20:35 28October 2013by GS Jade Barrett, USA CSBNews correspondent. Alan Rickman
“I want to swim both directions at once. Desire success, court failure” – Alan Rickman
[ilink url=”http://www.esplanadebridgecenter.com/”]The Great American Bridge Tour Training Facility[/ilink] in Solana Beach, CA operates an introduction to our favorite game. Learn Bridge in One Day! has provided hundreds of people the opportunity to sit down and learn the essential minimums to participate in Duplicate Contract Bridge. While a significant number of these future players are absolutely new to the game, most are individuals who were first exposed to bridge as children or when they were in college twenty years or so ago.
Many people come to our club when they are newly retired or have recently relocated to our area. They believe that they are coming for the social event, but readily discover that the game is a mental adventure unlike any other. GS Jade Barrett
In my opening presentation I make a point of the nature of duplicate bridge: a competitive environment that allows one to take full measure of both themselves and their erstwhile opponents. “The game is rewarding, at the very least, you will always get out of it what you put into it” – and I personally know that to be true.
I also tell them that we will throw them in the water, but we won’t let them drown.
After grouping the attendees into their diverse levels of experience (ranging from “What are the suits called?” to “I used to play all the time at college”), we place one mentor at each table of three or four. This provides direct, intense, personal contact with every student, assuring that we will have the opportunity to introduce them to the best aspects of the game.
After five challenging, but fulfilling hours, our new players head home with enough basic knowledge to begin playing at home. Over thirty percent of them will return within the next six months to further explore the game.
10:34 24 October 2013by GS Jade Barrett, USA CSBNews correspondent.
William Jennings Bryan
“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you” – William Jennings Bryan
The complete education of the bridge athlete requires more than just the instruction of card-play technique and bidding devices, it also needs to include an introduction to the competitive environment. Knowledge of how the scoring works, and the different types of events that are available is critical to future success. Preparing the individual for tournaments at any level – even their first club event – requires an introduction to the laws that govern the game and recognizing that the Tournament Director is responsible for enforcing the rules and to preserve equity throughout the competition.
The ignorance of the Laws of Contract Bridge among even the great players is surprising, but not unheard of. For example, golf is another game where you can be a World Champion and have no idea what the rules are.
One of our early goals as bridge trainers is to assist in the development of a strong table presence. To be identified as a new or weaker player just by how you sit at a table or hold your cards is a severe disadvantage to the younger (remember that we determine the age of bridge players by the number of hands they have played, not by their chronological age)bridge athlete, heightening the confidence of their more experienced opponents. Sitting too close indicates a player who lacks confidence, as they are trying to increase their personal space at the table; sitting too far suggests a player is shy or believes that they are unimportant. Playing while keeping your cards in your right hand requires you to bid left handed, forcing the player to reach awkwardly across their body to use the bidding box. This motion alone increases the discomfort of the player, further reducing their sense of confidence. Providing guidance on these simple issues will aid immediately in the creation of the platform to grow confidence in the student of the game.
The simple act of increasing the comfort level of the player is the first step to creating a long-time participant of the community.
13:15 22 October 2013by GS Jade Barrett, USA CSBNews correspondent.
William Godwin
“The proper method for the hastening of the decay of error is by teaching every man to think for himself” – William Godwin
Donna Wood; Esplanade
At the [ilink url=”http://www.esplanadebridgecenter.com/”]Esplanade Bridge Center[/ilink] (the West Coast location of the Great American Bridge Tour Training Facility) in Solana Beach, CA we focus on providing the questions that every bridge athlete needs to ask themselves during each hand they play.
During the first decades of Contract Bridge, authors wrote for the masses, reducing theory to as simple a collection of rules as possible.
Culbertson
While this forwarded the game’s popularity among the general citizenry, it also reduced the progress of the sport’s development among the upper echelon of players. Advancements came, but not without growing pains, as any change was in contradiction to “Hoyle”. Modifications to Culbertson’s or Goren’s methodology were virtually tantamount to sacrilege and could lead to ostracization, lawsuits, fisticuffs or divorce.
