When was the last time you made a doubled slam – a slam that could and should have been defeated – and lost IMPs on it? Today’s hand comes from the qualifying rounds of the Mixed Teams at the World Bridge Series in Wroclaw. The North hand was shared all over social media, but it’s
Do we need complicated bidding systems to reach the best contracts? The Portland Club (men only) operates a no conventions at all policy, which most of its members don’t stick to if they are playing outside tournaments. Some however treat ‘natural’ bidding with a fervour bordering on the messianic. One such was the ghastly Demetri
To paraphrase E.L. Wisty, the late, great Peter Cook’s alter ego, ‘Some people are born lazy, some become lazy and some have laziness thrust upon them.’ If you are any of these, there are going to be some contracts that you could make but don’t. I speak from years of experience! The more we play,
The bridge world is coming back to life with a bang. The World Championships were held (live) in March, the Europeans in June, the Rosenblum Cup (transnational teams) is coming up in Poland mid-August, and tucked in between, the ACBL’s Summer National Spingold Teams, won by Pierre Zimmermann’s brand-new, unstained, all-singing, all-dancing, glittering team, who
The return to pre-Covid normality has been slow and a bit dispiriting. Attendance at the popular English tournaments has been worryingly low with some events being cancelled (or moved online) because so few pairs had entered. Going anywhere abroad has been tinged with terror because what if you tested positive and had to isolate for…
Rubber bridge is a game that happens to suit me very well: you can come and go as you please and you don’t need a partner. You just wait for those magic words ‘Table up’ and you reply ‘One in’! Ofc I quite understand it’s not everyone’s cup of tea: there are so many different
When lockdown struck, high-standard online bridge tournaments sprang up and with them a multitude of cheats, world champions among them, crawled out of the woodwork. The World Bridge Tour came about when Norwegian stars Boye Brogeland and Thomas Charlsen, who had done so much to uncover the 2015 cheating scandal, analysed hands played by suspect
In honour of Her Majesty the Queen’s awe-inspiring Platinum Jubilee, I have not one but two hands, illustrating the power of pre-empts – even when they are psyches! Did I mention we got knocked out of the Schapiro Spring Foursomes by one IMP? Playing the last eight boards of 32 we went in 36 IMPs
It was time to celebrate! The Schapiro Spring Foursomes was back again after the enforced Covid break, and the EBU’s best tournament (IMHO), with its double elimination format, was down in numbers but not in quality. My team was knocked out in the quarter-final by 1VP by the team that eventually won: Team Hinden, a
My teammate Thor Erik Hoftaniska is having a bit of a moment. He won last year’s (online) Gold Cup (on my team), hoovered up the Champion’s Cup playing for Norway in Slovakia, won the main pairs event in the Easter Guardian, and has just taken the gold medal for winning the Norwegian Premier League. Not
It seems ironic that while many bridge players are fighting to ‘Keep Bridge Alive’, raising money to encourage and teach the next generation of potential enthusiasts, the English Bridge Union seems to be doing the exact opposite. They have just cut the funding for sending Juniors to championships – crucial to the development of their
The England U26 juniors have been flying high lately. A couple of weeks ago they won the Junior Camrose, and last weekend they went to Belgium and brought back the Channel Trophy as well. One of the most talented players, Ewa Wieczorek, has already qualified for the English women’s team in partnership with Ewa Kater.
The Lederer Memorial Trophy was carried off this year by my lovely friend Jonathan Harris, albeit with a little help from his friends. Jonathan played with Steve Root but to sharpen his team, he shipped over Sweden’s new young World Champions Mikael and Ola Rimstedt. The boys are twins and I for one have never
My friend Nick Sandqvist says that coaching the England juniors is a joy; so great when someone enthusiastic and creative is found to train the next generation. Shame the same can’t be said about the choice of Convention Card monitor, a gentleman who seems to think that a meticulously filled out CC is the most
You may not have heard of Sue Johnson but she could be the fairy godmother bridge needs right now. Not only does she go into primary schools to introduce young pupils to mini-bridge, she’s also the producer of the New Tricks videos which can be seen on YouTube, giving bridge much needed exposure in the
During lockdown I had a bit of a tidy-up and came across a Post-it note with the following statement written on it from a member of my team: ‘I WILL NEVER DISCUSS BRIDGE THEORY WITH JdB AGAIN. IF I DO SO I WILL JUMP OUT OF THE WINDOW.’ Bit much, I thought at the time.
Why is defence so difficult? Why do I have to suffer partner’s incredulous face when I play the wrong card in a two-card ending? Again. My New Year resolution is to slow right down and try to work out Declarer’s shape before playing a card. Some hope. I was watching a YouTube video from a
Bridge is not too enticing if your parents had card evenings when you were a child, which often ended in one of them storming out after a dodgy bid went septic. I’m sure that is the reason I learned to play so late, depriving myself of the thrill of being a Junior. Today’s Juniors practise
The 2020 European Championships were an early casualty of lockdown but hopefully 2022 will rectify the count! It’s going to be a busy year for bridge players with the Bermuda Bowl (World Championships) taking place in spring, the Euros probably in early summer, as well as all the old favourites that we have missed over
The Champion’s Cup is an annual competition for the national champions from 12 European countries. As my team won the Premier League in 2019, two years later we found ourselves on the way to Pezinok in Slovakia to take on 11 other strong teams. My regular team mates Thor Erik Hoftaniska and Thomas Charlsen, playing
