Polish Up Your Play
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 “Should I try that finesse? What’s the best way to play it?” or “I want to lead a spade, but which one should I lead?”
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 play more confidently and successfully, both as a declarer and as a defender.
Declarer Play
- Planning – counting winners and losers and choosing the best strategy
- Using the tools in your toolbox – promotion, length, ruffing, and finessing
- Drawing trumps – when to draw them at once and when to wait
- Managing communications – unblocking, ducking, holding up, planning entries
Defending
- Making the opening lead – choosing the right suit and card; sending messages to your partner
- Playing in second and third hand – which card to choose and what to play next if you win
- Discarding – which cards to keep and which ones to discard
- Playing detective – interpreting the cards that your partner plays; who has what?
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 January 2026 and to run 9 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 it before then, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.