My Favorite Book Ever: Chapter 6 Rodwell

September 9th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  No Comments 

Chapter 5 was very meaty.  It was full of wonderful new ideas.  I found myself thinking about declarer play a bit differently.  When my student failed to change her plan (as she should have) midway through a deal I thought “she should have restocked.”

Chapter 6 is on defense.  I enjoy card play but I admit that like most people I like to be in the driver’s seat as declarer.  Sometimes on defense I just don’t know what to do — there seem to be too many variables.  Chapter 6 introduces some defensive tactics although I can see that part 3 of the book starting at chapter 8 has defensive strategies, many of them dealing with communication so I am going to have to wait until the next section to get deeply into defense.

But I am not disappointed with Chapter 6.  There are interesting ideas from the very first page of the chapter starting with gouging.  Gouging involves leading or following suit with a high card which is unable to win the trick or promote anything but pins declarer in the wrong hand.  But I am going to talk about “middling” which I think is a very important concept.

Middling is an unblocking play where you lead the middle card of a suit through the opponent’s strong holding while retaining a high card as an entry for another lead through.  I have had some discussions with partner’s about the need to lead a high intermediate against notrump from a holding like K9x or A10x etc.  It can be a touch confusing but you really do have to unblock a lot of the time.  Of course it occurs during the play as well.  I think this section will give me a little bit of “cred” with my partners in future when I explain that we need to lead “middling”

Here is one of Eric’s examples:

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ Q732
West ♠ K94		East ♠ AJ86
	South ♠ 105

Here you have to lead the ♠ 9 to take all of the spade tricks.  Leading the ♠ K and then the ♠ 9  will work too but only if you have another quick entry.  But leading small blocks the suit.

Of course I knew this before reading the book but naming the concept makes it easy to refer to and immediately brings to mind this situation.

There are always some extra goodies in everything Eric writes and the way he throws in ideas that he is thinking about during a hand.  For example, if partner knows you have some length in a guarded suit (say Qxxx) in a finessing position,  it may be important to let him know that you have a very empty suit (Q542) and don’t really have much of a guard by discarding one.  Of course, this must be done quite judiciously!

Here’s another partnership idea that was a bit beyond my previous thinking.   Suppose you are known to have the trump ace and believe partner might have the ace in your short suit.  Then if you cash the trump ace before leading your short suit partner knows you have a singleton BUT if you lead the short suit first then you have a doubleton and need the trump ace as an entry.  This allows partner to judge their play (rising or ducking) and according to Eric partner SHOULD play you for a doubleton if you don’t cash the trump ace first.  This seems like a good idea although not likely to come off often and I can only think of one or two partners who would work out that if I didn’t lead the trump ace then I must have a doubleton.  Now if I was playing with Jeff Meckstroth …

This morning Ray told me about a prominent bridge teacher who is a third of the way through The Rodwell Files.  He said he now considers it the best bridge book he has ever read.  By the end of Chapter 6 I am going to say that I agree with him.  This is not a book I will read once.  This is a book I will read many times.  It is also a book I want all of my partners to read.

For Cora … the joy of bridge

September 6th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  No Comments 

Malcolm and Jason are heading home today. Malcolm being my grandson and Jason my son-in-law. So its back to work. I will do a Rodwell column tomorrow but for today I wanted to write a blog for Cora.

The joy of bridge is not in being perfect. As has been said many times bridge is a game of mistakes or famously “none of us are any good at this game”. The joy of bridge is in executing something well and winning a board. It makes up for a lot of the mistakes.

Here is a deal where Cora and I won 12 imps when we bid to the right slam and she played it carefully to make it.  I have rotated the cards to make Cora South.

Linda ♠ AKJ842 ♥ Q ♦ AK2 ♣ AKQ

Cora ♠ 6 ♥ AK10972 ♦ 1064 ♣ J86

With both vulnerable Cora opened a weak two hearts.  I have 26 high card points and the useful ♥ Q.  The problem with this type of hand is that it may be quite hard to get to Cora’s hand.  So I decided to try 2NT, asking for an outside card, in case Cora had a useful side card.  When she bid 3♥ she was going to have to have very solid hearts for me to run the heart suit after overtaking my heart queen.   it seemed best to play it in hearts.

If she had no heart losers we did have 13 tricks: 2 spades, 2 diamonds, 3 clubs and 6 hearts.  I could bid 4NT and if she showed up with the top two honors I could take a shot at the grand slam in hearts.  But we were missing six hearts which meant that hearts were most likely to break 4-2 and she could still be off a trump losers.  It also might be fairly inconvenient to get to her hand to finish drawing trump after cashing the ♥ Q.

