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Grand Slam Force
The Grand Slam Force is a bidding convention in contract bridge that was developed by Ely Culbertson in 1936. It is intended to be used in cases where the combined hands of a partnership are so strong that a slam (winning at least 12 tricks) is a near-certainty and a grand slam (winning all 13 tricks) is a possibility. It enables a player to gain information about the quality of the top trumps held by his partner (i.e., which of the ace, king or queen). When the Grand Slam Force was invented in the 1930s (when it was called "Josephine," named after Ely's then-wife Josephine Culbertson), Blackwood had not evolved into what has become the standard: Roman Keycard Blackwood (often called RKCB). Using KCB, there are 5 keycards -- the four aces and the king of trumps. The responses to 4NT are: 5C = 1 or 4 keycards; 5D = 0 or 3 keycards; 5H = 2 keycards without the Queen of trumps; 5S = 2 keycards with the Queen of trumps. As you can see, there is no need to bid 5NT to ask for the A, K, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slam-seeking Conventions
Slam-seeking conventions are codified artificial bids used in the card game contract bridge. Bidding and making a small slam (12 tricks) or grand slam (13 tricks) yields high bonuses ranging from 500 to 1500 points. However, the risk is also high as failure to fulfill the slam contract also means failure to score the bonus points for a game (300-500). Conventions have been devised to maximise the opportunity for success whilst minimising the risk of failure. Contract bridge bidding systems are mainly "natural" (most bids have an obvious meaning) or "artificial" (many bids have a meaning unrelated to the denomination mentioned). However, even natural systems such as Acol find occasional need to resort to artificial means called conventions. A very common type of conventional bid is of the slam-seeking variety to be used in situations when a small slam or a grand slam appears possible but more information is needed before the optimum contract can be determined. In order to make a sm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contract Bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, tournaments, online and with friends at home, making it one of the world's most popular card games, particularly among seniors. The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the governing body for international competitive bridge, with numerous other bodies governing it at the regional level. The game consists of a number of , each progressing through four phases. The cards are dealt to the players; then the players ''call'' (or ''bid'') in an auction seeking to take the , specifying how many tricks the partnership receiving the contract (the declaring side) needs to take to receive points for the deal. During the auction, partners use their bids to also exchange information about their hands, including o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ely Culbertson
Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was widely regarded as "the man who made contract bridge". He was a great showman who became rich, was highly extravagant, and lost and gained fortunes several times over. Life Culbertson was born in Poiana Vărbilău in Romania to an American mining engineer, Almon Culbertson, and his Russian wife, Xenya Rogoznaya. He attended the École des sciences économiques et politiques at the Sorbonne in Paris, and the University of Geneva. His facility for languages was extraordinary: he spoke Russian, English, French, German, Czech and Spanish fluently, with a reading knowledge of five others, and a knowledge of Latin and classical Greek. In spite of his education, his erudition was largely self-acquired: he was a born autodidact. After the Russian Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josephine Culbertson
Josephine M. "Jo" Culbertson (''née'' Murphy; 2 February 1898 – March 23, 1956) was an American bridge player, teacher, theorist and writer. Josephine Murphy was born in Bayside, New York (now in Queens), to parents John Edward Murphy and Sarah McCarthy Murphy. She worked as secretary to the auction bridge authority Wilbur C. Whitehead in the early 1920s and married Ely Culbertson in 1923 (divorced 1938). The Culbertsons developed and taught the Approach–Forcing system of bidding at auction and later at contract bridge, and founded ''The Bridge World'' magazine in 1929. Some time later her name was Josephine Murphy Dillon. Culbertson was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 1996. Bridge accomplishments Honors * ACBL Hall of Fame, 1996"Induction by Year" ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-16. < ...
