Palo Alto Bridge

Beginning Bridge
2024-12-02 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-12-16 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-01-13 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-01-27 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Kathy Harper
(650) 207-1816
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Learn Bridge the modern way in this course designed by Pat Harrington! Each class includes both instruction and practice play. Start playing the very first day! Children & teens welcome.
For people who have never played bridge and those people who have played for years but want a refresher course or just to learn the basics.
Notes will be emailed for all classes. No make-up classes are offered for missed classes.
Our course instructor is ABTA Master Teacher Kathy Harper. Kathy and our wonderful volunteers give students individual attention which helps our students learn in a fun environment.
Please contact Kathy Harper for more information.

Swiss Team Club Game
2024-12-09 10:30 - 14:00
Swiss Team games are great fun to play and grant generous master point awards at sectional, regional, and national tournaments! Now you have the chance to play at the club level in our monthly games hosted by John Schwartz and Will Watson.
These games are a wonderful opportunity to polish one’s Swiss Team skills throughout the year and especially prior to sectional, regional, and national tournaments. If you are less experienced or have never played in a Swiss Team game and would like to play Swiss Teams at future tournaments, these Swiss Team club games are a perfect opportunity to gain experience in a more relaxed club game environment. For those less experienced Swiss Team players, here are slides from a Swiss Team strategy lecture from a Swiss Team strategy lecture given in August 2023..
These games will have an Open and a Limited section. They will award 100% black points.
A light lunch will be served.
For planning purposes, we ask that players sign-up to play at: https://www.signup123.com/unit503bridge/Scripts/slogin.pl

The game reservation system is designed for pairs games and not Swiss Teams. So, to sign up your team, sign up you and your partner in both the N/S and E/W boxes.
Having trouble signing up? Email Will Watson watsonbridge@gmail.com

Don’t have a team of four? The Unit will help you find a team. Email Will Watson at watsonbridge@gmail.com.
Have questions? Please contact Will or Marc Cervellino at marc.cervellino@hotmail.com.

Swiss Team Club Game
2024-12-09 11:30 - 14:30, 2025-01-20 11:30 - 14:30, 2025-02-03 11:30 - 14:30
Swiss Team games are great fun to play and grant generous master point awards at sectional, regional, and national tournaments! Now you have the chance to play at the club level in our monthly games hosted by John Schwartz and Will Watson.
These games are a wonderful opportunity to polish one’s Swiss Team skills throughout the year and especially prior to sectional, regional, and national tournaments. If you are less experienced or have never played in a Swiss Team game and would like to play Swiss Teams at future tournaments, these Swiss Team club games are a perfect opportunity to gain experience in a more relaxed club game environment. For those less experienced Swiss Team players, here are slides from a Swiss Team strategy lecture from a Swiss Team strategy lecture given in August 2023..
These games will have an Open and a Limited section. They will award 100% black points.
No lunch is provided. Snacks aree available before and during the game.
For planning purposes, we ask that players sign-up to play at: https://www.signup123.com/unit503bridge/Scripts/slogin.pl

The game reservation system is designed for pairs games and not Swiss Teams. So, to sign up your team, sign up you and your partner in both the N/S and E/W boxes.
Having trouble signing up? Email Will Watson watsonbridge@gmail.com

Don’t have a team of four? The Unit will help you find a team. Email Will Watson at watsonbridge@gmail.com.
Have questions? Please contact Will or Marc Cervellino at marc.cervellino@hotmail.com.

Board of Directors Meeting
2024-12-10 16:00 - 17:30, 2025-01-14 16:00 - 17:30
Usually held on the second Tuesday of every month at 4pm. Meetings are via Zoom. Please see our Event Calendar for possible changes.
Members are welcome to attend. Please contact the board if you would like a subject added to the Agenda.
Please see our Governance page for information about the board, the agenda for this meeting and the agenda and minutes of past meetings.

SiVY Winter Pizza Party Tournament
2024-12-14 11:00 - 15:00
View SiVY calendar for more information.

Holiday Party and Unit Game
2024-12-15 11:30 - 15:30
You are cordially invited to join us and your friends at our annual party to celebrate the holidays with food, fun and bridge on Sunday, December 15th at the Palo Alto Bridge Center.
The bridge game is FREE and starts at 12:00noon. Signing at 11:30. Special masterpoints will be awarded. Open, 499er and 199er stratified sections.
Information and Signup

Supervised Play Monday Evenings
2024-12-16 18:45 - 20:30, 2025-01-13 18:45 - 20:30, 2025-01-27 18:45 - 20:30, 2025-02-10 18:45 - 20:30
Kathy Harper
(650) 207-1816
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Shoreline DBC Club Open
2024-12-21 13:00 - 16:30
October 19 – Club Game
November 16 – Club Game
December 21 – Club Championship (extra points)

Free Lecture
2025-01-15, 2025-01-22
Our Unit provides free lectures as part of our education program. Lectures cover areas of interest for new as well as intermediate players. Lectures are held at our Bridge Center. Sign-ups are not required.
More

