Robert Todd, Founder
Robert is a professional bridge teacher and player whose hometown is Tallahassee, Florida, but you'll find him all over the country and world teaching and playing bridge. Robert began playing bridge at a very young age in his parents' party bridge games and came to duplicate while starting his graduate degree in Mathematics. He spent a year in Helsinki, Finland, where he met and played with many fine European players. When he returned to the States, Robert decided to become a bridge professional himself and never looked back!
Robert plays bridge at every level from the local club to world championships. Playing with his students, he has finished in the top 20 on the Barry Crane list multiple times (with over 1500 masterpoints each of those years), posted several top-10 finishes in National-level Pairs event, and won the 0-10K Vanderbilt Knockout Teams.
Robert has degrees in Mathematics, Physics, and Political Science from Florida State University and Mathematics from the University of Helsinki. He's been a computer programmer as well as a university instructor.
Robert is often a featured lecturer at Regional and National Tournaments. He is considered one of the top teachers in North America. Robert hosts a wide range of bridge events, from small private workshops up to 150-200 player large seminars (and everything in between). He has co-hosted events with some of the all time best bridge teachers (Audrey Grant, Larry Cohen, etc... ) and they all say that Robert is "the next generation of great bridge instructor and entertainer!" Come join him at one of his events!
Robert is the President of the ACBL Educational Foundation, helping to develop ways to attract more people to bridge. He writes for the ACBL Bulletin, and has a large number of digital and physical publications - Books, Lessons, Practice Hands, Videos, Webinars, and more.
Theri Andino, Administrative Director
Theri is a bridge player, director, and teacher from Florida and the DC area. She learned to play bridge while in college after she and her roommates answered an ad in the student paper, and immediately fell in love with the game. Theri is always happy to partner new players and pass on her enthusiasm for the game. Her students have ranged in age from 6 to 86 and have had concurrently wide ranges of experience. Theri feels that the best part of bridge is that there's always something new to learn. She is a Sapphire Life Master and won the 0-10,000 IMP Pairs at the Fall 2015 NABC in Denver.
Theri holds a Master of Arts degree in Classics from the University of Florida as well as a Master of Architecture degree from Florida A&M University. She has taught college and high school Latin both in a classroom and online and her architectural interests include the history of architecture and residential design. Outside of bridge, Theri's activities and hobbies include writing and editing, traveling, reading, quilting, and knitting, as well as keeping up with her son, Sam!
Max Aeschbacher
After playing a lot of poker with his friends in grad school, Max asked his father to teach him bridge. He dove in head-first, reading every bridge book he could get his hands on, and playing enough to become a life master in under two years. "Bridge is the best! What other game combines probability, logic, critical thinking, language, ethics, and teamwork?" Max enjoys teaching and mentoring bridge as well.
Max is currently the chair of the Developmental Mathematics Department at Utah Valley University, and his degrees in Math come from the University of Utah and the University of Oregon. He was a member of the winning team of the 0-5000 Mini Spingold at the Atlanta NABC in 2013. Away from the table, he enjoys exercising, reading (although really mostly bridge books), and general socializing.
Jen Chalfan
Jen Chalfan started playing bridge while attending Harvey Mudd College in California. After graduating with a BS in physics, she returned to her native Seattle, where she lives with her two year old daughter, Katelyn. Jen works for Boeing as a program manager. When not at work or the bridge table, Jen can be found hiking, running, solving puzzles, or having a tea party with her daughter.
Jen's favorite element of bridge is declarer play - she loves puzzles, and declarer play is the perfect opportunity for puzzle solving. Jen also finds teaching bridge to be just as rewarding as playing bridge - the 'a-ha!' moment when a student gets a concept that had been just out of reach is highly rewarding.
Adam Kaplan
Adam attends Stanford University, but hails from New Port Richey, FL. For four years he held the rank of Youngest Life Master (having gotten his gold card at 10 years and 43 days old). He has represented the United States on the Junior/Youth national team in Turkey, Philadelphia, Beijing, where he earned a silver medal, and Atlanta, where he earned a gold medal!
Adam learned bridge on a cruise ship when he was 5, and later from his father and grandfather. He started playing in tournaments when he was 6, and seriously when he was 8. He is fascinated by bridge's endless possibilities and the fact that there is always more to learn. Away from the table he enjoys traveling and fishing.
Brian Meyer
Brian is an IT specialist and teacher in the Western New York area. He began playing bridge as a way to spend time with his friends while attending the University of Arizona. Brian had the great fortune of winning the Jr. USA Team Trials in 1998 in Chicago, and subsequently earned the honor of representing the United States at the World Championships in 1999. He has been a member of his Unit's board of directors as well as a representative to the ACBL Board of Governors for his district. He has been a tournament director for the past 3 years. Brian has been both playing and teaching professionally since 2004. In addition to being the father of 4, Brian recently finished his PhD in science education while attending SUNY-Buffalo.
Curt Soloff
Curt Soloff is a professional bridge player and teacher originally from Kansas City, but now lives in Denver. He has backgrounds in Communications and Landscape Architecture, with degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Kansas State University. He now teaches and directs at the Castle Rock (Colorado) Bridge Club along with playing professionally and teaching privately.
Curt is a self-taught bridge player - he learned to play with a good friend in high school and then graduated to intermediate/novice games and more and more serious post-mortems and study of the game and then on to teaching bridge himself. When it comes to teaching, Curt believes strongly in a 'back to basics' approach. "It's amazing to me how so many bridge players - ones with hundreds, even thousands of masterpoints - lack knowledge of basic bidding fundamentals." His favorite subject in the classroom is defense - a topic he feels is grossly undertaught.
When he's not at the bridge table, Curt enjoys getting out into the Rocky Mountains for a good hike, four-wheeling, landscape photography, or a soak at one of the hot springs. He also enjoys cooking and is frequently experimenting in the kitchen and expanding his figurative recipe box.
Andy Avery
Michael Berkowitz
Larry Cohen
Audrey Grant