Ep. 87 Tuva Nilsmark: BridgeQueen

[00:00:00] It's important, I think, to note that I didn't choose a bridge queen because I think that I'm the queen of a bridge. I did it for like a fun play on words. Just the queen and a card deck. A deck of cards.

[00:00:16] But yeah, it started a month ago and it's people I feel I've only gotten positive messages so far. People seem to be craving some bridge content, I feel like, honestly, and I did as well. That's why I started it.

[00:00:35] There isn't much, you know, it's your podcast, maybe a few other podcasts and then almost nothing else. Like it's awful. He never gets to see bridge in a fun content form. I feel like, which is too bad.

[00:00:55] So I am here today with Tuva Nilsmark, who goes by the bridge queen and has just recently launched a YouTube channel. And my guest Boya Broglin suggested that I should interview you. And he said that he will definitely watch this. Good. I hope so.

[00:01:26] And we were having so much fun talking in the kind of pre-recording phase that I said, we got to start recording this because there's just too much good stuff coming here. Not from bridge stuff, but yeah. Yes, but yes. But I think these people, I think people that listen to, I would like to think that people that listen to this podcast are also interested in sports.

[00:01:50] Hopefully. Yeah, we have a little, because I love the NFL. So we have a fantasy league. Oh. We have a few bridge players in that one. Yeah. So it's me and Eckenberg and Nilsdum, Oopmijk. Really good bridge players. They suck at fantasy football though.

[00:02:14] So when you say, okay, so Simon Eckenberg is your boyfriend and you guys have two children together. Yeah. And you might wonder, is he really, is he my boyfriend or my husband? But yeah, he is my boyfriend. I have nothing here. She's showing her hands, her left hand for those who are only listening. It has no ring on it. So I'm, it's, I'm open to everything.

[00:02:42] Okay. So Simon, Simon and I have played on teams together twice. Oh, when? And he, did he, did he complain that I was interviewing you before I interviewed him? No, but it sounds like he should. So two of my best results in bridge were teaming up with Simon as my teammate. So in 2017 in the transnational world championships, our team finished 10th.

[00:03:11] And what was it? Transnational world championships? Yeah. Transnational world championships. That's really good. Yeah. And, uh, in new Orleans in 2023, we got to the quarterfinals of the Vanderbilt. So that's great. Were you playing with, who were you? I played, so I played with Peter for Dean in 2017.

[00:03:36] And, and, uh, in 2023, I played with a New Zealander, uh, named Nick Jacob and Simon was playing with Peter. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's a fun team. Um, but yeah, and you haven't interviewed him, uh, because he lacks, uh, personality maybe.

[00:04:02] Um, you know, I just, I do these kinds of interviews like right now. I'm in a, I'm in a hot streak where I, I signed up with this new company to produce the videos. And so I'm doing like, I'm aiming to do one every week. Oh, yeah. Um, so, but I've only done like, I think this is our 87th episode. Uh, so I've done them kind of sporadically over the years, but you're actually only the third suite I've interviewed.

[00:04:31] So I interviewed, uh, Ola and Michael together. Okay. And you're the third. Yeah. So I'm the second episode. Correct. Second Swedish episode. That seems good. Uh, bridge competence wise, I would say that's a reasonable pick. So, so you launched a YouTube channel just recently, right? Yeah, it was really recent. Um, it's important.

[00:04:59] I think to note that I didn't choose a bridge queen because I think that I'm the queen of the bridge. I did it for like a fun play on words. Um, just the queen and, uh, you know, card. Got it. Deck, deck of cards. Got it. Yeah. It started a month ago and it's people. I feel, I feel I've only gotten positive, um, messages so far. Uh, people seem to be craving some bridge content.

[00:05:29] I feel like honestly, and I did as well. That's why I started it. There isn't much, you know, it's your podcast. Um, maybe a few other podcasts and then almost nothing else. Like it's awful. He never gets to see bridge, uh, in a fun content form. I feel like, which is too bad. Well, you're changing that. Hopefully. Yeah.

[00:05:59] I really want to, you know, uh, just the things I've seen. They're usually like pretty long. Like we're talking about an hour, two hours. Yeah. Like this. Uh, no, but not just the podcast. I mean like, oh, we're sitting and thinking for 10 minutes about like distribution. And I mean, that's a snooze fest for most people.

[00:06:24] So I thought, you know, we need some pretty, like just fun, lighthearted stuff that you can watch like 10 minutes or five minutes. It's just getting some fun bridge stuff. And you're, uh, when you're scrolling, you know, you spent some of your early life in the United States and you speak English beautifully. Thank you. But your, uh, your channel is also in English, which I was sort of, uh, I was wondering why, how, if you, if you thought about doing it in Swedish at all, or if it was like a hundred

[00:06:53] percent that you would do it in English. Honestly, uh, I didn't think about doing it in Swedish just because it's pretty like a small country. Yeah. And most of our, you know, we have a lot of bridge friends and they're English speaking and everybody knows English kind of. I feel like now it's just better to broaden the, you know, the public so people can watch.

[00:07:22] Um, but we, we've done some live streams from, and they're from Swedish events. So we've done those in Swedish. Oh, okay. And, uh, that's probably when I've gotten the most critique that people are like, why the hell am I looking at this in Swedish? I understand nothing. Please switch. So maybe we'll have to switch that too.

[00:07:49] So, but it, so what, so I spoke to Simon this morning, uh, we were texting and he was telling me that, uh, the story that I should ask you about how he got started in bridge. Yeah. Um, well, I gave it as a gift to my grandparents to start like learning bridge at the club, like, uh, the school, uh, bridge school.

