If you play the card game bridge with friends or family, but have never played in a club or tournament setting, you ought to come Downtown this weekend to the convention center. As many of you know, I work for the non-profit that sanctions bridge in North America. We hold three major North American championship tournaments a year, and for the first time ever, one of the tournaments will be held in Memphis, at the Cook Convention Center March 15-25.<\/p>\n
The tournaments attract the big dogs of the game, who come from all over the world to compete for bridge’s top championships. However, there is plenty for players who are relative newcomers to the game to do as well. Here are some things you’ll be able to do at the tournament:<\/p>\n
– Get free bridge lessons from three of the top bridge teachers in the world – Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 10 AM. After the lessons there are 14-deal games that are free for newcomers, and you receive a record of the hands you played for further analysis.<\/p>\n
– There’s a reception for newcomers Saturday the 17th at 6:30<\/p>\n
– There are games exclusively for newcomers every day<\/p>\n
– There are free newcomer pairs games on Friday the 16th<\/p>\n
– There’s a 75th anniversary celebration Friday night the 16th, with the Beale Street Flippers performing at 10:30 and Reba Russell at 11:15<\/p>\n
– Almost every day, there are celebrity speakers at 9:15 and 6:45. This is a great chance to get tips on how to improve your game from some of bridge’s top players, and the talks are free to attend.<\/p>\n
– Try your hand at duplicate if you’ve never played before. In duplicate, you and your partner are not really playing against the two other people at the table; rather, you’re playing against the other North-South or East-West pairs, who are playing the same hand you are.<\/p>\n
– Watch top players play (this is known as kibitzing<\/em>). Volunteers at the tournament can tell you who’s good to kibitz and what kind of etiquette should be observed if you do this.<\/p>\n A few common questions people ask:<\/p>\n I’d like to play, but I have a feeling I’ll be the worst player there. I don’t want others to make fun of me.<\/em> Not a problem. We have a zero-tolerance policy against rudeness at our tournaments. Also, the newcomer games are much more laid-back and relaxed that the North American championship contests the pros play.<\/p>\n I’d like to play, but I don’t have a partner.<\/em> That’s no problem. Just show up about an hour early, and our partnership desks can help you find someone to partner with.<\/p>\n Sounds like fun, but doesn’t it attract mainly old people?<\/em> No. That’s a common myth about the game. The North American tournaments, and particularly the newcomer games, attract a wide range of ages.<\/p>\n The tournament lasts 10 days. What’s your recommendation for best day for a newcomer to go?<\/em> I’d say Saturday the 17th. Take the free bridge lesson at 10, play in the 14-deal game at 12:30. Then ride the trolley south to Beale, catch the St. Patrick’s Day parade, then trolley back north for the newcomer reception at 6:30. The reception is a good opportunity to meet people to play with in the future.<\/p>\n You can view the newcomer schedule here<\/a> (PDF) and find full tournament information here<\/a>. I won’t be at the tournament much, because I need to be in the office to do my website stuff. However, I will be volunteering at the information desk the morning of the 21st. If you’re looking for something fun and different to do, come check it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you play the card game bridge with friends or family, but have never played in a club or tournament setting, you ought to come Downtown this weekend to the convention center. As many of you know, I work for the non-profit that sanctions bridge in North America. We hold three major North American championship … Continue reading “Like to play the card game bridge? Huge opportunity for you in Downtown Memphis this weekend and next week”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11608"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11609,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11608\/revisions\/11609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}