Prime Play
About the course
WHO
is it for?
This is an advanced course on declarer play, for experienced players who are confident with everyday cardplay and would like to add some refinements. It is for anyone who ever finds themselves thinking “If only I knew who had the King of Diamonds”, or “Should I draw all the trumps, some of them or none, now or later?”
It is also for Polish Up Your Play graduates who have a good grasp of the contents of that course and are ready for the next step.
WHAT
will I learn?
I am still working on this course! Provisionally, it will cover these aspects of declarer play:
- Entries – working out how many you will need; planning how and when to get them
- Holding up in no trumps – identifying the danger hand; adapting your strategy to your cards
- Managing your trumps – when to draw them and not to draw them; when not to ruff
- Reading the defenders’ cards – using clues from what they have and haven’t bid and played
- Cross-ruffing – when, why and how to do it
- Elimination – removing the defenders’ options so that they have to lead the suit that you want
HOW
will I learn it?
You will have group lessons, which may be face-to-face or online, 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.
In the lessons, 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 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?
I hope to run this course for the first time in spring 2026.
Provisionally:
- The lessons will be online, so that I can fit them alongside the beginners’ Learn to Play Bridge course.
- There will be about 8 lessons, in two groups of 4 with a break between them.
- Their timing and cost are still to be decided.
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.