20,000+ for Dr. John!

Dr. John Gustafson - 20,000+ Masterpoints!

For most of us, the world wide events of this year's pandemic have created chaos and stress of all sorts. Thus, we are delighted to be able to bring everyone an event from down south (Iowa, thank you) which is deserving of much applause. 

Rich Newell, Dr. John Gustafson's partner over the weekend and good friend, sent me the thrilling news that John is now the proud owner of over 20,000 masterpoints!  That the good doctor is well into his 90's and still sharp as a tack is news enough on its own. Yet we have great tales from Friends of Dr. John about his achievements, his years at the bridge table and more. 

Congratulations, John, on reaching masterpoint heights that few ever attain - and for being a success at the table for decades upon decades!  Big thanks, too, to our contributors for sharing these day brightening stories!

 

John & Bob Hamman - Nebraska Regional

In the early 2000's when I lived in Minnesota and was progressing to life master at the Gopher Regional, I noticed an elderly gentleman watching a team match all morning.  I remember finding that odd because I would rather just play all the time.  In 2005 I moved to Des Moines and have come to know that kibitzer as Dr. John Gustafson.  John still loves to watch and is a constant spectator of BBO team matches.  With the bridge club closed for now, he finally tried his hand at playing on BBO and has done so successfully.  The Des Moines club has anticipated his rise to 20,000 masterpoints for some time now, but alas he was about 10 points shy once the coronavirus shut down the bridge center.  So, Toby White & I hatched a plan this month to play with him online and get him those points.

John & Helen Gustafson won the 1983 Rockwell Mixed Pairs, edging out famed Italian player Benito Garozzo at the finish after bouncing back from the lowest qualifying position.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I have learned from this man in years of post-game bridge discussions while sipping wine at the "roundtable".  On many occasions it has been my immense privilege to sit across the table from this gentleman, and there are few players in District 14 who are his equal.   

        Rich Newell

 

I have been playing bridge with John Gustafson some 47 or 48 years.  We’ve played from club games to Nationals and everything in between.  In that time I’ve become accustomed to some things.  For example, John plays his share of hands and then some.  Not because he’s a hand hog.  But the bridge gods know who should be playing these hands.  The man who can take a trick or two more than everyone else holding that hand should be declarer.   They turn the auction, blind the opponents, make John’s partner take a view suitable to their will or whatever it takes to put John in the declarer’s seat.  And, more often than not, John collects those extra tricks.

 

I remember only one time in this period where John told a partner ( no, not me ), “You can’t bid your hand anymore.  When I balanced, I’ve already bid on your values.  You can’t bid them too!”  It only took a bad opening lead and a subsequent misdefense to let John land his highly unfavored contract.  His partner remained unconvinced because of that success until the Post Mortem session after the game.  

 

John has an uncanny gift for divining the lie of the cards in the unseen hands whether as declarer or defender.  More than once I’ve seen defenders or declarer hold their hand closer to their chest on the next hand after John put this gift on display.

 

With all this, playing as John’s partner is not where I’ve learned the most.  It’s the drive home after a tournament outside our unit that has been that place.  John would typically discuss with the car load of partners and team mates the last round of the traditional Sunday Swiss.  One hand could easily cover 50 to 75 miles of driving if it was complicated enough.  That meant that we might not have enough miles to cover that last round.  On the other hand, if the hands were not sufficiently complex, we might get to cover the penultimate round as well.  Given John’s lack of tournament traveling the past few years, that has transitioned to discussions after the local club game.  These days he might also bring in an interesting hand that he kibitzed on BBO from a Jimmy Cayne set match or the finals of the Reisinger, Vanderbilt or Spingold to discuss before the game starts.

 

After these year, my greatest reward is not winning, points or the like with John.  It’s playing with John.  And once in a great while, it’s hearing, “Peter, you played a perfect game.  I couldn’t find a single thing to give you a charge for.”

 

        Peter Wityk

 

 

John's approach is to treat every hand as the crucial one.

