After some years using published material to teach newcomers the
rudiments of bridge bidding, the author became somewhat
disillusioned with the approach advocated in the majority of
beginning bridge texts. The matters that particularly concerned him
were related to the view espoused by many bridge teachers that it
is important to keep all bidding 'natural' so as not to confuse
beginners. The author felt that if confusion exists, it is likely
to be the teaching approach that causes the confusion, rather than
the subject matter itself.The proponents of this 'natural' bidding
approach, decline to teach beginning students Jacoby Transfer Bids,
Weak Two Opening Bids and, in some cases, Stayman. The reason often
given is that teaching 'natural' bidding is difficult enough for
beginning bridge students, and we should not confuse them by
teaching them conventions or treatments that say something
different. These same teachers seem to see no inconsistency in
their approach of saying, when the students are doing a second (or
third) class with them - "oh, remember when I told you that when
your partner makes an opening bid of 1NT and you have 7 points and
a five card ♥ suit, that you should bid 2♥? Well, I want you to
forget that, because I am going to teach you now that, with that
same hand, you should bid 2♦." The author has two problems with
that approach. Firstly, it seems to downplay the ability of
students to understand these specific bids. The author contends
that it is most likely that this is a 'teaching failure' rather
than a 'learning failure' The author has found that once students
fully understand that it is desirable to have the strong hand as
Declarer, most of them have little problem understanding the
rationale behind Jacoby Transfer Bids. Putting the bids in context
seems to make the task of learning Transfer Bids much easier.
Secondly, if teachers are hoping to encourage their students to
become duplicate bridge players, it makes sense for them to be
using a bidding system that other players are using. As almost all
duplicate bridge players use Stayman, Jacoby Transfer Bids and Weak
Two Opening Bids, the author's students are introduced to these
bids in their first series of lessons. And it is important to note
that an understanding of these 3 aspects of bridge bidding will not
prove to be a disadvantage in social bridge. The theme throughout
the book is one of providing clear, consistent guidelines for a
relatively simple modern approach to bidding. The author repeatedly
emphasizes that once newcomers have a reasonable understanding of
basic bidding, they, and their partner, can 'tweak' the approach
taught in this text. The author is an avid duplicate bridge player
and encourages all of his students to try that form of the game.
However, the reality is that many bridge players enjoy the game in
its more social form, and have no real desire to go past that form
of the game. This is perfectly understandable, and the bidding
style taught in this text is consistent with either form of the
game. This book is organized into nine Chapters.CHAPTER 1 - The
Basics.This Chapter is really 'Ground Zero'. It recognizes that
some people who wish to learn to play bridge have had little, if
any, experience of playing card games. The text introduces students
to the absolute basics: -the suits -the rank, or hierarchy, of
suits-how to count points-what is a 'game' in
bridge-dealing-arranging the cards in your hand-the process of
bidding-the process of playing-scoring.In this first, very basic,
Chapter, students have a hand of bridge to play. At the end of the
Chapter there is a brief test to enable students to check their
mastery of the material provided in the text. Clearly not all
students "need" this Chapter. Nevertheless as the purpose of the
book is to provide a text to enable ALL students to be introduced
to the wo
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