Belief in bridge

Bridge has been ruled not to be a sport by the European Court of Justice. That court may soon have no jurisdiction in this realm, and may already be regarded by many as Jeremiah regarded Babylon: as a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing. But, like a stopped clock, the ECJ is bound to be right every now and then. Sweat may break upon the brow of North as he bids 2 No Trumps, but that is not produced by what Sport England calls “physical activity”. Brain exercise bridge certainly is, and it tempts people out of the house to worst their opponents. Yet the keenest bridge player might agree that it is not, in truth, a sport – it is far more important than that. Since the English Bridge Union had wanted it to be called a sport to avoid VAT, perhaps instead it should be defined as a religion.