All News

Strong Jumps may not be but our National Congress is certainly here! If you are reading this bridge column, you will surely be aware that this Saturday sees the start of the 2023 National Bridge Congress at Bay Park, Mt Maunganui. There will be 8... read more here

  Five before Nine. Today’s battle is a familiar one with declarer looking for an extra trick in their 3NT contract while yours is to find five for the defence before they do so. Let’s start at trick 1: North... read more here

Kiwis v Australia: Match 7. The Trans -Tasman Challenge has been played out on line roughly once a month this year between New Zealand and Australian teams. Each New Zealand team (and vice versa) plays each of the 9 teams from the other country... read more here

Warm-up and “on fire”! That’s one way to describe the past weekend for Christchurch’s David Taylor and Pavla Fenwick at their local club’s pre National Congress mini-Congress. With just a little help from Max... read more here

It’s Fri    Day: for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players …and others. The Difficult Area of High Level Bidding. It’s difficult for experienced players. So, it is very challenging for those newish to the game.... read more here

                            Unlucky….or not? Before moaning about bad luck, a declarer should always be... read more here

             is the risk worthwhile?          A Reason to bid above Game. Today, we give you the opportunity to make a bid not often used but can be rather successful when it is.... read more here

Nothing to bid: no fun! When you have no or few high cards and no support for your partner, then the best bid is “Pass”. Yet, there are times when this is just not possible. West DealsN-S Vul    ... read more here

Could this be dummy? We never put an 8-card card suit down in dummy, do we? It’s a common saying that a solid 8-card suit should never be put down as a side-suit in dummy. Well, what do you think about this heart suit? You are playing... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players….and others. It's Fri day. Half Right meant Half Wrong! and “half wrong” meant that that North-South did not get the result they should have got from the deal we feature today. Your... read more here

Youth Bridge Weekend 2023 New Zealand Bridge’s annual Youth Bridge Weekend took place over the weekend of September 1st to 3rd at the Christchurch Bridge Club. Today’s article features a report on the event by one of the organisers,... read more here

No Regrets. West had plenty of regrets at their choice of opening lead at the end of play on today’s deal. So, let’s look at the choice West had to make on this deal and see if you would have led what was chosen at the table and... read more here

Neil Dravitzki and Sonia Crawford, celebrating success at the table.  Farewell, Neil. Today’s article is not really a bidding problem but I thought I would give you one anyway. Today is a salute,  in memory of one of the... read more here

too many losers!. Loser Reduction. Jack James and George Masters recorded a clear win in the Waikato Bays Swiss Pairs at the Hamilton Bridge Club on Saturday. The following board produced good declarer play from Jack. How then would you play... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate, Novice players and others. It's Fri day. Once in Everyone’s Lifetime. Maybe more than once if you play long enough! It is not too often that you pick up a hand like the following. Yet, many did earlier this week.... read more here

Trans nationals in Marrakech. End Play End play in more ways than one as today’s deal comes from the Transnational Teams which was the consolation event for those teams who did not make the knock-out stages of the four events, Open, Women,... read more here

  A "Grand" Hand. I was curious why recently most of a relatively small field in a tournament failed to advance higher than game when it seemed the main problem would be reaching grand rather than small slam. The hand you will see below is... read more here

Last Day Disappointment. The last day, the last two rounds, in such lengthy round-robins inevitably produce success for some, great disappointment for others. It would be nice to be able to report the former for our Open Team. Alas, no. The... read more here

  It would be very rare that we give pride of place to the result of a 3A Open Pairs event but today is that day. Winners of the event, the Auckland Club’s 3A Billie Tohill Open Pairs,  held on 26th August, were none other than... read more here

Edging there slowly. That can be one way of describing the New Zealand Open Team’s attempt to reach the top 8 knock-out stage in the current World Championships. Three narrow wins have seen them remain 7th throughout the 7th day of the... read more here

Day 6 : a day of promise. A good or better day for all three Kiwi teams though all eyes are now on our Open Team who are in the top 8 and playing consistently well. A small loss to Israel was followed  by wins over USA 2 and Chile and they... read more here

Day 5 at Marrakesh: Our Open Team stay in contention. Two losses and one win may not seem that good an outcome for our Open Team on Day 5 but the losses, against strong opposition, were by just 2 and 6 imps while a great result was recorded... read more here

One up: Two down v the Australians. Day 4 at the World Championships It was a one win two loss day when all three of our teams took on our “old foe”. While both Open and Women’s teams had generally a good day, it was a real... read more here

Day 3 at the World Championships: another day in contention. Both our Women and Mixed Teams had a result to forget on Day 3 but “the blips” were against strong opposition and were matched by wins or a close loss in their other... read more here

A Day of Promise – Day 2 at the World Championships. Although the results of the Open Team were a little disappointing, it was generally a good day for our teams in Marrakesh. Open     imps   vps... read more here

Day 1 at this year's World Championships in Marrakech, Morroco saw all three New Zealand teams in action. Our Open, Women and Mixed Teams are playing 3 matches of 16 boards per day over 8 days, 23 matches in all.   Our Women's Team:... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others. It’s Fri day. Few points: must act. Today’s deal is aimed at less experienced players but there is a lesson here for everyone. Sometimes, the hardest decisions at the... read more here

46th World Bridge Teams Championships....and the Kiwis are there! The World Championship competitions starts on Sunday, 20th August, in Marrakech, Morocco. New Zealand has three teams competing as follows:    a repeat of this,... read more here

Too low: loo high! Slamming Problems. Three slams in four successive boards recently with two making and only one bid…and you can guess which one was the only one bid, the one you should not make…and that one made! Is there... read more here

Different Systems: Different Contracts. In theory, if we all played the same system and all bid the same way, we should reach the same contract, the only difference being the way we play and defend the board. Of course, bridge is much more... read more here

Counting on it. Are you? Counting on beating the contract, that is. You look pretty well placed to do so this time. Have you got your eye on the ball? We will see what “the ball” is shortly. Firstly, it is your play to trick 3.... read more here

  The High Wire: it’s dangerous! One slip spells disaster! The on-line Fullarton Teams over the last weekend saw a narrow victory for the team of Jan Alabaster- Pam Livingston and Jenna and Christine Gibbons, a nice boost for them... read more here

for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players...and others! It's Fri Day.  Beware the pitfalls! Today’s deal has a little bit about bidding and a piece more about playing a board which is not quite straightforward. We will come back to... read more here

 LAST! Last but not Least. Bidding would be somewhat easier if the Dealer was always the player with the strongest hand. You could open 2C or the like and the bidding would proceed from there. That, of course, is not the situation..and nor... read more here

how high? A Try for Game…or for Slam? It can be hard at times to distinguish between competitive and slam try bidding. This is especially true when the opposition make a semi-constructive bid themselves. What would your choice be on the... read more here