Teaching Beginners

[ajm218]

Hi all

 

I have met a lot of people recently who claim they would like to learn to play but have never had the chance, or the time etc.

 

I have tried to sit down and teach them on an ad hoc basis but find they don't really take it in, probably because it’s too over-whelming to do in one big chunk and/or my explaining probably isn't ideal; where do you start?

 

I remember my learning curve consisting of some books for beginners; followed by a year of playing on sites like Yahoo and BBO until I became at least aware of concepts enough to be able to ask better players about things.

 

Can anyone recommend any beginners books or resources I can recommend? I think what would be ideal would be a book/resource defining the game followed by a couple of hundred hands of mini-bridge split into sections with good commentary and explanations? Anyone know of any good ones or able to advise me?

[mr1303]

Hi Andy

 

The English Bridge Union has a number of books based on their beginners courses that they run, known as the really easy series. I have a couple of them sitting at home, and they can be bought from the EBU shop.

 

You get a discount if you join the EBU teacher's association. I joined last year, and it is well recommended, especially if you do one of their teaching workshops that they run from time to time.

 

E-mail John Pain (john@ebu.co.uk) for more information.

[Gerben42]

AJM in what country are you? This will be relevant for the question at hand.

[pigpenz]

interesting, I have been mentoring in the BIL....it is a task that is hard to describe as far as where to begin and where to go....makes you sort of realize that we were all green at one time :D

[Gerben42]

Another factor is age of your potential beginners. With older beginners you should probably start with Minibridge and then go on to real bridge. However if you have college students they will be bored if you stick to Minibridge too long.

 

My group of college students went from "what is bridge?" to "play in the club in the normal game" in ten 2-hour lessons.

 

About content: Don't overload them with system. This means that all these standard system stuff is too complicated. Here are some things:

 

Don't teach them Transfers, Benjamin or other conventions they do not need.

Stick to the basics. It is much more important that they get the easy hands right.

[Sigi_BC84]

Another factor is age of your potential beginners. With older beginners you should probably start with Minibridge and then go on to real bridge. However if you have college students they will be bored if you stick to Minibridge too long.

 

My group of college students went from "what is bridge?" to "play in the club in the normal game" in ten 2-hour lessons.

 

About content: Don't overload them with system. This means that all these standard system stuff is too complicated. Here are some things:

 

Don't teach them Transfers, Benjamin or other conventions they do not need.

Stick to the basics. It is much more important that they get the easy hands right.

What system did you teach to these beginners? I assume it's not any standard system so maybe you can give the opening structure and which conventions you've taught. I'm also interested in the general teaching approach you've taken.

 

We will get a few junior beginners soon and we are planning to give them a crash course to get them into the normal tourney as quickly as possible (keeping the Minibridge short and cutting the Forum-D crap).

 

Any experience and advice highly appreciated.

 

--Sigi

[MickyB]

AJM in what country are you? This will be relevant for the question at hand.

Murph is one of the English juniors.

[Gerben42]

Hi Sigi, I will send you my notes.

 

Basically 5-card majors strong NT, 1♣ can be two cards. 2♦♥♠ weak two bids.

 

Two conventional auctions only:

1. Stayman

2. 2♣ opener + first response

 

Few rules, no exceptions, keep it simple, thanks.

 

Perhaps even better would be something like the Big NT system but this has the disadvantage that it's too different from what the world plays.

[luke warm]

i honestly think fred's 'learn to play bridge' part 1 is an excellent resource... after that, part 2... can be found at acbl.org

[Gerben42]

Yes it's a great program, especially for getting to know the card play and counting HCP and things like that.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

I dont think you can teach to play bridge

in one large session.

You need a couple of meetings, which should

occur on a regular basis.

The reason: If you have to learn something totally

new, you will be exhausted after 45 min.

 

Remember: The system is only one part, the

mechanics of the game, the scoring are also parts

of the game.

 

The way I learned to play:

The teacher gave a short introduction

 

- mechanics

- point count

- hand types (bal., semi. bal., un bal.)

- Requirement for opening 1NT

 

After that, we started to play a set of predealt hands,

not surprinsingly, the contract was always 1NT.

 

It was scored normaly with the help of boxes,

that was it for the day.

 

The next lecture: repetition, responses to NT, explaing

the simple play technique of a finesse

 

Followed by another set of predealt hands.

...

