All News

  • The Bridge Zone Radio Show - 060

    4 Sep 2019

     This weeks show includes:     Congress is coming……….     Get your entires in, come to Hamilton, we’ll see you there Email us with your thoughts on your form heading in Congress How... read more here

  • Auckland News with Douglas Russell

    3 Sep 2019

    As some of you may have heard, I spent 5 unplanned days at the beginning of August enjoying the outstanding hospitality of the North Shore Hospital, as a result of which I now have a new friend very close to my heart, known inevitably as Gerry.... read more here

  • Pairs The Great Leveller

    3 Sep 2019

    The National Open Pairs at Auckland Bridge Club. Have you heard that before? Some days everything works and others…everything works for the opposition! It may be sobering to know that even our top internationals have such days. Take the... read more here

  • Three New to Gold

    2 Sep 2019

    We salute three new Gold Grand Masters. That is  at least 4,000 A and B Master- Points of which at least 2,500 must be be A Points. They come from Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland.          ... read more here

  • New To The Table. The Play of the Hand.

    1 Sep 2019

    The Defender You Do NOT Want on Lead. So much for all that talk about “4th Suit Forcing” on Friday. We have been left to make 3NT. If we had been able to call 2spades as our second bid in the sequence below, it would be our... read more here

  • National 15A Pairs- Auckland Bridge Club

    30 Aug 2019

    Link to results read more here

  • New To The Table

    30 Aug 2019

    The Suit You Do Not Need to Call. You open the bidding by calling your longest suit at the 1 level. Your partner calls a different suit and you call your second longest suit because you have no support for your partner’s suit and a hand not... read more here

  • Tales of Akarana

    30 Aug 2019

    Catch me if you can… Not a night of great deeds, a night generally if you could keep your nose out of trouble, you would score better. Trouble awaited round many corners, or bids too far: How high would you bid this interesting... read more here

  • Central Districts News with George MacLachlan

    29 Aug 2019

    Meet one of most recent arrivals to the Central Districts bridge scene. Read on further to discover who his keepers are. The Levin Open, held on 21st July, attracted a field of 30 pairs and was won easily by the Ker brothers, Anthony and... read more here

  • The Bridge Zone Show - 059

    29 Aug 2019

      Click this link to enjoy the show read more here

  • Play and Defend Better: for improving players

    28 Aug 2019

    RIGHT SWITCH: WRONG RESULT? Good defence and good declarer play on the same board? The end result could well not be good for both sides.The defence did all they could to defeat declarer’s 4 level contract. Would it be enough? Let’s... read more here

  • One Month to go: One Week to go

    26 Aug 2019

    Our National Bridge Congress, the highlight of our bridge calendar is now just one month away. If you have not yet entered, especially Ryman New Zealand Open and Restricted Open Pairs, now would be a great time to do so. We do require prior entry... read more here

  • New To The Table. The Play of the Hand.

    25 Aug 2019

    Making the Two Games….or Failing in a Good Cause? We left you on Friday with one pair of hands and two contracts to play. So, let’s look first of all at the one I hope you did not reach, 3NT. North DealsE-W Vul... read more here

  • New To The Table

    23 Aug 2019

    Going to game: but which game? We, the bridge teachers, tell our new players to bid to game when we know we are strong enough to do so. Sometimes, we may be strong enough but we do not know which game we should bid. As a for instance, we open 1... read more here

  • Tales of Akarana

    23 Aug 2019

    Golden Week but not Great Diamond Celebrations Akarana will this Saturday be celebrating its 50th anniversary, just a few months late….but then Akarana players have not over the years been too wedded to time issues. This Wednesday evening... read more here

  • The Bridge Zone Show -058

    21 Aug 2019

        This weeks show includes:   Judge Julie   and full disclosure   Results Upper Hutt Multi-Grade-  Richard Solomon wins the bet for a sultana scone   Fullarton Teams - Wanganui  ... read more here

  • Top of The South News with Jenny Pomeroy

    21 Aug 2019

    Tournaments and lessons are the theme of the last couple of months.  Once again tournaments for everyone – Junior, Intermediate, Interclub, Swiss Pairs, Regional 10A, Charity…..   Starting off with the Nelson Junior Pairs... read more here

  • Play and Defend Better: for improving players

    19 Aug 2019

    Different Leads: Different Problems On the following board, most West players did the normal thing of leading their partner’s suit. You cannot be wrong even if you are not right! What would be your plan assuming you play low from dummy,... read more here

  • New To The Table. The Play of the Hand.