Let’s say she has xx AKJxxx xxx xx.  She can’t get back to hand without giving the opponents a chance to ruff in.   I just bid 6♥ . Call me chicken but I figured that we might get quite a good result just for playing in hearts since players in notrump could have quite a lot less than 13 tricks.

Cora got a spade lead and played it very carefully.  She knew that she had enough winners.  She just had to avoid two trump losers.  She won the spade lead and cashed the ♥ Q and then ruffed a spade back to hand with the ♥ 10.  She played the top two hearts and West showed out.  She then made the careful play of giving West his trump trick and after that she could just claim.

Notice that even if hearts are 3-3 people in notrump are not going to do well even at the 6 level.  As it turned out there were quite a lot of people playing notrump.

So even when things don’t go perfectly in a session there is often something fun to look back at.

Rodwell Chapter 5 … The Naming of Things

August 25th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  2 Comments 

I have executed some of these plays by deducing what to do at the table.  But by classifying them and yes, giving them a name, you don’t have to work these things out each time while staring at dummy.   I want to talk about why I think naming things is so helpful to me (and probably to most people).  Suppose I say the words Deschapelles Coup to a strong player.  They will know that I mean the lead of an unsupported honor to create an entry to partner’s hand.  A Merrimac Coup sacrifices a high card to eliminate a vital entry to one of the opponent’s hand and one of my personal favorites is a Morton’s Fork where a defender has the choice of winning a trick giving declarer two winners or ducking and having a trick disappear.  Because I know these names and the ideas behind them I can visualize these plays when I see dummy.  I don’t have to completely work it out each time.  I can explain it to others and teach them about the idea and I can talk to my friends about my “Morton’s Fork.”  In all these cases the name doesn’t directly tell you about the play but it gives you a handle for the play.  Some names given to bridge card plays do actually describe the situation.  For example an intrafinesse describes a kind of “internal” or “middle” finesse (hence the word intra) which later sets up a smother play.  Now smother play is another descriptive term.  When I first heard of the idea of an intrafinesse I was fairly recently back to bridge after a many year hiatus.  Ray and I had started a magazine called Canadian Master Point.   David Lindop wrote an article about the intrafinesse in the Januray 1992 issue (available as a free download from ebooksbridge.com).  I had never seen this idea before and it really isn’t a simple idea but once I learned it and named it then I could recognize the position without thinking deeply about it.

What about a finesse?  The name doesn’t actually describe the play.  But because the name has become so associated with the play, now it actually means the situation it describes.  Why is there not a name for leading up to an honor in a situation where you have something like Axx opposite Qxx.  It isn’t a traditional finesse as most people think of it.  But Eric calls it a ‘lobbing finesse’ — and now I have something that identifies it.

Anyway, the important thing is to learn the concepts and remember the concepts and this chapter, which is very long, is filled with concepts.  Many are new to me although a lot of them build on ideas I have seen before.  Some I have even executed at the table but have never really classified the concept as a type of play for my arsenal.  I cannot believe that almost anyone who hasn’t won a bunch of world championships will not learn something from chapter 5.  Didn’t I say it was magnificent?  Plays are generally grouped by class (entry plays, avoidance plays, positional plays and so on).   Concepts that have been introduced such as a Chinese finesse or a pusher play are built on throughout the text.  The chapter has some example hands but my favorites are examples from real play where not only is the specific concept illustrated but Eric describes his thinking about the hand introducing other interesting points, some small and some fascinating.

I am not going to claim I have learned all the ideas in this chapter in one reading.  Maybe when I was 17 I might have been able to do that but not any more.  (Well, really not even then.)  So this is going to take a few more readings.  I am not prepared to leave this chapter just yet so any further blogs on the book will be delayed.  (And my grandson is coming tomorrow for a visit from Vancouver).

I want to give an example of a play from the book that I found fresh and new and that you might enjoy but it is a matter of which one to chose.  There is the ‘entry fly’ (where you can force an opponent to choose between giving you an extra entry or ruining the defenders’ communications),  avoidance plays like the finesse through safety, the ‘intrasquash’, a type of intrafinesse safety play. ‘Cash and thrash’ is one of Ray’s favorites where you have a weak trump position and may cash a round or so and then leave one or more trumps out while cashing winners.  There are in fact 25 types of named declarer plays listed in the index for this chapter.

