All News

Jan Cormack. Jan’s Day: After the Olympics: the Olympiad Today’s deal takes us back to a tough deal at a past bridge Olympiad, a deal where the sting in the tail proved to be quite harmless and satisfactory from New Zealand’s... read more here

Marsha Woodbury. Welcome to our new Top of The South correspondent, Marsha Woodbury from Blenheim. In welcoming Marsha, a well known and popular player around her region for many years, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Jenny... read more here

Passing Messages. That’s what defenders do with each other, in a legal way, of course. It can be important when you have very little in the way of high-card points, too. Let’s see why. East DealsBoth Vul... read more here

      A Nice Place. Your bidding was a little rustic but partner is there for you and you seem to have reached an excellent spot. All you have to do is make your contract, that’s all 13 tricks. One trick lost is not... read more here

Reversing in different ways! A hand worthy of a reverse and able to make one does not occur that often. Thus, it is essential you have clear agreements with your partner about what is forcing and what is not after this strength-showing bid..and... read more here

fearless! How Strong is a Strong No Trump? for less experienced players...and others.. A strong no-trump, whether as an opening bid or an overcall, is a powerful adversary. Yet, do not let it put you off bidding, well some of the time. You are... read more here

 “Did you hear me, partner?” When you know a slam can be defeated by partner making a normal lead (e.g., their suit, your suit), you do not need to double the final bid (unless any lead will defeat it and the opponents have no... read more here

Risking all for glory. “I was unlucky, partner. I took two finesses and both failed. I only needed one to work and I would have made my contract.” A rather familiar cry for sympathy which would certainly initially have been given.... read more here

  Same venue (Bay Park: Lion Foundation Centre, Mt Maunganui) New dates    Thursday February 10th through to Thursday February 17th 2022 Congress starts 10.00am on the first Thursday morning and concludes after a finger-food... read more here

                           Knee-Jerk? You open the bidding and finish up in 3NT with your partner putting down a 17... read more here

Michael’s Fun: an “obvious bid?” You pick up a nice- looking hand, only a 10 count but with lots of potential. Our partner opens the bidding and not, for a change, in our void suit. Indeed, it is the opponents who bid and... read more here

or your hand! Undervalued. Today’s deal was played recently at 19 tables and only four of the South players really appreciated the worth of their hand. It might not seem to be worth very much because its high-card point count was only two!... read more here

Jan’s Day: “Catch-Up” Bridge There is a skill of trying to recover lost ground when you feel you are behind in a match. One’s natural urge may be to do something unusual to create a swing. The trouble can be is that you... read more here

The “Blame” Game…or “Blame” Game Missed! +170 or +200 (making 10 or 11 tricks in a major) would be reasonable scores playing Pairs were it not for the fact that game was a 100% certainty. It was not a case of making... read more here

All's good. We have the “boss” suit. Competitive high- level battles are quite common and are often really hard to judge and evaluate correctly. It would seem as long as we take the mainstream action, we should not get too bad a... read more here

Stuck in a corner..of our own making? We are about to see some severe criticism of a bid made at the table, a bid which seemed to land us in a spot of bother. Is there a way forward?   ♠ J 8 7 ♥ A... read more here

It’s Too Late: For Less Experienced Players and others. It is far too late when half way through the play of a board a declarer realises that they just do not have enough tricks to make their contract. That lack of planning would prove... read more here

“Gotcha” It may not seem so when you see dummy but it is nice to know you are going to make your contract by following a few basic guidelines, by watching and with just a modicum of good fortune. South DealsNone Vul... read more here

Whose hand? We have “the boss” suit and a decent playing hand, 8 tricks on a good day with just a little trump help required from partner. How high should we bid, with the vulnerability not in our favour? What can the opposition make?... read more here

“Silence” is not Golden. “What more could I say” commented one partner after a poor result had been achieved on one board. “My hand was so flat and I only had 5 high card points” said the other. The result of... read more here

a winner "extraordinaire". Read on to find out who and where. Since my last round up, I count that there have been 18 local tournaments in the region …  with many already covered online, I’m limiting my coverage to those where... read more here

Still sitting on the fence about coming to NZ Bridge Congress?   New Zealand National Bridge Congress at Bay Park, Mt Maunganui September 25th through to October 2nd   8 reasons you should be coming along to our premier event in... read more here

Keeping Track. There are times when a defender can do something brilliant, yes, even you! Such moments will come and you can enjoy them. However, generally, the art of successful defence is doing what the cards tell you to do, maybe a signal from... read more here

A Subtle Difference. “Fourth highest of your longest and strongest.” That’s quite a good approach to making the opening lead especially against a no-trump contract. It even works, some of the time! Yet, what message does the... read more here