Page 33 - ABF Newsletter April 2025

They work in fours, as dummy makes a record of the card which wins each trick on the yellow pages (see June 2021 issue). After they finish the play, they lay out the cards like four dummy hands, and open the booklet which has the answer inside. If the contract is defeated, it should mean the defence was correct; if the contract made, the booklet should tell them where they went wrong. The teacher is available to explain if necessary and, with a glance at the card play record, can immediately see where they have gone wrong. These hands are designed as self-teaching, so one teacher can cope with a good number of tables.
To save time, the hands are played to ‘the point of no return’. They stop when the contract is defeated or made, or declarer can claim the contract. South is always declarer, so they take turns to be NSEW but stay in the same seats.
Not all aspects of defence can be taught by formal lessons and prepared hands. Random hands can throw up some great teaching points, but the play needs to be recorded (as above) to facilitate post mortems, as the players often won’t remember how the play went. Players will keep learning for many years using random hands with bid and play post mortems – as a teacher you have a job for life.
I have designed 20 hands in booklet form on basic defence to notrumps. These cover continuing the suit led, switching suit, and unblocking. I also have another 20 hands on basic defence to suit contracts, which include ruffing (like the one shown), dummy’s strength and weakness, forcing and passive defence. These are covered in several lessons, and anyone who has a good grasp of the concepts in these wallets has made a good start on the journey to becoming a competent defender.
If you would like a free PDF and/or Publisher copy of the 40 booklets and associated lesson notes, then email
ildalziel@gmail.com