09 November, 2020
It is usually completely quiet at the card tables. Facial expressions and body language are all that signal how a game is going, Borlänge, Sweden.
The Borlänge Bridge Club in the municipality of Borlänge in Sweden has around 100 members. For a while, the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to games, but during the summer, a solution was found by separating players by means of crossed plexiglass screens. A tactical game of skill, contract bridge (or simply bridge) has its origins in the 16th century, in what were known as trick-taking games, but evolved into its present form in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today’s game is based on rules set out by Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, an American railroad executive, in 1925. A World Bridge Federation coordinates revision of laws, and conducts world championships. Duplicate bridge, in which the same deal of cards is used at each table, is the most widely employed variation of contract bridge in club and tournament play. Bridge, as chess, is recognized as a ‘mind sport’ by the International Olympic Committee, although neither has yet been found eligible for the main Olympic program. The Swedish Bridge Federation currently has around 27,000 members and operates an annual bridge festival with more than 8,500 tables in play.
Henrik Hansson
Henrik Hansson (1976) is a photographer working at Fotograf Hasse Eriksson AB in Borlänge, Sweden since 1998. He has also worked as a summer substitute for the Swedish newspap...
