Goodbye & Hello

Goodbye, Columbus! That was the title of a popular Philip Roth collection of short stories of the late 1950s, with Goodbye, Columbus! being the lead novelette. The title of the book is derived from a song by the class of graduating seniors from Ohio State University as they leave the Ohio capital … [Read more...]

Doping

The news that the top bridge player in the world, Geir Helgemo, a Norwegian competing for Monaco, has been banned from the game for six months for doping at last fall’s world championships in Orlando has sent shock waves through the game. Helgemo, a 49-year-old man, admitted taking a synthetic … [Read more...]

The Know-It-Alls

One of the surprises I got when I started directing duplicate games was how little some of the better players actually know about the rules and the laws of bridge – or maybe they do know the rules, but they try to bend them to their favor, intimidating everyone with their reputation as good players, … [Read more...]

Magic in Orlando

My partner Christine and I just returned from a successful, but exhausting seven straight days of competition at the fall North American Bridge Championships at Disney’s Dolphin Hotel in Orlando. We played on various teams and in pairs competitions, in double sessions most days, and got at least … [Read more...]

BYOB – that means ‘box,’ not booze

Homer said to beware of Greeks bearing gifts. Poker players know to be wary of anyone bringing his own deck to the table. But in Canada, no one has to be scared of any bridge player bringing his own bidding box to a tournament. They're just from Quebec City, the only place in Canada where for some … [Read more...]

Breaking the Rules

The Melbourne, Florida, bridge club that plays at the Wickham Park Senior Center has become the second club away from home for my partner Christine and me. In the days when at least one of us was still working and we were limited to night and weekend games, we often made the 50-minute drive up to … [Read more...]

Sam’s chutzpah Slam

My partner Christine and I needed a change of venue to break out of another mini-slump. A handful of times at a variety of sites in Florida and Georgia we had scored in the 40s or the low 50s and come away without points, despite the fact that in pluses and minuses against the par from the hand … [Read more...]

When not to lead your partner’s suit

PHILADELPHIA - My partner Christine Matus and I really wanted to sit in accident-caused traffic jams both ways on the Schuylkill Expressway Saturday - NOT! - and we had two choices to achieve that goal: We could have gone to watch the Philadelphia Flyers lose the opening game of their season to the … [Read more...]