Find a Partner Game
2025-01-15 10:00 - 14:00, 2025-01-22 10:00 - 14:00
One of the challenges of bridge is finding compatible bridge partners. To help we are holding several Find-A-Partner games.
Game time 10:30am
Lecture prior to games at 10am
Information and Signup

Intermediate 1: Bid to the Best Contract
2025-01-16 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-01-23 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-01-30 19:30 - 21:30, 2025-02-06 19:30 - 21:30
Frank Smoot
‭(408) 306-3901‬
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Learn powerful and practical bidding concepts. This course is for players who are familiar with the basics of bridge and would like to either brush-up or move to the next level.
Using materials from many sources (primarily Richard Pavlicek) you will learn powerful and practical bidding concepts plus general play and defense ideas, do exercises in class (homework outside of class) and finish the evening by playing hands relating to the topic. Snacks are also provided. You will be amazed at what you willl learn, even if you have played for years and years!
The in-class exercises are available in electronic format so students can play the hands at home and receive commentary on their bidding and play (requires Bridge Baron software on Mac or PC).
Our course lecturer is the very popular Frank Smoot who has taught bridge to players of all levels in Palo Alto for 30+ years. Frank and our wonderful volunteers give students individual attention which helps our students learn in a fun environment.
For more information contact Frank Smoot (408) 306-3901 email.

The 6-Week Course Covers
Bridge Baron Downloads

Opener’s Rebid
Opener’s Third Bid
Overcalls
Takeout Doubles
Preemptive Bidding
Negative Doubles

Opener’s Rebid
Opener’s Third Bid
Overcalls
Takeout Doubles
Preemptive Bidding
Negative Doubles

Bridge Baron Support
Purchase: BaronBarclay
Instructions for downloading and playing files with Bridge Baron
Students: For additional support contact Alan Templeton or Frank Smoot

Payment
After registering, below, you may pay by Zelle or check to hold your spot:
Zelle: Transfer $200 to either franklinsalias-bridge@yahoo.com or (408) 306-3901.
Check: Mail a check made out to Frank Smoot in the amount of $200:

Frank Smoot
15 Tagus Ct.
Portola Valley, CA 94028

Celebrity Bridge Seminar with Amber Lin
2025-01-18 09:30 - 11:00
How to “Think Like an Expert at Trick 1”
Amber Lin Webinar
Saturday, January 18, 2025, 9:30-11:00am on Zoom
Amber will review example hands as a declarer and explain her thought process at trick 1 – what line-of-play to take, how to take more tricks by reading your opponent’s lead, simple probability, and table psychology.
This lesson will benefit all levels of players, especially Newcomers and Intermediate players
Information & Registration

World and National Champion
Team USA Member – Women’s, Mixed, Juniors
“It’s Your Call” Bridge Bulletin Contributor
Amber Lin is a young professional player and teacher who lives here in the Bay Area. She was recently awarded the ACBL’s 2025 Honorary Member recognizing her huge contributions to the membership. She won a gold medal in the World Mixed Teams Championships in 2023 and a silver medal in 2022, she won the Freeman Mixed Board-a-Match Teams in 2022 and won the European Under-31 Pairs Championships in 2023.
Amber is passionate about introducing young people to the game and is the chair of Silicon Valley Youth Bridge (SiVY) providing regular instruction at the Palo Alto Bridge Center for young, new players. She is also the co-organizer of the USBF Junior Training Program and runs the U26 Women’s Intensive program with Kevin

IFES Crab Cioppino Dinner
2025-01-25 15:00 - 23:59
Event uses all onsite parking.

Pro-Am Game
2025-02-01 12:30 - 16:00
Want to improve your bridge game by playing in a relaxed atmosphere and partnering with an experienced player?
What is the Pro-Am game? It is a F2F bridge game where a newer player partners with an experienced player in a pairs game, competing against other pairs of one newer and one experienced player. After the game, the experienced player will review bidding, declarer play, defense, and opening leads of select hands.
Information and Registration

Grand National Teams Flights A & B
2025-02-08 - 2025-02-09
The GNT Flight A – Under 6,000 master points and Flight B – Under 3,000 contests will be played at our Bridge Center.

Playing for Keeps
2025-02-10 19:00 - 20:30
Kathy Harper
(650) 207-1816
Send Email

Master the art of playing a bridge hand. (Or at least give it a try!)
This Basic-Intermediate Bridge Class builds upon our Beginning Bridge Classes and prepares our students for our Intermediate Classes.
Notes will be emailed for all classes. No make-up classes are offered for missed classes.
Our course instructor is ABTA Master Teacher Kathy Harper. Kathy and our wonderful volunteers give students individual attention which helps our students learn in a fun environment.
Please contact Kathy Harper at (650) 207-1816 email for additional information.

Playing for Keeps
Dates

Discarding Losers
February 10

Trumping Losers
February 24

Fancy Finesses
March 10

Dangerous Opponent
March 24

Trump Management
April 7

Choices
April 21

The Cross Ruff
May 5

The Master Hand – Trumping in the Short Hand
May 19