 

If you are looking for a course book for teachers:

Ron Klinger: Basic Acol Bridge (... more or less the titel

... ), there should be a version for 5 card mayors with

strong NT available.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[inquiry]

If you are ready to teach your students (you need 8 at a minimum and in multiples of 4) where you have them play a preset number or prepared hands, send me a message. Homebase club has a tool for quickly and effectively harvesting hands played on the BBO, mixing with the hands commentary (the lessons the teacher wants to say about the hands) and generating individualized output for the students via email or web posting.

 

The output shows the students bidding/play as well as the teachers comments. And we can automatically post the same on the web and/or email a copy to each player (aka student). A side benefit, each student sees the hand with himself sitting what looks like the south seat in the hand diagram (no matter what actual compass position he was sitting at). Routinely the results can be posted and emailed between 2 and 4 minutes after the event (speed dependent upon how distracted the operator who runs our tool for doing this happens to be).

 

This is a great help for student and teacher using prepared hands on bidding or play problems. After playing some number of hands, say 4 or 8 or 100 (up to you), everyone gets their own copy of the comments and their bidding play (they don't have to try to remember what happened an hour ago, they can see the hands in nice graphical style). Now if a teacher wants to open a chat room and have an open disucssion with the teacher, it can be about students questions as the basics of each hand with the teachers comments is already in their "hands."

 

To see an example of how this will look to the students, take a look at: http://www.homebaseclub.com/users/snl11.htm . The number of hands and the size of the commentary are basically unlimited. Note this was a swiss event and while the player sat West sometimes and south sometimes, in every diagram he is shown at the bottom and their bidding is the last one in the bidding table (on far right)... this is especially nice for students as this format seems less confusing.

 

This can be useful for beginners up to classes for advanced players as well. I have prepared some sets of very challenging hands with matching commentary for instance. And have some squeeze specific ones as well. But the topics are only limited by the teachers desires.

 

For true beginners this maynot be a reasonable solution, but for players who are at the playing stage it can work. We will make this available to BIL volunteers/instructors through BILMANAGER. Those interested outside BIL can contact me separately.

[inquiry]

In response to a question, yes we do this for FREE for BIL instructors/teachers/mentors who do not charge their students. Again, hopefully this will run by/through maureen (BILMANAGER). We will give any other teacher a free trial to see how they and their students like it. After that, the usual concept will be to run a homebaseclub paid tournament restricted to people choosen by the instructor (or unrestricted or restricted by some other criteria... instructors choice). Obviously if instructor is teaching SAYC, event limited to SAYC, etc.

[EarlPurple]

The simplest system I could come up with (though it might not be simple enough) for a bright beginner is:

 

1♥ and 1♠ are 5-card majors

 

1NT is 16-18

 

1♣ promises a 4-card major and 1♦ response enquires, whereas a 1NT response is weak, 1♥ and 1♠ show 5-card suits, 2♣ is a semi-positive with no 4-card major and 2♦ forcing to game.

 

1♦ denies a 4-card major. Again 1♥ and 1♠ responses show a 5-card suit, 1NT is a weak response, 2♣ semi-positive and 2♦ forcing to game. So the responses to 1♣ and 1♦ are effectively the same.

 

2 bids are more advanced. If I'm going to play the system myself I would like a multi:

 

2♣ 18-21 (but not 18 balanced which you open 1NT) OR a weak 2 in diamonds.

 

2♦ game force or weak 2 in either major or 22-23 balanced.

 

2♥ and 2♠ are pre-emptive with 5 card suit and 5 card lower suit.

 

2NT a matter of taste - could be one of the balanced hands or could be pre-emptive.

 

Of course you probably think the 2-bids are far too complex for beginners, but actually in the UK multi-bids have been very popular for a long time and a lot of the time it's relative beginners who wanted to play them because they didn't want to drop their strong 2s.

 

Of course I will also teach them competitive bidding by the law of total tricks and get them to learn that bridge is a competitive game and the opponents are there to make things hard for you.

[CarlRitner]

That sounds something like MidMac by Jon Drabble.

 

Cheers,

Carl

[cherdano]

The simplest system I could come up with (though it might not be simple enough) for a bright beginner is:

Wow this system is too complicated for me. I hope you have very bright beginners.

[kenberg]

Are they interested in playing Matchpoint Duplicate at a club, or rubber bridge with friends at home? It makes a difference. Goren drew many poeple into bridge starting with rubber bridge. Rubber bridge does not mean trivial bridge.

