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1/1 Chapter 8
Vil's Tips - Wed, 22/04/2026 - 12:04pm
This is the final deal I want to review from the session on Friday 17/04/26 where, once more, the game
force 1NT was very effective and the result could have been great but only if you were Deep Finesse
Board 25. Dealer N EW Vul
AKJ75T2J9K652943285K762T93Q86KJ63T5Q874TAQ974AQ843AJ
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
1/1 Chapter 7
Vil's Tips - Tue, 21/04/2026 - 11:22am
As promised, here are some examples from very recent X-Clubs deals, on Friday 17/04/26. They are all
examples of the game force 1NT response to an opening bid
Board 2. East is dealer and passes. South opens 1S and these are the North and South hands:
NorthK652Q75K5A732
South
QJ943AKJ843262
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
1/1 Chapter 6 - A Deadly Sin
Vil's Tips - Thu, 16/04/2026 - 5:04pm
One of the deadly sins in bridge is to overbid to a minor suit game when nine tricks are easily
available in No Trumps. But a bigger sin, in my opinion, is to choose an unmakeable 3NT when
a minor suit slam is a much better proposition
This deal comes from X-Clubs, Tuesday 14/4/2026. It is an EW hand where most EW pairs chose the
impossible 3NT when a minor suit slam was a much better proposition, and just bidding the minor suit
game would have scored over 90%. Let’s take a look at the EW hands and see how we might bid them
Board 16. Dealer East, Nil Vulnerable.
A85A72J92K832KJ72KQT854AJ9
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Two-Boardy Problem
Vil's Tips - Mon, 13/04/2026 - 2:03pm
Vil posed two problems to his mailing list recently. The first was:
Match Point session. You are South
At All Vul the bidding has been, dealer East
SouthWestNorthEast---1Pass2Pass2NTPass3NT
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
1/1 Chapter 5
Vil's Tips - Thu, 02/04/2026 - 10:45pm
Non Forcing Responses to One of a suit openings:
All responses other than 1NT are non forcing. Often when partner opens 1H or 1S it is necessary to
raise with only a three card suit if you don’t want to force to game. That is why I prefer to play ‘five
card majors’
Normal suit responses to 1 level openings:
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
1/1 Chapter 4
Vil's Tips - Thu, 02/04/2026 - 11:10am
Responding with weaker hands:
After a 1 of a suit opening bid:
Because 1NT is a game force, all other bids are natural and bidding continues in a normal fashion, but a
lot of responses are not strong and hence not forcing, something to be kept in mind. Keeping in mind
also that we are playing 5 card majors and that 1C can be as short as TWO.
Let’s take a look at responses to a 1C opening bid:
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A 09: CUE BIDS BY RESPONDER
Vil's Tips - Mon, 23/03/2026 - 11:24am
There are going to be many times at the bridge table that you will want to tell partner about your hand
but won’t know how best to do so. That is why it is so important to discuss such things with your
partner. This article is aimed at getting a common understanding with partner by using takeout doubles
and cue bids when you and your partner want to compete against your opponents. I will describe the
potential bidding in plain English because, after all, the bridge bidding language is no different, it just
takes a different form
Here are some bidding situations from recent teams play
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
1/1 Chapter 3 - A grand start
Vil's Tips - Tue, 17/03/2026 - 3:21pm
Now let me show you a deal from X-Clubs, from Monday 16/3/2026
Board 6, Dealer East, EW vulnerable
JT52Q86T8543232AKJ74KTAKQJAQ64QT9A75329K9875863J9476
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
1/1 Chapter 2
Vil's Tips - Tue, 17/03/2026 - 2:56pm
Responding to 1 Level Suit Opening Bids:
A 1NT response to a 1C, 1D, 1H, or 1S opening bid is GAME FORCING, with no reference to any particular suit or denomination. Bidding after this continues in the normal way, but a rebid in a major shows at least a six card suit, 2C or 2D should be natural but can be a good three card suit, though with a balanced 5332 hand the rebid should be 2NT
In such a game forcing situation, any suit agreement or a new suit by the 1NT responder, can be treated as a KEY CARD ASK, which will be covered later
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
1/1 Bidding System - Chapter 01
Vil's Tips - Sun, 15/03/2026 - 3:53pm
Vil is starting a new series which he's picking will be of interest to only a few players. The concept is simple: 5 card majors, a strong (15-17) 1NT and a GAME FORCING 1NT response to all 1-level opening bids. Anyone interested in following the series can get the articles first hand by registering with him (villyn@xtra.co.nz). His articles will be published on this site while he continues to answer any questions anyone may have and helps juniors as much as possible
This system is based on “Five Card Majors”
We have all gotten used to responding to partner’s opening of one of a suit in time-honoured fashion: bid our suit at the one level, or bid 1NT with “6-9” if we haven’t enough points (usually 10+) to bid at the two level. But how often do we really need to bid 1NT? With ‘five card majors’ that is something that I find can be circumvented, with the 1NT response being far more useful to create a game going scenario, with many, many advantages to off-set the loss of the 6-9 1NT response. Read on if getting more out of your system interests you
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A 09: Transfers and Cue Bids
Vil's Tips - Wed, 11/02/2026 - 2:37pm
1. You open 2NT (balanced 20-22) and partner bids 3D which is a transfer to
hearts. Your hand:
A2AQT8AT64AK
What do you know? All you know is that partner has at least five hearts.
