July 24th, 2019 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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On Thursday evening, at the annual American Bridge Teachers’ Association banquet, the 2019 Book of the Year awards were presented by chairperson Brenda Montague. The committee this year consisted of Sam Marks, Henry Meguid, Brenda Montague and Karen Walker. Master Point Press is proud to announce that two of its books won awards this year.
The Shirley Silverman prize for beginner book of the year went to Lynn Berg, for her book Startup Bridge – And Beyond.
This book, available both in print and as an ebook, explores the mysteries of bridge and its most challenging form – duplicate. Lynn Berg’s popular column in the ACBL Bulletin forms the basis for her book, which is organized into easily accessible categories for the beginning club player.
The winner in the intermediate category went to the first-time collaboration between David Bird and Larry Cohen, On the Other Hand.
Here, the authors teamed up to present 100 pairs of deals, one described by David and the other by Larry, which at first glance look very similar, but often have very different approaches to the play. Both authors approach their task with their usual flair and humour, and each hand concludes with an “Understand Why” summary. Martin Cantor, in his review for A New Bridge Magazine called the book “a very readable and highly instructive book for improving players”.
Congratulations to all three authors!
Both books are available to order from your local bookseller. Click on covers to see more information.
July 23rd, 2019 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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Congratulations go out to Jim Ricker from Knoxville, TN, winner of this year’s ABTA Master Point Press Teacher of the Year award!
Jim Ricker, 2019 Teacher of the Year
The award was presented by chair Richard Braunstein, representing the panel of ABTA teachers Mary Jane Orock, Joyce Penn, Tina Radding, Enid Roitman, Barbara Seagram and Kathie Walsh. This is the tenth year for the award, sponsored by Master Point Press, which recognizes excellence in bridge teaching, with teacher nominations submitted from all over North America.
The four runners up for this years award were:
- Buck Buchanan from Arlington, TX
- Bruce Greenspan from Bonita Springs, FL
- David Libchaber from New York, NY
- Edward Scanlon from York, PA
Congratulations to all those nominated.
Read more about Jim in the ACBL Daily Bulletin from Saturday July 20th:
https://cdn.acbl.org/nabc/2019/02/bulletins/db2.pdf
July 19th, 2019 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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This is my first trip to Las Vegas, and it’s been a whirlwind so far. There’s so much to do and see! I’m spending the week here for the annual American Bridge Teachers’ Association conference, where I spoke today about our new books at Master Point Press. What a great week with a fun bunch of people. Bridge teachers really are the best people. (Someday I hope to be one too!)
So far, highlights include…
Talking to Zia Mahmood in the pool.
Watching the Bellagio fountains each night from my hotel room. I could watch them all night!
Fantastic choreography and different every time!
A fabulous lunch at Lago (thanks, Robert!).
Delicious tapas-style Italian restaurant at the Bellagio, with a view overlooking the fountains. Highly recommended!
Dinner at the Bellagio buffet, followed by the Cirque du Soleil show “O”. This was a fabulous evening arranged for us by Barbara Seagram.
Bridge teachers represent in the centre balcony!
But the best part of the week was all the inspiring presentations from bridge teachers and players, and many thought provoking discussions about the future and what we can all do to help to promote this game we love.
Julian Laderman presenting on his favorite subject, bridge probability.
This morning we presented the ABTA MPP Teacher of the Year Award, but that deserves its own post. Stay tuned!
July 27th, 2018 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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Tonight we attended the annual ABTA convention banquet, which is always a really fun time, especially when it concludes with a panel of experts answering a bucket of questions submitted throughout the week by the teachers. This year’s panel, moderated by George Jacobs, consisted of Randy Baron, Bob Morris, Eddie Wold, Robert Todd and Steve Robinson. It was one of the best panels so far, with many hilarious anecdotes and quite a bit of solid advice.
After a lovely dinner, the American Bridge Teachers’ Book of the Year awards were announced. This year’s Shirley Silverman Book of the Year Award went to the newest book by author team Barbara Seagram and David Bird for Planning the Play: The Next Level. Congratulations, Barbara and David!
This is a fabulous book on more advanced techniques for declarer. Their first book, Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand, was the book that really taught me how to be an effective declarer. Despite this new book being a bit beyond my level, I learned a lot from reading it. The example hands illustrate techniques I’d always heard of (safety plays, dummy reversal, endplays), but never quite grasped. To see them in action, told in such a clear, concise manner, really sparked my imagination. Maybe I’ll try to take that a step further and perform one of these plays at the bridge table… and realize it! That is the true beauty of bridge.
Since neither of the authors were present, I accepted the award on their behalf and read a message they’d sent me to read to the teachers. I don’t have a photo, but here’s something even better. The two of them recently met for the first time in person. Can you believe that they have been writing books together for twenty years, but had never met? Barbara travelled to England recently and they were able to send us this:
A dynamic duo in the world of bridge books! May there be many more.
