TaigaBridge

TaigaBridge Timeline

1991

TaigaBridge founder Gordon Bower first learned to play bridge the Friday after Thanksgiving, 1991. His high-school girlfriend was informed by her mother than she and her brother were required to learn bridge before they went away to college, and he was drafted as a fourth. Despite concentrating more on playing footsie under the table than on the cards, he somehow managed to learn how to play decent rubber bridge.

1993

Bored in his dorm room the second week of his freshman year, Gordon opened up the Fairbanks yellow pages to "Bridge Clubs" and got invited to come down to the Farthest North Bridge Club's Friday night duplicate game the next week. He and his pickup partner tied for third. He went home that night with 0.43 masterpoints and a membership blank to fill in and mail to the American Contract Bridge League.

He was hooked in no time. By the end of the year he was a regular at the club, had a bookshelf overflowing with bridge books, and the next summer, introduced the rest of his original foursome to the tournament scene.

1995

He became an ACBL accredited teacher in May, taught his first beginner's class in Fairbanks starting in September, and was certified as a director in December. He has continued to direct club games on a regular basis ever since.

1996

In summer 1996, the Farthest North Bridge Club became the first club in the Northwest to have a web presence, with Gordon as webmaster.

2001

The TaigaBridge business name was adopted in August 2001. That same month marked the start of regular weekly bridge lessons in Fairbanks, which ran continuously for the next four years, in addition to the four- to eight-week series which continued to be offered as demand warranted.

2003

In June 2003, TaigaBridge expanded into the new area of book sales, selling bridge books at tournaments throughout Alaska.

2005

In January 2005, TaigaBridge expanded beyond Alaska's borders with the launch of online book sales, offering mail-order service worldwide. Taking advantage of the poker boom, the inventory expanded to include poker books in addition to our primary market of bridge books and supplies.

November marked a major change, with the relocation of the home office from Fairbanks to Juneau. We continued to service the Fairbanks and Anchorage tournaments and offer one- and two-day teaching seminars in Fairbanks. (But lack of vacation after changing jobs forced my retirement from pro dates at Washington and BC regionals.)

2007

We returned to Fairbanks full-time for business as usual.

2011

Major changes! Moved from Alaska to Idaho, boxes of books in tow. I started selling books at selected Idaho and Montana sectionals. It's now much easier to arrange for me to travel to a regional or sectional near you to play.

2016

The move from Idaho to Montana made almost no difference in my tournament plans or bookselling schedule, but did wonders for my mental health!