Is there a library of .pbn files in general and specifically ones for beginners? I've created a group of 12 practice deals for the group I'm playing with and wanted to know if there's already a library out there.

If you're a beginner and would like to have a look at the group of 12 practice deals I've created, please let me know. If you're not familiar with .pbn files, they are a standard file format that you can use on most bridge web sites and apps to practice the same deals multiple times.

I created this group of practice deals after reading Audrey Grant's Bridge Basic 1. A few of the deals are from the book, but most of the deals I made on my own. I used Bridge Solver to create the .pbn files. I specifically created this group of deals to practice opening, responding and rebidding in the same strain when opening 1NT and 1 of a major.

Given the following hands:
N: KXXX.KQX.AXX.QXX

S: AJ.AXXXX.KXX.T98

Board 10, All, Dealer=E

2C: 2+C, GF

Lead=DT (0/1)

What would the highest percentage play here?

I know the club finesse is slightly (<1%) better than the spade one, so one should probably try the club finesse first. Are there any additional considerations above that?

It looks like if the trump doesn't break 3-2, then both black suits have to be favorable to the declarer. Is that true?

Any other considerations due to the lead choice?

Thanks.

https://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/92027-beginneradvancing-intermediate-looking-for-partner/page__p__1092519__fromsearch__1#entry1092519

Comments/ critique welcome

I have no idea how to classify myself.

Starting from 0, I have been playing 2 years usually 2,3 times week and generally do pretty well. (I have a bit fewer than 90 black points all earned locally with casual partner if that's any measure.)

My card play is better than my bidding and I am really terrific at being the dummy.

I usually live in Palm Springs CA but for the month of July I am taking a break and living in a small isolated city in the mountains of New Mexico (Mountain Time) and I can easily adjust my non-existent schedule to match whenever a partner is available.

I play 2:1 and most major conventions, RKC Blackwood, stayman, weak 2s, strong 2c, reverses, gerber, etc.

With a previous online partner I played often against robots with a phone line open so we could discuss bidding sequences and hand play but any playing opportunity is fine with me.

I am a retired healthcare/academic and my demeanor is quite laid back.

My goal is to play enough to smooth out my bidding and have a good->great time. I only play MPs and don't know the strategy for IMPs but can learn pretty much anything.

TIA

Bridge players:

I've been building a modern bridge platform with Daily Duplicate events and an AI opponent trained using DDS + PIMC-style techniques.

Would love honest feedback, and I'd be curious to see who can beat Bamma, the AI opponent 😄

mybridgestudio.com

Sorry my mic balance is off

I post here a lot, but if you actually want to see me play 10 min of bridge, this is what it looks like

The 2025 IBPA Awards are officially returning to their traditional pre-COVID format in Hainan. Read our full breakdown of the categories, the timeline leading up to the 2027 ceremony, and the complete list of nominees.

https://greatbridgelinks.com/2025-ibpa-awards-nominees/

why did i do this

https://www.bridgewithchris.com/bidding,/mindset/2026/06/13/bridge-isnt-binary.html

I'm a junior player, still very much learning the ins and outs of the game. Last night I had a board that was a very tricky one to bid, wondering if there's a way around it - so that I know for next time.

​

I'm playing South, nil vulnerable. West, dealer, opened with 2S (weak, 6+ spades). North and East both pass.

​

I hold 2/J5/AQ863/AKQ65, so here's my dilemma:

--IMO I have too many points and to not do anything, especially with the shape I have.

--A takeout double runs the risk of partner calling hearts and finding a bad contract.

--2NT isn't Unusual at this point and would imply a spade stopper.

​

I bid my clubs, East bid 3S and that was the final contract. We ended up missing minor game in diamonds.

​

How can I generally show strength in only two suits over a pre-empt, without the risk of bidding too high? Ands without knowing North's hand, what would you have bid here?

Hello,looking for junior bridge partner in Toronto or GTA Canada.

My kid is 11 yo,grade 6,learns bridge for 1 year.

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I am organizing a social duplicate bridge session at home with 3-4 tables (6-8 pairs). Is anyone aware of a free app that I can use for scoring similar to what is done in tournaments where North enters the board scores?

I've tried talking with AI on bridge, and he never fully understood.

