Newbie - advice sought
D Ramapriya
My first post. I've been bitten by the bridge bug of late (circa 3
months) and been playing on the Yahoo Social lounges. I've managed with
what little I know of SAYC.
One of the opponents who I was chatting up recently said that it's best
if a newcomer learnt the Italian Blue Club system and improved himself
therefrom.
A Google search didn't really come up with any tutorial as such, and I
was wondering if anyone here has either a link to point me to, or a
tutorial that can be e-mailed across.
Thanks in advance,
Ramapriya
Dave Flower
Sorry, but I think you opponent's advice is, to say the least, poor.
Blue Team Club is a fine system, but it is about as suitable for
beginners as a Formula One car is for novice drivers !
Carry on enjoying bridge
Dave Flower
ted
D Ramapriya wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My first post. I've been bitten by the bridge bug of late (circa 3
> months) and been playing on the Yahoo Social lounges. I've managed with
> what little I know of SAYC.
You might try moving off of that awful site to Bridge Base Online.
While it requires a software download for access,it is immensely better
than Yahoo. If you prefer using a browser you could try Microsoft Zone
but this means you have to use MS's IE 5.0 or whatever the relevant
version is. BBO is free for play but does sell bridge materials as
their business model to generate a profit.
>
> One of the opponents who I was chatting up recently said that it's best
> if a newcomer learnt the Italian Blue Club system and improved himself
> therefrom.
It is probably better to learn a natural system first to get a better
grasp on what information you and your partner are trying to exchange
to reach a reasonable contract in a competitive auction.
Eddie Grove
> Hi all,
>
> My first post. I've been bitten by the bridge bug of late (circa 3
> months) and been playing on the Yahoo Social lounges. I've managed with
> what little I know of SAYC.
>
> One of the opponents who I was chatting up recently said that it's best
> if a newcomer learnt the Italian Blue Club system and improved himself
> therefrom.
The best system is the one that your best partner available wants to
play. See what systems the people you hope to play with tend to use.
Eddie
D Ramapriya
>
> The best system is the one that your best partner available wants to
> play. See what systems the people you hope to play with tend to use.
It's what I've been doing. Most partners say I'm doing better than
someone who's begun a few months ago, especially when I say I'm ok with
either transfers or Stayman on NT; dunno what's so obscure about it ;)
As I write, I don't even know scoring, but I've learnt to bid and play
at an average or probably sub-average level.
The guy who advised me said that it's best if someone picks up a really
nice bidding system when at my kind of level instead of having to do
major un-learning at a later date. But at least one on this thread has
already cautioned against that wisdom, so I'll shelve the thought for
now :)
Ramapriya
Derek Broughton
>
> D Ramapriya wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> My first post. I've been bitten by the bridge bug of late (circa 3
>> months) and been playing on the Yahoo Social lounges. I've managed with
>> what little I know of SAYC.
>
> You might try moving off of that awful site to Bridge Base Online.
> While it requires a software download for access,it is immensely better
> than Yahoo. If you prefer using a browser you could try Microsoft Zone
Didn't they stop Bridge on the Zone? It looks to me like there's supposed
to be an improved one coming, but not here yet...
--
derek
Michael Angelo Ravera
There are two basic sorts of system: Those where almost every bid in
the box is forcing and those where almost every bid in the box is
nonforcing.
The vast majority of the Bridge world plays the first kind of system.
Since this is the case, it is well to learn that kind of bidding system
first. In some countries, the second kind of system is more common.
I play both kinds of system. Each has its merits, but you need to learn
either what your partners know or what they are willing to play.
ted
I hadn't checked in two or three weeks so am not sure but I did hear
they were keeping/upgrading the bridge area.
Andrew
I concur with Dave. At this point in your bridge development, spend
your energy on learning:
* to count tricks
* to play a hand
* to defend a hand
* to signal correctly
* to evaluate the worth of a hand during the auction
Only when your foundation is strong should you move on to an artificial
bidding system like Blue Club. Make the cake before applying the icing.
BTW, there are hundreds of good books that will help you strengthen
your foundation. Some authors who write books that are appropriate at
your level are:
* Bill Root
* Edwin Kantar
* Mike Lawrence
Mike Lawrence has a nice CD-ROM based product called "Counting at
Bridge" that is excellent for teaching core bridge skills.
Andrew
D Ramapriya
>
> Mike Lawrence has a nice CD-ROM based product called "Counting at
> Bridge" that is excellent for teaching core bridge skills.
I have recently bought two used books, both very interesting. One's
called 'The Expert Game' by a cove called Reese and another called 'How
to play card combinations' by Mike Lawrence. Lawrence's book is very
readable but I see that that isn't what you're recommending.
I live in Dubai, UAE where the choice of bridge books is very limited,
being an Islamic nation where even benign card games are purviewed
under the 'gambling' umbrella :(
Ramapriya
les...@lycos.com
<ramap...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi,
The Italian Blue Club system may be a great system, but unless you
are from Italy or play mostly with Italians (many of whom are
great players) you may have a problem finding partners who play
that system.
I believe that if you go to www.ACBL.org that you can download
free lesson software for a bidding system that most bridge players
(at least from USA) would understand.
I don't think you need to join the ACBL for these downloads.
Good luck -- it is a great game!
