Minnesota Bridge

August 1 College Bridge Online Club - Congratulations to our Juniors!!

MGSC Club Players - Bridge Tonight!

MGSC Bridge Club (mgscbridgeclub@gmail.com)

This message should look familiar:
Tonight's game will be silver points, $6.00 entry

Weekly reminder that the MGSC will be online tonight at 7:15 on BBO.

Let us know if your partner is not a regular Twin Cities player so we can get them registered to play.

After the game, join the Zoom chat hosted by Sean McNally for post mortems, lively banter, and heartfelt commiserations, all over a glass of your favorite BYO.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://umn.zoom.us/j/92492432668

Meeting ID: 924 9243 2668

Join by SIP
92492432668@zoomcrc.com

(If you don't want to get these emails anymore, simply reply with that request and we'll lighten your inbox.)

Calling All Juniors!

Exciting Online Event Starting Tomorrow!

Saturday, August 1st, vie for masterpoints and prizes!

Details below - Enjoy!

 

 

Don't forget about the CBO Club Special Tournament this Saturday, August 1, which will award masterpoints and special prizes.   First through third place finishers will receive an Amazon gift card. Additionally, ACBL will draw the name of one random CBO tournament participant to receive a gift card.

You do need to be an ACBL member (only $5 for ages 25 and younger), have a BBO account (free) and be registered as a CBO member to participate in a CBO Tournament. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours to gain access to the CBO Club on BBO.   If you've never played in a CBO tournament before, simply log into BBO and click Competitive / Tournaments / All Tournaments or Free Tournaments / Collegiate. The CBO tournament should be first on the list.   If you have any bridge playing college friends, encourage them to join the CBO. Membership is open to any college undergrad or grad student age 35 and under. If you don’t have a student bridge org/club at your school, consider starting one. We can help! www.acbl.org/college

Discounts for Juniors playing in online tournaments!   2020 Online Event Schedule   Junior members playing in ACBL-sanctioned regionally rated online tournaments are now eligible to have a portion of their entry fees rebated so that their final cost is only $5 per session.   Just email online.tournament@acbl.org with your information and let them know when you played. Rebates are for tournaments held after 7/1/2020.

Super Silver Week

 

Hi Folks,

 

Next week's bridge games, from Monday through Saturday, will all automatically give doubled masterpoints that are silver-colored. The entry fee will be increased to $6 to cover extra table fees. We will be holding the same games as we usually do.

 

See you there!

 

Jackson

 

Jackson.wahl.1999@gmail.com

Minnesota Bridge in July

Yet again, a marvelous article from Connie Nelson about July bridge in Minnesota! Thank you, Connie!

 

St. Cloud Club: Mid-Year Milestones

 

Rather than cancel more club play and tournaments, many bridge players I know would rather cancel the first half of 2020!  But, alas - there’s no Director to call about this.  So onward we go.

And actually, several St. Cloud Club members have not only persevered, but achieved new master point milestones during these first six months.  Let’s celebrate them!

In January, before we went to on-line bridge, Joan Pickard became a Silver Life Master.  Joan jokes that if she were to play on-line, she would go backward in Master Points!  (Not true.)

Joan started playing bridge while a senior at the University of Minnesota.  She thought the game was so much fun and played a lot!  (Not sure when all these college-age St. Cloud club folks ever studied??)  A highlight for her was being able to play with all her aunts and uncles during her family’s annual weeklong cabin gathering the following summer.  She had arrived! 

Joan continued to play as a young wife and mother.  She organized several bridge groups, which she describes as “definitely party bridge.”  Most players weren’t there for the bridge; they were there for each other.  She continues to play with many of these friends to this day. 

Around the turn of the millennium, Joan’s duplicate bridge life began when she decided to take lessons from Al Brink, a director of the St Cloud Club at the time.  Joan remembers thinking, “This is a whole different level of bridge.”  Al Brink encouraged the class to try the duplicate club.  Joan remembers being so scared, but she and one other woman decided to go.  Joan has never stopped coming.  She enjoys both the people and the challenge. “I love learning to be better at something, and at the St Cloud Club, there are always people ready to help you with your game.”  She’s a good “student”, as her Silver Life mastery attests.  Congratulations, Joan!

 

In May, Wayne Reynolds became a Ruby Life Master.  Wayne loves online bridge, but I miss him around the bridge table.  Wayne is a natural teacher, charitably handing out tips after a hand’s play.  (I’ve written about him previously as instrumental in starting up the St. Cloud club mentoring program.) 