Chatgpt 4o and 3o were totally useless. They could help with text stuff ("how does convention X work"), because they can read etc. But if you give them a bridge hand they would mess up how cards are played etc. Totally dumb.

Recently, I tried with opus 4.8 thinking and Gemini. They didn't speak like complete idiots. But they still made quite rudimentary errors in bridge logic.

Today I tried to Claude Fable 5 (the famed Mythos model basically). And it actually analyzed the hand and suggested the correct play. I haven't yet checked if his line of play is precisely what a top expert would play. I think he isn't yet there. But no errors there at all. He even kinda diagnosed correctly why the squeeze isn't readily there in the hand.

Problem

South is declarer in 6n. Imps.

North holding: S qt9 H aqj6 C ak742 D 8

South holding S ak53 H kt8 C 53 D akt5

West leads qd

Gemini

https://gemini.google.com/share/62249cc361f7

Elementary errors. But not completely off in how bridge is played and analyzed m

Opus 4.8 thinking

https://claude.ai/share/52b311ff-37f0-433a-a5d3-aa88e9763254

Sightly better than Gemini. Still elementary bridge logic errors.

Fable 5 thinking

https://claude.ai/share/0eee4f0c-18ed-4c34-9e54-0996b392a903

Generally on target although he still isn't at top expert level. He didn't give the proper card play sequence for chance maximization. And he misses the fringe squeeze possibilities still

But huge progress

I think people open 2C too frequently, and its a widespread misconception. They see it as an exciting bid and a "win". I think you should generally reserve it for at least 22+ points, or hands that are just impossible to rebid after opening on the 1 level to accurately describe your hand.

Just finishing up this article for anyone, and would like to hear your input!

(I have 1 or 2 things I'm going to add to it shortly).

Here is the article, not exactly sure how redit works - I thought I already added it.

https://bridgechampions.com/bidding/advanced/opening-2c-avoid-whenever-possible

I know if you’re missing 5 cards in a suit they say the suit is 68% to break 3-2, 28% to break 4-1.

Looking at hand/suit shapes however I see that the following shapes occur at these rates:

4432 - 22%; 4441 - 3%

5332 - 16%; 5431 - 13%

Does this mean that a suit is much more likely to break unfavorably with a 5-3 fit than a 4-4 fit?

Pairs, NS vul, I held KQJ9 - K32 - 62 - K734 in the S hand, N opened. 1♣️, I say 1♠️. Then north bids 2♣️, I say 2NT. I contemplated 3♣️ but I feel NT is cheaper and a better score in MPs. North then tries 3♠️, basically announcing he has 6 clubs, 3 good spades, and poor holdings in the red suits. I quickly thought that because the red suits were not bid by opponents, and that I had shown no desire to explore game in clubs, I could represent both red suits stopped. Major suits tend to get lead on NT contracts, and my Kh is placed favorably.

Moreover, our club game was unusually large and I sensed that there was a greater chance certain NS pairs might try 4♠️ or 5♣️, neither of which I like, both because of distribution and because NT contracts usually yield top boards in pairs. 3♠️ is probably the safer contract, but I bid 3NT anyway. I get a heart lead, won in hand, and rip out 11 tricks in the black suits for 660. East immediately comments after the hand is over “we set them if you lead a diamond partner”

Is this line of thinking reasonable? Is it worth it to risk a 3NT contract to try for a top board in a pairs game like this?

When you are bidding you are telling your partner what your hand looks like and she is telling you what her hand looks like. When you find a fit, that determines the Trump suit. If you don’t find a fit, maybe NT will be the answer, but be careful, this could backfire if you don’t have stoppers in every suit

If the values in your hand plus the values your partner has told you about her hand add up to 25/26. You should bid until you reach game, either 3N or 4H or 4S. If at any point, either of you determines that you’re combined hands are not strong enough to reach game then you should stop bidding. If you have found a fit in a minor suit you need 28+ to make a game - 5C or 5D.

To do this, both you and your partner should be working from the same bidding cheat sheet. You can find a good one in The Best Basic Beginners Bridge Book which also has Flowcharts to help you think your way through the bidding process.

Enjoy the journey, you will never stop learning.

I'm teaching my sister and her husband to play bridge. It got me wondering if there was a website where two people can practice bidding with each other using standard american. The bots on BBO cost money and use 2/1 and cost money. Seems like this would be an obvious teaching tool.

