Clear Lake Bridge Lessons

Scheduling

I offer courses on a trimester basis, roughly January - April, May - August, September - December.  I usually start classes the first full week in January and end no later than the second week of December.  Classes are offered on

·        ·   Sunday afternoons 2 - 5 (Bridge Lab only)

·   Monday afternoons 2 - 5

·   Monday evenings 5:30 - 8:30

·   Tuesday mornings 9 - noon

·   Tuesday afternoons 2 - 5 (Bridge Lab only)

·   Tuesday evenings 5:30 - 8:30

·   Wednesday afternoons 2 - 5

·   Thursday mornings 9 - noon

·   Friday afternoons 2 - 5

Classes normally meet once a week for three hours with a break at approximately the midpoint.  Some weeks may be skipped because of holidays or conflicts.

Classes scheduled on Wednesday afternoons will sometimes meet on Friday afternoons instead, usually the third Wednesday of the month due to classroom availability.

Because of various conflicts throughout the year, only courses of 10 weeks or less are offered on Friday afternoons.

Curriculum Overview

The current curriculum consists of 21 separate courses:

• Bridge 100B – Beginning Bridge (13 sessions)
• Bridge 101A – Bidding I (13 sessions)
• Bridge 101B – Bidding II (13 sessions)
• Bridge 100PA – Beginner Practice I (13 sessions)
• Bridge 100PB – Beginner Practice II (13 sessions)
• Bridge 100BL – Bridge Lab (ongoing)
• Bridge 110 – Two over One Game Force (10 sessions)
• Bridge 130 – Defense (4 sessions)
• Bridge 140 – Slam Bidding (4 sessions)
• Bridge 200A – Modern Conventions I (13 sessions)
• Bridge 200B – Modern Conventions II (13 sessions)
• Bridge 200P – Intermediate Practice (13 sessions)
• Bridge 210 – Intermediate Declarer Play (13 sessions)
• Bridge 221A – Card Play, Part A (12 sessions)
• Bridge 221B – Card Play, Part B (12 sessions)
• Bridge 221a – Card Play, Part a (8 sessions)
• Bridge 221b – Card Play, Part b (8 sessions)
• Bridge 221c – Card Play, Part c (8 sessions)
• Bridge 231A - Kantar Lessons, Part A (12 sessions)
• Bridge 231B - Kantar Lessons, Part B (12 sessions)
• Bridge 231a - Kantar Lessons, Part a (8 sessions)
• Bridge 231b - Kantar Lessons, Part b (8 sessions)
• Bridge 231c - Kantar Lessons, Part c (8 sessions)

The “100” series of courses are essentially “beginner” courses while the “200” series are in the intermediate to advanced level. 

100B, 101A and 101B are my basic courses for beginners and should normally be taken in that sequence. These courses are highly structured with material in each lesson based on previous lessons.  New students who have some previous bridge experience and are familiar with the mechanics of the game and feel comfortable playing the cards as declarer and defending might choose to skip 100B and start with 101A.  These students could take the 221 series after 101B if they thought they needed more instruction in basic card play.  However, the 221 series is not included in my regular schedule and will be offered only if there is sufficient demand and a time slot is available.  100PA and 100PB are practice courses designed to provide additional experience after 100B, 101A and 101B have been taken.  A small amount of new material is presented in 100PB.

Once I start a series, {100(B, A, B, PA, PB), 200(A, B), 221(A, B or a, b, c), 231(a, b, c)} in a given time slot, the remaining courses in that series are offered in the same time slot in subsequent terms.  I try to start a new beginner series (100B) each term.

Course Synopses

Bridge 100B – Beginning Bridge
Bridge 100B is the starting course for students who have no knowledge of the game or at best, a minimum exposure by observation or by having played a little in the distant past.  In this course the student learns the basic mechanics of the game of bridge, scoring, hand evaluation and fundamental card play techniques.

Each class period is approximately equally divided between 

1) lecture and class exercises
2) play of four (approximately) deals designed to utilize the ideas presented in the lecture and exercises 

There is a short break near the middle of the session.

If you enroll in this course, you are strongly encouraged to also start attending Bridge 100BL after the first few weeks of 100B.

Bridge 100BL – Bridge Lab
This is essentially a pay-as-you-go “lab” course to give students a chance to gain additional practice in a monitored environment.  Students enrolled in 100B play a simplified form of bridge called MiniBridge.  Students enrolled in 101A will also find this useful for the early weeks of that course.  Students with bidding experience participate in a monitored play setting where they can ask questions and get advice on bidding and play during or after each deal.  All players stay at the same table during the session and play at their own pace so this is a good opportunity to get together with your friends or just come on your own (we will provide partners if needed) for a relaxed learning session.  This has become a very popular course.  No advance registration is required so feel free to “drop in” anytime.

Bridge 101A and 101B – Bidding I & II
These second and third courses in the beginner series address all of the elementary aspects of bidding in the game of bridge.  Mastery of the material presented in these courses and the previous course will allow the student to fully participate in a bridge game with more experienced players.

The structure of these courses is the same as for Bridge 100B.

