Bridge | 4 March 2023

I’ve always relished the raw emotion of bridge. Its old image as a gentle game for genteel people – what rubbish. It’s a game of passion; people explode, tables are upturned. That’s why we we love it so much. True, every bridge writer stresses the importance of partnership harmony, of never shouting, never blaming. But who can do that in practice? Not even the writers themselves – as I first realised many years ago when I heard a famous player, whose wise and measured book I’d just read, exclaim: ‘You f***king prick, why didn’t you just count your tricks and claim, you c**t?’

Don’t we all feel that sometimes? Well, I suppose it depends – you might not, for instance, sitting opposite Michal Klukowski, one of the world’s best players. This hand comes from last year’s European Championships in Madeira (see diagram).

Klukowski was West: his 5♠ response to keycard showed two plus the ♥Q! I guess you may as well upgrade your hand when you play like him.