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Here is an excerpt from an article entitled "The Game That Trumps All Others" by popular author Alexander McCall Smith. In which well-known publication did it appear?
What's the point of playing bridge? It's difficult to pinpoint the exact attraction, but it must have something to do with the fact that bridge is an intellectual game. I am always impressed with players who appear to know exactly where all the cards are. Obviously the bidding reveals something about who holds what, but these players are able to use statistical models to work out just what the chance is of another player having five hearts or whatever it is. So, from that point of view, it's a game of concentration that hones the neurons.
It's also a game of memory. Again, there are players who shoot past us in their chariots in respect of their ability to remember what cards have gone out. These people remember exactly who played what and in what order. For most of us that is impossible, but at least we can try to remember what trumps have gone. That is not too tall an order, as there are only 13 in any hand, but many of us are still surprised when a trump we did not quite notice is produced with a flourish.
Scroll down to find out. |
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Replay At Home
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Replay Boards at Home Video |
You can replay the boards you've played at the club - in the comfort of your own home.
Replay the exact same hands with any of several commercial bridge programs such as GIB or Bridge Baron if you own one. If you have not purchased one, we have a free program for you to download.
Watch the video above or click here for further instructions. |
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Print at Home
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Print Hand Records Video |
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Download and print hand records from any game played at Bridge Ace.
Watch the video above or click here for further instructions. |
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Free Bridge Lessons
Rich answers your questions every Tuesday prior to the game. |
Thursdays, we have a vugraph presentation. Rich reviews interesting deals of the past week. Each board in question is projected onto our large video screen for all to see as we discuss it.
We also have many other free bridge lessons online at our website which you can find here. |
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Since St. Demetrios is rented out so often on Saturdays, we now hold Saturday games at Billy Rose's bar, Jester's. It is located at:
801 E. Cypress Creek Road
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334 |
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Trivia Answer:
The Wall Street Journal
Alexander McCall Smith loves bridge's endless rules, carping partners and mental challenges.
This article appeared in the October 24, 2009 edition. You can read the entire article here. |
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Greetings!
The 2001 final of the Bermuda Bowl, played in Paris, featured a tremendous struggle between USA and Norway and made bridge history.
USA were led by team sponsor, Rose Meltzer, and her partner, Kyle Larsen, a bridge professional with a number of North American titles to his credit. The rest of the team were multiple world champions Chip Martel, Lew Stansby, Alan Sontag and Peter Weichsel. Sontag-Weichsel were playing together again after a bridge divorce of more than a decade and hoping to repeat their Bermuda Bowl triumph from Stockholm over twenty years earlier.
The Norwegians were a young and highly-talented team: Geir Helgemo, just thirty years old but regarded by many as the world's best player; Tor Helness, his long-time partner; Boye Brogeland and Eric Sælensminde, not long out of the junior ranks; and Glenn GrøtheimTerje Aa, playing the highly artificial Viking Club system.
Early on it was Norway who forged ahead and at one stage their lead was up to 91 IMPs. Despite the length of the match, this kind of difference looked well-nigh insurmountable. However, a tremendous run of steady gains by the American team saw them recover every one of those IMPs. By the time just thirty-two boards remained, the match was an exact tie.
With sixteen boards left the USA, who at one point in the final two stanzas had again trailed by 26 IMPs, had now reduced the margin to just 4. The final set would feature the two top pairs on each side: eight of the world's best fighting it out for the championship - just the way these things ought to end. The session did not start well for the team from the USA, however. After cutting the lead to 2 IMPs, they lost a double-digit swing.
The aggressive bidding style of the Norwegians had brought them a long way in this competition - not only to the final, but to a position where they looked certain to win it. But over the long haul, the vagaries of chance will even out. When a shape slam foundered on the rocks of distribution (as these contracts tend to do), their last hopes faded. (continued below) |
 Nerd at Play |
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 Last Sunday I took some time off from bridge to take a tour of Delray Beach on a segway. I thought you might like to see this picture of me looking like a dork in my reflective vest and bicycle helmet.
The segway is an incredible machine. You stand on the platform and it balances itself on two wheels. To move ahead, you simply lean forward. To brake or back up, lean back. They can go at a pretty brisk clip (12½ mph).
If you ever get the chance, you should try one! |
We Wish You Well! |
Best of luck to all of our players at the Unit 243 Regional this coming week. We hope you win bushels of GOLD! |
New ACBL Club Locator iPhone App |
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If you have an iPhone and do a fair amount of traveling, you might be interested in this.
The ACBL has just released an iPhone App to help you locate a club nearby. It will use your current location or you can enter a zip code manually.
You can download it from the Apple Store here. |
Rose Meltzer Is a World Champion |
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Open Room:
When Aa showed 4-4-4-1 with 8-10 points over the forcing club opening, Grøtheim relayed to discover he was facing one ace and no kings before bidding the slam. If North led anything other than a trump declarer could crossruff for twelve tricks. Peter Weichsel took his time, even taking a trip to the washroom while he was thinking, but when he returned he put the two of hearts on the table. If clubs had been 4-3 or hearts 2-2 declarer would still have been able to prevail, but as it was he could not avoid two losers.
The Drury auction in the Closed Room saw both East and West suggest they were interested in a slam; when East could not produce a diamond control West signed off. On the lead of the king of spades declarer made twelve tricks and picked up 13 IMPs, enough to ensure that USA would win the Bermuda Bowl, thereby making Rose Meltzer the first woman to achieve that distinction.
 | | Rose Meltzer |
Here is Weichsel discussing his critical opening lead:
 | | ACBL Hall of Fame -- Peter Weichsel |
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We send out the Deal of the Week newsletter every week. You can view many of our past newsletters here. |
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