All News

            COUNTING TO NINE. It’s is nice and straightforward when, in 3NT, you have six tricks in one suit, two in another and one in the suit they led. No degree in mathematics... read more here

Tactics… We left you with two seemingly unconnected problems yesterday, one in the bidding and the other in the play. What was supposed to connect them was a difference in approach playing Pairs as opposed to Teams. However, the reality of... read more here

Creating an Illusion. When you are playing Teams, you do want to beat any contract of the opponents. You do not want them scoring an overtrick or three either if they are at a sensible level. A couple of imps in the out column would be annoying... read more here

                                     “To bid or not to bid.... read more here

THE GUIDE. While beating a contract by two tricks is a nice result, beating that same contract by one trick is better than not beating it all! That was not the initial problem given yesterday. On the assumption, though, you found the right lead,... read more here

Full Steam Ahead…if you Reverse! The concept of reversing at the table is one many players do not seem to understand. If they do, they do not seem to put it into practice. A reverse is the second suit bid by opener, a higher- ranking suit... read more here

ALTERNATIVE EVIDENCE. Opening Leads can be somewhat “hit and miss”, sometimes a lucky “hit”, often a big “miss”! That is, of course, an exaggeration. The recommended leads for any one situation do work more... read more here

Keeping Control. It is very frustrating for a declarer to run out of the one thing that they hope to have plenty of…trumps! Some contracts are blown away because a declarer has none left, or less than an opponent. Were we to look at this... read more here

BEAUTY WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT IT. You have only a 12 count. You opened the bidding and partner responds with a change of suit in which you have a doubleton.. You have a decent looking 6 card suit, indeed one which will often play for just one... read more here

Supporting Role to the Star. Yours is not the star role today. You cannot perform a brilliancy on every board. (Did I hear you say that one every 1,000 would be nice! If so, do not be so negative.) However, you did have a supporting role to play.... read more here

WHAT IF? We can dream of nice things happening in our life, a big Lotto win, a visit from a long-lost friend, perhaps even a well-played bridge hand. I am sure at least one of those has happened: not sure about all three! Yet, those two little... read more here

An “Open Book”. If you look at the North-South hands below, with no opposition bidding, you could construct a sensible auction to 3NT by South where there are 9 rock-solid tricks, a bonus tenth if West leads a spade. Unsensational.... read more here

What this great video.  Thank you to Prof Sam Punch for allowing us to share this with you read more here

                     CHOOSING THE TRUMP SUIT, IF INDEED THERE IS ONE! Part One of our two-part grand slam series featured whether we could bid to... read more here

Which Level? Which Suit? I do hate two-part episodes on television. The second part is always on a bridge night! (please do not tell me I could record it. You could!) However, I know you will be doing nothing special on Saturday morning. So, here... read more here

THINK BEFORE YOU COVER. Ideally, well before. Like when you first see dummy. “What if?” is the question you should be asking yourself. Hesitating at the critical point rather gives the game away about an honour’s location. You... read more here

the sad result of collecting a session prize! Read on... Results … sadly very little to report since the last regional round up for obvious reasons … The last tournament in the region was held on the 14th March … and it was... read more here

Blair Fisher with one of his partners, George Masters. George is not exactly short, which lets you know that neither is Blair! A BID TO MATCH HIS HEIGHT. So, you do not pick up a near solid 9 card suit that often? What about a 4-card suit of... read more here

                        Four Losers Equals Ten Tricks! How can that be? Simple mathematics suggests that if you have four losers in... read more here

Are You Listening? The opponents open one suit you do not hold and then bid another. You have 5 cards in each of the other two suits, some nice controls and the potential for a lot of tricks if you fit with your partner in one of those suits.... read more here

A TIME TO BE PATIENT? Is it? Your partner has made an overcall and you are on lead with A86 of their overcalled suit. You cannot lose this post-mortem by leading partner’s suit, can you? Well, maybe not but will your action allow the... read more here

Does partner have the ace or the king...or neither? That is the question. THAT DIAMOND DILEMMA. You bid all the way to a grand-slam in some style and then hear that dreaded sound “double” from one of the opponents, even worse when it... read more here

Counting on it! What is the hardest part of bridge? Some would say defence, others bidding, and many would say “everything”! One nomination which may not be right at the top of the list but must surely rank quite highly is... read more here

not today!. No Second Chance They, your opponents, had one chance to beat your 4S contract. Even then, they might not have been successful. However, try not to give them a second chance if you can. They may not turn down the opportunity twice.... read more here

A BRIDGE EVENT RARELY NOW SEEN. What is that? A flat board in a Pairs session? No way, such an event was rarely seen ever. No, the answer is a “passed in board”. Someone finds some excuse to open their hand. We did report one in the... read more here

Which Finesse? The wrong one. Well, it seems to work out that way, doesn’t it? Given a choice of two, the odds of success are nowhere near 50-50, or so it seems. Or, is all not what it seems? Has that “sadistic hand setter” to... read more here

Susan Humphries. Learning Bridge in Lockdown! Susan Humphries loves bridge. She showed her great enthusiasm for the game during her time in New Zealand, in particular with her support for Youth Bridge. She now lives in Sydney and has made the... read more here

  So Easy to Miss. Trick One, the losing trick for so many contracts. Careless plays, wrong plays, no win plays: they are abundant in any session of bridge. Sometimes, there are unlucky plays, too. Let’s not be too harsh as it is a... read more here

            The Sadistic Problem Setter. There is somewhere someone who punishes non- vigilant bridge players. That person teases us. They spend hours on end setting up hand lay-outs to catch... read more here

Double or Bid? How dare the opponents bid over yours or your partner’s 15-17 1NT opener. Not just that, but they often seem to bid without what you might call a bit of extra protection! We live in New Zealand. So, “she’ll be... read more here

ALIVE TO THE SITUATION. Diamonds You See …and Diamonds You do not! Partner leads your suit, sometimes yours and partner’s suit. It’s 3NT by your left-hand opponent who has announced a hold in that suit. You have a very short... read more here

Stewart Strang, new Life Member at Gore. Not much has happened in the South since you last heard from Moss—and I sadly don’t have anything cool to report in terms of solidarity or club happenings. Luckily Invercargill has been active,... read more here

a fair hand? SHAPE. Don’t you love it when you have got it! It kind of helps if partner has the same suit(s ) as you do, too. It is not so much fun when the opposition have great shape. Your aces can be worth nothing: kings and queens even... read more here

              SAFETY FIRST. When you cross a road, you look both ways, every way, and then once again, just to be sure. You want to make it to the other side, unscathed. For a... read more here

Which Ace? You have got three of them, aces that is. You are defending a part-score doubled contract, serious business. You do not want to put too many feet wrong. So, with which one do you start off? Shut your eyes and hope the choice is right?... read more here

three months' sanitiser ingredients..see the story below. Palmerston North. Today, we focus on what has been happening recently at the Palmerston North Bridge Club and in particular, a huge effort from one of its members. Palmerston North... read more here

Alister in Paradise. Above is the scene to which those of us who attended a recent Zoom meeting with NZ Bridge Secretary, Alister Stuck, were treated. While we sat in the confines of our homes, Alister was calling us from somewhere much more... read more here