Minnesota Bridge

Spring in the Valley

Put some spring in your step this coming April!  Enjoy the Hiawatha Valley Spring Sectional in Rochester, April 13th to 15th.

The schedule and tournament details are below.

Winter? You Betcha!

They don't call it the Winter Carnival for nothing!  Temps are supposed to be brutally cold this weekend.  But hey; we are hardy Minnesotans!  Button up your coat, tighten your hood and keep those digits warm inside your mittens.  Then, head on down to Sheet Metal Workers Union in Maplewood to face some hot competition!

The schedule follows.  The variety of events should appeal to everyone!  See you there....

Your Bid! Week #2

A9832, AJ4, K9, AK10
P - P - 2S. Your Bid?
2NT
3NT
Double
See Results

Conditions of contest are:  IMPS - you are vul and they are not.

Your Bid Worked Out....

Did you vote in the "Your Bid" poll?  I hope so!  Minnesota Bridge is planning on having this feature every week.

Now is the time to find out how your selection of bids worked!  (Drum roll, please.)

If you selected a choice that would get your partnership to slam, then you done good.  Needless to say, "6H" will do the job.  But, six hearts would get you there when you might not wish to be there.

The bid that wins all the prizes is 4D.  Partner's hand is:  Ax, Jxxxx, Kxx, 10xx.  On this auction, partner will realize that you are short in clubs, and that virtually every card in his hand is working.  The fifth heart, the spade ace, the diamond king; all are worth their weight in gold.

I, and a number of other Minneapolis Grand Slam Club players did not grab the gold when this hand came up in an IMP Pairs game.  When partner was a passed hand, I thought, "partner never has the right hand" and I made the lazy bid of 4H.  As you can see, however, partner certainly did have "the right hand."  Had I investigated, I would have found this out, and reaped big rewards. 

The pairs of Judy Nassar and Ron Bauerly, along with Marshall Schneider and Murray Appelbaum did find the route to greatness.  (Marshall and Murray's opponents found the good save in 7C; still, this takes nothing away from their good judgement.)  Kudos to them for going right at the table - and kudos to you, if you selected a winning call!

Help!

I received a request for the Chatfield Sectional Tournament schedule.  It is not posted at ACBL.org, and so far, no one has been able to send me a copy.

If someone out there in Unit 103 has it - please do me a favor and send it to mrmollo@aol.com!  I will post it pronto!

Two Hands from Mazatlan

Fascinating bridge hands are just that - whether they occur at the bridge club in Rochester, MN, at a ACBL Nationals - or, at a vacation in Mazatlan.  Reporter and world-wide traveler Roger Anderson enlightens us on a couple of hands we hope you will enjoy. 

It’s the last board of what’s been a pleasant afternoon playing bridge at the Playa Mazatlan hotel overlooking Olas Altas beach and Deer Island. The sun is low in the sky and there’s a bright glare on the water. After this hand is over we’ll start thinking about where to go for dinner. There are tons of attractive options.

Cool Bridge in a Warm Clime

Reports say that it will be minus three degrees tomorrow.  Ugh!

Some of our clever Minnesota bridge players know how to deal with such reports.  They get out of dodge!

Quite a few of our players decided to high tail it down to Mazatlan for a fest of bridge, shopping, food, sun and fun.  We hope that you enjoy these photos of some of our friends in a much toastier environment than we will be "enjoying" here for the next several days!

The Depesas, the Wernzes,  the Andersons and the Riedesels fuel up for their next bridge game.

We Can Do This Here!

Patty Tucker continues to inform Minnesota Bridge about wonderful activities with kids and bridge in Atlanta!

Watch this link from a Public Television show about Patty and her kids learning and playing bridge.

Patty also shared that this organization is willing to assist in the quest to have more children learn our great game.

Let's all give Patty a round of applause!  Without people like Patty doing this work, down the road we'll be playing in 3 table Howell's instead of enjoying a thriving, vibrant bridge game!

