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
o think for a long time, I feel a strange mix of awe and inferiority. It’s not the fact that they’re thinking, of course – we all do that. It’s the awareness that when it comes to difficult hands, their thought processes resemble mine as much as an Olympic sprinter resembles a contestant in an
If time and money were no object, I’d be jetting off to Vienna in a couple of weeks, then flying to Biarritz, then spending a week in New Orleans, back in time to catch a flight to Warsaw… and that would only take me up to April. Most people probably aren’t aware how many international
How often do you reach for the double card? Perhaps you’re a bit of a wimp like me. I’ve lost count of the times my inner voice has urged: ‘Double, Double!’ – a bit like the witches in Macbeth – only for me to ignore it and meekly pass. It’s pure fear of being wrong:
Did you make any new year’s resolutions? High on most people’s lists – along with shedding a few pounds – is to exercise more. But what about mental fitness? It’s a lot more fun than getting sweaty in the gym – and all it requires is taking up bridge. Bridge really is the best mental
Like many people, I assumed that online bridge would fade away once people began playing face-to-face again. I’m so glad I was wrong. The social aspect of the game is, of course, largely lost online, but on the other hand, quite apart from the convenience, it’s a great way to improve; I always replay hands
Have you ever stopped to have a long think while playing bridge online, and seen an opponent type the word ‘TEST’ in the chat box? I have, several times, and I’d always assumed it was a sympathetic way of acknowledging that someone has a criticaI decision to make. But when I mentioned this to David
I was very sad to learn last week that Dinah Caplan has died. She was 90, and had been a hugely popular and respected player on the bridge circuit for as long as any of us can remember. But more than that, she was an inspiration to anyone who worries that they’ve left it too
I get very tense, not to say cranky, if I’m interrupted while playing bridge. But last week I decided it was time to chill out – as I’m sure anyone else would if they too had witnessed Gitte Hecht-Johansen’s extraordinary feat of multi-tasking. Gitte is originally from Denmark but has long been a fixture –
Did you know that a ‘heartbreaker’ is a real term in bridge? It’s described in The Bridge Player’s Encyclopedia as ‘a hand which fails to live up to one’s original expectations’.But that’s way too flat a definition. A heartbreaker causes emotional distress; it hurts. That might sound a bit dramatic to non-players, but bridge is
A beautiful Greek island; a warm sea; delicious al fresco dinners; and bridge from morning till night with Andrew Robson. Pure fantasy? Actually, it pretty much sums up my past week. I was lucky enough to be invited by Charlie and Carol Skinner to Paxos for seven days of rubber bridge, in honour of our
It’s tough trying to recall every card that the opponents have played when you’re in the middle of a tricky contract. It reminds me of that old game show hosted by Bruce Forsyth – The Generation Game – where the winning contestant sat at a conveyor belt and watched prizes go past. They then had
The beautiful city of Wroclaw in Poland is currently teeming with bridge players, all of them there for the 16th World Bridge Series. Anyone can play, but the standard is fiercely high: most of the world’s top players are taking part. This week it’s the Mixed and Seniors; last week was the Open and Women’s.
My husband is a writer (John Preston), whose recent books were better received than he had ever dared hope. When our 15-year-old son came home from school recently, he told John excitedly that his English teacher turns out to be a fan: ‘He says he loves your books, and how well written they are, and
In the modern game, being green versus red (non-vul v. vul) is a licence to bid on tram tickets: passing is for wimps. The aim is to be as obstructive as possible – anything to stop the opponents having a clear run at game. Hence the huge array of pre–emptive and two-suited overcalls that have
I was very sorry to learn of the death of the legendary American player and author Eddie Kantar – he was still writing articles with such youthful vigour that I had no idea he was 89. Kantar was considered to be the greatest player-teacher-writer of all time. The clarity of his writing, combined with his
In one respect, it would be so much easier to play a game like poker or chess than bridge; if you play badly you only embarrass yourself – you don’t have partners or teammates to worry about. Mistakes at the bridge table are doubly painful when we imagine our partners rolling their eyes, or our
At a bridge tournament about 15 years ago, I started chatting to a friendly, eccentric woman in her mid-sixties, wearing a sequined baseball cap. I had no idea who she was, but when she told me her name, I knew at once: the well-regarded bridge columnist of the Independent. What I hadn’t realised was that
I recently spent a long weekend in Lillehammer in Norway. Apparently it’s very charming, but frankly I have no idea: I only glimpsed it from the taxi to my hotel. It’s always like that when I play in tournaments abroad. Forget sightseeing – I rarely step outside. The Marit Sveaas Swiss Pairs is more intensive
For those of us who are prone to anxiety before playing in big tournaments, there are plenty of self-help books to turn to. They don’t specifically address bridge, of course, but the lessons have universal application. Among my favourite authors is Martin Seligman, the celebrated ‘father of Positive Psychology’. Whenever I sit down to play,
