Minnesota Bridge

Autumn?

Minnesotans have enjoyed a few long awaited spring days....  Sunshine, warmth and with it walks around lakes and the shedding of winter coats.

But - that does not mean that we don't think ahead about bridge events down the road!

Come September, not only will our weather begin to cool down from the dog days of summer - the Autumn Harvest Sectional in New Brighton will be here!  September 19-21, enjoy pair and team games at the Community Center.

We don't wish to rush anyone from our spring or summer.  We do, however, want everyone to enjoy our fall bridge festivities!

Special Sectional & GNT District Finals

Tomorrow is the start of the the Special Sectional in New Brighton - along with the Saturday/Sunday competition for the District 14 GNT Finals.  

Both events should be challenging and fun.  And - for those who win their flights in GNT, the bonus of a trip to the Summer NABC in Atlanta, a chance to compete against peers from around the ACBL - and a subsidized trip!

Check out the schedule and do plan on attending!

Spring is Coming

Spring may be coming.  Yet, if you look out your front door this morning, your view will resemble mid December more than the cusp of spring!  Nevertheless, this past weekend bridge players from the Twin Cities and beyond enjoyed three days of competition at the Twin Cities Bridge Center - knowing that springtime will arrive, despite today's huge snowfall!

Thanks to Director in Charge Mike Flader, along with indispensible Larry Oakey, Teri Blu, volunteers and all of you who made the tournament so fun!

Congratulations to Paul Meerschaert, whose over 18 masterpoints headed the leaderboard - with Joe Rice close behind at 16.49.  The full list and results from each event are here.

For shots of the weekend - please see below!

Spring Is Coming!

With plenty of snow cover, "spring is coming" may not seem a reality.  Irrespective of weather, however, the Spring Is Coming Sectional is going to be at the Twin City Bridge Center this weekend!

Fight away the winter blues and have a red hot bridge weekend at 60th & Nicollet!  Details here....

Name That Game!

Have a special bridge friend you'd like to honor, or thank, or remember?  The MN Gopher Regional in May offers a wonderful opportunity to do it!

Should you wish to name one of the events at the Gopher after your special someone, you can do so.  Sue Jackson, one of our co-chairs, along with Patti Stuhlman, has all the details. 

Get in touch with Sue at sjackson@smumn.edu.  Sue will explain how you can shower your friend with glory at the Gopher!

 

Winter Carnival 2013

With a boatload of snow and frrrrrrrrrrrrrigid temperatures, we all are believers that winter is here!  And - speaking of winter - our jewel of the season, the St. Paul Winter Carnival, is coming next month!

January 25-27 at the Maplewood Community Center, you can enjoy I/N Pairs, Open Pairs, KO's, Swiss Team - and much more!  Treat yourself to expert lectures, free coffee, pizza, lunch on Sunday and the opportunity to win cash prizes!

All the details are below. 

I can't think of a better way to celebrate the Winter Carnival and have a fabulous bridge weekend!

Holiday Sectional

The Holiday Sectional in North St. Paul begins today!

Pairs and team events - with a Swiss on Sunday.

Pad your masterpoint holding and enjoy the competition prior to all the holiday festivities by heading out to the Bridge Center of St. Paul. 

All the details are here!

We Have A Winner!

Jack Rhatigan sent me this exciting bit of news:

Howard Weinstein and Steve Garner are bidding in this December's 2012 Bridge World.  They managed a score of 87 out of a maximum of 100 in ten hands of the Challenge the Champs contest.  A score of 87 is really manificent!  And, Howie and Steve will return in the January issue.

Jack is right; a most impressive performance by Howie and Steve.

And - speaking of impressive performances - the boys pulled one off tonight in San Francisco.  When the scores came in - Howie and Steve, along with teamates Aubrey Strul, Michael Becker, Tarek Sadek and Walid Elahmady were at the top of the pack!

I captured a smiling team photo, then instructed Howie and Steve to pose separately for a MN Bridge Blog photo.  Their Egyptian teammates, Tarek and Walid, were so excited I couldn't separate 'em!

Congratulations, guys - all around!

MN State Sectional 2012 Results

MN State Sectional 2012 is now "in the can."  The last bids, plays, triumphs and disasters are now history.

The player who earned the most masterpoints at this sectional was Mike Cassel.  Mike's total of 27.74 put him just ahead of Kory Solarz and and Terry Lijewski, who tied for 2/3. Total points earned for all those who played can be found here; results for each event are here.

Many thanks to co-chairmen Kathy Beckman and Verda Gould, plus all their volunteers, for their hours and hours of effort to bring us a fine tournament.  Our gratitude also goes to Mike Flader and his directing staff for smooth running games.

