Bridge | 27 July 2017

This is a great time to be a bridge professional — not just for the world’s top players, who have their pick of super-rich sponsors, but also for those a good few notches below them. In London, there seems to be an ever-growing list of clients willing to spend £100 or more for a game at their local club. I’ve never given much thought to what it’s like to be a professional, but recently I came across a fascinating article by the bridge pro August Boehm which made me realise how approaches differ vastly. Some clients don’t particularly want to improve; they don’t even want their mistakes pointed out. They just want to have fun and get the best possible result — and to this end, the pro has to dominate the auction to make him or herself declarer as often as possible.

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