by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
One of the largest and most prestigious bridge tournaments in the country will bring about 2,000 players to the Adam’s Mark Hotel through next week.
The American Bridge Association championship tournament has made a stop in just about every major metropolitan area in the country. This year will be the ABA’s first visit to Jacksonville. The biannual tournament is considered one of the game’s premier events and goes a long way toward deciding the game’s No. 1 player.
For those accustomed to their weekly penny-a-point games, ABA spokesperson Carrolena Key said the games that will fill the Adam’s Mark ballroom will be a different breed. She said these players take their games, and their rankings seriously. Bridge may be a game, but she said the gaming sessions, which sometimes stretch to 10 hours, are all business.
“When you think about playing socially, it’s just that, it’s social. You play and talk and maybe get caught up on what’s going on in the neighborhood and so forth,” said Key. “These are championship players. Every hand, they’re competing for their ranking.”
The ABA held its first national tournament in 1933 in Buckroe Beach, Va. The group was founded in 1932 to provide African-Americans a place to play when other leagues and games were segregated. The ABA is still predominantly an African-American group, but Key said the tournament is open to everybody.
Today, many ABA members play nationally and internationally, but Key said the top players still carve out time in their schedules to return to their roots and take part in the ABA tournament. The group also plays benefit games and tournaments to help fund scholarships and charitable organizations.
Key said the tournament, which kicks off Saturday afternoon and runs through next Friday, will host players of all ages and skill levels. From the so-called asterisks (players that have no tournament experience) to the mid-level rubies and diamonds, to the top-level grand masters, Key said all skill levels will be represented.
Key said there will bill at least nine grand masters playing, including this year’s favorite, Robert Price. If the ABA tournament compares to golf at the Masters, then Price is the Tiger Woods.
Key said Price has held the No.1 spot for years, but this year is holding onto his ranking by a thread over Arthur Wills, another grand master. Price leads Wills by just eight points (out of more than a thousand) and could leave Jacksonville as the No. 2 man.
Their contest will be the most watched next week, but Key said competition at all the tables will be intense. At times, when a player feels like their partner isn’t holding up their end of the bargain, words are exchanged, she said.
Civil play is the foundation of bridge, she said, and the ABA has instituted a “zero tolerance” policy for outbursts at the tables.
“That’s not really part of the game,” she said. “Partners do have words for each other, but they make sure to do it in a nice way.”