Bridge in Oz

Here's another cute problem. Match 7, board 2, at favorable vulnerability I opened 4♠ with: KJ109743,3,643,A4 I like the rule of 2, 3 and 4 for preempts. That means at favorable you want to be within 4 tricks of the contract; at equal 3, and at unfavorable 2. My LHO thought for quite a while about w...

Match 7, Board 10, I picked up this monster. AQ105,--,AKQJ6,AQ108 The problem with opening 2♣ on such a hand is that you'll start naming your suits at the level of 3 ♦ , and you'll still have two suits left to show. Would you open 2♣ anyway? I chose 1 ♦ , which looked like a very bad choice after th...

The Grosvenor Gambit is a "psychological play, in which the opponent is purposely given the chance to gain one or more tricks, and often even to make the contract, but to do so he must play for his opponents to have acted illogically or incorrectly." One pair, perhaps unintentionally, perp...

This one is from the Swiss Teams event of the 2024 Port Macquarie-Hastings March Congress in Australia. Match 6, board 19. We were vulnerable against not and I held this interesting hand as East: 864,AKQ109432,53,-- The bidding proceeded: South West North East Pass 1♣ Pass 1 ♦ * 1♠ 2 ♦ 3♠ ? As we ar...

My solitaire bridge app dealt this one today. You are South declaring 6NT after an auction best not discussed. North J42,J83,KQJ54,J7 South AK10975,AK,A,AK108 West leads the ♥ 4 and East follows with the 2. What is your plan? The ♠A fetches the 8 from West and the 3 from East. Do you see that you ca...

I recently learned there is also a nice article about this from 2015 on the Bridge Winners site. Curiously it has the same title as the one above.

Here's a deal from playing with the robots today. I like this auction. J1073,AJ98,AK2,A2 1NT 2 ♥ 3NT 4NT 6 ♥ A4,KQ74,Q104,K1087 2♣ 3♣ 4 ♥ 5♠ Pass The key bid was 3♣ which is natural with slam interest, and then 4 ♥ confirmed heart support. My robot partner, holding a maximum, was then smart enough t...

Optional Minorwood can fit well in some situations after a 2NT opening or equivalent. Responder might have a slam interest with a minor one-suiter or major/minor two-suiter. This can be shown by bidding Stayman and then 4 of the minor. Here's an example with Puppet Stayman : 2NT 3♣ 3 ♦ 3♠ Opener sho...

Muiderberg Two Bids seem to be common in Australia. I like them for their ability to annoy the opponents while allowing us to reach a sensible spot when partner happens to have a strong hand. They show a two-suited hand where the suit opened is at least (and usually) five cards and the second suit ...

This is Board 1 from yesterday's Coffs Harbour club game. North deals, none vulnerable. K9853,9,10982,1094 A72,QJ10874,7,AK7 QJ10,K65,AKQ5,J32 64,A32,J643,Q865 I don't recall the auction but it ended in 6 ♥ by West. I sat North and led the ♣10 which declarer ducked to the Ace. Declarer then advanced...