Improver articles

For Junior, Intermediate and Novice players…others, too? It’s Fri day. Missing Monarchs. Some basic techniques are displayed in today’s deal. Shortly, you will be asked to form a plan to make 9 tricks but let’s glance... 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

Any rethink? For less experienced players and others. When you play “500”, you bid first time round or not at all. In Bridge, of course, you can pass several rounds of bidding and emerge “out of the bushes” with a bid. In... read more here

Two, One or None: for less experienced players and others. Given a choice, what would be yours? No, we are not talking about the number of games of bridge you can have this week. No choice, there. The answer would certainly be “2” at... read more here

Beating the Gambler? for less experienced players and others. Much of Bridge bidding is relatively scientific to reach the best possible spot for our side…and then there is the Gambling 3NT opener. South DealsBoth Vul... read more here

Friendly lead? For Less Experienced Players. The Lead and The Line. Is there a connection? There certainly can be. Sometimes you receive a very friendly lead and can play the board in a relatively easy manner, whatever that means! Then, there... read more here

For Less Experienced Players. The Wrong Hand. It did not seem at the time such a big error to make…and it was not 100% terminal but a tiny mistake caused our declarer today to fail in what seemed to be a rock-solid contract.... read more here

Make Crime Pay. All the best bridge books (and probably some lesser ones too!) teach us how we should bid hands correctly, using tried and true methods. There can be no more” tried and true” convention than Blackwood, whichever form... read more here

CRIME DOESN’T PAY….OR DOES IT? We are talking about “crime” in the bridge sense, of course. We would never advocate that committing any other kind of crime would be worthwhile, especially with Christmas, the season of... read more here

Christmas has come early: don’t you know it! Well, our declarer did not realise that an early Christmas gift had come their way when they played the following board recently. 23 high card points between the two hands and the sight of dummy... read more here

Patience and Prayer: The Day of the Jack (all!). It’s time to defend a hand. It’s one of those 3NT contracts where it looks like you are on your own. You have an 11 count, declarer a 10+ overcall and dummy an ominous 14. Partner could... read more here

Nice One, Michael. Two questions for you this week but do not feel too bad if you get the answers wrong. You would have plenty of top players for company. Firstly, you are on lead to 3NT and choose to lead the spade Jack. This is what you,... read more here

Different Leads: Different Problems On the following board, most West players did the normal thing of leading their partner’s suit. You cannot be wrong even if you are not right! What would be your plan assuming you play low from dummy,... read more here

It’s OK to return partner’s suit…except…. When it’s wrong! Helpful advice? Not really. Defence can be hard (another unhelpful comment!), One factor which can make it easier is when our partner makes a bid.... read more here

Trump Signals Can Save The Day… ….. or even help beat a contract. What are they? Normally, we follow quite meaninglessly with our two or three small trumps. We can give the order we play them a meaning. We focus on the other two... read more here

Clear Signal: Less Stress. We learn at an early stage of our Bridge development that we can tell our partner whether we like their lead or indeed which suit we would like them to play when they get on lead. There are various methods of doing so.... read more here

A Good time NOT to win a trick. We spend about half our time during the play of a hand defending. So, it is well worth looking at some of the things a good defender could do. That’s in addition to learning about playing hands and the... read more here

Bread and Butter Defending…but no jam! Sorry to be unsensational but it is very rare for any Pairs tournament to be won by one’s slam bidding or by bringing home low point-count risky 3NT contracts. It is much more likely to be won... read more here

Good Planning, Good Luck, Good Result The opposite is often true. A faulty line brings its deserved reward in failure. So, sometimes, sensible play will bring a little piece of good fortune and a good result. Keeping an eye on losers when playing... read more here

A Touch of Good Fortune. A little levity but still a challenge for you in the play at the same time. So, we can combine the headings from two features into one. You are playing a Teams style match when your opponents engage in what sounds like a... read more here

“Sorry seems to be the hardest word” “I had my 10 high card points. I held two aces. Why shouldn’t I overcall?” muttered East after the opposition’s game contract slithered home. East was not finished yet,... read more here

Creating an Illusion. Pure Cheek: Pure Tempo. A break this week from how you should or should not play or defend a board. We are nevertheless going to give you a declarer problem. You are East below after a very natural bidding sequence to 3NT.... read more here

Getting the Message Across. As a defender, we are not allowed to speak to one’s partner during the defence. You can communicate by the play of the cards but that is all. We call it signalling. It takes two “to tango” and two to... read more here

            Trust your Partner: not their Bidding! The first half of the above statement is definitely true. It is great for partnership morale and it is usually good for your score as well!... read more here

            Where There’s Life, there Can Still Be 9 Tricks. When only 7 out of 29 players made a “cold” 3NT contract in the recent North Island Teams, it may be worth a... read more here

“A GREEK GIFT”. Was it inadvertent? Had the declarer pulled the wrong card by mistake? Just take a deep breath before you follow with a low card. You were only entitled to two spade tricks but now seemed to have three!... read more here

Time To Count. Declarer’s hand, that is (well, for today! A declarer may well be able to count a defender’s hand too.) Is that something you never do, rarely do, try and do but get stuck and confused or always do? Be honest. While a... read more here

False Confidence Some good defence left a declarer recently with a large slice of egg on their face. The defence was better than their bidding but it was the declarer who was found wanting at the crunch moment:   Board... read more here

NEW YEAR: SAME OLD Welcome to a brand-new year of bridge. New resolutions made..and for bridge players, that means wishes like: no more dropping partner in part-score when you know you should be in game no more forgetting to return... read more here

A nice Christmas message for you. They happen at the bridge table, too. As you unwrap your Christmas presents, have a read of the following. You can read it on two levels. If you are an experienced player, you can challenge yourself on making the... read more here