In other exciting news, this year the ABTA decided to create a brand new category: Newcomer Book of the Year. This award was given to our own Jeff Bayone for his book, A Taste of Bridge. Congratulations, Jeff!
July 26th, 2018 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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I have been spending time in Atlanta at the American Bridge Teachers’ convention this week, having arrived in the city on Tuesday. This is my first time in Atlanta, and this was the view from my hotel room:
Very impressive!
This morning we announced the winner of this year’s ABTA/Master Point Press Teacher of the Year. This year’s Teacher of the Year committee was comprised of Barbara Seagram, Joyce Penn, Tina Radding, Kathie Walsh and Chairman Richard Braunstein. I was on hand to present the winner with a crystal plaque and a check. We watched a short video of each teacher in action, very impressive. And then came the announcement…
Congratulations to Henry Meguid, from Chapel Hill, NC!
Henry was thrilled, and his passion for and dedication to teaching bridge was evident.
Runners up this year were Bruce Greenspan, from Bonita Springs, FL, Edward Scanlon III, from York, PA, and Jim Ricker from Knoxville, TN.
Master Point Press is proud to support the ABTA with this award, which recognizes excellence in teaching, a pursuit so important in sustaining the game and helping it flourish.
August 10th, 2015 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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I’m back in Toronto this morning and that means back to work. But I have one post left of my Chicago adventures. So here goes…
The last morning in Chicago my Mum, her friend Ollie (both bridge teachers) and I visited the Art Institute of Chicago. We only had a few hours and there was so much to look at. The Institute has one of the largest permanent collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, so we focussed our efforts there. Walking in, the first painting we saw was A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, very cool to see in person, particularly to observe the pointillist technique up close.
There was also a room dedicated to Degas and his ballerinas, as part of a special exhibit. More than half of Degas’ paintings are dedicated to this subject. I didn’t know that a lot of his other work depicted horses and racing, many of which were also on display. My favourite Degas was his sculpture Little Dancer of Fourteen Years.
If I’d stayed longer I would have visited the American art wing as there are many famous paintings I’d like to see there. But two hours is about my limit in an art gallery, my feet especially were protesting! And I had a plane to catch home. Next time.
One last visit to Millenium Park and some better photos of me in front of the cloud gate. It was not as sunny a day so it was easier to photograph a giant mirror-like structure, ha!
Then, (okay, after ONE last trip to Target) I made my way back to the hotel, packed up, checked out and got in a taxi to the airport. A rather interesting ride, as the driver showed me how to get there fast without letting other cars get in your way. I was surprised at how forgiving Chicago drivers seemed in comparison to Toronto drivers… we were only honked at once! A new technique I learned: if there’s too long a line-up of cars in the left-hand turning lane, and you need to turn left, just drive up the straight-on lane and turn left in front of them all. Easy!
Then, in the air to say au revoir Chicago…
And hello Toronto!
It’s nice to be home, but it was an awesome trip. I feel some good connections were made, and I hope some of the people I met will contact me. If you are one of them, please leave me a comment!
August 8th, 2015 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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Was too tired last night to blog! But I’ve had a great week in Chicago. And as I prepare to leave today, the NABC is off to a roaring start. I got to play yesterday in a 0-5 game, it was free all day for novice players. I was ready to put my name in at the partnership desk, when my Mum ran into a young man in the elevator. His name was Shawn and he was looking for a partner. He’d only started playing bridge in April, so had no points yet. He was here with his 10-year-old daughter, Ella, who was playing in the junior division. She did very well and was playing with people up to 19 years old. He showed me this photo of her playing:
She placed second against people twice her size! She had started playing in school, and he started playing because of her. What a great story! I should have taken a picture of Shawn and I. Sorry.
I won’t go into too many details about the game itself because there were no real standout hands. Let me just say that I was pretty nervous about playing with someone I didn’t know. But once it all started I felt right at home. Our first opponents were young people too! (Well, by young, I mean turning 40 like us…) We all remarked how nice it was to play with people our age. I was able to show them a few things, like how to use the machines and how to keep their score on the scorecard. No one had even played in a club before. Next time I’ll challenge myself more and play in a higher division, but this was a good start.
After playing my mind was full of bridge. So I didn’t do much else last night, other than stop by the book selling booth to chat to the booksellers. But because the games were on, there was no one to sell books to! I did get to run around and search for bridge experts. I got to meet Boye Brogeland to do some business for the publisher. He was very cool (and good-looking!). It was exciting for me because I’d worked on his book, Bridge at the Edge, which was full of exciting hands and stories of his experiences at top-level championships. He told me they’d not had a good result earlier that day. But when I ran into him again later on, they had done well. As we learned from Zia yesterday, it’s all about the last hand. Make it a good one and you’ll come out of it with a good feeling. Good luck to all the players!
