Brush Up Your Bidding
About the course
WHO
is it for?
This is a refresher course, for experienced players who have become a bit rusty on some of the details and would like to fill in the gaps. It is for anyone who ever finds themself wondering “What does my partner’s bid mean? How many points has she got?” or “Wow, look at all my spades! How many should I bid?”
It is also for Learn to Play Bridge graduates who want to refresh your memories and expand your knowledge.
If you have a regular partner, it may be helpful if you both take the course so that you can put it into practice together.
WHAT
will I learn?
I hope that the course will be a mixture of things that you already know, things that you have half-forgotten, and new things. It should help you to bid more confidently and to declare more successful contracts.
We will cover the standard Acol bidding system that is recommended by the English Bridge Union, including:
- Valuing your hand – when to add or subtract points
- 1NT & 2NT opening bids – and responses including the Stayman convention
- 1♣/♦/♥/♠ opening bids – and both partners’ follow-up bids to describe your hands’ strength and shape
- Competitive bidding – overcalling in a suit and no trumps; doubling your opponents
- Pre-emptive bidding – with a long suit in a weak hand; responding to and competing against pre-empts
- Slam bidding – bidding no-trump and suit slams; using the Blackwood and Gerber conventions
- Strong opening bids – opening and responding to 2NT and 2♣
HOW
will I learn it?
You will have face-to-face lessons and you will use resources on this website.
Every week, I will ask you to download study notes from the website and to watch a short video. The more you work at them, the more you’ll learn.
You will come to a lesson every week, where we will discuss the notes and video and you will bid and play with other students. I hope that we will all have fun together.
Afterwards, you can practise bidding and playing the lesson’s deals on the website.
Whenever and wherever else you play, you can put into effect what you have learned and come back to the next lesson to talk about how it has gone.
WHEN,
WHERE
and
HOW MUCH?
These are the provisional details for the next course, if I’m spared.
I plan to start it in September 2025 and to run 10 weekly lessons from 9.15 to 11.30 on Tuesdays.
They will be in the Christ Church Scout and Guide Hut in Long Lane, Aughton.
The cost will be the same as for the regular U3A Bridge Group – currently £1 per session.
How can I
SIGN UP?
Not yet!
I hope to advertise the course to all U3A bridge group members two or three months before it starts and then to update this section of the website.
If you would like to find out more about the course before then, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.