Bridge At Its Best ....
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Zia Mahmood and Walid Elahmady, a partnership formed at the last minute, surged from well back in the pack with a session to go to win the Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs by nearly a board and a half. With a top of 51, the winners scored 1671.82 matchpoints to 1601.06 for runners-up Michael Rosenberg and Ralph Katz, the leaders after two qualifying sessions and after the first final session. The winners posted a 62.42% game in the second final session, normally not enough to rise from ninth in the field, but Rosenberg and Katz had a poor game in the evening session to drop out of the lead. Elahmady is one of Egypt’s top players. He has represented his country in international play since 1988. He and his regular partner, Tarek Sadek, have finished second twice in the Cavendish Invitational Pairs. Zia made the partnership with Elahmady after his team was knocked out of the top flight of the Grand National Teams. It was only the second time they had played together, the first being in Jamaica in the Eighties. Said Elahmady of Zia: “He’s a great player and a great partner.”
The ACBL Junior Corps has inducted three new members: Dan Recht of Mount Kisco NY; Charles Halasi and Tim Capes of Toronto, pictured with Goodwill Chairman Aileen Osofsky at the Junior Reception. The two Canadians are students at the University of Toronto. Recht attends Princeton University, where he has started a bridge club and teaches the game. The Junior Corps was started by Bobby Wolff to acknowledge Junior players who promote bridge to other young people. There are about 50 members of the Junior Corps at present. Soloway's take:
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Zia, Elahmady win LM PairsGoodwill honors 4 New YorkersNever too young – seventh graders enjoy Summer NABC
Saundra Jones, a science teacher at a middle school in Queens, likes bridge so much that she talks about it all the time. It was no surprise, of course, that her students eventually wanted to know more about the game she loves so much. They, too, are now smitten, and Jones has an after-school bridge class of 32 students. She brought eight of them to the 2004 Summer NABC for their first exposure to tournament play – and they had a blast. The seventh-graders played in a couple of Bridge Plus+ games last Friday and couldn’t wait to do it again. Says Sophia Liu, 12: “It’s fun to beat people.” Vivian Xu, 13, was also enjoying herself, noting that bridge “helps me with my math, and it’s fun when I don’t have anything to do.” Jones has been playing bridge about seven years. She learned the game at a public library in New York, moving into duplicate practically right away. “I’m still a baby bridge player,” she says, “but I love the game.” All her talk about bridge made her students at Middle School 158 take notice, and she now conducts bridge classes for them after school for four hours a week in her regular classroom. “They’re having a great time,” Jones says.
The youngsters back her up on that. Angel Yim, 12, shows wisdom beyond her years in pronouncing: “It’s mostly about partnership, and it’s fun to work together – plus, it’s cool to win.” Michael Zhang, 13, adds: “It helps my memory and it’s really fun.” Zhang, attending his first tournament, notes: “It’s really exciting.” Besides teaching bridge, Jones is also involved in bridge administration. She is a member of the Nassau Suffolk Bridge Association board of directors. She sells bridge whenever she can. “The game,” she says, “allows you to be in control. When you are bidding and playing, your mind can’t be anywhere else.” In her bridge classes, she notes, “all of life’s lessons are learned there.”
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Four outstanding New York personalities took the spotlight at yesterday’s Goodwill Committee reception. Chairman Aileen Osofsky honored Gail Greenberg, Leonard Harmon, Joan Gerard and Alan Truscott. Osofsky presented each with a memorial that told of each’s outstanding contributions to the game. Gail Greenberg Greenberg was overwhelmed when her four children told about life with mother. “I’m moved beyond words,” she said. “This is the most meaningful moment of my life.” “My mother never encouraged us to play bridge,” said Jill Levin. “We played other card games, but not bridge. When I was skiing, they were looking for a fourth for bridge, and they knew my mother was a world champion. So they thought that meant I knew how to play. I agreed to play as long as long as I could ski for free.” Once she asked her mother what she should do when her partner opened 4. “Should I bid five or six?” “Neither,” said Gail. “That’s a weak bid.” “I’m the only one who listened to my mother,” said Penny Shane. “I became a lawyer instead of playing bridge. Mother told me to find something I love and then do it as much as possible – and that’s what I did.” Penny said that her mother used bridge to help others – “she has helped them to extend the life of their minds.” “My mother is a truly great teacher,” said Brad Moss. “She has the uncanny ability to make each student believe they are being taught one-on-one.” He said he often thinks, “How would Mom handle this?” when he faces a problem. Andrew Moss told his mother a long-kept secret – sometimes the children played bridge in secret so their mother wouldn’t know what they were doing. “She’s done a great job raising four children while having a highly decorated career.” Joan Gerard Bobby Wolff told how Joan Gerard first brought her skills to her unit, then her district and then to the ACBL. “But she didn’t stop there – she went on to the World Bridge Federation where she became the only woman to be named to the Committee of Honor.” He told about her outstanding work with the Junior program. “She’s one of the hardest we ever had on the ACBL Board.”
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