Janet de Botton

Bridge | 29 September 2016

issue 01 October 2016

TGR’s rubber bridge club is a bit like the set of your favourite soap. You have the regulars, of varying abilities and temperaments. You have the stars. You have the guest appearances, characters who come and go and shake up the cocktail. And then you have the total strangers, who walk in from nowhere and either last or are quickly written out. Some become friends, some you admire, and a tiny minority you absolutely loathe! They are the ones who whine nasally and continuously at every perceived mistake partner makes, want to control every bidding sequence and every defence, try and hog as much as possible, cry ‘bully’ when anyone protests, and subject the table to long and dreary hand analyses. Oh, and I forgot: they run snitching to the boss when anyone bites back. God, I love this column!

Above is a hand featuring two of the ‘stars’, Maurice Esterson and David Herman.

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