23/09/2019 DOUBLE DUMMY: FILM SHOWS DUPLICATE BRIDGE ISN’T JUST FOR SENIORS SAN FRANCISCO—Duplicate bridge, once popular with millions of Americans of all ages, is now primarily a senior citizen pastime. But aficionados of the card game are hoping a film focusing on teen players can attract more youthful players to the game. Double Dummy, a feature length film which follows the travails of an American team at the 14th World Youth Teams Championships, will be screened around the country on October 2, an event the filmmakers are promoting as Double Dummy Day. In San Francisco, Double Dummy will be shown at the UA Stonestown Twin at 5:30 pm. Tickets are $12 and can only be purchased online at https://www.tugg.com/events/double-dummy-1h0z. The public is invited. The screening, sponsored by the Sunset Bridge Club, will be followed by a question-and-answer period with several young Bay Area players. The term “double dummy” is bridge jargon for analysis of a hand with all cards exposed. The film acknowledges that the game has had trouble attracting younger players (the average American Contract Bridge League member is 71), but focuses on a group of teens that challenge the stereotype: the seven members of the USA 1 team (three partnerships and one non-playing captain) from 2012. Executive producer John McAllister is himself an avid bridge enthusiast, and the game has numerous famous fans including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, some of whom appear in the film. Deborah Drysdale of the Center for Bridge Education, which offers lessons to Bay Area youngsters, urges players to bring their non-playing friends and children who might be curious about the game. “It’s never too early or too late to learn, and we at the Center for Bridge Education have a cool new way of teaching that is fun, fun, fun,” she said. “Basically it’s playing the game “WAR” with a partner. Kids love it.” You can watch a trailer for the film: Contact: Tom Stillman, president of ACBL Unit 506 (San Francisco) tjsbridge@gmail.com

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