Palo Alto Bridge

Supervised Play Monday Evenings
2019-03-18 18:45 - 20:45, 2019-04-01 18:45 - 20:45, 2019-04-15 18:45 - 20:45, 2019-04-29 18:45 - 20:45 (America/Los_Angeles) | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Kathy Harper
(650) 207-1816
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2 Over 1 An Introduction
2019-03-18 19:00 - 21:00, 2019-04-01 19:00 - 21:00, 2019-04-15 19:00 - 21:00, 2019-04-29 19:00 - 21:00
Kathy Harper
(650) 207-1816
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This class is a basic introduction to the 2 Over 1 bidding system that will improve your game. This popular variation of Standard American allows players to quickly identify game going and slam invitational hands using low level bids.
This Basic-Intermediate Bridge class builds upon student understanding of Standard American bidding. Students should have the equivalent of 2 years experience before taking this class.
Notes will be emailed for all classes. No make-up classes are offered for missed classes.
Our course instructor is ABTA Master Teacher Kathy Harper. Kathy and our wonderful volunteers give students individual attention which helps our students learn in a fun environment.
Please contact Kathy Harper at (650) 207-1816 email for additional information.

Supervised Play Tuesday Mornings
2019-03-19 08:45 - 10:45, 2019-04-02 08:45 - 10:45, 2019-04-16 08:45 - 10:45, 2019-04-30 08:45 - 10:45

Beginning Bridge
2019-03-19 09:00 - 11:00, 2019-04-02 09:00 - 11:00, 2019-04-16 09:00 - 11:00
Kathy Harper
(650) 207-1816
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Learn Bridge the modern way in this course designed by Pat Harrington! Each class includes both instruction and practice play. Start playing the very first day! Children & teens welcome.
For people who have never played bridge and those people who have played for years but want a refresher course or just to learn the basics.
Notes will be emailed for all classes. No make-up classes are offered for missed classes.
Our course instructor is ABTA Master Teacher Kathy Harper. Kathy and our wonderful volunteers give students individual attention which helps our students learn in a fun environment.
Please contact Kathy Harper for more information.

PLAY & LEARN Beginning Bridge
Dates

Introduction to Bridge
Choosing a Contract
February 5, 2019

Opening Bids and Selecting the Best Game
Opening 1NT
March 5

Major Suit Opening Bids
Minor Suit Opening Bids
March 19

Dummy Points
April 2

Responder Bids Notrump
Opener Bids Notrump
April 16

Takeout Doubles
April 30

Preempts
May 14

Strong 2 Clubs
May 28

Deadly Defense
2019-03-21 08:45 - 10:45, 2019-04-04 08:45 - 10:45, 2019-04-18 08:45 - 10:45
Kathy Harper
(650) 207-1816
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Half the time at the bridge table, you will be defending. Don’t let those mean declarers walk all over you! Defend yourself! Learn how to lead, signal, and discard. This course is written by Pat Harrington
This Basic-Intermediate Bridge Class builds upon our Beginning Bridge Classes and prepares our students for our Intermediate Classes.
Notes will be emailed for all classes. No make-up classes are offered for missed classes.
Our course instructor is ABTA Master Teacher Kathy Harper. Kathy and our wonderful volunteers give students individual attention which helps our students learn in a fun environment.
Please contact Kathy Harper at (650) 207-1816 email for additional information.

Deadly Defense
Dates

Leading Against Notrump
February 7, 2019

Leading Against Suit Contracts
February 28

Second Hand Low
March 7

Second Hand Low … Except
March 21

Third Hand High
April 4

Introduction to Attitude Signals
April 18

Using Attitude Signals When Partner Leads
May 2

Opening Leads and Attitude Signals
May 16

Discards and Attitude Signals
May 23

Suit Preference Signals.
June 13

Supervised Play Thursday Morning
2019-03-21 08:45 - 10:45, 2019-04-04 08:45 - 10:45, 2019-04-18 08:45 - 10:45

