News from
N Fair Oaks

This past Saturday morning marked a watershed moment for beginning bridge classes.

For the past 10+ years, I've been teaching beginning bridge through the Pasadena City College Extension program. The classes have always been held at Arcadia High School, in a classroom where a history teacher used round tables instead of traditional school desks.

I made arrangements to offer the PCC Extension class at the Pasadena Bridge Club instead of Arcadia High School starting this year. No more hunting for the room, or finding the bathrooms in the dark!

The first class met this past Saturday with 25 students on hand, and a few more joining in progress. I'll be repeating the first class this coming Saturday, and continuing for the next several Saturday mornings.

(If you'd like to help out with the beginners on Saturday mornings, I'd be delighted to have you!)

Saturday Afternoon Team Workshops

The Grand National Teams are coming soon! Let's practice playing some team matches on the next two Saturday afternoons.

On May 27 I'll go through the mechanics and arithmetic of playing and scoring a team-of-four match.

On June 3, I'll discuss IMP scoring strategy and how it affects your decisions during both play and bidding.

On both Saturdays, after the workshop, let's play a practice team match! We can make up teams from the players and pairs available. We can hold a match with as few as two teams.

Play of the Hand

Wednesday evening May 24 7:00 PM will be the first of eight classes dedicated to play of the hand. Learn how to plan your play and make more of your contracts!

During the course we'll also touch on several bidding topics, including overcalls, takeout doubles, preemptive opening bids, and slam bidding.

Drop me a note if you'd like to join the group!

Classes meeting this week

Single class sessions are always available for $25. Here are the topics being offered this week:

• Wednesday 7:00 PM Play of the Hand "Making a Plan"
• Thursday 9:00 AM Popular Conventions "Jacoby Transfer Bids"
• Saturday 9:30 AM Bridge Basics 1 "1NT Openings and Responses"

All classes meet in person at the Pasadena Bridge Club, and are taught by me, Morris "Mojo" Jones.