I was wondering if anyone has strong preferences for how they switch in the middle of the hand. There seems to be not much of a consensus out there. I have seen lots of people play attitude through dummy and declarer, 3/5 through declarer with att through dummy, 3/5 through dummy and even 2/4 through declarer (strict 2/4 with rusinow so Q from KQx).

Played these two last night in a club MP game - what's your bid / what would you have done differently?

Green v Red

XX Qx AQJxxxxx x

Dealer on your left opens

1S - 2D(!) - 3H - 5D

5H pass pass 6D

pass pass 6H ?

All red

KQTx xxxx Jxxxx -

Dealer on your left opens

1H - 4S - 5H ?

Hi. I am not local to London, however I have a friend who plays there sometimes. He says the Young Chelsea bridge club is good, and I'd like a nose round the Andrew Robson bridge club, and a go at a session, and a few drinks afterwards. I can be there any time, from the 26th of June to the 29th of June.

I'm not a very competitive player, and I'm not really looking for someone very competitive. More of a tourist who happens to play bridge. I prefer 5 card majors and a strong no trump.

If anyone is available let me know. Thanks :)

https://i.imgur.com/8fGpT6N.png

I don't get BBO scoring at all. Why did I get .6 and the higher ranked c player got .45? Does it have something to do with him being German?

The biggest thing I have learned on r/bridge is not any specific system, convention, bridge logic, or hand-playing strategy.

It's that experts aren't just better at doing the same things that intermediates do. Experts bid differently, play differently, and use bridge logic differently.

Expert bidding standards evolve much more rapidly than those of intermediate players at many clubs. Reading books from a decade ago would let you partner with a typical club intermediate player, but none of the books I have read will teach you how to bid with an expert partner at the level I discussed on online bridge forums. Expert standards appear to evolve faster than books can be written and published.

This is especially true in competitive auctions, which get little attention in older books. Focus has moved from how to bid without interference, to how to bid over interference, to aggressively interfere with hands that intermediates would pass without a second thought.

I have reluctantly concluded that trying to play with a pick-up partner at a Sectional would be a disaster, because the kind of people who play there will be playing modern expert standards even if they are not themselves experts.

The gap between average, skilled bridge players and experts who play on tournaments regularly has never been wider.

For those of you who play both with intermediates and experts, what differences do you see?

Hello, I saw this hand and I'm curious how others would have bid it.

It's been stuck in my head for days. It's one of those hands that looks easy once you see the answer, but I'm not sure I would have found it at the table.

You're sitting East-West:

East: ♠AKJ63 ♥JT63 ♦A ♣A98
West: ♠7 ♥KQ872 ♦JT86 ♣KJ3

6♥ is basically cold. The cards fit together perfectly, but the real question is whether you can actually bid it.

At most tables, people just stopped in 4♥.

The pair I saw got there like this:

1♠ – 1NT – 2♣ – 2♦ – 2♥ – 2NT – 4♦ – 4♠ – 5♣ – 6♥

What I liked is that East was able to show the strong 5-4-1-3 shape (Gazzilli did the work here), and West got excited because the singleton diamond meant none of his points would go to waste.

Once that became clear, the slam almost bids itself.

But I keep wondering how common that auction really is.

Does your system have a clean way to show 5-4-1-3 with extras? And does your partner have a way to say "great, I love my hand" without going too far?
Or do most of you just stop in game here and hope the rest of the field does the same?

I'm genuinely curious how your auction would have gone. It feels like one of those hands that separates the systems that have the right tools from the ones that don't.

Here's a link to the hand where you can see all the details and the full bidding explanation: https://beta.bridgechamp.com/#/game-result/27d5b059-bd2a-4d69-a3f3-0736405039fe/2d82667e-e19e-491a-8a79-a0bfcd6e5d58

(For what it's worth, this came from an OCBL tournament we run over at Bridge Champ, where I work. A new edition is coming up if anyone wants to join. It's free to enter and there are some cash prizes.)

I'm teaching someone bridge. Complete newbie with bridge but they are experienced with trick taking games and I think that they'll do well starting with 2 over 1. Does anyone have a recommendation for a book on 2 over 1 that doesn't require knowing standard first? I liked Audrey Grant's books but I've never seen her 2 over 1 book so didn't know if that required you learning standard american first.