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The Honour Points:
Define the honours and explain
that the numerical value which they are given helps us to know if we have
a chance of winning tricks and, consequently, to propose the "bet" of
making more than the opposition.(Reminder: these values are on the wall)
Get them to find the total
value of the honours points; explain that the 10 is considered as an honour
card because it is a good card but not sufficiently to have a numerical
value.
A quick trick question:
"When the game is finished is it the side with the highest number
of honours which will have won ?"
Quick training in counting
the points: Go to the
Hands for Counting page and either print the hands out to display
them, or use them to copy on to the board one by one. Let them count in
their own time and point out that it is better to count slowly and accurately
than fast and wrongly (not least because the fifth hand has only twelve
cards!).
Give them a method for counting:
count the points suit by suit from left to right in your hand (for example).
Opening
in No Trumps
Present the process of opening
in no trumps in Minibridge in chronological order as follows:
| a) |
all the players arrange
their hands by alternate coloured suits and mentally count their Honours
points |
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| b) |
the person who dealt speaks
first and: |
- if he has at least 12
Honours points he says: "I bid" |
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- if he has less than
12 he says: "I pass" |
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in this latter case
the player to his left speaks
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| c) |
his partner then indicates
his number of Honours points: "I have … points" |
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| d) |
the bidder adds his points
to those of his partner, refers to the Decision
Table (on the wall, of course!) and says: "I bid a contract
of … tricks" if the pair have at least 20 points; if that is not the
case he says: "I pass" and the opponent on the right announces his
points to his partner who bids the contract corresponding to the number
of points he and his partner have. |
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| Check that everybody
has understood; get them to notice the new word in the dialogue -
contract: explain that from now on it will replace the word "bet",
that it is a commitment, a sort of promise from the declarer which
will be worth points if he wins and on the contrary will give points
to his opponents if he fails (to do this take numerical examples of
tricks to make/tricks to concede) (advice
2.2) |
Bridge School
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