Wayne grew up playing cards, primarily whist.  One winter, he and his three college roommates checked out a Goren book on bridge from the library.  As Wayne tells it, it was SO COLD, and they lived across the river from their college.  It was SO COLD, that none of the four went to class that week and learned to play bridge instead.  After two weeks of playing bridge in their apartment, they went to the Labor Home to the duplicate club.  (Apparently, it wasn’t SO COLD that they couldn’t get there.)  The four of them had never seen a convention card, so they took home blank ones to fill out.  As a gag, they made up their own conventions.  They went back the following week with their cards all filled in neatly with such conventions as “Chinese Doubles.”   This was in January, 1959.

Once Wayne married, he taught his wife to play bridge and the two of them taught his parents to play.  Wayne says, “Most people think my parents taught me, but it was the other way around.”  His parents became avid bridge players, and played party bridge up until his Dad’s death at the age of 93.  Wayne and his wife spent many hours playing bridge with his folks and other friends.  But Wayne didn’t play duplicate bridge for almost 30 years. 

After Wayne retired, he mentioned to the brother of Paul Sitz that he’d be interested in playing duplicate again.  Within two days Paul called, saying there was a Sectional that weekend.  Want to play?   This was about twelve years ago.  They did fairly well at that Sectional, earning 6 or 7 Silver points.  He was “hooked” once again.  At that time, Wayne checked with ACBL and got credited with 35 Master points from his early days of playing. 

Since then, he and Paul have been fairly regular partners.  What I didn’t know until this article is they have known each other since the age of two, as their parents were friends.  Wayne recalls one of their earliest hands together. He and Paul were playing for fun against Wayne’s brother Charles and another childhood friend, Bob Worrell (a regular partner of John Koch - small world).  Charles and Bob were in 6 Spades, and Wayne was void in Hearts.  He was using mental telepathy: “Lead a heart, Paul.  Lead a heart.”  Paul did lead a heart, which Wayne promptly ruffed!  Paul said in his quiet voice, “The problem is partner, that’s my Ace you just ruffed!” 

Wayne credits Paul with being a great mentor to him.  He says Paul always has helpful advice, such as “If the opponents’ King is a singleton, don’t finesse!”   Congratulations, Wayne!

Last, in June, during online play – a type of bridge play I had never done prior to COVID-19, I reached my 750^th point to become Bronze Life Master.  I’m not sure there’s anything I can bronze to acknowledge this milestone like when my parents had my baby shoes bronzed, but I am happy with the way I am “taking steps” along in my lifelong bridge learning adventure.

Hope the second half of 2020 brings many, many more milestones for all of us to celebrate.

Minnesotans Shine!

Once again, Minnesota Junior players do well!  Congrats to all!

 

 

Junior Championships!

Eric Hendrikson alerted me to news about our juniors.  Morgan Johnstone has the details!  Big thanks to Eric and Morgan!

Captains,

 

Congratulations on advancing to the Knockout Stage of the 2020 Online Collegiate Bridge Championship! At the meeting held earlier this evening, a random draw was conducted to form the bracket for the KO stage, as per the CoC. The captains from 5 of the 8 KO stage teams were present to witness the KO draw, and I believe Giorgio Casinovi sent out a video.

 

The quarterfinal matchups are:

A1: Harvard - Crimson Aces vs B2: Minnesota - Gopher the Squeeze

C1: The Claremont Colleges vs D2: UChicago

B1: UC Santa Barbara - Overbidders Anonymous vs C2: Northwestern - NORTH deals, east-WEST vulERNable
D1: Georgia Tech Gold vs A2: UNC Chapel Hill

The semifinal matchups are:
Winner of A1-B2 vs Winner of  C1-D2

Winner of B1-C2 vs Winner of  D1-A2

 

The KO bracket is now on the results spreadsheet. I will add a KO Results tab for y'all to report match times and results. As a reminder, quarterfinal matches must be scheduled and played by the end of Sunday 7/19. As per the CoC, quarterfinal matches must be 32 boards long. Also, they will be divided into two segments of 16 boards, unless the team captains agree otherwise. If captains can't come to an agreeable arrangement regarding seating rights, email Giorgio Casinovi (giorgio.casinovi@ece.gatech.edu) and he will conduct a random draw to sort that out. 

 

We would like to publicize this event as much as possible. In particular, if your college bridge club has a Twitch channel, feel free to stream quarterfinal matches on a 30 minute delay. If your college bridge club does not have a Twitch channel or other method of streaming, email Sriram Ganesan (sganesan34@gatech.edu) and he might be able to stream it himself or find someone else to do so (on a 30 minute delay, of course). 

 

Also, the following issues need to be decided no later than Sunday 7/19:

1. Do we want directors for the semifinal matches? If so, those matches will most likely need to be scheduled in advance and completed on a single day at times that work for both teams and the director. 
2.  What date should the final be held? Right now, we seem to be leaning towards Sunday 7/26, but other dates are possible. Since we will have a director for the finals, the finals will likely need to be played in one day, and scheduled in advance.

