Cruising
My next bridge cruise has been arranged. It will be on the Cunard Line's Queen Victoria. Here is the itinerary:
October 19: Board the ship in Barcelona, Spain
October 20: Depart Barcelona at 1:00 pm
October 21: Arrive in Monte Carlo at 8:00 am and depart at 6:00 pm
October 22: Arrive in Livorno (Florence/Pisa) at 7:30 am and depart at 6:00 pm
October 23: Arrive in Naples (Pompeii) at 8:00 am and depart at 6:30 pm
October 24: Arrive in La Goulette, Tunisia (Tunis), at 9:00 am and depart at 6:00 pm
October 25: Arrive in Valletta, Malta, at 8:00 am and depart at 5:00 pm
October 26: At sea
October 27: Arrive in Piraeus, Greece (Athens), at 8:00 am and depart at 6:00 pm
October 28: Arrive in Katakolon, Greece (Olympus), at 8:00 am and depart at 5:00 pm
October 29: Arrive in Dubrovnik, Croatia, at 8:00 am and depart at 5:00 pm
October 30: Arrive in Venice at 12:00 midday
October 31: Disembark in Venice at 5:00 am
Full details are available from Alice Travel at www.alicetravel.com
Teaching Conflict
Apologies that my site is so behind schedule on columns. I have been very busy with writing and teaching. I hope to be up to date in the not too distant future because I have been told by a friend how easily to produce pdf files. We will lose the color, but instead of taking 30 minutes to code and upload one week of columns, I can do it all in about five minutes. And thank you to all who have sent me e-mails.
Theme Weeks
Some weeks, my columns are on a particular theme. In case you would like to find them, here are the themes covered in the columns available at the moment:
01.21.08-01.26.08: some trump-suit declarer-play techniques
02.18.08-02.23.08: find the opening lead by listening to the auction
03.03.08-03.08.08: the Rule of Seven and its exceptions
03.31.08-04.05.08: guidelines for finding the best opening lead
04.07.08-04.12.08: declarer reads the opening lead
04.14.08-04.19.08: third hand reads the opening lead
04.21.08-04.30.08: dummy's job and declarer's card from dummy at trick one
05.05.08-05.10.08: bidding with weak responding hands
05.12.08-05.17.08: bidding with game-invitational responding hands
05.19.08-05.24.08: bidding with game-forcing responding hands
05.26.08-05.31.08: how the auction affects a hand's strength
06.16.08-06.21.08: blocked suits
07.07.08-07.12.08: defensive techniques
08.04.08-08.09.08: more defensive techniques
08.18.08-08.23.08: generating extra tricks as declarer
09.15.08-10.03.08: takeout doubles
10.06.08-10.11.08: other doubles: negative, responsive, support and snapdragon
10.13.08-10.18.08: penalty doubles
10.20.08-10.25.08: help-suit game-tries and slam-tries
02.04.09-02.07.09: splinter bids
03.23.09-03.28.09: reverses
05.04.09-05.09.09: redoubles
05.11.09-05.16.09: defensive tips
Alder Transfer Preempts
To find out about the transfer preempts that I devised back in 1972, click on this link:
Alder Transfer Preempts. These opening bids have two big advantages: they right-side contracts and they are hard to play against.
Responses to a One-Notrump Opening
To see my comments about responding to one notrump with various basic methods (no transfers, transfers only into the majors, and four-suit transfers), please click on this link:
Transfers.
Balanced Hands — What Ranges and Why?
To read my discussion of balanced-hand ranges, please click here:
Balanced-Hand Ranges.
The Losing Trick Count
For further details about the Losing Trick Count (mentioned in the columns for September 19 and 20, 2003), please click on the link here:
The Losing Trick Count.
To contact me by e-mail, please click on the Contact box to the left.
I am particularly happy to receive deals suitable for the column. If you submit one, please give (if possible) the dealer, the vulnerability, the auction, the play, and the names of the key players. Also, indicate if you would prefer your name not to be given in the column.
I prefer deals with an instructive point, especially in the play, not wild layouts that come down to guesswork.
Good luck with bridge and life!
