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Useful Space Principle
The Useful Space Principle, or ''USP'', in the game of contract bridge was first articulated in a series of six articles in '' The Bridge World'', published from November 1980 through April 1981. (The International Bridge Press Association awarded its 1981/1982 award for Best Article or Series on a System or Convention to Jeff Rubens for this series.) The USP is expressed succinctly i''The Bridge World'' glossaryas "a partnership's assigning meanings to actions so that the remaining bidding space matches the needs of the auction." The articles on the USP were the genesis of widely used conventional methods such as Kickback and transfer advances of overcalls. The USP tells bidding theorists that bidding space should be allocated where it is most needed. A USP example: Kickback The Blackwood convention, as originally formulated, violates the USP. Suppose that the agreed trump suit is spades. After the Blackwood "asker" bids 4NT, "teller" can convey four separate messages without byp ... [...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] |
The Bridge World
''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the play of the cards, discussions of ethical issues, bridge politics and leading personalities, and reports of major tournaments. Culbertson edited TBW (assisted by a staff of well known writers and players such as Josephine Culbertson, Alfred Sheinwold, Samuel Fry Jr., Richard L. Frey, Albert H. Morehead, and Alphonse "Sonny" Moyse Jr.) until 1943. Morehead then became editor and continued until 1946, when Moyse took over. The McCall Corporation purchased TBW in 1963, and subsequently sold it to Edgar Kaplan. Kaplan became editor and publisher in late 1966; his first issue is dated January 1967. Jeff Rubens acted as Kaplan's co-editor until Kaplan's death in 1997, when Rubens became editor and publisher. Largely because of its emphasis on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Rubens
Jeff Rubens (born 1941) is an American bridge player, editor, and writer of books including ''Secrets of Winning Bridge'' and ''Expert Bridge Simplified''. He is best known for long association with ''The Bridge World'' monthly magazine, as co-editor under Edgar Kaplan from 1967 and as editor and publisher since Kaplan's death in 1997. Rubens is from Brooklyn, New York. Life Rubens attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City, where he was captain of the math team in 1957, the year he graduated. He has an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and a graduate degree from Brandeis University. He won seven North American championship events in the 1960s-70s, represented North America in the 1973 world championship, and "gave up competitive bridge for family reasons" soon after. Rubens is a retired professor of mathematics and computer science at Pace University in New York. Competition Rubens became an ACBL Life Master at 20 and won two North American championship eve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rubens Advances
Rubens advances (also referred to as transfer advances) constitute a bridge bidding method that can be used by a bridge partnership to respond to overcalls. The method was devised by Jeff Rubens and published in The Bridge World ''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the pla .... Using Rubens advances, the available bids in the suits starting with the cue bid in opponent's suit up to and including the bid below a two-level support bid of the overcall are all transfer bids to the next suit. Furthermore, the available bids in the suits below the cue bid are all natural and forcing for one round. The no-trump bids at various levels are not affected by this method of advancing partner's overcalls and retain their normal meaning. The claimed advantage over other treatments is that - than ... [...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] |
Jacoby Transfers
The Jacoby transfer, or simply transfers, in the card game contract bridge, is a convention in most bridge bidding systems initiated by responder following partner's notrump opening bid that forces opener to rebid in the just above that bid by responder. For example, a response in diamonds forces a rebid in hearts and a response in hearts forces a rebid in spades. Transfers are used to show a long suit, usually a major, and to ensure that opener the hand if the final contract is in the suit transferred to, preventing the opponents from seeing the cards of the stronger hand. The use of the 2 and 2 (and often 2) responses to an opening 1NT bid as transfers is one of the most widely employed conventions in the game. Less commonly, partnerships may agree to use transfer-style bids in a variety of other situations. History and purpose First described in a series of articles by Olle Willner of Sweden in ''Bridge Tidningen'' in the early 1950s, transfers were popularized for English ... [...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] |
