Welsh Bridge Union Teaching Scheme Teaching Course Lessons 1-10 This material is issued free of charge to all teachers prepared to teach according to the Welsh Bridge Union Standard system. It may be reproduced in full or in part for issue to learners. Teachers are requested to register their classes with their Area Secretary and the Chief Executive. Learners ahould be registered as Members of the WBU on payment of a Membership Fee of £6 per head (plus the appropriate Area Fee). These Membership Fees should be forwarded to our Membership Secretary, together with a list of names and addresses. If you have any comments or suggestion for improvement please send them in writing to the Chief Executive May I wish you happy and successful teaching Neville Richards Chief Executive Meadow View Llanddewi Llandrindod Wells Powys LD1 6SE Tel: 01597 850050 Email: [email protected] Welsh Bridge Union Teaching Scheme Teachers Notes The WBU Teaching Course is divided into 6 sets of 10 lessons, (based on the highly successful official Nederlandse Bridge Bond: “Van Start Tot Finish”.) Each Lesson consists of: Teachers Notes (a summary of lesson content, not for issue to learners) Examples of the points covered for use on an overhead or blackboard, or as cards on the tables) Hands to play (a selection of hands you can make up in advance to use as practice) Handout(s) for the learners to keep, summarising the lesson content A Quiz to use as Homework Using The Course This set covers the first ten lessons for Beginners. NB The course is intended as an Aid to Teachers. You do not need to follow it blindly! If you find your class is progressing more slowly or more quickly you may adapt the material as you see fit Try to familiarize yourself with the material beforehand so you can talk to your class rather than read to them If you really do not have time to make up the hands in advance you can photocopy the sheets and let your class do it for themselves – if they remember the hands that is great news! Some General Points Successful classes are very much “hands on” • Do not lecture for long periods – 15 minutes of talk is the absolute maximum before giving them something to do • Get your class to work at tables in groups of four, sitting in the appropriate positions. (Odd numbers work in groups of 5, taking it in turns to sit out) • Illustrate your points by giving them real cards to hold • Let them work things out for themselves wherever possible • Concentrate on Duplicate Bridge from the start. (Use boards, make them keep their cards in front of them, use travellers so they can compare results) • Repetition, repetition, repetition! (Use a variety of media to make the same point: large cards on felt display boards flip charts – Berol Magnum Markers are good Made-up Charts emphasising the main points Beginners’ Videos (Klinger is good) Questions similar to quizzes on a large chart Remember – it is all new to your learners. Do not worry about covering everything, do not wait till everyone has grasped everything. Teaching Hints Jargon is very dangerous. Try to be consistent: call a complete deal a ‘board’, reserving ‘hand ‘ for a single set of 13 cards Talk about ‘trump’ contracts, but ‘ruff’ to win a trick Your class will be anxious to go off and play at home. Encourage them to play Minibridge at first (it is essential to learn how to take tricks before bidding can be understood) Start each lesson with revision by going over the Quiz. Members of your class will ask awkward questions about areas you have not yet covered. Explain that Bridge is not difficult but it is wide-ranging. There is nothing complicated, just a lot of it. The class has to proceed a step at a time. “We will come to that later” (If necessary have a private talk with the learner who has asked the question.) Be tolerant - do not pull them up whenever they do something wrong Be available – explain how they might have done better if they ask (try not to make up a table in play unless absolutely necessary) Be entertaining – to keep their interest Remember – if you find a board interesting it is too difficult for a learner A successful class need not become great bridge players – but they learn to love the game. Lesson 1 Aims: • To get to know your class, and introduce your learners to one another • To explain the basic mechanics of playing bridge • To introduce your learners to bridge jargon which may be new to them • To familiarise them with the way bridge hands are written down Content: 1 Find out what experience your learners have of trick-taking card games. (If they have not played cards before you must proceed more slowly – start them on forms of whist) 2 Seat them at tables in groups of four with a sample board or wallet. Explain that they play in partnership with the player opposite. They are called North, South, East and West, written NS and EW 3 Study the pack of cards from the board Name the four suits – spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs, written S, H, D, C or ♠♥♦♣ Explain the rank order of the thirteen cards, from ace down to two The Honour cards are Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, written A, K, Q. J, 10 The remaining cards are spot cards or pips or ‘X’es, written 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 or xxx 4 Study the board (or wallet). Note the points of the compass and the indication of who is dealer. Explain that a board is dealt just once, and then passed on so that results can be compared. Show them a travelling score slip, and where it fits into the board 5 Explain how Bridge is played The aim of the game is for your side to take as many tricks as possible A trick is 4 cards played in clockwise order. The first card played is the lead. Everybody must follow suit (play a card of the suit led) when they can Each trick is won by the highest-ranking card played to it. Whoever wins the trick leads to the next one. 6 Demonstrate the mechanics of Duplicate Bridge We play cards face up then turn them over when the trick is complete Each player keeps his own cards so that the board can be passed on for the next table to play. The side that won a trick turn their cards face down in front of them with the short side towards them The side that did not win it places their cards with the long side towards them. (Why? So that we can see how many tricks each side has won so far) 7 Play a couple of example boards in no-trump with everybody playing as in Whist Demonstrate how to sort a hand – cards in rank order, suits alternating red and black. Introduce the idea of Hand Evaluation – the Point Count. Ace=4, King=3, Queen=3, Jack =1 What is an average hand in a 40 point pack? Strong and weak hands. 8 Practice. Let the class deal some hands and announce how many points they have Which side is stronger? First Year Course, Lesson 1, Teachers Notes Hands for Lesson 1 Play these hands in no-trump Concentrate on the mechanics of turning cards and returning them correctly to the board (If desired the learners can play them Whist style, with no dummy and everybody joining in.) The opening lead should be made by the Dealer Deal 1.1 ♠ AK10 Dealer North Deal 1.2 ♠ J9865 Dealer East ♥ AKQ2 ♥ 108 ♦ 9542 ♦ 64 ♣ 53 ♣ J975 ♠ J87 N ♠ Q643 ♠ 1072 N ♠ AKQ ♥ 104 W E ♥ J976 ♥ 942 W E ♥ A7653 ♦ QJ106 ♦ 83 ♦ A53 ♦ K102 S S ♣ QJ87 ♣ 964 ♣ AQ86 ♣ K3 ♠ 952 ♠ 43 ♥ 853 ♥ KQJ ♦ AK7 ♦ QJ987 ♣ AK102 ♣ 1042 Deal 1.3 ♠ K3 Dealer South Deal 1.4 ♠ J1098 Dealer West ♥ A852 ♥ A92 ♦ QJ2 ♦ J4 ♣ 10854 ♣ 10753 ♠ AQJ5 N ♠ 10962 ♠ KQ73 N ♠ A5 ♥ 64 W E ♥ 1097 ♥ Q84 W E ♥ KJ103 ♦ AK96 S ♦ 1053 ♦ K753 S ♦ A82 ♣ K62 ♣ J97 ♣ AK ♣ QJ62 ♠ 874 ♠ 642 ♥ KQJ3 ♥ 765 ♦ 874 ♦ Q1096 ♣ AQ3 ♣ 984 Deal 1.5 ♠ QJ104 Dealer North Deal 1.6 ♠ K1064 Dealer East ♥ KJ76 ♥ A842 ♦ 85 ♦ 105 ♣ A93 ♣ J92 ♠ A2 N ♠ 765 ♠ A732 N ♠ Q8 ♥ 83 ♥ AQ52 ♥ 107 ♥ KQJ53 W E W E ♦ KQ1032 ♦ J76 ♦ A84 ♦ 9732 S S ♣ K864 ♣ QJ10 ♣ 7643 ♣ K8 ♠ K983 ♠ J95 ♥ 1094 ♥ 96 ♦ A94 ♦ KQJ6 ♣ 752 ♣ AQ105 WBU Teaching Course Lesson 1 Hands to play The Basics of Bridge 1. Bridge is a Card Game. A pack of cards consists of 52 cards, 13 in each suit. The suits are spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The cards have a rank order from the Ace (highest) down to the two (lowest): A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 The top 5 cards in a suit are called Honours (Ace, king, queen, jack, ten). The others are small cards. 2. Bridge is a Partnership Game North plays with South and East with West. NS are EW’s opponents Each pair tries to achieve the best score possible, acting together. 3. Bridge is a Clockwise game. The order of cards played to a trick is eg W, then N, then E then S; or N, then E, then S, then W Bidding proceeds clockwise also, starting with the Dealer. 4. Our Bridge is a Duplicate game. Each board is played several times by different partnerships and the results compared.