5. Adam Wildavsky - Listener to Guest + Zia discusses a bidding problem

06/26/18 • 90 min

The Setting Trick: Conversations with World Class Bridge Players

Adam Wildavsky is recognized as a Grand Life Master by the American Contract Bridge League. He has represented the United States finishing as high as third in the Bermuda Bowl and won the Reisinger Board a Match teams partnering Doug Doub with whom he had not even planned on initially playing the event.

In addition to my conversation with Adam we have bridge superstar Zia Mahmood discussing a bidding problem shared with me from my friend Anindra Sarkar.

In addition to my conversation with Adam we have bridge superstar Zia Mahmood discussing a bidding problem shared with me from my friend Anindra Sarkar.

Previous Episode

4. Zach Grossack - Bridge Star

Zach Grossack can play. He could do so as a fifteen year old star of Double Dummy

Now as a twenty year old, he is developing into one of the world's best. He and older brother Adam Grossack form one of the top young partnerships in the world. In this wide ranging conversation, Zach is both insightful and playful, much like he is at the table.

Here are some highlights:

9:18 - Get Zach’s thoughts on Danish starlet Christina Lund Madsen, including playing with her when she almost called the director on him.

15:38 - How Zach feels like he missed the golden age of professional bridge.

20:33 - On what Zach is doing to help bring new players into the game including starting a bridge club at Tufts, and how it takes so much time before one can even say that they “suck” at bridge.

29:35 - Adam Grossack might like it here where Zach refers to himself as a, “professional projector.”

30:18 - How Zach and his brother Zach recovered from almost not qualifying for the finals of the NAPs to winning in Philadelphia in March, including Adam and Zach’s partnership rule on Adam tanking and what it’s like to play with your brother.

38:38 - How you put into practice the age old rule about not talking about hands during the game.

48:15 - Learn about Zach’s previous experience with podcasting.

51:37 - Double Dummy is going to be available through Tugg.com more likely May 11 for screenings, including Cinema-on-Demand.

59:53 - Zach’s backup plans if being a bridge pro does not work out.

1:07:23 - Best win of Zach’s career to date in his mind.

1:11:05 - Listen as Zach hatches his plan to keep me from ever becoming a Platinum Life Master.

1:19:32 - Zach’s bridge hero, playing against him and with him.

Enjoy!

Next Episode

6. Adam Grossack - Sees the Angles + Mojo

On the phone with Adam Grossack this May, we started talking about the regional tournaments he plays with Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell and a husband and wife. It's an unusual pairing because Meckwell never play together. Rather, Adam plays with either Jeff or Eric depending on whether the husband or wife is playing with the other half of the famous partnership.

I started to ask Adam questions about what system he plays with each of them and he told me, "let's save this for my podcast episode." I love that Adam thought so far in advance about being able to share these types of insights with our listening audience. It's typical of how he is at the table and how he approaches bridge.

The second half of this episode is a conversation with Morris Jones, commonly referred to as Mojo. Mojo is hosting our first Tugg screening of Double Dummy on September 18th in Pasadena and moonlights as a bridge teacher/director for newcomers two nights a week on top of his full-time job as an engineer for Dreamworks Animation!