Top Ten Reasons to Play Bridge - #8: Start Playing Right Away

Bridge can be an intimidating game, and for those with experience learning bridge, starting out may feel a bit like this:

But it's not like that with the EZ Bridge system! And with an awesome teacher like me.  EZ bridge has complete beginners player duplicate bridge in the first 20 minutes on the first day, and the duplicate style keeps it challenging for players who have a little bit of experience.

Bridge can be a complex game, but it doesn't have to be right out of the gate.  Come to the Anchorage Bridge Center on November 9 at 12:30 and you'll be playing bridge before 1:00.

Top Ten Reasons to Play Bridge - #9

Number Nine:

Because you can play at any age, and it brings all ages together. 

ANY age. 

Sure, thinking of bridge summons up images of senior centers, or grandmother's bridge night.  This is because bridge is a game that you can keep playing for years and years. 

But bridge is also a great game for younger ages. 

I first learned to play bridge when I was in high school.  The card game quickly took over huge sections of the lunch room and our administration even eventually partitioned off part of the cafeteria for cards there were so many of us. 

In college the phrase "who's up for bridge?" was the best way to splinter any study group and result in bleary eyes the next morning after playing late into the night. 

Bridge brings all ages together into a common past time.  When I first started playing bridge in Anchorage I was 24 years old.  I made friends with people 60 years my senior, and realized that I never really had friends outside my general age group before.  Bridge is a game that brings us together young and old. 

Basically, if you think you're too young for bridge or too old to finally learn, you're wrong, you're just the right age, and everyone else at the table will appreciate having you there. 

Top Ten Reasons to Play Bridge

# 10:

Bridge players are super awesome.  Need proof? Here is a video of bridge players dancer Gangnam style:

Afraid you aren't cool enough to play bridge with people this awesome?  Don't worry, awesomeness is a guaranteed by product of the bridge lessons offered every Saturday at 12:30 at the Anchorage Bridge Center starting November 9th.

Interesting hand

I encountered this interesting hand at the game last night:

Dlr: W Vul: N/S 95 AJ752 K KT984 83 K83 Q9842 653 J42 T96 AT6 AQJ2 AKQT76 Q4 J753 7

North opened this 11 point hand in second seat hoping his nice shape would make up for any deficiencies, but he became less confident when south drove them to game in spades.

Imagine you are South on this hand.

West leads the four of diamonds, forcing dummy's singleton king and taken by East's ace, East shifts to a trump which you win in your hand with the Ace.

Can you see a plan from here?  First, count your losers.  Unfortunately, this is a rough hand.  Both you and your partner have singletons, but you also hold the kings in those suits, making those high card points less valuable.

On first count you have zero spade losers, 1 heart losers, 3 diamond losers and a club loser.  You need to get those five losers down to three.  How?

Well, you can trump a diamond in dummy.  But then dummy is out of trump (remember one round has been played), so you're still stuck with two more diamond losers in your hand. So let's hold off on that thought.

You need to ditch diamonds on the long hearts, but how? Well, first you might consider a heart finesse.  If the K is in the west then you can finesse for it, but what then? You won't have a heart loser, but you will still have two diamond losers.

The only hope is for hearts to be split 3-3 so South can drop losing diamonds and/or his losing club on North's long hearts. But here is where it gets tricky.

South must play the Q and when West covers with the King, south must duck and let West win the trick. Now South can win the return,  draw the last trump, and run dummy's hearts, making four.

What happens if you cover the King of hearts with dummy's ace? You run out of entries to dummy.  You can win the Jack of hearts and trump a heart, thereby leaving yourself with no heart losers.  But now you can't get to dummy after you draw trump, and the good hearts are stranded.

The defense has opportunities to set the contract, but they aren't easy to see.  If West or East continues diamonds at their first opportunity, forcing dummy to rough, communication is broken. The defense can take a second diamond trick before South can throw his diamonds on North's Hearts.  But most defenders will see the diamond void in dummy and switch to a trump, usually a wise move.

In this hand the the only hope for declarer is to duck a winning finesse, letting the king of hearts win when you could take it with the ace.  At the same time, the winning line for the defense is to play diamonds, forcing dummy to rough with its short trumps. I love it when hands show us how the typical 'rules' we follow when playing bridge don't always work, and that each hand stands unique.