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What is Australian Bridge Magazine?
Australian Bridge Magazine is a subscription bridge publication based in Australia, aimed at competitive and improving club players. It publishes four issues a year, combining tournament reporting with instructional columns and interactive features.
H3 What it covers
- Event reports, such as the Asia Cup, the Australian National Championships and the Victorian Festival.
- Regular columns from well-known bridge writers and teachers, including Tim Bourke, Ron Klinger, Paul Lavings, Kim Frazer and Larry Cohen.
- A Bidding Forum, with an experts' version printed in the magazine and a separate readers' version online.
- An Online Supplement tied to each issue, carrying print-friendly Bidding Challenge hands, time-sensitive news and articles that did not fit in print.
- Coverage of the Australia-Wide Pairs events: Novice (players under 100 masterpoints), Open (open to all) and Restricted (under 300 masterpoints).
H3 Who it suits A club player who wants tournament results and expert commentary in one place, or a teacher looking for syndicated material from recognised writers. The masterpoint-limited Australia-Wide events and the readers' Bidding Forum also make it useful for players below open level who want structured practice.
H3 Practical notes Issues are quarterly, so news is not immediate; the Online Supplement is where time-sensitive items go. Subscriptions are priced by region (Australia, New Zealand/Asia, rest of world) for one or two years, and subscriptions can be arranged by phone or email.
Next step: if you mainly want the Bidding Forum and results, check the free online pages first; if you want the columns and reports, a one-year subscription is the lower-commitment way to test whether the quarterly rhythm suits you. See Australian Bridge Magazine.
How do I subscribe to Australian Bridge Magazine and what are the current rates?
You can subscribe to Australian Bridge Magazine by calling 0412 335 840, emailing [email protected], or using the subscription form linked from the site. The published rates are:
| Region | 1 year (4 issues) | 2 years (8 issues) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | $49 | $92 |
| NZ/Asia | AU$69 | AU$129 |
| Rest of world | AU$79 | AU$149 |
A practical next step: if you play in Australia, the 1-year Australian rate is the simplest entry point; if you expect to keep reading for two years, the 2-year rate lowers the average cost per issue. Readers outside Australia should compare the NZ/Asia and rest-of-world rates before choosing, since the difference is small but real.
For context on what you get, the magazine publishes event reports and regular columns from writers and teachers such as Tim Bourke, Ron Klinger, Paul Lavings, Kim Frazer and Larry Cohen. There is also an Online Supplement with print-friendly Bidding Challenge hands, time-sensitive news and articles that did not fit the print issue. If you are mainly interested in the Bidding Forum, note that the online readers' version is separate from the magazine forum and is moderated by Brad Coles and Nigel Kearney.
One timing note from the site: the August issue was postponed by one month, and the most recent issue listed is August-September 2026. If you are subscribing around an issue change, it is worth confirming the current issue date when you contact them.
What is the Australia-Wide Pairs event and how can I enter?
The Australia-Wide Pairs are three annual duplicate bridge events run by Australian Bridge Magazine, each played over a set week and open to different experience levels. They are "Australia-wide" in the sense that clubs around the country host sessions during the event window and results are pooled nationally, so you compete against the wider field rather than only your own club.
The three events, per the magazine's site:
| Event | Dates given | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
| Novice Pairs | 25–31 May | Players with fewer than 100 masterpoints |
| Open Pairs | 25–31 August | Open to all players |
| Restricted Pairs | 25–31 October | Players with fewer than 300 masterpoints |
How to enter. The site does not describe an individual online entry form; these are club-based events. The practical route is to ask your local club whether it is running a session during the relevant week and to enter through the club, or check the main Australia-Wide page linked from Australian Bridge Magazine for the event list, past results and FAQs. If you are unsure which event fits, masterpoint thresholds are the deciding factor: under 100 points points you to the Novice Pairs, under 300 to the Restricted Pairs, and the Open Pairs accepts anyone.
A useful next step: confirm with your club which session times fall inside the event week before the entry deadline, since a single missed session usually means missing the event entirely. If you are new to national fields, the Novice Pairs is the gentler introduction; the Open Pairs will include strong pairs and a much tougher scoring environment.
What is the Bidding Forum and how do I submit answers to the bidding questions?
