THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501260161
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines
VICTOR RUVO SNIFFLED and hacked. His breathing was labored and his voice raspy.
``I should be home in bed,'' said Ruvo, trying to take a deep breath with the help of his Vicks inhaler, ``instead of here fighting a cold.''
But ``here'' is where Ruvo is almost daily. Here is the Bridge Center of South Tidewater and bridge - the card game - is Ruvo's addiction.
It takes more than a mere cold and fever to keep him - and many like him - at home.
Since the privately owned center opened Aug. 1 on Indian River Road, it has become a home base of sorts for hundreds of local bridge lovers who can always find someone to play with day or night. It's a club, but you don't have to be a member to join in. Players of the complicated card game pay a nominal amount - $4 a session, $3 on Thursday nights.
``These players played at scattered locations before - rec centers, condo complexes,'' said Kay Afdahl, a regular. ``The beauty of this bridge center is it has everything there - computers to track the scoring, bathroom facilities, places to store our bidding boxes and equipment, coffee and a refrigerator for snacks. And it's centrally located,'' she said.
On a recent night, Ruvo, who has been a bridge devotee since his college days, was acting as the busy center's director - a referee of sorts - for the 50 players gathered that evening.
Sitting at a table at one end of the hall, he settled questions that arose. ``The director tries to ensure equity and balance, to give all players an equal chance,'' said Ruvo. The most frequent rulings the director is called upon to settle are insufficient bids and bids out of turn.
He also kept track of the team pairings for the evening and confirmed point totals once the seven-board matches were completed. When an arm waved from across the room, Ruvo headed toward the table to resolve a question about a bid.
Bridge, he said, is a social game, but that doesn't mean that it isn't competitive. Especially that night. The players were sharpening their game for a tournament at Virginia Wesleyan College.
``About 99 percent of the players here will be playing in the regional tomorrow,'' Ruvo said with a smile and a rasp.
Contract bridge is played not for money but for master points. The players sit four to a table. About 200,000 people are members of the American Contract Bridge League.
At the center, players select their hands from a plastic board with four slots that was been made up before the game. Partners face each other, east and west vs. north and south. They study their hands intently. They reach into a bidding box for a bid. The game is conducted in library-like quiet. Although the center is open to anyone - most of the players are middle-age and older.
Long-time bridge devotee Corinne Lee sat at a table with Sherry Rottet, Jim Murphy and Butch Liebler. She and Rottet were paired against the men.
Rottet exhaled slowly after looking at her hand, apparently displeased. She flipped a green ``pass'' card onto the table. The slightest of smiles broke through Murphy's deadpan expression as he studied his hand. He is the top master point holder at the center. Liebler is a golf pro who has been playing bridge seriously for about 10 years.
``Most people think you have to be really smart to play bridge, so they're surprised when they find out what I do,'' Liebler joked.
Like golf, contract bridge uses a handicap system. Players are placed in A, B or C categories according to master point totals.
An electronics engineer, Lee is one of three owners of the center and, of course, a regular at the tables. Her partners are Harry Yockey and Bob Hendricks.
``We have all types of people who play here,'' she said. ``Doctors, lawyers, housewives. Sherry is a school secretary. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to enjoy the game.
``Bridge combines elements of psychology, math and artistry. If it was just math, engineers and computer scientists would do well, but a player needs intuition, too,'' Lee said.
The center offers lessons on Wednesday nights. Yockey teaches introduction to duplicate bridge.
``I have 11 students now,'' he said. ``They know the basics, they're not beginners.''
Members who weren't acquainted before have become friends and socialize outside the center.
Ruvo said, ``Older people are playing, as you can see. Younger people were playing. When I was in college, it was the card game to play. We need to get the younger ones back in.
``Bridge stimulates the mind. It keeps you thinking. For us older people, it keeps the mind active,'' he said.
Lee knows what Ruvo is saying. A movement is afoot, she said.
``The ACBL (American Contract Bridge League) is working its way into colleges. Many schools have begun offering bridge for credit, and competition between schools is planned.''
The Monday morning session is called Sam's Bridge Club, after Sam Finkelman, who ran a Monday morning session for 25 years. Finkelman, nearing 80, was playing last Monday. At the next table, Dr. Milton Salasky, a 62-year veteran of bridge, considered his hand.
The Thursday night game is a pairs competition. On Monday morning, the players compete as teams, four against four.
``Another great thing about bridge is that you can go anywhere in the country, pick up the phone and find a club,'' Liebler said. ``You don't have to be a social outcast.'' The Virginia Beach center is one of 4,200 affiliated clubs throughout North America.
Joan Zitzelberger drove down from Williamsburg to play in the Monday session. Like many other longtime players, she also teaches the game.
``I taught a course called Bridge 101 at William and Mary,'' she said. ``It's thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating. Computer-science students at MIT and Johns Hopkins use bridge because of its logic and statistics.''
Harry and Jackie Yockey are one of several married couples who play bridge regularly. They travel extensively, entering tournaments across the country.
Mort and Carole Stromberg and Kay and Dar Afdahls gather at the bridge center tables two or three times a week.
Corinne Lee said her husband, Ed, doesn't play:
``He said if he played he would want to play as well as I do, and he realizes that would take some time. So, I'm the only bridge player in the family now.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
HOUSE OF CARDS
[Color Photo]
It's a club, but you don't have to be a member to join in. Players
of the complicated card game pay a nominal amount - $4 a session, $3
on Thursday nights.
Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Bridge is a social game, but that doesn't mean that it isn't
competitive. Contract bridge is played not for money but for master
points.
Darwin Afdahl and his wife, Kay, gather at the center tables two or
three times a week. The game combines elements of psychology, math
and artistry - not to mention deep concentration.
Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
At the center, the game is conducted in library-like quiet. Although
the center is open to anyone, most of the players are middle-age and
older.
HOW TO PLAY
The Bridge Center of South Tidewater is in the Acredale Business
Park at 5228 Indian River Road. A variety of matches are conducted
throughout the week. The phone number is 467-3595.
by CNB