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News from DreamQuest Software
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Wow, hard to believe February is nearly over. Based on the recent Arctic blast, Punxsutawney Phil may have been right when he forecast 6 more weeks of winter earlier this month! Beat the winter blahs and make a few new friends as you join us online at the DQZone.com for a little card playing. We have free online tourneys every day! |
Spring Cleaning
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The Battle for the Kings has Begun! Pick up two of our most popular board games this month for just $20. Buy Championship Chess Pro and get Championship Checkers Pro for only a PENNY!
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Classic board games with your favorite characters!
Challenge Wes, Sparky, Amber or any your favorite DreamQuest characters to a rousing game of standard Chess on any of five difficulty levels, against the clock or stalk your opponent at your own pace.
Long-time favorite checkers variations including Flying Kings, American, Giveaway, or Russian are supported in Championship Checkers, so do your best to beat our pros!
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That's just $10 a game - a 50% savings!
Available for Windows, Palm, and PocketPC (including new Windows Mobile 5.0 support), these games will keep you delighted for hours. Brush up on your skills with our introductory tutorial or dive in and go head to head with our experts for a rousing challenge. Buy now
Buy one more game and get a fourth free!
When prompted at Checkout, add a third game to this incredible offer to make up a Championship Game Bundle, receive a fourth game totally free, and pay just $40. Buy 4 games for $40!
*Not to be combined with other offers. Games must be for same platform. Sale expires March 25, 2006.
Championship Rummy Pro now in beta
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Be the first to play our newest game of 2006! Available for Windows, Palm, and Windows Mobile, Championship Rummy Pro is now in beta and we're eager for your feedback. |
Join the cast of DreamQuest signature characters as you race to be the first to accumulate the most melds, runs, and layoffs. Learn how to play in the the interactive Rummy 101 tutorial, improve your skills using undo, hint, and reply, and master your game using detailed history and statistics. This soon-to-be favorite currently includes popular variations such as Rummy and 500 Rum. Kaluki, Michigan, and Reverse Rummy will be supported in the official release next month, so stay tuned!
We want to know what you think! Put our game through it's paces and let us know what needs fixing. Download the beta version from http://dqsoft.com/beta.html and give it a try. If you come across a bug or a bad play, just use the "Send bad play/bug report" from the your game by using practicein the official release next monthfor Spades, as well as Jack of Diamonds, Moonshots,and Sunshots for Hearts will all be fully available on Mac OS X, however online play will not be supported in this release.
Get on our Beta mailing list so you don't miss out! Sign up at http://dqsoft.com/beta.html, then, after the release, let us know what you think.
Euchre Tip of the Month - Combination in Trump
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This month, we have a list of great Chess tips by National Master Dan Heisman. Dan is a full-time instructor and author of several Chess books. Be sure to drop by his web site for Chess theory, info on live tournaments and more. |
You have named the trump (by picking up the turned card). There are only seven trump in the deck. It is really not difficult to watch which trump fall on the first lead. Then you can plan your play accordingly.
It is assumed that you have at least three trump in your hand, and perhaps a side Ace. A "two-suiter" is ideal. Let's look at a selection of hands. You are the Dealer in a new game (score of 0 - 0), and three passes come around. You have two hearts and a void. Here is your hand after you discard a low spade. The opening lead is the Ace of spades, and partner plays the Jack, while the player on your right drops the spade Queen. What is your plan for each of these hands?
Hand A>
 A J 10  (void)  K Q
 (void) |
This time we will go a bit further, with some more information. You have picked up the Ace of hearts. In case, you discard a low spade. Here is your hand after the discard, and the Ace of spades is led, as all players in front of you follow.
A K Q A Q
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You trump low, and your Ace of hearts lead is followed with the ten of hearts, the nine of hearts by partner, and the Right Bower. Your opponent plays the Ace of clubs. You drop the Queen. He continues with the King of clubs. Now what?
A 9 J K 9
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In this borderline holding, you trump the spade Ace with the nine. Now you lead the Ace of hearts, and it fetches the Right Bower from the fellow on your left side, your partner's Queen, and the King. Out comes the Ace of clubs, and it wins, as everyone follows. Now the King of spades appears. Partner follows, and the fellow on your right dumps a small diamond. Now what?
