Category Archives: Stories

Dean Campbell – Sectional Master

ACBL District 4
I play bridge mostly with my dad. We live in separate states so it is difficult. I also have young children and not a lot of time to play. I try to plan online on BBO on rare days off of work or sometimes late at night. I also try to squeeze in 2 tournaments a year (a regional and either sectional or national if there is one nearby!). I try to play online during STaC week to get silver points.  I love reading the ACBL Bridge Bulletin but I try to stick to newer/intermediate players as those columns are more useful in real games.
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It would be great to somehow have more games online, or combine online play with live play. That would allow for larger games and larger results pools. This may be difficult to achieve though for obvious reasons.

Annmarie Kinnan – NABC Master

ACBL District 4

I am very proud of this accomplishment and thoroughly enjoy the game of bridge.

I was fortunate to have taken lessons facilitated by the Syracuse Contract Bridge Club, which offered many learning opportunities including Mentor-Mentee games where we were partnered with a more experience player for a day.  However, at each opportunity, the veteran players were always willing to provide a lesson and partner with less experienced players to share their strategies.  That continues today.

I was introduced to online bridge during Covid and have found that to be very helpful to me as I have not able to play live bridge for an extended period of time.  I would not have achieved my rank if not for my district tournaments offering a one day online option, often Sunday, where I could earn gold points. I am very grateful to the directors who also facilitated the online aspect of their tournaments.

So I am writing to stress the importance of an online option for players-while our desire, we are all not able to return to the table at times for one reason or another; but we are committed to the game and wish to have a chance to advance our ranking while our circumstances don’t allow in person play.

Tom Tully – Silver Life Master

ACBL District 4

It has been quite an adventure getting to this point.  A few years ago I was grandfathered as a Life Master and I felt I had really not earned it.  I wanted to reach 500 points and 50 Gold like my friends had done.

For a long time I needed just 4 Golds and then I got 21 of them in one tournament to make me a “real Life Master.” Gold points have seemed much easier after that but amassing 1,000 total points has taken me a while and I am pleased to have done it.

David Frank – Club Master

ACBL District 4

I had not played bridge since college (am now 81).  I lost my wife to cancer on April 4th, 2020…during the COVID epidemic.  So, here I was grieving and very much alone.  When our YMCA in Phoenixville PA re-opened in August, I started going to work out again.  I vaguely remembered something about a bridge club and inquired.  I was sent to the “active older adults” room (I call it the old age room) and met a group of people playing bridge. 

I believe it was the next month that they were going to have a week long teaching session. So I sat in on a bunch of hands to observe and, kind of, relearn the game a little.  I also went on-line to play and learn a little more.  The main thing that bridge did for me was to give me company…people to be around and to have a little fun again.  It was an extremely trying period (and still is, but to a lesser degree) and that bridge club (along with my church) became the center of my life.

William Black – Gold Life Master

ACBL District 4

I would like to thank all the directors and the club owners and workers that have helped me along the way.

I’m so proud of the clubs that I I have been a part of. Thank you to Ed and Mark and all of my friends that have helped me in this journey.

Monica Knopf – Life Master

ACBL District 4

I learned to play bridge when I was around 8 years old but stopped when I was 12. I didn’t play again for 50 years. When I moved to Harrisburg a friend invited me to play in a local social bridge game. I would play a couple times a month. Transfers were considered advanced play! After retiring my social bridge players told me that I should join the local Harrisburg Bridge Club. That was two years ago. The club was extremely helpful in supporting me. Even though I had played only a few months, with encouragement from the club directors, I started playing in open games. I found myself enjoying the game and played more and more. Mike Zeller spent countless hours teaching me how to be disciplined in my bidding and to declare and defend well. Bill Even and I became regular partners at the club and in tournaments, and we learned a lot together. Other advanced members mentored and helped me as well.

Near the end of October, I had 400 masterpoints. Some of my bridge colleagues were getting their Life Master in 2024, and I didn’t want to be left behind. I had to get to 500 by the end of November to be recognized at the annual meeting. So I set my goal of 100 MPs in a month to become Life Master. It wasn’t easy. I traveled to tournaments and pretty much played every day. Some were skeptical it was possible, but many players encouraged me and helped, and I am very grateful. I reached 502.05 MPs on November 30, and my goal of Life Master became reality.