February 2018 - 9

CEO CORNER
BY BAHAR GIDWANI

The American Contract
Bridge League
President
Jay Whipple III
Chair, Board of Directors
Bob Heller
Chief Executive Officer
Bahar Gidwani
Chair, Board of Governors
Richard Popper

Board of Directors
District 1 * Leo Weniger
District 2 * Paul Janicki
District 3 * Carlos Muñoz
District 4 * Joann Glasson
District 5 * Sharon Fairchild
District 6 * Margot Hennings
District 7 * Bob Heller
District 8 * Georgia Heth
District 9 * Jay Whipple III
District 10 * Russ Jones
District 11 * A.J. Stephani
District 12 * Dennis Carman
District 13 * Suzi Subeck
District 14 * Sharon Anderson
District 15 * Phyllis Harlan
District 16 * Paul Cuneo
District 17 * Bonnie Bagley
District 18 * Claire Jones
District 19 * Marv Norden
District 20 * Merlin Vilhauer
District 21 * Jacqueline Zayac
District 22 * David Lodge
District 23 * Kevin Lane
District 24 * Alvin Levy
District 25 * Mark Aquino
To contact a district director,
visit acbl.org/boardofdirectors.

Meet Huguette Joly and Roger Buckland

Huguette and Roger are a bridge-playing couple
who each have just over 400 masterpoints.
Roger and Huguette met on BBO. They liked
playing bridge together, became a couple in 2010
and got married in 2013. They play in clubs in
New Brunswick in the summer and Mexico in the
winter.
Huguette recounted to me her first tournament
experience from 2011. She had zero points at the time and was so nervous that
she "bid like crazy!" She and Roger won the event they played, and Huguette was
hooked. Since then, they have enthusiastically played in tournaments in five
provinces in Canada, four states in Mexico and two states in the U.S. (soon to be
three when they go to Gatlinburg in April).
Back then, the couple played SAYC. In 2013, they took a course on 2/1 and related conventions. Soon the couple had weapons such as Bergen, inverted minors
and 1430 Blackwood. Roger's background is teaching. (He is a retired professor
whose specialty was studying chicken farming!) He helps Huguette, who is native
French-speaking, interpret the materials they print out and study. For instance,
"underleading an ace" doesn't make much sense when translated literally into
French! They were enjoying bridge more every day, but it took a while to master
their new bidding tools.
Huguette's father learned to play cards when he was a child. Without formal
training, he still won all the time because he played hands so well. This memory
prompted the couple in 2016 to shift their focus from bidding systems to play of
the hand, something they say they should have done at the beginning. They are
now working through a book from Barbara Seagram and David Bird called
"25 Ways To Take More Tricks As Declarer."
The adjacent chart plots Huguette's
and
Roger's masterpoint winnings over
100
the years. You'll see a dip in 2013 when
90
80
they started 2/1 and a nice surge in
70
2015 when they mastered it. 2017 will
60
be their best year ever.
50
This couple are both bridge partners
40
and life partners. Each morning, they
30
have breakfast and go over the hands
20
10
they played the previous day or study
problems from a book. Their travels
'11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17
allow them to enjoy a range of bridge
tournaments. They meet friends for dinner and/or as partners for a team event.
Huguette reports that Roger used to be cranky if she made a mistake, but that he
has now mellowed under her guidance!
They value courtesy (they always call, "Director, please"), and they value social
contact with other kindred spirits. I'm sure their journey will continue for many
years, as they explore new systems, add new tournaments to their schedule and
spend time with their many friends.
February 2018 Bridge Bulletin

http://www.acbl.org/boardofdirectors

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2018