Bridge | 1 November 2018

For most bridge players, defence is the hardest part of the game. Not only do you need to visualise declarer’s hand, you also need to visualise your partner’s — and then you have to make sure you’re in step with each other. What if he inadvertently sabotages your plan? Worse, what if you sabotage his? Nothing stresses me so much at the bridge table as when I’m partnering a top-class player who, midway through defending, stops to think for ages. I quickly lose confidence in whatever plan I had formulated; my job now is to try and figure out what on earth he’s plotting. The longer he thinks, the worse it’ll be if I botch it up.
 
Luckily, a brilliant defence doesn’t always require much from your partner. On this deal — which has won the bridge press association’s prize for Best Defence of 2018 — the Norwegian expert Geo Tislevoll pretty much defeated the contract by himself.