[00:08:17] And, uh, they were done after two years and they're going to start playing. And then they said, well, we, we, uh, don't dare to like go out and play. I'm like, why? Then why learn? Whoa. What do you do? Just go back to school when you know it. Why won't you go out and play? And I got like a bit pissed and I said, well, if me and my dad learn, we can be your teammates

[00:08:43] and then you can, you know, get up the, I don't know, confidence to go and play. So I learned and I came there the first day and I had these, you know, these, uh, assumptions that, you know, grandparents were the only ones playing. And yeah, I was, I was a teenager. So I was like, I'm too cool for this. Yeah. I can't believe I'm doing this.

[00:09:10] Then I came there and it's this sad story, but it's kind of funny. Um, so we get there and a person gets a heart attack. Oh my gosh. In the room. And that's sad, you know, but it's kind of funny when you think about our assumptions getting there and we're like, just old people go. And then somebody's having a heart attack and I'm like, can't, we can't do this.

[00:09:38] But, and people like continued playing. So I thought this is happening every week. Like people are going from the room to the emergency room and nobody cares. Like it was, yeah, it was just the craziest experience of my life. But I found it really fun. And I got hooked right away. So I ditched my grandparents. I did not, in fact, play with them.

[00:10:06] And, uh, I went rogue and I started playing on my own. Where do your grandparents live? They live in Sweden. And they play at my club. In Stockholm where you live? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We have the St. Eric. The, the, like, the world's biggest bridge club. Oh, wow. I'm pretty sure. Yeah. I, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm actually, yeah, I'm sure about that. The world's biggest bridge club.

[00:10:36] And how did you decide to get your grandparents this as a present? They had nothing to do. So, so I just, I can't, I think I Googled, like, activities for older people. How old are your grandparents? They're like, uh, 77. Wow. Yeah. So, uh, it fit them. This isn't great, uh, for bridge. The story is not great. What to do for old people and art attacks.

[00:11:05] But it's not like that. We're changing that, right? It must be your dad's parents because you, you, you agreed to play with your dad as our teammates. Yeah. And my dad, uh, well, he's the captain of the Swedish open team now. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. No, he is, um, he is a bigger bridge bum than I am. So does he, wait, wait, I thought your dad, I thought you just won some beginner tournament with your dad. I did. I did.

[00:11:34] How does he become the captain of the open team and he just won a beginner tournament? Honestly, John, I don't know. Uh, we won that. What was it? Like three years ago? Yeah. Maybe four, five. I don't know. Yeah. Four, four years ago, maybe. And, uh, yeah, we won that. And then he, he's a good leader. Like he has some good insights and I think they're, you know, the open teams, they're so good.

[00:12:02] They don't need a coach. Yeah. A bridge. They, they need like mental and I think they need some mental help. That sounds awful. They need like, uh, I don't know, somebody who has great insight and how to think, you know, and maybe team building and yeah. Stuff like that. So, and he's good there and he's, uh, yeah, I think he's pretty appreciated.

[00:12:31] And, and, and you, and it was like a seminal moment when you saw Simon for the first time, your, your, your, uh, your boyfriend. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I saw him while I was playing a bridge tournament. It was actually kind of funny the day before Simon was playing at the bridge club and he went against my dad and my dad's partner said, Oh, and I was sitting like a few tables away. Yeah.

[00:12:59] Um, and then he said, my dad's partner said to my dad, well, now we're playing against your future son-in-law. Oh my gosh. Like laughing. And my dad was like, uh, funny, uh, whatever. And, uh, they pointed at me like, Oh, that's his daughter. And I was like, okay, whatever. I don't care. And then the next day I didn't see him. I saw him coming like down the hall. Yeah. And I'm like, Oh, what a, what a cutie.

[00:13:30] I played a lot with Simon Holt, uh, back then his partner. And, uh, then I noticed, Oh, so Eckenberg is your partner Holt. Then we should take a beer after the game. Maybe. Yeah. So, um, then I, I got him. Was that before, after you won the beginner, uh, championship? Mm. Before. Ah, before. Yeah.

[00:13:58] Uh, so, yeah, I, uh, shoot, I shot my, what? That's right. Yeah. You shot, you shot your shot. Yeah, I did. And it landed. Yeah. So that was, uh, how I met him. It's not hard to get attention when you're in like a bridge room because usually everybody's like over 60. So if you're just like below 50, you get recognized. I feel like.

[00:14:29] Well, you, well, you're, well, you're, you're like pot committed now at this point. Like you've got your, your boyfriend. You've got, uh, you know, your channel. Yeah. Um, yeah. You're, you're, you're, you're looks like, seems like you're really, you've gone, you've gone for it or you're going for it. Totally gone for it. He has not though, since he hasn't proposed. So he's probably still thinking about if you should go all in, is this really right?

[00:14:59] He's, uh, yeah. Hasn't decided yet. We'll see. One of the, one of the things when that, so when he was in new Orleans, he told me, uh, he told me about you and he told me about your mom, uh, because I'm a golfer. And so I of course knew, uh, of your mom. Uh, and, uh, she played on the LPGA tour. No. And, uh, uh, European women's tour.

[00:15:25] And she was the two-time captain of the Solheim cup team. Yeah. One, uh, win, one loss, I think. But I guess you were probably, you were probably too young to really. Uh, yeah. So she, I think she won. That's a major now. Evian Masters. Yeah. She won that like 99. Uh, so I was two. That was probably our best year. But yeah, I grew up on the LPGA tour.

[00:15:55] They have like this daycare that they set up. So it looks the same. So we don't get like mentally ill. So I'll be traveling all the time and I like not having a steady place. So he set it up on every like a tournament. So it looks the same. And so we think we're at the same place all the time. Really weird. They did like this. Uh, I think the Chicago. So they, some paper did a article on us kids.

[00:16:23] Like with the angle, are they fine? Like how are they feeling? Uh, and it was fine until me, uh, Tuva Nilsmark came out with this like tray of fake cookies. Like, you know, just gonna serve them. And I said, oh, it's time for room service now. They're like, room service? You're three. What? Why do you know what that is?