Your Bid!

As a new feature, Minnesota Bridge is featuring bidding polls for tough hands! 

Our debut bidding problem is from IMPS; all vul.  Pick your favorite choice and see how the rest of the field sizes it up.

Did you choose well?  Find out soon!

KQ732, KQ53, AQ82, none
1S - P - 1NT (forcing) - P 2H - P - 3H - ?
4H
4C
4D
5C
4NT
6H
See Results

The Beggar

Posting has been light at Minnesota Bridge.  Although I go begging throughout various bridge communities in our state, submissions have been slim lately.  I'd like to report about educational news, achievements, club happenings and such.  Unfortunately, however, no one is telling!

Yesterday, Murray Appelbaum, long time successful player and bridge writer, came to the rescue.  Here is a tale from Murray about the diamond suit, going wrong and right - well, please read it yourself!  And - thanks for your contribution, Murray. 

I welcome more, please!

Don Horwitz: 1925-2007

Some of our younger players will not recognize this name.  Old-timers will know it instantly.  With regret, we announce that our Minnesotan bridge community has lost another of its members:  Don Horwitz.

Please read this obituary from today's Star Tribune.  More remembrances of Don will be forthcoming.  Our sympathies to wife Dee and the rest of Don's family.

Reading, Writing - and BRIDGE!

Bridge players appreciate that bridge is fascinating, fun, challenging, sharpens your brain, heightens your capabilities for other mental tasks, promotes sociability and can be played for decades, irrespective of your physical condition - among other fine features. 

Unfortunately,  however, too much of the non-playing bridge population is unaware of the glories of our game.

In Atlanta, Patty Tucker is doing her darndest to change this!  Check out Patty's Atlanta Junior Bridge site, and view how she and some others are stimulating excitement about our game within Atlanta schools.

Happy New Year!

Best wishes to all for a magnificent 2007!

Of course, to have a chance to be magnificent, bridge has to be part of your year!

Here are some of the upcoming events and tournaments for the start of the new year.

Jan thru March  Grand National Teams Qualifying

February         Junior Fund Month; Games at Clubs

Feb 2 - 4         Winter Carnival in Maplewood

Feb 3              International Fund Game at Clubs

Feb 16 - 18    Bridge In The Valley in Chatfield

Here, There - Everywhere

With the proliferation of tournaments in recent years, reduced attendance at regionals almost by definition had to occur.  Only so many players plan to play every week; when there are five tournaments instead of one or two, games at all the tournaments will be down.

Neverthless, despite small attendance, Lake Geneva remains one of the prettiest spots in the U.S. to compete and enjoy the lovely surroundings.

Last week, the woods of Lake Geneva were filled with mist - but, not for the star partnership of Cindy Balderson and Carole Miner!  The ladies managed to seize a pair event during their short sojurn. 

Well done, my friends.  And next time, I hope that more Minnesotans take advantage of bridge in a neighboring state.

Winter Carnival

Finally it looks like winter in Minnesota!  Good thing, too, as our fabulous Winter Carnival tournament will soon be here!

The tournament is scheduled for the first weekend in February at the Sheet Metal Workers locale.  Don't miss this festive, fun and competitive weekend!  Do check our the schedule below.

Saturday Afternoon

Many of our Minnesota players indulge in club games and tournaments.  Still, some bridge players play the old-fashioned way:  rubber bridge.  One of those players is Kerry Holloway. 

On Saturday afternoon, you frequently can find Kerry and several other rubber bridge players hunkered down at the rubber bridge table.  Forget conventions like reverse drury, Jacoby 2 No-trump raises and 1430.  The rubber bridge guys play very simple and very straightforward.

As many of you know, Kerry is a long time partner of mine.  Thus, I get to see first hand how Kerry can dazzle when it comes to taking all the tricks there are to get - and then some.  Here is a hand reported from Kerry's Saturday afternoon game.  When it comes to impressive declarer play on Kerry's part, this one is no exception.  Enjoy!