Les
Andrew
D Ramapriya wrote:
> Andrew wrote:
> >
> > Mike Lawrence has a nice CD-ROM based product called "Counting at
> > Bridge" that is excellent for teaching core bridge skills.
>
>
> I have recently bought two used books, both very interesting. One's
> called 'The Expert Game' by a cove called Reese and another called 'How
> to play card combinations' by Mike Lawrence. Lawrence's book is very
> readable but I see that that isn't what you're recommending.
The Reese book is excellent, but might be over your head. The Lawrence
book is excellent--I enjoyed that book a lot. He has written some
excellent books on bidding too:
* Complete Book on Hand Evaluation
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0939460270/ref=pd_sim_dbs_b_2/103-8719789-8162238?ie=UTF8
* Complete Book on Overcalls
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0939460076/sr=1-5/qid=1156540814/ref=sr_1_5/103-8719789-8162238?ie=UTF8&s=books
> I live in Dubai, UAE where the choice of bridge books is very limited,
> being an Islamic nation where even benign card games are purviewed
> under the 'gambling' umbrella :(
Good luck finding some contraband bridge books then ;->
You can also join bridgebaseonline (www.bridgebaseonline.com)--it is
free to join. Once you have installed the BBO software, you can play
bridge, use their free learning tools and buy bridge software which you
can download directly to your computer. Their main product is called
BridgeMaster and was written by Fred Gitelman. It is excellent.
Andrew
Bob Lipton
Welcome. I hope you enjoy bridge for many years to come. The late
Victor Mollo used to say that his favorite thing in the world was
winning at bridge, and his second favorite thing was losing at bridge.
You will hear a lot of solemn nonsense offered you in Bridge, as in so
many places in life. While it would not hurt you overly much to
eventually learn Italian Blue, there are many quicker ways to improve
your game than learning a complicated system that one person in eight
thousand will wish to play with you -- for two minutes, perhaps. Enjoy
your games, see if you can find a club where you can play with live
human beings-- you might enjoy that. Keep a good attitude and a sense
of humor, take the game seriously and not yourself and you will find it
frustrating you for decades to come.
Bob
D Ramapriya
I've subscribed to an amiable neighborhood :)
I must fess up to one rather serious fact. I'm a newbie yes, but I'm
39. I'm already enjoying the game to a point of it being nearly a part
of my evening routine but do tell me whether I've any chance at all of
graduating to or beyond the intermediate level, given my age. I'm a
civil engineer by profession and from a part of the world (India) that
isn't exactly famous for bridge players :)
Lastly, I'm non-native English, so please do keep my communicability
level in your radar :)
Forgot to mention - I've two bridge software in my PC. One's called the
Bridge Baron which I like a lot, the other is called Easy Bridge, which
has declarer play and bidding patterns that are kind of flawed, making
it unattractive to play with.
Any, and all, counsel welcome :)
Ramapriya
Alex Martelli
> Hi all,
>
> My first post. I've been bitten by the bridge bug of late (circa 3
> months) and been playing on the Yahoo Social lounges. I've managed with
> what little I know of SAYC.
Welcome to the world of bridge! I suggest you move to a better site;
among the free ones, BBO (bridge base online) may be best.
> One of the opponents who I was chatting up recently said that it's best
> if a newcomer learnt the Italian Blue Club system and improved himself
> therefrom.
Heh -- speaking as a Italian (and having played Blue Club in the past...
FAR past!-) I disagree with the suggestion. Get Terence Reese's book
"Bridge for Bright Beginners" (one of TR's many immortal masterpieces),
find a regular partner willing to play a natural commonsense system
(such as _traditional_ Acol used to be), and you'll learn MUCH faster
than with any other system, even if the other system might be more
effective in scoring some extra MPs or IMPs!-)
Alex
Peterh
"D Ramapriya" <ramap...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1156562648....@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> I'm chuffed at all the really nice words here. Definitely appears that
> I've subscribed to an amiable neighborhood :)
>
> I must fess up to one rather serious fact. I'm a newbie yes, but I'm
> 39. I'm already enjoying the game to a point of it being nearly a part
> of my evening routine but do tell me whether I've any chance at all of
> graduating to or beyond the intermediate level, given my age. I'm a
> civil engineer by profession and from a part of the world (India) that
> isn't exactly famous for bridge players :)
>
class.
Peterh
raija d
Welcome.
I am echoing others who advise that to improve at bridge (if that is your
aim), your investment in time and energy are better used to practice
declarer play, learn to evaluate hands not only by counting points, learn
carding, and learn to count the hands you do not see, whether as defender or
declarer. System can be anything you like but I would definitely not spend
time learning Blue Club or artificial systems at this point if I were you.
Vladimir
I will dare to say, forget it. Italian Blue Club is not so widely used
for you to get comfortable . Stick to your methods and practice them,
then, after a while, with your usual partner pick a system you like
(both). For my ovn experiance, get used to 2/1 system for playing
online, and what ever makes you comfortable, to play live.
As you say you are nevbie just concentrate on improoving your ovn
game-skils, try to recognise where you are weak, and then find some
good book on the subject just to HELP you overcome a weeakness.
If you need some book recomendations, i will reccomend the authors, not
books, so you can choose - Mike Lawrence, Edie Kantar, Hugh Kelsey,
Terance Reese (belive or not just a few books written with Trezel),
Wilianm Root triology (commonsence bidding, How to play a Bridge hand,
and how to defend a bridge hand).
Good luck