Robert Todd

DB Landing Set 4 - 449

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Defense Basics: Assumptions on Defense (set 4 of 8)

A key way to make defense simpler is to assume that the declarer is logical. Here we look at how you make assumptions on the defense that make your job much easier.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 449.

DB Landing Set 3 - 448

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Defense Basics: Opening Leads - Listen to the Auction (set 3 of 8)

When you are choosing an opening lead your hand helps you decide what to lead. Bug just as important as your cards are what the auction tells us — listen to the auction and let it guide you!


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 448.

DB Landing Set 2 - 447

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Defensive Basics When You See a Discard Coming, Get Active! (set 2 of 8)

Once we know how to be active and how to be passive on defense, then we need learn how to recognize the signs that tell us that we need to attack!


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 447.

DB Landing Set 1 - 446

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Defensive Basics: Types of Def - Active vs. Passive (set 1 of 8)

The type of Defense we choose to play is an important “high level” decision. Here we look at Active vs. Passive — two of the most important types of defense.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 446.

SC Landing Set 9 - 445

SC Landing Set 9 - 445

Suit Contracts — Dummy Reversal
We normally like to ruff in the short side. But sometimes we my take many ruffs in the long side — setting up the short side. This “Dummy Reversal” is an excellent line of play on certain hands and vs certain defenses.

SC Landing Set 8 - 444

SC Landing Set 8 - 444

Suit Contracts — Discarding Losers on Dummy’s Strength
Here we look at when dummy has a side suit longer than we do and how we use dummies strength to discard our losers on that suit.

SC Landing Set 6 - 442

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Suit Contracts: Losers with Equal Length in Dummy (set 6 of 9)

In a suit contract how we deal with our side suit losers can vary dramatically. When dummy has the same length in a suit as we do then we can not easily ruff any of our losers in a side suit. Here we look at how we handle losers in these equal length suits.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 442.

SC Landing Set 4 - 440

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Suit Contracts: Support Points (set 4 of 9)

The value of shortness varies based on where it located and the size of our fit. Here we look at how we assign a different number of points to re-evaluate our hand in different situations.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 440.

SC Landing Set 1 - 437

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

Suit Contracts: Counting Losers Basics (set 1 of 9)

Counting our losers is a skill that we should develop both in the bidding and the play. Part of understanding good hand evaluation is estimating how the play is going to go while you are bidding the hand -- in a suit contract this means thinking about what we are going to do with our losers.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 437.

RBB Landing Set 14 - 014

Robert’S Bidding Basics: Raising Partner in Competition (set 14 of 14)

Raising our partner's suit is one of the most common bids we made. In a competitive auction our approach to this bidding changes, it is important to have good agreements in these auctions.


You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics

RBB Landing Set 13 - 013

Robert’S Bidding Basics: Dealing with Opponent's Overcalls (set 13 of 14)

When the partner opens and the opponents make an overcall we need good ways to compete in the bidding. One of the most important conventions for Responder is the negative double. This tool is invaluable for searching for major suit fits when the opponents make an overcall.


You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics

RBB Landing Set 12 - 012

Robert’S Bidding Basics: Takeout Doubles (set 12 of 14)

Another one of the most valuable tools for competing in the bidding is the takeout double. Let's see how to use it in so many different hand types.


You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics

RBB Landing Set 11 - 011

Robert’S Bidding Basics: Jump Overcalls (set 11 of 14)

Jump Overcalls are a valuable tool for attacking the opponents and preempting them out of their bidding space. Let's look at how to use them to make the opponents auction more difficult.


You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics

MCB Landing Set 1 - 428

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

More Competitive Bidding: Is it Forcing? by Responder (set 1 of 9)

When partner opens the bidding and RHO competes the Responder often wants to compete further in the bidding. Responder has a set of tools for competing — one of the most important agreements to have “Is Responder’s Bid Forcing?


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 428.

RBB Landing Set 10 - 010

Robert’S Bidding Basics: Simple Overcalls (set 10 of 14)

One of the most important tools for competing in the bidding is the simple overcall. Here we look at how to use to get into the auction when the opponents open the bidding.


You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics

MCB Landing Set 2 - 429

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

More Competitive Bidding: Is it Forcing? by Advancer (set 2 of 9)

When LHO opens the bidding and partner competes in the bidding the auctions can get very complicated. As the Advancer we often have many difficult decision about how to compete in the bidding. Here we look at these options and make sure that we have good agreements about which bids are forcing!


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 428.

RBB Landing Set 9 - 09

Robert’S Bidding Basics: Responding to Preempts (set 9 of 14)

When partner opens the bidding with a preempt we need to know our options for how to bid our hand. Let's look at how we get more information from them and how we extend the preempt.


You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics

MCB Landing Set 3 - 430

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

More Competitive Bidding: Law of Total Tricks (set 3 of 9)

When we have a large fit, one of our most valuable tools for determining how much to bid is the Law of Total Tricks. The simple version of this bidding guideline is to bid to the size of our fit. This is particularly valuable in helping us know how much to bid in competitive auctions. Get some practice in using this tool to help you evaluate the playing strength of your hand.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 430.

RBB Landing Set 8 - 08

Robert’S Bidding Basics: Preemptive Openings (set 8 of 14)

When we have a long suit and not a lot of values, then most of our playing strength is offensive and only if our long suit is trump. This is exactly what a preemptive opening bid shows. Here we look at all of the factors we need to consider in order to make good decisions about whether or not to preempt.


You can find Robert’s Bidding. Basics book here.
https://www.advinbridge.com/learn-bidding-basics

MCB Landing Set 4 - 431

This Week in Bridge Practice Hands

More Competitive Bidding: Cuebidding Opponent’s Suit (set 4 of 9)

When the opponent’s bid a suit they give us the opportunity to bid their suit as a special communication tool with partner. This is called cuebidding the opponent’s suit. Here we look at the meaning of these cuebids early in the auction.


You (and your partners) can sign up for Robert Todd's This Week in Bridge (TWiB) lesson emails for free at https://www.advinbridge.com/twib-signup This set accompanies TWiB 431.