Latest News

Trouble at the One Level. We think of large penalties occurring when we get to a highish level and suits break badly. There certainly can be some large penalties extracted this way. However, the opening of one’s mouth at the 1-level can be... read more here

Mixed Messages. Something went wrong in the communication between the defenders on this deal. Would it have happened to you?   2 was a Weak 2. When on initial lead, West reasoned that if their partner held A, they were always going to... read more here

Good Technique? With today’s deal, there was pressure on the declarer to get the basics right and on the defence to give the declarer a chance to go wrong. No catches. What’s your plan when you first see your dummy? 1NT is... read more here

Forcing Bids and Major Suits! For Novice, Junior, Intermediate players.. and others..it's Fri  Day When the following auction ended rather abruptly, I felt that a few basic bidding principles should be revisited. What would you bid... read more here

How golden is silence? Whenever there is an opportunity to compete with very little, we seem to be green and the opponents are red! Not so, today! Would you take a bid at adverse vulnerability with the following? If so, what? You have... read more here

Remembering Stephen Lester. Last Saturday saw the passing of a top Australasian bridge player, Stephen Lester. Stephen was part of the bridge scene in and around Auckland in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He first got hooked on the game when... read more here

or both? Constructive or Destructive? We will reveal all at the end but in the meantime, let’s see how our Panel handles a situation where they are not sure whose hand this really is.   Teams is the game and we have at least a... read more here

Aggression or be A Fortunate Slam? Would you open the hand below, in second seat? There is also the question of what you would open. I would suggest what you choose will determine the final level you declare. It is a hand with potential... read more here

Take-Out Doubles are for? For Junior and Intermediate players…and others. It’s Fri Day! Normally, a take-out double asks one’s partner to bid their longest suit, maybe no-trumps with a hold in the opponent's suit. Yet,... read more here

Which is it to be? Clear Top or Clear Bottom? Playing at one’s club can be an interesting experience. Often, one does not quite know how strong or otherwise one’s partner is for their bid. One recent bid did seem most encouraging.... read more here

Massive Minors: Part 2. Yesterday, we featured one of two recent deals where a hand full of minor cards brimmed with potential though the news from the other side of the table was not what we hoped. Would that be the same with today’s deal?... read more here

Massive Minors: Part 1. Recently, a couple of deals occurred where one hand had lots of cards in the minor suits and lots of potential if only a fit could be found. This was one of them:      ... read more here

but where? Slam maybe… but which one? That seems to be the problem here. We have plenty of high-card points but no apparent fit. Maybe the misfit is too great and we should stop short of slam? Let’s see the bidding so far: We... read more here

Fits and Shapes....and an under-used bid! For Intermediate and Junior players..and others. It’s Fri Day! The set of boards from which today’s deal came contained some wild and exciting deals. The following was not one of them.... read more here

Fight Fire with …. It would be interesting to know how many East-West pairs in a recent A Point tournament were faced with the following opposition bidding. Sitting in the West seat, what would you bid here? Naturally, in such... read more here