Lesson 1 - Bridge Hands€¦ · Lead Card: J♠ (West would prefer that the diamond lead comes towards his hand so it’s best not to lead from the diamond suit. Then he can get a

Bridge Hands based on Lesson 1 ©©©© www.ATeacherFirst.com Page 1 of 12

Bridge Hands to Practice Bidding from Lesson 1 (Opening 1 of a Suit)

Note: These hands are set up specifically for beginners to practice bidding following the lessons from

the website: www.ATeacherFirst.com. A lead card is suggested. The bidding and expected results

are shown, but these may vary depending on the skill of all the players. These lessons are meant to

help beginners learn to bid simply and build confidence.

Board #1 – None vulnerable, Dealer North

Bidding: (If no bid is shown that means the player passed.)

North – 1♦ (12 HCPs, no 5-card major)

South – 1♥ (11 HCPs, bid the 4-card major)

North – 1NT (no fit in hearts, minimum opening points, nothing else to bid, South

promised 4 hearts only)

South – 2♥ (more than 10 pts, should show extra heart in case partner has 3

hearts) North – Pass (8-card fit in hearts now, but partner has repeated suit without jumping, so with no added values will pass)

Final Contract: 2♥ by South

Lead card: 4♠ or 2♣ by West

Results: Makes 8 to 10 tricks

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Board #2 – N/S vulnerable, Dealer East


East – 1♦ (19 HCPs, no 5-card major, 4 of both minors, so bid diamonds)

West – 1♥ (11 HCPs, show 4-card major)

East – 2 NT (shows 18-19 pts, no 4-card suit in spades)

West – 3♥ (shows extra pts and extra card in hearts, West knows that game level

should be reached)

East – 4♥ (8-card fit in hearts and enough pts for game)

Final Contract: 4♥ by West

Lead card: 7♣ (singleton) by North, South takes it with A♣ and leads back a club

for 2 immediate tricks Results: Makes 11 tricks



Board #3 – E/W vulnerable, Dealer South


South – 1♦ (12 HCPs, no 5-card major, longest minor)

North – 1♥ (10 HCPs, 4+ cards in a major, change of suit at 1 level so South must

bid again, game is possibly there in hearts)

South – 2♦ (only 4 hearts are promised from North so there is no fit there, only 3

cards in spades so no point in bidding those even if North had 4 of them, clubs are

weak, bid diamonds again to show 5 — this bid denies having 4 hearts or 4 spades, repeating the diamond suit without jumping also means that North can now pass)

North – 3♥ (must now jump to show extra length and points and invite game,

South will now know that North has at least 5 hearts and enough points for game;

if North bid just 2♥, South can pass)

South – 4♥ (South now has a fit for hearts with North’s promised minimum of 5

hearts, the jump by North also showed game points)

Final Contract: 4♥ by North

Lead Card – 6♣ by East (4th from the top of East’s longest/strongest unbid suit,

some may prefer the 8♣ as the top of interior sequence, but it’s not likely to make

any difference whether the 6♣ or 8♣ is led, so pick one)

Results: Makes 9 or 10 tricks (If the contract is not made, the bidding was still correct. If the diamond finesse is attempted, the contract will likely go down. Don’t

try the finesse — play the A♦ and trump the other diamonds if necessary. The

spade finesse will work — play the A♠, then lead towards the K♠/J♠. If the Q♠ does

not come up, play the J♠, then the K♠ will hold. Contract made.)



Board #4 – All vulnerable, Dealer West

Bidding: (If no bid is shown that means the player passed.) West – Pass

North – Pass

East – 1♠ (14 HCPs plus 3 for length, 7-card spade suit)

Note: Some players will open 4♠ as a pre-emptive bid with this hand. This

has pro’s and con’s. A slam could be missed if West takes that as being a weak opening bid and has 10-11 pts. However, in this case, game level could

also be missed because West might pass. Judgment and aggressiveness will affect the outcome of the bidding in this game.

