Born in Nottingham in 1997, Ben Norton is a full-time professional player and writer who still resides in the Midlands.
After playing in many junior tournaments, winning both a European bronze and World bronze medal in that category, Norton entered the English open trials in 2019 and was selected for the full European Championships in partnership with Mike Bell. That was cancelled due to the pandemic, but they played in the replacement online qualifier and made it to the 2022 Bermuda Bowl. After a fine round robin performance, they reached the quarter-finals, losing narrowly to the all-conquering Switzerland team. Bell and Norton played a full European Championships that same year, but they failed to qualify.
Norton now plays with Stefano Tommasini, with whom he won a bronze medal in the 2023 World Transnational Open Teams. Tommasini and Norton played on the England team in the 2024 European Championships, qualifying in a creditable fourth place. They will be representing England again in the upcoming Bermuda Bowl.
When not playing in various tournaments both at home and abroad, Norton writes up the deals for an American column while also creating articles for various bridge websites. He branched out into authoring in 2023, publishing his first book Why I Lose at Bridge, which details many of his most instructive cardplay mistakes in problem format. Norton also coaches bridge at his old school, Loughborough Grammar, on a voluntary basis.
When not doing something bridge-related, Ben enjoys suffering many a thrashing on the squash court.
Last updated: July 2024
Major International Selections
European Youth Teams Championship: 2015, 2017, 2019
World Youth Team Championships: 2016 and 2018
Camrose Trophy Selections: 2020 and 2024 (EBU team)
Online European Qualifier: 2021
European Open Teams Championship selections: 2022 and 2024
Bermuda Bowl selections: 2022 and 2025
Summer Meeting Four Star Teams: 2021
Crockfords Cup: 2022 and 2023
Hubert Phillips Bowl: 2023
Summer Meeting Pairs, Harold Poster Cup: 2023
Awards:
Young Player of the Year awards: 2016 and 2019
Young Pair of the Year awards: 2015 and 2018