Janet de Botton

The English Ladies Team is one of the best in the world, winning numerous world and European titles. For the past 20 years, there has been a core group of extremely good, experienced players who continued to do brilliantly on the world stage. But for the somewhat lesser tournaments, most of the leading professionals are sponsored by a bridge-lover who wants to improve her game and perhaps earn an invitation to play for England in the Lady Milne Trophy (the women’s home internationals). Last weekend, the trials for the Lady Milne were held in London. Fourteen pairs took part, playing 130 boards, hoping to finish in the top three. Top of the pile, and ahead of all the ‘usual suspects’, were Dido Coley and Lily Kearney – both still students!

I am not trying to corner the market in very boring bridge columns but I am going to give you another hand which is all about suit combinations. My regular reader may recall that I wrote about this very subject a fortnight ago, never expecting another informative hand to come up on a similar theme. Since 2025 dawned I have only played rubber bridge as ‘the season’ hasn’t begun yet; today’s hand comes from an online Pairs match I happened to be watching and which was thoroughly explained by the commentators. The difference in how to play the Heart suit lies in whether you are playing in game or slam. The vast majority of players went down in this cold 3NT. How would you plan the play? The normal lead was the J♠, won by South.

I hope you had a better (bridge) Christmas than I did. I didn’t play or watch a single hand. But I did do some long-avoided work on suit combinations – the equivalent in boredom of going to the gym. The ping of my phone alerted me to a new email but any distraction would have had me abandoning my tedious homework and running for fun. It was from my pal Saucepan (Szczepan Smoczynski), who was playing a Pairs tournament in Poland. ‘I’ve got a funny hand for you,’ it said. ‘Two board rounds with barometer scoring [meaning everyone plays the same boards at the same time]. So much for bloody suit combinations!’ He added: ‘Early on in one round, everyone heard a loud groan from one table, and a couple of people started laughing!

I have just discovered a new (to me) podcast called Sorry, Partner hosted by Catherine Harris and Jocelyn Startz, two American enthusiasts, who interview top bridge players for their blog. I found it when I googled Portuguese international star Antonio Palma. Among many other things, I found out that he plays in at least one tournament a month and that his favourites are Madeira and WBT (World Bridge Tour). I couldn’t agree more! I really liked this hand from the World Bridge Games in Buenos Aires, which Antonio played in the qualifying rounds, against one of the lower ranked teams. West was the unlucky player who came in with 2♠. Should he, facing a passed partner? Would you?

There can’t be a bridge tournament much more enjoyable than the one we have just played in Madeira. It starts with three days of Pairs (292 pairs registered) followed by three days of Teams (129). My teammates Thor Erik Hoftaniska and Christian Bakke came second in the Pairs but more was to come. We played 12 matches of eight boards each, and won 11 of them. That was enough to win the Teams trophy! I was playing with Thomas (Charlie) Charlsen who I knew had studied lots of suit combinations, but they almost never came up. Then, suddenly, this hand appears where for once, the right play in a suit is crucial (see diagram). Both of us pushed the boat out slightly and, as a consequence, the final contract was a delicate one. West started with the ♦9 round to declarer’s Jack.

The only end play I have ever understood is the throw in. I know when to use it. I know how to use it. And I can see it quite early in the play. But that’s it. I still don’t know how to spot (never mind execute) a squeeze, despite being told 100 times to ‘run all your trumps and leave an entry to both hands’. I never quite dare to run all my trumps. And then there is the mysterious ‘Dummy Reversal’ which came up while I was watching my teammates, Thor Erik Hoftaniska and Thomas Charlsen on BBO, playing for Norway in the World Bridge Games, identified and explained by the commentators.  E/W put on a lot of pressure, but 5♥ seemed more than playable when dummy went down.

