Minnesota Bridge

Bridge Buddies

For those of you who were unable to make it to the Fall NABC in San Diego, the next best thing--

Our friends at the table and out and about in sunny California!

Minnesota Miracle

Late last night, I inspected the results from Friday.  Steve Gaynor, Jean Boettcher, Keith Connolly and Rebecca Anspach had won a Swiss Team.

Eric Hendrickson, Andy Caranicas, Jason and Matthew Bribitzer-Stull had won the Mini-Spingold II to become national champs! 

And, yours truly with partner Dick Bruno was faster than anyone else in racing to the finish line.

A true "Minnesota Miracle"!  Congratulations to the Hendrickson squad for having the fortitude to come back from a first quarter 64 deficit and seize the event.  Definitely more juicy details and stories to come!

The Finals!

Eric Hendrickson's District 14 squad with Andy Caranicas and Jason & Matt Bribitzer-Stull continues their march toward victory!  Today they will battle in the finals.  Of course, everyone in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas is cheering them on!

Giant Killers for a Day

Sometimes I think it is my destiny to play Meckwell every event I enter.  So it seemed when the Open GNT team of Bob and Cindy Balderson, Paul Meerschaert, Carole Miner, Bill Kent and Peggy Kaplan began to battle.  We faced the defending champions the last match of our Swiss Team qualifier - and 26 IMPS rode on whether Bill and I arrived in a slam that made - or went down.  Alas; we choose poorly with the latter, and instead of a win by 2, we only earned one VP for the match.

Now, instead of being the fourth seeded team, and having an opportunity to choose our opponents the next day, we would be among the chosen.  It's a grisley process.  The teams who get to choose examine the final 8 qualifiers, deciding which among them is the least tough.  I stood next to Larry Cohen as he perused the field.  As the second seed, one team had been eliminated.  Larry pointed fingers at the roster, and eliminated contenders:  "We're not selecting Joe Grue.  We're not picking Dan Morse." 

His finger rested on our team.

My fingers got busy.

"Look at that team!" I exclaimed.  "Yes, they've got one excellent player.  But I never heard of any of the others.  That's who you should pick."

It didn't work.  After a short meeting with his teammates, Larry delivered the grim news.  "Sorry, Peggy.  We're picking you."

Wish Them Luck!

Mini Spingold II - 0-1500 - is down to the final four.  Among them, we find an all Twin City squad:  Eric Hendrickson, Matthew & Jason Bribitizer-Stull, and Andy Caranicas.

Matthew and Jason shared a great story with me about coolness under fire.  During their match yesterday, they had a disaster.  On a part-score hand, they went for 1400!  Some pairs fall apart after such an event, creating additional disasters so that victory is impossible. 

Not this pair.

They took a short break, collected themselves - and went on to win handsomely.

Let's hope they do the same today!

Winning a National Event

Calls for a celebration!  Congratulations to Peter Litchfield and Paul Gutterman for their Young 0-1500 Pairs title!

Thanks to Rebecca Anspach for the photo.

World Wide Bridge

One fascinating aspect of bridge is its world wide appeal.  Here I am at the NABC in Washington D.C., playing against people from India, Iceland, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Brazil, Sweden, Japan, China, etc., etc., ETC!  Whatever continent you call home, you can still love this game and travel hundreds - or thousands - of miles to play it.

The power of the Internet adds to bridge's allure.  Sue Jackson alerted me to this email that she received.

Hello again.  I live here in Ayr, Scotland, and I am a total Bridge fanatic!

I have a friend who is taking part in the American Nationals in Washington DC at the moment and he has a Blog ("The Beer Card").  From reading his blog I got a link to the Blog of Stacy Jacobs and in Stacy's Blog I got a link to Peg Kaplan's Blog and in that, Peg mentioned your Limerick competition!!  The wonders of the Internet...  what a great boon it is coupled with Bridge Base Online.  I will be watching some of the Nationals when they are broadcast and hopefully catch some of the Greats like Rod and Mecks!

I have marked all of these Blogs as favs....

All the best, from Janice Thomson

"Hi" back to Janice in Scotland!  My Spingold team will be playing the "Rod and Mecks" - assuming that we both win today.  May we have the luck of the Irish if we face them again - and perhaps Janice can watch!

 

Goodbye Des Moines! On to Washington!

Thanks to our neighbors in Des Moines for hosting an excellent Regional!  From a pleasant venue with great hospitality to beautiful summer weather, the tournament was a success.  More folks joined the festivities as the week progressed.  Check out our Des Moines photo blog to see photos just added.  If you're curious about everyone's achievements, results for the week are here.

In just two weeks, our summer NABC in Washington D.C. will begin.  If you have never attended a national tournament, consider heading east.  D.C. should have a fine turnout, and nothing can quite equal the excitement and fun of a tournament with thousands of players from around the world.  The best of the best will be there.  Still, there are events for every level of bridge player, whether you're a Bermuda Bowl champ or still searching for your fifth masterpoint.

Missing in Action

Did you miss the action at the ACBL's most recent NABC in Houston?  If so, Minnesota Bridge will try to bring a bit of the action back to you!

First, a fun news clip about our game, its personalities and the future of bridge.

Next, a round-up of stories, photographs and people who were in Houston, courtesy of yours truly, the "roaming reporter."

Finally - another photograph of those who did enter Houston's bridge fray:  Carole Miner and Cindy Balderson with two of their teammates from the Women's Swiss Teams, Nadia Koch and Kathy Baum.

 

For our next NABC in Washington, D.C., we hope that you will be a contender!  Nothing would please me more than capturing a celebratory pose!

More Houston Pics!

 

 

Minnesota in Houston Snapshots

Although I arrived at the Houston NABC too late to play, many Minnesotans were right in the thick of things.  Here are a few photos of friends I glimpsed during the second qualifying session of the Open Pairs.