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  Jan’s Day: Exciting Slam Leads   We gave you one lead problem overnight. Today, we have two slams as reported by Jan where the lead was or could have been crucial. This is what we left you with yesterday:  ... read more here

A Difficult Deal. You have been dealt a strong hand and with your partner in the bidding, you know you are going to be in game. Indeed, on a different day, you might even have been thinking of slam. Yet, there’s a good philosophy that you... read more here

  A No Trump Link. We left you on Friday with two bridge hands and asked you the link between the two of them. A little unfair question, really, considering the lack of information given. Hopefully, you have not spent too much of the... read more here

  Don’t Change Course: You might just be steering in the right direction.   Well, that statement is not always true as there are times when a switch is required when you are defending. However, sometimes the most passive defence... read more here

  For Less Experienced Players:  Minor Nightmare!   Well, it should have been a fun hand. You have 13 cards distributed as evenly as possible among the two minor suits, two decent suits as well, as both were headed by the KQ..and... read more here

  Wise old owl!   Jan’s Day: Smart Defence Only a few days ago, we told you how Bridge is a game of mistakes, or of avoiding them. Today’s article is an exception, with the hand won by good inspired defence. Equally... read more here

                    Planning….   You are lucky if you can make a plan to make your contract, “lucky” in the sense that you have a... read more here

  On the same Wavelength.   Are you? You and your partner. Every so often, even the most experienced partnership will sometimes hit unfamiliar territory in their bidding but they should have the more common situations off pat. That... read more here

  If it’s in the way, discard it! Would you believe that we are talking about an ace…and that we are playing a no-trump contract? Aces are normally handy cards to have… and so was this particular ace for a while.... read more here

  Whichever guess is wrong!   For the less experienced   The right finesse is no finesse!   This is a story of two declarers. One was rather more successful than the other in their quest for 10 tricks. Indeed, while one... read more here

  Partner’s Error is Your Mistake. So, you want to see brilliancies? Then, do not look at most stories about bridge hands. Occasionally, a good lead or play or defence, a thoughtful bid, perhaps. For the main, it is a story of... read more here

 Jan Cormack Jan’s Day: Attitude.   “If only they would learn to concentrate, then perhaps they could become a top player!” This seems to be a common complaint regarding most up and coming bridge players. In fact, it... read more here

  Christchurch was the place to be last weekend for 192 bridge players, along with the many involved with the event’s organisation. A turn-out of 48 teams was a wonderful number and hopefully, all enjoyed the weekend. There was a... read more here

  A Slim Chance? We left you on Friday with a play problem with South the declarer in 6D. You might have wondered how South got to be declarer and so the sequence is included below. Some who play transfer responses to 1C open 1C with all... read more here

  Saving Space – For Less Experienced Players. Jumping the bidding to tell your partner you have a strong hand is often a good idea but it can come at a price, the price being too high before the proper exploration for the best... read more here

Jan Cormack “Tentation” It is 4 high card points for an ace, three for a king, two for a queen and one for a jack which leaves nothing for any of the spot cards. Yet, we would rather have 4 10’s than 4 2’s, wouldn’t... read more here

Evaluation. How good is our hand? Not many high-card points but trump support and some good shape. So, do we bid it up or just on the basis of our high card points?   ♠ Q 10 4 2 ♥ J 6 5 4... read more here

Firstly, a reminder of our new home, Lion Foundation Centre, Bay Park, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga….and the dates of the Congress: Saturday September 25th until Saturday October 2nd 2021 Changes covered in our previous update No night play... read more here

Not so “useless” after all. A hopeful but not outlandish slam which seems to depend on one of two finesses working. That’s 75%, reasonable odds and let’s face it, you would claim that you are due to have a few successful... 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

 It’s Jan’s Day, a day for Imagination! Yesterday, we left you with four hands from a deal and asked you to guess (maybe you knew and no guess is required!) the contract and the result. You might have gathered it was not a normal... read more here

Rubbish! 13 Cards. That is one way of describing a hand of dubious worth. You must have held such a hand like  765   865  9762   543 and hope that your partner does not make you bid too many times. Only very... read more here

Who’s to bless: who’s to blame! When one reaches a small slam, which has less than a 50% chance of being successful, someone in the partnership has usually overbid/ misbid a little, maybe more than a little. So, we asked you and the... read more here

For Less Experienced Players. The Good, The Bad and the Greedy! Today’s story is about the play of a board. Yet, we left you yesterday with a bid to make. So, let’s see which contract you are going to play. Oh, you may be setting the... read more here

    Jan Cormack Jan’s Day: No Substitute for Experience. A play problem for today and then a “Jan’s eye” view on how to solve it. You love bidding slams, don't you? Well, only when you make them!... read more here

choices! Tricky Trick 3. It’s time to defend and it’s time to be careful. You have taken two tricks, half the number you need to defeat their game contract. It’s time, perhaps, to get off lead, but how? South... read more here

The Uncooperative Partner! A nice hand, an extremely nice hand, especially when you find a fit. You have three suits, a void and over 20 hcp. Can you risk opening such a hand at the 1 level or is it right to use what for most pairs these days is... read more here

                But is it?  SAFE BUT UNSOUND. When you hold KQJT or QJ109 or J1098 you have very safe leads when you are defending a no-trump, or perhaps any... 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

Cunning! Welcome to “Jan’s Day” where we will find the answer to the problem opening lead we left you with yesterday. The following Precision auction left you on lead as East:      ... read more here

  Discovery Day. It seemed a pretty sensible line to play the overcaller for a key ace. It was a vulnerable overcall, after all, and we all know that vulnerable overcalls are respectable, don’t we! So, at least one declarer, probably... read more here

I hate the concept. Life is worth far more than a chance. So, why did I employ it at the bridge table? At least, in my bridge version, I did have a 50% chance of survival, maybe 51!   ♠ A 10 8 ♥ A... read more here