 

If they don't know which they want, I would suggest they start by playing rubber bridge. Partscores, four card majors, bids mean mostly what you think they mean. You bid spades if you have a few, and partner raises when he has some. He jump raises with a better hand. Either 1S-3S is forcing (preferable and Goren), or you allow 1S-4S on a good hand. Definitely no Jacoby 2NT. If partner doesn't have spades, he bids what he has at the two level if he has decent values, 1NT with modest values, and passes if he doesn't have anything. You try to get to a sensible contract and then you try to make it. A great advantage of partscores is you can bid two making four and be perfectly happy.

 

As far as age is concerned, at 67 I am probably a little old to for lessons in skateboarding, or maybe not, but I don't see why I would need a watered down version of a card game. They don't need Roman Key Card Blackwood but unless they are addled they need the full game.

 

And yes, like Luke, I think Fred's stuff is very good.

 

K

[keylime]

I'll be honest, I think they should learn EHAA first. Yes, I just said EHAA.

 

Why? Simply put - it doesn't have many conventions, it's mostly natural, and you bid your 4 card suits. After they get the hang of this, THEN intro them to the basics.

[awm]

I second Keylime's suggestion of EHAA. Some reasons:

 

(1) You don't need to spend a lot of time on bidding over 1NT or 2♣. These are probably the most complicated parts of "standard" bidding, and also the least useful. Much better to focus on understanding which bids are forcing and which are not, and how to show/limit shape and values. In my opinion people are too quick to move beginners (or near-beginners) on to learning "conventions" and spend too little time explaining the reasoning behind bidding. Getting rid of the 1NT and 2♣ methods (temporarily anyway) helps here.

 

(2) You get to bid suits that you have. Opening a bad three-card minor is counterintuitive to most people, at least at first.

 

(3) EHAA is quite possibly both more fun and more effective than standard bidding. Certainly it is more effective than most other systems at a comparable complexity level.

 

The main downside to this is that it's "not standard." But if you have a group of bright beginners who are going to play mostly amongst themselves (at least at first) rather than trying to pick up random partners at the club, this seems like a good approach to me. Also note that EHAA is closer to ACOL (British standard) than to SAYC (USA) or SEF (France).

[Sigi_BC84]

I'll be honest, I think they should learn EHAA first. Yes, I just said EHAA.

 

Why? Simply put - it doesn't have many conventions, it's mostly natural, and you bid your 4 card suits. After they get the hang of this, THEN intro them to the basics.

I also think EHAA is very good for beginners because it's really simple. However, as Gerben said when he mentioned the Forcing Notrump system, it is too far from Standard. It's probably best to teach a watered down version of Standard because chances are they wanna practice on the Internet and then they need to know Standard.

 

Starting with EHAA and then changing to Standard? Possible, but I don't want having them to unlearn something after five or so sessions -- better to start with 5 card majors straight away.

 

--Sigi

[david_c]

"Standard" also helps in that your beginners will understand what their opponents are doing. I think this is important too.

[sdoty]

If they aren't going to be playing on their own (unsupervised) for a while, I recommend spending relatively little time on bidding initially.

 

If you're going to go with a 5 card major system, working exclusively on the simple major suit/notrump auctions will give them a good base to work off of. If they open a major, make sure responder has support and can raise directly. Those auctions emphasize three important bidding concepts: 1) you want to find a major suit fit, and 2) if you raise partner (or bid notrump), you show a specific point range, and 3) how the hand strengths fit together. If you give them a strong foundation in the opening hand strengths, the responding hand strengths, and how they combine, it will serve them extremely well when they move on to other auctions.

 

These are the ranges I use, including distribution (hcp + length for suit bids, except for hcp + shortness when raising partner's major)

 

Opener

Minimum (13-15)

Medium (16-18)

Maximum (19-21)

 

Responder

Weak (6-10)

Invitational (11-12)

Game Force (13-15)

 

Minimum + Weak = no game

Minimum + Inv, or Medium + Weak = maybe game

etc

 

A common mistake made with beginners is to throw a lot of bidding stuff at them before they have any experience base to work with. Making sense of bidding is a heck of a lot easier once you've actually played some hands. Things that we take completely for granted -- like how big a difference a 4th or 5th trump in the dummy makes -- they have no experience with. So: give them as much playing time as possible, and give them hands with simple auctions. 1M : 2M : pass, 1M : 2M : 4M, 1M : 3M, etc (or the corresponding auctions with direct notrump raises). There are important concepts there for them to become familiar with. If they take to it quickly, great -- they can play more hands. A next reasonable step is to add on the 1m : 1M : 2M/3M/4M family of auctions.

