If you don’t like highly artificial bidding systems, then the auction below – awarded Best Bid Hand of 2024 by the International Bridge Press Association – isn’t for you. But you can’t deny it’s pretty impressive. With a combined 32 points, balanced hands and no 8-card fit, Linlin Hu (East) and Yinghao Liu (West) were
I wish I’d been at the teams event held last week by the World Bridge Tour in Reykjavik. The sights, I’m told, were amazing. No, not the snow-capped mountains or hot springs. I mean the famous faces at every table – Bas Drijver, Michal Klukowski, Boye Brogeland, Sabine Auken, the Rimstedt twins…it was a bridge
It’s the last hurrah of the bridge year: the London Year End Congress, which I never miss (although my husband thinks it sounds like a Communist party convention). What better way to spend the days between Christmas and the new year, when most of us feel slothful from over-indulgence, than in the adrenalin-fuelled atmosphere of
Last year, my new year’s resolution was to make fewer careless mistakes at the bridge table. Easier, surely, than cutting down on chocolate. Alas, not: I’ve spent as much time as ever banging my head in frustration. So I’m making a different resolution this year: I’m going to embrace my careless mistakes. After all, even
Belated congratulations to Simon Gillis and his team, who recently won the Gold Cup for the third time. Simon always invites his gang of bridge superstars (and good friends) to big tournaments; they bring a dose of glamour and a distinctly Scandinavian flavour to his team. Admittedly, one, Zia Mahmood, couldn’t look less Nordic if
I enjoyed playing in the Surrey Mixed Pairs with my friend Guy Hart last Sunday. It was a friendly event, and Guy, with his frequent witty quips, makes me laugh more than anyone. We played pretty well (not too many mistakes), so I must admit we were disappointed with our below par result. The thing
The World Bridge Games are taking place in Buenos Aires and I’m glued to my screen, kibitzing and checking the results at every opportunity. The superstars are out in force, and it’s riveting to compare the way they approach the same hands – and a great way to learn. That said, you’ll see certain bids
Being a bridge pro is a dream job – I mean, how many people get to make a living playing a game they love? My friend Ollie Burgess is one of the best pros in London; he’s in constant demand, and deservedly so. He really enjoys playing with clients, especially those who have an aptitude
Have you ever made a bid based on the assumption that your partner has forgotten your system? It’s not as unreasonable as it might sound. Everyone forgets bits of their system now and again, and if a bid doesn’t make sense to you, that could well be why. Even so, it’s an uncomfortable dilemma: whether
The famous exchange between Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Gregory of Scotland Yard in Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story ‘The Adventure of Silver Blaze’ will resonate with all good bridge players. Gregory: ‘Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?’ Holmes: ‘To the curious incident of the dog in the
Anyone who plays bridge competitively knows how stressful it can be. If you wonder how world-class players cope, you should read The Art of Becoming a Top Bridge Player by Samantha Punch. Sam is not just a Scottish international, but also a professor of sociology. She interviewed scores of well-known names on topics ranging from
Bridge is a love affair which never dims. Even after all these years, it still excites and energises me – and I’m almost embarrassed to admit how often I dream about it. Last week, for instance, I was watching the North American Bridge Championships from my laptop at home, when I saw a deal that
When is a duck not a duck? Answer: when it’s a hold-up. I do love bridge terminology. Though the two manoeuvres are mechanically identical (you deliberately refrain from winning a trick by playing low), strictly speaking a duck is in your own suit, while a hold-up is in a suit played by your opponents. Either
I’ve just come back from Herning in Denmark, where the European championships are taking place. I was playing with my friend Catherine Draper (herself a former gold medallist) in a side event, the European women’s pairs – brilliantly organised, and open to anyone. We qualified for the A-final, but finished a disappointing tenth. I can’t
‘It’s a sad day when I don’t get to re-double anyone,’ the England international Mike Bell said to me the other day, after I’d complimented him on how often – and effectively – he pulls out the red card. Most players are far more trepidatious when it comes to making penalty doubles and redoubles. Mike
We all pause to think when playing, but – let’s be honest – it’s usually as basic as re-capping the bidding or counting points and distribution. When great players stop to think, you just know they’re on a higher plane, probably contemplating things that wouldn’t occur to the rest of us. But what? Luckily, when
I was chatting to my friends Alice Coptcoat and Natalie Hoff at the Acol last week, when Alice mentioned that she’d enjoyed Andrew Robson’s recent BridgeCast about a hand he played against Natalie at the Lederer Trophy. ‘Oh, that hand!’ Natalie exclaimed. ‘It was beautiful. I’ll never forget the way he dropped my singleton king,
There are nearly two dozen Rules in bridge to help you in the bidding and play. The Rule of 20, for instance: open the bidding (in any seat) when your points plus the number of cards in your two longest suits come to at least 20. Or the Rule of 15: open in 4th seat
I’ve been waiting for what feels like decades to make a contract by means of an intra-finesse. And not just because I love the name. When I first read about the manoeuvre, my mind was blown away in the same way it was when I first encountered squeeze-plays: ‘impossible’ games could be made! The trouble
If you watch world-class players online, you’ll notice how often they use the red penalty–card. Most of us are far too hesitant: we feel we pretty much have to guarantee a contract won’t make before we double. But as Zia Mahmood once said: ‘If every contract you double goes down, you’re not doubling enough.’ Very
