How did you get started in bridge? At what age? Who from?
Filling in, aged about ten years, in my mother’s casual rubber bridge foursome.
What do (did) you do professionally?
Quality control work, superannuation industry work in an actuarial department, arbitrage on horse racing, then professional bridge for the last two decades.
Who is your partner and for how long? Longest partnership?
Charlie Lu. We first played together in the Butler last year. Our next event is the NZ Nationals. I think my longest partnership (21 years) is with Martin Bloom.
In your playing career, what is the bridge success that has the most meaning for you?
Two come to mind. Playing an ANOT with Zibi Zeb, we went minus 4000 on the first board of a 20 board match which we won 20-0 vs one of the top seeds, with us plus 60 in the datums after losing 24 imps in the datums on that first board. We went on to lose the grand final by one imp. A few years later in the 1999 ANOT, Joshua Wyner and I went minus 2800 on the first board of the event, drew that match, then won all our other qualifying matches before losing the grand final narrowly. Don’t worry about disasters.
And your worst moment in bridge?
Definitely was when a top player falsely accused my partner and me of cheating at the National Youth Championships in Canberra in 1976.
Do you have a favourite and least favourite convention?
Simple Stayman. Least – Lebensohl.
Would you prefer to have more system or less?
Less.
What do you do to improve your game?
Go through hands I’ve played. Read books on brain science.
Favourite bridge book?
Competitive Bidding at Pairs by Peter Hall.
What interests or hobbies do you have besides bridge?
Tennis, walking, eating.
What is the number one thing that bridge has done for you as a person and for your life?
Given me more confidence.
Bridge Results and Awards
Won Best Defended Hand in World with Martin Bloom in 2004.
National Titles
56 with 34 different partners. Including the NOT in 1984, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 – apparently nobody has won it more often.
State Representation
1982 (youth). I won the 2006 Interstate Open Teams with Martin Bloom and the 2008 Interstate Open Teams with Nye Griffiths. Seamus Browne, who had fairly recently suffered major brain damage when he was hit by a truck while riding his motor scooter, asked me to be non playing captain of the 2010 NSW Open Team, and to play him and his partner Tony Burke only in alternating matches, so that Seamus could have two or three hours to prepare for the next match. In one of the most remarkable performances ever in Australian bridge, Seamus and Tony not only won the 2010 Interstate Open Teams but also received the Medal for topping the datums with plus about 200 imps. With so much sitting out to be done, Tony Burke played a lot of tennis in Hobart with me when he was sitting out. Seamus told me I did a good job. My other four npc efforts of NSW teams (one Women’s, one Open, two Youth) produced four 2nd placings – perhaps those teams, compared to the 2010 team, were disadvantaged because I had to personally decide the lineups instead of having preset lineups like in 2010.
International Representation
1984, 1991, 1993, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024. All Open.