[00:16:52] Um, but yeah, it was, it was fun. I remember it like, cause I was there until I was five, six and I actually remember a lot of it and it was a great growing up on the tour. It was your mom's doing some coaching. She's coaching you, uh, and, you know, in some of the, uh, videos on your channel. She is a mental or like life coach now. Yeah. And it's really great.

[00:17:20] I feel like a lot of people are actually missing out on that part. Like the mental aspect of every sport. I mean, she's coached, she's coaching a lot of sports people that are really like high up achieving big things in their sports, but they've like never had a mental coach and it really, really helps them. Like I've seen the results, like the differences it makes just being able to go over your, your

[00:17:50] mindset and your goals and everything. And it's huge. Like it's a big difference. Yeah. So, uh, she's helped me a lot, mostly with nerves. That's an issue of mine. Like I get super nervous in every aspect of my life, but in bridge, I, I really get nervous and it kind of hinders me sometimes if I'm playing a big tournament and I'm in some like,

[00:18:18] um, sketchy contract, like a six, no Trump. And you're like, ah, this is a make or break board. I get so freaking nervous. So I can't think, you know, the only thing I'm thinking is like, oh, don't, don't fuck this up. Don't. Can I swear? Uh, yeah. Yeah. Uh, don't, don't screw this up. Yeah. Um, so yeah, uh, she's helped me with a lot of tricks there. So yeah, that's a big help.

[00:18:48] Well, uh, speaking of six, no Trump, uh, today's Friday, uh, February 21st. And you have a series on your YouTube where you do, it's called fun bridge Fridays where you play a challenge and you've had some pretty, pretty staunch opposition, including, uh, Ola

[00:19:08] Rimsad, uh, who, uh, you like double hooked the diamond suit against him to make six, no Trump. And, uh, I have to say, I've been talking trash in our group texts, uh, with the Rimsads about that. Um, but you, I did watch your, today you played Michael.

[00:19:33] Eh, uh, um, and, uh, and I did watch that and he, uh, he, yeah, he, he avenged his brother. He won quite convincingly. Yeah. That was rough. But you know what? I really admit defeat on that one. Cause that was gorgeous. That. Oh yeah. Yeah. Where, where he squeezed, uh, head off. He squeezed them. Yeah. That's that Michael.

[00:20:01] I, I just had the pleasure of playing, uh, with them as my teammates at the world bridge tour, uh, event Iceland. And, uh, now, uh, it was like two or three weeks ago. Yeah. Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They are great. I, uh, they're funny. I love, uh, hang out with them and they're good. Bridge players.

[00:20:27] Um, it was funny with Olaf cause he had that board, uh, when the diamond suit was, uh, you know, uh, could solve itself, but he had, uh, like two opportunities, either the diamond suit or another thing. And he went for the other thing and that was, it's demise. Yeah. That was, uh, yeah. I let him know about that one. Good. Because I, I'm going to be, I'm a future guest.

[00:20:56] I don't know when my episode is going to be and I don't want to spoil anything. No. Uh, but, uh, yeah. When you took down Olaf, I was like, I better pay attention. Yeah. Um, I did not in my last, uh, fun bridge. I underestimated. Yeah. Those are fun. I love, you know, having a bit of fun content. Yeah.

[00:21:24] I feel like sometimes I'm just generalizing here, but I feel like a lot of people take themselves like really seriously sometimes like with bridge and you can absolutely. Like if it's a big tournament, sure. Like you have to be focused and serious and yeah. But otherwise I feel people take themselves like their ego sometimes are a little bit too

[00:21:53] big. I like when you can just have fun and you know, it's not the end of the world. If you make mistakes, I feel like that's like an issue sometimes in bridge. I feel like you can never say that you just made a mistake or made a bad bid or like people are so afraid to say that. And I don't really know why, but I think that like sets a really, it's a bad tone for like

[00:22:22] new players because then it kind of amps up the pressure. Like you're almost afraid to like do wrong, but everybody, nobody's double dummy all the time. So yeah, I'm hoping that I can, you know, through some videos that like it's fine if you just make some mistakes, like it's no problem. That doesn't define your level.

[00:22:50] If you can have a bad day, you can do some bad stuff. It's not the end of the world. Have you noticed that, that people like are hesitant to say that they just. Well, like, like a recent example for me. So I've played bridge professionally just a little bit. And I, uh, I, I got hired by a local player to play at our, at our, at our local club.

[00:23:19] And, uh, I, I played this, I played one hand really badly and ended up going down to what I think I could have made an over trick in like a part score. Yeah. And then I misdefended on a deal where originally I blamed him because he, I thought he played the wrong card in clubs, but I knew enough about the hand where I think I, I should have gotten the defense. Right. Hmm.

[00:23:47] And, uh, I would say that, uh, it was really important for me to tell him exactly like the, this is not like that me going down on this hand and then me misdefending this hand, uh, we're not consistent with the, like what he's, if he's hiring me to play with him, like that, that that shouldn't be. So, uh, I would say I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum of that personally myself,

[00:24:19] because I, um, I just think like integrity is so important and, uh, I don't want to, I wouldn't want to, you know, I don't, I don't think. Like, so basically all this is to say is I, I was like, well, let's just, let's play online. Let's play for free online a game because I think you deserve like a better effort than what I gave you on those two deals in particular.

[00:24:47] So I guess I'm always at this. What's that? That was a good deal. I mean, that's nice of you. Yeah. Well, I felt badly about it. Like I felt like a, like just in terms of like playing professionally, it is really. And like, I've hired professional players a ton. Yeah. But there's like just a certain standard that I think you need, that I, I needed to live

[00:25:14] up to if I'm going to do that, that I felt like there was the least I could do was to, um, I guess the dynamics are a little bit different when you're like a hired professional there to basically do a job and really deliver. But there's so many tournaments that don't have to be that serious. Like take league play, for example.

