The 5th Regional TD Workshop took place at the Hotel President in Athens, Greece, from 2-5 February 2017. There was a record number of participants (75) from a record number of countries (23). Both the workshop and hotel facilities were spacious and excellent.
The main aim of these TD workshops is to give local level TDs an opportunity to improve their technique and knowledge, and in this the workshop was a great success. All participants finished better TDS than they were before. In particular the 23 local Greek participants will ensure that the overall level of directing bridge in Greece will be vastly improved.
The workshop consisted of an entry test, lectures, practical simulations of table events and a final test, and the participants were also graded. Special congratulations go to Denis Dobrin of Russia and Tommy Andersson of Sweden who achieved a grade of A+. The 18 TDs with A+ or A will be invited to the Main TD Course in 2019 where they will have the opportunity of being certified as International TDs.
The updated Laws of Bridge will be introduced in September this year, and an extra benefit of this course was the lectures given summarizing the main changes.
Special thanks are due to Ton Kooijman, chairman of the WBF Laws Committee, for the preparation of the tests and exercises, and to Takis Pournaras and the Hellenic Bridge Federation for help with equipment and facilities.
The next TD workshop will take place in January or February 2018.
