Geir Helgemo is the most revered bridge player in the world — and that isn’t about to change just because he failed a drug test at the World Bridge Series last September. You probably read about it at the weekend; some newspapers found it positively comical that the No. 1 player had been suspended for
The winter ‘season’ of terrific bridge competitions came to a close last weekend with the Lederer Trophy held at the RAC Club in London. Generously sponsored by Simon Gillis and faultlessly organised by Ian Payn and Kath Stynes, it really is a pleasure for the ten teams lucky enough to be invited to play in
Is it my imagination, or are we bridge players far more aggressive than we were a decade ago? I don’t mean our general behaviour — though that’s probably the case too. I’m talking about the way we bid. Finally, it seems, we’ve caught up with what the stars of the game have been doing for
Two of the best (and most enjoyable) Pairs and Teams tournaments of the year have just finished, and I miss them already. Iceland Air’s Reykjavik Bridge Festival, where my teammates Thor-Erik Hoftaniska and Espen Erichsen won the Pairs, and immediately following it, Pierre Zimmermann’s Cavendish Monaco. The Cavendish Teams was won by the French foursome
It can be hard to explain to people who don’t play bridge why it’s quite such a beautiful game. And yet, with fewer young people taking it up, and numbers declining, it’s vital that we do: otherwise, we face the heart-wrenching prospect that it might die out. Bridge organisations worldwide are doing what they can
The Norwegian Bridge Press Association’s annual prize for the best-played hand was a particularly hard-fought contest in 2018. Boye Brogeland and Geo Tislevoll (both Norwegian although Tislevoll now lives and plays in New Zealand) had already won the International Best Played and Best Defended titles, which made it likely that one of them would take
Zia Mahmood is as famous today as when I first met him 20 years ago. Not only is he still one of the world’s top players (a rarity for someone in their early seventies), but he brings as much dazzle and flair to the game as he always did. Quite simply, he’s one of a
2018 ended on a very sweet note for my team. We played the London Year End one-day teams tournament — and won! Highly enjoyable and highly satisfying. The perfect warm-up for the first weekend of the Camrose Trophy in Mold, North Wales, where I got my second England cap playing against the home countries. We
For those of us who play rubber bridge at TGR’s, the New Year began with the very sad news that Maurice Esterson had died. He was 89, but it was still completely unexpected. He was part of the club’s furniture — perhaps its most comfortable and precious item — and had been playing with his
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! I have made a resolution to make some bridge resolutions. Here they are: 1. When declaring, I will never again play to the first trick in a nanosecond. I will explain to the opps, in an insufferably smug tone, that I always take at least two minutes to plan
The other day, I opened a Christmas card showing Santa carrying a sack full of presents, and was immediately reminded of one of my favourite Boris Schapiro stories. Schapiro was famously mischievous, and here his victim was his partner, Terence Reese. He and Reese were, of course, a legendary pair for two decades from the
This is my last column before Christmas (I know… I’ll miss you too) and as 2018 rolls to an end the only tournament left for me to play is the Year End Congress in London. I could have gone to Hawaii to play the Reisinger, main event of the American Fall National, but it’s too
It’s been six months since the legendary Martin Hoffman died, but I’m still not sure if I’ve quite registered the fact. For 70 years, Martin was an omnipresent figure in London’s bridge clubs, and at 89 he remained as active as ever: he was cheerily playing with a client just hours before he passed away.
DO NOT DOUBLE PARTSCORES WHEN PLAYING TEAMS. Here is Geir Helgemo somehow fooling his expert opponents into defending like total muppets… The bidding was only the beginning of Geir’s wizardry. He managed to bid not one but both of his three-card suits, North giving desperate preference to 2♥. The opps were then led a very
It’s no surprise that so many bridge players are computer programmers or systems analysts; it’s an ideal game for those who excel at logic and puzzle-solving. But at the highest level, a strong imagination is what really gives you the edge. Certain players have an extraordinary ability to visualise their opponents’ cards, put themselves in
This autumn has been the busiest (bridge-wise) I can remember. It started with the Crockfords final at the beginning of September (we came second), then there was the World Championships in Orlando (we came nowhere) and the Pairs and Teams Grand Prix of Poland in Vilnius (we came second in both). We have just played
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?
Vytas and Erikas Vainikonis, father and son bridge enthusiasts, are the generous hosts of one of the best five days of championship-level bridge in the calendar. Held in Vilnius (capital of Lithuania for my fellow geography dunces), it starts with 12 invited teams competing for the highly prestigious Vilnius Cup and follows on with the
I’ve just come back from ten days in Orlando, but don’t ask me what it’s like — I haven’t a clue: I never made it out of the World Center Marriott, where the Bridge World Series was taking place. Such is the bridge life: you travel the world, and see none of it. I
Good news for bridge if the Open World Championships in Orlando are anything to go by. Far from dying, it is spawning and nurturing young players who are making their mark spectacularly. In the first two tournaments (Open Teams and Open Pairs) Michal Klukowski (22) won his fifth world title on the Zimmermann team and
