Women know bridge - YouTube
2-handed or 3 handed bridge, engaging kids and holding cards - it's all happening - let's go explore talking and teaching bridge on YouTube
by Nicole Cooke
It was quiet this Sunday afternoon, so with Formula One commentators and vrooms in the background doing my head in, I decided to pour a glass of rose and explore the Youtube to find if there are any women in bridge channels.
Initially I was looking to simply do some statistical research in preparation for an interview with New Tricks Bridge owner Susan Johnson. But I got carried away wondering about the limited range of options.
Sufficiently few, that I poured another glass and started to watch.
Here is what my search returned.
Tina McVeigh – clear no nonsense explanations from down under for common mistake made by learners
Part of a series to subscribe to.
Joan Butts is an Australian teacher with great advice from this lesson 1. Learn and play lots of cards to practice. It’s absolutely perfect for women who has never played bridge before
Still down under -
Jane brings slow and clear tones to explaining bridge from the rudimentaries onwards. It’s worth a look even if you are an experienced player to discover how kiwis use pen and paper to bid! No need for storage space for bidding boxes.
Patty Tucker gives a fantasticly clear and simple explanations about bridge techniques players will use on every hand. “A ton of cards” missing – that’s my style of learning! In this video the finesse is explained:
Channel to subscribe FREE to: https://www.youtube.com/@bridgewithpatty8864
Tracy Newfield and her parents have developed videos to teach Bridge for Kids. Practical and gets straight down to business. Perfect for kids 10+ and for adults as a listen and play along.
Bridge BFF is created by Elena and absolutely gets my vote because it has David Bowie and a lobster to help her out teaching! The most professional of the sites reviewed so far, it contains bite-sized lessons for beginners.
Channel to subscribe FREE to: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJy5BmFCXOz_d3-8wgozK3Q
Once again we have a new take on the game. Barbara Powell-Schager demonstrates how to play with three players only
This is a one-off video with a very special dedication at the end.
The Oasis Bridge channel has videos from Maggie Hadley for beginners and improvers. It is part of the standard English Acol system of bridge bidding
https://www.youtube.com/@oasisbridgetuition
Bridget Rampton is not just a fellow New Zealander, but went to school just down the road from me – if only we had played bridge when we were teenagers– how many medals we might have now. Bridget has created a range of videos for learners and improvers explaining a range of bridge aspects and jargon visually, in plain English and with written summaries simultaneously. Truly a breath of fresh learning air with something for everyone.
Claudia and Lyn ensure as long as you are with a friend there is bridge to be played!
It’s a two minute video every woman should watch. This method is great for supervising students and sit-outs at duplicates.
Vicky Bevan – I could only find one video in this channel, but the cards used gave me a clue to find out more about Vicky’s teaching. In this video Vicky gives an excellent explanation and demonstration of how to fan cards, and why. And most importantly this is a must watch for every learner to appreciate to NEVER open and close their hand during play. A truly powerful lesson that will help every player keep their shape and high card points all on view!
Kelly Way explains Trickster Card and how to sign up. It is a website for card games with friends – via a link – check out the video
or the website to find out more.
The final video posted at YouTube is a four minute introduction to on-site classes at CityLit in London – an adult learning with an impressively comprehensive range of all sorts of short, long, online and in-person tuition. I can recommend it firsthand for these languages– Mandarin, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. For whether or not they are still teaching bridge we will try to track down Tutor Vanessa King and report. Video link:
So this has been an exceptional exercise - a few enjoyable glasses of wines later – I was delighted to realise that women talking bridge on YouTube all have original takes and presentations. I wonder if there are more teachers and commentators that are not found in the UK, but may show up in other countries – if you find other bridge YouTube videos by women please send the links to herbridgevoice@gmail.com and we will add them to this list. Or add them to the comments below.
On a thought provoking note. These great videos were hard to find - Why is it that men advertise themselves, while women promote their content? Perhaps for the same reason that the BBC only ever shows women with children, food or problems – we are self-effacing and let the content speak for itself. But we become harder to find in this world cluttered with junk.
