Peter Tinkess has been playing bridge for roughly the last 40 years, and doing so regularly for the last 25 years.
He’s the manager of the Quesnel Bridge Club, which he says has been playing together since at least the 1960s, but has a completely different crowd now.
The Quesnel Bridge Club is a member of the American Contract Bridge League (the ACBL), so their scores also go toward international rankings in the card game. Although, Tinkess says, most of the players don’t care about their ranking.
Although the club is more competitive than casual, “we certainly wouldn’t be going there unless we were having fun,” Tinkess says.
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They also don’t play often enough, says Tinkess, for it to really affect their ranking. For context, Tinkess has accumulated about 750 points through playing bridge in Quesnel, while the top player in the world has approximately 72,000 points.
The club meets every Monday, 52 weeks of the year, and, Tinkess adds, they’d meet even more if there was demand for it. But attendance in the club has begun to wane over the last couple years, he says.
“The mental stimulation, the challenge, and the fact that you’re always — no two hands are the same,” says Tinkess, “that’s the best part of the game.”
One of the clubs members is now offering bridge lessons to the community on every Wednesday at 7 p.m., starting on Sept. 12, 2018.
The lessons are free, save for the cost of the textbook, and will take place at the Golden Centre. Anyone interested in participating is encouraged to contact Mike Stevens at 250-992-5678.
Tinkess says that new duos are also welcome to join them on Monday nights, and says although a solo competitor might be harder to accommodate, he would certainly try if given enough notice. Anyone interested in going out for a night of bridge is encourages to contact Tinkess at 250-747-3502.
heather.norman@quesnelobserver.com
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