Forcing Defense
As a defender, one way to use our trump is to try and get a ruff. But another way is to force the Declarer to ruff and try to take control of the hand -- this forcing defense is a powerful strategy. 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 452.
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Recognizing Danger
When we are defending a hand we need to know if we should fear our tricks going away. In order to determine this, we need to be able to recognize if danger exists or not. Here we look at how to do so. 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 451.
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Figuring Out Declarer’s Distribution
When it comes to defending a hand it is important to try to figure out the declarer’s distribution. Here we look at some of the things we need to do to make that happen. 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 450
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Assumptions on Defense
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.
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Defense Basics: Opening Leads - Listen to the Auction
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.
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When You See a Discard Coming, Get Active!
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.
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Defensive Basics: Types of Def - Active vs. Passive
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.
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.
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.
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Discarding Losers on Dummy’s Length
When dealing with the losers in a side suit, if our holding is shorter than dummy’s then we dummy will provide a valuable asset — let’s see how.
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 443.
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Losers with Equal Length in Dummy
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.
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Losers When Dummy Has Shortness
One useful way to evaluate a side suit is by looking at the relative length of the suit in our hand and the dummy. When dummy (let’s assume that is the short trump side ) has shortness then we can use dummy to help ruff 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 441.
Support Points
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.
Ruffing Values
Ruffing can help us reduce our number of losers in a variety of different ways. Here we look at how ruffing can help us improve the play of our 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 439.
Trump Fits
Ruffing can help us reduce our number of losers in a variety of different ways. Here we look at how ruffing can help us improve the play of our 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 438.
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Counting Losers Basics
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.
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Raising Partner in Competition
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
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Dealing with the Opponent’s Overcalls
When 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
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Takeout Doubles
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
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Jump Overcalls
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
