All News

for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players...and others! It's Fri day.  Keep your eye on the ball…. or else? Or else the news can be rather bad. At the risk of mixing metaphors, if you do not, you may find the horse has already... read more here

  A Reputation in Tatters. They say “one success does not make a summer” or maybe they do not! Yes, I know, it was a swallow but there are no swallows playing bridge, to my knowledge! This, though, was a hard pill to swallow!... read more here

A Time for care….and flair! When one’s opponents are in an unusual contract, one they should not make, your task as a defender is not to offer them any slim chance of making, if you can. On today’s deal, North-South were... read more here

Choices? Balanced hands after a take-out double can usually be handled reasonably easily. What though when we, the responder to a take-out double, are unbalanced and strong? An interesting auction developed on the deal below.  ... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others. It’s Fri   day! Leading to and from. When we take a finesse, we start normally with the hand that does not hold the key honours. Honours may be split between the two hands... read more here

2023 Youth Bridge Weekend. Zarias Werder (far right) was one of the winners of events at that weekend and unsurprisingly is starting to make an impression on the tournament scene.  A Journey to Gold. When one starts one’s bridge... read more here

Opposition help. There are times when pre-emptive bidding can tell the opposition too much. While it is possible that they would reach their top spot had the opposition not been so active, opponents’ actions can make it much easier for... read more here

The auction starts nice and gently but suddenly picks up at a frenetic pace. Can you keep up? It is your turn as North to bid…or pass. Any thoughts? Only East/West are vulnerable and everyone is having their say.  ... read more here

Tough but not Terminal. Bad trump breaks can be annoying but do not necessarily mean one cannot make one’s contract. Just look on them as a challenge! So, here is one for you: South DealsN-S Vul ♠ K Q... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others! It’s Fri  day. A little lie and a lucky lie! Unfortunately, neither lie favoured West on today’s deal. Sometimes the luck goes your way: sometimes not. That’s... read more here

Two Different Points of View. It was not truly a level playing field but there were two very different points of view expressed when our two South players were faced with a troublesome piece of pre-emption in a recent Teams match. What they had... read more here

A Thin Fine Line… …between success and failure. A good example of this occurred in the following board from the final of the Mixed Trial. Maybe you should: maybe not. Yet, with your opponents conducting a short relay auction, you... read more here

Mixed Team Trial. The Mixed Team Trial was in the end won fairly comfortably by Julie Atkinson – Pat Carter and Jenny Millington – Barry Jones. They had perhaps the toughest quarter final assignment in overcoming Tuffnell (Graeme... read more here

One chance out of one or one chance out of two? One chance out of one would seem to be a 50% chance of success while one chance out of two seems to have a 75% chance of success. So, it would seem obvious to go for the 75% line….but there... read more here

for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players....and others. It's Fri Day.  A Difficult Deal. Today’s deal is difficult for both sides. We will look at it through the eyes of North-South. It shows the value of good Hand Evaluation and... read more here

The Mixed Team Trial to determine which team goes to the World Championships in Argentina in October takes place over this coming weekend (a 3 day weekend for the 2 most successful teams) in Auckland. The event takes place upstairs at the... read more here

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory. It would never happen to you, would it? Before you write today’s article off as being too simplistic, consider all the basic points behind it like: Counting your winners. Be aware of the... read more here

Dealing with Disaster. It happens someday to us all, whether you are playing in a World Championship final or in your first night out of classes at your club. You will get a bad result. How should you deal with that bad score? It’s hard but... read more here

A High-Wire Lead. Some action today from the Open Teams  at the Gold Coast Congress. Victory went to the Ware team below though they would not even have made the final had the following semi-final board gone against them. Ware: ... read more here

Ivy Dahler Restricted Butler Pairs winners, Derek Bartosh and Jan Bennett, from Auckland.  Haste need not mean waste. Firstly, congratulations to the mixed Kiwi- Australian team which won the Gold Coast Teams at the weekend winning the 64... read more here

Protection! You sit there thinking about how to bid your potentially nice 20 pointer. What should you open? Well, that decision is taken away from you by an opening 1S bid on your left. Then, out comes 4H from your partner and suddenly your... read more here

Big hand: little hand. There are frequent discussions about how forcing a sequence is when one partner opens 2. I have already stated that I think 2 is best treated as forcing to game and that the partner with less than nothing just has to keep... read more here

A reward for risk. This deal from the first round of the Gold Coast Teams proved too hard for many declarers. What are your thoughts about coming to 10 tricks? Overtricks can wait for another deal! North DealsN-S Vul... read more here

Who’s the boss? Well, some hands involve an exchange of information to reach the right contract, both the level and the suit denomination. Then, there are others where one partner takes control and when it comes to slam bidding, it is the... read more here

or even: No Double Spells Trouble! The first 56 boards at the Gold Coast Congress produced relatively few excursions to the slam zone. The following one produced mixed outcomes for the slam bidders. Our problem today is for those on lead at... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others. It’s Fri Day! Gamblers. Some bridge deals can be bid, defended and played in a precise manner. Players bid what they have and barring bad breaks, they should be making their... read more here

The “unusual” Unusual 2NT. The Unusual 2NT overcall is a popular convention which often produces good results in either pushing one’s opponents to an uncomfortably high level or even guiding one’s partner into a... read more here

Two Slips to a Making Game. Today’s contract should have been defeated and generally was but produced a couple of interesting situations which were missed at one table, the combination of which allowed the declarer to slither home.... read more here

  To beat a game: to make a game! While the defence to today’s deal, coming from the recent South Island Teams, is not entirely straightforward, I was surprised that the popular 4S contract was made at most tables. Firstly, therefore,... read more here

   Jeff Miller and Graeme Stout. “Southern” winners for South Island Teams. The South Island Teams took place over the past weekend on-line with a huge entry of 58 teams. Fittingly, it was a South Island team which took the... read more here

for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players...and others! It's Fri  day.  One Point, One Bid, One Unhappy Partner! Well, that’s what happened but did it have to? North picked up a very very poor hand. They did not want to bid at... read more here

  The best lead does not always bring the best results! The Best Lead? Well, you want to find the most challenging lead for the declarer. On the following board, the most challenging lead was not necessarily going to beat South’s... read more here

Linda Cartner and Glenis Palmer. “Late singing” once more. I talked yesterday in the report of the Open Trial that nothing is certain until the last card has been played…or until “the fat lady sings”. She did not... read more here