Using The Rule of 20

Start by adding up your high card points.  Then add to that the length of your two longest suits. If the total is 20 or more then your hand passes The Rule of 20 and you can open the bidding.

Examples

Hand 1

(spades) A  7 5 4
(hearts)  6 5 3
(diamonds) A K 8 5 3
(clubs) 9

Hand 1 has 11 HCPs. The lengths of the two longest suits are five and four. This makes a total of 20, so the hand is suitable for opening.

Hand 2

(s) 8 3
(h) A Q 9 5 4
(d) K J 6 4 2
(c) 5

Hand 2 has only 10 points but has two 5 card suits. So adding the points (10) to the length of the two longest suits (10) gives a total of 20. It passes the Rule of 20 so we can open with one of a suit.

Hand 3

(s) Q J 4
(h) A 7
(d) 10 7 5
(c) K J 8 6 3

Hand 3 has 11 points, but adding in the length of the two longest suits (5 + 3) only gives a total of 19.  This hand doesn’t pass the Rule of 20 and so isn’t suitable for opening.

There are two types of slam – a small slam and a grand slam.

A small slam means you bid for and win 12 out of the 13 available tricks.

A grand slam means you bid for and win all 13 tricks.

Why Bid For a Slam?

You might be wondering why you would risk bidding for a small or grand slam when you could bid for fewer tricks and be certain of winning.

The answer is points.  If you bid for and win a small slam, or a grand slam you will win a greater number of points.  Conversely, if you bid for a slam and fail to achieve it your opponents will gain a greater number of points.

Points Scored for a Slam?

A small slam will score an extra 500 point bonus (or 750 if vulnerable)

A grand slam  will score an extra 1000 point bonus (or 1500 if vulnerable)

These slam bonuses are in addition to the regular game bonus.

How Many Points Are Needed?

To consider bidding for a slam you need to know that you and your partner have enough points to justify the risk.

Small Slam (12 tricks) in suit contract 31+
Small Slam in No Trumps 33+
Grand Slam (13 tricks) in suit contract 35+
Grand Slam in No Trumps 37+

Do you have enough Aces and Kings?

There are 40 points available in total.  It is possible to hold enough points for small slam (up to 34 points) but be missing two aces.  If you are in this situation you risk losing two tricks, thus failing to make your small slam.

To help you decide whether you and your partner have enough aces and kings there are two main conventions that can be used – Blackwood and Gerber.

For a more in-depth explanation of these conventions Click Here to sign up for your two week’s free trial at No Fear Bridge now.

It is a more accurate way of valuing an unbalanced hand when you know you have an eight card fit. Without using this method you will probably have used shortage points when valuing a hand with a known eight card fit. To do this you count five for a void, 3 for a singleton in a suit and 1 for a doubleton suit. However, this is not the most accurate method of valuing an unabalanced hand and most bridge players use the Losing Trick Count instead.

Why Should You Use it?

It makes it easier for you to bid your hand to the right level. Most bridge players use it – so you will be at a disadvantage if you don’t learn how to use it.

When Should You Use It?

You use the Losing Trick Count when you have an 8 card fit or better and an unbalanced hand.

When Shouldn’t You Use It?

Don’t use it unless you have an 8 card fit or better. Don’t use it if you don’t yet know if you have an 8 card fit.

How Does it Work?

Start by counting the losers in your own hand. Then add the losers that you believe are in your partner’s hand – you will have to make some basic assumptions about the cards your partner is holding, based on the bids they have made. Now subtract your total from 24. This gives you the number of tricks you expect to make.

How do you Count Your Losers?

You count one loser for each missing A, K and Q in each suit.

HF Holidays are offering two breaks for beginners.  One in February 2012 and one in October 2012.  Both are for four nights.

Urchfont Manor have a  beginners bridge weekend in January 2012.  They also have a weekend for improvers in April 2012.

If you fancy a week in the sun and can get together a group of 4 – 10 players you can book a private beginners or improvers holiday in the Dordogne

There are several “rules” that the opener can use to help decide which card to play when opening the first round in a game of bridge.  The Rule of 11 is used by the third player (the opener’s partner) to help him/her decide which card to play.

