Andrew Robson

Andrew Michael Robson OBE (born 1964) is an English professional bridge player, writer and teacher. He is a British and English international. Robson is the bridge columnist for The Times and Country Life. He was a member of the Great Britain Juniors team that won the World Youth Team Championship in 1989, and of the Great Britain Open team that won the European Open Teams Championship in 1991. He is from London.

In 2001 he suffered serious injuries when he slipped on ice when hill-walking in the Lake District and fell thirty feet. He broke many bones, spent two months in hospital and was in a wheelchair for much longer. Robson was able to return to the bridge table five months after the accident, the speed of his recovery astonishing his doctors. As a result, he received the International Bridge Press Association (IBPA) Sportmanship Award in 2002 "for his spectacular recovery from adversity". He was also the joint winner of the IBPA's Bridge Personality of the Year award in 2013.

He is married and has two daughters.

Bridge career As well as winning the World Youth Team Championship in 1989 Robson was also a member of the team which won the junior Common Market Championship the same year, on both occasions partnering John Pottage. He has also played a large amount in the United States, partnering Rita Shugart. In 1998 he was the first Briton, with teammate Forrester, to win a prestigious US Major, the Reisinger, and the same squad won the event a second time the following year.

In 2014 he and Forrester revived their partnership, and played together as part of the England team in that year's European Open Championship. The team finished third, thereby winning the bronze medal and qualifying for the finals of the 2015 World Championships.

As well as his daily column in The Times, Robson writes a column for the weekly magazine Country Life. In the past he has also written for The Oldie, The Spectator and the Express on Sunday.

In addition to the books that Robson has written (see Bibliography below), in 2008 he produced a DVD entitled Play Modern Bridge, and he is also responsible for five instructional CDs.

He opened his own bridge club, The Andrew Robson Bridge Club, in London in 1995.

Robson has put his training as a schoolteacher to good use by heading many instructional seminars around the UK, as well as hosting master classes and charity bridge events and teaching at his club. Later the same year he was the joint winner of Personality of the Year at the International Bridge Press Association's annual awards, together with Netherlands' Bauke Muller.

In 2018 he was a winner of the English Bridge Union's Diamond Award, introduced to recognise players "in recognition of excellence and success over a sustained period for England's international teams".

Bridge accomplishments

Wins

Gold Cup (7) 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014

North American Bridge Championships (3) Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1999 Reisinger (2) 1998, 1999

Runners-up

Gold Cup (2) 1991, 2011