Bridge
15 June 2013
Last week I was glued to BBO, watching the US trials to select the two teams who will represent America in the Bermuda Bowl in Bali later this year. All… Read more
8 June 2013
David Cameron must long ago have stopped signing off texts to friends with ‘LOL’. In internet slang, of course, it means ‘laughing out loud’, not ‘lots of love’ as he’d… Read more
1 June 2013
Another long weekend, another bridge tournament. This time in Bournemouth where the groupetto and I decided to go for the Monday teams event. We all piled excitedly into the car,… Read more
25 May 2013
Before deciding how to tackle a hand, experts don’t just weigh up the odds; they also size up the opponents. That’s why, whenever I present the likes of Zia Mahmood… Read more
18 May 2013
If you are a regular reader of this column — do I have a regular reader who did not actually give birth to me? — you may remember that a… Read more
11 May 2013
Most of us play bridge with slight tunnel vision; we focus on our own cards, and those in dummy. Experts manage to split their screen, as it were, and see… Read more
4 May 2013
Bridge. What a heartbreaker. Just when you think all is well with the world you come spectacularly unstuck. OK, maybe a tad dramatic, but it doesn’t feel like it. First… Read more
27 April 2013
Does life feel a bit flat? Are you bored and listless? Then take up bridge! During the recent Lady Milne (the women’s home internationals) in Edinburgh, these are just some… Read more
20 April 2013
How do you stand on reunions? I always thought nothing on earth would get me to one but you live and learn. School reunions were the biggest no-no — who… Read more
13 April 2013
You’re probably going to think I’ve made up this week’s hand. It’s one of those problems you read about in quiz books which rarely occur at the table — and,… Read more
6 April 2013
Where did you spend Easter? Skiing in some magical snowy wonderland, sipping schnapps and ladling down the fondue? On a gourmet tour somewhere, sampling the local delicacies and washing them… Read more
30 March 2013
Why is bridge quite so exciting? One of the reasons, surely, is that it involves a power struggle, with each player wanting to assert their supremacy; the very word ‘trump’… Read more
23 March 2013
The London Metropolitan Bridge Association’s annual Swiss Teams’ Tournament, which attracted 35 teams, was won in style by Roger O’Shea, ably assisted by most of the Hackett family. There are… Read more
16 March 2013
A friend asked me recently whether there are any rules against ‘unethical hesitations’ in bridge: one of his opponents had paused before following low in a suit; as a result,… Read more
9 March 2013
Terry Hewett’s annual charity bonanza, Night of the Stars, has become THE charity event of the year and has made Terry the true star. This year she auctioned off 43… Read more
2 March 2013
Like most children, I was often told: ‘Count the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.’ I was strangely transfixed by the idea — as though, through some strange… Read more
23 February 2013
Professional bridge players should not need motivating, but the fact is that sometimes it would appear they are sleepwalking and need a veritable kick up the backside. Our latest Gold… Read more
16 February 2013
I feel that we in the bridge community (is there one? Am I in it?) haven’t made enough of a song-and-dance about Andrew Robson being awarded an OBE in the… Read more
9 February 2013
Max, my adorable son-in-law, knew early on he was not cut out for a life of academia. Nevertheless he fearlessly sat an A-level, after which, exhausted, he went on holiday.… Read more
2 February 2013
Once you’ve made a fool of yourself in public often enough, you pretty much stop minding. At least, that’s my experience of playing bridge on Vugraph (which is broadcast online,… Read more
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