[Flame]

As opposite to books which usually take one issue and focus on it, courses suppose to include many issues and obviously not to go as in depth on any of them.
What topics would you teach on intermidiate bridge course ?
A topic suppose to be something that you teach in thory then give examples and all this suppose to be usually in no more then one lesson.
I'll give examples.
1. Law of total tricks
2. hand evaluation
3. diffence matterial like second hand play when to cover when to split etc
4. diffence carding
5. squeeses
6. system issues
basically its taking a book and giving it in one lesson
What are your intermidiate topics. and basically any advices on teaching intermidiate.

[mike777]

One and only one. Count and visualize. After they complete the course I would tell them to take it all over again. If you know 50 out of 52 cards at the table you can pick up the rest of the other stuff with practice.

[Walddk]

Basics, basics and basics again, and then as few conventions as possible. Stayman, Blackwood and negative doubles. Period. Finally, declarer play and defence over and over again.

The rest is mere details and can be added when one masters all of the above.

Roland

[han]

I agree with the above posts, but it also depends on the intermediates.

I think that listening to lectures is not the way to learn bridge.

[Flame]

Jlall, on Nov 14 2005, 05:56 PM, said:

Teach them counting.

The problem with teaching counting is that its pretty boring, they want more exiting stuff, but i totally agree and will force them to learn to count.
I just run into a nice website that practice count. (or math for first grade)
http://www.eastontar...tions/count.htm
and
http://www.eastontar...ions/count2.htm

[Chamaco]

Flame, on Nov 14 2005, 11:13 PM, said:

Jlall, on Nov 14 2005, 05:56 PM, said:

Teach them counting.

The problem with teaching counting is that its pretty boring, they want more exiting stuff, but i totally agree and will force them to learn to count.
I just run into a nice website that practice count. (or math for first grade)
http://www.eastontar...tions/count.htm
and
http://www.eastontar...ions/count2.htm

Ty Flame, this is a nice site for practicing countig

[ArcLight]

>personally I think to much time in intermedaite level is spent bidding, teach people our level, to play better and defend better (this includes counting and visualising etc) and most importantly teach our level how to communicate with each other

From what I've seen many players are either lazy and wont study (read books) or poor and can't afford them. Why "take courses on play" when (in the USA and probably much of Europe and Austalia) you can go to the library and get a ton of older books on play of the hand and defense and read and reread them?

(These are old books and should be in libraries with older collections from the 70's)


Read and reread these "old" books:


Bill Roots: How to defend a Bridge Hand + How to Play a Bridge Hand, both classics!

Victor Mollos: Card Play Technique - a classic!

Kantars - Modern/Advanced Bridge Defence (or its predesessor, "big red" titled Defensive Bridge Play Complete). Hios other books are also worth reading.

Terence Reese: a ton of books on declarer play

Fred Karpin - has a bunch of books on declarer play

Ron Klingers - Card Play Made Easy 4 volumes (96 pages each) all outstanding

SJ Simon - Why you lose at Bridge - Classic

Dorothy Truscott - Winning Declarer Play - Classic

Jeff Rubens - Secrets of Winning Bridge

David Bird - Bridge Technique Series - however this is a newer series and may not be in most libraries (only a few were available in New Jersey, USA)

Danny Roth is another good author.

Robert Berthe - Step by Step Card Play in No Trumps

Mike Lawrence - Card Combinations + Read Your Opponents cards and whatever else the Library has

*Marc Smith/Tim Bourke - Countdown to winning Bridge - *ok, this is not an old book but its a fantastic book on counting

After you have done them all twice, try the Hugh Kelsey.
Kit Woolsey - Match Points.

These will cover declarer play and Defense.
Forget about Squeezes until you can recognize an end play or elimination play.


I have left off "Expensive items like" Freds Bridge Master or Mike Lawrences Private Lessons 1&2, Counting at Bridge 1&2, Defense, Conventions

[Walddk]

Reading books is good, no doubt about it, but there is no substitute for practice, practice and more practice at the table. You don't improve your bidding, dummy play and defence, let alone win tournaments, in your study or in the library.

Roland

[ArcLight]

>Reading books is good, no doubt about it, but there is no substitute for practice, practice and more practice at the table. You don't improve your bidding, dummy play and defence, let alone win tournaments, in your study or in the library.

I agree.

But in order to improve you will benefit more by some study (reading) and application (playing) than just playing and trying to pick things up.
This is especially true for squeeze play.

I don't remember who said this, but one very strong playre said you should spend one third of your Bridge time studying. Perhaps thats true up to a certain level.

[david_c]

I've always thought that opening leads are very hard. I think intermediates would appreciate some general advice here. Books seem to be good at explaining that KQJTx is a good suit to lead, but you rarely see any good advice about how to decide what suit to lead when the choice is between, say, Kxxx and xxx. Or, what sort of auctions suggest that a trump lead might be right? And things like that.

[Walddk]

ArcLight, on Nov 15 2005, 04:22 PM, said:

I agree.

But in order to improve you will benefit more by some study (reading) and application (playing) than just playing and trying to pick things up.
This is especially true for squeeze play.

