Tag: learn bridge Jonathan Davis

Online bridge update 32

The two-hour Monday morning seminar tomorrow (November 30th) will be another Play These Hands With Me session, including some deals I have played recently. To sign up for this and Tuesday bridge there are Paypal payment buttons in this post and also in the sidebar of most pages on the website.

Pay for seminar

30th November 2020 from 9.30am

£20.00

There will be the normal Tuesday morning supervised play session again this week (1st December), starting at 9.30am. Please let me know as early possible that you intend to join, ideally by early Monday event as it makes it so much easier to arrange the tables and reduce the risk of having to turn one of you away. There is no Annabel this week, so it is more important than usual to get the numbers right. The ten group sessions also continue as normal.

Tuesday supervised play

1st December from 9.30am

£15.00

The answer to the question of last week “how do you bid a strong balanced hand with 25-26 High Card Points?” is: open with 2 Clubs, our strongest bid, and then rebid 3NT to show a balanced 25-26 HCPs. You just have to wait quite a long time to get an example……

Happy bridging….

Jonathan

Online bridge update 31

The two-hour Monday morning seminar tomorrow (November 23rd) will be another Play These Hands With Me session, including some deals from the international tournament I played in last week. By way an example try this hand out, the first one of the whole four-day event. How would you bid and play this slam hand (follow this link)? To sign up for this and Tuesday bridge there are Paypal payment buttons in this post and also in the sidebar of most pages on the website.

Pay for seminar

23rd November from 9.30am

£20.00

There will be the normal Tuesday morning supervised play session again this week (24th November), starting at 9.30am. Please let me know as early possible that you intend to join, ideally by early Monday evening, as it makes it so much easier to arrange the tables and reduce the risk of having to turn one of you away. The ten group sessions also continue as normal.

Tuesday supervised play

24th November from 9.30am

£15.00

Question of the week: how do you bid a strong balanced hand with 25-26 High Card Points?

Happy bridging….

Jonathan

Online bridge update 30

The two-hour Monday morning seminar tomorrow (November 16th) will be another Play These Hands With Me session, possibly including some deals from the annual Portland Club duplicate competition in which I am playing today. Thank you all for your positive comments about these session. Just as Andrew Robson likes to use the example of his 1NT doubled minus 7 experience in his classes, there can be times when you learn as much from hands that go wrong as from those that are triumphs…..

I am including Paypal payment buttons in this post again, but if you have trouble making them work you can also book your place in the seminar or for the Tuesday morning supervised play session by going to any page of the website and looking for the payment option in the right hand sidebar.

Pay for seminar

16th November 2020 from 9.30am

£20.00

There will be the normal Tuesday morning supervised play session again this week (17th November), starting at 9.30am). Please let me know as early possible that you intend to join, ideals by early Monday evening, as it makes it so much easier to arrange the tables and reduce the risk of having to turn one of you away.

Pay for Tuesday bridge

17th November 2020 Supervised play

£15.00

I may have to postpone or reschedule one or two of the group sessions this week because of other commitments, but will let those involved know separately. Meanwhile I would like to thank everyone who enrolled in the beginners bridge course yesterday and maintained their concentration so admirably for the full five and a half hour experience. There are some quick learners among them, I can tell, and I look forward to welcoming them into our group. The second part of the two-day course will be on November 28th.

Jonathan Davis

Online bridge update 24

This week’s events are:

Monday morning (4th October 4th) seminar on negative and responsive doubles. Because of a business commitment later in the morning this will be shorter than normal and so I am only charging a reduced rate.

Tuesday 5th October) our normal Tuesday morning supervised play session, starting at 9.30am.

There are payment buttons for both of these in the sidebar. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

Details of future courses will be published at the end of this week.

Online bridge upate 16

The easing of lockdown restrictions has finally begun, allowing many social activities to resume, but for now at least face to face bridge will not be one of them. So the new world of online bridge to which we have all become accustomed continues, with our regular Tuesday morning supervised play session and all the group coaching sessions running as normal next week. You can sign up and pay for next week’s sessions by using the payment button in the sidebar of the website.

July 28th Tuesday play session

Our regular Tuesday morning supervised play session, combining the play of real life randomly dealt hands and friendly chat via a Zoom video call for each table, with supervision by Jonathan and Annabel. From 9.30 to 12.30.

