Now here's something you CAN try at home ...

Ever wondered how you might have played or defended a hand better? Of course you have - everyone does. Well ... here's a cool tool to show you what ground you lose or gain whenever you do anything.

Here's how:

1. Download bridgify from www.bridgify.net
2. Extract and run the program. This is probably best done by creating a new folder on your C drive and moving the downloaded file into it before unzipping with a double click. This will create a sub-folder called Bridgify105 in which you will find the executable file that runs the application. If you right-click this file you'll be able to create a shortcut to drag to your desktop so it'll be simple to start up subsequently
3. From any result file shown on our site (eg 17mon), right-click the PBN box at the top and choose "Save link as ..."
4. Name the file meaningfully ... 17mon.pbn would be appropriate here in this example. Note - the ".pbn" extension is necessary AND you should save as type All Files, not Text Document. Save it somewhere meaningful too - say - in :c/Bridgify if you followed the tips above. Or the desktop: Desktop is always good
5. Go back to Bridgify and click on Load. Then click on Open File, navigate to wherever you saved your pbn file and double-click it
6. A list of all hands appears - double-click any hand you want to "re-play"
7. All makeable contracts are displayed under each hand - choose the one you failed in OR by clicking on New you can tick the box to specify a contract
8. The contract and number of tricks each side has to make are displayed at top right
9. The potential for each hand about to play a card is displayed under that hand at its turn. Best plays are indicated with a green dot, red is for not so good plays. You can back up and try another move any time

All in all this seems a very useful tool which is quite simple to load with any set of hands once you're set up and have got the hang of using it. The official instructions are attached below.