[smerriman]

paulg's post in the Water Cooler

I hardly ever read that area of the forum given it's for non-bridge topics, and given he was a prominent forum member, I feel like he deserves a thread of his own.

I only knew nige1 through his forum posts, so very little compared to many others, but of my memories:

I rank:

1. His unique use of the handviewer diagrams, always ranking all available options rather than just giving a single answer
2. The fact that he taught me that 'pusillanimous' was an actual word
3. In forum challenge events where a round is meant to take 2-3 weeks, he would always have all challenges done within a couple of days
4. His clever squeezes and endplays commentary where he would always minimize unimportant spots to emphasize the technique.

---

[LBengtsson]

I agree entirely, smerriman. His contribution on these forum pages was both excellent and wide-ranging. May he rest in peace.

[mikeh]

Thanks for posting this. It’s funny how one forms an impression of someone from their postings, without in fact having any idea of the (often) surprising and interesting reality. The water cooler post, announcing his death, gave a nice insight into someone I think I would have enjoyed meeting in the flesh.

[paulg]

Like Paddington Bear, Nigel could rarely be separated from his duffel coat and was often seen at the EBU Summer Congress wearing it when most were wearing very little. It was not particularly scruffy and he wore a suit jacket under it.

The unstoppable force met an immovable object during one of our matches in the county league. This was an era where head to head matches were played in people's homes and, to many, the tea was more important than the bridge. We were playing in a lovely house and, while the rest of us were dealing the hands, our host was trying to remove the coat in her warm, centrally-heated home.

We were well down at half-time and a lavish buffet was laid out: sandwiches, sausage rolls, canapes and lots of different cakes. It was here that Nigel won us the match.

Having been playing for some time, he was keen to remain standing and loaded up his plate. He then wandered around the living room talking to both us and the opponents about the interesting hands in the first half and how badly he'd done.

This was all done with cake precariously balanced in his right hand as he conducted his post mortem. He was followed around the room by our host with a small dustpan and brush, clearing up all the crumbs after him. I believe it was the mental exhaustion caused by this that allowed us to turn the match around. I should add that Nigel always denied this happening when I told this story, but he was giggling away since he really had no idea what happened save he could probably recall a hand from the match.

I mentioned that Nigel was not a fast player, but the most frustrating part of this was that, more often than not, he was not thinking about the hand he was playing. It would be a previous hand, not necessarily the last one, and he'd spotted some line, defence or position that would have allowed him to do better on the hand. Nigel was the only person I knew who could take five minutes to respond to Stayman; eventually his partner would get fed up and tell him to concentrate on the hand in play.

As others have said, Nigel was a friendly, kind and generous man. One who would greet you warmly and then give you a bridge hand before asking about the family.

[Douglas43]

Apart from the intellectual quality of his posts he was always a friendly and polite poster too.

[diana_eva]

RIP Nigel, we'll miss you.

[pescetom]

We certainly will.

[sakuragi]

RIP Nigel

[apollo1201]

Sad news. We’ll miss his rankings and his humorous yet precise and didactic posts.

[pescetom]

apollo1201, on 2022-August-30, 13:43, said:

Sad news. We’ll miss his rankings and his humorous yet precise and didactic posts.

And also his friendly but ruthlessly honest replies to pm.

[heart76]

This is sad news.
I was not acquainted with him, not at all even her on BBO, but have always admired his views, his comments, his style, always dreaded the result when playing against him in forum events.
Rest in peace, bridge friend.

[thepossum]

Sorry to hear the news. Always enjoyed Nige1's contributions

As someone who was occasionally on the receiving end from other posters he seemed a really nice person and even respected some of my posts with a comment

[FelicityR]

Nigel was a gentleman through and through. I read through his bio, and it appears he used to play at Reading Bridge Club in the 1980s. I used to play there sporadically, so I might have played against him without actually knowing it. I had a look at his contribution to these forums, too. Over 9000 posts which to me shows a total dedication to the game, but it was the gracious way he worded his excellent posts on these forums that endeared him to many. RIP Nigel. You will be sorely missed by those that knew you, and your bridge friends on here, too.

[paulg]

FelicityR, on 2022-August-31, 03:16, said:

I read through his bio, and it appears he used to play at Reading Bridge Club in the 1980s. I used to play there sporadically, so I might have played against him without actually knowing it.

Nigel would have played at the Reading Bridge Club on most Tuesdays through the 1980s and 1990s. Certainly in the 1980s it was a segregated club, with Tuesdays being the experts (of which there were many) and Thursdays being the novices and intermediates and rarely did they meet. This became far more relaxed in the 1990s.

[hrothgar]

Agreed

Sad news
He will be missed

[mycroft]

David Silver wrote about the eternal matchpoint duplicate in hell, where the opponents all were [-] and the hands were diabolical.

May Nige1 find instead the eternal matchpoint duplicate where the Laws are simple and unambiguous (and fair), the system regulations are universal (and simple, and fair), and the bridge is as pleasant as he always is - even when madly disagreeing with everyone else. And the hands, even if challenging, are always interesting.

[Lovera]

He was a good age and everything suggests that it was something sudden. His last post was on 12 of May and contrary to the usual it was not the end point of the discussion in which he participated by indicating the winning line and then giving votes. Now this (which he didn't mind at all) just so brought him closer to us and I'm sorry it's gone. He also had other merits as a player and surely someone will remember better than me happy situations on his part that have arisen. Maybe he was as they say old-fashioned and a little eclectic but it is normal.