Whitehorse’s Chris Bookless and Mark Davey had points to declare when crossing the border back into Canada early this week.
Bookless and Davey collected more American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) masterpoints than any other pair at the Duplicate Bridge Sectional Tournament in Haines, Alaska, over the weekend.
“It was a lot of fun. Good competition. There are a lot of good players out there,” said Bookless. “There were some people there with over 2,400 points who have been playing for a long time and have played in a lot of competitions to build up that many points.”
“We have won individual events before, but this was the first time we won the overall,” said Davey.
The Whitehorse pair collected 10.79 points at the ACBL sanctioned tournament hosted by the Haines Duplicate Bridge Club. The tournament saw 60 players participate, including 19 from the Yukon, 17 from Juneau and 15 from Haines.
“Last year at the Haines tournament we pulled in between seven and eight, so this was better than last year,” said Bookless. “At the end of the day, it’s how we stack up to the other competitors at the table that are in the competition.”
Davey and Bookless also teamed up with Diane and Don Emond of Whitehorse to win the team event.
All four play regularly at the Whitehorse Duplicate Bridge Club, which is not affiliated with ACBL.
“Because we play locally, we don’t know how we stack up against other folks unless we get to play them at competitions like this,” said Bookless.
“We’ve agreed upon certain conventions that we play and I would guess that we’re more familiar with each other’s bidding,” he added, speaking of strategy. “That helps a lot.
“We try to stay with a fairly conventional standing. We don’t get carried away with a lot of special conventions and gadgets that some other folks use from time to time. That just gets more confusing for people, you have to remember them all.”
The Whitehorse Duplicate Bridge Club takes place every Tuesday evening at the Golden Age Society at the Sport Yukon building on 4th Avenue.
“It’s very friendly ... if anyone wants to come, they’re welcome,” said Davey, who is president of the club.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com