3. Do we want a match between the 3rd and 4th place teams? If so, we probably want to set the date in advance to publicize it. 

We will likely have a meeting on Sunday 7/19 to finalize these issues. 

 

Anyway, good luck to all in the KO stage of the 2020 OCBC!

Santhosh.

--

Morgan Johnstone
University of Minnesota Class of 2020

Unit 103 Updates

Patti Huiras, secretary for Unit 103, has kindly shared the minutes from the most recent meeting of the board.  While the minutes have not yet been officially approved, Patti wanted people to be able to see current activity and discussion.

The minutes are in a PDF below the line.

Hope everyone had a good 4th of July and long weekend!

Bridge for Juniors - Happy 4th of July!

We are very proud of the juniors who are learning bridge, having fun and doing SO well!

ACBL recently had another CBO game for our junior players, and OF COURSE Minnesotans competed and of course played well!  

We hope that more and more juniors will start learning bridge, as it truly is the greatest game.  And we wish all our juniors the best, too, as they continue on to new jobs, higher levels of education - and more bridge!

Happy 4th of July to all!!

 

Hot Time for BBO MN Club Games in July!

Our thanks to Kim Hayward for updates on the July club schedules on BBO!

Enjoy great games in the comfort of your own home!

The new schedule can be found below the line--

 

Valid as of today, 7/1/20. Here is the new schedule with a few edits. NOTE: there will be a week of special games at the end of July, so look for an expanded schedule that week.

 

Kimberly Hayward, Club Manager

Bridge Center of St Paul

651-490-5430 w

651-271-3500 c

New 178 Unit Board Representatives

Steve Gaynor, Unit 178's new President, shared information about the Board's new composition below.

We thank all who have served our bridge community in Unit 178 - and we wish our new board members the best!  A "new normal" is currently our bridge world. We are certain our representatives will guide us toward our future.  

Thanks all!

 

Steve Gaynor, President

John Schlundt, Vice-President

Richard Cottle, Secretary

Vicky Smith, Treasurer

 

Other board members are:

 

Linda Conley

Susan Sanger

Jane Schmidt

Jackson Wahl

Cass Weil

 

We plan to have an active and forward thinking board as we move forward.

Bridge in the New World

Some unexpected quirks in our online bridge world.  Our thanks to Kim Hayward, Jackson Wahl and Tony Ames for helping us to play bridge online!

 

Last night BBO did a reset. All of our manually added guests have been washed away. All non-original players must be added again. Please give your directors at least 30 minutes before you play to verify your guests is on our player list. 

 

Going forward ACBL wants us to add them each time they play. Thanks for your patience.

 

And please remember, all players from Twin City Bridge Center, Edina, Plymouth, Metro Bridge, St Paul, Mankato, Duluth, and St Cloud are already on the list. 

Kimberly Hayward, Club Manager

Bridge Center of St Paul

651-490-5430 w

651-271-3500 c

 

TCBC

Jackson 

612.280.1274

jackson.wahl.1999@gmail.com

 

EDINA

Tony

952.200.2871

 ynotsema@aol.com

 

ST PAUL

Kim

651.271.3500

bridgecenterofstpaul@gmail.com

 

 

Twin City Bridge Center - New Online Schedule!

I'm sorry to spring so many announcements on you, but I feel that I have to make a change. Ever since we started sharing memberships with the St. Paul and Plymouth clubs, we've experienced a downturn in attendance. I've received many comments that 3:30 is much too late for people, while 9:30 is a touch too early. Again, I'm sorry for so many changes, but I feel I must make edits, because I want you to feel like you are guaranteed to get to play when you take the time out to sign up.

 

Below is the new schedule, effective immediately: 

 

Monday -        1:00; Open only

Tuesday -       11:30; Open and 0-500

Wednesday -  11:30; Open and 0-500

Thursday -      10:00; Open and 0-500

Friday -           1:00; Open only

Saturday -       10:00; Open only

 

Finally, at the request of some loyal TCBC members, there is another announcement I need to make. While the Twin Cities clubs are all now sharing memberships, and you are free to play in any of the games that you wish, I must remind you that we are not at the moment sharing profits. When you choose to sign up for a particular club's game, you are supporting that club.

 

In this time that is difficult for all of us, the TCBC desperately needs your support.

 

Please share your feedback with me - I am always trying to meet your needs as best I can.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jackson

BB Online Twin City Schedule Updates

Please view PDF Schedule Below!

The Longest Day - 2020

 

BRIDGE CENTER OF ST PAUL'S LONGEST DAY(S) GAMES

 

 

As usual the ACBL and the Alzheimer's Association have teamed up to hold Bridge events. All games this upcoming Saturday and Sunday, June 20 & 21 will be Alzheimer's games. For you, the price is the same, but you'll receive double black points.