Answers:
Hand A: Trump the spade Ace with the nine. Table the Ace of hearts, hoping to bring the Bowers together, or to find partner with at least one of them. The idea is to protect that diamond Ace. This is a thin hand; however, three trump is always a plus, and a side Ace is a bonus. You will need to be lucky to bring this hand in!
Hand B: Now the trump suit is much better. Trump the spade lead with the heart ten. Do not touch trump! If the guarded Left is held by an opponent, you will be forced to hope for a trick from partner. The club suit must be played (there are those who will not lead the club suit on trick #2, and will try to drop the Left with the Right; this is a crapshoot). You are trying to set up your hand for an endplay (a lead from your Left hand opponent into your Right: Ace of trump)!
Hand C: Trump with the Queen, and lay the Ace of hearts down. Once again, you are trying to promote another trump, and/ or protect the top diamond.
Hand D: This hand is a lot shakier. Win the first trick with your low trump. Now shift to the King of clubs. You are hoping that your Left hand opponent will win this trick. (If the King walks, your bid is secure.) If the King is trumped or loses to the club Ace, you must now rely on a favorable split in trump. Now you will push another trump, and try to use the nine of clubs to force out a trump (if necessary).
Basic trump play
You hold the three trumps after picking up the turned card. Suppose that you hold this combination in trump: Right - King - Ten. You trump an opponent's side-suit Ace with your ten spot. Now you lead the Right. If the Ace and the Left drop, your King is good. No problem. If the Ace drops, but the Left does not (or vice-versa), you must shift to another suit, hopefully an Ace. DO NOT chase the Master trump here. Once again, you hold three trumps. This time you have the Left - King - Queen. You use your Queen to trump an enemy side suit Ace. Now you lead the Left. It fetches the Right but not the trump Ace. You are thrown in with your own side Ace. DO NOT chase the Master trump. As a matter of fact, it is rarely good technique to chase the Master trump.
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New Contest - April Fool's Day Trivia
In honor of April Fool's Day this month, we're going to test your 'fool'-ish knowledge!
Question: The tradition of playing tricks on April Fools originated in which country?
- Romania
- Sweden
- France
- Belgium
- Canada
Three correct entries chosen at random will receive a deck of DreamQuest Software playing cards. Submit entries to by March 3rd.
Last Month's Contest - Presidential Trivia
Question: Who was the first of only two presidents to be impeached?
Answer: Andrew Johnson
Contest Winners:
- Bob Wise
- Ron Pennsyle
- Geoffrey Davies
Congratulations! You will be contacted shortly with details on how to receive your prize. Thanks for playing.
Check out Bits du Jour
Do you love to Check out Bits du Jour. It's a cool new site where you can get big discounts on software you want. But you have to do it fast, because there's only one program available each day, and when they're sold out, that's it. They've got essential software at unbeatable prices, with something new every day. Check them out!
Features:
- NEW in 3.1! Access millions of songs and audio books from popular online music stores.
- Play music on your Palm-powered device.
- Easily copy music from your Palm to your PC.
- Broad range of supported music files - MP3, WMA, PCM WAV, etc.
- Listen to Internet radio.
- And lots more!
Our good friends at NormSoft are offering DreamQuest Software newsletter readers a special price on this top seller, so get your copy today!
Use these special links for this incredible offer:
Pocket Tunes Basic ($14.95): Buy Now | Download trial
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Special Offer - PocketTunes by NormSoft
Pocket Tunes is the most fully featured audio player for Palm OS® powered devices. Play music and audio books from your collection, or subscribe to an online music service to gain access to millions of unique songs! With Pocket Tunes Deluxe, you can even listen to Internet radio anywhere that you have wireless rnet access.
Features:
- NEW in 3.1! Access millions of songs and audio books from popular online music stores.
- Play music on your Palm-powered device.
- Easily copy music from your Palm to your PC.
- Broad range of supported music files - MP3, WMA, PCM WAV, etc.
- Listen to Internet radio.
- And lots more!
Our good friends at NormSoft are offering DreamQuest Software newsletter readers a special price on this top seller, so get your copy today!
Use these special links for this incredible offer:
Pocket Tunes Basic ($14.95): Buy Now | Download trial
Pocket Tunes Deluxe ($34.95) Buy Now | Download trial
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