All News

No catch, really. Today’s deal did catch out more declarers than it should have. So, let’s check on the basics: North DealsE-W Vul ♠ 10 9 7 ♥ 10 7 ♦ 8 3 2... read more here

To Be Sure….To Be Sure. The auction was quite straightforward and left you with a choice of opening leads. With honours in all three suits except the suit bid by dummy, any lead you choose could be right…or wrong! So, two questions... read more here

For Juniors, Intermediates and Novices…and others! It’s Fri   day! A Game Decision…or who gets the coffees? When our side has enough high card points to bid to game and one player bids to a game contract, it is... read more here

should you? Stay put or move: that is the question? Well, there are actually two questions included with today’s problem. We have a situation where the opposition have doubled us for penalties at the two-level but where we have an... read more here

Join the Bidding Challenge Today! WHAT IS IT? You are emailed 15 hands with different scenarios. An expert panel has also been given the same problems! See how your answers compare. There will be a live-streamed event on Thursday 21st... read more here

The World Bridge Federation is conducting a survey exploring what types of leisure activities people do and why. Please help us by passing it on to as many bridge players as you can so that we get as wide a representative set of view as possible.... read more here

A sacrifice! West’s defence on the following hand was a little unusual, a little direct, perhaps to your advantage but that does not mean you were going to be successful! A little question for you. South DealsN-S Vul... read more here

Simple way to Success. The question today is are we referring to the declaring side or the defence with today’s deal? There is nothing complex about this deal but the simplicity of what was needed was not appreciated. East... read more here

What you should know. Sometimes a defender knows very little about a declarer’s hand. Sometimes you know or should know a lot more. Are you ready to put your knowledge into practice?   East DealsNone Vul... read more here

for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players...and others: It's Fri     day. “Applauding” good defence. It’s nice to see players win with good play or defence. There is a small exception to that feeling.... read more here

A final bid or pass? One of the most exciting boards of the Inter-Provincials occurred in the first round on Friday night. Both West players in one match faced an unusual decision at the 7-level. Here is the auction one of them faced:... read more here

Two- Part Defence. East had two defensive tasks to perform on the following deal, succeeded in the first but failed in the second. They certainly did not appreciate that their partner had a big problem. Playing Teams, this is what East saw on... read more here

go quickly….or not at all! A Quick Approach? Many South players made the same bid on the following board from last weekend’s Inter-Provincials but not all at the same time and not with all the same degree of success. So,... read more here

Dougal McLean returns North. Auckland-Northland won back the Dougal McLean Inter-Provincial Trophy after an exciting weekend of on-line bridge. This region won the Open competition handsomely, were pipped at the post by Wellington in the... read more here

WBF Women's Teams Online - Feb 16-18 2024.pdf   read more here

for Juniors, Intermediates, Novices and others....it's Fri   day.  Stay low, Joe! Sometimes, the high-card point count is not the only criteria which affects one’s bid. Take a look at the following:  ... read more here

Dougal McLean Trophy.  This weekend sees the on-line Inter-Provincial Championships on Real Bridge.  below is the results link for this weekend's Inter-provincials.... read more here

Tactics. The Gambling 3NT opener is relatively commonly used. Although there can be a little flexibility regarding its use in 3rd or 4th seat, in first or second seat it shows specifically a long solid minor suit, at least and often 7-carded, and... read more here

It ain’t easy! When the opposition race off to the 5-level in just two bids, it rarely is. What follows are some interesting comments on hand valuation and where we might be heading. Firstly, though, the problem:    ... read more here

Blame! “You gave away the 10th trick. It must be your fault.” Does that sound familiar? Hopefully not but before such a statement is made, make sure you yourself are squeaky clean. Often, it is not that straightforward.... read more here

and care! Doubling the new…. and the less new ones, too! There is a debate going around parts of the Waikato Bays Region about whether one should be instructed not to double inexperienced pairs just out of classes for penalties, on the... read more here

A Happy Ending, of course, as it’s Fri  day! For Junior, Intermediates, Novices and others! You must have been in this position more than once: many times! What does partner’s bid mean? What shall I do? The longer you say... read more here

Balancing Thoughts. I thought today’s problem concerned the question of whether we should balance rather than how. The Panel raise an interesting approach to the art of balancing. Take a look. North DealsN-S Vul  ... read more here

Pairs’ isn’t Fair. This week I saw my football team equalise with a penalty in the last minute to finish 4-4 with league leaders, Manchester City. Neither team deserved to lose as both played good football. The same could be said of... read more here

Aussies to the fore. The final round in the 9 round Trans- Tasman Challenge, played on the night of Friday November 10th,  did not prove very successful for the New Zealand teams. Our 2 Open teams played the two Australian Open teams, both... read more here

Loveblock New Zealand Wide Pairs. A Franklin Win. Lynne Geursen and Grant Jarvis of the Franklin Bridge Club took line honours in last Friday night’s Loveblock New Zealand Wide Pairs which was contested at 51 clubs throughout the country.... read more here

RESULTS   Loveblock New Zealand Wide Pairs. Most heats are now scored and the results are showing on the Compass mate site…. See below link.  https://www.compassmate.bridge-centre.org/results/monthly  All ... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players..and others. It’s Fri day. The Battle of the Minors. Sometimes, not very often, the only suits which seem to matter are the minor suits. There are a couple of valuable lessons to learn from the... read more here

No One Way. When we get five different answers from our Panel as to what they would bid after a rather straightforward start to an auction, then we have a problem! So, let’s have a look.      ... read more here

Loveblock New Zealand Wide Pairs is here. This event is back and takes place on the evening of Friday November 10th at a club near you. There will be 54 heats ranging from Kerikeri in the north to Winton in the south. Many of the heats will... read more here

Michaels Achilles. Most players use some form of Michaels Cue Bids even if it is only jumping to 2NT to show length in both minor suits. It can be really handy to identify two suits in one bid. We like both suits to be of at least 5-cards long as... read more here

Paula Boughey and Duncan Badley Four suits bid. There are the mundane bridge deals, fought out between two sides in the part-score zone or maybe an uncontested part-score or game contract but then there are others where there is lots of... read more here

Setsuko Lichtnecker and Peer Bach. Favourites off the pace in the National Swiss Pairs. 12 by 9 board rounds of Swiss Pairs produced surprising but worthy winners in the National Swiss Pairs this last weekend at the Auckland Bridge Club. There... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others. It’s Fri day. What double means. One of the difficulties of the bid “double” is that it means different things at different times of an auction. When the... read more here

Wrong: for sure. Two defenders took the same route on the same deal, a route they knew could not benefit their side. There was another way which might not be so wrong as unlikely as it might seem. On this deal, both South declarers had played... read more here

Regional President, Mairi Fitzsimons at the prize-giving.  In memory of Zelda. The 10A Zelda Morris Central Districts Pairs was held on the 29th and 30th of October at the Havelock North Bridge Club. Club President, Graham Potter,... read more here

for partner. Reopening doubles? I am curious about reopening doubles. In olden days…well, a few years back…you reopened because you were short in the opponent’s suit and therefore had four cards in the other major. If you did... read more here

Where is she? The search for the queen. You have all the aces, all the kings, and a couple of significant queens. You even have the jack of a significant side-suit. You have a 9-card trump fit and drawing the missing trumps is not to be a... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players …and others. It’s Fri day. Choice! You might use that word colloquially when partner puts down a good dummy! Yet, it has another meaning. What is your next bid with the following hand?... read more here