Webinar – dummy play mentoring.
Starts April 25, 2024. (Thursday) 7 p.m. CEST
Duration – 2 hours. (10 minute break).
Estimated number of sessions – at least 25 (subsequent Thursdays at the same time)
Registration – from March 25, 2024 on the website: www.martensuniversity.com
The first two webinars will be free. Everyone will be able to find out whether the level and format suits them. Subsequent webinars will cost 20 euros per person. Please note that I have set the price at such a level that it will not be a barrier for anyone. Dummy play mentoring will have 3 phases. The difficulty level will increase over time.
What do I propose?
I have identified the basic (in my opinion) types of dummy play problems. The first phase of mentoring will include:
My grandma – there are problems in which even experienced players try to use complicated tools, not seeing a simple, although sometimes unusual or hidden solution. Over 20 problems will teach you how to discover these simplified dummy play lines.
Be clever – cleverness is characteristic of players who, before learning to play bridge, played other card games. This is a specific talent. Can it be learned? We will try.
Chess – to my surprise, this is the most common challenge. We need to plan our communication precisely, anticipating even the brilliant moves of our opponents who will try to prevent the implementation of our plans.
Imagination – we will learn how to shape the imagination of the defender(s) according to our needs.
Investigation – prominent players – whenever possible – try to conduct an investigation and obtain more information before making a key decision.
Practical aspects of the game – this is the ability to use signals from opponents. It helps to be able to judge which ones are true.
Safe dummy play – how to protect contract execution against unfavorable schedules and locations. These are often very burdensome analyzes that are useful in only a few cases. This is related to the likelihood of a combination of unfavorable color divisions and unfavorable locations.
Scenarios – these are the type of problems that generate the most errors.
Why? Because different ways of development are possible – depending on what happens in the first few tricks.
Before playing the first trick, players try to find a solution common to all possible scenarios. The mind cannot cope and gets blocked. How to control this?
The recipe is an investigation – plays that clarify basic doubts.
The simplest example – if we can afford to play a trump once, there is no reason to analyze the variant in which the trump cards are divided 4-0. If it turns out that they are 4-0, there will be an analysis that will take this fact into account.
Motifs – it is difficult to classify them into a specific type. Knowing as many gameplay themes as possible means that we do not waste time on technical analysis at the table and can direct our minds to other tasks.
For example: to analyze the first lead.
Pairs tournament – I will present the difference in dummy play strategy between playing pairs tournament or at IMP.
Time for the difficult part.
Endplay – I admit that I prefer the English word endplay, which in my opinion better illustrates the described dummy play technique.
A portion of 20 problems should develop the ability to recognize these types of problems.
Modeling – you may not have heard this term before.
In bridge literature it is called squeeze (endplay). In fact, the technique involves modeling the hand of one of the opponents according to our needs, which will enable endplay.
The pinnacle of this method’s achievement is shaping BOTH opponents’ hands so that one or the other defender (regardless of who holds the trick) is in the lead.
Squeeze – I have been collecting examples of interesting squeezes over the last few years. Actual hands will be useful in building the necessary micro-habit.
The power of a long suit – by playing a long suit, we force our opponents to make many discards, which often explain a lot. The ability to “read” this information is key to effective problem solving.
Duck – Definition. It looks like a duck, moves like a duck, swims like a duck, clucks like a duck – so it must be a duck. Unusual, strange, unexpected actions of the defenders reveal what they have in their cards and what their intentions are. Few players can recognize when a duck appears. Provoking a duck is a bridge art of the highest order. I haven’t seen a skillful ducking in defense yet – although some of Zia’s plays came close to it.