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Blackwood Convention
In the partnership card game contract bridge, the Blackwood convention is a bidding convention developed by Easley Blackwood in 1933 and still widely used in the modern game. Its purpose is to enable the partnership to explore its possession of aces, kings and in some variants, the queen of trumps to judge whether a slam would be a feasible contract. The essence of the convention is the use of an artificial 4NT bid made under certain conditions to ask partner how many aces he has; responses by partner are made in step-wise fashion to indicate the number held. Blackwood's original summary After developing the concept in 1933, Easley Blackwood submitted an article proposing his slam-seeking convention to ''The Bridge World'' magazine but it was rejected.Blackwood (1949), page 192. Nevertheless, it gained awareness and use amongst players and was written about by several authors. In his own first publication on the convention in 1949, Easley Blackwood comments on the entries in books b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asking Bid
In contract bridge, an asking bid is a convention used to seek a slam accurately. There are two types - colour asking bids and notrump asking bids. Constructed by bridge pioneer Ely Culbertson in the 1940s, they have been superseded by other methods; however, one remaining commonly used asking bid is the 5NT Grand slam force. The application of Asking bids requires making distinctions between the ''asking colour'', ''the agreed trump'' and the two remaining ''side colours''. Replies by partner are in accordance with a schedule of defined meanings. What is an Asking bid? First there has to be an agreed trump colour. The trump agreement can be done explicit as well as implicit. Thereafter ''the first'' asking bid has to be either a double jump in a new colour not bid by the partner or the one who puts the asking bid forward, or (without a jump) at the fourth level. After an asking bid, the one who has put the first asking bid forward, will be like the Captain of a ship, and his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cue Bid
In contract bridge, a cue bid (also, cuebid or cue-bid) is either a bid of the opponents' suit, or "slam seeking": a slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit. Traditionally a cue bid is "slam seeking", but in the early 21st century the usage appears to be giving way to ''control bid''. Bid of the opponents' suit After the opponents have bid a suit, a cue bid of that suit is normally intended as a forcing bid. It shows interest in contesting the contract and asks partner to describe their hand. Immediate cue bid An immediate cue bid is made directly over opponent's opening bid. Traditionally, it denotes a hand unsuited for a takeout double. For example, after RHO opens 1, a hand such as would prefer not to double for takeout, because partner might make a penalty pass. A cue bid of 2, as traditionally used, would be appropriate: it tends to show great high card strength, probably with a hand pattern unsuited to defense. Partner is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culbertson 4-5 Notrump
The Culbertson 4-5 notrump is a slam-seeking convention in the game of contract bridge. It was devised in the early 1930s by Ely Culbertson Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide .... Most four-notrump conventions ( Blackwood and its variants being the best known) demand that bidder's partner define their hand using agreed codified responses. In contrast, the Culbertson 4-5 describes the bidder's hand, and invites partner to use their judgement in the light of that information. Description A bid of four notrump (subject to common-sense defined exceptions) shows either: * Any three aces, or * Two aces, and the king of any suit previously bid by either partner. In response: * A bid of five notrump shows either: ** Any two aces, or ** One ace, and the kings of all suits previou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerber Convention
Gerber is a contract bridge convention devised by William Konigsberger and Win Nye from Switzerland who published it in 1936; John Gerber of Texas introduced it to North America in 1938 where it was named after him. It is similar to Blackwood but uses 4 instead of 4NT as a relay (asking) bid to inquire about the number of aces held by partner. A further relay bid may follow to inquire about the number of kings held. Gerber is used primarily after notrump openings, responses, and rebids, making it a complement to Blackwood rather than a replacement. Some club players also use it after suit bidding, but most experts do not recommend this. Purpose Because bidding and making a slam or grand slam contract in bridge gains significant bonus scoring points, partnerships will strive to bid them whenever their combined card assets are deemed sufficient. Knowing the number of aces and kings jointly held is usually crucial to this decision and Gerber is one of several bridge conventions us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Four Notrump
Norman four notrump (also Norman) is a slam bidding convention in the partnership card game contract bridge designed to help the partnership choose among the five-, six-, and seven-levels for the final contract. Norman four notrump is an alternative to the Blackwood convention family. Used when the contract level can be better determined by knowing the numbers of aces and kings that are "missing" in the partnership's two hands, the convention is initiated by a bid of 4NT to ask that partner provide information about his ace and king holdings. The response is coded to enable inference about the precise numbers of aces and kings in the replying hand. The Norman scale, where an ace counts as one control and a king as half a control, is the basis of the following responses to the 4NT asking bid: :5: 0 to 1 controls indicating either (a) no aces or kings, or (b) one or two kings or (c) one ace :5: 1½ controls indicating either (a) one ace and one king or (b) three kings :5: 2 con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantitative Notrump Bids
In natural bidding systems most notrump (NT) bids are made with balanced hands and within a narrowly defined high card point (HCP) range. In these systems, such as Acol and Standard American, NT bids are limit bids and therefore are not forcing. Bearing in mind the need to bid only to the optimum contract and no higher, bids above game are made only in specific circumstances, one of which is to alert partner to the fact that a slam may be possible and inviting partner to take part in the decision making process. *Before looking at the detail, it is necessary to understand that bridge theory and practice suggest that the HCP method of hand evaluation, together with common sense concerning balance and cover in all suits, is the best for deciding the level of NT contracts, thus: **25+ HCP is sufficient for a game 3NT **33+ HCP should yield 12 tricks **37+ HCP will probably produce a grand slam *Assuming a weak NT bidding system, for example Acol, this is how quantitative bids work: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slam-seeking Conventions
Slam-seeking conventions are codified artificial bids used in the card game contract bridge. Bidding and making a small slam (12 tricks) or grand slam (13 tricks) yields high bonuses ranging from 500 to 1500 points. However, the risk is also high as failure to fulfill the slam contract also means failure to score the bonus points for a game (300-500). Conventions have been devised to maximise the opportunity for success whilst minimising the risk of failure. Contract bridge bidding systems are mainly "natural" (most bids have an obvious meaning) or "artificial" (many bids have a meaning unrelated to the denomination mentioned). However, even natural systems such as Acol find occasional need to resort to artificial means called conventions. A very common type of conventional bid is of the slam-seeking variety to be used in situations when a small slam or a grand slam appears possible but more information is needed before the optimum contract can be determined. In order to make a sm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
