Beginning Bridge Series
This is mostly a continuation of the Learn Bridge in a Day class but new students are welcome throughout. Most of what's covered will be a review and practicing what's been taught already and if you have some experience with spades or euchre, you will catch up quickly. Each class is $5 and will be at the Robins DBC.The complete schedule of upcoming beginning bridge classes ($5 each):
1 Sunday, December 16, 2012 - 6:15-8pm Review of opening bids, responses, rebids; takeout doubles
2 Monday, January 7, 2013 - 5:45-7:30pm More review; opening leads, responding to 1NT
3 Sunday, January 13 - 5:45-7:30pm More review; defensive strategies, counting the suits
4 Monday, January 21 - 5:45-7:30pm More defensive strategies, declarer play strategies
5 Sunday, January 27 - 5:45-7:30pm TBD
6 Sunday, February 10 - 5:45-7:30pm TBD
Learn Bridge in a Day
December 8, 2012, Andre will be offering a workshop to learn bridge in one day. You won't learn everything you need to know but it will get you off to a good start and hopefully get you interested in learning more and making more friends through the card game. The $25 cost will include the instruction, a book, a deck of cards, and refreshments. Full time students may attend for 1/2 price. Please email Andre at aaasbury@gmail.com to register or to answer any questions.
Intermediate Bridge Classes
Andre Asbury will offer an intermediate bridge class Sunday evenings, 6-8pm, throughout the fall at the Robins Duplicate Bridge Club. The format will be a 10-15 minute lesson with 2-3 deals related to the lesson followed by some supervised play, where I will answer any questions and offer some guidance. Each lesson will be a stand alone session and it is expected that attendees have kowledge of basic bidding. The cost will be $5 per week per adult or $50 for the whole series and free for kids 18 and under. As usual, I'd like to know ahead of time how many to expect so email me at aaasbury @ gmail.com or fill out the form at the bottom of this page and specify intermediate bridge starting August 12 if you plan to attend. Here is the tentative schedule (if there are other topics you want covered, let me know):
August 12 - Declarer play: Plan the play and maintain control
August 19 - Negative and responsive doubles
August 26 - Defense: Attitude and count signals
(no class September 2 - Atlanta Labor Day regional)
September 9 - Law of total tricks: when to compete
September 16 - Cuebids: Michaels, Limit raises, Western Cue bids
(no class September 23 - Seaside, Oregon regional)
September 30 - Declarer play: Ruff in dummy and crossruff
(no class October 7 - Columbus Day)
October 14 - Defense: Opening leads and suit combinations
October 21 - New minor forcing and its implications
October 28 - Reverses and jump shifts
Beginning Bridge Classes
August 12 - Declarer play: Plan the play and maintain control
August 19 - Negative and responsive doubles
August 26 - Defense: Attitude and count signals
(no class September 2 - Atlanta Labor Day regional)
September 9 - Law of total tricks: when to compete
September 16 - Cuebids: Michaels, Limit raises, Western Cue bids
(no class September 23 - Seaside, Oregon regional)
September 30 - Declarer play: Ruff in dummy and crossruff
(no class October 7 - Columbus Day)
October 14 - Defense: Opening leads and suit combinations
October 21 - New minor forcing and its implications
October 28 - Reverses and jump shifts
Beginning Bridge Classes
Beginning bridge classes are now scheduled on an as-needed basis. When we get 4 players interested, I will work to arrange a suitable time to meet, ideally 2 hours per week for 8 weeks. Topics include the mechanics of bridge and duplicate bridge, hand evaluations, basic bidding concepts, finesses, opening leads, and basic declarer play. After competion of the class, students should be ready to play in the novice duplicate game, Mondays 7-10pm. Cost is $55 for an 8 week series. Email Andre Asbury at aaasbury@gmail.com or call 229-834-1186 to sign up or get more information.
Middle Georgia's First Youth Bridge Camp
“Bridge is a great way to learn from inferences. A lot of decisions in life are made by inferring from what you know,” says Warren Buffet. Buffet and Microsoft’s Bill Gates are avid bridge players and are regularly spotted at tournaments across the country.
The first youth bridge camp in Georgia not associated with Atlanta Junior Bridge was held at the Warner Robins Duplicate Bridge Club in middle Georgia June 11-15, 2012. Eight eager kids between ages 10 and 16 attended. I, Andre Asbury, was the primary instructor, and was assisted by Sean Gannon.
This week-long class, which was offered for free, met for 2 hours per day, often going 10-15 minutes over, and was modeled after Patty Tucker's Atlanta Junior Bridge camps that have been going on in greater Atlanta since around 2004. Despite many of the kids having never played any trick-taking card game, by the end of day 1 they were all comfortable with taking tricks, ruffing, 8-card fits, and even opening the bidding. By the end they were playing boards with very little help and scoring accurately. I’ve taught several classes and these kids grasped the concepts quicker than I’ve seen before. Maybe my teaching techniques have improved or maybe the kids were just more motivated than others.
The format of talking for no more than 5 minutes at a time is the way to go. Most of the time, the lectures were even shorter than that. I hit the high points and had them play more, with a little guidance along the way. You don't learn bridge by listening to someone talk or having someone tell you what to do but by repetitions of counting and bidding yourself.
