{"id":11311,"date":"2026-02-01T18:12:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T17:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/?post_type=publication&#038;p=11311"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:40:20","slug":"be-a-difficult-bridge-opponent","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/publication\/be-a-difficult-bridge-opponent\/","title":{"rendered":"BE A DIFFICULT BRIDGE OPPONENT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-columns stk-block-columns stk-block stk-60c1a84\" data-block-id=\"60c1a84\"><div class=\"stk-row stk-inner-blocks stk-block-content stk-content-align stk-60c1a84-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-f71a61e\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"f71a61e\"><div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-f71a61e-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\"><div class=\"stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-f71a61e-inner-blocks\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-columns stk-block-columns stk-block stk-0817ac3\" data-block-id=\"0817ac3\"><div class=\"stk-row stk-inner-blocks stk-block-content stk-content-align stk-0817ac3-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-19ce0da\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"19ce0da\"><div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-19ce0da-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\"><div class=\"stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-19ce0da-inner-blocks\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-image stk-block-image stk-block stk-57a93d8\" data-block-id=\"57a93d8\"><style>.stk-57a93d8 .stk-img-wrapper{width:320px !important;}<\/style><figure><span class=\"stk-img-wrapper stk-image--shape-stretch\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"stk-img wp-image-11321\" src=\"https:\/\/bridge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficult-bridge-opponent-cover.jpeg\" width=\"320\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bridge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficult-bridge-opponent-cover.jpeg 320w, https:\/\/bridge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficult-bridge-opponent-cover-200x300.jpeg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/span><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-column stk-block-column stk-column stk-block stk-447aa60\" data-v=\"4\" data-block-id=\"447aa60\"><div class=\"stk-column-wrapper stk-block-column__content stk-container stk-447aa60-container stk--no-background stk--no-padding\"><div class=\"stk-block-content stk-inner-blocks stk-447aa60-inner-blocks\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-text stk-block-text stk-block stk-f16db2a\" data-block-id=\"f16db2a\"><p class=\"stk-block-text__text\">Many players you face are competent enough, but fairly easy to play against. Just a few will be in an altogether different category. Not only do they bid and play accurately, but they also constantly find a way to make your life difficult. They take away your bidding space by pre-empting on hands where other players tend to pass. Their switches in defense often create a problem for you. They are&#8230; difficult opponents.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-text stk-block-text stk-block stk-ddfbb57\" data-block-id=\"ddfbb57\"><p class=\"stk-block-text__text\">In this book, the authors look at bidding, declarer play and defense, showing how you can join this elite group. They recommend pre-emptive opening bids, sometimes only on five-card suits. Also, you must sometimes take risks with a fit for partner, raising to a higher level than you may do at present. As declarer, you will hide your intentions, disguise your hand, and choose lines of play that make the defenders sit back in their chair. When defending, you must envision declarer\u2019s plan and find a way to engineer a problem or a tricky guess.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-text stk-block-text stk-block stk-2b19597\" data-block-id=\"2b19597\"><p class=\"stk-block-text__text\">Why should you want to do this? The main reason, of course, is to improve your results and win more events. Just as important is the enjoyment and excitement that playing in this way will bring. &#8220;How on earth did you beat the Spade game on Board 11?&#8221; you will be asked!<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-heading stk-block-heading stk-block-heading--v2 stk-block stk-98282e6\" id=\"about-the-authors\" data-block-id=\"98282e6\"><h3 class=\"stk-block-heading__text has-text-align-justify\">About the Authors<\/h3><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-stackable-text stk-block-text stk-block stk-ce48f92\" data-block-id=\"ce48f92\"><p class=\"stk-block-text__text has-text-align-left\"><strong><em>David Bird&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><em>(Southampton, UK) is the world\u2019s most prolific bridge writer,<br>with 166 titles to his name. Known for his clarity of writing, he has won the American Bridge Teachers\u2019 Association \u2018Book of the Year\u2019 a record twelve times. His celebrated humorous fiction, featuring the cantankerous Abbot, has run for fifty years. Both he and Marc commentate<\/em>&nbsp;<em>and write reports on the world major championships.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Marc Smith&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><em>(Southampton, UK) is co-author, with Barbara Seagram, of the world\u2019s best-selling bridge book, 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know. He has written many bridge books and enjoyed countless tournament wins, from the 1984 Junior European Union Championship to the 2025 Premier Grandmaster Pairs. He is a popular bridge teacher on the internet, at all levels of play.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many players you face are competent enough, but fairly easy to play against. Just a few will be in an altogether different category. Not only do they bid and play accurately, but they also constantly find a way to make your life difficult. They take away your bidding space by pre-empting on hands where other players tend to pass. Their switches in defense often create a problem for you. They are&#8230; difficult opponents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":11321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[]},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"language":[],"level":[],"class_list":["post-11311","publication","type-publication","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-spotlight"],"acf":[],"publication_lang":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/11311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publication"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11311"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=11311"},{"taxonomy":"level","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level?post=11311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}