Hand of the Week #72 (Solution) ♥
N E S W 1♠ P 2♦ P 3♣ P 4♠ P 4NT P 5♠ P 5NT P 6♣ P 6♠ P P P Upon initial analysis this hand looks rather straight forward as we have 5 spade tricks (as long as the spades break 3-2), 5
Hand of the Week #72 ♥
N E S W 1♠ P 2♦ P 3♣ P 4♠ P 4NT P 5♠ P 5NT P 6♣ P 6♠ P P P A rather lengthy East-West only auction sees the final contract finish in a small slam. West kicks off the bidding with a 1♠
Supporting Partner’s Overcall Part II ♥
Missed part I? Find it here. Bidding your own suit It is a common misconception that bidding your own suit is often a good idea if you dislike your partner's overcall suit. The problem here is that by bidding your own suit as a 'I don't like yours, here's
Hand of the Week #71 (Solution) ♣
N E S W 1NT P 2♣* P 2♦* P 3NT P P P In this hand we can see that once our ♠A is gone from the dummy, we are wide open in spades, and the opponents' opening lead was a spade so we are about
Hand of the Week #71 ♣
N E S W 1NT P 2♣* P 2♦* P 3NT P P P South starts off with a classic 1NT opener, West passes and North utilises Stayman looking for a 4-4 heart fit. East passes, South replies to Stayman with the negative 2♦* response, West passes
Supporting Partner’s Overcall Part I ♥
Whenever your partner makes an overcall you have to treat it differently than if they have opened the bidding as they are promising quite a different type of hand. Opening the bidding is typically looking for a constructive bidding sequence (a cooperative 'chat') as an opening hand is better
Hand of the Week #70 (Solution) ♠
N E S W 1♦ P 3♦ P 3♥* P 3♠* P 4♣ P 4♦ P 4NT P 5♠ P 6♦ P P P Looking at our potential losers in hand it is quite obvious what our problem is here. We have no losers in spades, hearts
Hand of the Week #70 ♠
N E S W 1♦ P 3♦ P 3♥* P 3♠* P 4♣ P 4♦ P 4NT P 5♠ P 6♦ P P P A long East-West only auction sees us eventually land in 6♦. East starts with 1♦, and West jump raises this to 3♦ (balanced
Hand of the Week #69 (Solution) ♦
N E S W 1♦ P 1♠ P 1NT P 3NT P P P Looking at where our extra tricks are coming from it appears to be the club suit, as we have no real suit of any length elsewhere. We have 1 top trick in spades,
Hand of the Week #69 ♦
N E S W 1♦ P 1♠ P 1NT P 3NT P P P North opens 1♦, East passes and South replies with 1♠ (South could respond 2♣ with the intention of bidding spades on the next round to show 5:4, but ideally as a responder you would