£15.00

If for any reason you miss the chance to book a place on the Tuesday morning club session ahead of time, it may be worth dropping me an email the day before, when I will be checking the final numbers and can let you know if there is still room to make up another table (although I cannot absolutely guarantee you a place). Tuesday mornings are a great opportunity to practise with regular partners and chat to other like-minded players at your table. We now have an opportunity to expand the number of tables, so please do give that consideration.

July 27th seminar: slams review

A review of slam bidding and play, with new hands, with interactive Q and A and a full set of slides. Taught by Jonathan Davis.

£20.00

As promised the next seminar on July 13th will be on the play of No Trump contracts. It is surprising how many people new to bridge say that they find No Trump contracts more difficult to play. In this seminar I will be explaining the basic techniques required to play a No Trump contract and how to balance the search for extra tricks with precautions against allowing the defenders to win too many of theirs. Please look at the seminar page for the latest details on future sessions. In response to demand I will be bringing forward a seminar on negative doubles (such a useful bidding tool) and dealing with intervention over One No Trump.

Online bridge upate 15

The easing of lockdown restrictions will allow many social activities to resume, but for now at least face to face bridge will not be one of them. So the new world of online bridge to which we have all become accustomed continues, with our regular Tuesday morning supervised play session and all the group coaching sessions running as normal next week. If for any reason you miss the chance to book a place on the Tuesday morning club session ahead of time, it may be worth dropping me an email the day before, when I will be checking the final numbers and can let you know if there is still room to make up another table, although I cannot absolutely guarantee you a place. Tuesday mornings are a great opportunity to practise with regular partners and chat to other like-minded players at your table.

July 7th 2020 play session

Our normal regular Tuesday morning session from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

£15.00

As promised the next seminar on July 6th will be on trial bids, the final element of the slam bidding methods we have been discussing for the last few weeks. Trial bids may not sound that exciting but they are an integral part of Andrew Robson’s methods and dovetail nicely with cue bids and Key Card Blackwood. After that we will be going back to topics involving the play of the hands, starting with No Trump contracts. Further along the line I plan to offer a review session on slam bidding to help you review and practice all the different elements of slam bidding that we have covered. It is very encouraging how many more of you are already taking what you have learnt and putting it into practice. One of the highlights of the week has been seeing one of my fastest improving students bidding and making a grand slam for the first time. You could be next…..

July 6th 2020 seminar (trial bids)

Our regular two-hour Monday morning seminar on bidding and play techniques: two hours with slides, sample hands and Q and A, from 9.30am.

£20.00

Online bridge upate 14

The heatwave goes on as I write this note, and some of you I know will be taking advantage before too long of the relaxation of the lockdown rules to start venturing out into distant climes. I am not going anywhere however, at least for the next week or two, and so the normal Tuesday morning supervised play and all the group coaching sessions will continue next week. If for any reason you miss the chance to book a place on Tuesday mornings ahead of time, it may be worth dropping me an email the day before, when I will be checking the final numbers and can let you know if there is still room to make up another table, although it is not guaranteed.

July 7th 2020 play session

Our normal regular Tuesday morning session from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

£15.00

The last seminar on Ace-showing cue bids attracted a record attendance. Thank you all for your support. I look forward to seeing you at the next one, which is on the Jacoby Two No Trump convention on Monday 29th at the normal time of 9.30am. The following week I will be covering trial bids, to complete the suite of slam bidding tools, after which we will be going back to topics involving the play of the hands. Trial bids may not sound that exciting but they are an integral part of Andrew Robson’s methods and dovetail nicely with cue bids and Key Card Blackwood. Further along the line I plan to offer a review session on slam bidding to help you review and practice all the different elements of slam bidding that we have covered.

July 6th 2020 seminar (trial bids)

Our regular two-hour Monday morning seminar on bidding and play techniques: two hours with slides, sample hands and Q and A, from 9.30am.

£20.00

Online bridge update no 12

I am sorry to say that the Monday morning bridge seminar series is going to have to skip a week. There will be no seminar this Monday (June 15th) on trial bidding, because of a second professional commitment of mine, which unfortunately I cannot change. I apologise for the break in service, which is rare, but sometimes unavoidable. There are after all few more important things than a regular bridge commitment…….

The series will resume on Monday week with Ace-showing cue bids, followed by the Jacoby Two No Trump convention, two more essential additions to your game and slam bidding methods. The session on trial bidding will be rescheduled for a later date. Anyone who has already booked for this Monday will be automatically rolled over to the next date unless you advise me otherwise.