Intermediate I
2019-03-21 19:15 - 21:30, 2019-03-28 19:15 - 21:30, 2019-04-04 19:15 - 21:30, 2019-04-11 19:15 - 21:30
Frank Smoot
(408) 732-5736
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Strengthen your bidding and sharpen your intermediate to advanced play technique. This course includes discussion of the weekly topic, in-class exercises, lots of practice deals, homework, and occasional examples from deals played at the Wednesday Night game.
This course is for bridge players who have a minimum of one year of experience playing duplicate bridge.
Using materials from many sources (primarily Richard Pavlicek) you will learn concepts, do exercises in class (homework outside of class) and finish the evening by playing hands relating to the topic. Snacks are also provided. You will be amazed at what you will learn, even if you have played for years and years!
The in-class exercises are available in electronic format so students can play the hands at home and receive commentary on their bidding and play (requires Bridge Baron software).
Our course lecturer is the very popular Frank Smoot who has taught bridge to beginners and beyond in Palo Alto for 15+ years. Frank and our wonderful volunteers give students individual attention which helps our students learn in a fun environment.
Please contact Frank Smoot email for more information.

This 12-Week Course Covers

Bidding:

Opener’s Rebid (and when to raise with three-card support)
Opener’s Third Bid (when Responder is weak/invites/forces)
Overcalls (and Advancing Partner’s Overcall)
Takeout Doubles (and Advancing Partner’s Double)
Preemptive Bidding (Vulnerability Matters)
Negative Doubles (and rebidding after Partner makes one)

Declarer Play:

Card Combinations (and when to shun a Finesse)
Odds (when to finesse – when to build a long suit)
Notrump Play Technique (Entries / Ducking)
Suit Play Technique (When to draw/postpone Trump)

Defense:

Notrump Leads and Strategy (Active versus Passive Defense)
Suit Leads and Strategy (Which Suit? Which Card?)

Class Downloads**

Lesson 1
Opener’s Rebid

Lesson 2
Opener’s Third Bid

Lesson 3
Overcall

Lesson 4
Takeout Double

Lesson 5
Preempt

Lesson 6
Negative Double

Lesson 7
Card Combinations

Lesson 8
Play the Odds

Lesson 9
Play at Notrump

Lesson 10
Play at Suits

Lesson 11
Defense at Notrump

Lesson 12
Defense at Suits

**Downloads may change a couple of days prior to class.
Instructions for downloading and playing files with Bridge Baron
Bridge Baron Support
Bridge Baron Website. We usually have copies of Bridge Baron at class which we sell at a discount.
*After registering, please send a check made out to Frank Smoot in the amount of $240 to hold your spot to:
Frank Smoot
528 S Taaffe St
Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Lecture Series
2019-03-26 09:30 - 11:00
Defensive Carding by Bruce Luttrell
Our Unit provides a series of free lectures as part of our education program. These lectures cover areas of interest for new as well as intermediate players. Lectures are held on selected Tuesday mornings at 9:30 AM at our Bridge Center.
This free series is funded by the Peninsula Bridge Education Foundation. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to continue the mission of our foundation.

Lecture Series
2019-04-09 09:30 - 11:00
Finesse by Bruce Blakely.
Our Unit provides a series of free lectures as part of our education program. These lectures cover areas of interest for new as well as intermediate players. Lectures are held on selected Tuesday mornings at 9:30 AM at our Bridge Center.
This free series is funded by the Peninsula Bridge Education Foundation. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to continue the mission of our foundation.

Lecture Series
2019-04-23 09:30 - 11:00
Don’t Hesitate as the Defender by Frank Smoot
Our Unit provides a series of free lectures as part of our education program. These lectures cover areas of interest for new as well as intermediate players. Lectures are held on selected Tuesday mornings at 9:30 AM at our Bridge Center.
This free series is funded by the Peninsula Bridge Education Foundation. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to continue the mission of our foundation.

