When I first started playing bridge, about 15 years ago, I ‘trained’ at TGR’s rubber bridge club, which was located in a dingy basement in Bayswater Road. I didn’t notice the dinge — I felt intoxicated just walking in there knowing I would get a game. In those days we could smoke in the back room, Richard Selway was the loveable host with the sharpest wit around, and there was a big game going every day for a minimum of £50 a hundred.