Ramblings of a Bridge Afficionado

Raman Girdhardas

After reading various comments about our team's performance in the recent Bermuda Bowl an evening of gyan during my much younger days popped to mind. Some of this may still be relevant.

Players from Bombay (usage of the word is deliberate) will surely remember the names and locales.

I recall late one evening sitting in the lawns of Matunga Gymkhana, after a bridge tournament at Indian Gymkhana.

The fare for the evening was hot medu vadas and a drink ably organized by S S Tanksali.

One of the group was B.G. Tavkar.who shared his nuggets of wisdom with us. Am sharing as much as I can recall from that evening

You need a large dollop of good luck to win a Pairs.
Firstly you must get hands that suit your system
Then they must come against likely contenders. There is no point in getting a top against also rans.
The most important lesson was you need to make every bid and play every card as though it will make or break you.
That calls for an enormous amount of concentration and stamina.
And that can be exhausting.
Ollie (Orlando Campos)joined us and defined what the role of an NPC.
He said "The NPC needs to see the draw, what system each opposing pair play and appropriately seat our team.
Also represent the team on any grievance re appeals committee ruling.
Hence, the laws of the game, conditions of the contest, and some familiarity with diff systems and their defence is an important prerequisite.
On a lighter note, my partner and I won the Indian Gym Pairs with an incredible 71% score.
Ramchand Agarwal who came 2nd with around 55% wisecracked we should be given 1st and 2nd prize.