Category Archives: Weekly Wisdom

Timing in defence

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Julian Foster

On today’s hand North South reached a pushy game with only a combined 21 points but the defence actually need to be quite sharp to beat it. When West opens a strong NT, North is quite likely to come in … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Weekly Wisdom | Leave a comment

Responding to a takeout double to help reach a slam

Posted on April 12, 2026 by Julian Foster

Responding to a takeout double is very different to responding to an opening bid. On this hand, quite a few pairs missed a good slam and the initial response was a big part of the problem. Let’s have a closer … Continue reading →

Posted in Weekly Wisdom | Leave a comment

A great lead after listening to the auction

Posted on April 5, 2026 by Julian Foster

One defender found a killing lead on today’s hand and it was possible by listening to the auction. Sadly her partner didn’t also find the killing play! But there were several interesting points to learn from the hand. For East … Continue reading →

Posted in Weekly Wisdom | Leave a comment

Lebensohl and more matchpoint scoring

Posted on March 29, 2026 by Julian Foster

This recent hand from a pairs session showed again the vagaries of matchpoint scoring. At most tables the auction began 1♦ 1♥. South competed to 3♦ and East West usually bid onto 3♥. That contract just had a trick in … Continue reading →

Posted in Weekly Wisdom | Leave a comment

A freak shape and a freak result!

Posted on March 22, 2026 by Julian Foster

On this hand from a recent duplicate East had an extraordinary 9400 shape. But at one table there was another most unusual scenario where declarer could have made literally any number of tricks and it made no difference to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Weekly Wisdom | Leave a comment