“Bridge at its Best” is the motto for Bluffs Bridge Club, said Michael Knedler, newly appointed president of the Bluffs Bridge Association of Council Bluffs, which was founded in 2019.
Initially organized by two native Iowans and bridge enthusiasts — Dr. Ted Hoff and Dick Miller — and touted as the first American Contract Bridge League in southwest Iowa, the organization has expanded its activities to embrace all popular forms of the game to include social bridge and bridge for a youthful contingent in the months ahead.
Its mainstay, however, is duplicate bridge, which is played every Thursday, excluding major holidays, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with a free-of-charge bridge lesson presented at 10:45 a.m. Knedler is joined by fellow board members, Dr. James Rochelle, Mary Andersen, Judith O’Brien, Dr. Ted Hoff and Bill Treadway. Joanne Becker serves as publicity assistant in an honorary capacity.
For the benefit of interested bridge players, the organization announced today the opportunity to step up to a higher level of knowledge and skill by participating in a new series of intermediate bridge Lessons. Through April 26, from 9 to 11 a.m., the series will feature the finer points of the game and demonstrate specific methodologies to gain “tricks” and win the game. The series of eight two-hour lessons are offered at a reduction of 50% — $40 per student.
For details and enrollment, interested parties may contact Rochelle, Bluffs Bridge Club manager, by calling 402-201-3264.
The intermediate bridge lessons will be directed by well-known ACBL certified bridge director and instructor Pierre Flatowicz, who has taught the game of bridge to over 2,000 students — both young and old — over a period of four decades with notable success. Flatowicz is co-owner of The House of Cards in Omaha and was named director of the Bluffs Bridge Club in Council Bluffs in 2019.
Flatowicz contends that bridge is a game of communication whereby a bridge player conveys his/her choice of cards, suit, and rationale to a receptive partner to arrive at a mutual contract towards winning the game.
“The upcoming intermediate bridge classes will include pointers and practices in competitive bidding; play-of-hand and popular conventions; and winning techniques and strategies,” Rochelle said.
Bluffs Bridge Club meets and plays at the YMCA Healthy Living Center at 714 S. Main St. in Council Bluffs.
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