Bridge

Stuart Wheeler was a true original. I was lucky enough to be a friend (we met playing bridge), and will miss him greatly. He was often referred to as a spread-betting ‘tycoon’ but the word feels quite wrong: he was modest and unassuming, and his fierce intelligence was matched by a childlike guilelessness. While his

Last week I got an email from one of my readers — the other one is possibly away for the summer. His name was Paddy and he wrote as follows: ‘Dear Janet, I love your column [I warmed to him immediately] but I have been rather confused lately. I’m not a good player, and I

Gunnar Hallberg moved to England from Sweden 25 years ago to play professional bridge, and made such a success of it he never went back. Now, at 75, he remains a hero to many younger players, not just because of his outstanding talent, but also because of his passion for sharing his knowledge and helping

The French Online Open, in which 32 teams competed over a marathon two weeks — seven days round robin and seven days playoffs — was won by the only English entry, Team Sushi, made up entirely of London players, and captained by Nick Sandqvist. I was watching a set in one of the semifinals when

What goes through a world-class player’s mind when he or she stops to think for an age during a hand? I always find it slightly humbling: are they calculating probabilities, spotting chances, and creating contingency plans that mere mortals would find hard to grasp? Almost certainly that’s true, but they’re also doing something else: sizing

What do we want? We want to play bridge. But who anticipated Covid-19 was going to close every bridge club in the country — make that the universe — and also cancel (or postpone) every tournament, big or small, world championship or fun. It seemed to take a nanosecond to move everything online and not

I’m not a great fan of online bridge but I must admit, lockdown has provided a real opportunity for players to improve their game. The endless choice of duplicates, and the ease with which they can be played, means many people are playing far more than they used to. That includes the international stars of

I am so useless in defence it’s embarrassing. My partners all say the same thing: slow down and think. I say: ‘I don’t know what to think about.’ In the 2-card ending, I unerringly play the wrong card, which brings on the annoying response: ‘You knew Declarer had a heart and a spade left.’ Well,

Have you ever been at a bridge event and heard someone exclaim: ‘He Grosvenor’d me!’ They are referring to a Grosvenor Coup. Normally, they’ve just realised — too late — that an opponent played an idiotic card in defence that could have enabled them to make their contract. But because it didn’t occur to them

When did we change from being a nation of curtain-twitching old biddies into one of full-on super-snitches? First a retired teacher (male) reported Dominic Cummings to the police (I mean — can you imagine actually doing that?) for getting into his own car with two members of his own household and driving 260 miles to

One of the drawbacks of online bridge is the lack of après-bridge fun — those spontaneous drinking sessions where we go through the hands and laugh at what went wrong. Mind you, it does mean I’m getting to bed earlier; a few of us have a habit of leading each other astray. Perhaps my most

Well, what can I say? I have been nowhere. Seen no one. Done nothing. Unless you count watching damaging amounts of TV, going for a little stroll (not) every day, reading and, ofc, playing bridge online. It’s enough already. I miss normal life — and I don’t just mean hugging the grandchildren (who, btw, loathe

My entertainment last week was watching the NN-Cup, a ‘Goulash’ tournament normally held in Moscow, now played online for the first time. Goulash is a rare form of bridge, typically played at rubber. When a deal has been passed out, everyone places their cards (still sorted) on top of everyone else’s, and they are dealt

This weekend should have been the Schapiro Spring Foursomes, sponsored by Helen S., widow of the legendary Boris. Held in Stratford-upon-Avon, it is my favourite EBU event of the year, with its double-knockout format attracting very good teams from far and wide This is just one of many worldwide tournaments to have been cancelled —

I’m aware that this column is in danger of turning into the Alex Hydes fanzine, but after writing about his performance on Janet’s team a couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to partner him myself last Saturday. We played in the Young Chelsea cross-IMP pairs tournament — which, incidentally, I hope becomes a

The Alt Invitational is the online tournament that is attracting some of the best players on earth. When the whole world is on lockdown, nothing can take the place of the American nationals or the World Bridge Games, but Paul Street (Canadian sponsor) had an idea: invite eight strong teams to compete over five days,

While chatting on the phone to my friend Alex Hydes a couple of weeks ago, I asked whether he was playing any online bridge. For a bridge superstar, Alex is unusually down to earth and self-deprecating. ‘I’m rubbish at it,’ he replied. ‘Cards on screen don’t register with me like real cards.’ But only a

I think it was Warren Buffett who said: ‘Bridge is such a sensational game that I wouldn’t mind being in jail if I had three cellmates who were decent players.’ It is so endlessly fascinating and surprising that you are rarely bored and never alone. Since the shock of all the bridge clubs closing overnight,