Lesson 8
  Check the Learning Advice of the Day Training Test
Lesson of the Day
  Illustration Deal Definitions of the Day Hand-out

THE SCORING IN SUITS

Explain that the methods of asking for a contract (advice 8.1) which we are using are simplified and don't correspond to the real bidding system which we shall learn later.

Bridge makes a distinction between the four suits and separates them into two:
1. Spades and Hearts are called Major suits; they give more points when used as Trumps.
2. Diamonds and Clubs are called Minor suits; they give less points (advice 8.2).

Given that you receive 30 points per trick in Major suits and 20 in Minor, get them to work out how many they must bid to gain a game bonus (you will obviously remind them how many points are needed for game).

Your bright pupils will not take long to find that you need four for the Major suits and five for the Minor. Get them to consult the Decision Table and announce aloud the H and DH points required for the three types of game; it should then be easy to get them to deduce which type of Bridge contracts are most often played.

Introduce the notion of vulnerability (advice 32).

Speak also about slam bonuses (advice 33) to which we made a brief allusion at the beginning of this lesson; write on the board for them:

slam not vulnerable vulnerable
small 500 750
grand 1,000 1,500

Train them to calculate scores:

4 vulnerable 3NT + 3 not vulnerable
5 not vulnerable 6 vulnerable
2 + 2 vulnerable (!) 7 vulnerable
3NT + 2 vulnerable 2NT + 3 vulnerable (!)

Comment on the "special" score table which you give to each pupil getting them to notice that if you remain below a game contact the score is the same for 1 + 2 or 2 + 1 or 3 = (advice 34)

Draw their attention to the "five magic numbers":
25 (= 3NT), 27 (= 4 in Major), 30 (= 5 in minor), 33 (= small slam), 37 (= grand slam). Invite them to learn them by heart by getting the whole class to repeat them (advice 35).

Failure:
 Remind them that failure not vulnerable costs 50 points per trick and tell them that failure vulnerable costs 100 points per trick. Show them then that success in a high vulnerable contract (game or slam) is worth more but failure also costs more….