Susanna Gross

A major pandemic has been sweeping through the bridge world since the game went online — and it’s called cheating. Who would have thought so many people would succumb to temptation, and what does it say about human nature? ‘Self-kibbitzing’ — that weirdly euphemistic term which means logging on under a different name to see all four hands at your table — has been rife, from club players to world champions (such as the two Janet named in her recent column). Even worse, some pairs have been cheating collusively — yes, actually texting or phoning each other to convey information. Things are so bad that almost half my bridge friends seem to be employed as cheat-catchers by various bridge bodies.

There are some experts — like my friend Sally Brock — who think Blackwood is an overrated convention, and that slams can be bid just as well without wheeling out 4NT to ask for aces. That’s often true. At the Portland Club, Blackwood isn’t even allowed, and players don’t seem to have much trouble bidding slams. However, I’m firmly in the camp that believes Blackwood is indispensable in some auctions; there’s no other way of finding out whether partner holds the precise cards you need. It does have to be used with care though. One of the dangers of Blackwood is that it can take you too high: you check for aces, find you’re missing two and — whoops — are forced to bid trumps at the six level.

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 political views could be contentious, there was no doubting his integrity: unswayed by fashion, he relied on logic and probability to guide him. Indeed, his whole life was about calculating odds and taking risks — hence his passion for gambling. He was also extraordinarily generous. After selling his shares in his company, IG Index, he bought Chilham Castle in Kent, where he entertained large groups of friends every weekend for decades.

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 them improve. Indeed, he seems as happy partnering a 13-year-old at his local club as he does winning yet another medal on the international stage. Last week, I came across a fascinating interview with Gunnar on a new online bridge channel, Tricks of the Trade. He describes a couple of his favourite hands, including this one. It may look like a boring part-score, but his defence was simply inspired (he was East). West led the ♠10.

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 up their opponents. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve presented a declarer-problem to a top player, only to be asked: ‘Who am I playing against?’ Take this hand. When I asked David Gold how he would tackle the diamond suit, his immediate response was: ‘How good is my left-hand opponent? How good is my right?’ (see diagram) The ♠10 is led. You play low.

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 the game, who can be seen battling it out daily in invitational tournaments. It’s never been easier to watch and learn; in fact, it’s downright addictive. I spend most evenings flitting between matches to compare how they bid and play the same hands. This seemingly dull hand cropped up during the recent ‘Alt Invitational open Teams’. At most tables, the contract was 3♠ by W or 4◆ by S.

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 that the opponent would make such a blunder, they got a false picture of the hand and chose a line of play that failed. We’ve all been there. But in fact, a Grosvenor Coup doesn’t refer to a comically bad piece of defence at all. Quite the opposite: it’s a card played with mischievous intent. It was invented around 60 years ago by Philip Grosvenor for the sheer pleasure of annoying another player.

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 extreme memory of post-bridge excess is an evening spent with the Swedish pro Gunnar Hallberg and the French player Catherine Fishpool. We’d been playing rubber bridge at TGRs and decided to go on to the nearby Grosvenor Victoria Casino in Edgware Road. We all chose different games (Gunnar the slot machines, Catherine poker, me blackjack), and eventually lost sight of one another. I had a disgracefully late night, getting home at 4.30 a.m.

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 unshuffled to produce extreme distributions. Picking up 10-card suits or encountering 7–0 breaks are par for the course. The computer-generated deals in the NN-Cup were absolutely wild; watching the top-class teams battling it out was like being on a rollercoaster ride. This hand comes from the final between Teams ‘Vitas’ and ‘We Will Squash You’ (who did indeed go on to win).

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 regular event, as it’s hugely enjoyable, and a good standard too. Alex Hydes is not just a wonderful mentor; he’s also sheer fun. Everything I enjoy about him as a friend — his maverick, risk-taking personality — is reflected in the way he plays bridge. He brings a psychological edge and fearlessness to the game which reminds me of Zia Mahmood and Peter Fredin. We won on Saturday, not least because of some superb doubles he made.

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 week later, he proved himself spectacularly wrong. Eight top international teams were invited to compete in the second ‘Alt Invitational’ — the most prestigious online bridge tournament so far — and Alex joined Janet de Botton’s team. They ended up winning in style, and Alex had clearly lost none of his acuity or flair.

As hosts of this year’s Lady Milne Trophy — the women’s home international series — England get to field two teams. At the last minute, I decided to compete with a young and talented player, Qian Li — despite the fact that we’d never played together before. We managed to fit in just two practice games, so we were obviously delighted to end up coming fifth in the trials, winning a place on the second England team. Now we can put some proper time into our partnership before April’s championship! Another new(ish) partnership — Nicola Smith and Sarah Bell — also took part, and came second. Just weeks earlier, they’d come second in the European women’s trials, securing their place on the England team.