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 5

The demand for online bridge seems to be intensifying as the lockdown goes on. I now have ten separate groups who have signed up for 60 or 90 minute coaching sessions through the week. Each group has a different range of experience and they are all, from early stage to advanced, fun to teach and the feedback continues to be very positive. Thank you to everyone who has signed up.

In addition to all these groups there will be another seminar on Monday, this time devoted to when and how to establish long cards in suits. It will cover the probabilities that suits will break, ducking to preserve control of the hand and the importance of keeping the right number of entries, plus some other example hands from my archive. You can sign up for that on Eventbrite here.

Tuesday morning will again feature our normal Tuesday morning supervised play session (“Wytham online”), with each table in its own Zoom room to allow all four players to chat while playing. I will again be shuffling the tables around to allow you to play with different partners and opponents, unless specifically requested otherwise. Please sign up here if you can, or otherwise let me know before lunchtime on Monday and pay by bank transfer, so that I can make sure we have the right numbers. (If I have told you that you are unfortunately on a waiting list, don’t despair: I may be able to rustle up a fourth player at the last moment on Tuesday morning).

Then on Wednesday at 2pm I will be continuing with the next lesson in the Advanced Defence course, covering suit preference signals. The first of my “play these hands with me” bridge videos should be appearing shortly. For those who are at this level, I am also considering offering anyone who is interested the chance to play with me in an Andrew Robson Bridge Club online duplicate, to be followed by a short review of the hands that were played. Please let me know if this is something that would interest you. The ARBC duplicates are held twice a day on BBO, but be aware that the techniques required to get a good score in duplicate are somewhat different to teams or Chicago.

In the meantime take care and stay safe. Jonathan

PS I am also keeping an eye on what is happening in the financial markets during the crisis and you might be interested to know that I am recording a short weekly podcast about the latest news from the investment trust sector with Simon Elliott, head of investment trust research at Winterflood Securities, released every Saturday (via http://www.money-makers.co).