In almost any other sport, it would be unheard of for a parent and child to reach the highest level together, let alone be partners. Apart from anything else, most young people don’t particular want to eat, sleep, compete and socialise with a parent. But bridge appears to be the exception. There are several famous
Recently, at the end of a gruelling bridge tournament, I must have been deliriously tired, because as I was thinking about how hard it is to focus on every aspect of the game, a nursery song popped into my head: ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes, Heads, shoulders, knees and toes…’ Actually, I don’t think it
As the old saying goes, you know you’re getting old when policemen start looking young. But you know what makes you feel really old? It’s when bridge players start looking young. The higher the level, the truer that is. Whenever I go to international tournaments, I’m struck by the number of players in their twenties
Of all the mistakes we make in defence, few are more embarrassing than revoking. Everyone’s done it: a sudden brain blip convinces us we’re out of the suit that’s been led, and we discard from another. If only we were allowed to pick up the card, apologise and play on. But that never happens, not
After an enjoyable week playing in the European Transnational Championships in Poznan recently (the Mixed Teams), I had time to spare before catching my flight home. The Open Teams had just begun, so I decided to kibitz for a while. I chose to sit behind the iconic Swedish player Peter Fredin, who I’ve been following
The city of Poznan in Poland became heaven on earth last month, swarming as it was with hundreds of fellow bridge addicts and most of the world’s top players. It was the 11th European Transnational Championships, and I went to play in the Mixed Teams with a wonderful group: Sebastian Atisen, Andrew McIntosh, Sara Moran,
At any big international bridge tournament, the chances are you’ll end up playing a star name or two. And while it’s always a privilege, I find it hard to stop my inner voice whispering how incomparably better they are than me; I’m just a sitting duck. I have a mantra, however, which helps: ‘Anyone is
Gunnar Hallberg is a tall, big-boned Viking of a player, who, three decades ago, decided to cross the North Sea to raid the high-stake bridge clubs of England. He’s lived here ever since, and Sweden’s loss, it turns out, has been our gain. He’s gone on to represent England numerous times in European and world
Everyone has moments of tiredness during bridge tournaments. But it’s a merciless game. Taking your eye off the ball for a second – even missing something as small as a spot-card – can lead to disaster. At the recent Spring Fours in Bristol, on a team with Sebastian Atisen, Alice Coptcoat and Ollie Burgess, I
Let’s face it, part-score contracts can be a bit of a yawn. When browsing through bridge books or bulletins, I always skim over part-scores to read about games and slams – that’s when my adrenalin gets going. And I must admit, it’s the same at the table: the higher the contract, the more alive I
A few years ago, Sally Brock – women’s world champion many times over – told me she’d like some coaching in declarer-play from Artur Malinowski. Artur, she said, just seems to make more contracts than other people. And it’s true: he has extraordinary table presence. He relies on ‘reading’ his opponents as much as he
Just like having a natural aptitude for drawing or music, some lucky people seem to be born with a gift for bridge. My friend Oliver Burgess is one of them. He plays with effortless elegance, visualising end-plays or spotting chances to false-card while most of us are still struggling to marshal our thoughts. Ollie’s gifts
I was taken aback by the letter that accompanied my daughter’s school report last week. ‘Traditionally, reports have been written by teachers,’ it stated. But to save teachers time, ‘the school has moved to an AI-supported system where the teachers enter bullet points and the AI crafts suitable prose… We hope that you won’t notice
It can be hard to recover your morale when you have a bad start in a tournament. You came in all positive and then need to claw your way back to average. Not everyone feels that way, though. I recently went to Bath with Sebastian Atisen, a regular partner, to play in the Wiltshire Congress
For me, bridge is often a game of ‘If only…’. When it comes to complex hands, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve let myself down. And yet, however frustrating it is to know that I’ll never play with the brilliance and clarity of my heroes, I’m constantly motivated to keep trying – and that’s
If you don’t like highly artificial bidding systems, then the auction below – awarded Best Bid Hand of 2024 by the International Bridge Press Association – isn’t for you. But you can’t deny it’s pretty impressive. With a combined 32 points, balanced hands and no 8-card fit, Linlin Hu (East) and Yinghao Liu (West) were
I wish I’d been at the teams event held last week by the World Bridge Tour in Reykjavik. The sights, I’m told, were amazing. No, not the snow-capped mountains or hot springs. I mean the famous faces at every table – Bas Drijver, Michal Klukowski, Boye Brogeland, Sabine Auken, the Rimstedt twins…it was a bridge
It’s the last hurrah of the bridge year: the London Year End Congress, which I never miss (although my husband thinks it sounds like a Communist party convention). What better way to spend the days between Christmas and the new year, when most of us feel slothful from over-indulgence, than in the adrenalin-fuelled atmosphere of
Last year, my new year’s resolution was to make fewer careless mistakes at the bridge table. Easier, surely, than cutting down on chocolate. Alas, not: I’ve spent as much time as ever banging my head in frustration. So I’m making a different resolution this year: I’m going to embrace my careless mistakes. After all, even
Belated congratulations to Simon Gillis and his team, who recently won the Gold Cup for the third time. Simon always invites his gang of bridge superstars (and good friends) to big tournaments; they bring a dose of glamour and a distinctly Scandinavian flavour to his team. Admittedly, one, Zia Mahmood, couldn’t look less Nordic if