The Exposing Overtake is a simple yet elegant idea.  As Eric describes it declarer has a wealth of high cards in a suit and overtakes a winner to allow for a subsequent finesse in this suit should it prove needed.  It seems strange.  You are crashing honors with the idea of later finessing?  Bear with me – it’s really an unblocking play.  An example really helps.  Eric gives several examples of this type of play; here is the simplest one.

North ♠ AK43 ♥ AQ943 ♦ 92 ♣ Q3

South ♠ 76 ♥ 10 ♦ K843 ♣ AKJ1082

Eric played this hand in a team game at a regional.  He was playing 3NT after an uncontested auction.    West led the ♠ Q, won in dummy.   You have nine tricks off the top.  SInce you are playing IMPs you don’t want to take any chances, so you need to be very sure before you try for an overtrick.  You could finesse the heart after playing a club to your hand.  Even if the heart play loses, the opponents can’t take enough diamond tricks to defeat you.  Your only worry is that clubs might be 5-0.  Ray told me a story the other day from a forthcoming book by Norwegian world champion Boye Brogeland where he apparently kept taking high probability shots for an uptrick at IMPs on the basis that the extra IMP is worth the risk if your chances of going down are very small (Boye comments that you have to be prepared for the remarks from your team-mates when you call out ‘minus 100’ at the compare!).  I won’t tell you what happened when he did just that, but the book is appropriately titled Bridge at the Edge.

But here you don’t have to worry about a 5-0 club break because you can make an “exposing overtake” play.  At trick two you lead the ♣ Q.  If East follows then he is the only one who can have five clubs so you overtake the ♣ Q with the ♣ A.  If West shows out you will still be able to pick up clubs by finessing the eight.  Had you played a small club to the hand to take the heart finesse you would have troubles and have turned a 100% contract into something much worse.  (Of course if East shows out you don’t overtake.)

As we Canadians say: “Cool, eh?”

Rodwell Chapter 4 – Would Reading It Have Made All The Difference?

August 21st, 2011  ~  linda  ~  1 Comment 

Before I went to Regina to play in the trials, Ray sent me a word document with a copy of the fourth chapter of the Rodwell Files.  He said that the defogging questions at the end of the chapter were terrific and it would be very useful when I was playing (or defending).  Unfortunately I was too hepped up to read anything and I am now reading this chapter for the first time.  Since our team narrowly lost the final I have to ask myself if reading chapter 4 BEFORE the event would have made up the difference.

I blame lack of mental toughness which led to lack of sleep for most of my failings but perhaps … ?

The first few pages of Chapter Four finish up the concepts around making a plan.  This first part is a bit disappointing because it lacks depth but a few of the hands are quite lovely and since it doesn’t take long to read I enjoy it.   The idea of assuming that when forced to discard an opponent will make the easy discard first (thus throw a small one from a five-card suit) would be more interesting if illustrated in reverse – you should plan your discards early on and if possible save an easy discard for later on.   In the example shown from the 2001 Venice Cup D’Ovidio’s first discard was her fifth heart.  This allowed Daniela von Arnim to deduce that she had heart length.  Since D’Ovidio knew she had to make two discards, why not pitch something else first, and only then the heart. Would that have changed the course of bridge history?

I would have liked to see more in the next three sections: make a map, go over the basic options and analyze.  Given that the book is about 400 pages I can understand the need for brevity.  What I felt like saying at the end of those sections was “More please”.  I see all the ideas are there and the examples are fine but maybe more examples or even a summary that put it all together would work better for me.

So I do it — I make myself a summary chart.  There is nothing wrong with making the reader work a bit.  It is part of learning.  When I write all the concepts down it works for me.  Of course it is just an outline of a much deeper process, a process which I assume unfolds as I read the rest of the book.

Now come the defogging questions – the section I have been looking forward to.  Eric saved the best of chapter 4 for the last.  And yes, it is terrific.  I wonder if I can learn to go through this process when I am stuck on a hand?  I remember the deals where I just didn’t know what to do.  Finally I played something, hoping that things would clear up.  But now I have this whole toolkit of questions to ask myself.  And I love to read some of the deals Eric has described.  It isn’t only the big points but the little tidbits he throws at us along the way.

Here is an example of a defogging question I might not have thought of:

“Is there one card I can place in one of the unseen hands?”  Sometimes if you can place one important card than it will simplify things.  Here’s a deal from the 2011 Spring NABC. The auction was swift.  Partner passed.  North opened 1H and you ovrecalled 1S.  South closed the auction with 3NT.  Partner led the ♠7 (third best in partner’s suit) which goes to the ♠J, ♠ K and the ♠A.  Declarer leads the H8 to dummy’s ♥Q and your ♥K. How would you defend now?

