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Unusual Notrump
In the card game of bridge, the unusual notrump is a conventional showing a two-suited hand. It was originally devised by Al Roth in 1948 with Tobias Stone, to show the minor suits after the opponents opened in a major. The convention concept is now generally extended to show the "two lowest unbid" suits. Thus, over 1, 2NT shows diamonds and hearts; and over 1, it shows clubs and hearts. In addition to succinctly describing the hand to the partner, it deprives the opponents of bidding space, i.e. it has a preemptive effect. A drawback is that it provides the opponents with information about the strength and distribution of the overcaller's hand, potentially enabling improved declarer play should they secure the contract. History In his seminal 1953 book,. The book is characterized as "An influential book, that suffers somewhat from a lack of clarity. It provides a structure that was lacking in Goren, with better definitions for bidding actions...". The Roth-Stone System, Alvin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Card Game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card games played with traditional decks have formally standardized rules with international tournaments being held, but most are folk games whose rules vary by region, culture, and person. Traditional card games are played with a ''deck'' or ''pack'' of playing cards which are identical in size and shape. Each card has two sides, the ''face'' and the ''back''. Normally the backs of the cards are indistinguishable. The faces of the cards may all be unique, or there can be duplicates. The composition of a deck is known to each player. In some cases several decks are shuffled together to form a single ''pack'' or ''shoe''. Modern card games usually have bespoke decks, often with a vast amount of cards, and can include number or action cards. This ... [...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] |
Bridge Convention
A bridge convention is an agreement about an artificial or a set of related artificial calls. Calls made during the auction phase of a contract bridge game convey information about the player's card holdings. Calls may be "natural" (that is, are based on a holding of the suit bid, or a balanced distribution in the case of a notrump bid) or "" (show a feature unrelated to the named denomination). Purpose Contract bridge is a trick-taking card game played by four players in two competing partnerships in which a sequence of , also known as the auction, precedes the play of the cards. The purpose of this bidding is for players to inform their partners of the content of their hand and to arrive at a suitable contract at which to play the hand (or to prevent the opponents from arriving at a suitable contract). Although bidding is often "natural" (describing a hand by simple reference to possession, shape, and strength of the named suit), players may also bid using conventions, which as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvin Roth (bridge)
Alvin Leon Roth (November 6, 1914 – April 18, 2007) was an American bridge player, considered one of the greatest of all time, and "the premier bidding theorist of his bridge generation". He wrote several books on the game, and invented various bidding conventions that have become commonplace, including five-card majors, negative doubles, forcing notrump, and the unusual notrump.(Obituary) ''''. May 26, 2007. Roth was considered a fascinating theorist but was described by one partner, Richard "Dick" Freeman, as "very tough to sit opposite—unless you were so thick-skinned that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor Suit
In contract bridge the minor suits are diamonds () and clubs (). They are given that name because contracts made in those suits score less (20 per contracted trick) than contracts made in the major suits (30 per contracted trick), and they rank lower in bidding. In particular, one can make game with a four-level bid in a major suit, while a five-level bid is required in a minor. Of the two minor suits, diamonds rank higher than clubs. Suit combinations Fundamentally, there are three ways to divide four suits into pairs: by ''color'', by ''rank'' and by ''shape'' resulting in six possible suit combinations. * Color is used to denote the ''red'' suits (hearts and diamonds) and the ''black'' suits (spades and clubs). * Rank is used to indicate the ''major'' (spades and hearts) versus ''minor'' (diamonds and clubs) suits. * Shape is used to denote the ''pointed'' (diamonds and spades, which visually have a sharp point uppermost) versus ''rounded'' (hearts and clubs) suits. This is used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major Suit
In the card game contract bridge, the major suits are spades () and hearts (). The major suits are of prime importance for tactics and scoring as they outrank the minor suits while bidding and also outscore them (30 per contracted trick for major suits—compared to 20 for minor suits). Much of the tactics of bidding in bridge revolves around the attempt by partners to find a "fit" in one of the major suits that will allow them to make a game contract. Another reason why the major suits is more desirable than the minor suits is that they need one less trick to make game. Of the two major suits, spades rank higher than hearts. Suit combinations Fundamentally, there are three ways to divide four suits into pairs: by ''color'', by ''rank'' and by ''shape'' resulting in six possible suit combinations. * Color is used to denote the ''red'' suits (hearts and diamonds) and the ''black'' suits (spades and clubs). * Rank is used to indicate the ''major'' (spades and hearts) versus '' mino ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Preempt
