Julian Foster’s hand commentary provides a good read every week. He reviews the results of our Monday morning session at City and Canada Bay and pick up an interesting hand for commentary. His column starts with the core principle, with key notes as a quick summary and advanced tips if you progress well with this laddered reading.
Julian is a many times NSW representative, he has an impressive bridge career as an individual player and coach!
- No trump defence
City and Canada Bay – Thursday Morning 12th December 2024. Board 8 last week saw most East West pairs playing in assorted levels of no-trumps. The most common number of tricks made was 8 although the defence could, in theory, have done better. A few were allowed to make 9 tricks. There’s more interest in the defence on this hand than the bidding but there are some considerations worth discussing in the likely auction. West has a pretty standard 15-17 1NT opening over which North will pass. It’s then up to East. These days, especially if playing teams, East will … Continue reading - Transferring out of 1NT
City and Canada Bay – Thursday Morning 5th December 2024. Board 3 last week saw many East West pairs going off in 1NT but they had a much better spot available in diamonds. Let’s see why, and how they might reach it. Most Souths these days will open 1â™ . Yes it’s only 11 points and the suit is bad but against that it gets your side into the auction first (a big advantage), it takes almost the whole 1 level away from East West, and you are at favourable vulnerability. West will surely then overcall 1NT (15-18 or thereabouts). If … Continue reading - No good rebid?
City and Canada Bay – Thursday Morning 28th November 2024. On board 10 last week I suspect several Wests were faced with something that comes up all too frequently – a hand which seems to have no good bid. On such an occasion all you can do is try and pick the least bad option! Most auctions will surely start P P 1♥ 2♦. West has a normal 1♥ opening and North has a pretty solid 2♦ overcall. 2♦ seems to have ended the auction at quite a few tables which I found quite surprising. Certainly if 2♦ is passed … Continue reading - Compete for the part score!
City and Canada Bay – Thursday Morning 21st November 2024. Each side had 20 points on board 27 last week. As is so often the case, however, the pairs that competed more aggressively to win the part score tended to come out on top. Most auctions will have started P P to North – although it’s conceivable some Wests will have opened, either a very aggressive 1♣ with only 10 points or perhaps they had a bid available to show both majors (which will lead to East West playing in spades). Normally, however, North will open 1NT (15-17). At a … Continue reading - The difference a free bid makes
City and Canada Bay – Thursday Morning 14th November 2024. Board 11 last week had almost all East West pairs playing in 4â™ . That’s the normal contract but how they got there may well have varied. The hand shows how important it is to distinguish in the auction between when partner has been forced to bid and when he hasn’t. There was also some interest in the play to make the maximum number of available tricks. South has the first decision about whether to open or not. These days I suspect many will have done – it’s a balanced 11 … Continue reading
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