North ♠ J3 ♥ QJ9654 ♦ Q3 ♣ AJ8
	East ♠ K9842 ♥ K3 ♦ K92 ♣ 1076

Eric goes into a lot more detail but the gist of it is that you can deduce that declarer has the ♠ AQ10x (from South’s bidding) and that partner has the ♥A (from declarer’s play).  If declarer also has a third heart then he has nine tricks very soon.  So you need to set up your tricks, which have to be in the diamond suit.  To beat the hand you place the ♦A in partner’s hand and lead a diamond.  But which diamond?  Eric likes a small diamond rather than the ♦ 9 which will only confuse partner.  Since partner has an entry with the ♥A you don’t have to worry about blocking the diamond suit.

Here is the whole deal.

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ J3 ♥ QJ9654 ♦ Q3 ♣ AJ8
West ♠ 75 ♥ A107 ♦ AJ87 ♣ 9542		East ♠ K9842 ♥ K3 ♦ K92 ♣ 1076
	South ♠ AQ106 ♥ 82 ♦ 10654 ♣ KQ3

What I really like about this deal and many of the deals in the book so far is that when Eric describes what he did on a hand he doesn’t just illustrate the specific point, he also talks about other ideas (like leading a small diamond and not the ♦9 in the example above.

So in Chapter 4 Eric has definitely given me my money’s worth and yes, Ray, reading that chapter before I started to play a serious bridge session would have been helpful.  I might print out a copy of the defogging questions and take them with me to read just before I play in a serious event.

Rodwell Chapter 3 … Is it really only 22 pages

August 17th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  No Comments 

First I am going to start with the solution to the problem from Chapter 2.  I am not going to describe it as thoroughly (and brilliantly as Eric does in the book)   But here is my attempt.

The auction is simple: South opens 1NT 15-17 and it is passed out.  See if you can find the defense that might defeat the contract.

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ 10765 ♥ J94 ♦ 43 ♣ J943
West ♠ QJ4 ♥ 873 ♦ AK1052 ♣ 108		East ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
	South ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

You lead a low diamond.  Partner plays the jack and declarer wins the queen. Declarer plays five rounds of clubs throwing a spade and exits a diamond.  What do you do?  I have given you lots of hints.  Can you find the right defense?  On the run of the clubs you throw two hearts and the ♠ Q.  You have arrived at this position

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ 1076 ♥ J94 ♦ 4 ♣
West ♠ J4 ♥ 8 ♦ AK105 ♣		East ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
	South ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

Eric had the idea that he could squeeze declarer if South held the two major-suit kings.  He would need East to hold the ♠ A and the ♥ AQ.  On the run of the diamonds South would have to keep three cards and therefore would have to unguard one of the major kings.  But the fly in the ointment is that partner will be squeezed in front of declarer.  On the last diamond East will have to stiff one of the major suit aces and now South will simply keep the right king.  The way to fix this so the squeeze will work is to cash the ♠A first (a Vienna Coup).  Now your ♠J will act as the threat against South’s ♠K.  East can just keep hearts.  Playing a Vienna Coup as declarer is not that hard although it does require thinking the squeeze position through but figuring it out on defense is something to strive for.  (Mommy, will I ever be as good as that?)

Chapter 3 is only 22 pages but as I start to read it I think it is quite a bit longer.  Chapter 3 is really the first chapter to lay down the foundations of how Eric thinks about card play.  It is the first chapter that really introduces new ideas to me.  I think a lot of experts might want to put their bookmark on Chapter 3 right away and give the first two chapters a skip (at least in first reading).

It starts off with the idea of counting losers and counting winners.  Easy enough but Eric points out that there really are two types of losers; unavoidable losers which he calls hand losers and losers which represent a shortage of needed tricks which he calls squeeze losers.  Now bear with me here: if you take the number of losers you are allowed in your contract and subtract those unavoidable hand losers you have the number of surplus hand losers “L” you can have.  If you have one surplus hand loser ( Eric says you are +1L) you can afford to duck a trick, for example.  The defense will not be able to cash enough winners to defeat you when you do that.  This gives you options in developing enough tricks to make the contract.  If you don’t completely understand this it is the best I can do in a few words.  It is not that the concept is so difficult it is just that it is new to me (and perhaps to you).   When you read this section Eric explains it beautifully with the bonus of a lovely hand he defended with Jeff.

The next key concept is control units.  A control unit is something (trumping or a winner) that prevents the opponents from running a suit.  This all leads to developing a map.  When you are starting out it is hard to see how to play any hand.  An expert looks at a deal and often just “knows” what to do.  A beginner is overwhelmed by the possibilities.  But even the best players can have difficulty deciding how to proceed some of the time.  A map allows everyone to narrow the possibilities.  Simply thinking about things that way is quite helpful — helpful to me and to my future students too.

