Read an  Interview with Ron Klinger – published in Bridge Magazine

Look around the world of bridge in search of someone who is at the top of the tree as a player, teacher and writer and you will find perhaps half a dozen candidates. One of them, and only one, is outside North America, which is why he is not as well known as he ought to be.

His name is Ron Klinger, and his residence is in Sydney, Australia, long the home of some of the world’s best players. I first met him two decades ago when I took an expert team for a Down­Under tour and encountered a young lecturer in law who was describing the play for large audiences with intelligence and wit.

Soon afterwards he abandoned academic pursuits, which may have been a loss to the law but was certainly a gain for the bridge community. He rapidly turned himself into Australia’s Mr. Bridge, the equivalent perhaps of Charles Goren in his heyday in the forties and fifties. However the parallel is inexact, for Goren had many collaborators and Klinger is a one­man band

Like Goren, Klinger made his name familiar to the bridge public by a string of impressive playing performances. He has lost count of the number of major titles he has won, and enumerating his international appearances is not much easier. Down­Under, as Up­Over, every expert wants to carry the flag in foreign parts and fierce selection battles occur annually. He is almost always in the thick of it, and is one of the most successful players of his generation.

Specifically Klinger has played five times in the Far East Championships, winning the Teams in 1970 and the Pairs twice, in 1985 and 1987. On a wider scene he has played in six of the biennial Olympiads-the bridge misnomer for an Olympic-and at three consecutive ones, in 1976,1978 and 1980, he won the Bols Brilliancy Prize: for the best­played hand in 1976, and for his bridge journalism on the other occasions. Since there are hundreds of candidates for this prize his string is not only remarkable but unique. In the Bermuda Bowl, in which the representation is by zones, the South Pacific is represented by Australia and New Zealand In this event Klinger made his second appearance in 1989, in Perth, and the team reached the semifinals before losing to the American defending champions after a hard fight.

For occasions such as this Klinger has created his own ‘Power’ system, which is a clever blend of the old and the new. Most of the opening bids follow the recipe that Dr. Paul Stern devised for the Austrian team which won the first world championship, played in 1937. An updated version, ‘New South Wales’, was popular in Sydney in the sixties and seventies. Klinger has taken some elements and added hypermodern two­bids and relays, a mixture that he does not offer to his students and readers. It is reserved for his partners, who are required to have good memories.

In a 13­year stint as Editor, starting in 1972, Klinger made Australian Bridge one of the world’s best bridge magazines. At the same time he began writing a series of successful books on the game. One of them, 100 WINNING BRIDGE TIPS, has proved very popular in the United States and as these lines are written, he is at work on a sequel. He personally published many of the original Australian editions of his books using an early desk­top publishing set­up.

He is, as I know from hearing him, a superb teacher, and regularly projects his knowledge of the game to large groups in various parts of his continent. Like all the best bridge instructors, he provides his students with prepared deals to illustrate the lesson. This involves not only careful planning but also laborious work as I know from personal experience.

When a vivacious lady named Suzie became his bride in 1974 she immediately found that bridge would have a big impact on her life. The money in the kitty was just sufficient either to take a honeymoon or to publish his first book (it proved a great success). Suzie attends to all the administrative details that her husband’s work entails. Their children, Ari and Keri, join in much of the family travel, and if they miss some schooling, the parents promptly turn themselves into substitute teachers.

I began by saying that Klinger is a top player, writer and teacher. But he is also a commentator, game director, editor, publisher, game inventor, group travel co­ordinator and tour guide. What else is there? Time will tell.

Alan Truscott
January 1991

Ron Klinger is one of the top bridge teachers and authors in the world. He has over thirty bridge books to his name and has represented Australia with distinction on numerous occasions, including an impressive debut in the 1976 Olympiad where he was awarded the BOLS brilliancy prize. The hand in question is shown later, but let us introduce you firstly to the man who is widely thought of as being one of the best bridge writers in the world.

Welcome to Bridge Magazine, Ron, and thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule. What have you been doing during your visit to the UK?

-Firstly let me say how much I’ve enjoyed my stay here. I’ve been involved with the release of the new Basic Bridge, an updated version of the 1970s book, in conjunction with Pat Husband and Andrew Kambites. We hope this new edition is an even better book for bridge teachers and will help them to structure their classes. It was great to spend some time at the EBUTA jamboree in Nottingham, meeting teachers and giving some talks. I also visited some bridge clubs including the new South Bucks bridge centre, very impressive, and did some work with Gollancz on the Master Bridge series.

Some new titles to look forward to then?

-There will be, yes. I’m working with Andrew Kambites on ‘Bridge Conventions for You’ which is aimed at club players. I don’t want to give too much away about any other titles though!

That’s good to hear. I was a little worried reading the introduction to Tony Forrester’s Secrets of Success, where he says he felt that every topic in bridge had been well and truly covered. You don’t think so?

-No. It depends on whom you’re aiming the book at. I don’t really write for the expert player at all. Mostly I write for the average player. Having taught them for a number of years I think I have a good idea of what they like and what they need. I know the kind of problems they have.

When did your interest and involvement in bridge start?