South – Pass (12 HCPs, cannot double and not enough pts or strong enough suit to

bid above 1♠)

West – 1 NT or Pass (5 HCPs, cannot bid at the 2 level and 1NT is not the best bid

with a singleton in partner’s suit)

East – 4♠ if West bids 1 NT and East gets another chance to bid

Final Contract: 4♠ by East

Lead Card: Q♣ or 4♥ by South (or K♦)

Final Results: Should make 9 or 10 tricks.

The finesse in spades will work if it is tried after the A♣ is played. Lead the 4♠

towards the A♠/Q♠ and play the Q♠ if the K♠ is not played from North’s hand. If

South has the K♠, then the finesse does not work. It’s a 50/50 chance.



Board #5 – N/S vulnerable, Dealer North


North: Pass

East: 1♦ (13 HCPs, no 5-card major, more diamonds than clubs)

South: Pass

West: 1♥ (9 HCPs, bid 4-card major)

East: 1♠ (West could have 4 hearts and 4 spades and, if so, would bid the 4-card

heart suit first, so East will bid 4-card spade suit next to show 4 spades) West: 1NT (cut-off bid, needs 10 pts to raise to the 2 level, no fit found in spades or hearts)

Final Contract: 1NT by West

Lead: 9♣ by North (unbid suit, “top of nothing”)

Results: 7 or 8 tricks possible



Board #6 – E/W vulnerable, Dealer East

Bidding: East: Pass

South: 1♣ (17 HCPs plus 2 for length, no 5-card major, longest minor, cannot bid 1

NT because of singleton and unbalanced hand)

West: 1♦ (11 HCPs plus 2 for length, easy overcall)

North: 1♠ (7 pts, one 5-card major and one 4-card major, bid longest one first)

East: Pass

South: 3♠ or 4♠ (Q♦ could be worthless, singleton A♥ adds extra ruffing value)

West: Pass

North: 4♠ if South did not bid to game already (North knows that South has 4

spades so with extra trump, should reach game in spades if South does not bid it)

Final Contract: 4♠ by North

Lead Card: 4♦ (suit bid by partner, higher card from doubleton, with doubleton play

high/low) Results: Should make 10 tricks



Board #7 – All vulnerable, Dealer South

Bidding: (If no bid is shown that means the player passed.) South, West and North all Pass

East: 1♠ (19 HCPs plus 1 for length, 5-card major)

West: 2♠ (good spade support, 5 HCPs and 1 dummy pt for the doubleton)

East: 4♠ (with 19 pts, support from partner in spades with at least 6 points, must

make sure to reach game level)

Final Contract: 4♠ by East

Lead Card: A♦ (with a long diamond suit, E/W could be void in diamonds soon and

trump in, so it’s sometimes best to lead the Ace; in this game, leading the 3♦ from

South would also take one trick since the K♦ from North would take it)

Results: should make 9 tricks for sure and 10 if lucky, might go down 1 trick, but

bidding is correct to end up at 4♠



Board #8 – None vulnerable, Dealer West

Bidding: (If no bid is shown that means the player passed.) West, North, and East all Pass

South: 1♥ (16 HCPs plus 1 for length, 5-card major)

North: 2♥ (5 HCPs, plus 2 Dummy pts, 1 for each doubleton)

South: 3♥ (with 16 pts, invite to game, North should bid game with 8-9 pts and

pass with 6-7 pts) North: Pass, with just minimum points

Note: If East is a competitive and experienced player, East might open 1♠ in third

seat after two passes. West may support East and bid 2♠. This would make it

difficult for N/S to take the contract. Because East has only one honor in spades, it

will be assumed that East is passing. E/W can take 8 tricks in spades as trump.

Final Contract: 3♥ by South

Lead Card: J♠ (West would prefer that the diamond lead comes towards his hand

so it’s best not to lead from the diamond suit. Then he can get a look at the

Dummy hand, too. The two Aces can bring the lead back to his hand, so in this case, the best lead might be from the spades, the top of 3 in a sequence. This would also be the obvious lead if East bid spades. Unfortunately, this is a good lead

for the opponents.) Results: South should be able to take 9-10 tricks.



