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Fri Play... for those New to the Game “Pray” and Good Play Combined. You can pray, hope, wish that the cards lie well for you when you are playing a bridge deal but you have to play the cards as well as you can to give yourself the... read more here

Simple but Effective. That’s the message from today’s deal. Here, then, is your opening lead problem. Maybe it is not a problem? North DealsE-W Vul     ♠ 10 7 3... read more here

A Guiding Hand. Have you ever felt as a defender you just do not know which suit to play next? Should you switch or just carry -on with the suit you have led? Often, your partner will say whether they liked or did not like the lead or perhaps... read more here

A “May-be Slam” Approaching a “maybe” slam is what today’s article is about. Your partner opens a weak no trump and you have a 16-count, a reasonable but not great suit and no shortage. Two flattish hands, therefore,... read more here

Second but no third chance. Now, Later or Never. Following suit and waiting patiently for good things to happen works on some boards though not all the time. Sometimes, you have to make it happen to achieve a good result. Making it happen can... read more here

“Fri-yay Play” for those new to the game. Leading and not Leading Aces. One of the guidelines we are given as we learn about the basics of the game is “not to lead unsupported aces”. Let’s see what that means. In... read more here

No luck involved. Well, you might think you would be unlucky if you failed in today’s contract. However, on reflection, you might feel you were not so unlucky and deserved your poor result. Have a look.   East DealsE-W Vul... read more here

Refreshing Fridays…for those new to the table. Bid to game and  take a finesse. There is no such thing as a “simple” bridge hand when you start playing. They are all tough. At this time of year, many new players are... read more here

How Alive is “The Law”? That is “The Law of Total Tricks”. In its crudest form, you bid to the level of the number of trumps in your two hands. With 9 trumps, you get to the 3 level as quickly as possible, no matter how... read more here

A STRANGE TWIST. An interesting board today in many ways. It took place last Sunday evening in the NZ Bridge on-line Pairs, Open section.The first point of interest was the choice of opening bid by the first player likely to speak, East. What... read more here

Can it benefit your side to cover?   Cover an Honour with an Honour …and play one! The first part of the above phrase should conclude “when it might benefit your side from doing so.” Had that advice been followed, then 12... read more here

Sharleen Grounds. “David v Goliath” in the 21st Century. This is a story of the National Rubber Bridge competition and of two different achievements. They straddle two years of the competition rolled partly into one. The heats of... read more here

Rule Change Required. Well, just for today’s deal. Which rule do we want changed? The one that says when you win a trick, you have to lead to the next trick. It would have been quite handy here to let declarer lead to trick 2 in this... read more here

   Any fishhooks? It seems pretty straightforward. 1H promised 5 hearts and 2H guaranteed at least 6. You have a guaranteed 6-2 heart fit, plenty enough for game, maybe even slam on a good day. So, what to bid now? You are playing... read more here

“Off” to a good start. Often, the defence will prevail if the opening leader does the right thing at trick one. Will today’s defence prevail and will West find a good lead to indeed see that the contract goes “off”?... read more here

An unusual development. A short and seemingly rather sweet auction is suddenly hijacked by an opponent in a rather unusual way. As declarer, you were about to see the dummy and then this happened!     ♠... read more here

Or vice versa! “Leading” to the best result. That’s what we always want our bidding to do. Sometimes, though, we have to decide whether we just blast to what we hope is the final contract or else be more descriptive along the... read more here

On-line Sunday Night Bridge Tournaments for all Levels from New Zealand Bridge New Zealand Bridge is pleased to announce 4 separate Sunday evening tournaments on Real Bridge lasting throughout the rest of 2022.      Online poster... read more here

The Writing on the Wall. You are playing Pairs and overtricks do matter: the more the better if you are declarer. So, what do you think about the contract below? Maybe there are 10 tricks available in your major suit game…or maybe not.... read more here

Not for the faint-hearted. If you are newish to the game of bridge or indeed if you are a purist whose bids vaguely resemble what they were supposed to be when you first learnt to play, then today’s article is not for you. Bidding can be a... read more here

PROVING THE POINT... all 25 of them! Sometimes you reach a game contract, with the required 25 hcp and realise after the opening lead that your chances of success range from slim to non-existent! Naturally, the opponents have got off to the best... read more here

at Pairs. Some days it just happens and there are too many days it does not! Overbidding, under-bidding, wrong leads, failing finesses…you name them! Did they all happen in the same session? That’s bad! One or two ways that you can... read more here

               Bad Break..but where? The “bad break” is either in your suit or partner’s suit…or both! Not just bad but terminal! Or is it? How do you... read more here

Ten and a half Seconds Needed! They have removed the “Stop Card” and you still are not sure what to bid! Know the feeling? “A very difficult problem” one of our Panel comments about the hand for today. I and indeed some... read more here

Safeguarding Your Game. It was not too hard to bid to game, a combined 26 hcp with a useful singleton in dummy. A slight upgrade with North’s second bid though we are allowed to count three extra points for a useful singleton. So, all... read more here

Abnormal or Normal. One day, there will be a story written about a bridge deal where the right action is to take a finesse, just like we teach to our beginners. Half the time you are successful and the other half, you hope the opponents will... read more here

11, 12 or 13 tricks? You are in 6H. So, 12 tricks are sufficient, the 13th a bonus especially useful if you are playing Pairs. How though would you go about playing after West leads D10?   North DealsN-S Vul ♠... read more here

  New Zealand has had Regional Bridge Mates for some time, at least in some regions. Until quite recently, there was an RBM in Waikato Bays but in the last few months, there have been RBM’s only in Wellington (Katherine Gough), Top of... read more here