Intermediate II
2019-04-25 19:15 - 21:30
Frank Smoot
(408) 732-5736
Send Email

This course reviews and expands upon topics from Intermediate Bridge I and adds topics covering what to do when the opponents get into the auction (and they will more often in this course).
This course is for bridge players who have a minimum of one year of experience playing duplicate bridge.
Using materials from many sources (primarily Richard Pavlicek) you will learn concepts, do exercises in class (homework outside of class) and finish the evening by playing hands relating to the topic. Snacks are also provided. You will be amazed at what you will learn, even if you have played for years and years!
The in-class exercises are available in electronic format so students can play the hands at home and receive commentary on their bidding and play (requires Bridge Baron software).
Our course lecturer is the very popular Frank Smoot who has taught bridge to beginners and beyond in Palo Alto for 15+ years. Frank and our wonderful volunteers give students individual attention which helps our students learn in a fun environment.
For more information contact Frank Smoot (408) 732-5736 email.

The 12-Week Course Covers

Bidding:

Weak Two Bid
Strong Two-Club Opening
Bidding Judgment – Uncontested
Bidding Judgment – Contested
Competing and Sacrificing (Partscore and High-level Competition)
Combating Weak Openings (Overcalling and Doubling)

Declarer Play:

Declarer Suit Tactics (Loser-on-loser and Elimination Play)
Combine Your Chances
Endplays (Force a defender to Help You)
Entries

Defense

Third Hand Play (Finesse Against Dummy)
Second Hand Play

Class Downloads**

Lesson 1
Weak Two

Lesson 2
Strong 2 Club

Lesson 3
Bidding Judgment – Uncontested

Lesson 4
Bidding Judgment – Contested

Lesson 5
Compete

Lesson 6
Combating Weak Openings

Lesson 7
Suit Tactics

Lesson 8
Combine Chances

Lesson 9
End Plays

Lesson 10
Entries

Lesson 11
Third Hand

Lesson 12
Second Hand

**Downloads may change a couple of days prior to class.
Instructions for downloading and playing files with Bridge Baron
Bridge Baron Support
Bridge Baron Website. We usually have copies of Bridge Baron at class which we sell at a discount.
*After registering, please send a check made out to Frank Smoot in the amount of $240 to hold your spot to:
Frank Smoot
528 S Taaffe St
Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Robert Todd Seminar
2019-04-27 08:30 - 14:30
Robert Todd, professional bridge player, teacher, bridge cruise host, and founder of Adventures in Bridge (www.advinbridge.com), will be here in person to present a one-day seminar for Intermediate/Advanced players. The topics will be Slam Bidding and Trump Management.
Coffee, tea, snacks and a light lunch will be provided.
This seminar is expected to sell out. Registration including advanced payment is required to hold your spot.
Robert Todd

Robert is a professional bridge player and teacher whose hometown is Tallahassee, Florida, but you’ll find him all over the country and world playing and teaching bridge.
Robert plays bridge at every level from the local club to international championships. He’s finished in the top 20 on the Barry Crane list (with over 1500 masterpoints) in both 2008 and 2009, posted several top-10 finishes in National-level Pairs events with numerous partners, and won the 0-10,000 Knockout Teams at the Dallas NABC in 2014.

Registration

Fill out and submit the form, below. You are not registered until we receive your payment.

Check your signup status. You can not sign up on this page.
Cancellation Policy: Reservations may be cancelled up to Monday, April 17. After that, every attempt will be made to sell your spot to someone else. If we can sell it to another person we will return your registration fee less a $10 cancellation fee per day. Otherwise no refund will be made.
Payment
$85 per attendee per day if payment received by April 25. $95 per attendee thereafter.
If you have not already paid, please bring a check for the full amount to the seminar.
Please make your check to Unit 503 and note “Robert Todd” in the memo line.
Send your check to:
Palo Alto Unit 503, ACBL
PO Box 391206
Mountain View, CA 94039
For more information contact Kip Kado email (650) 823-5855.