When To Use The Rule Of 11

It is usually used when the game is being played in a no trumps contract.  You use the rule if you think that your partner’s opening lead was the 4th highest card in their longest suit.  (You have no way of knowing if that is actually the case – you just have to hope that you are correct!)

Once partner has played the opening lead, the cards in dummy’s hand are laid on the table so all players can see them. At this point you know the cards in your own hand plus the cards in dummy’s hand.  You also believe that your partner holds 3 cards higher than the one they played.

You can now use the Rule of 11 to work out if the fourth player holds any cards that are higher than the card led by your partner. If you believe that they don’t AND dummy played a low card, then it isn’t necessary for you to play a higher card than your partner for your partnership to win the trick. The rule helps you win the trick as cheaply as possible – keeping your higher cards for later rounds.

How to Use the Rule of 11

To help you understand the rule, let me show you an example.

Your partner has opened the game with the 7 of a suit.  Dummy played the 3  and you can see that dummy also holds K and 9. You hold A, J and 4.  Do you need to play the J or the K for your partnership to win the trick?

Remember, this rule applies when you think your partner played the 4th highest card of their longest suit.

• Subtract the number of the card played by your partner from 11.  In this case partner, played 7.
• 11 – 7 = 4 .  This tells you that there are four cards higher than 7 NOT held by your partner.
• You hold A and J and dummy holds K and 9 – so you can see all of those four cards.
• This tells you that the declarer doesn’t hold any card higher than 7, so you can play your 4 and your partnership will still win the trick.

Let’s start with the absolute basics.

• No points are scored for the first 6 tricks.  A contract for 1 of a suit (or 1NT) means you think you will make 7 tricks (6 + 1 bid).  A contract for 4 of a suit means you think you will make 10 tricks (6 + 4 bid)

• High Card Points = points score for cards held.  Four for each ace, three for each king, two or each queen and one for each jack.

• A “game” contract is one that would score 100 points if achieved.  If you achieve (or exceed) the contract you score a 300 point bonus.

• A part score contract is one that would score less than 100 points if achieved. If you achieve the contract you score a 50 point bonus.

• If you bid a part score but actually make enough tricks for game you will ONLY get the part score bonus as that is what you bid for.

• If you fail to make the contract you bid for, your opponents score 50 points for each trick you failed by.  So, if you bid 3 of a suit (bid to make 9 tricks) and only make 7 tricks your opponents score 50 points for each of the two tricks you failed to make (100 points in total)

Doubling

If you think that your opponents are unlikely to achieve the contract they are bidding for you can “double”.  This means that your side will score double the points for each trick the opponents go down by, but also means they will score double the points for each trick if they make the contract.  They will also score an extra bonus of 50 points for achieving the contract.

If the opponents are certain that they WILL make their contract they can “redouble”.  In this case they will score 4 times the usual point value for each trick made if they achieve the contract, plus a 100 point extra bonus.

Vulnerability

To add a little extra “spice” to the scoring one, or both sides become “vulnerable”.  This rotates between neither side vulnerable, E-W vulnerable, N-S vulnerable and both side vulnerable.  If your side is vulnerable and you fail to make a contract then your opponents score DOUBLE the number of points for each trick you fail by.

If your side is vulnerable and bid for and achieve game, then your game bonus is increased.

No increase for part score  - 50 points scored

Game score – bonus increased from 300 to 500 points if vulnerable

Slams

There are two types of slams.   A small slam (12 tricks) and a grand slam (all 13 tricks).  You only score an additional bonus for these if you bid to make them.

So, if you bid a contract of 4 hearts (to win 10 tricks) but actually win all thirteen tricks, you will just score the regular game bonus and won’t score the additional grand slam bonus.  You will only score the additional small or grand slam bonus if you bid to win 12/13 tricks (6 or 7 of a suit).

If you bid and make a small slam you will score an additional 500 point bonus (or 750 if vulnerable)

If you bid and make a grand slam you will score an additional 1000 point bonus (or 1500 if vulnerable)

Both of these are in addition to the regular game bonus.