[00:25:42] I mean, I know so many that you're like, they're so upset if they do something wrong or they're like, oh no, that wasn't me. Or they're like yelling at their partner or, I mean, that just kind of takes the fun away a little bit. I feel like just, especially for like new players and they're like, is this, you can, I could get roasted if you do something bad. I feel like that's not like.

[00:26:10] I think that's one of the things that would surprise people about bridge is just how intense it is. Like, uh, you know, I mean, I think about how, how upset I get when my partner does something that I think that they shouldn't have done, like that I kind of gave them the, you know, played the card that would have helped them make the winning, uh, play.

[00:26:30] No, um, but it's, it's difficult because you, you, you know, you want to do well, you want to win, but yeah, I think I've had, I have a few new, new partnerships now, um, like serious partnerships. Yeah. And, uh, the first thing we discussed, cause we're playing, um, pretty like a big qualifier.

[00:26:57] Um, the first thing we discussed was how do we like communicate before we said anything about the system. And it was actually him that asked me, it could have been me, but he asked me and I was, uh, pleasantly surprised. And we just decided that, okay, let's not say anything about the boards. Like anything. Yeah. We're, we're going over them later. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:27:26] We'll just, we can't say anything. Yeah. End of discussion. And I feel, I cannot see how that's not beneficial. I think that's a great rule. I can't see a downside to that because I can't see an upside to like nagging at your partner or like you could have done this. And they're like, I know what. Yeah. Yeah. I know.

[00:27:53] Like I, you have to, you know, uh, know that I also want to do my best. I'm not sitting here, not trying my best. Obviously I am, you know? So I, that's, uh, I guess a little, uh, tip. Cause it's good. I really believe in that, you know? I think that's a great start to a partnership. Yeah.

[00:28:22] I mean, very, very unusual story like to hear. I don't think I've, I've never heard anybody tell me that. Uh, although my partner for the Vanderbilt where we played with Simon, he, he did do something similar. He said he, he's like, we'd like, we had like, we've probably spent 15 minutes talking about talking about like, you don't talk about the boards. Yeah. Like, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It was a great lesson for me.

[00:28:49] Cause I, I just think, yeah. It's like, you know what you're doing. Are you like super competitive? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Are you kidding? Yeah. Um, have you played much golf with the Michael and Ola?

[00:29:07] Um, uh, no, I have, uh, so me and Simon, uh, had this event, bridge and golf event with sleepover. It was really nice. Okay. And Michael Ola was, uh, with us there. And I, I think I went head to head with Ola. Yeah. Uh, and, uh, I won.

[00:29:36] You beat Ola? Yeah. But I went two under par. So. Wow. It's, uh, not fair. He played, he played well, but couldn't, couldn't beat me. Wow. Two under par. You must, you must not have been playing the same tees. Uh, I mean, I wouldn't expect you to play the same tees. No, okay, John. Wait a minute. Why would we play the same tees? Come on, man. Are you one of those? They're like. No.

[00:30:06] You're good. You should play here with us on the yellow back tee. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You sure? I mean, look, look, believe me. I, when I played with the, when I played with Ola and Michael in, in, in, uh, Iceland, we were having dinner one night after the, after the day's play. And my partner, Adam Grosak was there with us. And I think Adam asked him a question and Ola said, we're basically good at everything.

[00:30:35] Oh, what a load of bullshit. I mean, no, they are not. Um, and I've only played golf with them one time and they both beat me. No, twice. Okay. But how good are you? I'm decent. I mean, so decent, but okay. That's a load of crap. They are not good at everything.

[00:31:03] I swear to God, I'm, I'm putting this out there. They're probably listening. You can show me at any bar game, pole, darts, anything. I swear to God, they will not beat me and I'm not particularly good. I'm just okay. Okay. They are quite good at table tennis though. I think. I, yeah, I think they are. So I'm giving up on that one.

[00:31:32] What's your handicap in golf? I don't know really. Maybe one. Yeah. Something around scratch. I haven't, I don't know what happened there. Um, I, I've almost like, I don't play golf. I don't like golf that much, but I don't, I don't know why my handicap was like that. But I guess it's just in the genes.

[00:32:00] But you've won a couple of, uh, like tournaments with your mother, like Swedish. Yeah. We usually, we, uh, play the Swedish championship, like for fun, fun thing each year, but we don't train like before. We just play and we win almost every time. It's strange. It's weird. It's a mother. You have to play with your mother. Is that the. Yeah. It's like two generations. It's been like for so long, it's called like the Swedish championship week. And they have like mother, daughter, father, son.

[00:32:30] And they're really like competitive. It's a lot of good players. And they have this, uh, like, uh, husband and wife thing as well, but you just have to live together. So it's not really husband and wife. So you and Simon could play. We have played. I don't want to talk about how that was not my fault. That's all I'm going to say. Simon's better at bridge than golf. A lot. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:01] Really big difference. How many days is the event that you won? And it's just a two day. Two day. Just, uh, and it's no cut or anything. You just get to play. And, uh, yeah, it's the scores aren't great. Like you win. I don't know. Eight. You play four sums. That's difficult. Oh, where you play. Super difficult. Alternate shot. Yep. Awful.

[00:33:27] I remember one year I was playing with my mom and I didn't get an iron shot in for holes. Yeah. I'm like, well, it's been like an hour and I, I haven't, I've only like putted and hit my driver. And now I'm going to all of a sudden like make this really difficult, you know, shot that it's, you get totally out of sync and you don't think about like if you're putting,

[00:33:54] usually, you know, you want to put like, um, half, I'm talking in meters, half a meter, uh, one yard, um, like, um, over the hole, past the hole. Oh yeah. Yeah. And then you automatically like see the ball roll. So you get the, like how you're going to put on the way back and it's like automatic basically.