    18 Aug 2019

    Can’t Bid Slam but Can you Make One? We left you on Friday in a reasonable looking 4S contract. We got to game on a combined 24 high card points and avoided the trap of playing 3NT. We are playing Pairs which means not only do we want to... read more here

  • Volunteer of The Month

    17 Aug 2019

         Sharon Thompson - Richmond     Sharon has been nominated by the Richmond Club Committee. The following tribute comes fromClub Secretary, Diane Groom:    "Sharon certainly deserves... read more here

  • New To The Table

    16 Aug 2019

    The Wise Bid. There are times when, in the bidding, you tell the opponents as little as possible about your hand and other times when you need to reveal all, or quite a lot! If you know which suit and which level you want to play, then... read more here

  • Tales of Akarana

    16 Aug 2019

    “MAKING UP THE NUMBERS?” Who were? Why, the North-South pairs, of course. They were there to defend, occasionally to have slam aspirations, to make a nuisance of themselves in a series of high- level competitive boards but generally,... read more here

  • Canterbury News with Max Robb

    15 Aug 2019

    Plenty of tournament action to report this issue. So, let's get straight into it: Mid South Island Teams  - June 23rd Someone, or a group, must be doing a lot of hard work in South Canterbury to get 6 Junior and 6 Intermediate teams along... read more here

  • Congratulations to our 3 new Siver Grandmasters

    15 Aug 2019

    Details Here read more here

  • The Bridge Zone Radio Show - 057

    14 Aug 2019

        Today’s show includes:   Cambridge Sixes - Tarakiwi take out the event     More Km’s to A’s for Russell Wilson travelled to the Cambridge Sixes Angels take out the costume prize... read more here

  • Play and Defend Better: for improving players

    13 Aug 2019

    It’s OK to return partner’s suit…except…. When it’s wrong! Helpful advice? Not really. Defence can be hard (another unhelpful comment!), One factor which can make it easier is when our partner makes a bid.... read more here

  • The Youth Weekend That Was

    13 Aug 2019

    32 young bridge players came to Christchurch from all over the country: from Auckland, Tauranga, Cambridge, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington, Westport, Rangiora, Christchurch and Dunedin. Here they all are: They played an Individual... read more here

  • New To The Table. The Play of the Hand.

    12 Aug 2019

    Play Well: Be Lucky. Good play is not always rewarded but we would like to believe it is. If we play the cards in the best possible manner and fail in our contract, then we will have a level of satisfaction, if not all the deserved match-points!... read more here

  • New To The Table

    9 Aug 2019

    "Quantitative Bid" …. Can you say it and use it? I struggle to say it but it is a useful bid to use. The idea is that you ask partner to pass if they are minimum for their holding or bid on if they are maximum…a bit like the... read more here

  • Nominations open - International representative teams for 2020

    9 Aug 2019

    Details Here read more here

  • Tales of Akarana

    9 Aug 2019

    SHAPELESS and SHAPELY. Sometimes it is what is staring before our eyes. At other times, we have to imagine what it is our opponents might be bidding so aggressively on. In the context of the above, two problems for you:  ... read more here

  • Top 100 and 200!

    8 Aug 2019

    Getting all the functions working  connected with this website has proved a slowish process. We are getting there! You can now see the list of the top 100 New Zealand master-point holders of all time which will be updated from time to time,... read more here

  • The Bridge Zone Show - 056

    7 Aug 2019

     In todays show.......   Results North Island Pairs The Simpsons’ take out the event We have Jo Simpson on the show How does a 4 man team come 3rd in the event? Auckland Pairs Billie Tohill Pairs Tudor Biggs... read more here

  • Wellington News with Paul Maxwell

    7 Aug 2019

    Bridge and.... July saw a rather nasty cold circulating among local bridge players. While recovering, I was flicking through TV channels and came across a novel sport. One fan had combined his love of chess and boxing. The two activities... read more here

