Janet de Botton

Janet de Botton is The Spectator's bridge columnist.

Bridge

9 November 2019 9:00 am

Erikas Vainikonis and his father Vytas are terrific bridge players and have supported the game very generously. Their brilliant new…

Bridge

26 October 2019 9:00 am

A couple of weeks ago two of the most prestigious events in the bridge nutter’s diary took place on the…

Bridge

12 October 2019 9:00 am

After all the excitement of England making the playoffs in all four events at the World Championships in China, only…

Bridge

28 September 2019 9:00 am

The World Championships, held in Wuhan, China, came to the end of a gruelling eight days of qualification (eight teams…

Bridge

14 September 2019 9:00 am

Not many male bridge players over a certain age (ten) would call themselves feminists. I won’t repeat what the partner…

Bridge

31 August 2019 9:00 am

When did ‘literally’ become, literally, the most annoying word in the English language? Fairly recently I would guess, because ‘like’…

Bridge

3 August 2019 9:00 am

TGR’s Bridge Club in Paddington is the daily home to those of us who want to play bridge but cannot…

Bridge

20 July 2019 9:00 am

I have always thought the term ‘bridge holiday’ was an oxymoron. When I travel with my team to various events,…

Bridge

6 July 2019 9:00 am

I know I’m not the strongest declarer in the world (or even at the table) but I didn’t realise my…

Bridge

22 June 2019 9:00 am

Here we go again. The ninth European Bridge Championships are upon us, this time taking place in Istanbul. Hundreds of…

Bridge

8 June 2019 9:00 am

Stefan Skorchev, young Bulgarian international, has given us another top tier annual pairs tournament to put in our diaries —…

Bridge

25 May 2019 9:00 am

Simon Gillis coined a term to describe his disappointment when he sits himself out to allow four of his professionals…

Bridge

11 May 2019 9:00 am

Imagine you are on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. You have just won £500,000 and cannot go home with…

Bridge

27 April 2019 9:00 am

Jonathan Harris is a man of principle. He and his wife Jenny had each entered a team for the Venice…

Bridge

13 April 2019 9:00 am

When did International Women’s Day become an official fixture? I have never been aware of it before this year and…

Bridge

30 March 2019 9:00 am

Susanna and I don’t play on the same team very often, but once a year Fiona Hutchison puts together a…

Bridge

16 March 2019 9:00 am

James Vogl excelled at poker and backgammon and thought, like many of us, that when he took up bridge about…

Bridge

2 March 2019 9:00 am

The winter ‘season’ of terrific bridge competitions came to a close last weekend with the Lederer Trophy held at the…

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…