[00:34:20] But now when you alternate, you're coming up to this short cut, but you have no feeling for the green at all. Yeah. And you haven't. So it's just, it's just iffy. I mean, it's just difficult. Really. I think, I think, uh, that's a great form of golf, but I play it very rarely. Super fun. I love foursomes. That's probably my favorite out of all the things. What is your mom like when in, like when she's focused on the golf course?

[00:34:51] Hmm. Okay. So, um, she does not listen to herself. She's really good at giving advice. She is, um, for some better, but she's like famous for having like a really bad temper, a really bad temper. It's a little bit better, but not great. Does she get mad at you when you miss a shot? No, no.

[00:35:15] Because also I rarely do bad shots, but if I do, she's like, you don't play golf. So it's fine. She doesn't have any expectations of me, but on herself, you know, she thinks, well, it's like I'm, you know, 30 again and I'm playing in a major. Yeah. That's the way I want to be hitting my wedges. And you're like, well, uh, newsflash. It's not 2002.

[00:35:44] Um, so yeah, she gets really upset, really angry, but she hasn't passed that down to me. I'm super chill. Really? Yeah. I get, you know, the nerves and I get, I really get like sad if I, if I don't perform, cause I am a super like competitive person. I don't get mad. I just get, I just want to cry, you know, like feel bad for myself.

[00:36:11] Also a thing that no upside to feeling bad for yourself ever. Um, so I'm working on that. And your dad was important for your bridge. Um, yeah. So he was my initial partner. Uh, and yeah, I, um, uh, he was, uh, great because he, uh, was so got so into it and it

[00:36:35] kind of made me try to like, I don't know, uh, catch up. Now I don't think I, I, in my head, I was always ahead of him, but you know, he, he played so much. He kind of made me want to play a lot too. So that was fun fact about him. He was actually a news reporter for a golf and that's how he met my mom. Yeah. And he has played.

[00:37:05] So my name is Tuva Augusta, right? Yeah. And, um, yeah, they'll just have to think about why that is. Um, but so my mom hasn't played Augusta. Yeah. Cause the women don't have a tournament there. Yeah. The, you know, the, the guys play. Yeah. But my dad, he sucks at golf. Um, he's played Augusta because they had this for reporters.

[00:37:34] Like the day. Oh yeah. Yeah. That was a reporter competition. So the, the golf course is like a mint, like the best shape ever. And he got to play. And my mom was nervous. And he is not, he's a laid back dude. Like he, I'm lazy. He did not bring clubs cause he couldn't be bothered. And he didn't know that he was going to play this year.

[00:38:03] So he was at Augusta. They give him a note. Like you're playing tomorrow. Wow. You're getting to play. Wow. Augusta. And he's like, shit, I don't have clubs. And Augusta, they don't have a lot of rental clubs because that's not a problem. I think it happens a lot. It's not a great business for them to have rental clubs. People come prepared. I think.

[00:38:32] Oh, he was like, okay, so you don't have clubs and he's a lefty. Oh God. So they're like, we don't have clubs. Why don't you have clubs? He's like, well, okay then. And then he had to drive around and he found a gas station. He's like, do you have any? Oh my gosh. And they said, we have half a set. He's like, I'll take it. Wow. Went out to Augusta day after master the masters with half a set.

[00:39:01] And he did not have one wedge. Not what? One. The first thing he did, like, no second, he was hole 11 or something. He just shot it right in the bunker because as I said, he sucks. Yeah. And he was like, okay, professionals have trouble getting out of this bunker and I'm going down with a nine. And to get out. I think he shot like a million.

[00:39:31] Just, yeah. Funny guy. Was that before you were born? Might have been. Might have been. I don't know. I wish I would have seen it though, but I didn't. So just to be 100% clear in case anybody didn't catch that. When I was researching your mother yesterday, on the Wikipedia page, it said that she had a daughter, you, whose name is Tuva Augusta.

[00:40:00] Yeah. And I was, you know, that's. Yeah. So your middle name is Augusta. Makes sense, you know. Yeah. But they had, you know, we lived in Jupiter and close to the Parnamics and, you know, they named their kids after golf. All of them. Oh, really? Yeah. So my parents were like, oh, it's safe. You already did it. So. Because their eldest daughter is Peg.

[00:40:27] And that's the peg in Swedish. Yeah. And then they have Pebble Peach. Pebble Peach. And then something else. Yeah. Wait, the child's name is Pebble Peach? Yeah. Middle name. Doesn't Jesper play bridge? He does. He does. But none of his kids play. So he's upset about that. Are they back in Sweden or do they live in Florida?

[00:40:57] Jesper and Mia lives in Florida. But the kids are all here except for the youngest. Oh, wow. That's interesting. Yeah. So I have one of the girls. She saw my video and she was like, oh, Jesper's going to be so happy. I have a learn bridge in three minutes video. She was like, yes, just what I need. He's going to be excited. But the first thing I say in that video is I think I say you can't learn bridge in three minutes. Yeah. You do. I tried.

[00:41:25] I really tried with that video. One end. I want fun content. Yeah. Just fun, lighthearted. You get to see good bridge players. That's always fun. You know, just play a little bit. But I also kind of want people who don't play bridge to see it. Yeah. Make people interested. But it's really freaking difficult. I've noticed.

[00:41:57] Because just in that learn bridge video in three minutes, I know a lot of my friends. I mean, they'll watch my stuff that don't play bridge. Yeah. Most of them were like, I don't understand anything. Yeah. After that video. Right. It was one friend. She has ADHD. So she stones out. Like anytime you try to tell her instructions, she's like, I watched it four times.

