Jim Ricker is a busy man. He’s cranked out quite a few textbooks and instructor guides that he uses successfully in his classes in the Knoxville area. Other teachers have taken notice and use Ricker’s materials, too. His latest effort is “Beyond Beginning Bridge Using 2 Over 1: Tools to Elevate Your Bridge Game,” a terrific text for intermediate-level players who want to expand their understanding of 2/1 and its associated treatments. Even better, however, is the Instructor’s Guide of the same title. Ricker has developed quite a few tricks for increasing the number of hands that teachers can present in a typical lesson without sacrificing student comprehension.

The student textbook covers many of the usual convention-related topics in 2/1 guides: Roman key card Blackwood, Jacoby 2NT, inverted minors, new minor forcing, fourth suit forcing, Smolen, Michaels, and so on. What makes Ricker’s approach different is that he incorporates the principles of losing trick count (LTC) to the mix as an additional way to evaluate hands. And there are plenty of exercises avail­able for students to practice.

Ricker believes that using pre-arranged deals in boards wastes a lot of time in lessons (unless you are teaching a basic beginner course), so he’s developed “Dealing Sheets” that present students with their lesson hands already printed on them. The Dealing Sheets even provide high-card point and LTC information with each hand to help move things along at a good pace. Repetition is the key to comprehension, so Ricker strongly prefers to use the Dealing Sheets as a replacement for actual cards. Less time wasted with the boards means more time spent looking at the example hands.

The Instructor’s Guide comes with a CD-ROM that contains all of the files that a teacher needs, all of which can be printed for distribution to students.

The student manual is $25 and is available either directly from diamondbookspublishing@gmail.com or from Amazon.com.  The Instructor’s Guide is free, but instructors must first purchase a student manual and be an ACBL-accredited teacher. Instructors receive a 20% discount on subsequent purchases, and shipping is free in the continental U.S. (taxes and duty extra to Canada).

Knoxville-based instructor Jim Ricker has created a series of instruction manuals for players learning more detailed methods in the 2/1 system. "The 2/1 Gold Card System, Volume 3: NT Bidding" is aimed at intermediate-level players.

The material includes such gadgets as four-way transfers, Smolen and "trash" Stayman, and Ricker discusses what effect adopting these methods have on regular Stayman and normal methods of inviting to game after a INT opening. 

Forcing raises after Stayman is a much-neglected topic that Ricker does a nice job explaining: What do you bid after the auction begins 1NT -2♣; 2♠ holding:

♠AQ109 ♡K10 ♢A94 ♣K864?

Hint: 4NT is quantitative in this case, not Blackwood, so how do you explore for slam? The popular solution is to start with three of the other major (3♡here), as an artificial slam move.

"Transfers" to minors using the method the author calls "reverse gap bidding" in which the 1NT opener uses the gap between the transfer and the indicated suit to show that he doesn't "like" responder's suit. For example: lNT-2♠(showing clubs); 2NT ("I don't like clubs.") Continuations (new suits by responder show shortness) are also explored.

Handling interference over 1NT openings is discussed in the later chapters, and Ricker encourages the habit of discussing agreements with partner to avoid misunderstandings in this tricky area.

The presentation isn't fancy, but the material is solid. There are tons of example hands with questions and answers about how to handle each.

Note: A teacher's manual also exists that Ricker provides free to bridge instructors.  It includes a CD-ROM with lesson materials and hand records.

LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! Thought I wouldn't like the idea of not opening 1NT with a 5-card major but love how you've made it simple. LOVE the full auction approach. Not just chapters on opening followed by a chapter of responding. LOVE the analogies...they relax the reader. I'm super impressed.

In case I didn't make myself clear - I LOVE IT. Solid material.

Carol Mathews
30 year teacher, ABTA member and TAP trainer

Beginning Bridge Using 2 Over 1 is a "solid effort" presented in a “pleasant, conversational style” where "readers may be amused by stories of auctions gone awry or the perils of planning a spaghetti supper for up to 100 bridge players."

"One of the most useful features in the book is a mock-up of a 2/1 convention card. The author completes the card with descriptions of sever common bidding sequences and notes the page numbers where readers can refer to the relevant sections for greater detail."

"Although most of the manual is about bidding, the discussion of defensive carding is where the author hits his stride."