Robert Todd’s

ADVENTURES IN BRIDGE

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Latest This Week in Bridge (TWIB) Lesson ♣

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(583) Problems with Kickback Keycard

Kickback is a convention that can make slam bidding easier, in that it gives us more space to ask partner for the Queen of trump, but it can also cause problems for us in the bidding. Any time we make a game contract (like 4♥ or 4♠) a conventional bid, there is danger that we have an expensive mixup with partner. Here we look at some classic danger auctions that may come up if we choose to play Kickback and then discuss some of the common partnership agreements or philosophies for how to handle these dangerous auctions.

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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 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

Steamboat Springs, CO Seminar

Steamboat Springs, CO Seminars
Steamboat Springs, CO Bridge Club
July 14 , 2025
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Vail Christian School
July 15-17, 2025
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Colorado Springs, CO Seminars
Colorado Springs Bridge Center
July 18, 2025
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Aug 7, 2025
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Highlands Falls Country Club
August 11-12, 2025
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Denver, CO Seminars
Denver Metro Bridge Club
Aug 22-24, 2025
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Bermuda Seminars
Bermuda Bridge Club
September 12-16, 2025
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N CA Teaching Week

N CA Teaching Week
September 22-25, 2025
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Sharon Heights Teaching Series - September

Sharon Heights Country Club
September 23-24, 2025
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Madison, WI Seminar

Madison Bridge Club
Madison, WI
October 7, 2025
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Woman's Athletic Club of Chicago Seminars

Woman's Athletic Club of Chicago Seminars
WAC Seminars
October 9, 2025
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St. Louis Seminars

Saint Louis Bridge Center
Oct 10-11, 2025
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Palo Alto Seminar

Palo Alto Bridge Center
October 18, 2025
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N CA Teaching Week

N CA Teaching Week
October 18-22, 2025
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Sharon Heights Teaching Series - October

Sharon Heights Country Club
October 21-22, 2025
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Miami Seminars

Riviera, Miami, FL
October 29-3 2025
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N CA Teaching Week

N CA Teaching Week
November 9-11, 2025
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Sharon Heights Teaching Series- November

Sharon Heights Country Club
November 11, 2025
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N CA Teaching week
December 8-10, 2025
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N CA Teaching week

N CA Teaching week
January 4-6, 2026
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Sharon Heights Teaching Series - January

Sharon Heights Country Club
January 4 & 6, 2026
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Ocean Reef Seminars

Ocean Reef Seminars
Key Largo, FL
January 8-9, 2026
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Jupiter Island Club Seminars

Jupiter Island Club Seminars
Jupiter Island Club, FL
January 11-14, 2026
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Mt Lake, FL Seminars

Mt Lake Seminars
Mt Lake, FL
Jan 15-17, 2026
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Belleair Country Club Workshop

Belleair Country Club
Belleair, FL
January 18, 2026
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Cabo, MX Bridge Seminars

Cabo, MX Bridge Seminars
Cabo Mexico - Querencia Golf Club
February 7-13, 2026
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Sharon Heights Teaching Series - February

Sharon Heights Country Club
February 15 & 17, 2026
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Registration & flyer coming soon

Naples Bridge Club Seminars

Naples Bridge Club Seminars
Naples, FL
February 23 , 2026
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**Latest This Week in Bridge (TWIB) Practice Hands ♦**

Featured

Advanced Same Bidding 6 - 581

Keycard Blackwood Details – More Specific Kings

In an Ace-asking auction, when we make the follow-up bid to ask partner about their Kings, we usually do so to investigate a grand slam (though some partnerships do this in order to determine if 6NT is good contract). Most partnerships start with the agreement that they answer this question by showing their number of Kings. But sometimes, a Grand Slam is not about partner having 2 or 3 Kings, but about them having the right single King. This “right King” is often the one opposite our long suit – allowing us to produce a large number of tricks. To get this information, many partnerships evolved their Kingshowing methods from “number of Kings” to “Specific Kings.” Here we look at how we can use Specific Kings in a variety of our Ace-asking auctions.

Recent This Week in Bridge (TWIB) Videos ♥

Featured

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