Janet de Botton

Janet de Botton is The Spectator's bridge columnist.

Bridge

16 February 2019 9:00 am

Two of the best (and most enjoyable) Pairs and Teams tournaments of the year have just finished, and I miss…

Bridge

2 February 2019 9:00 am

The Norwegian Bridge Press Association’s annual prize for the best-played hand was a particularly hard-fought contest in 2018. Boye Brogeland…

Bridge

19 January 2019 9:00 am

2018 ended on a very sweet note for my team. We played the London Year End one-day teams tournament —…

Bridge

5 January 2019 9:00 am

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!   I have made a resolution to make some bridge resolutions. Here they are:   1.…

Bridge

8 December 2018 9:00 am

This is my last column before Christmas (I know… I’ll miss you too) and as 2018 rolls to an end…

Bridge

24 November 2018 9:00 am

DO NOT DOUBLE PARTSCORES WHEN PLAYING TEAMS. Here is Geir Helgemo somehow fooling his expert opponents into defending like total…

Bridge

10 November 2018 9:00 am

This autumn has been the busiest (bridge-wise) I can remember. It started with the Crockfords final at the beginning of…

Bridge

27 October 2018 9:00 am

Vytas and Erikas Vainikonis, father and son bridge enthusiasts, are the generous hosts of one of the best five days…

Bridge

13 October 2018 9:00 am

Good news for bridge if the Open World Championships in Orlando are anything to go by. Far from dying, it…

Bridge

15 September 2018 9:00 am

I think my regular reader(s) would agree that I have been rather low-key about my bridge abilities of late. Defence…

Bridge

1 September 2018 9:00 am

All the best players today are technically excellent in card play. They know all the odds and end plays to…

Bridge

25 August 2018 9:00 am

Long-married couples are notoriously intolerant of one another at the bridge table. It’s as if all their pent-up irritation comes…

Bridge

18 August 2018 9:00 am

When I was first married, there were no satnavs to hold our hands; we relied on maps (if there was…

Bridge

4 August 2018 9:00 am

It’s that time of year again — summer and its attendant holidays. No bridge for me for a month, unless…

Bridge

21 July 2018 9:00 am

Last Friday, merrily on my way to Young Chelsea (still the best IMPs duplicate in town), I couldn’t know that…

Bridge

7 July 2018 9:00 am

The Hubert Phillips is a knockout tournament unlike any other. First it is mixed — there has to be at…

Bridge

23 June 2018 9:00 am

Ostend has been host to hundreds of bridge players representing their various countries in the European Teams Championships. The ten-day…

Bridge

9 June 2018 9:00 am

Talk about Custer’s Last Stand. My poor old team has been knocked out of all this year’s main tournaments —…

Bridge

26 May 2018 9:00 am

Martin Hoffman, who died last week, had an extraordinary life. Born in Prague in 1929, he was the only member…

Bridge

12 May 2018 9:00 am

This year’s Schapiro Spring Foursomes, England’s best tournament by a mile, wasn’t held in the usual Stratford-upon-Avon venue but in…

Bridge

28 April 2018 9:00 am

England had a narrow lead going into the second weekend of the Camrose, with the Irish National team and the…

Bridge

14 April 2018 9:00 am

I’m not saying that I want ‘She played bridge for England’ on my tombstone — but then again… Last weekend,…

Bridge

31 March 2018 9:00 am

Have you ever picked up your hand, opened a weak 2 on a proper six-card suit (all right, if you’re…

Bridge

17 March 2018 9:00 am

Little did I know, when I was railing at how Britain comes to a standstill at the first flurry of…

Bridge

3 March 2018 9:00 am

No February blues for me. The past couple of weeks have been the most exciting and interesting (bridge-wise) I could…