 

This approach has always worked well for me. No, it's not the quickest approach to bidding, but the big upside is that they start to actually understand and internalize what's going on. I'd rather add bricks slowly, but have them be really solid bricks, than build a matchstick mansion.

 

Of course you should always tailor the pace to the audience, and different groups can move through material faster than others. Their interests are also relevant -- if they're chomping at the bit for more bidding stuff, you can try to find a way to accomodate that while still making sure they get their basics in place. I don't advocate withholding knowledge -- a page handout on the various openings bids, and a page handout on 'responding to 1m' and 'responding to 1M' are certainly appropriate. They'll know that there are other kinds of hands they could hold. :) You can acknowledge that, and give them materials to use as reference outside of class, while at the same time limiting the lesson hands to core auctions so that their learning is focused and directed.

 

Last but not least, I strongly encourage you to keep in mind that even if things make sense to them when explained, they still need time to process and APPLY that information. Comprehension of a handout is one thing; being able to use it at the table is another. Give them the chance to practice what they've learned, and make sure that they're reasonably comforable with it, before adding on something new.

 

Bididng can seem extremely artificial to new players, and rightly so: a) they don't have much experience actually playing bridge hands, and :) they don't get "the bigger picture" yet. As more experienced players, we understand bids as part of a complete and cohesive structure. Just remember that they don't have that luxury. Things look very different from the perspective of a beginner, and the connections between the different pieces of the puzzle aren't always obvious from where they stand.

 

Just my two cents -- good luck with the group!!

 

Susan

[Guest Jlall]

For more info, www.bridgeclasses.com :)

[EarlPurple]

I didn't describe my opening bid structure fully though.

 

You don't open with balanced 12-point hands. So the opening range is a very sound 13-15 or has some shape.

 

1♣ and 1♦ opening is not complex when you think about it. You are basically training them to think majors first, and aim for 3NT in most game-bidding situations where you don't have a major fit. Only with very shapely hands would you normally play in 5 of a minor, although you might often play a part-score hand in 3 of a minor where you can't make 9 tricks in NT (most likely a competitive auction).

 

Actually I think sayc-type minor-suit openings can be more complicated. For one, they don't promise the minor, particularly 1♣. For that, a 4-card major system (as taught in the UK) may sound simpler but it's so hard to find 5-3 fits, and you don't want beginners playing 4-3 fits. (I prefer not playing them myself). If they do find themselves playing in 1NT with minor-suit fits, it's likely the opps have missed 2 of a major anyway. The only real problem is that after 1m pass 1NT 2M it's hard for the opening side to compete to 3 of a minor when they haven't found the fit yet (which they might not have). But that can happen anyway.

 

For a beginner, you can also make the opening responses to 1M the same, although you have to question whether 1♥ pass 1♠ shows 4 or 5 and how you'll find a 5-3 spade fit. (I don't think Flannery is the answer). 1NT can be played as non-forcing, 2♣ as invitational values and 2♦ as an artificial game-force, immediate raises pre-emptive in nature and jump-shifts to be fit-showing.

 

I'd prefer to teach my players that bidding is a language and not all pairs use the same language (bidding system) as other pairs, but it's vital they use the same as each other. After playing some sessions together they would be taught about other systems around, not so much so they can play them but so they will know they are likely to play against them.

[hrothgar]

I echo earlier comments regarding Minibridge...

 

From my perspective, the best thing that you can do is to ignore bidding altogether for a good long chunk of time. Minibridge allows players to learn basic judgement:

 

Playing mini-bridge, declarer gets to look at his hand and dummy and then select the best contract to declare. Until players get "good" at determining what the best contract is, all the bidding conventions in the world aren't going help them. In contrast, once players have learned this skill, you can introduce them to bidding. Personally, I often prefer to just present players with the most basic "rule" - the scoring table - and let them workout everything else for themselves... What types of hands prefer 2M to 3m. When do you want to playing in 3N as opposed to 4M. Here once again... if players can't work these types of details out for themselves, they really aren't going to like the game.

 

In contrast, once players have learned the basics, they're well positioned to pick up bidding. I normally introduce bidding as follows: Ideally players would like to use bidding to provide them with the same "perfect" information to pick the best contract that they enjoy in Minibridge. P,layers have two distinct goals during the bidding game:

 

Identifying their own best best contract

Prevent the opponent from exchanging information

 

Combine this approach with a good drill tool like Bridge Master and you can establish a really good foundation.