There is more, but now we have arrived at a counting all aspect of a hand tricks, distribution and points.  And that lovely idea of memorizing the way that four numbers can sum to thirteen.  I remember falling asleep thinking 4-4-3-2, 4-4-4-1, 4-3-3-3 and all that.  Eric points out that when somebody shows out in a suit you should stop and assimilate this information.  Eric uses a defensive hand to make his points. You see your hand and dummy and by counting the distribution and declarer’s winners you can figure out what to do.  Not much of this is new to me but it is interesting to see how Eric approaches planning the play or defense.

Visualization is something I have thought of in the last while.  I don’t always stop to visualize an opponent’s hand or the hand I NEED partner to have.  But when I have done a good job it is quite effective in figuring out what to do.  It does take me a while though.  So here I am; it is only page 63.  I haven’t learned much I didn’t know but the way of thinking about things and adding a vocabulary is helpful.   I am halfway through the chapter.  More basics to come.

I am going to work through an interesting looking example hand that puts many of these ideas together and then take a break to clear my head and get some exercise.  I just heard yesterday if you exercise 15 minutes a day it adds 3 years to your life.   Is that an excuse not to exercise more or a push to realize how important exercise is?

More later …

…. Back

It was a perfect day in Toronto but I am back from my walk and actually looking forward to the rest of the chapter.  Most of the rest of the chapter is about the mathematics of bridge.  Just like other sections of this book, others have written whole books on this topic.  If you hate mathematics Eric suggests you skip this section but he does say you will have to come back and face it some day.  Fortunately for me I have always found mathematics and especially probability interesting.  Eric does a great job of explaining a lot of concepts very quickly.  He covers everything from calculating the probability of a split, to working out the relevant combinations, vacant spaces, combing chances, restricted choices and the rest.  What I love is the use of real hands to explore the concepts.  This is not mathematics it is bridge and that makes it so entertaining.   This is more about thinking about what card combinations will help you on a particular hand and then deciding how to play a suit then it is working with formulas.

I find the section on working out probability of relevant combinations particularly interesting.  I have done this a number of times at the table.  When it doesn’t work out I usually spend the next day writing down all the relevant possibilities, developing the odds of each line of play and then working out whether I was right.  I chose to think of this as a way to learn rather than self-flagalation.

I have fun with a deal that describes a cash mirage and then ends up with cash and thrash (am I really going to talk like this?)

The last concept is trick packages.  The idea here is to look at each suit and possible number of tricks in each suit that together will meet your objective.  This allows you to look at different sets of tricks will let you achieve your objective.  The chapter ends with a hand that illustrates trick packages and also a number of other ideas from the chapter.

I finish the chapter feeling that I have starting to learn new things and that I have started to look at deals a bit differently.  I understand that I am still working on building blocks and that many of the ideas in the chapter aren’t new to me but there are a fair number of new ideas.  I think the vocabulary is part of what helps to learn and remember the concepts.  After all what would squeeze play be without BLUE and what would Rodwell be without cash and thrash and trick packages.

As a teacher I can see that these concepts could effect how I teach intermediate and advanced players to answer that challening question – how do I make a plan?

I feel I have done a good days work and the sun is still shining.

Rodwell Chapter 2 … Will I Agree?

August 15th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  No Comments 

I approach Chapter 2 with some trepidation.  The good news is it is short.  It is on a subject I already know well.  So after a busy weekend and a busy Monday I can zip right through it.  My trepidation is that I will not agree with the ideas.  I love Clyde E. Love.  I have for forty years or so.  I updated ‘Bridge Squeezes Complete’.  Will Eric change all this?  How am I going to feel about Eric Rodwell’s approach?

I am not expecting to learn much new but I am hoping that I will agree with what is written.  Things start out well.  I certainly understand the concept of a frozen suit but this is the first time I have heard something referred to as a half frozen suit (only frozen from one side).  I always thought of a suit that couldn’t be touched by either defender as frozen.  Still I can see the idea of being half frozen is useful.

After a bit more terminology things move quickly through avoidance plays and partial eliminations and on to squeezes.  I am okay at first but then I hit a stumbling block under a heading ‘the two masters position’.  This occurs when you are playing a simple squeeze so you have two threat suits and the opponents have a top winner in both threat suits.  The squeeze will fail but that is not because the opponents have top winners.  It is because declarer has too many losers.  On the other hand Eric is right, it is going to be rare to have a simple squeeze when an opponent has two top winners –  maybe some kind of trump squeeze or a triple squeeze or something like that.