"Replying to Topic for an intermidiate level course" is the name of the game. Forget about squeezes. I have said this a dozen times before, and I haven't changed my mind.

I repeat: most intermediates do not master even the simplest of card play, so why on earth would one waste their time with squeezes? Intermediate players may not like to hear this, but that's how it is. And as we all know: nothing hurts like the truth.

Roland

[plaur]

Basic cardplay, basic cardplay and basic cardplay and then some simple sound bidding. Forget about squezzes and endplays

[GeeGee]

Walddk, on Nov 15 2005, 10:45 AM, said:

ArcLight, on Nov 15 2005, 04:22 PM, said:

I agree. 

But in order to improve you will benefit more by some study (reading) and application (playing) than just playing and trying to pick things up.
This is especially true for squeeze play.

"Replying to Topic for an intermidiate level course" is the name of the game. Forget about squeezes. I have said this a dozen times before, and I haven't changed my mind.

I repeat: most intermediates do not master even the simplest of card play, so why on earth would one waste their time with squeezes? Intermediate players may not like to hear this, but that's how it is. And as we all know: nothing hurts like the truth.

Roland

Unfortunately, I have to agree. I don't consider myself even close to advanced, but a few years ago I designed and ran a course for intermediate club members on declarer play.

It became apparent pretty quickly that fewer than half of the attendees were able to grasp concepts like the ruffing finesse, loser-on-loser plays, or endplays.

[FrancesHinden]

There are two different questions:
- What should intermediates be taught?
- What do they want to be taught?

and the answers are different. Are you giving people what they want (usually equates to "are they paying customers") or what would improve their bridge fastest?

My parents have run many residential bridge weekends. On one morning they have a 'seminar' - a shortish lecture followed by 5 or so prepared hands for people to play, followed by a post-mortem explaining what should have happened. The topics covered are generally way beyond the attendees capability to execute themselves - as others have said they'd be far better off learning how to set up their side suit. But that's not what they want. They want to see the clever, the spectacular - the things that (in their eyes) make bridge fun not hard work. If they get something that would directly improve their bridge, they say it was a bad choice.

The same is true of better players as well. How many people who've read "Adventures in card play" are ever going to execute one of the 'fiercer' trump squeezes? How many (including me) list it as one of their top five books?

These plays open your eyes to what is possible, to what makes the game endlessly fascinating.

So whatever topic I chose, I'd make sure there was some dramatic or fun extension I could show at the end. If we're counting LHO's points, make sure we drop a singleton king. If we're taking finesses, have a finesse against a 5 or ruff a winner to gain an entry to take a finesse (I had one of them on Sunday). If we're endplaying people, have one of those hands where the opening leader is endplayed, or where we take a ruff-discard by discarding in both hands. If we're into squeezes, after explaining that it only gains one trick have a triple repeating squeeze that gains two tricks, or after explaining that you have to rectify the count, have a squeeze that operates 4 tricks short of the count. If we're teaching Blackwood, show a hideous B'wood disaster from a world championship.

Right, rant over, what was the question again?

[Flame]

I think squeeses arent as big as people make them.
Most spqueeses you will find and execute at the table are simple suqeeses, and those are pretty easy to learn, ofcourse i will never think of teaching adv squeeses, i think not even double squeese.

[FrancesHinden]

Flame, on Nov 15 2005, 06:57 PM, said:

I think squeeses arent as big as people make them.
Most spqueeses you will find and execute at the table are simple suqeeses, and those are pretty easy to learn, ofcourse i will never think of teaching adv squeeses, i think not even double squeese.

This is getting off-topic, but successful simple squeezes are, IMO, one of the rarest type. Double squeezes and strip (throw-in) squeezes are much more common. In essence, a simple squeeze requires the same hand to be guarding two suits; a double squeeze requires different hands to be guarding them which is intrinsically more likely.

Unsuccessful simple squeezes are very common!

[Chamaco]

Quote

"Replying to Topic for an intermidiate level course" is the name of the game. 

Sure, but then also your previous post that said

"Reading books is good, no doubt about it, but there is no substitute for practice, practice and more practice at the table. You don't improve your bidding, dummy play and defence, let alone win tournaments, in your study or in the library. "

was out of context.

The fact that practice is the best followup to the things we learn is certainly true, but since the title of the thread was to list "Topic for an intermidiate level course", one instructor cannot tell his students only "play play play": it simply is not a topic

The thread is on the specific topics to be taught by an instructor, and to my opinion Arclight listed many good references from which select topics and examples for the targeted audience, and he hit the nail on the head with respect to the title of the thread(although I agree with you about squeezes).

[Walddk]

OK, here is my list of topics if you want to teach intermediates:

1. Basic bidding.
2. Basic declarer play.
3. Basic defence.

After years of practice we can move on to

4. Advanced bidding.
5. Advanced declarer play.
6. Advanced defence.

I know, it's boring, but no one gets anything for nothing. It's damn hard work, and one has to go through all that boring stuff in order to learn the game. Then, and only then, will it be real fun.

Roland