  • Gold and Silver for North Island Pairs Winners

    6 Aug 2019

    Jo and Sam Simpson squeezed home in a very tight finish to last weekend’s North Island Pairs held at the Wellington Bridge Club. The format was the same as at the recent South Island Pairs with each pair playing three boards against the... read more here

  • Play and Defend Better: for improving players

    6 Aug 2019

    Double and Defend Strongly when they overstep the mark. A couple of bidding situations for you first up…. for although this article is primarily about playing and defending hands, the bidding is very much connected with both. East’s... read more here

  • New To The Table. The Play of the Hand.

    4 Aug 2019

    A Change of Plan. You make your plan when you first see dummy. Sometimes, something goes wrong and you have to make an abrupt change if you are to have any chance of making your contract. Take this week’s hand: North DealsNone... read more here

  • Tales of Akarana

    3 Aug 2019

    A Timely Duck. 23 high-card points between the two hands, a holey longish 5 card “coming home suit” and a fair knowledge that a key finesse is going to fail (it does). It all sounds like 3NT is going to run into some degree of... read more here

  • New To The Table

    2 Aug 2019

    Staying in Part-Score. Part-score contracts are important too. You cannot make game on every hand. When we do not think we can make a game, we would like to stop as low as we can…but it is not always possible.    ... read more here

  • North Island Pairs- Wellington Bridge Club

    2 Aug 2019

    LInk to results read more here

  • Otago- Southland News with Brad Johnston

    31 Jul 2019

    It’s been a while since I last wrote to you, and in that time some things have happened. One of these is that there’ve been some local tournaments (of course). So, it’s good to celebrate the winners. Not to waste your valuable... read more here

  • The Bridge Zone Show- 055

    31 Jul 2019

      Todays show includes:   Boomerang Bridge Welcome Liam Milne – our Australian Correspondent The 1st throw of the Boomerang   Funnies reveal Dummy – my knight in shining armour, gallant saviour of fricken... read more here

  • A Lighter Look

    30 Jul 2019

                 Playing With “The Master”. Have you ever had a game of Bridge with a “DealMaster”? You know who I mean, don’t you? His (oops, sorry, that may... read more here

  • Resignation from the Board- Jane Stearns

    30 Jul 2019

      Yesterday I received notice from Jane Stearns of her resignation from the Board which, with regret, I have accepted. Without doubt Jane’s contribution, over a relatively short period, has been most significant and I am sure will be... read more here

  • Lots of Laughs, Bridge and Pizzas in Auckland

    29 Jul 2019

    There was an excellent atmosphere on the last Sunday of morning of July as 34 students took part in a Schools’ Pairs event at the Auckland Bridge Club. We had players from Macleans College, Auckland Grammar, Bucklands Beach Intermediate,... read more here

  • New To The Table. The Play of the Hand.

    29 Jul 2019

     Playing a Tough Part-Score Contract.                 We left you as declarer in the  following deal in your part-score spade contract after West had led the jack... read more here

  • Volunteer of The Month

    29 Jul 2019

    Ron and Sandra Cooper - Orewa. This month we have a joint nomination, a husband and wife partnership who have served their club in different ways for many years. For 12 years Ron has been a committee member and served for 7 of those years as... read more here

  • New To The Table

    26 Jul 2019

    Being Competitive. One of the skills of bidding is, when the opponents open the bidding, of knowing to compete when an auction is about to end. This is called "balancing" or "being competitive".  If you do not, you will find you will get... read more here

  • Tales of Akarana

    26 Jul 2019

    If you do not succeed at first, finesse and finesse again! They are our last resort. We would take any reasonable line that means we do not have to take a finesse. Most of us would struggle to remember the last successful one in a key situation.... read more here

  • Waikato Bays News with Anna Kalma

    25 Jul 2019

    Waikato Bays News and Rubber "Cat" ch up Teams events seemed to be back on the radar over the past few months.   Starting with Spa Town Teams in Te Aroha … this is the only stand-alone tournament Te Aroha host and it is comprised... read more here

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