But wait.  Eric walks you through Clyde E. Love’s B.L.U.E. in the next few pages.  I am happy again.  He gives some great rules of thumb so that you can perform squeezes without knowing all the ins and outs.  And once again a throw-away deal enchants.  He describes a hand he defended where he defeated one notrump on a defensive Vienna Coup.  Wow!  In the end I see this chapter as a fine whip-through what is covered in a few hundred pages in Love.   This chapter for me is like performing all the works of William Shakespeare in half an hour.  It whips through a complex topic, a topic most experts would know fairly well.   It might be a good chapter to read over if you need a quick refresher on squeezes because amazingly it is pretty comprehensive.  It doesn’t include trump squeezes and some more esoteric topics.  But it covers a lot very fast.

Gavin Wolpert was visiting our office today and we talked about whether it was a good idea for such an advanced book to start off with the basics.  After all it will cover the material too quickly for an intermediate player and is perhaps not needed by an expert.  I don’t mind it.  I can skip over the things I know fairly quickly and I find a few interesting ideas.  Besides there are always interesting deals.

Chapter 2 does have an interesting hand that Eric defended in a 2011 Regional.  He had to modify it slightly since in real life the hand cannot be defeated.  Defending against 1NT he envisioned and executed a defensive Vienna Coup assuming declarer could be defeated.

See if you can find the defense that might defeat the contract.  The auction is simple South opens 1NT 15-17 and it is passed out.

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ 10765 ♥ J94 ♦ 43 ♣ J943
West ♠ QJ4 ♥ 873 ♦ AK1052 ♣ 108		East ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
	South ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

You lead a low diamond.  Partner plays the jack and declarer wins the queen. Declarer plays five rounds of clubs throwing a spade and exits a diamond.  What do you do?  I have given you lots of hints.  Can you find the right defense?

I will give answer in the next blog.

My advice.  If you are very comfortable with squeezes and endplays, just zip through Chapter 2.  Don’t worry – lots of good stuff to come.  Looking ahead I see Chapter 3 is long, and has lots of good stuff.  I hope I can finish it by Wednesday.

The Rodwell Files – Chapter 1, A Start

August 12th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  No Comments 

When I started this task I thought I would read a section every two days.  There are five parts or sections of the book and seventeen chapters.  After reading chapter one I realize I will read a chapter every two days and that will give me enough of a challenge.  Even in chapter one, the basics, there was a lot to think about.  I also remembered that Eric’s early notes (from which the book was developed) were called The Rodwellian File.  Of course then it wasn’t all that long and easily fit into a file folder.  I know that over the years since it was not for public distribution we referred to it as the X Files and since it is so much longer I suppose The Rodwell Files is an appropriate name.

I liked Mark Horton’s foreword but I did have to look up ‘neologism’ (a newly coined word that is entering the common vernacular).  In this case he was talking about ‘Meckwell’.  Eric Rodwell has been a bridge hero of mine for a long time.  If you watch the Horton-Rodwell interview on U-tube you will see how erudite Eric is and how well he speaks about the game.  The interview was not scripted or rehearsed.  Eric just answered the questions.

So Chapter 1 is supposed to provide the basics.  Before I started I thought I could probably zip right through it.    Eric starts at the very beginning of card play.  When I attended one of Barbara Seagram’s beginner classes in preparation for writing Beginning Bridge she had a key play point.  Play Honors From The Short Side First.  This was a mantra that all the students had to recite several times.  And that is where Eric begins as well.

But the book moves on from there very quickly.  Even in something as simple as cashing winners Eric has some points to make.  For example, he introduces the idea that top winners are stoppers.  So when you have Ax opposite Kx you have two winners but you also have two stoppers (yes, even in a trump contract).

As I read on I realized that even though I knew all of the concepts in Chapter one, it moved so quickly and introduced so many ideas that I couldn’t zip through the text.  It made me think.  As a teacher one of the ideas I have found hard to get across to students is the difference between the finessing position where you have the AQ in one hand and the position where you have the queen in the hand opposite the ace.    I have written about it in books and blogs.  I have sent emails to students describing this.  Eric made one small change in his explanation that really helped.   He started with AQx opposite xxx and Axx opposite Qxx.  This is a more equivalent position.  Doh!  Why didn’t I see that?  In each case you have one or two tricks depending on the position of the king and in each case you lead towards the queen.  He mentions the idea of the Chinese Finesse of leading the queen.  (Later he even talks about when you might do just that.)  I can see that as a teacher there will be a lot of ideas for me along the way.

