By Dick Brisbin
I mentioned last time that Salisbury has a connection to a GOAT (Greatest of All Time) bridge player, and that was Lynn Deas. Salisbury saw the beginnings of her exceptional bridge career when she was a student at Catawba College in the 1970s. She went on to become, in her lifetime, a Grand Life Master and the greatest female masterpoint winner of all time (33,917 MPs), still ranking 44th on the American Contract Bridge League list, despite the fact that she passed away in 2020. She has only been surpassed since then by one other female. She recorded nine wins in world championship events. If anyone reading this can share any personal memories of her, please let me know (dickbrisbin@gmail.com).
The Rowan Senior Games duplicate bridge competition took place in March at Trinity Oaks, with nine pairs enjoying the ample hospitality and vying for medals. The pair of Renita Ritchie and Anita Graham captured the gold, while the silver went to Beth Shafer and Lawanna Ford. Bronze medalists were Linda Presutti and Sheryl Johnson. Congratulations to all.
The game of bridge has been around for 100 years now, and many of its most avid players have been at it for decades. As a mind sport, it helps keep old brains tuned up, but it can also be beneficial for young ones. Because playing well involves deductive and inferential reasoning, understanding probabilities and focused attention, not to mention the need to foster a smoothly-functioning partnership, young people have a lot to gain by learning the game.
Mary Hennie, with assistance from Carol Bachl, recently provided a series of bridge lessons to interested students at Sacred Heart Middle School, which were well received.
At least one formal comparative study has shown academic gains associated with middle and high school students learning and practicing bridge. Bridge has even been made part of the academic curriculum in the Netherlands. Because learning bridge is a so beneficial, and because teaching it to youth helps bring new players into the community of players, the American Contract Bridge League offers support, teacher stipends, free textbooks and play materials to classroom teachers who can dedicate around twenty hours of their class activities for bridge. More than 4,000 students have already participated. There are experienced local players, including myself, who would be willing to offer guidance and assistance to interested teachers.
Bridge experts, over the course of time, make revisions to the strategic advice they offer to us lesser players. One example is the now greater value that can be ascribed to a short suit, as compared to what was taught in the past. A short suit can give greater strength to your hand, when your side has sufficient trumps available, by serving as a “control,” limiting the possible losing tricks in that suit. Current advice is to count three points for a singleton, and five points for a void, as opposed to the older recommendation of two points for a singleton and three for a void. Making this adjustment to your process of evaluating your hand can pay off.
Until next time, play nice, trust your partner, and enjoy the game.
Bridge Brigade is a series by Dick Brisbin, local bridge player and enthusiast.
