Stuart Tredinnick, bridge champion who learnt from his father and grandmother – obituary

Stuart Tredinnick, who has died suddenly aged 56, was a member of the gold medal-winning Great Britain team at the 1989 Junior World Bridge Championship; in partnership with his twin brother Gerald he also won the Gold Cup twice, in 1994 and 1995, and the Spring Foursomes.

The pair prevailed in many Camrose Trophy home nations matches for England, as well as winning the Crockfords Cup once, and they also played in the England open team in the European Championships on four occasions.

From early on in his bridge-playing career, he and Gerald used the Precision Club bidding system. Their closeness meant that they had plenty of time to discuss hands and systems, which helped to make them a formidable partnership, aided by Stuart’s natural competitive spirit.

He enjoyed the social aspect of bridge. He would often play less serious events among a group of friends based around north-west Kent and socialise afterwards. Unfortunately, for a player of his quality he was rarely as successful when playing with people other than his brother.

His partnership with the English Ladies international Anne Rosen was particularly notorious in this respect, and became a running joke among the group, since they failed to win as easily or as often as might have been expected.

Tredinnick was also somewhat set in his ways. One of the things that goes with life as a top bridge player is being away from home while playing in a tournament and having to dine out.

In one event the break between sessions was fairly short and the team decided that there was insufficient time for everyone to have both a main course and a dessert. Anxious not to miss out on his favourite chocolate cake, Tredinnick ordered it as a main course.

Stuart Paul Tredinnick was born on October 7 1963, and learnt bridge aged 14 from his father George Tredinnick, a life insurance underwriter, and his grandmother.

After leaving school in Beckenham, he studied Mathematics and Computer Science at Hull University, taking a first class degree. For 25 years he worked for Citilabs, a company providing software and data services for transportation, for most of which time he led their UK software development team.

Shortly after joining Citilabs, Tredinnick moved from Beckenham to Woking in Surrey, but he remained a loyal member of the Kent bridge team, turning out regularly in the Tollemache and helping Kent to win the event four times.

In 2015 ill health forced him to give up work and following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease he returned to Beckenham, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Tredinnick enjoyed playing squash and taking walking holidays in the Lake District as well as in his grandfather’s native Cornwall. He was a passionate supporter of Crystal Palace FC, and was a season-ticket holder for close on 40 years.

After giving up regular serious bridge in 2000, he would avoid playing in any bridge events that clashed with Palace home games. In 2008 he was on the winning team in the Four Stars Teams at Brighton, after which his team-mates reflected that they were lucky that Palace had been away that weekend.

He continued playing at his local club until June 2019.

A quiet man, Stuart Tredinnick never married.

Stuart Tredinnick born October 7 1963, died July 20 2020