Latest News

      Bad luck? Jan’s Day has a Trump Problem It is more than a little annoying when any very good contract is put into grave danger by a bad trump break but even more so when it is a slam.   South... read more here

The Most Likely Way Home. “Home” is achieving the right number of tricks to make your contract. There is no chance of an overtrick but we are in a slightly tenuous slam. So, let’s be happy with 12 tricks. East... read more here

The Chameleon Club. Your partner opens with a suit and the opposition end the bidding with a strong no trump overcall. With queen doubleton in your partner’s suit and a smattering of high-card points in the other suits, the opening lead... read more here

Balanced…in two suits! Many new players bauk at opening a 12-14 1NT because they do not have holds in all four suits. We know that it is impossible to guarantee such a balanced spread of your honour cards with such a few number of high... read more here

Suzanne Carpenter. We start the review with some interesting reflections by a new player to our game on her first tournament, Palmeraston North’s Suzanne Carpenter. She starts with a quote:   “Admitting errors clears the... read more here

  Finessing and timing and ducking..for less experienced players, and others. Today’s deal may seem quite basic but it offers some good lessons for those who may be struggling to make, in particular, their no-trump contracts. You... read more here

  Jan Cormack. Jan’s Day: More on Finessing. That could be a clue as you make a plan to score 12 tricks from your rather ambitiously bid slam. There are finesses we need to take, finesses we put off unless there is no other way and... read more here

      A Finesser’s Dream…or Nightmare? You have finesses available in three suits, one of which is a 2-way finesse (don’t we love them…not!) and a guess in the fourth suit, too. We cannot afford... read more here

High-Level happenings. A question for you. You lead your singleton H2 against 7C doubled, the opponents’ sacrifice. What happened? Depending perhaps on the result, we all love a piece of high-level drama. Someone usually has a strong... read more here

“Multi” Problem. Love it or hate it (and there are many in both camps), the Multi 2D can cause problems for all four players at the table. One such problem is that there is sometimes only one player at the table who knows for sure... read more here

  Basic Defence: for less experienced players and others. It is time to remember two, maybe even three, basic rules of defending. Had East done so on today’s deal, then their partnership would not have got such a poor result from the... read more here

Opportunity Knocks. We know that Bridge is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest wins! Sometimes, you get the chance to do something clever, to profit from good play rather than an opponent’s mistake or unlucky lead. Are you ready... read more here

Avoiding Disaster. Well, it was not total disaster because our North-South pair did get a plus score but the plus should have been so much bigger.     ♠ 9 ♥ K J 8 7 5 2 ♦ J... read more here

  s   The Second Double. What does it mean and what should we bid now? These two questions arise from a second double from our partner. We know that the first double was a standard take-out double…but what about double number... read more here