34. Andrew Robson - The Formidable Englishman

The Setting Trick: Conversations with World Class Bridge Players

Andrew Robson is a giant, in both height and bridge; he is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has won a slew of titles, including back to back Reisingers in 1998 and 1999. On top of all his bridge accolades, he has met the Queen of England, received the prestigious “Other Buggers’ Efforts” award, and survived a 100 foot fall.

If you want to learn more about Andrew and his bridge adventures, there is a great page on his website called Andrew’s Life in Bridge, where I learned many of the stories I asked Andrew about today.

COVID finally got Andrew to start presenting a daily video series, where I’ve learned a lot of card play nuances in the advanced section https://andrewrobsonbridgecast.com

Subscribers to The Setting Trick email list may access Andrew breaking down Adam Kaplan's play on a deal featured in Double Dummy here.

Episode Highlights:

1:42- A horrible accident that broke his legs

9:22- He’s not a model student

12:27- Andrew’s education

• Imagine doing worse on a test than a monkey would

15:37- The tournament that was vital to Andrew’s confidence as a bridge player

18:52- A wildly successful psych

22:10- How Andrew met one of his partners, Rita Shugart

24:20- Andrew is an “Other Buggers’ Efforts” award winner!

27:42- When your team sucks at losing IMPS

29:52- The pain of losing in the semi-finals of a Bermuda Bowl by 1 IMP and then losing again by 1 IMP in the third place playoff

31:37- Amazing bidding by Andrew and his partner, David Gold

• David Thompson’s quote from Bridge Winners, “The video of auction is quite interesting: https://youtu.be/diMipYWGr3c?t=20293

The auction took 12 minutes including 3 minutes for the 7♦ bid and 5 minutes for David Gold's final pass. Whilst 7♦ was certainly a brilliant bid by Robson, Gold's pass was pretty impressive also having diagnosed the sorts of hands Robson could be holding and successfully determining the inferiority of a ♠ contract.”

38:07- Andrew Robson Bridge Club

41:27- John’s mother might have a crush on Andrew

45:12- The members of the popular rock band, Radiohead, went to Andrew’s school!

49:07- The future of bridge and youth teaching

53:07- Andrew’s memories of September 11, 2001

58:07- “Oh, you farted” ~Zia Mahmood

1:02:02- Andrew had to track Simon Stockten down in the Himalayas