Source: English Bridge Union

Richard was born in 1957 in Yorkshire where he continues to live and practise as a solicitor.  He is married to Sarah Teshome who also plays bridge and they have two children - Sophie born in 1998 and Daniel born in 2000.

Richard was introduced to bridge by his mother, who took him to various local bridge clubs, where he met and was encouraged by Brian Senior, Tony Forrester and Roman Smolski.  He went to Liverpool to read law and formed a bridge team with Andy Eastwood, Steve Wood, and Peter Hawkes.

Whilst still a junior, Richard won the pairs at Brighton with Andy Eastwood and they formed part of the Great Britain team which came second in the Junior European Championships in 1982.    

When Andy emigrated to the US, Richard formed a partnership with Mark Horton with whom he had a number of appearances for England in the home international series.  In partnership with Mark, Richard won the Spring Foursomes, Crockfords (1992) and the Life and Grand Masters in the UK.  The Gold Cup was the only domestic trophy which eluded them. 
Internationally, he and Mark played in numerous events with notable wins in the Dunhill Nations Cup (1991) and the Hoechst (1992).  Richard thinks his greatest bridge achievement lay in winning the Hoechst because the first winners of that event were Belladonna, Garozzo, Avarelli and Forquet - not bad company to be in! 

Although Richard no longer plays international bridge, preferring to spend time with his family, and little national bridge, he can still be seen on the domestic bridge scene, usually in partnership with Sarah.  They have won several national events together and regularly feature in the later stages of the Gold Cup and Crockfords. "I used to tell her off for her mistakes" he admitted ruefully "but nowadays she tells me off for mine".     
Things to know about Richard ..

Who would you like to be stranded on a desert island with and why? Sarah, Sophie and Dan, even though I would still have to do all the tidying up.  In time we might take up bridge rather than the current favourites which are Frustration and Knock-Out Whist.

If you could come back as an animal what would it be? A pampered domestic cat, preferably one of ours. 

What would be your ideal job? Well my job isn't so bad - interesting people, variety of work etc.  Although being in public service does seem to entail listening to a lot of whingeing.

If money was no object, tell us about your dream holiday? Sarah usually decides where my dream holiday is. 

Who do you most admire and why? I admire a number of people for different things.

What book are you currently reading? We have literally thousands of books at home (most of them Sarah's) but I always fall asleep reading.  At the moment I am re-reading the Expert Game.  Sad but true.

What CD is in your car?  Pavarotti and Tina Turner amongst others.

What is your ideal night ( day out )  out (or in)? A good meal with good company as long as I don't have to cook or wash up OR at the theatre at Christmas to see Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland ie any play with my children.

Tell us something about you very few people would know? I am a best selling writer!  A book I co-authored with my friend Jack Henriques, entitled Local Authority Prosecutions reached No1 in the lists for legal textbooks.Also I am the ASBO king having obtained the first ASBO in 1999.  Before you ask, I was not the subject of the order.