-I used to play a lot of chess and it was in the national junior chess championship in Queensland that I was introduced to bridge. We had no chess matches in the mornings so someone taught us how to play bridge. Nothing complicated of course, we called out our points and our best suit and took it from there. So after ten days of the chess tournament I could play bridge. I was only seventeen then and bridge never really hit me until my mid­twenties.

How did that happen?

-The impetus was a friend of mine winning a national championship. We had been at school together and I thought that if he could manage it then anyone could. I’d already dropped chess by then. I’d had enough of it and lost interest.

How long was it before your first success at bridge?

-Success came quite easily. I suggested to the same friend who’d won the national championship that we have a game some time. We did, and became partners for seven years. He was good friends with the top players in Sydney and I got to know them. After about a year I was invited to play with Tim Seres in our national events and played a whole season with him, winning the national teams that year. It was fantastic and I was lucky to have been involved.

When did you get involved in writing?

-That was much later. I became part of the Australian bridge magazine team in the early seventies and started teaching a lot as well. I didn’t like the book we were using much. It was too difficult for beginners and I thought I could do much better. The result was Bridge Basics, the Standard American version. That was in 1972. Four years later I wrote the Acol version and called it Basic Bridge.

Which bridge authors do you enjoy reading yourself?

-­I’ve read all of Kelsey’s books, and Mike Lawrence’s. At the moment I like Barry Rigal’s book and Larry Cohen’s. I haven’t read Tony Forrester’s but I like the Robson/Segal book. A bit long for some people perhaps, but it’s a very good book. The best ever was ‘Bridge with the Blue Team’ by Forquet. I’d always read three or four hands from it before a tournament.

Let’s talk about selection procedures for our national teams. Glyn Liggins had some comments to make in his July editorial about the latest policy in this country, namely the reintroduction of a panel system, where pairs on the panel are eligible for selection without having to play in the trials. Where do you stand on this one?

-I don’t agree. If they can’t make it in the trials they shouldn’t be in the team. If I had anything to do with the administration here I’d vote against the idea. There is no reason why anyone should be exempted from playing in the trials. Besides, the other trialists should be given the chance to play against them as well. The players on the panel may well be great players but they have to be able to do it when it matters, whether it is in the trials or in the Bermuda Bowl.

So if they are good enough to play in the team they are good enough to win the trials?

-Exactly. They should earn the right to be in the team and if they can’t win the trials they shouldn’t be in the team.

What system of selection do you have in Australia?

-Well, it used to be good. You had to win one of our national tournaments and then all the winning teams would play off to see which one would represent the country. If a team had won more than one of the national events it would receive a slight benefit, maybe the right to play twenty extra boards if it was behind at the end of a match. I thought that system was good. It produced winners.

Nowadays it’s different. In almost every national tournament you can earn a certain number of points. At the end of the year the leading point­scorers are asked to form four teams. You don’t have to play with the same partner or team­mates. It’s all very hostile, with sponsors going round tempting players away to join ‘their team. It’s not right.

What selection process would you choose?

-I’d go back to what we had before. Why not? If one team was consistently near the top but failed to win then it would be tough luck. You don’t want players who come second all the time. You want players that can win. I’d introduce that system here as well. Take the winners of your four main events and have a play­off to see who represents the country. Winner takes all.

What is the condition of junior bridge in Australia?

-It’s pretty good, I think. There is a significant youth programme in every state, with youth championships and an inter­state event. The under­26s play the same format as the open and women’s teams, travelling to other cities and playing against teams from other states.

Does bridge receive more or less media coverage in Australia than in this country?

-Definitely less than you have here. It’s hard to encourage any but the biggest newspapers to take bridge columns. The only time you get real publicity is when something bad has happened.

This is the centenary year of bridge. How do you see the future for bridge over the next hundred years?

-I’m very doubtful about being able to attract sufficient young players into bridge. They are so involved with computers, it’s going to be hard to get them into bridge. I don’t know that we’ve got a hundred years’ future. Things will be very different. The Internet system is going to be so popular and that will affect bridge as we know it. You’ll be able to play in events without leaving your house.

There have been some steps forward in the last ten or twenty years. Bidding boxes for example, and screens in the big international events. They really help you relax. You don’t have to concentrate on not looking at your partner and that’s a big help. Every change has met with some opposition of course, but that’s only natural. The game has benefited overall.

Many thanks for sharing your comments with us, Ron. Have a safe journey back to Oz. and we look forward to enjoying more books from you in the years ahead.

The hand below shows Klinger’s play at its best. Sitting West, Klinger heard his partner open three spades third in hand. South overcalled four hearts, and Klinger doubled

A spade was led to East’s ace and a trump returned, Klinger ducking when South played the queen. After a spade ruff in dummy South played a club to the queen and West’s ace. South won the club return, ruffed dummy’s last club in hand and played hearts, Klinger winning the second round with his king. This was the position with Klinger, West, on lead:

Klinger found the winning defence, exiting with the king of diamonds. South could no longer make the contract, having to lose either a spade or a trump. Pretty neat defence, especially on your debut in a world championship (1976 Olympiad vs USA).

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