Bridge in Oz

My thinking is that 4-3 fits are playable, and without a spade stop 4♥ on a 4-3 could easily be the only making game.

But yes, it's asking a lot to think partner will play 4 of a minor as a slam try without prior agreement!

The question becomes, what does 3♠ mean here? You haven't discussed it with your partner. What should it mean? My general philosophy is that bids should mean whatever is most helpful on balance for the given bidding sequence, while not being weird. In this sequence you will probably want to end in 3...

I picked up this hand today. IMPs, everyone vulnerable. 107,AQ4,AQ106,KJ32 RHO opens 1♠. A double seems the least of evils. Ideally you'd have four hearts but they weren't dealt to you. It's best if partner picks a suit, and at worst a 4-3 fit should be playable. Let's say you double and partner bid...

I'm presenting this hand as food for thought. Many will disagree with my approach here, and that's fine, you may have better methods. The point is to think ahead about the bidding and card play. You pick up this hand at IMPs, all vulnerable, three passes to you. AK,AQ8,K98642,AK Not bad! You pretty ...

Also, here's an article that clears up some recent misconceptions about how the virus is transmitted.

The really good news is that nobody in Australia is reported to have died from COVID-19 since 24 May. The reported number of active cases as of 13 June is 388. In the past most cases were imported from overseas, and that source has been shut down. What's concerning is the unknown number of undetecte...

This is an exercise in matchpoint thinking. I think many players would pass. But let's consider some points. 1. The only case for passing is if 4♣ makes and 4 ♦ is down two or more doubled. This seems unlikely because your side has at least half the points. 2. All of your cards are working on offenc...

Matchpoints, nobody vulnerable, you pick up as dealer:

♠ K42
♥ K5
♦ AQ10987
♣ 64

You open 1♦, LHO bids 2♣, partner doubles and RHO bids 4♣.

Your call.

My local club sent out an electronic questionnaire on this topic a couple of days ago. Among other things asking members' opinions about what safety measures should be taken when the club re-opens. Honestly though, I think the opinions of public health experts should matter more. I think most club p...

The problem with testing the club suit is that even if diamonds split 4-4 as expected, you will not enjoy discarding on the last two rounds of diamonds. You can comfortably lose the lead once but not twice. So let's leave clubs alone. Spades will split 3-3 or not, and if not you will need three hear...