February - 2015

Welcome to Samantha's articles!

Each month on the 15th and the 1st, I will make a post with two articles. The first article will be the Spade discussion.

This discussion is designed for newer bridge players (though more experienced players may also benefit from reading them.)

The second article will be the Diamond article and it will feature content for more experienced bridge players. Newer players may benefit from reading these articles but may also be overwhelmed by them.

If you like, try to read them. If they confuse you, don't worry! All bridge concepts confuse everyone the first time they hear them. It's just a matter of hearing them over and over again.

We must plant the seeds in order for our skills to flourish.

If you find yourself too confused, don't read them. After some practice and experience, you will be ready to read them.

Diamond Article - Balanced = Bad

Balanced is Bad As we learn bridge, it is tempting to associate balance with strength. After all, when we open 1NT, we are showing a higher number of HCP than when we open 1 of anything else. Not only does this bid promise more HCP than 1c, 1d, 1h, or 1s, but NT is higher ranking than the other four bids and scores better! With all of these factors combined, it seems very natural to make a connection between a hand being balanced and a hand being strong. Yet, quite the opposi

Spade Article - Counting Losers Part 1

When you are playing in notrump, you count winners. When you are playing in a trump contract (a contract where there is a trump suit), you count losers. There are almost no exceptions to this. Counting the proper thing (winners or losers) will help you correctly assess the strengths, weaknesses and potential in your hands. Count the wrong one and you’ll be looking in the wrong direction and will likely not make your contract. Most newer bridge players find it much easier to c

Diamond Article: How do we know when to force declarer to trump?

Let’s start the conversation with the easy answer and then work our way through the more difficult one. As a general rule, forcing declarer to trump in the long trump hand is good for the defense and forcing her to trump in the short trump hand is bad for the defense. Why? It has to do with losers and declarer’s plan for setting up the hand. One of your best tools as you try to figure out the optimal defense for the hand is to try and figure out what declarer’s plan is (or at

Spade Article - The beauty and potential of a mistake

Oops! I called the ace from dummy, but now I have to play my queen. Bridge is often overwhelming for the beginning student. There is so much to learn, it seems impossible to ever understand it all. Add to that the competitive desire to do well and a fear of looking bad in front of others and you have a recipe for disaster that results in many new bridge players quitting. This is compounded by the fact that mistakes make people uncomfortable and may even make them feel threate