The development of the High Card Point method of hand evaluation continues to exist today, and while valuable for No Trump auctions, its usefulness when applied to hands of an unbalanced nature is doubtful – yet it remains one of the first items taught to the newest entrants into our society of competitors. (Personally, I prefer the more direct approach: “Aces are good, Deuces are bad” – other cards are somewhere in the middle).
Every future tournament player needs exposure to the most common methods, and we certainly provide access to as many devices as they wish to gain information about – regardless of our personal beliefs. Reducing the mystery of the game’s many linguistic variations limits the anxiety newer athletes experience when facing unknown opponents using a bidding system different from their own. GS Jade Barrett Cap
We have discovered that the earlier in their journey as bridge athletes we expose our young charges to more experienced players, the more they likely they are to adapt to the competitive environment. By encouraging the socialization of all our attendees we have reduced the fear of facing the most powerful adversaries. The results of our newest members at larger tournaments have been stronger for this and the bridge center is emotionally healthier as well. That is not to say we do not have all the other issues that every bridge family faces, just fewer of them.
The most important factor is this – our members are intelligent and strong. By providing the opportunity for growth, they have every chance to succeed beyond our wildest imagination.
20:44 26 September 2013 by GS Jade Barrett, USA CSBNews correspondent. Karen Lee Barrett
Karen wrote this a little while ago. It describes a unique relationship with the game, I think. To win a major regional event as your first success is astounding.
Hi, ACBL
I hope you can use this story in your letters to the editor section. It may be that this has never happened before!
Bob Solick was playing with us at the Council Bluffs, IA regional this July. His sister Pat lives in Omaha, NE (just across the river) and is a very new player. She came and kibitzed several sessions and Bob told us her birthday was the upcoming weekend. We decided it would be a nice gesture to offer the suggestion to Bob that it would be OK with us if she joined our team for the two-session AM Swiss. Everyone liked the idea and Pat played the 2nd and 3rd matches the first day with me. The second morning she was going to play match 5 (of 6) but had an accident in her home and showed up in time for the 6th match sporting a huge shiner and a lump on her head worthy of a Klingon. It did not seem like a good idea to change the partnerships so she and I played again. She showed remarkable composure under the circumstances and finished the event with a perfect 3 for 3 record.
Now here is the really neat part! While Pat had played in the local club, she had not won ANY masterpoints yet. This Swiss event was her first entry into a non-club event. She kept her cool playing with a Grand Life Master, earned a Blue Ribbon qualifier and 4.55 gold points in her first at bat. Way to go Pat and Happy Birthday too!
Karen Barrett
PS. I don’t remember if she knew before the event that I’m a GLM but don’t think it really matters. She is so new I don’t think GLM has any meaning to her yet.
Kurt Vonnegut
20:44 25 September 2013 by GS Jade Barrett, USA CSBNews correspondent.
“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward” – Kurt Vonnegut
Every bridge session is filled with joy, fear, anxiety, frustration and exhilaration – sometimes all on the same hand. I find Bridge very much like a great opera: a dramatic confrontation, the occasionally convoluted plot, sometimes sung in a different language, with loud guffaws interspersed with the deadly quiet posture of highly focused athletes.
The rare cry of the anguished Declarer cursing yet another poorly placed Queen to go along with the terrible trump breaks that the unlucky soul has been dealing with all day is yet another sound in this theatre of the game. Some bridge events have the character of the finest Greek tragedy, while others could only have been penned by Gilbert and Sullivan. On those days, we can either swear off the game, promising never to return (knowing full well we are just lying to ourselves) or draw amusement from the comedy of life (while secretly wishing that all these silly occurrences would happen to somebody else). On all occasions, playing well needs to be its own reward.
With great effort comes great things. With that in mind, I maintain my admittedly odd sense of humor by reminding myself of this:
“Some days the game is fun, other times it is merely rewarding” – GS Jade Barrett, stated after going down 500 versus their vulnerable game for a zero.