The next three topics in the series will be as follows:

  1. Ace-showing cue bids: June 22nd
  2. Jacoby 2 No Trump convention: June 29th
  3. Playing No Trump hands: July 6th.

The good news is that it will be back to business as normal on Tuesday morning with our regular social game (“Wytham online”). I will assume that those of you who booked for last week’s cancelled session are coming this Tuesday unless you tell me otherwise; there will be no need to book again in that case.

As an experiment, and in the interest of continuous improvement, rather than using Eventbrite, I am inviting you to pay directly from the website. Simply click on the button below and you should be able to pay by debit or credit card. If you have any problems please let me know. I am keen to know whether this method is simpler or more difficult to use than alternatives. If so I may use it for the Monday seminars as well.

Tuesday play 23rd June

Our regular social bridge session every Tuesday morning

£15.00

All the online coaching groups continue as normal. I have had a number of enquiries about a beginners class in bridge and I am willing to offer this if there are enough takers. If you have not already done so please feel free to let me know if you are interested in this, or know anyone who might be. In the latter case please ask them to email me with their details.

In the meantime happy bridging!

 

 

 

Online bridge update no 11

Tomorrow’s Monday morning bridge seminar continues our sequence of invaluable conventions, this time focusing in on splinters. A splinter bid tells your partner about a shortage in your hand once you have agreed a trump suit. it dovetails nicely with the other tools you will need to become an expert game and slam bidder. As with the others in the series once you have mastered splinters, you won’t want to leave home without one.

As normal the seminar begins at 9.30 and will include a series of example hands and teaching notes that are emailed to you after the event. You can book a place by following this link to the Eventbrite page, or email me to pay by bank transfer if your computer won’t let you use Eventbrite (you might need to change your browser).

The next three topics in the series will be as follows:

  1. Trial bidding: June 15th
  2. Ace-showing cue bids: June 22nd
  3. Jacoby 2 No Trump convention: June 29th

And now for the bad news. I am afraid that I am going to have to cancel, exceptionally, our regular Tuesday morning social bridge gathering (“Wytham online”) because of a change in the time of the monthly investment committee to which I belong. This change has been foisted on me and I am sorry that there is nothing I can do at this late stage, and apologise for the late notification. Anybody who has booked for the Tuesday session already will be given a rollover to the following Tuesday when we will resume as normal.  If I can find an alternative time this week I will let you know.

All the online coaching groups continue as normal. As I noted last week, as the lockdown eases it may be that some of you may need to drop out of these groups, and I would appreciate some early warning if you think that might be the case as it will give me time to find suitable substitutes. Of course I recognise  that many of you will have become so hooked on your weekly bridge coaching session that you will want to reschedule your work and family life to make it a fixture indefinitely…….! In the meantime enjoy the sunshine and keep safe.

 

 

 

 

 

Online bridge update no 10

The topic for tomorrow’s Monday morning bridge seminar is a wonderful convention that you should definitely aspire to adding to your bidding armoury as you improve. Roman Key Card Blackwood is the upmarket version of the better known  Blackwood convention, when a bid of Four No Trumps after a suit has been agreed is asking for the number Aces your partner has. Roman Key Card Blackwood, so named because it was developed in Italy, extends the enquiry to include the King of Trumps as well as the four Aces and also enables you to ask about the Queen of trumps as well – often the crucial information you need to go slamming.

As normal the seminar begins at 9.30 and will include a series of example hands and teaching notes that are emailed to you after the event. You can book a place by following this link to the Eventbrite page, or email me to pay by bank transfer if your computer won’t let you use Eventbrite (you might need to change your browser). This seminar dovetails nicely with the Losing Trick Count we discussed last week and the next four seminars as well. These will be as follows:

  1. Splinter bids; June 8th
  2. Trial bidding: June 15th
  3. Ace-showing cue bids: June 22nd
  4. Jacoby 2 No Trump convention: June 29th

Our regular Tuesday morning social bridge gathering (“Wytham online”) continues as normal, starting at 9.30 and also can be booked on Eventbrite. Follow this link. As always I shall be arranging the tables on Monday evening so please do try and book up in advance so that I know the numbers and it also helps if you can log in to the Zoom call around 9.25 for best results and a prompt start. All the online coaching groups continue too.

As the lockdown eases it may be that some of you may need to drop out of these groups, and I would appreciate some early warning if you think that might be the case as it will give me time to find suitable substitutes. Of course I recognise  that many of you will have become so hooked on your weekly bridge coaching session that you will want to reschedule your work and family life to make it a fixture indefinitely…….! In the meantime enjoy the sunshine and keep safe.