SharonRoeAnderson

Tournament Director Lawsuit

For those of you following it, the lawsuit concerning Tournament Director overtime filed against the ACBL by Peter Marcus and Susan Petrocelli has been settled. 

 

As the details are worked out, I'll let you know of any impacts this will have on how the ACBL tournaments are staffed.

 

New & Improved NAP?

The ACBL Board of Directors has moved that:

Add a Flight A to the North American Pairs event with a masterpoint range of 0-5000.  Change the name of the flight for players over 5000 masterpoints to Championship Flight.

Effective date: June 1, 2010
Estimated cost/savings: 50K
Committee: Special Events

Discussion:

The Grand National Teams already has four flights. Having a flight A for players in the under 5000 MP range gives them a competitive event in which to participate.

We believe this in vastly preferable to raising the limit for flight B to 2500 or 2750 points. Pretty soon flight B will be at 5000, then 7500. This isn't fair to them or to the players just coming into flight B.

The maximum cost (probably will be quite a bit less than this with new participants), is $50K, based on participation and travel costs paid by ACBL for the 2008-2009 event. We can either absorb this or raise the added money.

I am interested in hearing your thoughts and feedback on this motion.  Please feel free to leave comments below or get in touch with me.

Trumps All Others

Is bridge the game that trumps all others?  We sure think so!

This column from the Wall Street Journal highlights how and why bridge fascinates.

World Championships

Many years have passed since a world championship was held in the United States.  But - wait no more!  Next October, 2010, Philadelphia will host the World Bridge Series from the 1st through the 16th.  Thousands of the world's best players will compete for eleven world titles.

Irrespective of your experience and skill level, there will be events for you.  Concurrent with the World Championships, a regional will be held.  Win WBF and ACBL masterpoints!  Check out all the news at the World Bridge Federation.

Thanksgiving in San Diego

This year, our Fall NABC starts Thanksgiving Day in San Diego.  If you'd like to spend some time in one of the country's most temperate areas, competing against bridge players ranging from novice to the elite of the world - then San Diego should be your destination!

Learn all about the San Diego NABC here.  The tournament starts November 26th and concludes December 6th.  Events will be held at the beautiful Manchester Grand Hyatt.

Hope to see you there!

Bridge in the News

For those of us who love bridge, every time our game gets a spot of publicity, we cheer.

This story is from the Hartford Courant, covering a tournament out east.  But, lo and behold, a District 14 bridge prodigy, Joe Grue, is featured.

 
Joe Grue (middle), 28, of New York City, who has won three Bridge World Championships studies his opponents Anna Marie Ardolino, of New Haven, and Anita Lanzoni, of Cheshire, during a 6-day 1,600-table tournament at The Danbury Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. With the tournament set up so two-person teams change opponents after every two hands, Lynn Makall, a contestant from Ringwood, New Jersey, said, "This is a game that you can beat a pro in and just be an amateur. You have a chance to win. You could never beat a pro tennis player. Bridge is your chance to play with a champion."

Whether on the east coast or the west - or right here in District 14-land in the great Midwest - we applaud all the fun we have at bridge, and appreciate how much it does to keep our brains alert and active.

Points, Points -

And more points!

Duplicate bridge players earn masterpoints for club games, special event games, tournaments and more.  We love to see how we - and others - are doing in the race for ever more success and masterpoints.

Below, you can examine a list of various races within District 14 for masterpoints in 2009.  It's long (lots of points being won by our members!) but interesting reading.  Congratulations to all who earn and learn!

Your Flights

The ACBL Board of Directors is considering a motion about additional stratification and flighting in bridge events.  I would like to consider your opinions and input about this change.

Please read the motion below.  Then, any thoughts you might have about whether this change would be beneficial or not - and why - would be greatly appreciated!

Item 093-34: Additional Strats and Flights in Bridge Events

Moved that:

That at sponsor option, in club games or tournaments, the allowable number of strats in a stratified event be increased from three to five, and that the allowable number of flights in a flighted event be increased from three to four (or five).

Effective date:
Estimated cost/savings:
Committee: Bridge with input from tournaments.

Discussion:

The only argument I've heard against doing this is that ACBLscore will have to be changed. OK, let's change ACBLscore.

The strats for most of the regional tournaments that I looked up were 2000+, 750-2000 and 0-750. Some are 2500+, 750-2500 and 0-750. 0-750 expects novices to compete with players who are almost halfway to silver life master! Crazy. The "norm" used to be 0-300. If you're at the bottom of any of the established strats, you're at a disadvantage, particularly because the spread is so huge.

In effect, bracketed KOs are stratified games with a whole bunch of strats - almost 40 in Gatlinburg. Undoubtedly this has quite a bit to do with the popularity of these events, and I think it sends a strong message

Catch the Spirit

Regionals in northwestern Iowa may not produce thousands of tables.  But, if you are looking for non-stop hospitality, warmth, and people that love bridge in a small town atmosphere, then the Spirit Lake Regional is the place to be!  Last week, all of it was on display, as players from around the Midwest and beyond enjoyed KO's, pair events and a Sunday Swiss.

Betty Runkle, chairwoman of the tournament, worked tirelessly to make certain that the venue was as good as possible.  Her daughter flew in from Florida to help - and help she did!  We were supplied with daily treats, sodas, pizza and more.  The directing staff, as always, did a fine job, too.

The stars of the tournament were Judy and Phil Schwarz, of Lakeville, MN.  They started out with a couple of thirds in pairs and a compact KO, then surged ahead to win the next compact KO, regular KO and the Sunday Swiss Teams. 

Judy and Phil's team on Sunday performed especially stupendously.  Along with Paul Meerschaert and Mike Cassel of MN, they ended up earning 106 victory points out of a possible perfect 120!  Pretty impressive!  To see how all of the field did throughout the week, check tournament results here.

Saturday between sessions, District 14 held a board meeting.  Minutes will be posted from this meeting when they are available.

Our thanks to the fine folks from the Spirit Lake area, to Betty Runkle, her daughter and all the many volunteers who made this warm and friendly tournament possible.

And please enjoy more photos of everyone who came to the Spirit Lake 09 Regional below!

Reno Bound

District 14's North American Pair finals was held at Des Moines' Bridge Center last Saturday and Sunday.  These nine players have the right to represent our district at the Spring NABC, competing against other qualifiers throughout North America.

Congratulations and best of luck to everyone!

Flight A

   1 293.50   A   3  Bill Kent - Peggy Kaplan
   2 260.00   A 11  Peter Wityk - Gregg Walsh
   3 249.50   A   7  Phil Schwarz - Judy Schwarz

Flight B

   1 692.00   B   11-N/S  Lee Slorah - Robert Yeates
   2 689.00   B   12-N/S  Richard Lawson - Andy Caranicas
   3 682.50   B   14-N/S  Brian Kelly - Larry Anfinson

Flight C

   1 506.19   C   12-E/W  Jeff Olson - Jake Olson
   2 502.29   C    9-E/W  Mary Pat Miller - Charles Hoster Jr
   3 494.06   C    1-N/S  Alan Yngve - Normandy Hamilton

Stats About Us

The ACBL sends out a report to directors with many statistics about our districts and units.  If you are curious about membership populations and the like, please do check out this QUIP (Quarterly Unit Improvement Package) below!