[00:42:23] The fourth time, I actually think I got it. That's a good friend right there. That's something. That's four times. Yeah. But because she stones out, she's like, oh, right back at it. And then redo. But it's hard. I'm hoping like if you just maybe go through what, you know, the trick, what a trick is. You have to know that. Yeah. You play card.

[00:42:52] And then you have to know what the contracts mean. So what just five clubs mean. Yeah. If you know that, you can watch maybe a vlog of like, we played this. Yes, we got 10 points. You don't have to know why. But I think I'm just thinking by myself. I think I would find that, you know, pretty fun. I watch poker videos. I don't know poker, but I see the little percentages.

[00:43:20] I'm like, well, that's good. I think. And then he wins. I think that's fun. I mean, I'm a total sports nerd. Yeah. I think I'm not a good reference person. But I'm trying at least. I think we all need to try a bit more to spread the word about bridge. Bridge. I agree with you.

[00:43:46] It's so, I think it's so difficult as someone who's like a, like truly a missionary for bridge. It's, it's like just, just like, for example, the scoring system. Yeah. It's just like you, you're, you start telling them about the bonuses for game and slam and it's just, you're already. Yeah. You're in deep waters right away. No, I know. It's awful. Yeah. Well, I tried. I'm, yeah.

[00:44:15] The three minute video is okay. It's an okay start. Like I did my best. But I'm hoping for, maybe if people could do some more, I'm going to do some, you know, vlogs. Just come along. Those could be fun to watch. Just get people interested. Like, where do you go? What do you do? As a group, bridge people are interesting, I think, to say the least. Yeah.

[00:44:44] As a group, we probably weren't the most popular in high school, you know, but I think that's funny. I love the community. And I'm hoping like, yeah, I think you can make some people interested just by showing like how it looks and one zero, you know, bam is good for that.

[00:45:07] How important do you think it was for you for falling in love with bridge as quickly as you have that you met Simon? I mean, I met him after I was already playing like for two years because it was the coronavirus thing. But yeah, no, I was already in love with bridge, but I love, you know, I love cards.

[00:45:35] I've always, I play canasta like my whole life. I love that. So that was my entry. But I think it's important to feel like you have a community run you of like also not just older people, like a bit, a younger crew. I know Andreas Obrowski is a Swedish guy who does a lot for like Junior Bridge.

[00:46:04] And it's, we had like 42 people at like a Junior Bridge, just Stockholm. Yeah. I think that was pretty good. And I know, yeah, but it also helps with this that I talked about a little bit before that people don't take everything so seriously.

[00:46:22] You have to allow for a little bit of fun because I got the feeling like when I started playing seriously and I, you know, started playing the biggest tournaments that a lot of fun kind of got lost. And the pressure of, you know, people say, oh, yeah, fine. I didn't play the best line.

[00:46:52] They can never admit mistakes. I really don't. Yeah. I think that it can make it rough for like beginners and people starting out and they get like this immense pressure without. I feel like in chess, do you watch chess anything? I play chess, but I don't really watch any chess matches. Yeah.

[00:47:16] They talk, I mean, they blunder all the time and they talk about it like it's nothing. Like I blundered and then they move on. I feel like bridge people don't do that. You can't, you can never just say, oh yeah, I bid. It was a bad decision for my part and move on.

[00:47:36] I feel like it always like gets brought up again or you have to explain it because it's like, oh, I usually I would never, but I just thought about something else or. Yeah. I wished we could have a little bit of a more pros between like between pros and stuff and normal. Yeah. Just a bit more flexibility in the not double dummy department.

[00:48:07] That would be nice. I think also for people starting out to be able to have a bit more fun because we all love this game and we want to, I mean, the, the, the fun thing besides the competitiveness and the really fun tactics and stuff is the community. I mean, getting to hang out and talk about the boards.

[00:48:33] I mean, that's, I like that almost more than the actual game. I don't know how you have it, but we have a bar where we always go to talk about the boards after playing. What's the most pressure you felt in bridge so far? Probably because I have this player. His name is Fredrik Vrarn. Yeah.

[00:49:03] And I love him so much. And I got to play with him in a big Swedish tournament, like platinum event. And he, yeah, I just felt pressure playing with him, pressure playing with people that are better because you're like, oh, I really want to show that I can do this and I can play well. And I was super nervous before, even though I know him and he's like really nice and he would never, I was just. Yeah. That's normal.

[00:49:31] I think if you're playing with somebody that you look up to, you get, you kind of feel pressure automatically because you want to like impress them. I don't think I can impress Vrarn that much. Generally, he's pretty good himself. But I don't know, you get this feeling of wanting to perform and like don't make any mistake. No, that's too bad, but maybe part of it.

[00:50:01] Had you talked to your mom about the pressure before this or was it that? Yeah. I've done that a lot because I put the most pressure I put just for myself. And we've talked about that. And she's like, she always tries to flip it to something where I feel no pressure. And that's probably golf. I don't. Yeah.

[00:50:26] And she's like, well, when you play with people and you don't care about what they do, like you don't care if they miss the ball. And she's right. I don't. Why would I? And that's the same one playing bridge. Like, I just have to. The only one who cares is me.

[00:50:49] I don't have to feel this like pressure against other like to show other people that kind of I'm worthy to be there. Because nobody actually cares. Like you have to realize that. But it's tough because I don't. And I usually I have a hard time with that. Like disappointing people that I can't disappoint almost. Yeah, it's difficult.

[00:51:16] But we have to try to get better and also see like what actually matters. You know. One board is in the big picture. Isn't defining your capabilities or affecting your long term goals. Like it's just a good. If you make a mistake, you'll learn from that. And it's you're on your way to your long term goal.

[00:51:44] It's like a road to it that you have to take. Did Frederick ask you to play with him or did you ask him to play? I asked him. Yeah. I asked him. I had him over and I gave him some wine and some nice food. And I said, you want to spend 12 hours with me on Saturday? And he's like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I do.