To all who came and conquered and learned and had a fun weekend - thanks for being there!

Today!

November's Minnesota State Sectional begins today!

Head on down to Shakopee this weekend for great competition and loads of fun!  Details here.

UPDATE:  For today, Saturday and Sunday's results - check in below!  We will post results as received.

Minnesota State Sectional 2012

In addition to the Worldwide Simultaneous Pairs on Wednesday, we have another fine opportunity for keen competition in our state.  The first weekend in November, the MN State Sectional is happening. 

With lots of hospitality, pair and team events and a mini-lesson on Friday prior to the evening session, this sectional is not to be missed!

Co-chairmen Kathy Beckman and Verda Gould hope you will head on out to Shakopee with your favorite partners and teammates and go for the gusto!  Many more details can be found below in the tournament flyer.

USBF Regional 2012

Our "extra" special Regional starts Monday afternoon in St. Paul.  We'll be posting daily bulletins from ACBL Director District 13 Suzi Subeck daily - along with photos and other tidbits.  Monday's Bulletin is already up.

Once the tournament gets under way, please continue to visit our District 14 website for all that's happening in St. Paul this week!

And - be sure to come out and play, too!

 

Paul Bunyan Sectional Final Results

Those players who headed for Lake Superior's Duluth area and the Paul Bunyan Sectional enjoyed the autumn weather and lots of great bridge!

Final results can be found here.  Thunder Bay players dominated.  Kudos to Tim Toderash and Steve Russo.  Their 15.78 masterpoints put them at the top of the "masterpoints earned" list.  Just a fraction behind were Tim McCormack and Ross Cody, with 15.26.

Well done!

 

 

Paul Bunyon Sectional

It's going on right now!  Plenty to enjoy Saturday and Sunday.  Check out the schedule below!

UPDATE:  Running results posted below.

Sacrifice

This past weekend, Minnesota enjoyed a 0-300 tournament at the Twin City Bridge Center and a sectional in St. Cloud.  Results have not yet been posted at ACBL.  As soon as they are, however, we will report on accomplishments.

In the meantime, Mike Cassel has been kind enough to supply us with a fine column about a most interesting type of maneuver:  the Merrimac Coup.  The Coup requires the sacrifice of an honor - and sometimes establishes an extra trick in the short run for declarer. Ultimately, however, it can cut declarer off from a source of many tricks - resulting in big rewards.  Mike explains below!

Swiss Flyer in New Brighton

Not playing in the GNT this weekend - or - (sniff sniff) - knocked out?  Then do consider playing in the Sunday Swiss!

Full sectional rating!  You do not need to have played on Saturday to be eligible!  Great hospitality!

The flyer for this fine event is linked below!

Big Deal

Starting today, we've got a Big Deal for you: the Hiawatha Valley Spring Sectional in Rochester.  The first session is today at 1PM; the tournament runs through Sunday with a Swiss Team that day.  You can read about the entire schedule and more details in the flyer.

Greg Caucutt also alerted me to the fact that our fine game is in the news!  Please enjoy this article about duplicate in Rochester - as you head on over to the tournament!

Tournament I/N Suggestion

Please see Sharon Anderson's website for an intriguing idea at our regionals!

Spring is Coming!

 

Snow.  Sleet.  Freezing rain.

 

It may not sound like it - but - spring is going to be here!  This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, head on down to the Twin City Bridge Center for the Spring is Coming Sectional.

Schedule and all other details can be found here!

Winter Carnival 2012

 

Winter 2011-2012 so far has not seemed much like a winter.  Nevertheless, in honor of the Winter Carnival, we had a nice dusting of snow on Saturday.

 

We also had a fine dusting of results throughout the weekend!

Congratulations to the Beckmans, Terry and Kathy, who topped the masterpoint winners.  Their over 30 point total edged out Joe Rice, Linda Webb and Rick Ekstrum (3rd and 4th/5th) by less than 4 masterpoints.  All ACBL results for the tournament can be viewed here.

 

Other highlights were our new champion of the Junior USBF Team #2, Ben Kristensen, competing with his dad, Curt.  And, we were fortunate that ACBL President and District 14 Director Sharon Anderson had returned from Bermuda to be able to compete in Sunday's Swiss.

 

Our thanks to Mike Flader and Gregg Van Dyke for their directing efforts, and to our tournament chairman, Gus Doty, for all his fine planning and execution.  As always, a big "thank you," too, to the volunteers who made this year's Winter Carnival a success!