History of our Weekly Bridge Quiz
(Started by Henry W. Gurley)
Acknowledgements
The “Quiz”, as it has become known, had its origins in Dearborn, Michigan, when a friend of Henry's, who was from Dearborn, forwarded him a three-question bridge quiz each Saturday morning that she received in her subscribed newspaper. At that time this quiz was a Goren-style presentation under the aegis of Omar Sharif. Henry shared the quiz with his regular bridge partner and they compared their answers to each other’s, and to his friend’s answers from Dearborn, and they all eagerly awaited the answers forthcoming on Monday mornings from “Omar Sharif” (The Pro) and/or the syndication that he represented.
I became familiar with the Quiz when a friend of mine from Houston mentioned it to me. She contacted Henry, and Henry shared the Quiz with me . . . “and the rest is history, as they say” as relates to the HSV players.
The “Quiz” was taken over by Tannah Hirsch after Omar Sharif stepped down and became a six-question quiz on or before this takeover. Henry was unable to access this six-question quiz, as was his Michigan friend, and he subsequently contacted the “new pro” who obligingly gave him computer accessibility to said quiz. At a later date, syndication of the quiz brought on another change of “The Pro” (anonymous by request so as not to be inundated with questions/emails, etc.)
The growth of the number of participants has been nothing short of phenomenal and has been strictly a matter of “word-of-mouth”. In the earlier stages, Henry was able to accept participants’ answers, enter them as a matter of record for that week’s quiz, and then email the combined answers to the participants along with the Pros’ answers on Monday morning. Eventually this feature became unavailable to participants when Henry’s Computer Server cut off his ability to accomplish this, citing “excessive use of broadband space”. Even a change to another Server denied him this capability. Presently, I am able to accomplish this for the HSV participants, and Henry is able to send out only the six-question Quiz and subsequent Pros’ answers to participants outside of the HSV players. The total number of participants of HSV and Henry’s group is around two hundred players and also includes Canadian and Australian players.
All levels of bridge players participate, from the novice to players with tens of thousands of Master Points. It has
been stressed that a player’s answer to a quiz question will
never be a source of ridicule or embarrassment for a
player. The basic and underlying theme of the quiz is that it is “Goren-oriented bridge”. Most of all, it is fun, and an enjoyable way to bring bidding practices and conventions into play and discussion as I have witnessed here in HSV. One might be led to say that there is no one exact answer to many of the quiz’s questions.
Henry, who passed away last year (2022) at the age of 86, told me that his 7th and 8th Grade English teacher participates in the quiz. Her daughter, according to Henry, informed him that Saturday mornings and Monday mornings are two special days in her schedule because of the quiz and the subsequent Pros’ answers. Even at her advanced age, she plays in three rubber bridge and/or non-sanctioned duplicate games each week and she shares the Quiz with many of those players.
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Thank you Wayne!
Wayne is from Canada and reached out in an act of kindness in 2022 to write a program to help record our answers for this Bridge Quiz.
Wayne, thank you for all your help, the time needed to do this, and extending the good will.
We wish you the very best in the years forward!
Thank you Henry!
Henry began sending this quiz to his mentees many years ago & kept us excited about this wonderful game of Bridge. A game he was passionate about! With deepest sympathy, Henry passed on to his heavenly home on August 9, 2022. He was a great friend and inspirational to all who knew him.
"Henry, you will not be forgotten! Rest in Peace!"
Depending on the system(s) that you and your partner play, you may find yourself in disagreement with the Pro. Not to worry! Several of the participants play different systems with different partners and will make a comment reflecting the different bid with each. Seeing the varying answers makes you realize that there is not just “one” bid for a given hand. These variances make bridge such a wonderful and challenging game.
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Judgments are constantly being made as to whether a hand should be opened or passed (all bridge players know that “the green card” is the most difficult one to pull out of the bidding box because each of us is born with a competitive essence in our being), overcalled or pre-empted in competition, whether to open 1 No Trump or one of a major, how to respond to partner’s opening bid or to his overcall, or how to place the ultimate level of the contract. Actually, the thought processes are endless.
The final beauty of the game is that children as young as six or seven and oldsters in the century stage can play and enjoy bridge. And it has been pointed out many times before: “What other activity allows such a wide age range or ability range of participants?” Golf? No! Tennis? Not likely! All you need is a deck of cards, a table and four chairs and four breathing souls. You don’t even need bidding boxes. Remember those days?
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Bridge is an amazing game! My parents played it and passed their love of the game on to me. I tell my friends, "It is like playing golf in a way, it keeps you humble". Enjoy it; be friendly, and most of all, be respectful.
Thank you,
Francine