Looking forward to attending face-to-face tournaments!

By David Barbour,
Unit 374.

I first played bridge in high school with a small group of friends. I started to play regularly in college, and this actually affected my studies. I became a member of the ACBL in 1965 or 1966. I was drafted into the army in 1966, and while I was stationed in Turkey in 1969, I directed the officers’ local bridge club for a while. Having an enlisted man telling the officers what to do became a problem and a Lieutenant took over after a few months.

I played in a national in 1967 and 1971 and a sectional in 1979, and very occasionally at local clubs, but did not become serious about advancing in the ranks until Jan 2020. I think I played twice in the DCB Club and formally rejoined the ACBL at the Albuquerque Regional. I was impressed with the research the ACBL was able to do as they apparently found my old ACBL numbers and the points I picked up at the nationals and sectional. I was a junior master when I joined due to these previous activities. They also grandfathered me in under the previous LM rules, so I only needed 300 total points for LM, though I had nearly 500 total points when I finally earned enough silver. I made Life Master during silver linings week in 2021. My goal was to become a Life Master in under a year. I’d have to check a calendar to see if I made it, but I think it has taken me just over a year to earn the required points.

Although one could look at it differently and suggest it has taken me over 50 years to reach Life Master.

While I have a number of partners to thank for their aid, much of the credit goes to Gianluca Bacchin who partnered with me through a lot of red, gold, and finally silver points. I would not have made it without him.

I’m looking forward to the return of F2F Bridge. Then I plan to travel to tournaments and perhaps pick up my next 500 points a bit more easily.