All News

Finesse to Success! Well, it looks like you have made the wrong decision for your side. You are playing Swiss Pairs and you should have left the final decision to your partner who would certainly have wielded the axe!   East... read more here

A High-Stake Lead. When there’s lots of distribution around the table and the opponents have bid aggressively to slam, you want to get your opening lead right, or as right as you can. Imps will likely be flowing in the opponents’... read more here

Good Shape: Bad Shape. Two deals from the recent National Swiss Pairs illustrate well the importance of shape in hand evaluation. Both deals are in the slam zone. Firstly, therefore, two questions.   9... read more here

Gary Foidl and Brett Glass.  Waikato Win in National Swiss Pairs. Brett Glass and Gary Foidl hit the lead at just the right time in the 9 round National Swiss Pairs held this past weekend at the Tauranga Bridge Club. After a small loss... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others! It’s Fri   day! “Light Hearted” It has been a bit of a heavy week with deals involving squeezes and end-plays. It’s time for something more... read more here

End -play Delight! Today’s deal provided a headache for most declarers with only 3 out of 14 managing to make 9 tricks in 3NT. Yet, the board was as tough for many of the North players as well. Firstly, then, what would you lead as North... read more here

Michael “at  the wheel”. Michael Ware is our top master-point earner, a regular New Zealand international player and currently on a rich run of success, as at last weekend’s Wellington Main Regional Teams. Let’s take... read more here

More of David. As stated yesterday, we do not see David Ackerley in action very often. So, he is now featured for the second day running after his team’s excellent performance in winning the Wellington  Main Regional Teams. There... read more here

Scott Smith, David Ackerley, Michael Ware, Matthew McManus. “Once a Year Wonder.” The Wellington Main Regional  Teams took place over the last weekend at the Wellington Bridge Club. As Michael Ware commented in his victory... read more here

for Junior and Intermediate players...and others! It's Fri day! Wishing and a ‘hoping. Having dreams is nice. They do sometimes come true and that is even nicer. We are, of course, talking about playing bridge hands! It’s strange.... read more here

Successful Defence? The following deal was played at 12 tables, a mixture of Open, Intermediate and Junior players. While one table played in part-score, the others all played in game, 4S, and every declarer made their contract. Yet, this game... read more here

easier than 6! The National Pairs : Where Grand Slam is easier than small slam! The National Pairs was held at Picton last weekend with 32 pairs, mainly from the South Island and Wellington competing. Day 1 saw 2 session qualifying with the top... read more here

Where to from here? Today’s deal is a test of one’s overcall style. You have a rather unusual hand of your own and despite some aggressive opposition bidding, your partner is keeping the auction alive at a highish level. Teams is the... read more here

Trusting Your Opponent. That may seem a risky thing to do but it can sometimes be quite a good idea! With that in mind, what would be your opening lead here?         North DealsN-S Vul  ... read more here

What is your “bullseye”? The Aim of the Game? Defence often comes with no guarantees. Sometimes, you just have to sit there and let it happen, hopefully “it” being to the benefit of your side. On other occasions, you... read more here

Forcing…to where? Today’s problem is one of understanding what partner’s bid means and then find the most appropriate bid in response. It started with a simple take-out double but there's not a straightforward reply:  ... read more here

Well, he looks wide awake. See what Michael can do on the first deal of the tournament! Michael’s Morning Mayhem! Are you always warmed up for the first board of a day’s bridge? If you are like me, then you would prefer not to have a... read more here

Michael and Pam celebrating success. Kiwis “leading” the way in the VCC. A week ago, the Victorian Festival of Bridge took place in Melbourne. This attracts several Kiwi players each year. The main event is the Victor Champion Cup... read more here

  For Intermediate and keen Junior players...and others. It's Fri   Day.  The Question to be asked. Today’s deal should be a promotion for a very common convention but it would seem that the vast majority of those who... read more here

                                              or  Science or Fingers Crossed. There are times we play in 3NT without a... read more here

Who said “Never”? A strange event happened at the bridge table earlier this week. To be precise, there were three strange events, all centred around one theme. Before you guess the theme, what would you bid here?  ... read more here

Where is your vote? Pre-emptive Problems. Today’s deal caused grief to a number of players in three seats at the table. Indeed, one could say at all four seats though normally a player who pre-empts can just sit back and watch the others... read more here

The winning team at Te Aroha: Jan Cormack, Kathy and Ken Yule and Grant Jarvis.  Silence is…. When it comes to decisions at the bridge table, Ken Yule is usually right. Like this past weekend, his team won. Most of Ken’s... read more here

A Lesson for all…. Whether Novice, Junior, Intermediate or Open. It is fri day. Staying out of Slam! There is in today’s deal a lesson for all four players at the table. Here’s the opening lead issue:  ... read more here

  an informed guess? High Level Guessing. Yesterday, we had an unusual balancing problem at the 2-level. Today, we have perhaps a more common problem four levels higher, “more common” if you regularly hold a solid 9-card suit... read more here

Hard Choice. A low-level opponents’ auction seemed to be petering out quietly when belatedly your partner entered the bidding. What does their double mean and what should you do about it?      ... read more here

Rat Catching? A fairly normal sounding auction left you on lead when the end contract was just a little surprising. What then would you lead?       South DealsN-S Vul   N... read more here

The Best Game. for Junior and Intermediate players....and others. It's Fri day! Sometimes, the best game is not in the trump suit where we have the most trumps. It is not in no trumps, either. We are normally talking about the situation where... read more here

Bad luck….or bad play? It was not South’s day. Firstly, they decided against penalising East by passing their 2 overcall and then passing the anticipated take-out double from their partner. There was too much chance of finding a... read more here

“Mixed Success” once more on “29”. As per yesterday, it is Board 29 once again we feature with the partnership of Jan Alabaster – Graeme Tuffnell nearing the end of the Zonal Mixed Team play-off match against... read more here