Hand of the Week #238 ♠
N E S W 1♠ X 3♠ P 4♠ P P P East starts off the auction with a 1♠ opening bid, South intervenes with a takeout double and West jump supports their partner's opening bid with a response of 3♠ (either 10-12 balanced or 8 losing
Double Finesses ♦
In this lesson we tackle various suit combinations where you are missing 'touching' honour cards. The best way to play to avoid losers in these suits is to finesse and then finesse again - ie a double finesse!
Hand of the Week #237 (Solution) ♦
N E S W 3♣ X 4♣ P P P As previously mentioned, upon seeing the dummy it looks likely that East-West would have made at least a partscore on this hand, so if we can limit our losers to just 4 (ie 1 off as a
Hand of the Week #237 ♦
N E S W 3♣ X 4♣ P P P North starts the auction with a pre-emptive opening bid of 3♣, East competes with a takeout double and South raises their partner's opening bid to 4♣ based on the level of the fit. This bid from South
Hand of the Week #236 (Solution) ♥
N E S W 2NT P 3NT P P P Initial analysis of the club lead would suggest to duck clubs once based on 'the rule of 7'. However, the rule of 7 only applies when you don't stand to potentially gain a trick by not ducking
Hand of the Week #236 ♥
N E S W 2NT P 3NT P P P West opens 2NT to represent their 20-22 points and a balanced hand, and East, although they have a long suit, opts to simply put their partner in game in NTs. There is little point for East to
Hand of the Week #235 (Solution) ♣
N E S W P 1♠ P 1NT P 2NT P P P Analysing our hands together, we have: 2 spades, 1 heart and 3 clubs as top tricks. Our potential extra tricks will come from either the diamonds or the clubs. The diamonds don't look too
Hand of the Week #235 ♣
N E S W P 1♠ P 1NT P 2NT P P P South starts off the auction with a pass, West opens 1♠, North passes and East responds with 1NT (6-9 with no 4 card spade support). West has 17 HCP and their partner has just
Hand of the Week #234 (Solution) ♠
N E S W 1NT X P* P XX* P P P When you first see the dummy on this hand, you perhaps wish one of you had bid hearts at some stage, but alas here you are in 1NTxx. Looking at our top tricks we have:
Hand of the Week #234 ♠
N E S W 1NT X P* P XX* P P P East starts off the bidding with a 1NT opener (showing 12-14 as this pair are playing ACOL) and South quickly doubles for penalties. West recalls that they are playing 'exit transfers' as a defence to