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Safety Play
Safety play in contract bridge is a generic name for plays in which declarer maximizes the chances for fulfilling the contract (or achieving a certain score) by ignoring a chance for a higher score. Declarer uses safety plays to cope with potentially unfavorable layouts of the opponent's cards. In so doing, declarer attempts to ensure the contract even in worst-case scenarios, by giving up the possibility of overtricks. Safety plays adapt declarer's strategy to the scoring system. In IMP-scoring tournaments and rubber bridge, the primary scoring reward comes from fulfilling the contract and overtricks are of little marginal value. Therefore, safety plays are an important part of declarer technique at quantitative scoring. In matchpoint games, which use comparative scoring, overtricks are very important. Therefore, although safety plays have a certain role at matchpoints, they are normally avoided if the odds for making the contract are good and overtricks are likely. Definitio ... [...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] |
Hugh Kelsey
Hugh Walter Kelsey (1926 – 18 March 1995) was a British bridge player and writer, best known for advanced books on the play of the cards. Life Kelsey was born and died in Edinburgh. He was a combatant in World War II, and subsequently lived for a long time in Malaya. Before he turned to writing about bridge, he was the author of two detective novels. Kelsey was a resident of Edinburgh when he died there on 18 March 1995, presumably from "repeated cardiac problems", in the words of Alan Truscott, citing his son George. He was survived by his wife Flora, two sons, and two daughters. Bridge career He won the Gold Cup, the most prestigious British competition, twice, in 1969 and 1980. He represented Scotland twelve times in the Camrose Trophy, played between the constituent countries of the British Isles. He was the non-playing captain of the Great Britain women's team in the 7th World Team Olympiad held at Seattle in 1984. However, he was most famous and will be remember ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belladonna Coup
The Belladonna coup is the play of a low card away from an accompanying high card, giving the opponents the impossible choice between setting up a winner for declarer and abandoning an attack on another suit. The provenance of the following spectacular hand, which illustrates the Belladonna coup, is uncertain. A similar layout, with the same key play, is discussed by Victor Mollo.Mollo, Victor. The Bridge Immortals. Hart, 1968. Both sources attribute the coup to Giorgio Belladonna, for many years a cornerstone of the Italian Blue Team. (Belladonna later said that he could not recall having made the key play.) It is said that Belladonna played it as described in a European Community championship in Belgium during the 1980s. But it is also said that Paul Lukacs, the game's pre-eminent composer of single-dummy problems, composed it away from the table. Against South's 4, West leads a small trump to East's 10 and South's J. South has several ways to play for ten tricks, which includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suit Combinations
In the card game contract bridge, a suit combination is a specific subset of the cards of one suit held respectively in declarer's and dummy's hands at the onset of play. While the ranks of the remaining cards held by the defenders can be deduced precisely, their location is unknown. Optimum suit combination play allows for all possible lies of the cards held by the defenders. The term is also used for the sequence of plays from the declarer and dummy hands, conditional on intervening plays by the opponents; in other words, declarer's plan or strategy of play given his holdings and his goal for the number of tricks to be taken. In addition to understanding the possible initial combinations and probabilities for the location of the opponents' cards in a suit, declarer can further inform himself from the bidding, the opening lead and from the prior play of cards in establishing the probable location of remaining cards. Examples The diagram at left shows a heart suit combination ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avoidance Play
In contract bridge, avoidance play is a play technique whereby declarer prevents a particular defender from winning the trick, so as to eschew a dangerous lead from that hand. The dangerous hand is usually the one who is able to finesse through declarer's honors, to give a ruff to the partner or to cash one or more established winners. Avoidance play can be regarded as one type of safety play. Example South plays 4 and West leads K (indicating the ace), East playing the 3 (signalling the odd number of hearts and discouraging the continuation). West continues with a club, increasing the probability of defensive ruff in that suit. The declarer has plenty of tricks, but is missing the trump queen and two top hearts; giving up the third heart early would probably mean losing the contract. Since A is almost certainly with West, if East gets the trump queen, he could finesse declarer's Q. Thus, the declarer must not allow East to get the trick, and so must play a trump first and finesse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hold Up (bridge)
