Bridge Corner: June 4, 2015

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! Two exciting bridge events happening in the near future! First, “Let the Good Cards Roll” for the American Bridge Association Summer National Bridge Tournament in New Orleans at the NewOrleans Marriott Hotel from July 30 through August 8, 2015. Make reservations via www.ababridge.org.Click on Summer National Tournament.

Next up, the Tidewater Bridge Unit will host its very own Grade A Sectional Tournament at The Hyatt Place Chesapeake/Greenbrier (709 Eden Way North, Chesapeake, VA 23320) from September 18 through September 20, 2015. To book your room, please call 1-800-993-751 and ask for the Tidewater Bridge Group Rate. Please be sure to book prior to August 19, 2015 so you can receive the special group rate.

If you are already a bridge player and wish to enhance your game, we invite you to come and join us for our regular games in Norfolk at 10:45 am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the Berkley Community Center. Ifyou have an interest in learning the game, then our 9:30 am Tuesday morning mentoring sessions and our 9:30 am Wednesday morning lessons are perfect starting points.

Whether you want to sharpen your bridge game or learn the basics of bridge,

Tidewater Bridge Unit welcomes you. To jump-start our new players’ skill level, we have included in this article the first of six beginning bridge lessons. See you at the bridge table!

Lesson #1. Bridge is a fascinating and challenging card game that stimulates the mind, provides the opportunity for social interaction, and is fun! So, let’s get started.

The object of the game is to win as many tricks as you can! There are 52 cards in a deck of cards. There are four suits in each deck: spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. There are 13 cards in each suit. 4×13=52.

Some cards are higher than other cards. The highest card is the Ace, next is the King. From highest to lowest, the cards go: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5432.

Some suits are higher ranking than others. Highest ranking to lowest ranking are: spades, hearts, diamonds, and then clubs. Spades and hearts are called majors and diamonds and clubs are called minors.

Bridge is a four-player game and during play, each player plays a card and the best of the four cards wins the trick for his side. There are 13 tricks in a hand of bridge. The two players sitting across from each other are partners. The person who plays the hand is called the declarer. The person to the left of declarer plays the first card-this is called the lead and he is called the leader. The dummy is the partner of the declarer-the name “dummy” comes from the French and means he is silent. After the opening lead is made, dummy is going to lay his cards out in suits face up on the table. The declarer will call cards from his dummy hand to play in turn. Play continues clockwise. If a player has a card in the suit played, then he must play the card he is holding in the suit played. If a player runs out of cards in the suit played, he may playa card from another suit.

WOW, this is interesting. Before we move on, let’s take a brief review of what we have covered so far. Break time!!!!

How many cards are in a deck?____ In a suit?_____

In a trick?______

How many tricks in a hand of bridge?______

What do we call:

1. the person who plays the hand? _____

2. his partner, the one who lays his cards on the table? ______

3. the player who makes the opening lead? ______

Do you have to follow suit if you don’t want to? ______

Ifyou do not have a card in the suit being led, you may ______

Great, you are well on your way to becoming an accomplisht;d bridge player. Now let us cover bidding. Bidding is a conversation between you and your partner to describe your hands. The goal is to determine the correct suit (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs, or No Trump) and the correct level (part score, game or slam) for the combined two hands. Always open with 13 or more high card points (hcp).

How do you count the points in your hand? An Ace=4, King=3, Queen=2, Jack=1.

What are the points in the following hands?

Hand #1

Spades 95

Hearts 8

Diamonds AKJ732

Clubs AQ97

Points _________

Hand #2

Spades A76

Hearts K1076

Diamonds 106

Clubs K1084

Points _________

Now that we can count points, let’s examine suit ranking. No Trump (NT-a bridge contract where the highest card in a played suit wins the trick-there is no “trump suit”), spades (S), hearts (H), diamonds (D), and clubs (C), is the ranking of the suits from highest to lowest. In order to bid, you must make a bid higher than the previous bid, i.e. you can bid IS over IH, but not IH over IS. You would have to bid 2H or more, ifyou want to bid hearts over a bid of IS. Ifyou don’t want to bid, you pass. Are the following bidding sequences correct?

1. IH-2D

2. IC-IS

3. IS-ID

4. 3H-3C

5. IS-2C

6. ID-IH

In this lesson, we have covered the language of bridge, how to count points, and the ranking of suits. In lesson #2, we will cover opening bids, responding to opening bids, and rebids by opener and responder.

Happy Birthday This Week to:

Evelyn Brooks – June 11

Suzanne Thurlby – June 11

Barbara Whitfield – June 12

For additional information on our mentoring sessions, lessons, or games, please call Delores Burney at (757) 321-0825 or Lawrence Owes at (757) 393-1853

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