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For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others. It’s Fri day. Two chances are better than one. Sometimes , your best chance of making your contract is to take a finesse. If it fails, well, you had a plan and that plan did... read more here

What? Never?                     Forcing….Pass! Perhaps it stems from my English heritage but I am a fan of the Multi 2, not just the... read more here

A switch but to which suit? An important switch. The bidding was very fast and furious! We have ended up defending. As usual, we have a decision to make, not regarding the opening lead as that was a fairly easy lead for our partner but what to... read more here

Well, the contract, that is! Recovery Day. What do you do when you count up the number of tricks you think you can make and that number equates to the number you need? The answer is you play the board with renewed confidence.  Great, until... read more here

Bill Leach and Kerri McCrae. Sunshine and Slams at Thames. There were plenty of both this past weekend for the many players who attended all or part of the 19th Thames Summer Bridge Festival hosted by the local club. 54 pairs took part in the... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate, perhaps not Novice players… but for others too! It’s Fri Day. Extracting the Maximum. Today’s deal  is more about defending though there is a lesson in the bidding too. So, what about this... read more here

Tony Hinkley (right). The player on the left just happened to slip into the picture! No Sad Ending…. From 20 years ago. Today, we have a story from 20 years ago, which bears repeating.  It’s one of your usual hands, today.... read more here

but for which side? "Crime" sometimes pays…even at Christmas! In pre-Covid days, certainly 20+ years ago, the Christmas period was a total break from bridge. That is not so now with some clubs starting very early in January after... read more here

  Kiwis in On-Line WBF Women’s Tournament. The concept of a world-wide on-line tournament seems challenging when one has to overcome vastly different time-zones. However, an international event was run on-line this past weekend, an... read more here

John Whyte...then.  Youth Bridge then and now. Then.. In April 2005, New Zealand held a Youth Trial to determine which three pairs would represent this country at the World Youth Championships later that year in Sydney. A cross imps method... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others who do not come up with the right leads very often! The recommended lead is…? 20 years ago, Andy Braithwaite wrote an article for NZ Bridge Magazine on “What Went... read more here

A Grand Each Way. We finish the year in a relatively light-hearted style. Back in early 2005, this deal was reported with the above heading. Firstly, you might muse as to what you would bid as West after your partner made a Weak Jump Overcall:... read more here

“How Not to win the Gold Coast Pairs”…. 20 years ago. You may feel today’s article relates to you. The two deals come from an article written by Michael Cornell and had the above as its title. Back in early 2005, Michael... read more here

Marion Hill.  For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players..and others…even Internationals! (Well, it is an international match which is featured!) Missing Aces. Today’s deal features the story of Marion Hill who died in... read more here

High Wire Decisions  … 20 years ago. Yesterday, we saw a deal where the 2004 New Zealand Open Team scored very well in their top match against the Netherlands in the Olympiad, despite some negative comments from the Vugraph... read more here

Michael Cornell had.... ....“The Last Laugh”.   From 20 years ago. Before reading today’s story from 2004, what bid would you make as South in this auction, with double being for take-out?    ... read more here

On such moments, "you need minties" or something stronger! Maybe this is not the best board to show you around the happy time of Christmas. It exudes bad news! Yet, at the bridge table, one side’s bad news is just joy for the other! It... read more here

Chris Ackerley. Toing and Froing....a deal from 2004.  Chris Ackerley has written up a lot of interesting declarer deals for New Zealand Bridge Magazine during its existence…and has been successful in a good number of them too. In... read more here

the wisdom of...Tom Jacob. 20 years after..doubled! One lead you cannot get right…and one you cannot get wrong! Which would you like first? Hah, I am not going to tell you! What I will tell you is that they both occurred in the “20... read more here

Gore 2004....Dorothy Gray, Ngaire Keane and Pam Bush.  Twenty Years Ago... A "Grand" Time in Southland. More from late 2004 and I went on an official bridge visit to Southland clubs. At Gore, it was the “night no-one seemed to want... read more here