Podcast
Leveling Up
Hosted by Adam Parrish · EN
Adam Parrish is exploring how one gets better at bridge and advances to the next level—be that from intermediate to advanced or expert to world class. Adam is an expert player himself—a national champion and a Master Teacher—but he's looking to get to the next level, and devoting the year to figuring out what that takes. Adam will be talking to world-class bridge players about how they got to where they are and what they do to maintain and hone their game. He'll also talk to non-expert bridge players about how they work to get better, and to experts in fields outside of bridge.
33episodes
Episodes
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Adam Wildavsky
Mar 3100:38:19Tap to summarizeAdam Wildavsky is a retired software engineer and lifelong bridge enthusiast. An MIT graduate, he is an avid skier, swimmer, and Lindy Hop dancer. A student of Objectivism—the philosophy of Ayn Rand—he believes its principles are especially valuable for bridge players. When not traveling, Adam divides his time between Colorado in the winter and New York City, Paris, and Sarasota in the summer.Adam is a two-time winner of the Blue Ribbon Pairs (1992, 1997), a Reisinger BAM winner (2003), and a Bronze Medalist in the 2003 Bermuda Bowl. He has won multiple national and international titles, including the USBC (Open Team Trials) in 2003 and 2009, the Lebhar IMP Pairs and Fast Open Pairs in 2008, and the inaugural JLall Memorial online event in 2020. He has over a hundred regional victories and has represented both the United States and Switzerland in international play.Away from the table, Adam serves on the WBF Executive Council and chairs its Technology Committee. He is the Vice-Chair of the ACBL National Laws Commission and has held numerous administrative roles advancing fair play and tournament innovation. As a writer and theorist, Adam has contributed to The Bridge World, Bridge Today, and the ACBL’s Magazine and Daily Bulletins. He co-created the “Keller” convention and is an authority on the Kaplan-Sheinwold bidding system. His advocacy of Ayn Rand’s ideas in relation to bridge led to a 2003 New York Times Magazine profile titled “Ayn Rand in Spades.”
Transcribe →Frances Hinden
Mar 1700:37:56Tap to summarizeFrances Hinden started playing bridge seriously at Cambridge University, where she won the Portland Bowl, the Junior Camrose, and gained a silver medal in the first European Universities Championship. Since then she has won many UK events, including multiple Camrose trophies and the Premier League, Gold Cup and Spring Foursomes twice each. She played with Graham Osborne in the Open team for the Mind Sports games in Wroclaw in 2016 and she and Graham are now regulars on the English mixed team. Frances is also vice-chair of the EBU’s regulation committee and a member of the EBU Board. Frances is retiring from full-time employment in April and is looking forward to a more relaxed lifestyle involving travel, eating, drinking and bridge.
Transcribe →Joyjit Sensarma
Feb 1000:38:41Tap to summarizeJoyjit Sensarma is a coach to many high-level partnerships. He was the coach of the USA Seniors teams that won the world championship in 2024 and finished third in 2025. He has also coached the Indian and Irish national teams.
Transcribe →Gonzolo Goded
Feb 300:36:17Tap to summarizeGonzolo Goded started playing on Spain’s junior team in 1996 and joined the open team in 2008. He studied computer science and worked as a programmer before he became a full-time pro. He is currently working on the Bridge Owl system, which uses cameras at clubs and tournaments to create a full and (hopefully) accurate record of the bidding and play. I first met him at the NABC in San Francisco, where he was doing a test of the system in the Soloway.
Transcribe →Sjoert Brink
Jan 2000:37:47Tap to summarizeSjoert Brink is one of the top players in the world. Together with his partner Bas Drijver, he has won the Bermuda Bowl three times—once for the Netherlands (2011) and twice for Switzerland (2021 and 2023)—and the Open Olympiad for the Netherlands (2016). He also won the Mixed world championships playing with Barbara Ferm in 2022. He has won many European and North American championships as well. Sjoert has 2 kids—Daan and Froukje—and studied economics at Tilburg University. He plays padel tennis, runs, and always goes wrong in the stock market.
