Where's Bernie?

In 1942, Melvin Bernard Chazen was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents called him Bernie. It stuck, and this is how he is known to the world. As a high school senior, he worked as a deli waiter on weekends, holding this job until graduating from City College of New York in 1962. After graduation, he taught mathematics at Tilden High School in Brooklyn.

Luckily Bernie did not discover bridge until AFTER graduation. At his friends' fraternity house, Bernie was invited to play bridge. Bernie told them he didn't know how to play, but they insisted and taught him the rules. The briefing took only five minutes and years later, Bernie realized that they had taught him everything they knew about the game.

Bernie continued teaching mathematics by day and playing bridge every night, honing his expertise. He eventually changed careers, becoming a computer programmer and systems analyst.

In the early 1980's, he made bridge his full-time career. He taught and played tournaments with his students. He began giving group lectures and quickly developed a following. Bernie's bridge students found out what his high school students knew years before: "Taught By Bernie" is an experience of a lifetime.

Bernie began his successful bridge newsletter Bridge Sense for intermediate players in 1995, which continues to this day. In 2000, he began a second newsletter with Bobby Wolfe called Bobby Wolfe's Aces' Bridge Monthly, for the "home-bound" player. The thousands of subscribers to these publications have become the base of one of Bernie's most popular endeavors: Bridge Cruises. Shipboard students get the best of Bernie -- his legendary lecturing talents and nationally recognized expertise -- and his cruise "family" can be sure of great bridge, great lectures, great ships and superb destinations.

Bernie's newest project is Bridge University, launched in 2005. He joins renowned pros like Freddy Hamilton, Larry Cohen, and Alan Sontag in teaching intensive multiple-day sessions at beautiful resort locations around the US.