Pasadena Bridge Club Logo <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com> News from North Fair Oaks Mojo ABTA Master Teacher 649 N Fair Oaks Ave #201 Pasadena CA 91103 (626) 247-4457 pasadenabridgeclub.com <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com> Have you been missing a travel beverage mug or something else that might have been left at the bridge club? I have a little bit of a "lost and found" on some tables next to the coat rack. Next time you're at the club, take a look there and see if there's something to claim. We're due for a bit of a purge at the club, and I'm going to clear out some clutter soon. It's not yet spring, but it's still a good time for cleaning up! The "lost and found" will become empty soon. Bridge the Mindsport My friend Samantha Punch is a sociology researcher on the faculty at the University of Stirling in Scotland. She's also a world-class bridge competitor. She founded an organization to promote "bridge as a mindsport for all" (BAMSA), and just shared with me this article from Research Outreach: Green baize gladiators: Bridge as a mindsport for all <https://researchoutreach.org/articles/green-baize-gladiators-bridge-mindsport/>. It's fascinating to see them touch on the physicality of mind sports, and I loved what they had to say in the last paragraph about enjoying the game at all levels of play. Online Lesson The ACBL has been offering "community games" on Bridge Base Online for players under 50 masterpoints for a while now. It's difficult for new bridge players around the country to find clubs offering duplicate bridge games limited to newer players! (At our club, of course, we have the Tuesday evening novice game and Saturday afternoon workshop and game.) Each of the community games features a lesson on Zoom after the game that covers a few of the hands from the game. I filled in as teacher for a game on January 2, and it featured some interesting declarer play problems. If you're curious and in the mood for some bridge puzzles, you can see my lesson here: https://youtu.be/81K3H4A9qqw?si=rUXkXrJyVhkgHkaY If you'd like to join the ACBL Community Games, all the information is at the ACBL web site here: https://www.acbl.org/portfolio/community-games/ Classes this week Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for a full course. Here are the topics this week: * Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Major Suit Openings and Responses" * Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Introduction to Declarer Play/ "Notrump: the hold up play, and danger hand" * Saturday, 9:30 AM, /Introduction to Defense/, "Defensive signals against notrump" * Saturday, 1:00 PM, /Workshop and game/, "Opening lead basics: The rule of eleven" *New on the YouTube channel*: Bridge Mini Lesson 19 "Teams of four," how to score team games, and a little bit of strategy: https://youtu.be/taOlq15clkE Coming up ... This Friday I'll be a guest director at Annandale Golf Club. Their bridge players want to learn about duplicate bridge, so I'll be hosting a game with a postmortem of the hands. Lunar New Year celebration! Club Championships all week, Feb. 6 - 10. Extra masterpoints, no extra charge. And Wednesday's game, Feb. 7, will be a big celebration, with party favors and a lunch, hosted by Margie Lee and friends! I just heard that a letter from me will be in the "listener mail" segment of Sorry, Partner <https://sorrypartner.com/> next week. :) Best regards, Mojo, Jane, Zachary