Transcribe →Kim Frazer
Jan 900:38:48Tap to summarizeKim Frazer was an international rifle shooter who represented Australia at all levels of competition over a 28-year period from 1978 to 2006. She competed at the Olympic Games in Athens as well as 4 World Championships, 4 Commonwealth Games, winning Gold medals on 3 occasions and multiple World Cups. She became interested in the mental side of sport following an introduction to the subject during a training camp in 1985 and she used mental tools extensively during her shooting career.She played cards with the family as a child and first played a few games of bridge at lunchtimes while at university in the late 70’s and really liked the game. After retiring from international shooting, she returned to bridge at a local club in 2005 and applied the same passion and competitiveness to the game that she had brought success with her shooting career. She represented Australia on the women’s team in 2017 in Orlando Florida, and has represented her home state of Victoria on Open, Women’s and Senior teams since 2014.She started writing a series of articles for Australian bridge magazines on Mental Management for bridge in 2014, and these articles became the basis for her book Gaining the Mental Edge at Bridge which won an IBPA award for Book of the Year.Professionally, Kim held management roles in marketing and business development with Kodak & Telstra. Since retiring from corporate life, she has served on committees at her shooting club and the state & national bridge associations. She is currently treasurer of the IBPA.She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband John and blue heeler Zoe. Outside bridge she still enjoys shooting, and also cooking, reading, and watching TV series & movies.
Transcribe →Alan Shillitoe
Dec 1601:03:42Tap to summarizeAlan Shillitoe is the current England U16 Squad Leader and a former U21/U26 Coach and England junior international. In over 20 years working with the squads, he has coached more than 200 players to have played internationally, many of whom have won medals at Euro/World level.He also developed the English national Junior Award Scheme and curriculum for youth players and in 2024 was a recipient of the EBU Silver Award for his outstanding service to junior Bridge.
Transcribe →Gavin Wolpert
Dec 900:39:22Tap to summarizeGavin Wolpert is a 43-year old Canadian American Pro Bridge player turned online teacher. He grew up in a bridge playing family in Toronto. From age 14 he began traveling the world playing bridge. In 2001, he became a full-time professional bridge player and has never looked back. During the pandemic Gavin began teaching online and has developed a large following of players playing the system taught in his “master series” on wolpertbridge.comGavin currently lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with his wife Jenny and their 3 children. Two of his kids have turned into bridge players and are part of the USBF Junior Program.Gavin is a World Grand Master and ACBL Grand Life Master with over 27000 Masterpoints.Gavin is a world champion, an 8-time NABC Champion with 7 different partners including the Blue Ribbon Pairs with his then fiancé Jenny, and most recently the 2025 Soloway KO. He believes his success with so many different partners comes down to keeping a simple but modern system and being a good partner.
Transcribe →Per-Ola Cullin
Nov 2500:31:37Tap to summarizePer-Ola Cullin is a member of the Swedish Open team and lives in Stockholm with his wife and two kids. He is an associate judge at the Court of Appeals in Stockholm, currently working at the office of the Ombudsman of Justice monitoring the legality and appropriateness of the activities of public authorities. Some impressive results include wins in the Life Master Pairs 2011 and World Mind Games 2012 and third place this year in the Bermuda Bowl 2025.
Transcribe →Jason Feldman
Nov 1400:36:18Tap to summarizeJason Feldman is an immigration attorney and accomplished professional bridge player. Raised in a bridge-playing family, he learned the game at ten and went on to win the World Junior Championship (2006), the NABC Open Swiss Teams (2008), and Canada’s CNTC titles in 2023 and 2025, along with numerous additional top-ten finishes. Beyond the table, Jason co-founded BridgeWinners.com, a leading online hub for players, teachers, and fans.He also leads a successful immigration law firm with his mother—expert player Lynne Feldman—helping clients, including many bridge players, pursue their dreams of working and living in the U.S. A longtime San Diegan who later lived in the ski town of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Jason now spends most of his time in Florida. When he isn’t working or playing bridge, he’s with his wife, three kids (ages 6, 9, and 11), and two dogs—or out chasing adventures like surfing, skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, and disc golf.
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