Slam Bidding Why Bid a Slam? Just Like There Is a Bonus for Being in the Game Level, There Is a Bonus for Being in the Slam Levels
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Slam Bidding Lesson
Slam Bidding and Modified Scroll Bids By Neil H. Timm In this Bridge Bit, I explore more fully Slam bidding techniques, some old and some perhaps new. To reach a small slam, the partnership should have roughly thirty-three Bergen points. In addition to a trump fit and count, slams require controls (aces, kings, voids, and singletons). The more controls between the partners, the easier the slam. To evaluate whether or not the partnership has the required controls, one uses cuebids with perhaps the 5NT trump ask bid (Grand Slam Force), and Blackwood Conventions. Blackwood Conventions reveal how many aces and kings, while cuebidding or control showing bids reveal where they reside. To make a slam, one usually requires first-round control in three suits and second round control in the fourth suit. It is possible to make a slam missing two aces, provided the missing ace is opposite a void, and the second missing ace is replaced by or is opposite a second-round control (a king or a singleton). When looking for a possible slam, one often asks the following questions. 1. What cards should my partner have to be able to make a slam? 2. How may I obtain the required information? 3. Are there any bidding techniques or conventions that I can use to obtain the required information? 4. If my partner does not have the required cards for a slam, can I stop short of slam, and if not is the risk of going down worth it? We shall review techniques to help the partnership find the required information for making a slam! However, with some hands one needs only to count points to reach a slam. -
Acol Bidding Notes
SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION The following notes are designed to help your understanding of the Acol system of bidding and should be used in conjunction with Crib Sheets 1 to 5 and the Glossary of Terms The crib sheets summarise the bidding in tabular form, whereas these notes provide a fuller explanation of the reasons for making particular bids and bidding strategy. These notes consist of a number of short chapters that have been structured in a logical order to build on the things learnt in the earlier chapters. However, each chapter can be viewed as a mini-lesson on a specific area which can be read in isolation rather than trying to absorb too much information in one go. It should be noted that there is not a single set of definitive Acol ‘rules’. The modern Acol bidding style has developed over the years and different bridge experts recommend slightly different variations based on their personal preferences and playing experience. These notes are based on the methods described in the book The Right Way to Play Bridge by Paul Mendelson, which is available at all good bookshops (and some rubbish ones as well). They feature a ‘Weak No Trump’ throughout and ‘Strong Two’ openings. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INDEX Section 1 Introduction Chapter 1 Bidding objectives & scoring Chapter 2 Evaluating the strength of your hand Chapter 3 Evaluating the shape of your hand . Section 2 Balanced Hands Chapter 21 1NT opening bid & No Trumps responses Chapter 22 1NT opening bid & suit responses Chapter 23 Opening bids with stronger balanced hands Chapter 24 Supporting responder’s major suit Chapter 25 2NT opening bid & responses Chapter 26 2 Clubs opening bid & responses Chapter 27 No Trumps responses after an opening suit bid Chapter 28 Summary of bidding with Balanced Hands . -
Tt Fall 12 Web.Pub
VOL. 53 No. 3 FALL 2012 Meet Michigan’s winning mini-Spingold squad Editor’s note: A team of five 20-something Ann Arbor players won the 0-1500 mini- Spingold KO, a multi- day limited national championship, at the summer North Ameri- can Bridge Champion- ships in Philadelphia. A month earlier, they also won the Sunday Winners of the mini-Spingold 0-1500 Swiss Teams at the KO Teams: (front) Jin Hu and Jonathan Fleischmann; (back) Max Glick, Zach- Toledo Regional. ary Scherr and Zachary Wasserman. Here are their stories: Jonathan Fleischmann ter. I'm an attorney less than a year out of law school. I'm 24 years old and live in I started playing in 1999 Bloomfield Hills with my fa- (Continued on page 22) ther, two brothers, and a sis- DON’T FORGET TO VOTE The annual election for MBA Board of Directors will be held during the last four days of the October regional. If you cannot be there on one of those days, you can still vote by complet- ing and sending in an absentee ballot. See page 5. Candi- dates’ pictures and statements appear on pages 6 and 7. Michigan Bridge Association Unit #137 2012 VINCE & JOAN REMEY MOTOR CITY REGIONAL October 8-14, 2012 Site: William Costick Center, 28600 Eleven Mile Road, Farmington Hills MI 48336 (between Inkster and Middlebelt roads) 248-473-1816 Intermediate/Newcomers Schedule (0-299 MP) Single-session Stratified Open Pairs: Tue. through Fri., 1 p.m. & 7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. -
