All News

Greener Pastures? We enjoy the concept of pre-empting to make life harder for our opponents. Yet, when they do the same to us, well, it should not be allowed! Yet, they do and it is! So, what say you with the hand below? Do we declare or seek... read more here

  My hand… and my opponent bid 1C! That’s MY Suit you bid! Short club- based systems have been around for a long time. Pairs have to decide how they will handle a quite common situation where after hearing an opponent open 1,... read more here

Two, One or None: for less experienced players and others. Given a choice, what would be yours? No, we are not talking about the number of games of bridge you can have this week. No choice, there. The answer would certainly be “2” at... read more here

It’s Jan’s Day…and there’s a bad trump break! That is not a time to give up! That is a time to say “I am going to give it a good shot and see if I can make this contract, whether a part-score, game or even a slam."... read more here

How unlucky? There are some bad times when defending at bridge. One from which we will all suffer is when we lead the ace of the suit we have bid and had supported by our partner against, say, a 5-level suit contract. Down in the dummy comes K76... read more here

                         Care and Communication. Today’s board occurred in the recent on-line Margaret Bourke Memorial... read more here

Actions! No Easy Solution. A short auction to slam by the opponents. You have nearly your share of high card points and your partner is also “alive” on the first round of the bidding. What’s going on? The vulnerability is not... read more here

points. Does Nought mean “No bid”? for less experienced players and others. The following hand intrigued me because when it was held by some players, they chose to pass at the first opportunity because they were... read more here

  Kathy Yule. Long Suits: Long Way on Jan’s Day Back to 1990 for today’s Jan’s Day article which throws up an opening lead problem and a somewhat offbeat double. Let’s deal with the opening lead first and see if you... read more here

Nightmare Defence! “Wake up, wake up.” It was only a dream, well, maybe, a nightmare! Your partner led your suit and declarer called for a card, an honour card, from dummy….and third player, you, played high…covered an... read more here

                  Worth a Thought? Well, what can you be thinking about? The opponents have conducted a long-winded auction and have reached their final... read more here

Who’s Afraid of the Strong No Trump….?  Well, are you? Some players are hesitant to overcall while others pretend that it does not exist. Certainly, when you have something worth saying, you should not be put off bidding. What... read more here

Giving a Rough Ride: for less experienced players and others. The defenders are not there to make it easy for a declarer and even if their efforts only came down to saving an overtrick (one minute: playing Pairs we should delete that word... read more here

But how good? A Good Feature? When your partner opens with a Weak Two, do you know how forcing a change of suit is? (if you are not sure, then please check with your partner right now!) Our partnership, today, were playing 3 as non-forcing,... read more here

Where to go? Sometimes you can bid and make a game on remarkably few high card points. Shape and position of honours can be so important and when they are in your favour, go for game no matter how low your high point count might be. Then, there... read more here

  Page Lawson       Akaroa Bridge Club The following nomination was forwarded by Jeanette Elliott, Akaroa Bridge Club President, on behalf of the club committee and all club members. "Page Lawson learned bridge... read more here

     A Percentage Grand? You have 12 top tricks in your heart slam but you have set yourself a harder task as the final contract is 7H. How would you go about finding the best way to make all 13? North DealsNone... read more here

The Rainy Day Arrives. Have you ever discussed a bidding situation with your partner, come to an agreement what you would do in that situation and place that agreement somewhere very deep in your memory-bank? Well, you know that the chances of... read more here

The obvious action? I rather thought the solution to today's problem would be universal.  It was not at the table. Indeed, it was not even to all members of our Panel though there was a universal decision that some action was required. So,... read more here

“A Cow flew by!” What better forward can there be for today’s Jan’s Day article than to repeat Jan’s own words that this is her favourite of the articles she wrote. “Flying cows..favourite article." It... read more here

    Again! Yesterday, we saw how a ruff and discard, enabled the defence to at least prevent an overtrick, and indeed threaten the success of the contract. We do not normally knowingly present declarer with a ruff and discard unless... read more here

  …. or doing what you are not supposed to do! Breaking the bridge rules is a dangerous thing to do. Those rules are there for a reason and if you find cause to deviate, well, you had better be right!    ... read more here