It is apparent that many of our Wednesday players are still not completely au fait with the weak 1NT opening or how to proceed when they are the partner of the 1NT opener.

Board 11 from Wednesday 16/01/2019
Dealer S Nil Vul

	QT953 QJT54 A Q4
AJ7 7 J7532 K632		8 862 Q964 AJT87
	K642 AK93 KT8 95

How many of our beginners, I wonder, play weak twos in the majors, and how many of them play 2D also as a weak two. That is the norm according to the NZ Bridge lessons, is it not? But it’s not enough to have learnt that the weak two bid is based on a six card suit and 6-10 high card points, you must also know what to do when partner opens with a weak two.

Board 14 from Wednesday 09/01/2019
Dealer E Nil Vul

	AT86 AQJ52 85 K9
Q43 K98 A3 AQ753		K 73 KJT976 T862
	J9752 T64 Q42 J4

After my review of the deal shown below I had an emailfrom a reader, as follows:

I have a couple of questions about the bidding on Board 13 from last Wednesday.

1. We beginners were taught the requirement to overcall at the 2 level is 10+ points and a good 5+ card suit. East overcalled 2H at our table and it looks like some other Easts did too. Obviously you decided against the overcall. Why was that, please ?
2. When East does overcall 2H what is North's correct response? Some, including me, chose to bid 2S. Others bid 2NT. Thanks in advance for your advice.

Let me show you the full deal again:
Board 13 from Wednesday 12/12/2018
Dealer N All Vul

	A742 T984 KQ8 K5
63 Q5 AT64 T9642		JT8 AKJ76 J5 J73
	KQ95 32 9732 AQ8

So that I could get a feel of the standard of our ‘newbies’ at The Hutt I decided to have a game last night, and was extremely impressed with the enthusiasm and skill levels of some of our new players. This deal was very well bid and played by our NS opposition.

This deal comes from Wednesday 12/12/2018 at X-Clubs (Hutt Included)
Board 13 Dealer N All Vul

	A742 T984 KQ8 K5
63 Q5 AT64 T9642		JT8 AKJ76 J5 J73
	KQ95 32 9732 AQ8

For those readers who read the Special with the play problem: thank you for the many entries, it is clear that it is easier to do things 'double dummy' than at the table. The interesting thing about that particular deal is that the play at the table may well have been a 'double dummy' problem depending on the bidding.

What I was hoping for was an answer that started with: “Trick one, ace of spades. Then lowest trump, duck or cover East's card.” That would have been the deepest finesse the player would ever have made. Look back at the problem and see how it all works. I will be revisiting that deal in my next book, “Evil at the Bridge Table” so I will leave it at that for now. The best answer came from an enthusiastic first year player. Congratulations go to Peter Hawkes of the Hutt club.

Now for this week's hand. There were many this week that could have been difficult to handle, and I have chosen just one of them, the readers may have others that they can ask about, I'm happy to look at them.

Board 7 from Thursday 29-Nov
Dealer S All Vul

	AT652 76 J42 873
K93 KT95 853 KJ9		QJ84 A AKT97 Q52
	7 QJ8432 Q6 AT64