SIMPLE BRIDGE By Simon Simple Hi. My name is Simon Simple. This is the story of how my twin sister Vera and I learnt to play bridge the "SIMPLE" way. I hope that by following what happened to US, you, the reader will be able to also learn to play bridge the SIMPLE way. We started with a visit to someone recommended as a good bridge teacher. He shall remain nameless, but will be referred to in the story as the 'guru'. From here on in, the story will take the form of a discussion between us and the 'Guru' and then, following the discussion, I will recount our actual learning experiences once we started to play against other learners. I hope you will find ALL of this of interest; if not, the good thing is that you will be able to skip past anything which does not appeal to you as of interest. Who knows, it MAY be of interest when you go back to it later. Copyright © BridgeFUN 2001 1 http://www.bridgefun.co.nz CONTENTS CHAPTER 1.................................................................................................................................................. 5 A VISIT TO THE GURU......................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2................................................................................................................................................ 10 THE MECHANICS ................................................................................................................................ 10 CHAPTER 3................................................................................................................................................ 12 DUPLICATE BRIDGE .......................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 4................................................................................................................................................ 14 THE AUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 5................................................................................................................................................ 22 RECAPPING........................................................................................................................................... 22 TRUMPS ............................................................................................................................................... 22 DECLARER, DUMMY, DEFENDERS ................................................................................................. 22 BIDDING: HOW TO GET TO PLAY THE HAND: .............................................................................. 23 BIDDING CONSISTS OF ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS:..................................... 24 CHAPTER 6................................................................................................................................................ 25 THE POINT COUNT ............................................................................................................................. 25 CHOOSING A LOW LEVEL CONTRACT: .......................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 7................................................................................................................................................ 30 OPENING BIDS ..................................................................................................................................... 30 THE BASIC 'RULES':........................................................................................................................... 30 YOUR OPENING BIDS:....................................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 8................................................................................................................................................ 32 RESPONDING TO AN OPENING BID............................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 9................................................................................................................................................ 35 RESPONDING TO ONE DIAMOND................................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER 10.............................................................................................................................................. 36 RESPONDING TO ONE HEART ........................................................................................................ 36 RESPONDING TO THE ONE SPADE OPENING............................................................................... 37 ONE SPADE OPENING, TWO CLUB RESPONSE ............................................................................. 37 ONE SPADE OPENING, TWO DIAMOND RESPONSE ..................................................................... 37 ONE SPADE OPENING, TWO HEART RESPONSE ........................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 11.............................................................................................................................................. 38 PARTNERSHIP BIDDING ................................................................................................................... 38 THERE ARE TWO MAJOR OBJECTIVES IN BIDDIN G............................................................... 38 BASIC BIDDING, THE SIMPLE WAY:................................................................................................ 38 The 'LEVELS' of bidding: ................................................................................................................ 38 CHAPTER 12.............................................................................................................................................. 41 INTRODUCTION TO REBIDS............................................................................................................ 41 OPENING THE BIDDING:.................................................................................................................. 41 THE TWO LEVEL................................................................................................................................. 42 OPENER'S REBIDS:........................................................................................................................ 42 1NT REBID ...................................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 13.............................................................................................................................................. 44 REBIDS ................................................................................................................................................... 44 "OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 1D. ................................................................................................. 45 NO TRUMP REBIDS:...................................................................................................................... 45 CLUB REBIDS: ............................................................................................................................... 45 RAISE OF PARTNER'S SUIT (DIAMONDS)................................................................................ 46 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 1H................................................................................................ 46 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 1S ................................................................................................ 46 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 1NT ............................................................................................. 46 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 2D, 2H, or 2S: ............................................................................. 46 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 2NT ............................................................................................. 46 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 3NT ............................................................................................. 46 Copyright © BridgeFUN 2001 2 http://www.bridgefun.co.nz OPENING BID 1C, OTHER RESPONSES ..................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 14.............................................................................................................................................. 47 MORE REBIDS ...................................................................................................................................... 47 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 1H................................................................................................ 47 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 1S ................................................................................................ 47 OPENING BID 1C, RESPONSE 1NT ............................................................................................. 47 OPENING BID 1D, RESPONSE 1H................................................................................................ 47 OPENING BID 1D, RESPONSE 1S ................................................................................................ 47 OPENING BID 1D, RESPONSE 1NT 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