All News

  Listening to the Bidding. That’s what you should be doing as a defender whether you have lots of hcps or lots of 4s and 5s! Either way, if you and your partner do not bid, you are likely to find yourself on lead!  ... read more here

Avoiding Trouble. We can all get caught by unlucky breaks in a competitive bidding auction. When you have 6 reasonable spades and your left-hand opponent has 6 more, you may not enjoy being declarer. However, it seems we may be able to reduce... read more here

Cards partner does NOT hold! Nice Hand, Partner! Two on-line events took place over this past weekend, Teams on Saturday and Swiss Pairs yesterday, the events being a thank you from New Zealand Bridge for those who have endured many cancelled... read more here

for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players..and others: It's Fri   day. Even if you don’t know why. There are times for a defender to change the line of attack (or more precisely defence) but generally pursuing the same line as your... read more here

Agreements. Normally in bridge, we look at the bidding of a hand first and the play and defence afterwards. Wise folk know that most “normal” situations have exceptions in our game. So, after watching yesterday at the defence to a... read more here

Do you play this lady? Defensive Finessing. If you can never seem to take a successful finesse as a declarer (well, let’s call it “selective memory”!), then how about taking one as a defender! The result can be most rewarding.... read more here

choices! Going somewhere: hopefully not down! 19 hcp is a good number of points to pick up. Yet, when an opponent enters your auction, it can become more difficult:       North DealsBoth Vul  ... read more here

A Valuable Card. Two stories: one card: great value to the defenders. Today’s stories are a mixture of defensive convention and common sense. Let’s have a look: North DealsE-W Vul ♠ 10... read more here

         for less experienced players....and others. It's Fri Playing it Safe. Recently, a declarer failed in their contract when a defender appeared not to go along with one of the guidelines given to new players..and... read more here

Tactics. When one has a distributional hand, one can plan an approach in how to bid. Maybe we jump to a high level. Maybe we take it slowly. Today, we have a hand of some potential though it is unfortunate that the long suit is clubs, the suit... read more here

poor result…again! Pre-empts do work. That’s why we keep churning them out. Whether we like to have AKQ to seven or a little or a lot less in our suit, we like to set the opposition, even alas our partner, with a problem, like this:... read more here

Going higher? Slam time….but for whom? A lively quite informative auction. Are you going to end the bidding or keep going? How many tricks can each side make?  “ ♠ Q 10 9 2... read more here

For a Christmas Stocking. “All a bridge player wants in their Christmas Stocking, Not multi alcohol nor chocolate: really shocking.All a bridge player wants, a small request, please…..”   East DealsE-W Vul... read more here

Taking Care.   For Juniors, Intermediates, Novices and others. There should be a happy ending for the declarer in today’s deal though they will need to earn that good result with some careful play. South DealsNone... read more here

a good hand? Say partner has 12 cards in the majors!  Misfits? A deal from a reader today and not such a good hand as above! He raised several questions but we only posed one to the Panel. So, here goes: North DealsBoth Vul... read more here

“Tightly Knitted”. Two deals today with but one theme but before we disclose that to you, we will give you two lead problems. Both these deals occurred in recent weeks in Pairs’ events.      ... read more here

Catch-up time? Today’s deal caused problems for just about the whole 18 table field in a recent tournament. Hence, it gets an airing today:       East DealsBoth Vul   N... read more here

More of the same. One of the least pleasant parts of defence (come on, admit it, you just love defending, don’t you?!) is finding discards. So, you only have to find three this time. That should be no bother, well, not really! Take a look.... read more here

 for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players... and others, too: it's Fri Memory. Defending can be pretty hard. There’s all sorts of decisions like what to lead, what to discard, what to keep. Just try the following situation.... read more here

No idea! Making the best of it. Sometimes you have various ways to describe your hand. On other occasions, you have no way! Yet, it is still your bid…and passing is not an option. So, there you are. The clock is ticking:  ... read more here

  is it worth one more? Good Insurance. Part-score deals can yield a surprisingly large number of imps in a Teams’ match but it is the freak deals which seem to be the ones which create most conversations after an event. So, with that... read more here

It’s Fri   Day for JIN CLUB players… and others, too! Decision Time. Bridge is not always a straightforward game. Sometimes there are decisions to be made even when your partner puts your side to game. Take a look at the hand... read more here

One of “Those” Deals. Is that how we describe today’s problem? We cannot get them all right but at the table, North ended a long way from optimum. Let’s take a look:   ♠ —... read more here

READY FOR ANYTHING? Are you? Like when you are a defender? What are you thinking about as North when you see the following dummy: South DealsNone Vul ♠ A 10 7 ♥ Q 9 6 ♦... read more here

NO HATTRICK BUT NZ WIDE PAIRS TROPHY STAYS UP NORTH! Live tournament numbers may have been struggling a bit in recent months but the annual New Zealand Wide Pairs still retains its popularity with 55 clubs and 865 pairs taking part. There was one... read more here

FINAL RESULTS The results from 55 heats are now published on http://www.compassmate.bridge-centre.org/results/monthly  As has been stated on this website, the results will become final after 6 hours. We will be a little lenient as to time... read more here

  Friday 11th November 2022. The New Zealand Wide Pairs has been a regular feature of our Tournament Calendar since 1998. However, this year, the event has a new sponsor, Loveblock Wines with overall and category winners getting to sample... read more here