Robert Todd’s

ADVENTURES IN BRIDGE

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Latest This Week in Bridge (TWIB) Lesson ♣

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(577) Jump Shift Structure

When Opener makes a jump shift into a new suit with their second bid, it is a strong bid that creates a game forcing auction. This is a good bid because it ensures we reach game, but it is a bad bid because it eats up a lot of bidding space without fully describing our distribution. This is a problem. One of the most difficult opening hands to describe to partner is the unbalanced single-suited (one 6+card suit) hand with 18-19 HCP. This is one of the strongest hands that does not open the bidding 2♣. With this hand we usually open our suit at the 1-level and after partner responds at the 1-level, we lie in a minor suit. If our one suit is a Major, then we show our strength by making a jump shift into 3♣, even when we have very few ♣ (as few as 2 cards.) With this bid we create a game forcing auction (showing our values), but we distort our shape (partner expects that we have at least 4 cards in the ♣ suit). This can cause some confusion with partner if they have a large fit for our ♣ suit. We would like to have a way to let partner know that this jump shift is done on a single-suited hand, not on a two-suited hand. Let’s look at a system that helps us improve our jump shift methods.

Latest Webinars ♠

Fundamentals - Opening and Responding Basics

9/2024 (62 min)

Here we review some fundamentals of opening bids and look more deeply into your thought process before we open the bidding. Then we pivot to the responder’s actions and make sure that we are prepared to construct a good auction with some problem situations.

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Fundamentals - High Level Response to 1-Major Openings

March 2025 - Coming Soon!

When partner opens the bidding with 1-Major then we normally go slow and make a low level response. But we can also use some immediate jumps to high bids to describe some interesting and difficult hands. Let’s look at the meaning of this high-level jump responses.

Webinar Notes

Fundamentals - Other Responses 1-Level Openings

March 2025 - Coming Soon!

Here we look at some other complex auctions and special responses to 1-level opening bids. We focus on some jump shift responses to 1-Major and 1-minor and then turn out focus to NT responses to minor suit openings.

Webinar Notes

Fundamentals - Hand Eval after Responder's Jump Shift

March 2025 - Coming Soon!

When Responder makes a jump shift, either a weak jump shift or a 3/1 invitational jump shift, then Opener is left to figure out what to do next. Here we look at what types of hands Opener should bid with (like) and when they should be conservative and Pass.

Webinar Notes

Fundamentals - Some Confusing Auctions

March 2025 - Coming Soon!

There are some classic auctions that lead to confusion between partnerships. Ones that you should make sure you and partner agree upon.

Webinar Notes

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Robert's Upcoming Seminars

Beach Club Seminars - Palm Beach

Beach Club Seminars - Palm Beach
May 15-16, 2025
Palm Beach, FL — Members, Guest, Affiliates
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CA Teaching Week

CA Teaching Week
May 26th Week, 2025
Details - TBD

Indianapolis, IN Seminars

Indianapolis Bridge Center
Indianapolis, IN
June 6, 2025
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Coral Bay, NC Seminars

Coral Bay, NC Seminars
Coral Bay, NC Cub
June 11-13, 2025
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Steamboat Springs, CO Seminar

Steamboat Springs, CO Seminars
Steamboat Springs, CO Bridge Club
July 14 , 2025
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Vail, CO Summer Seminars

Vail, CO Summer Seminars
Vail Christian School
July 15-17, 2025
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Colorado Springs, CO Seminars

Colorado Springs, CO Seminars
July 18, 2025
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Charlotte, NC Seminars

Charlotte, NC Seminars
Charlotte Bridge Association
Aug 7, 2025
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Asheville, NC Seminars

Asheville, NC Seminars
Crowne Plaza Resort
Aug 8-9, 2025
Flyer coming soon

Highlands Falls, NC Seminars

Highlands Falls, NC Seminars
Highlands Falls Country Club
Aug 2025
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Madison, WI Seminar

Madison Bridge Club
Madison, WI
October 7, 2025
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St. Louis Seminars

St Louis Bridge Center
Oct 10-11, 2025
TBD

Miami Seminars

Miami, FL
Late October 2025
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Woman's Athletic Club of Chicago Seminars

Woman's Athletic Club of Chicago Seminars
WAC Seminars
Oct 2025
Details - TBD

Jupiter Island Club Seminars

Jupiter Island Club Seminars
Jupiter Island Club, FL
Jan, 2026
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Cabo, MX Bridge Seminars

Cabo, MX Bridge Seminars
Cabo Mexico - Querencia Golf Club
Feb 9-12, 2026
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**Latest This Week in Bridge (TWIB) Practice Hands ♦**

Featured

Advanced Same Bidding 1 - 576

Kokish Over Strong 2C

Balanced hand bidding is relatively easy. We can usually describe our hand to partner by opening 1NT or rebidding 1NT. This lets partner know both our points and our hand type with either our first bid (when we open 1NT, the best situation) or with our second bid (when we rebid 1NT). However, if we have a big balanced hand then we need to have tools for describing our hand as well. These usually involve the use of 2NT – as a rebid, an opening bid, or even a rebid after having opened the bidding 2♣. But this does not solve all our bidding problems when we have these large balanced hands. Let’s look at these auctions in detail, see some of the issues, and then look at a useful gadget called Kokish to help us bid better.

Recent This Week in Bridge (TWIB) Videos ♥

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Hand Evaluation: Counting Points - Before the Auction Begins

Lesson 1 of 8 (25 min)

Video of Robert further discussing the topics in TWiB Lesson #329.

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TWiB Lesson

Robert’s Bridge News & Articles

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Robert and Michael Berkowitz - BAMSA Conference

Robert and Michael discussion building a Vertically Integrated Youth Bridge Program (bridge for all types of players), and Other Education Foundation (ACBL) Goals at the Real Bridge / BAMSA bridge teachers & coaches conference.

ON THE ROAD WITH ROBERT TODD
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“Bridge is the greatest of all card games. It’s both entertaining and challenging at the same time. Here you can get started learning to play this great game or work to improve your game, no matter your level of bridge experience. ”

— Robert S. Todd