You might be surprised to learn that a Vero Beach woman will be representing the United States when the 43rd World Bridge Federation Team Championships begin Saturday in Lyon, France.
But you shouldn’t be.
The Vero Beach Bridge Center is among the top 10 most active bridge clubs in America.
Bronia Jenkins
What is surprising, though, is that Castaway Cove resident Bronia Jenkins, who will captain the United States’ No. 2 team in this month’s biennial competition, doesn’t play as much bridge as you’d expect of a world championship contender – or at least she didn’t until March, when she severed her Achilles tendon while playing tennis at Quail Valley.
“I couldn’t really do anything else,” Jenkins said, “so I practiced more online with my bridge partner.”
Before that, Jenkins, who learned to play 30 years ago during an internship while pursuing a mechanical engineering degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hadn’t played as much as she would’ve liked.
In fact, during one 14-year stretch – while working as a foreign exchange options trader in London, New York and Connecticut, and raising her two now-teen-aged children who attend St. Edward’s – she actually stopped playing entirely.
“I had zero time,” she said.
But even when she wasn’t playing, Jenkins, 48, never lost her love for what she called a “fascinating game,” one she said she’ll never completely master.
“I’ve been playing a long time, and I play at a very high level, but I don’t play enough,” Jenkins said. “I’d like to play more. To be super competitive, you need to play more. Bridge is a game you can continually get better at.
“As much as I’ve played over the years, I still constantly make mistakes,” she added. “I can still always look back and see something I could’ve done differently. There’s so much that goes into it: strategy, tactics, probabilities, statistics, table presence . . .
“That’s why I enjoy the game so much.”
Jenkins, who was born in France and grew up in Montreal and San Diego, said she always has enjoyed playing cards and board games.
Jan Ward, Jim Andre, Bronia Jenkins and Gisela Migliore
“In chess, everything is out there on the board and the better players are going to win every time,” Jenkins said. “In poker, there’s some skill involved, but there’s a lot of luck, too. You can be the better player, but, sometimes, the cards just don’t come your way.
“Bridge is in the middle,” she added. “Anyone can beat anyone on any given hand, but, over the long run, the better player is usually going to win.”
Over the years, when she wasn’t on hiatus, she has played across America in regional and national tournaments, earning a reputation as a serious competitor. But she hasn’t played much since moving to Vero Beach in 2005.
Last September, however, Jenkins’ longtime friend and former bridge partner, Sheri Winestock of Las Vegas (via Canada), called and asked if she’d be interested in playing in the U.S. Bridge Championships.
“We started off talking about playing bridge again, just for fun, then she brought up the team trials,” Jenkins said, referring to the U.S. championships by their generic name. “When we decided to do it, it was just about playing some bridge and having a good time.”
Then the No. 1 seeded team lost during the round-robin phase, creating an opening for Jenkins’ team to play its way to the world championships.
“We got lucky,” she said of her first trials experience and qualifying for her first trip to the world championships.
Men’s and women’s teams from eight zones will compete in the two-week tournament.
The women’s teams will compete for the Venice Cup, while the men’s teams will vie for the Bermuda Bowl.
“We’ll be playing against the best in the world, so this is very exciting,” Jenkins said. “You can’t become a world champion unless you play in the world championships, and I’ve thought about being a world champion since I started playing bridge.”
