‘If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it’s a duck.’ For Bridge players, the problem is that it doesn’t always look like a duck and it rarely quacks. My regular partner, Artur Mali, says ducking is for experts, and goes puce in the face if
I’ve been waiting for what feels like decades to make a contract by means of an intra-finesse. And not just because I love the name. When I first read about the manoeuvre, my mind was blown away in the same way it was when I first encountered squeeze-plays: ‘impossible’ games could be made! The trouble
Easter always zips by if you’re a bridge player and enter the EBU’s Easter Festival. There are four events to choose from and I chose them all. My favourite is the Swiss Teams and we normally do rather well. Not this year unfortunately. In the final match we played Simon Gillis’s team and I rather
If you watch world-class players online, you’ll notice how often they use the red penalty–card. Most of us are far too hesitant: we feel we pretty much have to guarantee a contract won’t make before we double. But as Zia Mahmood once said: ‘If every contract you double goes down, you’re not doubling enough.’ Very
There is an audible buzz in the international bridge world and it centres around a few Scandinavian juniors. The youngest is Norway’s Nicolai Heiberg-Evenstad (obvs known as the Kid), who is 16 now but started playing with his father, Stian Evenstad, aged about seven and was quickly noticed as an outstanding talent. When two or
Last weekend’s women’s trials for the European championships – a playoff between two teams of four – was surprisingly enjoyable. Not only was I lucky enough to be partnering Paula Leslie, but also all eight of us got on exceptionally well. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that level of friendliness in such a crucial
A few new sponsors have sprung up lately, which is very exciting for the English bridge scene and means we can send teams to international events that the EBU (and practically every other bridge federation) can’t afford to sponsor. One of the best and most successful is Maggie Knottenbelt who, with her very good team,
It might be time to start showing more respect to your dummy. Yes, you’re the boss, the brains, the living force behind the contract; dummy is just an inanimate row of cards at your disposal. But sometimes you need to bring it alive in your imagination, swap seats, see things from its upside-down point of
‘I haven’t seen this before,’ began a recent email from my friend and frequent contributor Nick Sandqvist. That meant it would be a bit special, and it certainly was. Double game swings are not as rare as you may think: 4♥ making one way and 4♠ the other – usually with a double attached –
I always put on weight when I play in bridge tournaments: the build-up of stress and concentration makes me ravenous. Sally Brock often reminds me of the time, many years ago, that we played in the women’s trials at the YC, which was then based in Earl’s Court. When it was over, she asked if
The Reykjavik Bridge Festival, held annually at the end of January, is one of the great treats of the bridge calendar, and this year it was twice as good: Thomas Charlsen decided to hold his terrific World Bridge Tour (WBT) just preceding it to make it easier for teams who wanted to play both. In
The London Teams of Four was the first bridge tournament of the new year and was a very close affair. Kevin Castner finally prevailed against the opposition with his team of (partner) Phil King and teammates Sebastian Atisen and Stefano Tommasini – the last newly selected, with his regular partner Ben Norton, to represent England
Bidding would be so much easier if you didn’t have opponents. Imagine if you and your partner were given a clear run, without interference from those pesky players on either side. But that’s not bridge. Getting in your way is what opponents do – at the highest level possible. Having to judge whether to bid
The one bridge resolution I made years ago was that if you have a 5-4 fit in a suit, play for the drop (i.e. play for the outstanding cards to be 2-2) unless there is a huge reason not to. The one time I deviated from my resolution was in Hungary, in a very strong
One of the things I like most about bridge is that it allows you to be sociable without actually having to talk to anybody. At the Year End Congress, held between Christmas and the New Year, it was lovely to see all the familiar faces. But what a relief not to have to answer the
This is my last column for 2023 and I thought I would give you the highs and lows of my bridge team over the past year. The high was definitely winning the Gold Cup and almost as good was being one of two teams winning the Camrose for England. The low, by a big margin,
As someone who gets anxious quite easily when faced with difficult bidding decisions (have I done too much? Or not enough? Will my partner be angry?), I admire players who just do what they feel is right without worrying. A refusal to be cowed by your opponents, or nervous about your partner’s reaction, is a
Both TGRs and Young Chelsea run highly successful League matches on alternate Wednesday evenings. Organised impeccably by Gitte Hecht-Johansen, you play 24 boards against the seven other teams in your division, the two teams coming last getting relegated. It is wonderful practice for players who want to test their bidding skills and declarer play in
At high-stake rubber bridge, it’s not uncommon for players – nearly always male, I should add – to react to a penalty double as though a direct challenge has been made to their manlihood: out comes the redouble card, essentially quadrupling the stakes. But they have a point: in bridge lingo, if you make a
I have been bragging incessantly about my team’s success in the Gold Cup. What an extraordinary comeback we made taking 69 imps back in the last eight boards. I may have even mentioned it to the local newsagent. Well – that was then. After three weekends of Premier League not only didn’t we win, we