[00:52:16] Yeah. It was lovely playing with him. He is so fun. How did you do? Oh, we didn't get anything for free. We had to fight all day. It was rough. I think we ended up in 15th place maybe. Something. We did okay. Had a bit of troubles along the way. But we had fun. We had really fun.

[00:52:45] And that's the most important part. How often do you and Ekenberg play together? Well, not as often as I would like because of the two small kids that are in our, that we have to take care of. But it happens maybe once every other month. Oh, wow. Yeah.

[00:53:10] We have our partners on, our own partners that we play with. So not that often, but maybe in the near future. We're playing together. No, we're not. Sorry. We're playing the same team. I'm not playing with him. I remembered in Bristol and the Shapiro. So that's something. Shapiro, Bristol. Is that English tournament? Yeah.

[00:53:41] The Spring Force. Oh. Free year. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. So that's a fun tournament that we're playing, but not with each other, but in the same team. Sorry. Are you playing that? No. No, I've never played. I've never played that tournament. Never. Never. You only play the NABCs. Well, no, I mean, I've played bridge.

[00:54:09] I think I've played bridge in 18 countries. I've played rubber bridge in England. I've not played any tournaments in England. Okay. But I know of the Spring Force. It's one of the more well-known ones, I think. Yeah. I think it's probably the most popular. That and the letter, maybe? I've heard of that one, too. Letter trophies in England as well. Yeah. Yeah. So hopefully that will go well.

[00:54:40] And we'll make some nice content for people to watch that do know bridge and don't know bridge. Maybe. Hopefully. Hopefully. What is your ultimate goal? What are your ultimate goals? Yeah. I want to win the World Cup. The Venice Cup. Ah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I want to win that. And I haven't played the NABCs yet.

[00:55:11] I really want to go there. And just, yeah. That just seems fun, honestly. Yeah. Because I've never been. Because somebody in our family decides that he's the one that gets to go every time. Not me. I'm stuck here. But, yeah. That would be great. But the long-term goal, definitely the Venice Cup. I don't, you know, I don't have to win the Bermudable. I'm humble.

[00:55:40] Just the Venice Cup. That does it for me. Well, the Swedish women won the Venice Cup. Yeah. Two years in a row, I think. 2020. 2021, maybe? 21, 22? No. That's every two years. So it can't be. But. 20 and 22. I'm sure they won it once. I don't know if they've won it twice. Have they? I think they have. I could be. I could totally. I don't know. I wasn't playing.

[00:56:11] That was, yeah. When I was pretty early in my. Bridge. I played in the, like, a Nordic Championship. I think. The Smalls. But, yeah. We're hoping for the. This year it is the Venice Cup. And the Bermudable. Yeah. I think that's right. Yeah. So maybe. Maybe this year. And you're playing in the Trials for that. Yeah. My partner is a bit.

[00:56:40] She was pregnant up until recently. Wow. So she is a bit preoccupied with babies. But if she manages, we will be there. I think she's come third in the Venice Cup for England. So. Oh. She also probably wants redemption. Is it Yvonne? Yeah. Yeah. She just got her baby. Like. I want to go.

[00:57:10] Is that their first child or. Second. Second child. Hmm. Do you know. Have you met her? Yeah. Trying to think where. I haven't seen her. I mean, I know Adam better. Why? Because he comes to the U.S. a fair bit. Yeah. I don't remember when I met Yvonne. Maybe it was somewhere abroad. But. Yeah. She's sweet. And a good bridge player.

[00:57:40] So. I think it could go well. When is that? August. August. Oh. So that's a lot. You got plenty of. Yeah. We got plenty of time. We have stuff to play before then as well. So. And you're playing in the mixed trials. But that's. Is that sooner? Sure. Yeah. That's next week. Because I thought originally you were playing with Simon. But when I was talking to him. Yeah. Right. We. Yeah. The teams. So.

[00:58:10] We're a bit. Yeah. It was a weird. Team. Thing. So we're playing in different teams now. Which is good. Because then I can beat him. And that is my ultimate goal. That's also a long-term goal. Actually. Now that I think about it. Definitely. Beat him. And everything. I can. No. No. No. So just. The better. Actually. That we're not playing in the same team. Because then I can. Yeah. I think I can psych him out also. At the table.

[00:58:40] I'm hoping to. I don't know. How. But I will figure it out. Well you beat Noah already. So. I have. Easy win. So. I am. I am. I am. Although Simon did beat me in the Funbridge Friday. Oh he did. He's a good Funbridge player. He's also a good. You know. Paris player. Because he's. Creative. I am. Yeah. He's a tough one to beat. But. I think we can succeed.

[00:59:09] With a little bit of luck. I was looking at your stats on Funbridge. And you've played. 25,000 deals almost. Just on there. Oh. Great. Yeah. Like. But you've only been. Playing for like. Just like five or six years. I think that's. You're. Avid Funbridge player. Yeah. You get some nemesis on there. Oh yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I have. My. Top. Nemesis. Is. A player named.

[00:59:39] Parola Kulun. Okay. Yeah. I just. I am. I think he has a few more wins than me. And I'm just trying to catch up. All the time. And. Yeah. It's going. Pretty. It's going. A bit shaky. He. I don't know him that well. But he's. He's always. He's always seemed very friendly. And. I like him. What I. What I know of him. Yeah. Yeah. I'll.

[01:00:09] He's coming on the Funbridge Friday. Oh. Soon. Yeah. It's. Always fun when. Yeah. People here in Stockholm. That can actually. Come here. Sure. Just. Yeah. That's fun. So we have a few. You. Him. And then. Agustin Medalla. Okay. No slouches. I mean. Besides me. I am. A little bit scared there. Yeah. Definitely. Scared.

