"Learn To Play Bridge" The ACBL Downloadable Bridge Class

I've been studying the "Learn To Play Bridge", the down-loadable introductory bridge class from ACBL. It is a great introduction to playing bridge. Plus it is fun:)The program is somewhat interactive, but you can go back and forth to previous sections, or chapters, as many times as you want to review previous information, at the click of an arrow. It's very basic, but very clear, written by a Master bridge player and teacher. I would highly recommend it, and it's free from the ACBL website. Can't beat that.

I'm studying the section entitled, "Taking tricks: Introduction to the Trick" A trick is the play of one card, of one hand, with all players participating. A hand would be the use of the entire 13 cards dealt in one hand of a round. An entire bridge game consists of the play of 4 or more hands or rounds. The winning of points, and the game, is all about how many tricks you and your partner can manage to win. From each round, and for the entire game, as a whole.

Bidding precedes the "play of the cards", or the laying down of the cards that make a trick. It is where you each bet on how many tricks you think you and your partner can take in a round, based on what you each have for cards. Experienced players can surmise what their opponents have for cards, based on a complicated metric of their own hands, their partners, as well as clues from what the opponents bid, in terms of tricks. This is the real mystery of the game I hope to crack, once I get a good handle on the rules. For now it's the basics.

Bridge Tournament

Getting A Bridge Class Going-Part 3

I just came from a friend, Jill's, house. We had dinner together and we also talked about the bridge class. She is the friend who is on the programming committee for the local community arts and education center in my area. She told me she contacted Andy Avery and he is interested, and available, to teach a class bridge this Fall! Yes! Cool. We are looking to do a mid-September to mid-December class. Mondays will be good for him too. That's great. It looks like this is all coming together. He wants us to get 20 people enrolled to make it worth his while. Luckily, there are no other bridge classes that I am aware of, that are happening in the area.

Who knows what will come-up this Fall, but Andy is a nationally recognized teacher. He has, consistently, been one of the ten best players at quite a number of tournaments he competes in, all over the country. This is going to be good! Now we just need to start blitzing the area, getting it in people's consciousness, so come early September they will be rushing to sign up, and get their friends to do the same:) We will start a bridge revolution in the Connecticut River valley area! Or at least try. I would really like to attract other younger players too. Make it funny, sexy and cool to play bridge. Why not?

Animal Crackers Bridge Game

Hitting The Books

I have been neglecting my study of the game of bridge. I have not read the book, "Bridge For Dummies, " for more than a week. I have been getting caught up in the whole "world" of bridge though, lately. The games, clubs, leagues, newspaper columns, talking with directors of clubs and teachers of the game. This is all very interesting, and good, but it is not the game itself. The game is played at the table. Simply put.

It is easy to get caught-up in the trappings and paraphernalia of bridge, and never get down to the nitty gritty, the down and dirty, the struggle and the sweat, of experiencing bridge first-hand. That's what makes all the talking and comparing of notes about bridge so interesting. Because you've been there, done that. You've been in the trenches and fought it out at the table. I don't want to forget that. It's easy to hide behind the books too though. Balance, as in life, is what what's all things good.

Reading Bridge Columns in The Local Paper

Now I'm not only speaking a different language, I'm reading it too. I've started to read the bridge column in the local paper. The column is called, "Daily Bridge Club," by Frank Stewart. He is one of the best known, syndicated bridge writers out there. It's very interesting how abstract the game of bridge is. Once you know the terms, an entire round of a game can be represented in a small diagram, showing the hands of the North-South and East-West partners, as well as a description of the plays that everyone played, including bidding, at the beginning of the game.

The order of a game goes: Counting your points and tricks, bidding, opening the game and responding to others plays, offense and defensive plays and wrapping-up and score-keeping. Every part of the game has strategy to play it well, which includes working with your partner. Ah yes, the elusive partner. That I am still trying to integrate into my head, and the game. At the beginning of this post is a diagram of what a bridge round looks like (You've probably seen one in the paper, usually in the comic or game section)Without the language, you would have no idea what you are looking at. With it, it's like being able to reading hieroglyphics. Cool.

Getting A Bridge Class Going-Part 2

I have been emailing today with a friend and her sister, who run a community art and recreation center, to get a bridge class going there. They responded to my email of the other day, saying they think it sounds like a fine idea, for the Fall class schedule. As it turns out, one of the sisters knows the teacher I am looking to get, Andy Avery, because he is also a singer and guitar player. She has made music with him in the past, when she lived in the same area as him. She said she would contact him herself, to get the ball rolling. She and I lived together last Summer, when I was in-transition, trying to move into a house I bought, which wasn't ready, since there was a tenant still in it. I love small communities!

If all goes well, we will have a beginners 8-week class start in the Fall, one night per week, hopefully on Monday evenings. It is hoped that enough novice players will be generated from the class to give me some partners to play with. But, if playing yesterday was any indication of what it could be like, I may be able to just keep playing with more experienced players and learn as a go. I like the challenge of that. It feels like I could learn a lot faster that way. But having a solid foundation, of rules and technique, that a class can give you could be a very good thing to have too.

Here’s some new words I’ve recently added to my bridge vocabulary. Can you match them with the correct definitions?

1. Blamestorming
2. Seagull Player
3. Prairie Dogging
4. Stress Puppy
5. Onosecond

A. When someone yells or drops something during a game and other players’ heads pop up to see what's going on.

B. That minuscule fraction of time after playing from dummy in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake.

C. Sitting around after the game, discussing why your brilliant bid or play failed, and who was responsible.

D. A new player at your regular game who drops in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

E. A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out by every bid and whiny every time they go down.

Answers: 1-C; 2-D; 3-A; 4-E; 5-B.