then Opener is left to figure out what to do next. Here we look at what types of hands Opener should bid with (like) and when they should be conservative and Pass.
March 2025 - Coming Soon!
There are some classic auctions that lead to confusion between partnerships. Ones that you should make sure you and partner agree upon.
Robert’s Recent Webinars
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Featured
9/2024 (62 min)
Here we review some fundamentals of opening bids and look more deeply into your thought process before we open the bidding. Then we pivot to the responder’s actions and make sure that we are prepared to construct a good auction with some problem situations.
11/20/23 (61 min)
When we win the contract in a part-score and do not have an 8-card fit it is usually because we either have more HCP than the opponents or there was an auction that kept the opponents from getting into the bidding. Let's make sure that we know how to play these hands.
12/4/23 (61 min)
When we play a part-score deal and we have a trump fit it usually means that we have more trump the opponent's do. Making use of our trump suit is a key part of good declarer play, especially in a part-score deal.
12/11/23 (61 min)
When we have enough points to bid game and we are playing in a trump suit then we need to make sure that we make use of our trump in the best ways we possibly can. Here we look at some examples and see how we can then best play the hand.
12/18/23 (61 min)
When we have enough points to bid game and we are playing in a trump suit then we need to make sure that we make use of our trump in the best ways we possibly can. Here we look at some examples and see how we can then best play the hand.
10/23/23 (61 min)
After we open the bidding, if our LHO makes an Overcall this makes Responder's bidding more difficult. Here we look at Responder's freebid options and what they new to hold in order to freely bid a new suit.
10/29/23 (63 min)
When we think we are going to win the contract, but suddenly one of the opponents balances back into the auction this can lead to some strange bidding situations. Here we look at the meaning of our subsequent bids in these auctions.
11/6/23 (61 min)
A double eary in the bidding is usual has a meaning that we have discuss with partner. But later doubles can be a bit confusing. And this is even more true with they are our second double of the auction. Here we look at the meaning of these second doubles.
11/13/23 (62 min)
Early in our bridge career we learn that new suits are forcing. But later we learn that this is not always true, especially in competition. Here we look at a veracity of auctions where new suits are forcing and where new suits are non-forcing. This is an important topic to discuss with partner -- when is a new suit forcing in competition.
9/11/23 (61 min)
Robert is back with a variation on his popular Play These Hands with Me series, but this time he focuses on defense. In this new series, Defend These Hands with Me, Robert analyzes actual hands he has defended and shares his thinking at critical points throughout the hand. A great way to learn how to think on Defense…the most difficult part of the game!
9/17/23 (60 min)
Robert is back with a variation on his popular Play These Hands with Me series, but this time he focuses on defense. In this new series, Defend These Hands with Me, Robert analyzes actual hands he has defended and shares his thinking at critical points throughout the hand. A great way to learn how to think on Defense…the most difficult part of the game!
9/25/23 (60 min)
Robert is back with a variation on his popular Play These Hands with Me series, but this time he focuses on defense. In this new series, Defend These Hands with Me, Robert analyzes actual hands he has defended and shares his thinking at critical points throughout the hand. A great way to learn how to think on Defense…the most difficult part of the game!
The AiB Curriculum (In Development)
Robert’s AiB Curriculum has been in development for many years. I twas originally designed as a 6-level curriculum and targeting at club players and intermediate players looking for “what to learn next”. The curriculum has been expanded to 10-levels and for people to learn bridge from scratch. Each of the 10 levels of material are presented for you to work thru and the material in each level is divided into categories.
Note from Robert: In the future you will be able to filter the curriculum by topic and other tags. This is a summary of the things that I recommend you learn and in which order. I also have reworked the “Upgrade Your Bidding System” Sheet for this 10-Level approach.
(#) is the number of topics in the section.
[#] is the TWIB lesson that covers this topic.