Better Bridge Education Panel

Players

Bob Hamman
World Champion, top-ranked male player in the world

Petra Hamman
World Champion, Bridge teacher

Petra and Bob Hamman of Dallas, Texas are world famous. Petra’s involvement in the game is wide-ranged. She’s a world champion, bridge teacher, member of the American Contract Bridge League Board of Governors, and Vice-President of Unit 176. The other game which captivates Petra — tennis!
Bob Hamman, since 1985, has been the highest-ranked player in the world. The powerful, charismatic Hamman has won World championships many times over. He’s a successful businessman and CEO of a chartered life insurance underwriter. He is a gamesman! His passion spills beyond bridge and he follows sports, backgammon … and any game you’d like to present to him.

Sean Quinn
Top Ranked Woman player in the World

Shawn Quinn of Katy, Texas is the world’s top-ranked female player. She won the Women’s Team Olympiad in 1996 in Rhodes, Greece. Four years later, she won again in Maastricht, Netherlands. She also won the Women’s World Pairs in 1998.
For Shawn, bridge runs in the family. She took up the game as something to do with her mother. Both of her parents, as well as her grandmother on her father’s side, were accomplished players. Shawn was hooked from the moment she started playing and loved the analytical side of the game. She adds that her favorite part, however, is the social aspect. She’s grateful for all the interesting people and wonderful friends she’s met through bridge. Including her husband!

Software & Internet

Fred Gitelman
Founder of Bridge Base Inc; Silver medallist

Fred Gitelman of Toronto, Ontario has a strong background in both computer science and bridge. With Dr. Sheri Weinstein, he founded Bridge Base Inc. and his company released the popular Bridge Master, an educational software product designed for players with varying experience and interest.
In 1998 Bridge Base began a contract with Microsoft to develop their online bridge service, which is now available on The Gaming Zone. He is currently working on his Bridge Engine, an authoring tool for creating bridge software products for Windows.
Fred has twice finished second in World Championship events, in 1991 in the World Junior Championship and in the 1995 Bermuda Bowl. He also won the Silver Medal in the 1997 Maccabiah Games.

Lorne Russell
Manager, MSN Bridge Club

Lorne Russell of Kelowna, British Columbia, has made an outstanding contribution as the manager of Microsoft’s MSN Bridge Club. In addition to being a fine bridge player he has a strong background in computer science and education. Lorne was an elementary school teacher and principal. He developed an educational bridge program, BridgePard, which he markets through his web site and has assisted Better Bridge in the development of this web site.

Teacher

Jerry Helms
Professional bridge teacher and player

Jerry Helms of Charlotte, North Carolina is a professional bridge teacher, player, and club owner. As a teacher trainer for the American Contract Bridge league, he has trained thousands of bridge teachers.
He has won more than 50 regional tournaments and is a frequent lecturer at North American Bridge championships. Ask Jerry, is his regular column in the Better Bridge magazine.

Writer

Henry Francis
Editor of the Official Encyclopedia of Bridge

Henry Francis of Memphis, Tennessee has been a writer and editor for the Boston Herald and Boston Traveler. He followed this by joining the American Contract Bridge League staff and for twenty-five years was editor of the ACBL Bulletin.
In addition to being an award-winning writer, Henry has been the editor-in-chief for the 4th and 5th editions of the Official Encyclopedia of Bridge. He’s currently working on the 6th edition to be released in the fall of 2001.

	Jerry Helms Professional bridge teacher and player
Jerry Helms of Charlotte, North Carolina is a professional bridge teacher, player, and club owner. As a teacher trainer for the American Contract Bridge league, he has trained thousands of bridge teachers. *He has won more than 50 regional tournaments and is a frequent lecturer at North American Bridge championships. Ask Jerry, is his regular column in the Better Bridge* magazine.**