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A 08: Splinters and Cue Bids
Vil's Tips - Fri, 06/02/2026 - 3:21pm
We saw in No.7 how a slam might have been bid using “splinters” but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Let me show you another and very similar layout, where you might consider splintering but a slam is
near impossible.
SouthWestNorthEast1Pass2Pass?
You are sitting South and your hand is:
AT964AQJ99KQ9
A much better hand than earlier, so surely a splinter bid of 4D is in order. And responder also has a
better hand than we saw last time:
Q2KT876KQJAJ87
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A 07: Splinters and Cue Bids
Vil's Tips - Mon, 02/02/2026 - 6:06am
You are SOUTH, and dealer. All vulnerable, match points.
The Bidding has been:
SouthWestNorthEast1Pass2Pass?
Your hand is:
AT9643AQ99K73
What would you bid?
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A 06: Major Oriented
Vil's Tips - Thu, 29/01/2026 - 4:32pm
Not enough people play strictly major oriented takeout doubles, and then they find that because they
don’t trust partner to be on the same page, end up in the wrong contract. Here is a good example
You are SOUTH, Both vulnerable, dealer West.
SouthWestNorthEast-1X2
Your hand is:
42AT42J4AJ987
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A 05: DOUBLE OR QUITS
Vil's Tips - Tue, 27/01/2026 - 5:46am
Not enough use is made of the DOUBLE and REDOUBLE in our bridge bidding. These bidding
problems and answers revolve around the use of the “X and XX”. To make it more meaningful to the
club player, all questions and answers come from match point play.
You are SOUTH, EW vulnerable, dealer North.
The Bidding has been:
SouthWestNorthEast--1NTPass2XXXPass?
Your partner’s 1NT is 12-14 and your 2C is Stayman. You play Stayman with no specific point count.
Stayman, as you play it, simply asks a question: “do you have a four card major?”
West doubles and partner (the 1NT opener) redoubles
Your hand is:
K842A753A52J2
What do you make of it?
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A Test Answers 04
Vil's Tips - Tue, 20/01/2026 - 5:05pm
Here is another one that has a 100% answer. It should be easy for anyone who can count but despite the
fact that the giveaway clue of “Precision 1C” should have told us everything, there were a number of
players who would still take a finesse that was certain to lose, and not take a finesse that was certain to
succeed!
Let me show you the full deal as it was at the time it was played some years ago
Dealer W NS Vul
QJ7AQT93972K3KKJ7AKJT6J9866542654Q54754AT9838283AQT2
West is dealer, NS vulnerable; the bidding has been:
SouthWestNorthEast-11Pass122Pass3Pass4PassPassPass
West’s 1C was alerted and explained as a PRECISION 1C 16+ high card points, any shape. East’s
pass, after partner’s 1H overcall, has been explained as 0-5. West leads the ACE OF DIAMONDS, East
follows with the three (‘reverse attitude’) and West continues with the king, then another diamond, East
producing the queen. Declarer ruffs.
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A Test Answers 03
Vil's Tips - Fri, 16/01/2026 - 4:30pm
The bidding has been uneventful, 1NT by West, 3NT by East. Partner leads the TEN OF HEARTS and this is what you see in dummy:
K93QJ7AQ93J42
Your hand:
Q64K54J429863
What is your analysis of the situation?
When declarer covers with the jack in dummy, which card do you play?
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A Test Answers 02
Vil's Tips - Tue, 13/01/2026 - 1:17pm
Another teams match and the bidding:
Dealer West All Vul
SouthWestNorthEast-1NTPass2Pass2Pass4PassPassPass
1NT has been announced as ‘12-14’. 2C is Stayman.
Your partner leads the seven of hearts. Dummy comes down and this is the situation:
Dummy:
QT82QJTA98K85
Your hand, as South:
95A8432732Q92
What will be the first two cards played from your hand, and why?
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes
Q&A Test Answers 01
Vil's Tips - Fri, 09/01/2026 - 1:44pm
This one is an exercise in lateral thinking. It comes from many years ago and may not be replicated
these days, because bidding methods may well be different. Nevertheless it provides many points of
interest.
1.You are playing teams. You are SOUTH, EW vulnerable, dealer West.
The Bidding has been:
SouthWestNorthEast-1Pass1Pass2Pass2NTPass3Pass3Pass3NTPassPassPass
You ask about the bidding, as you should, and are told that the bidding is natural, 2S shows 5+
diamonds and 4 spades, and is game forcing. 2NT shows ‘not much’, and nothing has been ‘discussed’
as far as further bidding goes.
Your hand is:
853KQJ9232974
What would your opening lead be?
Categories: Vil Gravis Writes