The Bidding Forum is a regular feature of Australian Bridge Magazine where readers answer bidding problems and compare their choices with expert opinion. Two versions run in parallel: an experts' forum published in the magazine, moderated by Phil Gue and Fraser Rew, and a readers' forum available online, moderated by Brad Coles and Nigel Kearney. Archived editions of the feature can be reached through a dropdown box in the current month's column.
How to take part
- Read the current set of bidding questions in the forum column.
- Submit your answers for the next forum; the site's example is the December forum.
- Note the posting rhythm: one page note says the October questions appear on 31 August, so questions and deadlines follow a set schedule rather than being open all month.
What you get from it
Working through the questions forces you to commit to a call before seeing the panel's reasoning, which is where most of the learning happens. Reading the experts' answers afterwards shows whether your instinct matched theirs and, more usefully, why. The readers' version lets you see how a wider group of club players approached the same hands.
Practical next step
If you are deciding whether it is worth your time, pick one archived forum, write down your answers to all the problems first, then read the discussion. If the gap between your calls and the panel's is instructive rather than merely discouraging, the feature is doing its job. Subscribers also get the print version alongside the online readers' forum; subscription details and rates are listed on the site's home page.
What is the Online Supplement and what does it contain?
The Online Supplement is a companion web page that Australian Bridge Magazine publishes alongside each issue. It exists to carry material that either does not fit the printed magazine or works better online.
What it typically holds
- Print-friendly versions of the Bidding Challenge hands, so readers can play or discuss them without copying from the magazine.
- Time-sensitive news that would be stale by the time a print issue lands.
- Articles that were cut or held back from the print edition.
Who it is for
Subscribers get the obvious benefit: the supplement extends each issue between mailings. It is also useful for club players who work through the Bidding Challenge with a partner and want a clean sheet to write on, and for anyone who follows event results and wants updates before the next issue arrives.
One practical caveat
The supplement is tied to a specific issue, so its contents change each cycle. If you are looking for a particular article or set of hands, you need the supplement page for that issue rather than the current one.
Next step
If you already subscribe, open the supplement page for your most recent issue and check the Bidding Challenge hands first — that is the part most readers use between issues. If you are not yet a subscriber, the magazine's own site explains the subscription options and the Australia-Wide Pairs events: Australian Bridge Magazine.
How to decide if it matters to you
| If you are… | The supplement is… |
|---|---|
| A subscriber who plays the Bidding Challenge | Directly useful each issue |
| A reader who wants breaking event news | Useful between print issues |
| Someone after a specific archived article | Only useful if you find the right issue's page |
| A non-subscriber browsing for free instruction | Limited — most value sits behind the subscription |
Which expert writers and columnists contribute to Australian Bridge Magazine?
Australian Bridge Magazine's masthead is built around a mix of internationally known bridge writers and Australian teachers. From the page evidence, the named regular contributors are:
- Ron Klinger — one of the best-known Australian bridge authors and teachers, a long-standing name in bidding and card-play instruction.
- Larry Cohen — a leading American writer and teacher, associated with the Law of Total Tricks and a widely read bridge column.
- Paul Lavings — an Australian player, writer and bridge-equipment supplier, known for practical, results-oriented commentary.
- Tim Bourke — a prolific puzzle and problem compiler, especially on declarer play.
- Kim Frazer — an Australian writer and player, contributing instructional and analytical material.
- Simon Cochemé — a British writer and columnist, known for light, humorous bridge writing.
- Andrew Dueck — a newer featured contributor, listed alongside the established columnists.
The magazine also runs a Bidding Forum with two sets of moderators: Phil Gue and Fraser Rew handle the print forum, while the online readers' version is moderated by Brad Coles and Nigel Kearney. That split matters if you read the magazine mainly for panel-style bidding discussion — the online forum is a separate conversation from the printed one, with its own moderators and archived questions.
What this means for a reader
If you subscribe for instruction, the mix leans toward bidding systems and card-play problems (Klinger, Cohen, Bourke) with some lighter, essay-style writing (Cochemé). If you are mainly interested in Australian tournament bridge, the event reports on the Asia Cup, the ANC and the Victorian Festival sit alongside these columns rather than replacing them.
A practical next step: pick one issue and read a Klinger or Cohen column alongside a Bourke problem, then try the current Bidding Forum question before reading the panel's answers. That gives you a sense of whether the magazine's instructional voice matches how you actually want to improve. For more on the publication itself, see Australian Bridge Magazine, and if you want to compare its columnists against another long-running bridge publication, Bridge World is the standard reference point.
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