All News

too many losers!. Loser Reduction. Jack James and George Masters recorded a clear win in the Waikato Bays Swiss Pairs at the Hamilton Bridge Club on Saturday. The following board produced good declarer play from Jack. How then would you play... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate, Novice players and others. It's Fri day. Once in Everyone’s Lifetime. Maybe more than once if you play long enough! It is not too often that you pick up a hand like the following. Yet, many did earlier this week.... read more here

Trans nationals in Marrakech. End Play End play in more ways than one as today’s deal comes from the Transnational Teams which was the consolation event for those teams who did not make the knock-out stages of the four events, Open, Women,... read more here

  A "Grand" Hand. I was curious why recently most of a relatively small field in a tournament failed to advance higher than game when it seemed the main problem would be reaching grand rather than small slam. The hand you will see below is... read more here

Last Day Disappointment. The last day, the last two rounds, in such lengthy round-robins inevitably produce success for some, great disappointment for others. It would be nice to be able to report the former for our Open Team. Alas, no. The... read more here

  It would be very rare that we give pride of place to the result of a 3A Open Pairs event but today is that day. Winners of the event, the Auckland Club’s 3A Billie Tohill Open Pairs,  held on 26th August, were none other than... read more here

Edging there slowly. That can be one way of describing the New Zealand Open Team’s attempt to reach the top 8 knock-out stage in the current World Championships. Three narrow wins have seen them remain 7th throughout the 7th day of the... read more here

Day 6 : a day of promise. A good or better day for all three Kiwi teams though all eyes are now on our Open Team who are in the top 8 and playing consistently well. A small loss to Israel was followed  by wins over USA 2 and Chile and they... read more here

Day 5 at Marrakesh: Our Open Team stay in contention. Two losses and one win may not seem that good an outcome for our Open Team on Day 5 but the losses, against strong opposition, were by just 2 and 6 imps while a great result was recorded... read more here

One up: Two down v the Australians. Day 4 at the World Championships It was a one win two loss day when all three of our teams took on our “old foe”. While both Open and Women’s teams had generally a good day, it was a real... read more here

Day 3 at the World Championships: another day in contention. Both our Women and Mixed Teams had a result to forget on Day 3 but “the blips” were against strong opposition and were matched by wins or a close loss in their other... read more here

A Day of Promise – Day 2 at the World Championships. Although the results of the Open Team were a little disappointing, it was generally a good day for our teams in Marrakesh. Open     imps   vps... read more here

Day 1 at this year's World Championships in Marrakech, Morroco saw all three New Zealand teams in action. Our Open, Women and Mixed Teams are playing 3 matches of 16 boards per day over 8 days, 23 matches in all.   Our Women's Team:... read more here

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…and others. It’s Fri day. Few points: must act. Today’s deal is aimed at less experienced players but there is a lesson here for everyone. Sometimes, the hardest decisions at the... read more here

46th World Bridge Teams Championships....and the Kiwis are there! The World Championship competitions starts on Sunday, 20th August, in Marrakech, Morocco. New Zealand has three teams competing as follows:    a repeat of this,... read more here

Too low: loo high! Slamming Problems. Three slams in four successive boards recently with two making and only one bid…and you can guess which one was the only one bid, the one you should not make…and that one made! Is there... read more here

Different Systems: Different Contracts. In theory, if we all played the same system and all bid the same way, we should reach the same contract, the only difference being the way we play and defend the board. Of course, bridge is much more... read more here

Counting on it. Are you? Counting on beating the contract, that is. You look pretty well placed to do so this time. Have you got your eye on the ball? We will see what “the ball” is shortly. Firstly, it is your play to trick 3.... read more here

  The High Wire: it’s dangerous! One slip spells disaster! The on-line Fullarton Teams over the last weekend saw a narrow victory for the team of Jan Alabaster- Pam Livingston and Jenna and Christine Gibbons, a nice boost for them... read more here

for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players...and others! It's Fri Day.  Beware the pitfalls! Today’s deal has a little bit about bidding and a piece more about playing a board which is not quite straightforward. We will come back to... read more here

 LAST! Last but not Least. Bidding would be somewhat easier if the Dealer was always the player with the strongest hand. You could open 2C or the like and the bidding would proceed from there. That, of course, is not the situation..and nor... read more here

how high? A Try for Game…or for Slam? It can be hard at times to distinguish between competitive and slam try bidding. This is especially true when the opposition make a semi-constructive bid themselves. What would your choice be on the... read more here

You are not down until you are….down! Today’s deal features an attribute I admire in any sportsperson, whether they be chasing a ball or trying to make an impossible bridge contract. Never give up. You may have zero chance but until... read more here

A Tough Day of Pairs. That would sum up the first three rounds of the European Youth Pairs played in Veldhoven yesterday by the Kiwi pairs. There are 6 rounds of qualifying spread over 2 days with the first 3 x 15 board sets played yesterday.... read more here

Welcome  to coverage of the New Zealand Under 21 team which is about to take part in the World Youth Championships at Veldhoven in the Netherlands. The Teams event starts next Monday local time. Before that, there are two events for the Kiwis... read more here

in Major Danger. There is danger around the bidding of today’s feature hand. Before we discuss the dangers and what is the best path to overcome them, take a look at the following sequence.      ... read more here

Trumps are Tricks: aces too! When you aim to make lots of tricks, like in the slam zone, you do not necessarily need that many high card points. Aces, or voids, are very important and you can do extremely well with great length in one suit. Take... read more here

Semi- Final Spingold appearance for Michael Whibley. Michael Whibley has been making a name for himself on the international bridge scene in recent years both playing for New Zealand and also individually. He further enhanced his and his... read more here

for Junior, Intermediate and Novice players..and others. It's Friday. What a shame. Great bidding to a slightly aggressive but very reasonable contract…and yet our North-South pair recorded a minus score all because the declarer... read more here

Troubles at Five. Maybe today’s deal illustrates the value of bridge insurance and the difficulties, vagaries of 5-level competition. You have a very insignificant hand and yet you are being asked to make one, maybe two, big decisions. The... read more here

Not our holding, today! Spot the Stop? Sometimes, you pick up your bridge hand and see card after card in one suit…7 card, 8 card maybe even more. Then, there are times when it is difficult to see whether you have any 4-card suit, let... read more here