April 1, 2024: Reykjavik Bridge Festival

Welcome to the first offering in my BridgeBee column: Bridge Pro Digest, where every weekday I will be bringing you a deal from my adventures on the international tournament circuit.

As a professional bridgeur, I am lucky enough to make a living traveling to many places around the world playing the game I love. Many of the hands I give will have been held by the world's finest in top-level events, so emulating their bids and plays will no doubt be a challenge. Having said that, even Homer nods and many deals will feature mistakes. On those occasions, you will have the chance to outplay the experts.

The first such tournament of 2024 for me was the Reykjavik Bridge Festival in late January. Held in the modern Harpa Concert Hall, this event runs over four days and features a matchpointed swiss pairs on the first two days, followed by a swiss teams. Iceland isn't a big trek for American players when compared to most European tournaments, so we saw a good mix of representatives there, including a team from India.

This year, the festival was preceded by the WBT Masters, a world-class invitational event run by the World Bridge Tour in various cities a few times each year. Many of the top-class players stayed on for the festival too, which boasted 158 pairs and 93 teams (of between four to six).

Don your warmest coat and put on your snow boots as we journey to Reykjavik for our first deal.

Ben Norton

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