Minibridge for beginners

[Nephin Mor]

Minibridge is a Bridge game for beginners. For details see: http://www.greatbridgelinks.com/gblCLASS/Mini.html

 

Minibridge is taught in some schools and the students are shown how to play the game on BBO.

 

Method

Players go into Relaxed Bridge Room and start a new table. After cards are dealt, each player, starting with the Dealer announces HCP in a text to the table. Partnership with greater number of HCP become the declaring side, and player with higher number of HCP in that partnership becomes declarer. If there is a tie, player with more spades becomes Declarer. Other partner of declaring side then texts hand to the table in SHDC order, and Declarer bids using normal buttons; the other players passing, or doubling as case mey be. Cards are played as normal from then on, and BBO does the rest.

 

Would it be possible to open a Minibridge Club on BBO so that players could log in to play Minibridge with players from other countries without the need to have their own friends online at the same time? Maybe Minibridge tournaments could be hosted on BBO if it took off.

[Tola18]

There was a mini-bridge club a couple of years ago. I never saw anybody there...

 

Said this, I do second this proposal to have a club for minibridge: a great way to introduce bridge. Both for young juniors but also for all other beginners. So they can start to play a sort of real bridge cardplay already on class one.

 

 

Although; I have an objection to your description of the "bidding". If a tie, you say: most spades. Better must be the one player who said the number of points first.

Precisely like in real bridge.

[bill1157]

I have played minibridge on bridgebase a couple of times and for some reason people would lie about their points.

 

this leads me to think that maybe anouncing points is a poor idea. Why not just let the dealer declare?

 

You could spice the game up by making dealer play in a minimum of 1nt,2M,or 3m and let undertricks beyond 2 score at 100 pts each.

 

I am playing it like this with my wife and 8 year old daughter (advantage, it allows us to play 3 handed) and it it is actually quite a good game (of course you have the game bonus and could even add in a slam bonus)

 

Bill

[Nephin Mor]

Thank you Bill and Tola for sharing your views. Just a few points:

1. I think that if Minibridge is to get off the ground on BBO it will have to be achieved without involving any extra workload for the BBO backroom team, (apart from assigning a room) so modifications may not be entertained by them.

2. The Declarer in Minibridge is chosen so that the stronger of the two hands is not exposed as Dummy...just like the regular game.

3. I have tried Minibridge on BBO with 15/16 year olds in a school, using the format described and it works, but players don't meet new people.

4. Giddy players will sometimes report point count incorrectly but opps will figure out a way of dealing with these bluffers....just as in the real game

[uday]

As Tola says: no one who logs into BBO seems interested in Minibridge tables. i don't think it would make sense to add those.

 

We have some thoughts on this front but we want to get some other stuff out of the way first.

 

U

[chicken]

As Tola says: no one who logs into BBO seems interested in Minibridge tables. i don't think it would make sense to add those.

 

We have some thoughts on this front but we want to get some other stuff out of the way first.

 

U

i am! the first lesson with my pupils on bbo is always how to play minibridge here.

[ggwhiz]

I've never been a big fan of mini-bridge in the classroom as it takes forever to stop the kids from laying down the dummy before the opening lead and too many pick hearts as trumps with AKQx opposite a stiff instead of 5 small opposite 4 small.

 

This year we are having the kids announce their points then the future dummy announces 4 numbers, length of spades, hearts, diamonds then clubs. The dummy never comes down before the opening lead.

 

So far they ALWAYS pick the right trump suit and are very quickly talking like real players saying "I had a 5-4-3-1 12 count" and hopefully that leads to the ability to read Bridge columns and books, remember hands and to conduct post mortems.

 

Also, so far they master the book of 6 and the idea of "scoring tricks" above the book takes them straight into the bidding within 2 lessons and often only one.

 

The window for them playing mini-bridge is so short, it's not worth a big effort.

[Tola18]

This year we are having the kids announce their points then the future dummy announces 4 numbers, length of spades, hearts, diamonds then clubs. The dummy never comes down before the opening lead.

 

So far they ALWAYS pick the right trump suit and are very quickly talking like real players saying "I had a 5-4-3-1 12 count" and hopefully that leads to the ability to read Bridge columns and books, remember hands and to conduct post mortems.

 

Also, so far they master the book of 6 and the idea of "scoring tricks" above the book takes them straight into the bidding within 2 lessons and often only one.

 

The window for them playing mini-bridge is so short, it's not worth a big effort.

I suspect you had come her with a substanital reinforcement, GGwhiz.

Not least these them being used to think distribution. Great contribution!!!

 

 

Although I dont really agree with the mini-bridge window being so short.

 

I think we shall work on widening it.

 

Every bridgeplayer can always join a mini-bridge party. And thus, remake a proselyte to be from almost any person decently used to play cards.

 

 

A couple of propagating ideas:

 

Spread the idea to youth sport clubs. They are travelling by bus hours long to matches.

What are they usually doing during the long boring hours of bus travel? In Sweden they usually play a basic card play called Gurka (I dont even know what is it, I know only it is quite mechanical). Let them instead play something real but yet not too complicated, like mini-bridge... :)

Say, send a leaflet-package to every youth club, so every team leader do have an own leaflet. Link adresse to a simple site with som more explanations how to play and some useful variations.

On this site, more links to basic card-plaing techniques and also further bridge schooling.

 

Arrange tournaments of mini-bridge in school classes, say "The best fifth class" (11- years. Or perhaps even 10 years? Or both). Prizes by the local club in cooperation with the countrys Bridge federation.

 

It may be enough to start it in one school. Or one county for the classes or even only groups who do want to participate.

 

Good if classes can be instructed by local bridgeplayers. Otherwise similiar leaflets as described in the sport clubs....

 

 

Same or similiar leaflets can probably be used also for adults....

[Tola18]

we are having the kids announce their points then the future dummy announces 4 numbers, length of spades, hearts, diamonds then clubs. The dummy never comes down before the opening lead.

 

So far they ALWAYS pick the right trump suit and are very quickly talking like real players saying "I had a 5-4-3-1 12 count"

Im proceeding on thinking. Talking about suits we usually do begin from spades.

 

But I wonder if it would be better here to take them from down up the ladder. Ie clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades.

 

So when we in the next modul begin to talk about bidding, the rising sequence of colors is already wellknown.

[ggwhiz]

We are trying the spades-hearts-diamonds-clubs order to eventually get them "talking" a bridge hand and have laminated bidding ladders for them to use when they start into the bidding.

 

All along the lines of not having to un-learn the order of suits when "talking" bridge. Same as not having to un-learn laying down the dummy until AFTER the opening lead.

 

Your thoughts are very valid as to learning the ranking of the suits towards bidding.