#010 – Canada’s Northernmost Life Master Bridge Player. An interview with Chic Callas



With years of passion and commitment towards mastering the game of Duplicate Bridge, Chic Callas has recently achieved “Life Master” status through the American Contract Bridge League. Not an easy task by any measure regardless of where you happen to reside. Factor in the remoteness of living in the Yukon Territory, and the logistics related to attaining Life Master status is compounded to say the least. 

Duplicate Bridge is of course a partner’s game, requiring players to participate in sanctioned events that are monitored throughout the ACBL network far afield from Canada’s north. Throw in a worldwide pandemic, travel restrictions, and the Yukon’s remote location and you have a plethora of hurdles to get over just to make it to a tournament. Plus, we haven’t even begun to talk about the difficulty of mastering the game itself yet! 

Mark Itabashi, ranked #6 with ACBL and I have played against him a few times. This picture was at a Calgary Regional in 2018. 

It’s little wonder why many Yukon Bridge players have reached out to My Amazing Yukon Life requesting to hear the story behind the man who has clearly beaten the odds on so many levels. Not only does Chic clearly love the game of Bridge, he regularly teaches it to members of the Yukon community who equally enjoy his same passion for the game.  

The white shirt fellow is Jerry Helms, well known bridge player and teacher along with Bruce MacDonald on far left who was a partner in a team event in Pentiction in 2018.
Robert Todd, well known bridge player and teacher, also taken at Calgary Regional in 2018.

Perseverance + passion + pandemic = Canada’s Northernmost Life Master Bridge Player, Chic Callas. 

I’d like to invite you to help me build the knowledge base for future shows by becoming a member of My Amazing Yukon Life Facebook Group. This is where our personal stories come together as we build upon the collective memories of one another to record and preserve personal stories of the Yukon’s rich history and colourful life adventures. 

You can also download each episode from Buzzsprout or wherever you get your podcasts from. While you’re there, hit the subscribe button and leave me a comment on what you’d like to hear next on the show.

I hope you enjoyed this podcast, pictures, and links and I thank you for joining me as a “M.A.Y.L. carrier”, as we deliver our amazing Yukon life stories to the outside world. 

Cheers

“Trapper Dan your Renaissance Man”

Daniel Halen