Hall of Fame Takes Five
Friday, July 24, 2009 Volume 81, Number 1 Daily Bulletin Washington, DC 81st Summer North American Bridge Championships Editors: Brent Manley and Paul Linxwiler Hall of Fame takes five Hall of Fame inductee Mark Lair, center, with Mike Passell, left, and Eddie Wold. Sportsman of the Year Peter Boyd with longtime (right) Aileen Osofsky and her son, Alan. partner Steve Robinson. If standing ovations could be converted to masterpoints, three of the five inductees at the Defenders out in top GNT flight Bridge Hall of Fame dinner on Thursday evening The District 14 team captained by Bob sixth, Bill Kent, is from Iowa. would be instant contenders for the Barry Crane Top Balderson, holding a 1-IMP lead against the They knocked out the District 9 squad 500. defending champions with 16 deals to play, won captained by Warren Spector (David Berkowitz, Time after time, members of the audience were the fourth quarter 50-9 to advance to the round of Larry Cohen, Mike Becker, Jeff Meckstroth and on their feet, applauding a sterling new class for the eight in the Grand National Teams Championship Eric Rodwell). The team was seeking a third ACBL Hall of Fame. Enjoying the accolades were: Flight. straight win in the event. • Mark Lair, many-time North American champion Five of the six team members are from All four flights of the GNT – including Flights and one of ACBL’s top players. Minnesota – Bob and Cynthia Balderson, Peggy A, B and C – will play the round of eight today. • Aileen Osofsky, ACBL Goodwill chair for nearly Kaplan, Carol Miner and Paul Meerschaert. -
Chance, Luck and Statistics : the Science of Chance
University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Alberta Gambling Research Institute Alberta Gambling Research Institute 1963 Chance, luck and statistics : the science of chance Levinson, Horace C. Dover Publications, Inc. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/41334 book Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca Chance, Luck and Statistics THE SCIENCE OF CHANCE (formerly titled: The Science of Chance) BY Horace C. Levinson, Ph. D. Dover Publications, Inc., New York Copyright @ 1939, 1950, 1963 by Horace C. Levinson All rights reserved under Pan American and International Copyright Conventions. Published in Canada by General Publishing Company, Ltd., 30 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Toronto, Ontario. Published in the United Kingdom by Constable and Company, Ltd., 10 Orange Street, London, W.C. 2. This new Dover edition, first published in 1963. is a revised and enlarged version ot the work pub- lished by Rinehart & Company in 1950 under the former title: The Science of Chance. The first edi- tion of this work, published in 1939, was called Your Chance to Win. International Standard Rook Number: 0-486-21007-3 Libraiy of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-3453 Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc. 180 Varick Street New York, N.Y. 10014 PREFACE TO DOVER EDITION THE present edition is essentially unchanged from that of 1950. There are only a few revisions that call for comment. On the other hand, the edition of 1950 contained far more extensive revisions of the first edition, which appeared in 1939 under the title Your Chance to Win. One major revision was required by the appearance in 1953 of a very important work, a life of Cardan,* a brief account of whom is given in Chapter 11. -
Roman Keycard Blackwood (Part 1) by Fred Gitelman
