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Greetings,
I write this month's newsletter with a heavy heart.
My good friend and colleague, Bernie Chazen passed
away this week. He took ill while teaching on a
cruise several months ago, and never recovered.
Bernie and I had done many teaching seminars
together. We helped each other with ideas as we both
strove to be the best we could be as bridge
teachers. I have been filling in for Bernie the past
few months, and I know that many of my readers were
also close to Bernie. I am not alone when I say that
this unique and entertaining giant of the bridge
game will be sorely missed. See the final article in
this newsletter for more on Bernie.
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Through the Convention Card (Part 14) |
Last month, we began to examine Doubles by
covering the Negative Double.
This month, we continue with the Support Double.
The entire series can be found
here.
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Larry's Lectures at Sea -- new offer
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The price and special features for my
upcoming 6-star Regent cruises have gotten better
again. Aside from dropping the fares (I wish they
would drop really low), the cruise line is offering
free shore excursions (included)
for the Far East segments.
Please
click here to read about all 3 Far East cruises
for fall, 2009.
Also, I am running a
holiday cruise over Christmas and New Years from
California to Florida.
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Battling in Boston
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 Last
month we examined some deals from the 2008 Boston
Nationals.
This month, we explore further with two articles I
wrote based on the tournament.
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We will miss you, Bernie...
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Love him, or hate him, Bernie Chazen was one of a kind.
He'd speak his mind; he didn't care what anyone thought
about him. This made for a highly entertaining style.
His students loved him. They could ask a dumb question
and Bernie would tell them "bridge is not for you--take
up knitting." Yet, they'd stick with bridge and take
more punishment from Bernie.
He was strong with his opinions. "I hate mirror
doubles." "Penalty doubles have died and gone to
heaven." "That is a stupid convention--it never comes
up--the last time it came up was Shavuot in 1986 and it
didn't even work then."
I loved giving seminars with Bernie--it was like a Felix
and Oscar act. I'd be there in my suit and tie, trying
to please everyone. I'd be tracking the time, trying to
stick to the schedule. Bernie was next to me in his
suspenders, shirt hanging out, speaking gruffly to as
many people as he could, not caring about time or order.
Yet, at the end of the day, everyone seemed to have had
a great time.
This month, I have posted an article to my website.
It only briefly involves Bernie (at the end), but you
please note that he was in the finals of the Spingold.
Aside from being a great lecturer and entertainer, he
was also a brilliant player. The bridge world has
suffered a huge loss.
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