The famous exchange between Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Gregory of Scotland Yard in Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story ‘The Adventure of Silver Blaze’ will resonate with all good bridge players. Gregory: ‘Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?’ Holmes: ‘To the curious incident of the dog in the
What is the most advantageous attribute for a great Bridge player? Is it maths, or memory? I like the answer Sweden’s Peter Fredin gives: ‘Imagination.’ We’re not talking about the kind that lets you imagine you’re the best player in the world, but rather the ability to see how things look to the opponents. Peter
Anyone who plays bridge competitively knows how stressful it can be. If you wonder how world-class players cope, you should read The Art of Becoming a Top Bridge Player by Samantha Punch. Sam is not just a Scottish international, but also a professor of sociology. She interviewed scores of well-known names on topics ranging from
The recent European Championship in Denmark has given all keen bridge reporters plenty of material, I liked the following hand from the bulletin, featuring Allan Livgard on the winning Norwegian team. It’s particularly interesting to notice the slow approach in the auction by N/S; jumping around and making nondescript cue-bids in the opponent’s suits does
What can you say about the Rimstedt brothers that hasn’t already been said? They returned from the American Nationals in Toronto just in time to join their father’s team, and went on to win the Chairman’s Cup in Sweden for the third year running. This hand was reported to me by a friend who was
Bridge is a love affair which never dims. Even after all these years, it still excites and energises me – and I’m almost embarrassed to admit how often I dream about it. Last week, for instance, I was watching the North American Bridge Championships from my laptop at home, when I saw a deal that
When is a duck not a duck? Answer: when it’s a hold-up. I do love bridge terminology. Though the two manoeuvres are mechanically identical (you deliberately refrain from winning a trick by playing low), strictly speaking a duck is in your own suit, while a hold-up is in a suit played by your opponents. Either
Norway triumphed at the 56th European Team Championships held in Herning, Denmark at the end of June, hoovering up the gold medals in both the Open and the Women’s categories. But if you weren’t going to come in the medals, you still had everything to play for: the top eight teams out of 30 qualified
I’ve just come back from Herning in Denmark, where the European championships are taking place. I was playing with my friend Catherine Draper (herself a former gold medallist) in a side event, the European women’s pairs – brilliantly organised, and open to anyone. We qualified for the A-final, but finished a disappointing tenth. I can’t
The breaktime chat among Chess and Backgammon players often centres around the new super computers that could ‘solve’ these games as they play 100 per cent accurately. We humans are light years behind in technical and calculation skills. This will never be a concern for Bridge players; Bridge is a game of inevitable mistakes, and
‘It’s a sad day when I don’t get to re-double anyone,’ the England international Mike Bell said to me the other day, after I’d complimented him on how often – and effectively – he pulls out the red card. Most players are far more trepidatious when it comes to making penalty doubles and redoubles. Mike
How many times have I said ‘You are soo lucky’ to whichever expert opponent had brought in a tricky contract. ‘Every card would be wrong for me.’ Well ofc it would because sometimes you have to work out in which order to take your chances, which involves planning the play from dummy going down until
Thomas Charlsen and Boye Brogeland continue to delight the teams they invite to their World Bridge Tour (WBT). First-class playing conditions, impeccably run and with huge cash prizes; this time it was held in Bodo, northern Norway, and I had a new (to me) pair playing for my team, Dutch champions Simon de Wijs and
We all pause to think when playing, but – let’s be honest – it’s usually as basic as re-capping the bidding or counting points and distribution. When great players stop to think, you just know they’re on a higher plane, probably contemplating things that wouldn’t occur to the rest of us. But what? Luckily, when
The Spring Foursomes is the EBU’s flagship tournament and is always held the first weekend in May. Sadly it has had long Covid the past couple of years, but 2024 saw it back to its former glory. Brand-new venue, the DoubleTree Hilton in Bristol, good playing facilities and enough food to go round! Way to
I was chatting to my friends Alice Coptcoat and Natalie Hoff at the Acol last week, when Alice mentioned that she’d enjoyed Andrew Robson’s recent BridgeCast about a hand he played against Natalie at the Lederer Trophy. ‘Oh, that hand!’ Natalie exclaimed. ‘It was beautiful. I’ll never forget the way he dropped my singleton king,
Whenever we play a team’s tournament, fielded by sponsors, the sponsor (given choice) makes a beeline for me and I understand why. They probably think they will be shark fodder against a very aggressive pair of Internationals and will be swallowed whole. One Sponsor told her teammate to try and arrange for me to play
There are nearly two dozen Rules in bridge to help you in the bidding and play. The Rule of 20, for instance: open the bidding (in any seat) when your points plus the number of cards in your two longest suits come to at least 20. Or the Rule of 15: open in 4th seat
‘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
