Congratulations by Barnet Shenkin prev/next

Two of the best tournaments in the world of bridge have just been completed . First , there was the USBF bridge trials to select one of the US teams for the Bermuda Bowl. This was won by Marty Fleisher,Michael Kamil, Steve Weinstein, Bobby Levin , Chip Martel and Lew Stansby. Marty Fleisher, an excellent player put this team together recently . Last year, with Michael Kamil and with a different squad he lost in a couple of finals for the US team .I know what that feels like because I did it myself in 2001. So this year he had a well deserved win.I played a few times with Marty and we were in a team that won the National Swiss a few years back. I think his team has a very good chance in the Bermuda Bowl and wish them the best of luck in 2011. I have written up a key hand from the match and you can follow it here.

The other great tournament that just finished was the European Championship,played in Ostend Belguim. This was won by Italy ,narrowly over Poland,and Israel was third. The Italian team were Duboin-Sementa,Bocchi-Madala and Versace- Lauria. I played against Lauria 30 years ago in the European Championships. His partner was the legendaryGeorgio Belladonna.We played a well fought draw which was all the better because Lauria made a lucky grandslam when he made a finesse and then squeezed my partner,the late Victor Goldberg.

The second team were Poland that contained one of the world's leading pairs Cezary Balicki and Adam Zmudzinski. They have been teammates of mine and we have had some success in US regionals. Israel also showed some fine form and there will be some hot competition at the Bermuda Bowl in Holland next year . Also in the field will be Sweden whose team contains Peter Bertheau and Fredrik Nystrom one of the world's best bidders and Bjorn Fallenius -Peter Fredin. I have played in teams with both these top notch partnerships.

I am pleased to say I will be teaching my new style of advanced bridge lessons in a number of clubs in the area . These lectures and lessons will take place starting November and January . Watch this space for more details. I had a few emails from readers looking for the two hands on squeeze play, the links are here and here . Wishing you all a great summer,