This site allows you to try playing hands from a collection of bridge problems. All the problems are at IMP scoring.
It was inspired by Hugh Kelsey's books Test Your Match Play, The Tough Game, The Needle Match,
and Challenge Match, all now out of print but often available second-hand.
The collection is split into sets including a seletion of favourite hands chosen by Claire. You may choose hands from Claire's favourites, a particular set or play hands at random. If you choose random hands then you may see the same hand more than once. Over time the collection will grow making seeing the same hand less frequent. I may also eventually implement cookies to track which hands you've played.
I've given a source for each hand I've used, with a hyperlink if the source is online. Please tell me if you know of an earlier source, or even a later one (it's interesting to
see where bridge authors get their material from).
I've tried to avoid infringing copyright, according to my understanding of the law. If you think I've misused something you own, please get in touch.
I'm including all the problems from the Kelsey books, even when I'm unconvinced by the analysis. For everything else, I've used only hands where I think the recommended solution is clearly best.
Comments are welcome, by email to me.
Have fun.
Paul
This site allows you to try and play out hands to make the contracts. Auctions and leads are provided.
First "Choose a hand". You can choose a specific hand from a specific event or book, or you can take on a random hand. There is also the option to play through some of my favourite hands with some commentary as to why I like them.
The hand appears with the lead card and auction. Now it’s your turn to play the cards either as a declarer or as a defender. Click the card you wish to play. One of three things will happen:
- The card will be played. You’re fine.
- You get the message “Ok, but I’m playing this one”. Again you’re fine with the card you played, there’s just another equally valid option.
- You’ll be told “That’s wrong” and you will have to try another card.
When you get a message on the baize, simply click anywhere in the green box to make it go away, and play on.
To get the opposition’s cards, click anywhere in the green box. This will always move you along one card at a time, auto-playing when appropriate.
To move to the next trick, again click anywhere in the green box. Repeat steps as above and carry on until the whole hand is complete. You won’t be able to move on until you find the right card to play.
Eventually a claim will be announced. Click on the message to make it go away - that ends the play of the hand. Now is a good time to read the solution.
Features
To display cards as images rather than text, press the "Graphics" button.
To see your played cards greyed out rather than removed from the hand, press the "Show played cards" button.
To see an account of the play so far, press the "Show play" button.
Each hand has one "Bookmark" at a key point in the play, as it would if published as a problem in print. The bookmark is pre-set akin to a tap on the shoulder at the key moment in the play. Press the "Go to bookmark" button to go to that point. (This is not a feature you will need to make much use of in reality).
Press the "Show solution" button to see Paul’s (or occasionally my) analysis of the problem. A few problems pose an additional question in the analysis: for those the Solution button will now offer "Show bonus solution" for when you want to see Paul’s answer to the supplementary question.
Press the "Show all hands" button to see the hidden hands.
Some bids and plays are underlined in blue. Hovering over them with the mouse will display some information about the agreed meaning. This is equivalent to looking at a convention card — there's no guarantee that players will abide by their agreements.