My experience tells me that great defence will always win over good declarer play. But can great defence beat brilliant declarer play? That is the question. I give you this deal because on the surface it looks like great defence can defeat a very good
I guess I could say I have written this “extra” ‘due to public demand’. I have been chastised for being so uncomplimentary about South’s defence, and I have also been asked by a couple of readers just what the proper defence should have been and
It took me until the very last board of the session to get egg all over my face. Let me tell you how it came about. Sometimes the worst defence in the world can get you the best results and so it was for our
For some hands, some systems are better than others. The following is a clear illustration of that. If you adhere strictly to what you have been taught, then only a “Big Club’ system like Precision will get you to 4H on the NS hands. Many
When the pressure is on, are you capable of a) knowing when desperate measures are required and b) executing them? When North ended up in 4S and East led a low diamond, desperate measures were indeed required to bring the contract home. Board 21 from
No matter how often I write about it, things don’t change much when players encounter competitive hands. This one should have been bid to 4H one way and at least 4S the other but, at the Hutt club, only about half the field bid to
I suppose there’s a hard luck story (of sorts!) in this week’s feature hand. You see, 4H or 4S can be made EW. But one pair NS were smart enough to recognise the potential of a non vulnerable vs vulnerable sacrifice and bid 5C which
I don’t like to rabbit on about how terrible the bidding can be when a very basic system is being played, but sadly, it happens all the time. Sometimes it results in disaster when you have competent opponents, sometimes you can get lucky and be
You have no doubt been taught that you should look for a 4-4 major suit fit when partner opens 1NT and you have the values for game. Our opponents bid this hand on that premise and ended up in 4H by East. These were the
Bridge isn’t just about getting the bidding right, though it does help. I find that defence is often pretty well non existent, and declarer play leaves much to be desired. Often, when a declarer gets a bad contract to play or finds bad breaks, panic