Roman Keycard Blackwood (Part 1) By Fred Gitelman The Blackwood convention was developed about 60 years ago by Easley Blackwood of Indianapolis, one of the great Bridge players and theorists of his time. The purpose of the Blackwood convention is to find out how many Aces and Kings your partner holds in order to make slam bidding more accurate. Here's how it works: In most auctions a bid of 4NT is the Blackwood convention and carries the message, “I am interested in slam, partner, how many Aces do you have?” The responses are: 5 Clubs = I have either zero Aces or all four Aces 5 Diamonds = I have one Ace 5 Hearts = I have two Aces 5 Spades = I have three Aces Subsequently the 4NT bidder can bid 5NT to give this message, “We have all four Aces between our two hands, partner. I think we might have a grand slam, however, so please tell me how many Kings you have!” The responses are similar: 6 Clubs = I have either zero Kings or all four Kings 6 Diamonds = I have one King 6 Hearts = I have two Kings 6 Spades = I have three Kings Over the years, Blackwood has gradually become accepted as part of “standard” bidding. Experts eventually developed ways for showing voids (which can be just as important as Aces) in response to Blackwood, and for responding to Blackwood when the opponents interfere over the 4NT inquiry. Several variations of Blackwood were also developed in which the responder was able to show the specific Aces that he held. -
Practical Slam Bidding Ebook
Practical Slam Bidding ebook RON KLINGER MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR BIG HANDS INTRODUCTION Slam bidding brings an excitement all of its own. The pulse quickens, adrenalin is pumping, it’s all systems go. The culmination can be euphoria when you are successful, misery when the slam fails. The aim of this book is to increase your euphoria-to-misery ratio. Of all the skills in bridge, experts perform worst in the slam area. You do not need to go far to find the reason: Lack of experience. Slams occur on about 10% of all deals. Compare that with 50% for partscores and 40% for games. No wonder players are less familiar with the big hands. Half of the slam hands will be yours, half will go to your opponents. You can thus expect a slam your way about 5% of the time. That is roughly one deal per session. If you play twice a week, you can hope for about a hundred slams a year. Practise on the 120 deals in this book and study them, and you will have the equivalent of an extra year’s training under your belt. Your euphoria ratio is then bound to rise. How to use this ebook This is not so much an ebook for reading pleasure as a workbook. It is ideal for partnership practice but you can also use it on your own. For each set of hands, the dealer is given, followed by the vulnerability. You and partner are the East and West. If the dealer is North, East comes next; if the dealer is South, West is next. -
Bernard Magee's Acol Bidding Quiz
Number One Hundred and Fifty June 2015 Bernard Magee’s Acol Bidding Quiz BRIDGEYou are West in the auctions below, playing ‘Standard Acol’ with a weak no-trump (12-14 points) and 4-card majors. 1. Dealer West. Love All. 4. Dealer East. Game All. 7. Dealer North. E/W Game. 10. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ A K 7 6 4 3 2 ♠ 7 6 ♠ A 8 7 ♠ K Q 10 4 3 ♥ 6 N ♥ K 10 3 N ♥ 7 6 5 4 N ♥ 7 6 N W E ♦ K 2 W E ♦ J 5 4 ♦ Q 10 8 6 W E ♦ 5 4 W E S ♣ 7 6 5 S ♣ A Q 7 6 3 ♣ 4 2 S ♣ Q J 10 7 S West North East South West North East South West North East South West North East South ? 1♠ 1NT 1NT Dbl 2♦ 1♥ Pass ? ? 1♠ Pass 1NT Pass ? 2. Dealer East. E/W Game. 5. Dealer East. Game All. 8. Dealer West. E/W Game. 11. Dealer East. Love All. ♠ Q J 3 ♠ 7 6 ♠ A 8 5 3 ♠ 9 8 2 ♥ 7 N ♥ K 10 3 N ♥ A 9 8 7 N ♥ Q J 10 N W E W E W E W E ♦ A K 8 7 6 5 4 ♦ 5 4 ♦ K 6 4 ♦ 8 3 S S S S ♣ A 8 ♣ Q J 7 6 4 3 ♣ A 2 ♣ A 9 6 4 3 West North East South West North East South West North East South West North East South 3♠ Pass 1♠ 1NT 1♥ 1♠ Pass Pass 1♣ Pass ? ? ? 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass ? 3. -
Bridge for Dummies‰
01_924261 ffirs.qxp 8/17/06 2:49 PM Page i Bridge FOR DUMmIES‰ 2ND EDITION by Eddie Kantar 01_924261 ffirs.qxp 8/17/06 2:49 PM Page iv 01_924261 ffirs.qxp 8/17/06 2:49 PM Page i Bridge FOR DUMmIES‰ 2ND EDITION by Eddie Kantar 01_924261 ffirs.qxp 8/17/06 2:49 PM Page ii Bridge For Dummies®, 2nd Edition Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis- sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http://www. wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. -
Roadmap for Resilience: the California Surgeon General's
