All News

A Minor Monster!  For less experienced players … and others. What do you do when you have 12 cards in two minor suits and your partner opens the bidding with one of them? Sounds highly promising but there is a “but” or I... read more here

A winter's day near Whangarei? Greetings all from the Winterless North once again. I have included a photo of where I would usually be at this time of year and what I would usually be doing. Seeing is believing right? Unfortunately back to... read more here

no help needed.                       A Nice Play on “Jan’s Day” You can sometimes, maybe quite often, rely on poor... read more here

How High? It is never easy when your constructive bidding starts at the 5 level. Not much room to exchange information. At least, on today’s deal, we were able to say to our partner that we had a very good hand as we started with a... read more here

OLD CHESTNUTS. There are a few sayings around about how to play bridge hands well. We lock them away and just have to remember which one applies to the problem deal we have. Maybe the key word is “just”. It is not so easy to do that.... read more here

 It has been a while since we have been able to acknowledge one of the many volunteers who are so central to the successful running of our bridge clubs. NZ Bridge wants to be able to say thanks to such people, whether their contribution is... read more here

                             Insurance? It’s not my favourite industry. It must have cost me a lot... read more here

A Sacrificial Offering? …for less experienced players and others. It seems too good to be true. Your partner has a game force hand while you have an opening hand…and an opponent is vulnerable and bidding away at the 4-level. It... read more here

 young bridge prize winners. Greetings bridgers. As the approaching winter chills start to encourage indoor activities, so our thoughts become more focussed on our great game. And what makes it so wonderful is that it never ceases to turn up... read more here

 well, not quite yet! Jan’s Day: Count Your Tricks..and keep on counting! Sometimes, well always when we are the declarer, the defence seems to be sparkling. A great lead (for them!) and an even better switch. It’s time to show... read more here

The Pre-emptor’s Partner. Once you have opened the bidding with a pre-empt, you have usually said it all. However, for the pre-emptor’s partner, it can be difficult to decide what to bid, whether to bid or how high to bid, especially... read more here

the most valuable card in the pack? As Valuable as an ace? Well, if you cannot hold the ace or the king or the queen of a suit, this is the next best thing. In “500”, it can take on somewhat inflated importance and at times, it can... read more here

Keeping it a secret. When we open the bidding at the 1 level, we do so with a hope that our side becomes the declaring side. When that wish does not happen, we are disadvantaged in that we have given some information, indeed often more than... read more here

Guiding partner. Saving the Defence …for less experienced players and others. There are times when you can see how the defence should go but that is not always apparent to your partner. Your task is to make it as easy as possible to... read more here

Jan’s Day: “Much Ado About Nothing!” A little light relief in today’s Jan’s Day hand with the article reflecting back to the days of 1985 when the Rubber Bridge competition was a major event on the bridge calendar.... read more here

and another Jack! A Tale of Two Jacks. There is one jack which all the East players on today's board would like their partners to hold and another jack which one pair wish was nowhere near the table during the bidding of this board. Firstly,... read more here

 Steph Jacob (substitute), Rachelle Pelkman and Tauranga President, Kate Terry The National Pairs took place at the Tauranga Bridge Club during the past weekend. Perhaps because this event followed too closely on the heels of major... read more here

 Bob and Ev A week ago, our bridge world lost one of its top players, a Gold Grandmaster with nearly 4,000 A Points, Palmerston North’s Evelyn Hurley. Within the last month, the Manawatu Guardian featured Evelyn and Bob, husband and... read more here

Chasing a Penalty? It is normal to play take-out style doubles when the opponents start the bidding with a weak single or two-suited bid at the 2 -level. However, at some point, such a double may not be for take-out. At what point do we cross the... read more here

A good time to take care: for less experienced players and others. Let’s start with a quote from yesterday’s “Jan’s Day” article. “When everything in the garden looks rosy and the play appears to hold no... read more here

Jan’s Day: Oh dear! “When the outlook is grim, it is the time to be optimistic.” It could not be “grimmer” than on the board below. Do not give up. An optimist does not…ever!   South... read more here

Subterfuge. Is all not what it seems? What is going on during the play of the hand? Skulduggery at the bridge table?       East DealsNone Vul ♠ J 9 8 7 ♥ 10 4 ♦ K Q J 7 6... read more here

The Power of Aces. Many fine contracts, whether they be games or slams, have been missed because players have undervalued the aces they hold. While in themselves, they only contribute one trick, they control a suit for a declarer often enabling... read more here

Pie in the Sky? The best of bridge partnerships could have one partner who might be a little aggressive and the other who is a tad more conservative. Trouble can develop when both partners are a little aggressive on the same deal.  ... read more here

aiming high. Any Day Playing Bridge is a Fun Day. Today, we farewell Karen Martelletti with a celebration of her life at the Tauranga Bridge Club, an event being live-streamed for those who cannot be there. In the normal course of events,... read more here

A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Jan’s Day comes early: Appearances can be Deceptive. It’s OK. You did not sleep through Tuesday and suddenly find that day had gone. We are a day early this week with our regular “Jan’s... read more here

How Good is my hand? Quite good! Your partner makes a take-out double of the opponent’s pre-empt and you have modest values but a void in the pre-emptor’s suit. How high do you want to go because the opponents have gone to game... read more here

The Wrong Slam. Something went wrong with today’s auction. Slam was reached but it was the wrong slam. We will ask our Panel where they thought it went wrong. What do you think?     West DealsN-S Vul... read more here

Safety Plays and Signals: for less experienced players and others. When declarer misplays and the defence goes astray, what should the end result be? Someone is going to be lucky. Who is it going to be? West DealsNone Vul... read more here

A Chance to shine on Jan’s Day. Well, the sun certainly is!   There are two decisions to make with respect to the hand below. There is also a common bridge saying that “you should not double if you do not know what to... read more here

Do you remember your first A Point? It seems that the urge for overseas travel has burst out - in the form of internal travel to other regions’ bridge tournaments. The result is that we’re all playing so much bridge these days that... read more here

Which way to 12 tricks? In a vacuum (it does happen once every ten years at the bridge table), you seem to have a very straightforward assignment with the hands below. If you can prevent the trump queen from scoring a trick, then you will have... read more here