Krys Kazmierczak

Born: 23 October 1950 in London of Polish parents. I’m often asked how to pronounce my surname and I usually answer “with difficulty!” The nearest equivalent in English is what I tell the bank – “Cash me a cheque.” My first name is pronounced just like the English Chris.

Siblings:

One younger sister (Yola - lives with husband, mother, two cats, two pygmy goats and 20 chickens in Wales, where she runs a very nice B&B in four acres of grounds).

Partner:

Sandra since 2001. We met at the Bridge table and have been both Life and Bridge partners ever since. We first played Bridge together on Valentine’s Day, so perhaps it’s not surprising!

Children:

None, but our two cats Might and Magic are lapful enough.

Lives:

Having lived abroad for many years, I’m now in Kidlington, a large “village” just north of Oxford.

Education:

Degree in maths from Birmingham University.

Previous jobs:

Mostly in tourism, including running my own natural history tour operator.

Do I play Bridge:

Yes. When I went to Harrow County Grammar School we had two options: join the cadets or the scouts. The latter seemed the lesser of the two evils at the time. I learnt Bridge during wet afternoons spent at our first summer camp on Guernsey. We then played regular sessions at the weekends with a group of friends and eventually graduated to playing for the school Bridge team. At University at first I found a good partner, but then he lost interest due to other distractions, and I gradually drifted out of the game, too. Later, living abroad in Germany, I never seemed to get closer to Bridge than a game of rummy, or the local card games of Skat and Doppelkopf.

I took up Bridge again ‘seriously’ on moving to Oxford in 2000 and immediately joined the local Oxford and Summertown Clubs and the EBU. Sandra and I usually play one or two evenings a week and occasionally in county matches or congresses at the weekends. I have now worked my way up to Premier National Master but have no chance of catching Sandra, since we almost always play together! I’m very proud of the fact that, since Sandra and I joined the Committee of Summertown, the Club has grown immensely in popularity, more than doubling in size. When I first joined we used to get an average of five tables or so. Nowadays, it’s usually between 10 and 12. Recently we had a new record of 15½ tables. I put this down to the efforts of all our members, but in particular of the Committee, to make the club as welcoming and friendly as possible.

My EBU job: 

Saw the advert on the website and thought it was just up my street.  As Club Liaison Officer I hope to be able to help the organisation and its clubs work together more closely to make them more successful as we have at Summertown.

Favourite hobbies:

Birding, though most of that is done online now, where I edit www.orientalbirdimages.org and run the Internet discussion group OrientalBirding. Bridge has tended to take over more and more from the birding in recent years.

We asked Krys some questions about himself and his answers are below:

Who would you like to be stranded on a desert island with and why?

Sandra, our two cats, a couple of decent friendly Bridge players and some nice birds flying around out of reach of the cats.

If you could come back as an animal what would it be?

According to others I already have – as a bear!

If you weren’t working for the EBU, what would be your ideal job?

Being paid for editing www.orientalbirdimages.org (see above).

If money was no object, tell us about your dream holiday?

I’m very lucky to have already been on most of them. Favourite place of all is Bhutan, the Hidden Kingdom in the eastern Himalaya, where Gross National Happiness is considered more important than Gross National Product!

What book are you currently reading?

I never in my life expected to read a book about cricket, but I’m currently enjoying Penguins stopped Play a humorous cricketing travelogue by Harry Thompson, the late scriptwriter for Have I got News for You.

What CD is in your car?

I have quite an eclectic collection of music in the car ranging from Debussy and Spanish Classical Guitar to Cream, Weather Report and others no-one will have ever heard of. The Mozart is Sandra’s!

Which 4 famous people (dead or alive) would you invite to a dinner party?

Albert Einstein, the Buddha, Charles Darwin and Paul Merton. Just don’t ask me to plan the menu!

What is your ideal night out (or in)?

A good meal out with friends followed by one of the many fine concerts we have here in Oxford.

Tell us something about you that no one else in the EBU would know?

I’m reckoned to be one of the world’s leading experts on Indian birds (the feathered variety).