Some people might not like all of the new vocabulary that Eric is adding to cardplay.  So far I do.  I like the idea of a ‘pusher finesse’.  A pusher finesse is a finesse where you lead a high card (the pusher) from one hand which will either be covered or win the trick.  This concept helps to explain the idea of leading a high card from one hand towards an honor in the other (AKxx opposite J109x) and the many positions like that.  A pusher finesse is quite common on defense too.  It is something we all do intuitively when we lead the J from J109 through declarer with little ones in dummy.  This book discusses card play from both points of view — as a declarer and as a defender.  While doing that it seems to show the commonality between the two types of card play.  I guess I have always known that but I haven’t thought about it much.

So what are the conditions that make a two-way finesse equal in either direction?  (Having enough intermediates to be able to stand a cover either way.)  It turns out it is fun (for me at least) to read through the many aspects of basic finessing and while nothing is completely new to me there are some ideas that clarify the why’s of things.  Eric does a great job on explaining restricted choice and touches on suit combinations (a book in itself)   And we are on to “tricks with trumps”.  Once again he makes me think about teaching.  My rule two when teaching students about playing in a suit contract is “Draw trumps unless you have a reason not too.”  Eric has the same rule but with a corollary.

Finally I get to my first deal.   It is in the section on ‘asset surveys’.  This is perhaps the most important idea in this chapter for me.  Do you ever have problems noticing your seven is high?  Do you lose count of a suit?  Do you miss a finessing position?  An asset survey may help.  (Determine what honors and cards are missing in a suit.)

I am not going to write up the whole deal here but this is a play that Jeff (and “I”) found at trick one.

Dealer: Vul:	North ♠ ♥ K754 ♦ ♣
West ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣		East ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣
	South ♠ ♥ Aj103 ♦ ♣

West led the heart two, attitude (showing interest in the suit).  Jeff put in the seven and it held.  Not brilliant but you can see how you could carelessly miss this at the table.  The rest of the card play on this deal is interesting too, involving using the spots and an endplay.  Later in the chapter there is a lovely dummy reversal from Orlando.  I admit I love reading about beautiful hands and card play.  If I am going to do the hard work of learning new idea I want the fun of admiring great deals.

The chapter ends with a series of basic “rules” to use in planning defense.  Obviously they all have exceptions but they form a framework for defensive thinking.  And once again I see ideas I can use as a teacher.  The ideas aren’t really new.  It’s just that they are so well explained.  So even though this book is not for novices (it moves much too fast) I see how the basic ideas are there and could be helpful for teachers.  An intermediate player could learn a lot from the first chapter but they would have to do it the way I first read bridge books when I started learning the game … slowly, carefully, laying out the deals and walking through them.  An intermediate player could easily spend a couple of weeks on this first chapter.

And my favorite part of the chapter… the idea of a ‘full’ and ’empty’ hand which helps the defense decide if they should use an active or passive defense.  As Eric describes it, a full hand is one in which declarer will get his tricks in time if left alone to do it.  You can work out what an empty hand is!

So while chapter one is a brief run-through of basic ideas it still gives me some things to think about both as a teacher and as a student of the game.  While I knew almost everything in chapter one I was not bored. … not even for a sentence.  It moves fast, it expresses things in an interesting way, it makes me think and it introduces some new concepts.

I am looking forward to chapter two.  The title is “The basics of advanced cardplay.”  Since this is still dealing with the basics I suspect I will know a lot of it but it will help to clarify my thinking.

My Challenge .. Read a chapter of Rodwell every two days

August 11th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  1 Comment 

I am giving myself a challenge.  I am going to read a chapter of The Rodwell Files every 48 hours, attempt to understand what is written and then write about my experience.

I have read snippets of the book and I know it is a good read.  The hands are wonderful.  But this time I am going to read it starting with the first chapter and really understand it and learn the concepts.   That is more work than just enjoying the hands.

I am going to give myself extra time for the really long chapters and may divide some into two sessions.  I have always believed that if I could read a book and learn just one or two important things it was worth it.  So let’s see how this book measures up.

I hope nobody minds if I pick out a few of my favorite hands to share.  Can I dream of having an insight about a deal that others missed.  Well I can dream but that is probably all.

I would say that I have had several recent readers of the updated Bridge Squeezes Complete email me with errors and so far not one has proven out.  (A challenge for you perhaps).  But I am not expecting to find errors in the analysis (are you kidding, Rodwell?)

The first episode will be tomorrow.

