San Diego is a fabulous place for a national tournament! Is it perfect? Pretty darn close! You can see a few photos and a write up at the ACBL home page.
Here are a few more. Sharon and Roger Anderson were regaled with stories from the Hammans at Rose Meltzer's fabulous "Breakfast with the Stars." And, a couple of familiar faces starting session number one of the Blue Ribbon Pairs. Not too late to head west, my friends!
Hi all! I am blogging from the Fall NABC in San Diego. The view from my room is so glorious, I may never play bridge at all! (Only kidding :))
Marv Riedesel, President of Unit 178, requested that I post the September minutes from that month's board meeting. Please find same below.
More to come from the Nationals, too!
Mike Cassel, MN Units Coordinator and District 14 Coordinator for the 2009-2010 Grand National Teams season is most excited about this year's competition! Mike has written an article, letting everyone know how you can win red, green and gold by competing in the GNT.
What is red - green - and gold? Do read Mike's column below to find out!
And do be sure to check out the other links to brochures for the event, plus conditions of contest, too. This could be your opportunity to win a subsidized trip to the New Orleans NABC!
Thanks, Mike!
Earlier today, I received a phone call. "Hi," said the voice at the other end. "I'm a commercial photographer in Minneapolis. I like telling stories with my photos, and I'm working on telling the story of bridge." So began my conversation with Chris Bohnhoff.
Later today, I arrived home with a link to Chris' blog, his Twin City Bridge Center photo shoot, and links to his fantastic other photographic work.
When Chris says he's a professional photographer, he is not kidding! Please do take a look at the portraits he took. They are just superb - as his Chris' accompanying story of his introduction to the game of bridge itself.
Chris is hoping to take more photos and tell more stories. I certainly hope he does - and if he has half as much talent for the game as he does for photography, we will have a budding bridge star on our hands!
This week, John Koch presents us with a query from bridge great Bob Hamman. If something seems a bit odd, ask yourself, "What is going on?" Sometimes, a strange action can aid us in putting together all the pieces of a bridge puzzle.
Declarer did so on this hand. See if you can match him!
Many years ago in a world championship, Eddie Kantar found himself clutching king doubleton of clubs after his right hand opponent bid and rebid clubs. When the Italians reached seven clubs, Eddie was ecstatic - until he saw the AQ of clubs float down in the dummy!
Actually, although the "death holding" appeared in dummy, Kantar might have had an opportunity to beat the grand slam, had he put up his king of clubs when declarer led toward dummy. Joking, Eddie said he didn't do it, as he was hoping that he might find a little club somewhere in his hand, and still beat the slam. If he found that small club and had wasted his king, he would have killed himself.
"Don't worry," his partner Bob Hamman commented. "I would have done it for you."
Closer to home in our most recent North American Pairs, Kurt Schaeffer had to reckon with his own tale of king doubleton. Kurt is one most talented declarer, so we have a treat before us as Kurt takes us through his line of reasoning as he judges what to do.
After this hand, however, I think Kurt feels about the club king as Hamman did. Bob H. flung it out the window, stating: "This calls for a human sacrifice!"
Enjoy.
Although a celebration in Chicago took your intrepid MN Bridge reporter away from last weekend's tournament, Marv Riedesel stepped in admirably.
My thanks to Marv for the fun photos of top masterpoint winner Evan Sachs, and many other happy competitors, directors and volunteers!
I just posted another fine John Koch column at Minnesota Bridge. Every week, like clockwork, John sends me another bridge column, good enough that it could appear in the best bridge journals available.
Our numbering seems to have gotten slightly mixed up - but - it seems that John has now written over 140 columns for us! Quite often, players I know - both in Minnesota and elsewhere - comment on just how excellent John's writing and analysis are.
Please join me in thanking John for this generous donation of bridge expertise, writing talent and time out of his schedule to contribute to our bridge world. John: thank you so very much! You're the best!
Many qualities contribute to success at the bridge table. Have a sense of likely percentages is but one.
This week, John Koch demonstrates how we can weigh what we know about odds, along with common sense and straightforward logic. Enjoy his insightful column and ask yourself: are you applying percentages and perception?