Super star Juniors are springing up everywhere, living, breathing and playing bridge. Nicolai (The Kid) Heiberg-Evenstad (16) from Norway and Christian Lahrmann (21) from Denmark are both already professional bridge players and are crazy talented both in the bidding and the play. One of the finest card players of the ‘new’ generation is England’s Ben Norton. Watch how he helped himself to a game swing against one of the stronger teams at the recent WBT event in Copenhagen (see diagram). Ben and his partner, Stefano Tommasini, rapidly bid to their vulnerable game, although they missed out on the best spot of 3NT by North. West led the ♣K, which was allowed to hold with East contributing the ♣5.

The Metropolitan Cup, played on RealBridge in mid-September, was won by the Sussex A team. The following hand, played by Stephen Kennedy, contained a number of interesting points. Creating an entry to partner’s hand sometimes takes creativity and imagination. It’s usually easy on a piece of paper and when it’s pointed out to us, but for some reason it’s much harder to spot at the table. West led the ♥6, won in dummy by the Jack. It’s not easy to know where to start, but Clubs have to be touched at some point so at trick two Stephen led a Club towards his hand, and when East played low, he contented himself with the 8. This was a smart play as West is the danger hand and his possible entries need to be knocked out. West won the ♣10 and persisted with a high Heart.

One of the greatest areas of misunderstanding is doubling. Is it penalty? Is it take out? Is it negative? Recently I heard about a pair who were playing exclusion blackwood (or at least one of them was) and ended up playing 5♣ (undoubled) in a 0-0 fit. True story.  You need trumps to double a game (unless they have obviously screwed up) but it will usually cost a trick. Doubling a slam is a different story. North expected a bit more from a second-in-hand vulnerable 4♥ opening and jumped to slam. West figured she probably had a trump trick in addition to her Ace, so gave it ‘the message’, but this was seriously unsound, as we shall see. West led her ♣A and, disappointed to find the ♥A in dummy, tried another Club, hoping declarer would have to ruff.

When is the Premier League not the Premier League? Well, when you have played so badly that you get booted out of the first division into the second and have to come in the top two to qualify for promotion back. Fortunately the first weekend (of three) went well for us but it’s no walk in the park. I was very impressed with the way Sandra Penfold played this hand: West led his singleton Spade. How should South plan the play? If she has a trump loser, she may just have to play a Club to the King at some point. Yes, she can throw a Club from dummy on her fourth Spade, but then she will have to play Clubs from hand and the defence can draw the last trump – no good.

What is the most advantageous attribute for a great Bridge player? Is it maths, or memory? I like the answer Sweden’s Peter Fredin gives: ‘Imagination.’ We’re not talking about the kind that lets you imagine you’re the best player in the world, but rather the ability to see how things look to the opponents. Peter has been gifted with a lot of imagination (both kinds actually!) Here’s a hand he showed me from a Pairs event at the Swedish Bridge Festival, while making a poor effort to keep a straight face. Note that the first act of deception started in the bidding; instead of describing his hand to his partner to try and find the right cards, North preferred to keep his assets hidden from the opposition*. Nevertheless West hit on the killing Club lead.

The recent European Championship in Denmark has given all keen bridge reporters plenty of material, I liked the following hand from the bulletin, featuring Allan Livgard on the winning Norwegian team. It’s particularly interesting to notice the slow approach in the auction by N/S; jumping around and making nondescript cue-bids in the opponent’s suits does not make for better auctions – it’s usually better to use the space to get your suits across. Allan’s 2♠ on the second round is a good example, partner Terje Aa’s 4♦ is another, and finally the well-judged raise to 6♦ made it three. East led the Ace of Hearts.

What can you say about the Rimstedt brothers that hasn’t already been said? They returned from the American Nationals in Toronto just in time to join their father’s team, and went on to win the Chairman’s Cup in Sweden for the third year running. This hand was reported to me by a friend who was there, showing that, not only are they incredibly good, they also sometimes like to play to the gallery (see diagram). West’s little toy showed five-five in two unknown suits (yes, apparently that’s still legal in some parts of the world), and East’s 3♣ just asked to bail out as soon as possible. What was Mikael to do but overcall Sweden’s favourite bid – 3 NT? The lead was the ♠J, won by declarer, and the King of Hearts was taken by West who continued Spades to South.

