Hand of the week

Perhaps the best way to improve your bridge is to watch an expert play, and to try to understand the reasoning behind their bids and plays.

Here, readers follow the bidding and play (or defence) of fifty-two hands - one a week for a whole year - and listen to the author's thinking as each hand develops.

Understanding why the experts do what they do is the first step towards being able to do it yourself - at least some of the time!