PLAYERS>>          EPISODE GUIDE>>          ABOUT BRIDGE>>          MENU>>

...stuck for conversation with an unfamiliar partner? A few of these Bridge-related gems might open those vital channels of communication...
 

• Perhaps the most famous Bridge game of them all was that of one Myrtle Bennett, of Kansas City, Missouri. In September 1929, she and her husband John had some friends round for a game: despite Myrtle and her husband’s early, significant lead, they began to lose, and when John opened light and then failed to make the ambitious contract, an argument ensued. It was concluded when Myrtle shot at her husband four times, hitting him twice. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the tale is that she was subsequently acquitted of his murder. (Our experts set the famous ‘murder hand’ for the players - see the experts’ analysis for details.)

• In spite of the Bennett story, it’s been proved that Bridge helps you stay healthy. A study by a University of California-Berkeley researcher in 2000 indicated that playing contract bridge leaves people with higher numbers of immune cells. (Sadly, this wasn’t the case )

• Oliver Cromwell banned all card games during his rule...but after the Restoration of Charles II, the ‘Merry Monarch’, card games returned.

• Every year, there is a Bridge match between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The scoreboard appears to be currently unavailable...

• During Soviet rule, Russian authorities tried to replace the kings, queens and jacks of court cards with heroes of the revolution.

• According to the English Bridge Union, in June 1995, the International Olympic Committee admitted the World Bridge Federation as part of the Olympic movement.

• Bridge is the favourite game of a number of notable literary figures, including Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg; Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Ian Fleming’s James Bond (for example, in Moonraker, Bond rigs the pack to deal a 34-count to Drax...)

• There’s also a significant link between Bridge and politics – world leaders including Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower and former Chinese leader, Deng Xiao Ping  are reputed to have enjoyed the game, while Mahatma Ghandi, not only played, but used the game to illustrate the relationship between kharma (fate) and dharma (the action of man).

• Bridge is also played by a number of well-known names, including Martina Navratilova; Bill Gates; Warren Buffet; members of Radiohead; The Marx Brother; Telly Savalas and Omar Sharif, who reputedly stated “acting is my living, bridge is my passion”.

PLAYERS>>          EPISODE GUIDE>>          ABOUT BRIDGE>>          MENU>>

Bookmark this page...

Latest comments

* Required fields

Something to say?