Return Partner’s Lead?
Should we return partner’s lead? Show we shift to a different suit? This is always a difficult decision! Here we look at how to make this decision and help our partnership take the tricks we are entitled to.
Splitting Honors?
When we have touching honors which one we play depends on the situation and what information we are trying to communicate. Here we look at splitting our honors on defense.
Surround Plays and Power Shifts
When you are behind the dummy and attack it you should be able to do so in ways that show your partner a very strong holding. These surround plays and power shift help partner know the strength of your holding.
Card Combinations
When we are defending a hand there are many important situations that we need to know about when to attack a suit and when it may cost to do so. These card combinations and how to play to get the most out of them are an extremely important part of good defense.
Discards Later in the Play
Discards are an important way to communicate with partner. But not just the first discard, every discard matters. Here we look at discards later in the play.
Combine Your Chances
Finding the best line of play as Declarer is always a challenge. Instead of trying to determine the better of line of play A and line of play B the best play is often to choose a combination of the two. Here we look at how to improve you declarer play by combining your chances.
Optimistic and Pessimistic Declarer Play
Having the right mindset is an important part of approaching a declarer play problem. When you are in a good contact start to consider “What could go wrong?!?” and when you are in a bad contract start to make assumptions that good things are going to happen for you!
The King-Jack Guess
When we are defending and the Declaring side holds the King and the Jack in a suit then they will often have to guess the layout of the suit in order to take their most tricks. Here we look at the art of giving them the most difficult guesses we can!
Misfits and Moysians
Finding a fit makes declaring a hand much easier. When we are playing a hand without a fit it is much more challenging. Here we look at some strategies for playing hands that have less than an 8-card fit.
Michael’s Cuebids
When the opponent’s open the bidding and we have two long suits it is useful to be able to show them both immediately. This is especially true when we have a weak hand. Here we look at Michaels Cuebids and see how they help us do this!
Unusual NT
There is another valuable tool for competing in the bidding when we have a two suited hand — the unusual NT. Let’s see how this bidding tool is effective in competitive bidding.
Simple Overcalls by Level
Here we look at Simple Overcalls and how they vary based on situation and level — which is dramatic!
Competing Over 2-level Preempts - Lebensohl
Dealing with preempts is extremely difficult. Here we look at an extremely useful tool for dealing with the opponent’s 2-level preempts — an innovative use of 2NT as a convention, not a contract!
Leaping Michaels
Against the Opponent’s 2-level preempts we have ways of showing strong hands with two long suits by using a special jump overcall called Leaping Michaels. Here we see how to use it.
Bidding Over the Opponent’s 3-Level Preempt
When the opponents make a high-level preempt it makes our life difficult. Here we look at our options for bidding over them and what risks we have to take.
Dealing with 4-Level Jump Overcalls
When we open the bidding the opponents love to preempt and eat up our bidding space. This is especially difficult when their preempt is a jump to game in a Major. Here we look at how to deal with it!
Overcalling a 4-card Suit
It is frustrating to have a good hand and not be able to get into the auction. Here we look at a less used option for getting into the auction when the opponents open the bidding — overcalling a 4-card suit.
Gazzilli
The latest upgrade to “modern expert bidding”. If you love gadgets, this is what you should add to your bidding system.
Partnership Defense Philosophy
In order to defend well you have to work together with partners. Specific agreements are important, but “high-level” agreements are also important. Your philosophy on how we work together and how we signal is the most important part of this.
Dummy has Qxx+
When Dummy has a holding like Qxx (or longer) it is important to have good agreements about signaling our partner, so they can make a good decision about what to do next. This week we look at this situation in detail - attitude, count, suit preference, what does our card mean!?!
