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Senior teaches younger generations to play game

4 min read
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Tom Morris looks over Hunter Hanna’s hand and instructs him on the finer points of bidding in bridge while Sarah Wilhelm of Finleyville listens to his advice

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Tom Morris points out winners for Trinity Stillwell of Upper St. Clair during a bridge seminar at The Galleria in Mt. Lebanon.

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Alice Tempert of Cecil Township makes her move during a duplicate bridge game at the Galleria Mall in Mt. Lebanon.

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Alice Tempert of Cecil Township checks score with Mary Ann Sapienza of Mt. Lebanon during a duplicate bridge game played at the Galleria in Mt. Lebanon. They are students of Tom Morris, who gives bridge lessons once a week at The Galleria in Mt. Lebanon.

Tom Morris is a competitor.

For a while, Morris competed in badminton, on the tennis court, or on a track. And these days, the 84-year-old Jefferson Hills resident competes on the bridge table in local and national tournaments.

He also shares his knowledge of the popular pastime each Tuesday at The Galleria of Mt. Lebanon with adults and a handful of children who are eager to learn the card game.

“Guys like Andrew Carnegie passed down their money,” said Morris, who began learning the game in the 1980s and has attained the rank of Life Master, the highest honor in bridge. “I want to pass down my knowledge.”

To obtain Life Master status, a bridge player must win a specified number of master points – a measure of achievement in bridge competition – at different levels of play, including major bridge tournaments, according to the American Bridge Contract League, the governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda.

“Competition is competition,” he said.

At the urging of a friend, Arlene O’Connell of Upper St. Clair, Morris began teaching the card game at The Galleria five years ago. Through word of mouth, interest in Morris’ bridge lessons grew, and these days a dozen people with various levels of knowledge of the game attend the weekly gatherings.

Bridge is played using a regular 52-card deck. The cards are dealt equally among four, or two pairs of players, who bid in a coded language to describe their hands to their partners. The game consists of several deals that progress through four phases: dealing the cards, bidding, playing the cards and scoring. The object of the game is to win tricks, which are composed of four cards.

According to the American Contract Bridge League, 25 million Americans 18 and older know how to play the game, with the average being 51. And nearly 80 percent of the players have a college degree.

“I was one of his originals,” said Alice Tempert of Cecil. “He has wonderful patience. He is sincere and doesn’t mind repeating himself.”

When the grandchildren of some of Morris’ Tuesday regulars expressed an interest in learning the game, they asked him if he would consider teaching them, too. Morris readily agreed.

And on this particular day, Morris, a former U.S. Steel engineer, had five children, all 12 or younger, sitting around a table with him, ready to learn. This was the third bridge lesson for most of the children.

“It’s really neat to see him with so many young kids,” said Ann Durham of Mt. Lebanon, one of his regular adult pupils, who was in the midst of playing a hand of bridge with some of Morris’ “older” regulars.

Morris said he doesn’t map out lessons with his students. Since they are all beginners, Morris has been teaching them the rules of the game and how to make bids. Every one of his younger students is quickly catching on to bridge and its nuances, he said.

Tempert’s grandson, Hunter Hanna, 12, of Peters Township, got interested in the card game by watching her play.

“I taught him how to play poker, and he is pretty good at math, too,” she said.

Hunter said he finds the game “interesting.”

“I am really learning a lot,” he said. “I try and practice (with Tempert) when I have time, usually once or twice a week.”

Khristina Morris, 11, of Eighty Four, has a bit of an advantage over the other students. Tom Morris is her grandfather and her bridge teacher.

But “Pap-Pap” can be a hard grader, Khristina said.

“I like it a lot,” she said of her bridge lessons. “I am learning new things, and it is fun.”

Morris’ daughter-in-law and Khristina’s mother, Tammy, said it is awesome Morris is taking time not only to help adults hone their game, but to teach children, as well.

“He loves working with the kids,” she said.

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