Eric, Diana, Jim, David, Barbara and more

July 28th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  4 Comments 

I know I haven’t been blogging much lately.  It seems like I am full of other things to do.  The last few weeks have been very busy.  Yesterday was Master Point Press day at the Nationals and I got to play author and attempt to do a book signing.  I say attempt since I actually only signed one book.  They did mess up the advertisement in the daily bulletin and post the ad with the wrong signings so maybe it was because didn’t know I was there.  I would like to think that was the case.   Anyway Andy Stark and Barbara Seagram kept my company and I got meet and talk to quite a few people.

Barbara Seagram and Linda Lee

Professor Silver came by with Peter Hambly his favorite partner with some stories to tell from their pairs game.  We saw Fred Lerner with Debbie and Jim Howie who were playing a knockout teams.  Everyone was dressed in colorful shirts, kind of the Hawaiian team.  Ray got to talking with Jim about wine and decide we really should have the Howie’s over when Mark Horton is visited next time since they both are wine experts and we can all drink some lovely wine.

I ran into Diana Gordon the previous day still holding her trophy as one of the newest members of the Canadian Bridge Hall of Fame.  I couldn’t help but think that she really deserved it.  She seemed very pleased about the whole thing.

Julie Fajgelzon, from my Wagar team also visited.  We talked about our early exit.  Julie was unhappy to have missed a good slam but I could easily top her.  I am not going to repeat the hand but I will tell it as a story.  I think it is instructive (for me at least).  I had bid clubs on my own vulnerable once at the one level and once at the three level.    When my left hand opponents bid three hearts my partner doubled.  She then lead a spade.  Declarer won and led a hear.  Partner won and switched to a diamond (I had signaled for a diamond on the heart play).  Dummy had two clubs, I had seven.  Who had the rest?  By this point I was completely convinced partner had none.   I laid down the club ace and all followed, partner playing a high club (suggesting  an odd number).  Now it should be obvious that partner would have led a singleton club.  Thus partner had three clubs.  She didn’t lead a club because she had a stiff spade.  She had a plan.  Her idea was to lead her singleton spade and get to my hand for some spade ruffs.  But I just couldn’t believe she wouldn’t raise clubs with a stiff spade, the ace of hearts and three clubs.   I had a mind set and I couldn’t get passed that.  Well the fact that it was about one in the morning probably didn’t help.  They went down one instead one {Partner did actually get one of the her two spade ruffs) instead of down two (the best we could have done).

Which brings me to my gripe.  Why do they have to start long team games behind screens so late.  Couldn’t they have started the third set at 7:30.  Is it de rigeur to have a long dinner break?  I wasn’t home until 2:00 AM.

If you haven’t seen the Rodwell interview on u-tube don’t miss it.  It was amazing how articulate Eric was.  He had no script.  He just answered the questions.  The book has been selling very well and for good reason.

Rodwell Interview

Eric signing books

Lineup for Eric signing

Tomorrow we are off to Washington with my grandson Cassidy and Mark Horton to watch a Manchester United exhibition match and see at least something of Washington.  We are definitely going to the National Mall and probably the spy museum.  But Cassidy will have lots of choices.  We just have such a short time there and so very much to see.  Then it is off to Gettysburg.  All the guys are really looking forward to going through the battlefield.  Me too really.  It has been a while and it will be fun to watch Ray describe Pickett’s charge.

Want a smart tool for bridge players and bridge clubs.  Pianola.net is launching soon.  I talked to James who was proud of his upcoming product.  You can check it out at www.pianola.net.

I am proud of the work we did for the Toronto NABC and the ABTA.  I hope that everybody is having a wonderful time.

And the winner is …

July 20th, 2011  ~  linda  ~  No Comments 

This morning there were some hiccups when the computer to show slides was missing and attempts at replacement failed.  The scene was the gorgeous Imperial Room at the Royal York Hotel.  It used to be a fabulous cabaret.  Ray took me there to see an elderly Ella Fitzgerald give a divine performance many years ago.

Marilyn described the story of each of our eight finalists as Teacher of the Year.  And I got to announce the winner …

Kathie Walsh from South Carolina

Kathie who was there by herself was overwhelmed.  This was her second year as a finalist.  When she tried to call her husband she failed to reach him and had to leave a message for him on the answering machine.  Kathie is an active ABTA member, a wonderful bridge teacher and a bridge columnist.

Andre and many others will write more about her.  But for now I would like to congratulate all of the wonderful finalists.  The Texans who gave a loud Texas cheer for there star teacher, the many people who came to root for Gerry Lachance, a local favorite and all of the others.

It was a morning to remember.