 

ACBL is donating 100% of what they collect in table fees. BBO is going to donate 50% of their fees. We will charge the usual $5, BBO gets $1, ACBL $4. So for each game $4.50 of your money goes to Alzheimer's research. 

 

We will have an expanded schedule which will include our usual games on Saturday and Sunday, with additional short (18 board) games, 4 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

 

Enjoy bridge online - and do good, too!

 

SATURDAY - June 20

 

8am         18 Board Open Game

10am       18 Board Open Game

12pm       Usual 0-500 Game

12:30pm  Usual Open Game

2:45pm   18 Board Open Game

4:30pm   18 Board Open Game

6:30pm   Usual Open Game

SUNDAY - June 21

 

10am      18 Board Open Game

12pm      Usual Open Game

12:30pm Usual 0-750 Game

3:30pm   18 Board Open Game

5:30pm   Usual Open Game

 

Kimberly Hayward, Club Manager

Bridge Center of St Paul

651-490-5430 w

                 651-271-3500 c

Thoughts from District 14 Director Candidates

Deana Liddy and GS Jade Barrett are our District 14 candidates aiming to represent us as our current Director, Sharon Anderson, retires after years of service to us.

Dean and Jade have submitted thoughts on why they would like to be your District Director and what their plans would be for our members.

Thanks to Deana, Jade and Sharon for all their efforts to our bridge world!

 

Deana Liddy

Goals for Bridge:

 

- Keep duplicate bridge alive and well!

- Build resilience into organizational planning

- Create access for all players

- Enhance our teaching programs and reach out to new communities of players

- Support our resources in clubs and the volunteers who run our organization

- Recognize opportunities as well as challenges  

- Promote service to our players, clubs and units as we join Region 5 going forward

 

Service to Bridge:

 

 - District 14: Vice-President, GNT Chair, Board of Governors, ACBL Charity committee

 - Unit 241: Board member, GNT Chair, Caring Committee, Mentor, Charity organizer, 

   Tournament volunteer, Educational Foundation board member

 

Other Experience:

 

 - Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Omaha

 - Founding Director, UNO Faculty Development Program

 - President, American Association of University Professors, Nebraska

 - Board member for several national and regional organizations

 - Program Evaluator on many national grants in health and education

 

 

GS Jade Barrett

I, GS Jade Barrett, need your support to represent you on the ACBL Board of Directors.

 

The current environment of the ACBL  requires all the 50+ years of experience as a player and the 35+ years as a consultant who has productively assisted clubs, units and districts throughout the ACBL build and sustain their memberships.

 

My life is deeply connected to the community of players in essentially every conceivable way and I am a proud member of this "family". As such, I am driven to be a steward of the game.

 

I have the life experience, knowledge and ability to navigate these difficult times need to  fulfill this promise: 

 

"The mission of the ACBL is to promote, grow and sustain the game of bridge and serve the bridge-related interests of our Members."

 

I need your vote in order to perform the necessary tasks to preserve the game we love.

Online Bridge in the Twin Cities Metro!

Big thanks to Kim Hayward!

Lots of news about online bridge in the Twin Cities!

Enjoy!

 

Over the last 10 weeks Online Bridge has become a dazzling success. Hundreds of players from all over the Twin Cities Metro are playing in these games sometimes a few times per day.

 

Recently, the Twin City Bridge Center, the Bridge Center of St Paul and the Edina/Plymouth/Metro Bridge games have formed a coalition and now players from any of these clubs can play in the games of the other clubs. Below the line at the bottom of this message, you can open and print a PDF of the combined schedule.

 

Please refer specific questions about games to the appropriate director, phone numbers listed below the schedule.

 

Also note: June 20 & 21 are all elevated point games for the Longest Day to support fundraising for the Alzheimer's Association. Please look for added games and events and help ALZ Research!

 

Kimberly Hayward, Club Manager

Bridge Center of St Paul

651-490-5430 w

651-271-3500 c

One Hand - A Micro Analysis of Bidding Opportunities

 

Mike Cassel is not only one of Minnesota's successful and expert players. He is also someone who gives a great deal to our community, in a variety of ways. One of those ways is to give players hints on how to "up" their game.

Now that we duplicate bridge players are playing online - or nothing - Mike sees interesting hands and likes to share them.  Along with some wisdom for all, Mike has sent us both a good hand to weigh along with additional good advice.

Thanks, Mike!  And we hope that many are enjoying the online Minnesota bridge games - along with all sorts of other online bridge activities!  Enjoy!

(Mike's article is below the line in a PDF.  Only format your webmaster could manage!)