July 2020 - 24

Yukon Gold

One man's quest to become a Life Master living in northern Canada

Is it possible to become a Life Master
living in a community with no ACBLsanctioned clubs within 1000 miles
of your home? Chic Callas proved that
it is possible with some help from the
new online black-point games.
Chic was raised in Yellowknife,
Northwest Territories, a small city
(population 20,000) in northern
Canada. He learned to play bridge in
1974-75 while attending the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
"I was enrolled in a pre-med program, but I ended up majoring in bridge
that year," he said, sheepishly adding
that it was a source of huge embarrassment to him for the next 40 years: He
failed every course. He just quit going
to classes, but was still enrolled and,
instead, focused solely on bridge. His
daily routine was to sleep until noon,
have lunch in the cafeteria and head
back to the dorm. He would spend the
afternoon by starting with the Goren
bridge article in the daily paper and
then would read sections of "The Encyclopedia of Bridge" that another student in the dorm had purchased. Once
the diligent students started returning
from class, a table for four was set up
at the back of the recreation room, and
Chic would play with anyone that was
available from 4 p.m. until midnight.
Then, he'd relax by watching a movie
and go to bed around 2 or 3 a.m. This
routine was repeated daily. As he freely
admits, it was not a healthy lifestyle.
He would not recommend it for those
looking for a proper education, but
bridge had grabbed his interest.
When Chic returned to Yellowknife

24 Bridge Bulletin July 2020

for work, there was no bridge club, so
he played bridge weekly with friends
for 1/10th of a penny a point. Partners
were drawn randomly each week, but
after a couple of years, everybody owed
Chic money. On the night his first son
was born, Chic collected his winnings
($20!) from the other players and gave
up bridge for the next 20 years. At that
point, he thought he knew a fair bit
about how to play the game. He would
discover how little he knew years later.
After a new start when he moved to
Whitehorse, Yukon, Chic once again
found bridge. It was also during that
time that he watched his mother slowly
succumb to dementia, and he knew he
had to find something to keep his brain
exercised. So in June 2009, he went to
the local bridge club. It was (and still
is) a non-sanctioned club, so no black
points were available, but it was the
start of a decade of playing and reading
and learning.
For those whose geography may be
rusty, northern Canada has three territories: Yukon (west), Northwest Territory (center) and Nunavut (east) for
a total population of 116,000 in an area
half as big as the United States.
His first tournament was an "international" one, as he and his partner
drove four hours to attend the Haines
(AK) Sectional in April 2010, and it
was there that he learned about joining the ACBL. In hindsight, he said he
should have joined when he started
playing in 2009, but he didn't know
the rules were changing on Jan. 1,
2010, and that the requirements for
becoming a Life Master would increase from 300 to 500 masterpoints.
But not knowing can sometimes be
a good thing, and he earned his first
masterpoints (2.44 silver) in Haines.
The quest had begun. Admittedly, it
was very slow those first few years, as
Chic was working full time and didn't

have the time or resources to travel
great distances to tournaments. But by
studying the monthly Bridge Bulletin,
reading other bridge books and playing
once a week, his knowledge increased.
For the next four years, the annual
tournament in Haines was the only
place to earn masterpoints. In 2014,
he played at a couple of black-point
club games while visiting family in
southern Canada, and in 2016, he and
his regular partner went to their first
regional in Whistler BC.
Retiring in October 2016, Chic began
playing online, and between 2016 and
2019, Chic was able to attend a couple
of regionals a year and earned the gold
and red points required to become a
Life Master. In 2019, he passed the
500-masterpoint mark, but was still
missing 44.70 black points as of March
of this year.
Chic's plans for the Burnaby Regional in Vancouver and the Haines Sectional in April of this year were wisely
canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
Chic was resigned to thinking it would
be another three or four years before he
would be able to earn the black points
he needed by attending sanctioned
clubs in other locations. But then, the
ACBL and BBO teamed up to provide
black-point games online. Chic jumped
at the opportunity, and between March
19 and May 11, he earned the points he
needed playing in Support Your Club
games on BBO.
Callas said, "This will make me the
first person to become a Life Master
from start to finish while living in
northern Canada. Now I can get to
work on the house! And I'm grateful my
wife didn't kill me these past several
weeks, as she put up with me while I
worked hard to earn the black points
I needed to meet that goal. Ten years.
Lots of hard work and financial costs,
but I feel great!"
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July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2020