Preempt (also spelled "pre-empt") is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are (1) to thwart opponents' ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and (2) to fully describe one's hand to one's partner in a single bid. A preemptive bid is usually made by ''jumping'', i.e. skipping one or more bidding levels. Since it deprives the opponents of the bidding space, it is expected that they will either find a wrong contract (too high or in a wrong denomination) of their own, or fail to find any. A preemptive bid often has the aim of a ''save'', where a partnership bids a contract knowing it cannot be made, but assumes that (even when doubled), the penalty will still be smaller than the value of opponents' bid and made contract. Scoring context The tables at right help to illustrate the limits of the scoring advantage to be gained in duplicate bridge by preempting or sacrificing when the opponents may be successful in making a game contract. The level to w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Official Encyclopedia Of Bridge
''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'' (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract bridge with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) which authorized its production and whose staff prepared and/or supervised its various editions. The first edition of the ''Encyclopedia'' was published in 1964 with Richard Frey as Editor-in-Chief; it was the only one with an edition revised for an overseas market (''The Bridge Players' Encyclopedia'', 1967). The seventh and latest edition was published in 2011 following intermediate editions in 1971, 1976, 1984, 1994 and 2001. The Executive Editor for the first six was Alan Truscott, bridge editor of ''The New York Times''. For the fourth through sixth editions, Henry Francis succeeded Frey as Editor-in-Chief. Frey and Francis were also successive editors of the ACBL monthly membership magazine. Numerous contributing editors to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two Suiter
In contract bridge, a two suiter is a hand containing cards mostly from two of the four suits. Traditionally a hand is considered a two suiter if it contains at least ten cards in two suits, with the two suits not differing in length by more than one card. Depending on suit quality and partnership agreement different classification schemes are viable. The more modern trend is to lower the threshold of ten cards to nine cards and consider 5-4 distributions also two suiters. The six possible combinations are given the names "major suits" (spades and hearts), "minor suits" (diamonds and clubs), " black suits" (spades and clubs), " red suits" (hearts and diamonds), " pointed suits" (spades and diamonds), and " rounded suits" (hearts and clubs). When including two suited hands with 5-4 distribution, two suiters have a high likelihood of occurrence, and the modern preemptive style is to incorporate such two-suited hands in the arsenal of preemptive openings. Example of such a preemp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Losing Trick Count
In the card game contract bridge, the Losing-Trick Count (LTC) is a method of hand evaluation that is generally only considered suitable to be used in situations where a trump suit has been established and when shape and fit are more significant than high card points (HCP) in determining the optimum level of the contract. The method is generally not considered suitable for no trump or misfit hands; also, the trump suit is generally considered to require at least eight cards in length with no partner holding fewer than three. However, the LTC method of hand evaluation has been used successfully to evaluate unbalanced and balanced opening hands, and overcalls, since 1938 (combined with ‘quick trick’ evaluation and defined biddable suits), and by itself since 2017, before a fit and trump suit have been established based on the premise that a fit could usually be found later. Based on a set of empirical rules, the number of "losing tricks" held in each of the partnership's hand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Michaels Cuebid
The Michaels cuebid is a conventional bid used in the card game contract bridge. First devised by Michael Michaels of Miami Beach, FL, it is an 's cuebid in opponent's opening suit and is normally used to show a two-suited hand with at least five cards in each suit and eight or more points. After the opponents have opened at the one-level, the overcaller bids the same suit at the two-level; the two normal cases are: #Over an opponent's minor opening, a cuebid shows both majors. For example, 1 – 2 shows hearts and spades. #Over an opponent's major opening, a cuebid shows the other major and a minor suit. For example, 1 – 2 shows hearts and either clubs or diamonds. Partner can make a 2NT relay bid to request partner to bid his minor suit, or a 3 pass-or-correct bid. Partnerships who have incorporated Michaels cuebids amongst their agreements usually also play the unusual notrump convention. Requirements Point count requirements vary and are a matt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
