Bridge@Home Academy

Every declarer has experienced it: you establish a beautiful long suit, then realize you have no way to reach it. This four-part course teaches the art of entry management — counting entries before trick one, preserving them through ducks and hold-ups, creating them from nothing, and integrating every technique under pressure.

The bidding and defense are talking — are you listening? This lesson teaches you to read the opening lead, place missing honors from the auction, and adjust your plan as new information emerges. The roadmap isn't static. It updates with every trick.

The foundation of every good declarer: before you play a card, stop and count. In notrump, how many winners do you have? In a suit contract, how many losers? This lesson builds the counting habit from the ground up, starting with clean examples and progressing to hands where the count reveals the only winning line.

Every declarer has experienced it: you establish a beautiful long suit, then realize you have no way to reach it. This four-part course teaches the art of entry management — counting entries before trick one, preserving them through ducks and hold-ups, creating them from nothing, and integrating every technique under pressure.

Every declarer has experienced it: you establish a beautiful long suit, then realize you have no way to reach it. This four-part course teaches the art of entry management — counting entries before trick one, preserving them through ducks and hold-ups, creating them from nothing, and integrating every technique under pressure.

Every declarer has experienced it: you establish a beautiful long suit, then realize you have no way to reach it. This four-part course teaches the art of entry management — counting entries before trick one, preserving them through ducks and hold-ups, creating them from nothing, and integrating every technique under pressure.

Most hands offer more than one way to make tricks. A finesse, a long suit, a ruff — but which do you try first? This lesson teaches you to combine chances, sequence your plays correctly, and always have a Plan B.

No hints. No labels. Just you and the hand. These eight boards test everything you've learned across the entire course — counting, suit development, danger hands, sequencing, and reading the clues. The roadmap is yours now. Trust it.

You can count your tricks and you know where to find more — but can you keep the opponents from destroying your plan? This lesson introduces the danger hand, hold-up plays, and trump control. Because in bridge, it's not just how many tricks you lose — it's who you lose them to.

You know how to count — now learn where to look. When the count falls short, your extra tricks must come from somewhere: establishing long suits, taking finesses, or ruffing losers in dummy. This lesson teaches you to identify the right source and execute the plan.

Learn the Stayman convention - the most important tool in your bidding toolkit. After partner opens 1NT, use 2? to ask about four-card majors and discover whether you belong in a major suit game or notrump.

Master the art of opening leads - the single most important defensive decision in bridge. Learn when to lead top of a sequence, fourth best from your longest suit, partner's bid suit, a singleton for a ruff, a trump, and when to avoid dangerous leads from unsupported honors. Eight hands covering the most common lead situations against both notrump and suit contracts.

Learn when to attack aggressively on defense and when to sit back and wait for your tricks. This lesson covers the critical decision every defender faces at trick one and throughout the hand — should you lead actively to set up tricks before declarer can discard losers, or defend passively to avoid giving away tricks? Through eight hands, you will practice reading the dummy, counting declarer's tricks, and choosing the right defensive strategy.

Master the cross-ruff technique. Learn when to ruff in both hands instead of drawing trumps, how to cash side winners first, and when drawing trumps is the better choice.

Master the hold-up play in notrump contracts. Learn when to duck, when to win, and how to cut the defenders communication to protect your contract.

Master the Jacoby Transfer — the essential convention for showing a 5+ card major after partner opens 1NT. Practice transfers to both majors with weak hands, game-going hands, and hands that offer partner a choice of games.

Your first lesson in defense - opening leads, third hand high, second hand low, returning partners suit, and attitude signals. Everyone plays, because bridge is a four-player game.