DECEMBER 09, 2020 Roadmap for Resilience The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health Suggested citation for the report: Bhushan D, Kotz K, McCall J, Wirtz S, Gilgoff R, Dube SR, Powers C, Olson-Morgan J, Galeste M, Patterson K, Harris L, Mills A, Bethell C, Burke Harris N, Office of the California Surgeon General. Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health. Office of the California Surgeon General, 2020. DOI: 10.48019/PEAM8812. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR December 2, 2020 In one of my first acts as Governor, I established the role of California Surgeon General. Among all the myriad challenges facing our administration on the first day, addressing persistent challenges to the health and welfare of the people of our state—especially that of the youngest Californians—was an essential priority. We led with the overwhelming scientific consensus that upstream factors, including toxic stress and the social determinants of health, are the root causes of many of the most harmful and persistent health challenges, from heart disease to homelessness. An issue so critical to the health of 40 million Californians deserved nothing less than a world-renowned expert and advocate. Appointed in 2019 to be the first- ever California Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris brought groundbreaking research and expertise in childhood trauma and adversity to the State’s efforts. In this new role, Dr. Burke Harris set three key priorities – early childhood, health equity and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress – and is working across my administration to give voice to the science and evidence-based practices that are foundational to the success of our work as a state. -
Applying Case-Based Reasoning to the Game of Bridge
Applying Case-Based Reasoning to the Game of Bridge Jacob Bellamy-McIntyre A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Postgraduate Diploma of Science in Computer Science, University of Auckland, 2008 1 Abstract Bridge provides a challenging problem for Artificial Intelligence research due to the game being stochastic (from the shuffling of the cards), hidden information (from not being able to see opponents cards) and from the general complexities of the game. Research into Computer Bridge is in its relative infancy, with the American Contract Bridge League holding the first World Championships Computer Bridge competition in 1997. With Bridge being a game that is more probabilistic and intuitive than Chess, it may be a better avenue of research for evaluating human-like intelligence. This paper will explore the possibility of applying Case Base Reasoning to the game of Bridge and will discuss the problems that arise from trying to do so, while comparing Case Base Reasoning to other techniques used in Artificial Intelligence. 2 Table of Contents 1. Case-Based Reasoning 1.1 Introduction ……………………………… 5 1.2 The Domain and Adaptation …………….. 8 1.3 The Case and the Case Base …………….. 10 1.4 The Similarity Function …………………. 11 2. Games in AI 2.1 Introduction ………………………………………….14 2.2 Chess ………………………………………………. 15 2.3 Checkers …………………………………………… 17 2.4 Poker ………………………………………………. 19 2.5 Bridge ……………………………………………… 25 2.6 Other Games ……………………………………... 28 3. The Game of Bridge 3.1 Introduction to Bridge ………………………........... 30 3.2 The Bidding Phase …………………………….…… 30 3.3 Play of the Hand …………………………………... 31 3.4 The Value of a Hand ………………………………. -
Friendly Bridge Book, January 2020 Edition
Beginning Bridge Lessons By Ed Kinlaw and Linda MacCleave Richmond Bridge Association Richmond, Virginia Copyright © 2003 First printing September 2003 Revised second printing February 2004 Revised third printing May 2004 Revised fourth printing September 2004 Revised fifth printing February 2005 Revised sixth printing September 2005 Revised seventh printing February 2006 Revised eighth printing August 2006 Revised ninth printing March 2007 Tenth printing September 2007 Revised eleventh printing January 2008 Revised twelfth printing August 2008 Revised thirteenth printing February 2009 Fourteenth printing July 2009 Revised fifteenth printing February 2010 Sixteenth printing August 2010 Revised seventeenth printing January 2011 Revised eighteenth printing August 2011 Revised nineteenth printing March 2012 Revised twentieth printing April 2012 Twenty-first printing August 2012 Revised Twenty-fifth printing January 2014 Revised 26th printing August 2014 Revised 27th printing February 2015 28th printing August 2015 29th printing February 2016 30th printing July 2016 31st printing January 2017 32nd printing September 2017 33rd printing February 2018 34th printing August 2018 35th printing February 2019 36th printing August 2019 37th revised printing February 2020 2 Table of Contents Lesson 1: Mechanics of a Hand in Duplicate Bridge 5 Lesson 2: How to Open and How to Respond to One-level Suit 12 Lesson 3: Rebids by Opening Bidder and Responder 17 Lesson 4: Overcalls 24 Lesson 5: Takeout Doubles 27 Lesson 6: Responding to No-Trump Opening—Stayman