Los Gatos Bridge Player Wins National Tourney

Los Gatos resident Rose Meltzer has won the BAZE Senior Knockout Teams at the fall North American Bridge Championships [NABC] that ended Dec. 4 in Seattle, WA.

Meltzer, 69, and her partner, Kyle Larsen, of San Francisco, were members of the team of six that won the annual event sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League [ACBL].

The championship is named in honor of the late Grant Baze, a famous world bridge player who played with Meltzer in 2008, having her serve as his team captain during a similar tournament in Shanghai, China, she said.

The BAZE Senior Knockout Teams began in 1994 and is restricted to players 55 years of age and older.

Meltzer has lived in Los Gatos since 1997. She's married and has two grown children, she said.

"It was a very special win. Whenever you participate in these sporting events, any success matters because everyone is trying their best," Meltzer said.

For her win, Meltzer received a trophy which stayed with the ACBL.

The jovial Meltzer said in a phone interview she's been playing bridge since high school in the 1950s.

"It's a very good mind game and it keeps your brain sharp. You have to be aware of numbers' probabilities and you have to be counting all the time," Meltzer said.

Meltzer said her mother, Carmen, a woman of Spanish heritage, taught her how to play the game, which is considered one of the most difficult card games invented.

According to the ACBL, the game attracts players of all ages and walks of life—from Microsoft founder Bill Gates to tennis star Martina Navratilova.

Founded in 1937, the ACBL is the largest bridge organization in the world, serving 165,000 members, 3,200 bridge clubs and 1,100 sectional and regional tournaments.

The ACBL's three North American Championships attract up to 5,000 players representing every state in U.S., Canada and about 20 foreign countries.