You would have thought that at least one of the thirty three tables would have bid it.
Virginia Woolf
00:29 25 September 2013 by GS Jade Barrett, USA CSBNews correspondent.
“Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others” – Virginia Woolf
Occasionally we have a new player join theGreat American Bridge Tour and take off like a rocket. The latest member to accomplish this is Sondra Modell Hirsch. With partner Bjorgvin Mar Kristinsson, she is off to an excellent start in Naples Florida.
Sondra Modell Hirsch
After retirement as a School teacher, Sondra acquired a Doctorate in Gerontology, and after that became a lawyer. Now she has embarked on her latest career as a bridge player… at age 80. She is simply a very young woman who may have physically aged, but has retained her lust for life and personal growth.
It is amazing to me how universally true that is among bridge athletes. They are young, powerful and eager no matter their chronological age. With a youthful mind and attitude, they attack each hand with vigor, innocence and hope. They expect to succeed, if not this time then the next.
Donna Wood
Meanwhile, in California, Director of Operations, Donna Wood and I are training more players for the tournament trail, directing games at the Esplanade Bridge Center, and making boards for other clubs in the San Diego/Orange County area.
All in the same day. Personally, I have sleep scheduled sometime in November, I have to check the calendar.
Yogi Berra
03:24 23 September 2013 by GS Jade Barrett, USA CSBNews correspondent.
“Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel” – Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra
Packing for the five week roadtrip is always a challenge, particularly when you wait until the last hour you are home to begin the arduous task of stuffing the suitcases.
Leaving our home is always hard; every time we return to Elk Point, South Dakota our daughter seems at least an inch taller. The difficulties of this lifestyle are constantly reinforced each day that we are away: personally speaking, I fight exhaustion, weight gain, timely bill paying, concerts, games and holidays missed, the warmth of the house dogs on my lap, the mounting list of household tasks and the sound of the family voices left behind. Karen Lee Barrett
When we are reunited after long roadtrips, we make a point of cooking up a family meal. My wife is a very good cook (as am I, just ask my team), and we try not to trip over each other as we make too much food for too few people. These celebrations of togetherness are wonderful confirmations of home life well spent.
But I travel for both my vocation and avocation, wherever and whenever bridge may be played, and so the first steps of the next journey must be taken. Packing, driving, flying, driving, arriving, unpacking, repeat five or more times before this trip is through.
I love playing, competing, and the travel that comes with it. The enjoyment of my bridge family and friends. I seem to live in two different worlds sometimes. My partners and teammates share many of the same feelings – the joy of our togetherness, the regret of leaving others behind.
As upon occasion when Karen has a week off, I head out alone (though my service dog, Anna is always with me), I leave much behind. I never want to leave all the loved ones, though they are perfectly capable of fending for themselves. Sometimes my heart weighs more than the luggage I check.
Anna on the Delta B737 Flight Salt Lake City, Utah to San Diego, California. DL1909! , on her 300th Flight! !!!!
The Devil's Coup, the Smother Play, the Scissors Coup, the Coup with No Name ... are simply labels for some of the more interesting gambits that occur at the bridge table. A coup that is perhaps less well-known goes by ...
Some of the best players in the world are Brazilians, and some of the most enthusiastic players too! Our Brazilian Online Festival has appeal to players of all levels. Your team will play in a friendly but competitive atmosphere, with very well-organized scoring and experienced Directors to ensure a pleasant experience for all.
Come and join the competition through our Providers, BBO, Funbridge and Ourgame, all offering you this great opportunity – we look forward to some challenging tournaments!”
An endplay (also throw-in), in bridge, is a tactical play where a defender is put on lead at a strategic moment, and then has to make a play that loses one or more tricks.
The Championship is open to all players born on or after 1st January 1992 (Juniors & Girls) or born on or after 1st January 1997 (Youngsters) or born on or after 1st January 2002 (Kids) in good standing with their own NBOs.