In the card game of contract bridge, to hold up means to play low to a trick led by the opponents, losing it intentionally in order to sever their communication. The primary purpose is to give as many tricks to opponents as needed to exhaust all the cards in the suit from one of their hands. If that hand regains the lead, it will not be able to put the partner on lead to cash its tricks. Hold up is one of basic techniques in play. While mechanically identical, a hold up is in a suit played by the opponents while a duck (bridge), duck (or ducking) is a manoeuver in one's own suit. Nevertheless, the terms are used interchangeably with duck or ducking more common. Examples Denying an entry (declarer play) West leads the top of a doubleton against a suit contract, and East plays the queen. Suppose South wins the first trick with the ace and West gets in before trumps are drawn (with the ace of trumps, for example). Now West can lead his remaining card in the suit to East's king, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loser On Loser
Loser on loser play is a type of declarer's play in contract bridge, usually in trump contracts, where the declarer discards a loser card (the one that is bound to be given up anyway) on an opponent's winner, instead of ruffing. Loser on loser technique can be executed for the following goals: #to maintain trump control of the hand, #to transfer the ruff to a "safer" suit (e.g. in order to perform a later crossruff). #as part of an avoidance play (e.g. the scissors coup) #to rectify the count for a subsequent squeeze play. #as part of an endplay. Example After the auction, South plays in a 4-3 spade fit. The defense leads and continues hearts. The declarer has four clubs, two diamonds and four spade tricks in total; however, assuming the most probable 4-2 trump break, if South ruffs the second heart in hand, the opponent with four trumps can gain later control of the hand by ruffing one of South's minor winners and cashing the remaining hearts. Thus, South must discard his losi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duplicate Bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, every hand, whether strong or weak, is played in competition with others playing identical cards, and the element of skill is heightened while that of chance is reduced. This stands in contrast to Bridge played without duplication, where each hand is freshly dealt and where scores may be more affected by chance in the short run. Four-way card holders known as Bridge boards are used to enable each player's hand to be preserved from table to table, and final scores are calculated by comparing each pair's result with others who played the same hand. In duplicate bridge, players normally play all the hands with the same partner, and compete either as a partnership (in a 'Pairs tournament') or on a team with one or more other partnerships ('Te ... [...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] |
Contract Bridge Glossary
These terms are used in contract bridge, using duplicate or rubber scoring. Some of them are also used in whist, bid whist, the obsolete game auction bridge, and other trick-taking games. This glossary supplements the Glossary of card game terms. : ''In the following entries,'' boldface links ''are external to the glossary and'' plain links ''reference other glossary entries.'' 0–9 ;: A mnemonic for the original (Roman) response structure to the Roman Key Card Blackwood convention. It represents "3 or 0" and "1 or 4", meaning that the lowest step response (5) to the 4NT key card asking bid shows responder has three or zero keycards and the next step (5) shows one or four. ;: A mnemonic for a variant response structure to the Roman Key Card Blackwood convention. It represents "1 or 4" and "3 or 0", meaning that the lowest step response (5) to the 4NT key card asking bid shows responder has one or four keycards and the next step (5) shows three or zero. ;1RF: One round forc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glossary Of Contract Bridge Terms
These terms are used in contract bridge, using duplicate or rubber scoring. Some of them are also used in whist, bid whist, the obsolete game auction bridge, and other trick-taking games. This glossary supplements the Glossary of card game terms. : ''In the following entries,'' boldface links ''are external to the glossary and'' plain links ''reference other glossary entries.'' 0–9 ;: A mnemonic for the original (Roman) response structure to the Roman Key Card Blackwood convention. It represents "3 or 0" and "1 or 4", meaning that the lowest step response (5) to the 4NT key card asking bid shows responder has three or zero keycards and the next step (5) shows one or four. ;: A mnemonic for a variant response structure to the Roman Key Card Blackwood convention. It represents "1 or 4" and "3 or 0", meaning that the lowest step response (5) to the 4NT key card asking bid shows responder has one or four keycards and the next step (5) shows three or zero. ;1RF: One round forc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duck (bridge)
In the card game of 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 o ..., to duck (or ducking) means to play low to a trick to which one has led, losing it intentionally in order to set up a suit or to preserve a control or entry. While mechanically identical, a duck is a manoeuver in one's own suit, while a hold up is in a suit played by the opponents. Nevertheless, the terms are used interchangeablyReese and Trézel (1978), p. 7. with duck or ducking more common. Example There are no side entries to the North hand. South is on lead and if he plays to the ace and then the king and another, East will win the third trick. The remaining two small cards are good, but there is no way to get to them. Proper procedure is to duck the first (or second) trick. Then, when the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