[01:00:40] But. We will. Yeah. I'll take my own advice. And be fearless. And. Not feel the pressure. Who won the. Open trials. An Instagram. With Mike. And. Perola. Mariam. Ah. Then they got. Ola and Micke. As the like. Choose. Got it.

[01:01:09] That was a fun. Fun trial. I like the trials. I know. USA do. A lot of long trials. Right? Yeah. Fun to watch. When are they? Are they now? May. May. Maybe start. Maybe start like the. Last couple days of April. That's. Yeah. That's always fun. I mean. How. Did they play a lot of boards? Um. I think. A match. So. They haven't had a round robin. The last couple of times.

[01:01:39] Because they just had. The right number of teams. To have heads up matches. So they have two day matches. So they play 120 boards. And then winner advances. Normally they start. In like the round of 16. Oh. Have you played? What's that? Have you played? Yeah. Yeah. I've played in it. Probably like six or seven times. I've never won a match. Never won a match? Right. Well that's. Do you have to change that? I agree. 100%. Right now. In May. 100%.

[01:02:08] Are you changing that in May? I don't. Uh. I have a possible team. But I haven't. Uh. Confirmed. Uh. We haven't. We haven't made it. Officially happen. Okay. Then. You'll have to. Post it. When it's official. Yeah. And I need to. And we. We're going to want to follow your. Your. Journey. In. In the Venice Cup. And the. The mixed trials as well. So you have to. Yeah. Can we. Where. Where should people go.

[01:02:38] To get the most. Tuva. Oh. Yeah. Maximum. Tuva. Yeah. Yeah. Instagram or YouTube. Where do you want to point people. Instagram is good. Instagram is good. I always post. If. It's bridge dot queen. Okay. Bridge queen wasn't available. Ah. Somebody else got that. But they don't. Have you checked that. Account. Yeah. It's not bridge content. Oh really. Okay.

[01:03:09] So. But it's. That's why it's bridge dot queen. It's not that on YouTube. It's just bridge queen. But. Yeah. I post when I publish things. And. Hopefully it's going to be fun now. With the qualifiers. Hopefully make that into a fun vlog. And you can just. Tag along in the matches. See how it goes. See all our. All our wins stacking up. And. Yeah. If we get. Get to play. It would be great to vlog the. Venice cup.

[01:03:38] The road to victory. That's a good name for a series. Yes. I mean it's just begging to be. Filmed. Gavin Wilpert did a series. Called road to victory. What? Yeah. Oh it's been done. I'll take. Something else on. On bridge again. It's. He did. Yeah. Oh. He. I think he did two of them. I think he did another one that he won too. But he's. He's married to a. Is it a vlog though? A Swede. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a. Well it's not a vlog. It's like. He goes for. He goes through the deals.

[01:04:07] So it's not like a. At the. Tournament site. But it's really. I want to see him going like. I just woke up. I mean. No. It's not that. It's not. That would be great. See. Why didn't he? I know people would like that. What are you eating for breakfast. Yeah. Let us know. Do you know him? No. No. No. Okay. I have. But he. Did you say. He's married to a Swede. Yeah. Jenny. Ryman. I think is her maiden name.

[01:04:38] Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Jenny. Volpert. She's. Her name is that right now. Right. I think she took his name. Yeah. I think she's Wilpert now. But I think her maiden name is Ryman. Okay. Yeah. See. She. She can be in the vlog as well. People need to make more vlogs. It's funny. It's fun. But that's your job. Yeah. But I need more. I don't want to wash myself. I want to wash some of that.

[01:05:09] But yeah. It's. It's fun. It's really fun. Doing the videos. Really. What's the nicest compliment you've gotten. About one of your. One of your vlogs. Well. Well. Okay. That's a difficult question. Uh. Oh. Yeah. I was happy. I think Madala said he liked my videos. Like. He thought they were fun.

[01:05:38] And I really like him. And I. That's someone I. I want to impress. There you go. That made me really happy. But. I think somebody. That don't play bridge. That was like Facebook. Marketing expert. She said. You have this. Great. You're. You look great. Like. Not me. But like. The. She saw. Like. Red thread. Through the videos. Like. Pink.

[01:06:08] And she gave me really nice compliments. About. Keeping it. You know. The same. So yeah. That was. That was nice to hear. But I've gotten. People seem really just. The fun to see some bridge. Honestly. Um. Yeah. Just see some more bridge. We live and breathe bridge. So. Why wouldn't we want to see. Some. YouTube videos. You know. All right. Well. It's been a pleasure. Uh. To. Speak with you. Even though.

[01:06:38] You've. You've. You've worked through my. Audio challenges. I have. Yeah. And. Uh. I'm. Really grateful. For. Uh. Getting to know you better. And please apologize to Simon. That. Uh. That you were interviewed first. Yeah. I mean. I can get his. Live reaction. If you want. Uh. He is. You know what. I'm going to go get him. See what we are. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. We want to ask you.

[01:07:08] Yeah. Uh. Just your feelings. That. That. I got interviewed. And. Before you. And you. Played in the same team as John. Yeah. I mean. He knows about. Twice. I think. Twice. We did very well both times. Yeah. Um. Well. You are. Yeah. You should be more popular by now. Yeah. I said it's probably because you have no personality. Was that? Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha. Thank you. Ha ha ha. Yeah. He's fucking. Thank you.

[01:07:38] Ha ha ha. I don't know. No. John. Uh. You made the right choice. I think. Uh. He was so happy. Here. Tuva. Will you move the camera over just a little bit. So we can see both of you. Simon was so happy actually. When I texted him. Uh. He was so nice about it. When I told him that I was in. I mean. I'm sure he knew. Or maybe he didn't. But. Uh. When I texted him this morning. He was so. He was so happy about it. Which. Which I was. I thought was cool. Yeah. He is sweet. Yeah. Yeah.