The Future of Bridge Part 3

May 12th, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  No Comments 

Please see my comments under Linda Lee’s post

Thanks Caitlin!

May 12th, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  No Comments 

I thought the Spring Edition of The Bridge Teacher was especially good, and really enjoyed Ellen “Caitlin” Pomer’s article about Skype and teaching bridge online.

I am pleased by the ACBL’s renewed focus on youth bridge and the new Youth and Junior divisions.  My work is targeted to those age groups.

Card Slingers Update

May 9th, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  No Comments 

The semester is over.  The game is not yet complete, but it met course expectations and instructor approval.  I have a partial game ready to put out as beta 9.05 but because I don’t do Windows I have to borrow a PC so I can review it prior to publishing.  Should have that done by Sunday eve.

The cool thing is that I might be able to have the students keep working on it over the summer (one semester was not nearly enough) under a work study program.   I’m very interested in any grants I might get through my production company (dba) Bridge Productions to pay the students for this.

Milestone Reached

May 2nd, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  No Comments 

Finally!  Bridge Man on Campus has gone over 100 views at www.youtube.com/7ntxx.  For some reason it has been lagging the other three videos.  Now we’ll see if they all make Life Master and then Bronze.

Where Did Bridge Go?

May 1st, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  1 Comment 

I have to vent.  I read the Letters part of the Contract Bridge Bulletin and got a chuckle out of L. James Phillips rememberance of Bernie Chazen, and I concur with Jim Diebel’s Common Sense approach.  But I was saddened by a couple of the other letters.  Tom Terwilliger bemoaned the lack of support for a pairs day at tournaments.  I’ve been wanting to see a Saturday “nothing but pairs” day for a long time.  Tom’s solution seems reasonable.  The letter reminded me of a line from Eddie Kantar’s Gamesman Bridge (one of the all time best books for intermediate players, by the way).  In Chapter 10 Eddie and his student play in the regional pairs at L.A.’s Bridge Week back in the Ambasador days.  “…We found ourselves in competition with 179 other pairs, separated into six sections of fifteen tables each.”  Try to find a game like THAT anywhere today.  And back then there were no flights.  Everyone played against everyone… the way things OUGHT to be!

But then comes Steen Metz’s letter, asking for flighted pairs to avoid having to play against Flight A players.  YUCK!!!  But Steen is in the majority in the ACBL.  It’s so sad.  I’ve been lobbying against the separation of A/X and BCD in the Swiss events (Should be ABCD all in one field.)  And I really got mad at the mini events at the NABCs (Mini Blue Ribbon, Mini Spingold, Mini LM pairs, etc.).  All this sort of thing does is keep mediocre players like me from ever meeting and enjoying being thrashed by the greats of the game like Bobby Wolff etc.  But I enter the open anyway.  And I end up at the bottom of the field, because my peers are playing in the mini/low flighted events.  And that’s the problem.  To play with today’s greats of the game requires lesser players to abandon hope of placing in the overalls in any event.  (Or, as I have done, to shell out a lot of money to hire one or more pros to even the playing field a bit.)

I’m not sure this is a game worth saving, the way it’s going.  Rubber bridge, anyone?

Reply to Ron Klinger’s Lighter Side

April 30th, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  No Comments 

Since I could not comment on his blog article, I’ll comment here.  ROFLMAO!!!!

Ron, can I use those on my humor page at www.simplicitybridge.com/potpourri.html ?  If not, do you have a permanent page where I can link to them?

More of this stuff, fewer hands please!

Stop the Madness? There’s Still Time

April 28th, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  3 Comments 

The ACBL has announced new requirements for the Life Master designation effective 1/1/10.  I am on record as opposing this change.  I would prefer keeping the current structure while going back to the old ways before all the strati-flighting nonsense.  That alone would fix the perceived problem of masterpoint inflation.

Clubs can vote with their sanctions.  All that is necessary is canceling one or two ACBL-sanctioned games a week in favor or an afternoon of rubber or party bridge with a director, some nice eats, and maybe supervised play or a supervised social duplicate.  That would hit the organization right in the wallet, and get some attention.  It might also attract new players who refuse to join us at sanctioned duplicate because it’s perceived as cut throat and not fun.

I’d be interested in comments.

Videotape the Greats

April 26th, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  30 Comments 

Judy’s post about Alvin Landy’s passing provoced this one.  I’ve had an idea for over a year that I can’t make happen because I’m broke.  If I had the funding I could do this.  Or, someone can steal this idea with my blessing.

I propose a rubber bridge game (Chicago) with all of the greats who haven’t yet died or lost their minds.  The game would be continuous with new players cutting in after each 4 deal chukker, and kibitzers (also the greats) allowed to chime in with comments.  The purpose would not be to teach bridge, but to tell stories of the past while playing.

By doing this on videotape we can preserve what is left of our stories.  In five more years they’ll all be gone.

Follow the Pro’s Lead; I Swear This Is True

April 25th, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  16 Comments 

I noted with interest the post about following your pro’s lead.  As a student (Life Master, ABTA member) who hires pros when I have a buck or two, (hey, if Tiger Woods pays a teacher, who am I to be uppity?), I was playing with Mark Itibashi when he overcalled and I led his suit, he played the duece, and I continued the suit under the assumption that he had a good suit for his overcall.  I heard about it.  But that’s not the best story…

Playing with my mentor and co-author Jerry Pottier in a club game, he played a 4 to the first trick.  I switched.  He played a 4. I switched.  He played a 4.  I switched again and he played…. a 4.  Of course.  The cute thing was that each **(4)** card he played was correct!  Sometimes I really hate this game…

35 Steps Bridge Placemat (Poster)

April 24th, 2009  ~  Chris Hasney  ~  2 Comments 

Mine arrived today and it is terrific.  There are a few areas where folks can differ on style issues (like responses to 2C forcing opening bid) but that’s not a deal breaker.  Overall I give it an A+ and recommend it for social players and beginners.  I may end up using it at tables for my relaxed rules supervised play lessons. The aid is well-laminated and will last for quite a while.

Purchase directly from www.the35steps.com