Bridge 100PA and 100PB – Beginner Practice I & II
Bridge 100PA is a 13-week course providing students the opportunity to gain more experience in all of the material presented in Bridge 100B and 101A/B.  Each session is devoted to the play and discussion of eight deals covering the topics presented during the three main courses.  The course consists of three 4-week segments covering the general material of the three main courses plus one extra week.  The first segment emphasizes bidding, the second segment focuses on declarer play and the third segment concentrates on defense.  Bridge 100PB is similar to Bridge 100PA.  The first segment focuses on modern notrump bidding while the final two segments deal with major suit raises.  The final week of each course is a combination of "Q & A" and additional practice play.

Note:  Bridge 100PB was designated as Bridge 100P prior to the third trimester of 2014.

Bridge 110 – Two over One Game Force
This 10-week course presents a popular extension to standard bidding which greatly simplifies many bidding sequences and is used by many experienced bridge players.  The first eight weeks of this course alternate between lecture and practice play.  The final two weeks provide additional practice play opportunities.  It is appropriate for students who have a firm understanding of the basic bidding concepts presented in Bridge 101A and 101B.

Bridge 130 – Defense
This 4-week short course focuses on all aspects of defensive card play, going into more details than that covered in Bridge 100B.

Bridge 140 – Slam Bidding
This 4-week short course focuses on the detailed aspects of bidding slams.

Bridge 200A and 200B – Modern Conventions I & II
These courses review some of the conventions presented in Bridge 101B but also cover many more conventions that are popular among intermediate and advanced bridge players.  Here are course outlines for the courses:

Bridge 200A
Lesson 1 – Notrump Bidding: Stayman, Jacoby & Texas Transfers
Lesson 2 – Notrump Interference: Introduction, DONT, Meckwell, Bergen-Meckwell
Lesson 3 – Notrump Interference Countermeasures: Stolen Bids, Lebensohl
Lesson 4 – Preemptive Opening Bids: Weak two-bids, Ogust Responses to Weak-Two Bids
Lesson 5 – Major Suit Bidding I: Jacoby 2NT, Splinters
Lesson 6 – Major Suit Bidding II: Reverse Drury, Bergen Raises
Lesson 7 – Major Suit Bidding III: Help Suit Game Tries, Cuebid Raises
Lesson 8 – Slam Bidding I: Blackwood & Gerber, RKC
Lesson 9 – Slam Bidding II & Reverses: Control Bidding, Reverses
Lesson 10 – Competing with 2-Suited Hands: Michaels Cuebids & Unusual NT, Max Hardy’s Ideas
Lesson 11 – Takeout Doubles
Lesson 13 – Conventional Forcing Bids: 4^th Suit Forcing, New Minor Forcing

Bridge 200B
Lesson 1 – Notrump Bidding: Puppet Stayman, 4-Suit Transfer
Lesson 2 – More Notrump Bidding, Notrump Interference: More About Stayman, Cappelletti
Lesson 3 – Special Topics: Flannery, Forcing 1NT
Lesson 4 – Preemptive Opening Bids: Responding to Three-bids, Gambling 3NT, NAMYATS
Lesson 5 – Major Suit Bidding: Short Suit Game Tries, 2-Way Game Tries
Lesson 6 – Jump Shift Responses and Rebids: Strong Jump Shifts, Weak Jump Shifts, Fit-Showing Jumps
Lesson 7 – Slam Bidding I: Exclusion Blackwood, DOPI/ROPI/DEPO
Lesson 8 – Slam Bidding II: Italian Control Bidding, Pick-a-Slam 5NT
Lesson 9 – Reverses, Advanced Lebensohl: Ingberman, Lebensohl
Lesson 10 – Competing with 2-Suited Hands: Leaping Michaels, Unusual Over Unusual
Lesson 11 – More Competing Bids: Hardy’s Two-Suited Overcalls and Doubles, Overcalling with 4-card suits
Lesson 12 – More Doubles: Support Doubles, Snapdragon Doubles, Maxi Doubles
Lesson 13 – Conventional Forcing Bids and Redoubles: Inverted Minor Raises, SOS and Other Redoubles

Bridge 200P – Intermediate Practice
Bridge 200P is an 8-week course providing students with the opportunity to gain more experience in many of the ideas presented in Bridge 200.  Each session is devoted to the play and discussion of eight deals focusing on some of the more advanced topics of Bridge 101A/B and 200.  The course consists of two 4-week segments.  This course is not currently included in my regular schedule.

Bridge 210 – Intermediate Declarer Play
There is one week of lecture covering various aspects of declarer play, many of which were not covered in the basic 100 series.  The last twelve weeks are devoted to “real world” application of the principles discussed in the first week by playing nine deals each week.  Each deal requires the use of one of the ideas presented in the first week, but the student must decide which technique is applicable.

Bridge 221 – Card Play
This series was introduced in the first trimester of 2023 with 24 total sessions.  It will be offered as a three-part series (a, b, c) of eight sessions each on Friday afternoons or as a two-part series (A, B) of 12 sessions each on Monday or Tuesday evenings.

Bridge 231 - Kantar Lessons
In  the fall of 2024 I was privileged to have the opportunity to purchase a 5-volume set of 72 lesson plans developed by the late Edwin ("Eddie") Kantar, a well-known expert player and teacher.  These lessons cover various aspects of bidding, play and defense, with most lessons emphasizing one topic but including aspects of all three.  I am working on the development of 24 lessons to present this material, at least in part, to be presented in either three 8-week courses or two 12-week courses.  Each course is planned to have about an equal number of lessons on bidding, play and defense.