 

        Doug Stark

 

 

Val and John in Competition

 

During the past 50 years of playing bridge in Des Moines, David and I have had the pleasure of playing both with and against John many times.  Nobody else in the bridge world takes more joy in or has more enthusiasm for the game.  He is a pleasure to play with or against, not only because of his obvious skill, but also because his appreciation of the game is so contagious.  One of the pleasures of attending the club games is anticipating what challenging hand from last week's game John is going to discuss with you. 

 

Clearly John is an outstanding player, but he is also an outstanding patron of the game.  Nobody in our bridge community has contributed more than John...with financial support, with friendship, with his dependable presence at all club games, and most of all with his love of the game.  John, you are a class act through and through. 

 

Congratulations on a highly successful life and on reaching this latest bridge goal.  You deserve it!

 

Valerie Laing

 

 

 

 

GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT BY A GREAT GUY!

 

I HAVE HAD AN ACQUAINTANCE WITH Dr. JOHN FOR YEARS AND YEARS...HE IS NOT ONLY A PILLAR OF THE BRIDGE COMMUNITY BUT A PILLAR OF ANY COMMUNITY.

 

REACHING INTO THE PAST: IT IS SAID YOU GET BETTER BY PLAYING AGAINST BETTER PLAYERS. ONE OF THE BEST PAIRS  EVER IN IOWA  AS WELL AS ONE OF THE BEST PAIRS EVER IN DISTRICT 14...I REMEMBER PLAYING AGAINST JOHN AND J. FRED BENEDICT...YOU COULD LEARN A LOT PLAYING AGAINST THEM. 

    

    Jim Nash

 

Big thanks to Rich Newell for playing in the final session so Dr. John could go over 20,000 - and for collecting fine anecdotes and stories about Iowa's bridge hero!

 

And.... if you'd like to send John your OWN congratulatory note, you can reach him at this email address:  [email protected]

 

 

Comments

[Rebecca Anspach]

The first time that I played against John and Helen Gustafson was about 12 years ago at a regional in Iowa. My partner and I played against John and Helen in a team game and we finished our 6 boards quickly, while at the other table, both pairs were playing very slowly. John asked if we wanted him to tell us how we should have bid and played on each of the hands while we waited and we were then treated to a very good bridge lesson. He knew that we were novices and spoke to us respectfully. I thought it was very nice of him to give us the lesson. I am glad to see that he is still enjoying bridge and still winning. I look forward to seeing his photo in an upcoming Bridge Bulletin.

[Jonathan M. Cohn]

I had been playing bridge about three years or so when I headed to Des Moines for a sectional with my partner who was then one of the youngest players around. (Sadly he still is.) We sat down against a gentleman and lady who were quite a bit older than the field and I thought, "We are really gonna crush these two." Three boards and three match point bottoms later the reverse had occurred. I had to know who had just thrashed us and quickly found out it was Dr. John and his wife Helen, two grand life masters. I try not to underestimate players anymore.

A few years later I was playing against this star couple in the Omaha Regional. As the hand progressed I had a little luck and made an over trick. Dr. John must have given Helen a questioning look as she belted out in her quivering voice, "I was squeezed!" Indeed she was. I vowed then never to play with my wife.

Congratulations! 20000 is amazing. I hope to see you all soon at the bridge table.

[Richard Newell]

It's December 1, and perhaps nobody will ever read this, but I thought I'd post an update. Dr. John regularly plays 300-350 hands each week [google "BBO My Hands" and type in Gus94 and see for yourself!] and accumulates 50+ points each month [google "BBO Points"] playing 18-board tourneys on BBO. I only play with him Tuesdays at 7:15pm, but other people with more time on their hands give him several games per week.

I'm sure that Dr. John would like to be playing face to face again, but there were only 3 games per week to play at the club - maybe 80 boards - and I find it amusing that he is now playing 4x as much as he used to with the migration to online bridge.

I hope I shall get the chance to play with him face to face sometime in 2021.