All News

Balanced…in two suits! Many new players bauk at opening a 12-14 1NT because they do not have holds in all four suits. We know that it is impossible to guarantee such a balanced spread of your honour cards with such a few number of high... read more here

Suzanne Carpenter. We start the review with some interesting reflections by a new player to our game on her first tournament, Palmeraston North’s Suzanne Carpenter. She starts with a quote:   “Admitting errors clears the... read more here

  Finessing and timing and ducking..for less experienced players, and others. Today’s deal may seem quite basic but it offers some good lessons for those who may be struggling to make, in particular, their no-trump contracts. You... read more here

  Jan Cormack. Jan’s Day: More on Finessing. That could be a clue as you make a plan to score 12 tricks from your rather ambitiously bid slam. There are finesses we need to take, finesses we put off unless there is no other way and... read more here

      A Finesser’s Dream…or Nightmare? You have finesses available in three suits, one of which is a 2-way finesse (don’t we love them…not!) and a guess in the fourth suit, too. We cannot afford... read more here

High-Level happenings. A question for you. You lead your singleton H2 against 7C doubled, the opponents’ sacrifice. What happened? Depending perhaps on the result, we all love a piece of high-level drama. Someone usually has a strong... read more here

“Multi” Problem. Love it or hate it (and there are many in both camps), the Multi 2D can cause problems for all four players at the table. One such problem is that there is sometimes only one player at the table who knows for sure... read more here

  Basic Defence: for less experienced players and others. It is time to remember two, maybe even three, basic rules of defending. Had East done so on today’s deal, then their partnership would not have got such a poor result from the... read more here

Opportunity Knocks. We know that Bridge is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest wins! Sometimes, you get the chance to do something clever, to profit from good play rather than an opponent’s mistake or unlucky lead. Are you ready... read more here

Avoiding Disaster. Well, it was not total disaster because our North-South pair did get a plus score but the plus should have been so much bigger.     ♠ 9 ♥ K J 8 7 5 2 ♦ J... read more here

  s   The Second Double. What does it mean and what should we bid now? These two questions arise from a second double from our partner. We know that the first double was a standard take-out double…but what about double number... read more here

Trump Reduction. It’s time to look at another hand from last weekend’s South Island Pairs. While the vast majority of West players struggled away to make an overtrick in 3NT and usually failed, one West player could put his feet up... read more here

     Not today. Today’s a good news day! No Demons but still down…for less experienced players and others. The following deal was given to me because all bar one who played the board in the 4 game (and at the... read more here

  This will soon be full of bridge tables and bridge players. Congress update July 2021 It is great to see many players entering this year’s National Congress with some having paid their entry fees. We have many players entering the... read more here

Where is she? Jan’s Day: a problem from a barrage bid. No matter how good a player one is, one does not get all decisions right in the area of high-level bidding. Take a look at this:   North DealsBoth Vul... read more here

 Brian Mace and Tom Jacob... read more here

The Power of “Nine”! One way is technically correct. Another may be practically successful while a third results in a minus score! So, which way should we not take? It seems perhaps that the last is not the best! Yet, it is perhaps... read more here

But not spectacular.                                Bread and Butter. That’s... read more here

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