At No Fear Bridge you will find hundreds of bridge hands to play, covering a wide range of topics.

Some hands allow you to play the whole hand and then show you what you have scored.  You are then given advice on the best way to play the hand.

Some hands are set up as tutorials where you choose which card to play, or which bid to make and you are then given feedback on wrong answers.

Each day you will find two “hands of the day” to play – an easier one and a harder one.  You will also find a defence hand, helping you to learn the essential skill of defending.

For advancers there are also two hands of the day – one for practising declarer play and one for practising defence play.

This is the Beginner’s leads training quiz.  Each time you take the quiz you are given a set of ten questions.  When you answer you will see an explanation of why your chosen card is right, wrong or maybe just not “the best”.

At the end of the quiz you are given the option to start again with the same questions or to try again with a different set of questions.  Keep working on the questions until you can answer them all with ease and then move on to the next level of leads questions.

In case you hadn’t realised, my friend Leigh Harding runs No Fear Bridge and she’s teaching me how to play bridge.  I’ve got to the stage where we can have a game of bridge online playing against a couple of robots.

Opening Lead in a Trumps Contract

Last night we were looking at how to decide on the opening lead in a trumps contract.  She was teaching me using the sample hands on her site.

First, you have to decide which suit to lead:

• If partner has a bid a suit, lead a card from that suit
• If partner hasn’t bid, lead a card from an unbid suit

Which card to lead:

• The top of a sequence of two honours, ie A from AK, J from J10 (10 counts as an honour here), Q from QJ.  Opening with an honour card promises your partner that you have the card below it.
• Lead a low card if you have one or more honour cards but not a sequence.  Lead the 4th highest if you have 4 or more cards, the 3rd highest if you only have 3 cards
• Lead the top card from a suit that just contains a doubleton (two cards)
• Lead the 2nd highest if your suit contains three “rubbish” cards (ie no honour)
• Lead a singleton
• If you have two equal length suits, lead from the strongest.

What Not To Do

NEVER lead away from an ace.  (If you have A, K then you lead the ace as this promises partner that you have the King).  Otherwise, do not open with this suit as you will potentially give away a trick.  There is an excellent tutorial on No Fear Bridge that explains why you shouldn’t lead away from an Ace and shows you what can happen if you do.

• If you have 3 or more cards in a suit, don’t lead an honour unless you have the one below it.
• Don’t lead from a doubleton if you can avoid it, unless partner bid that suit.  Don’t lead a doubleton if you hold an honour.
• Don’t lead a singleton in a suit that your opponents bid, or if your hand has good points.

Why Are They Used?

Bidding boxes are used to avoid confusion when a bid is made. There is no need for the player to speak his/her bid as the cards are laid on the table for everyone to see .  This avoids any confusion caused by a player mishearing a bid.

In a busy club situation bidding boxes mean bidding remains silent so there is less background noise and distraction from other players and tables.

If a player has visual difficulties and is unable to see the bidding cards then the bid can be spoken as well.

The cards remain on the table until the opening card is played, so it is easy for the opener to remember how the bidding went.

What Are They?

In each box there is a set of cards, one each for each possible bid.  the tops of the cards are cut away so then when placed in the box all the possible bids are visible to the player.

To make a bid the player removes the card they want to bid, together with ALL the cards behind it, and places them on the table.  Further bids can be made in the same way and placed on top of the initial bid.  At the end of the bidding the cards are simply gathered up in the order they were placed on the table and replaced in the box behind the unused cards.

The box also contains cards for passing and doubling as well as a stop card (used before making a jump bid) and an alert card (used if your partner makes a bid that has a special meaning (for example bidding a convention convention such as 4th suit forcing or Unusual No Trump).

Buy Bridge Bidding Boxes

You can purchase bridge bidding boxes from Amazon by clicking on the links or images below:

	Bridge Partner – Bridge Bidding Boxes – Set of 4 – Black
	Bridge Partner – Bridge Bidding Boxes – Set of 4 – Red