Norway triumphed at the 56th European Team Championships held in Herning, Denmark at the end of June, hoovering up the gold medals in both the Open and the Women’s categories. But if you weren’t going to come in the medals, you still had everything to play for: the top eight teams out of 30 qualified for a place in the Bermuda Bowl (World Championships) next year. And more good news: England qualified in all four disciplines – Open, Womens, Seniors and Mixed.

The breaktime chat among Chess and Backgammon players often centres around the new super computers that could ‘solve’ these games as they play 100 per cent accurately. We humans are light years behind in technical and calculation skills. This will never be a concern for Bridge players; Bridge is a game of inevitable mistakes, and no computer can possibly calculate what those mistakes will be – what algorithm would be able to tell if my LHO is tired, dismayed or just not top-class? Here are Danish brothers Knut and Lars Blakset proving errors can’t be predicted. The 4-4 Spade fit was not found after North elected to use a Bergen raise*. West led a small trump. Declarer won cheaply and ducked a Diamond – the defence winning and playing another trump.

How many times have I said ‘You are soo lucky’ to whichever expert opponent had brought in a tricky contract. ‘Every card would be wrong for me.’ Well ofc it would because sometimes you have to work out in which order to take your chances, which involves planning the play from dummy going down until the final trick when you have ruffed what you need to ruff, and preserved the correct entries. Not my strong point. Not my point at all. Take this hand, played by Thomas (Charlie) Charlsen in the recent WBT in Norway. He took his time and worked out in which order to play the various options (see diagram). 2♣ was Drury – a convention showing a good passed hand with Spade support, and who can blame South for taking a shot at the slam? West led a Spade, won in hand by Charlie.

Thomas Charlsen and Boye Brogeland continue to delight the teams they invite to their World Bridge Tour (WBT). First-class playing conditions, impeccably run and with huge cash prizes; this time it was held in Bodo, northern Norway, and I had a new (to me) pair playing for my team, Dutch champions Simon de Wijs and Bob Drijver. I thought Simon’s declarer play on this hand was very elegant: What would you do on the South hand when East opens 3♣? Those who don’t bid argue that it’s too dangerous as you can easily go for 800 against a part score. Those who do bid argue that it’s equally dangerous to pass as you can easily miss a vulnerable game. West led the ♣6 and East put in the 9.

The Spring Foursomes is the EBU’s flagship tournament and is always held the first weekend in May. Sadly it has had long Covid the past couple of years, but 2024 saw it back to its former glory. Brand-new venue, the DoubleTree Hilton in Bristol, good playing facilities and enough food to go round! Way to go! The format is double elimination and is bracketed all the way to the final. Sixty teams entered, (max 64), and there was a good sprinkling of Nordic players to spice things up. Today’s hand looks easy enough but that’s exactly when we should investigate Plan B. When a contract looks bad we are taught to place the missing cards in the most favourable position and see if we can find a way home.

Whenever we play a team’s tournament, fielded by sponsors, the sponsor (given choice) makes a beeline for me and I understand why. They probably think they will be shark fodder against a very aggressive pair of Internationals and will be swallowed whole. One Sponsor told her teammate to try and arrange for me to play against her or she would sit out the match. But it doesn’t always work to their advantage! It’s difficult to explain why playing against strong opposition is, in many ways, easier than playing poor opponents. Strong players always have a logical reason for their actions, while weaker ones are more random. Take this hand from a recent tournament (see diagram). The lead was the ♣K followed by the ♣Q.

‘If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it’s a duck.’ For Bridge players, the problem is that it doesn’t always look like a duck and it rarely quacks. My regular partner, Artur Mali, says ducking is for experts, and goes puce in the face if I duck and it’s wrong – which it almost always is. I was reminded of this when watching a match in the popular ALT online teams tournament:  What should South do at his second turn? I would prefer a double – seems most flexible – and if North pulls to 5♦ it may sometimes be the right place to play. East may also have had something to add to the auction, but if N/S have uncovered a big Club-fit, his hand may not be worth that much.