Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, a man so wealthy he has given away more money than many countries spend in a year, comes off as a nervous wreck when he trades the boardroom table for a bridge table. Gates began competition Saturday in the mixed pairs category at the World Bridge Championships and he doesn't seem to take the pressure of the highly intellectual game too well. Gates, playing with partner Sharon Osberg of San Francisco, rocks back and forth in his seat incessantly as he plays. His face does not show the slightest hint of anything other than extreme concentration, he hunches his back, and his hands -- unless they are busy holding his cards -- are clasped together between his legs. All the while, Gates continues his rocking. Few at the tournament, being held for the first time ever in Canada, give Gates and Osberg much of a chance to emerge from among the 470 mixed pairs teams.
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