It’s my last morning in Chicago, so we’re off to the art gallery. Then packing up and off to the airport! I’d be sad, but I know I’ll be back again. It’s a great city.
This post needs at least one more picture, so here’s my favourite so far, from the boat as we ended the tour.
August 7th, 2015 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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This morning wrapped up the ABTA presentations. We heard from the one and only Zia Mahmood, who told many hilarious and insightful stories about his time as a world champion bridge player. He has stories from far and wide, of success and failure. Hearing him talk was a bit like reading his book, Around the World in 80 Hands. What a guy!
This was just a quick update because I’m about to play in a 0-20 game, with a partner I haven’t met yet! I’m excited but also nervous. Of course, the best thing to do before playing in your first national event is to go out for lunch and eat THIS:
Amazing food in a great atmosphere, the Eleventh Street City Diner. I highly recommend this place. It’s just a few blocks from the hotel (if you’re reading this while visiting for bridge) at 11th and Wabash.
Okay, off I go… wish me luck!
August 7th, 2015 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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This afternoon, bridge teacher Jeff Schuett, from Riverwoods, IL, was presented with the 2015 Teacher of the Year award. Here’s a photo of Jeff with me and the trophy I got to present to him. Congratulations, Jeff!
Tonight, after running into Jeff Meckstroth in the elevator (very exciting!) I made my way to the banquet dinner, which was followed by the presentation of the ABTA book awards. I was delighted when Julian Laderman received a special certificate and mention from the panel for his book, Bumblepuppy Days. He was pretty delighted too!
It’s a wonderful book about the history and development of the game, from about 1800 to 1950. Julian makes it an engaging read, even for the non-history fan. An essential item for any bridge player’s library!
Then a second nice surprise as the ABTA announced the winner of this year’s Intermediate Book of the Year… David Bird’s Winning Duplicate Tactics! This is another excellent book for club players who want to improve their skills playing duplicate. David addresses issues specific to this highly-competitive form of bridge, all presented in his usual witty prose. Since he lives in England, I got to accept the award on his behalf.
A third book from Master Point Press was nominated this year but lost out to Larry Cohen’s newest book, Larry Teaches Opening Leads, which was chosen for the beginner/novice award. Our book is the new quizbook by Barbara Seagram and David Bird, Bidding at Bridge. I have to give it an honourable mention here because it is my favourite of the three quiz books. So many bidding topics are covered and not only do you get many quiz hands, but a mini lesson for each topic as well. I think this book helped my bidding a great deal. It really helps to practice something when you’ve just read about it! And there are certainly many practice hands in here. Two of Barbara and David’s other books in this format have been past ABTA winners, so we can’t win them all, but this one is definitely my favourite.
All this excitement was followed by an excellent panel of experts, who were hilarious and surprisingly in agreement on many of the bidding issues posed to them. One thing that stuck: Jerry Helms’ definition of the “North Carolina game-try”: you bid game and then try to make it. They wrapped up with a question about everyone’s most embarrassing moment at the bridge table. I hope video was taken because it’s a you-had-to-be-there sort of thing.
The night was topped off by my finally meeting the tournament bookseller, Jeremy Lewis, who I have been talking to on the phone for years (when he orders books from us), and today was our first meeting. We totally hit it off! Funny, you instantly get a feel for people who are booksellers. Jeremy shares the same passion for books (bridge books!) and is quite the salesman too. If you’re at a National event or even a regional tournament, you’ll probably meet him someday. And he’ll sell you not one but two books!
As I was heading up to my room, I noticed all the bridge happening down in the basement. The NABC has finally begun! It’s a new energy here in the hotel. A great energy. All because of a game.
More tomorrow as I try my luck selling books!
August 6th, 2015 ~ Sally Sparrow ~
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Just a mid-day post as there’s much still to come today. We’re about to announce the Teacher of the Year award down in the ABTA room, but I snuck back to my room first to post some of the pictures I took earlier of the city. I’ve been sneaking away from the convention in the mornings to walk the city. Today I wandered up a block from the hotel to Wabash, where the L train (short for “elevated) weaves its way through downtown. I love how the rails run above the road, dwarfed by the buildings surrounding them. Just like being in a movie (filmed in Chicago)! I took many more panoramic shots.
This one’s for you, Ollie!
After some shopping (too much shopping), I came across the Chicago Cultural Centre, which I was told yesterday is the old library building. So I had to go inside. Beautiful ceilings that look like embroidery, names of famous authors throughout the brickwork, and famous quotes about books, too. A great space to visit.
Then I made another trip through Millennium Park, where I perfected my selfie in the cloud gate. You may be able to make me out in the centre with my sun hat on.
Okay, off to discover the winner of the Teacher of the Year award, and later on the winner of the ABTA book of the year award! Stay tuned!
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