Bridger Joris van Lankveld: ‘One map difference and we wouldn’t have won the European Championship’

“I go to the United States six to eight times a year. This is where the big tournaments are played and where you can win the most money. Bridge does not work with cash prizes, it is a sport widely practiced by wealthy people. In America, they hire the best players to compete in tournaments.

“We have several sponsors. Such a sponsor also participates, so we often end up a little lower than normal. It’s nice to meet successful people. Last year I played against Bill Gates. It doesn’t surprise me anymore, I’ve met so many billionaires now.

“The average age of bridge players is over seventy, but the world’s top player is quite young. I started playing bridge at the age of seventeen and have been playing with my partner Berend van den Bos since 2009. After being world junior champion in 2011, we went to America to network, which is very important in the world of bridge. You have to show up to be asked. After two tournaments, we had found a sponsor.

“I never wanted to be a pro. Bridge was a hobby for me and if you make it your profession, you start to see it differently. Then there will be more pressure. After studying business administration , I started working at ING, in the mortgage department. I combined this work with bridge, but it was not sustainable. I was busy seven days a week, earning more money at bridge than ‘at the bank.

“After a year, I decided to play only bridge – a good choice. I still really like it, it’s a fantastic mental sport. And we earn enough, it’s not a problem if it goes a little less. Playing bridge is difficult to reconcile with my family life. We have a 16 month old and a second on the way. A lot depends on my wife, who also works, and my family.

“In bridge, it is important to build a partnership. You must be on the same page. Berend and I have a system book containing our agreements. This book is two to three hundred pages thick. Bridge is a pretty emotional sport, it’s a game of mistakes. On a match day, you have to make a few hundred decisions, 40 or 50 of which turn out to be wrong. Even if you make a good decision, which is good 70% of the time, it can still turn out to be wrong. You have to be able to manage that, even within the framework of a partnership. For example, it is not useful to enter what just happened while playing. This is really a trap for bridge players. It is best to analyze the next day.

“This year we won silver with the Netherlands at the Bermuda Bowl, the world championship. The tournament went very well for the whole team. The final against Switzerland was super exciting. If we had done a better game, we would have won. We always feel like we should have won. When we won European Championship gold a few weeks later, I thought to myself: couldn’t it have been the other way around? I’ll hate him all my life, I think. Even if the money is also a global achievement.

“The Netherlands have never been European champions before. In the European Championship, we played against all countries, in a total of 29 games. We were with the same three pairs as in the European Cup. world, two pairs were still lined up. We had a big lead with four games to go. Yet, it seemed to go completely wrong for a while. We lost first to Israel and then very heavily to Switzerland.

“These Swiss again. Or fake Swiss should I say. In addition to a Polish couple, a billionaire also acquired a Dutch couple. He pays them a high salary and bought them a house so that they can spend half the year in Switzerland. I can’t blame them, we are professionals, but it goes a long way. The Dutch Bridge Association has invested a lot of time and money in this pair. We finally won the European Championship in no time. A difference of map and we would not have succeeded.

“If you do well in international tournaments, that means you get paid better in America. It was a good year in that regard. Our sponsor gave us a raise on his own, something like that is non-negotiable Well, if you make a deal with a new sponsor, they’re often verbally shut down in the bar.