Board #9 – E/W vulnerable, Dealer North

Bidding: North: Pass

East: Pass

South: 1♦ (10 HCPs, opening “light” in 3rd seat after 2 passes, not vulnerable, 5-

card suit with 2 honors is worth a bid)

West: 1♠

North: 2♦ (or may jump to 3♦ to compete, not vulnerable, South could have

opening points)

East: 2♠ (if North bids 3♦, may bid 3♠, counting 7 HCPs, plus 2 Dummy pts for

doubleton, except E/W is vulnerable, going down is not a good idea)

South: 3♦ (knowing partner must have 5 diamonds) If East bids 3♠, South will

likely pass.

Final Contract (Possibility #1): 3♦ by South

Lead Card: 8♠ by West

Results: Makes 8 or 9 tricks, could go down 1

Final Contract (Possibility #2): 2♠ or 3♠ by West

Lead Card: A♦ by North

Results: Should make 10 tricks



Board #10 – All vulnerable, Dealer East

Bidding: (If no bid is shown that means the player passed.) East, South and West all Pass

North: 1♦ (13 HCPs, no 5-card major, bid longer minor)

South: 1♠ (9 HCPs, bid 4-card major)

North: 1NT (minimum opening hand, no fit in a major, benefit of having stoppers in

all suits) South: Pass (nothing else to bid, somewhat balanced hand)

Final Contract: 1 NT by North

Lead Card: 7♣ or 10♣ (interior sequence) by East

Final Results: Should make 7 tricks, maybe more Note: In competitive bidding, West may open “light” in 3rd seat with 5 spades, 9

pts. Then North would likely double. East may pass or may bid 1NT. South may leave the double in for penalty. So this could get very complicated and, if several

tables played this hand, the bidding and results might vary considerably.



Board #11 – None vulnerable, Dealer South


South: 1♦ (14 HCPs, no 5-card major, bid longer minor)

West: 3♥ (pre-emptive bid, does not have 2 of top 3 honours, but has 3 of top 5

and a good suit) North: Pass

East: Pass or 4♥ (15 HCPs, plus 1 heart which makes 8 trump, it’s tempting to bid

4♥)

Final Contract: 3♥ or 4♥ by West

Lead Card: 7♦ by North (suit bid by partner)

Final Results: should make 9 tricks, difficult to make 10 since K♥/Q♥ are on wrong

side for finesse to work and two Aces in South’s hand should take 2 tricks.

However, 4♥ was worth a try with East holding so many points.

Also, West may have passed and not pre-empted. That means that North would bid

1♠. Then East might have doubled or bid 2♣. It’s difficult to predict where the

bidding would end up in that case.



Board #12 – N/S vulnerable, Dealer West

Bidding: (If no bid is shown that means the player passed.) West: Pass

North: 1♠ (16 HCPs, 5-card major)

East: Pass

South: 2♦ (need 3-card support to bid spades, can raise to 2 level in another suit

with 5 cards and 10+ pts)

North: 3♦ (knows that South has at least 4 diamonds and 10+ pts, so can support

diamonds, and has 16 pts)*

Final Contract: 3♦ by South

Lead Card: J♣ by West (top of interior sequence)

Results: Should make 9-10 tricks. If diamonds had split evenly between East and West, then 11-12 tricks are possible, but not with the distribution in this game.

*Note: North may want to explore the possibility of game in NT. If so, North would

have to bid 3♥ (jump shift), to show extra points and stoppers in hearts. North

knows that South has 10+ pts and together they should have game in a major or NT. If South had a stopper in the unbid suit (clubs), South could bid 3 NT, but clubs

are not stopped in this case. South would likely raise the bid to 4♥, hoping that

North has 4 of them. Unfortunately, a 4♥ contract will be difficult to make, because

of E/W’s distribution. If E/W do not defend well, then it may be makeable.


Documents

Lesson 1 - Bridge Hands€¦ · Lead Card: J♠ (West would prefer that the diamond lead comes towards his hand so it’s best not to lead from the diamond suit. Then he can get a