Minnesota Bridge

Help and Remember

On Saturday, May 10th, Unit 178 will hold a Charity Game and silent auction.  Proceeds will go to SHiFT and to the Pancreatic Cancer Organization, in memory of Nancy Higdem Shifflet.  Nancy, a tireless and dedicated volunteer in the Minnesota bridge world, died last fall.

Please join Unit 178 in celebrating Nancy's life, raising money for excellent causes - and a fun night of bridge, too!

Contact Sharon Anderson with more questions - and see the further information below.

[email protected]

651-797-2902

Remembering Fred Espie

If you played bridge at the Twin City Bridge Center within the last decade, then you must have known Fred Espie.  Fred was a "regular" at Minneapolis' TCBC, usually playing in the corner with "Big Bob" or with Marsha Devine, favorite partner and dear friend.

In addition to being one of the Center's most frequent players, Fred also helped in a myriad of ways around the Club.  Even after serious illness set in, Fred still made it into the Center most days.

Although Fred left us several months ago, a memorial to Fred will be held this Saturday.  You can find the details in his obituary in the Star Tribune.

Lessons Learned

Do you not know what to do when the opponents' preempt?  Join the crowd.  Preempting makes life difficult, and judging what to do after one is a brew of logic, guessing and luck.

John Koch has a tale of what happened to him after a preempt.  See for yourself how much of John's result was logic - and how much everything else!

Neither Snow Nor Ice

Nor landscapes that look like the middle of January will keep us from enjoying SPRING at the Silver Point Tournament at the Twin City Bridge Center in Minneapolis.

Check out the schedule and grab some silver points!

All The Possibilities

Andy Caranicas is one of our up and coming bridge players.  He is also a new papa! 

Congratulations to Andy for the latter - and thanks to Andy for supplying us with a contemplative new column to read.

Goodbye to A Friend

Yesterday, many of us said goodbye to an icon in Minnesota bridge:  Jim Hall. 

Normandale Church in Edina was crowded.  Not only did much of the Twin City bridge world attend to pay their respects to Jim, they were joined by others who shared Jim's love of golfing, his business associations, and, of course, his beloved family.  Wonderful photos going back decades highlighted Jim and all his loves:  winning on the bowling lanes, on the golf course, and at the bridge table.  Jim's former "Ranger" teammates and  dear friends Howie Weinstein, Steve Garner, Dick Melson and Dave and Barb Lehman were unable to attend, but they sent a magnificent flower arrangement in their stead.

Ron DeHarpporte, one of Jim's closest friends, offered a warm remembrance of Jim and their almost 50 year friendship.  Ron exactly captured Jim's strengths:  an determination to always go after the win in that which he loved, a masterful ability to balance all his hobbies with work and family, and an always present sense of humor.

The day was a joyful celebration of a man who gave so much to our bridge community and others.  The day was a sad farewell to a determined competitor, dear friend, and loving husband, father and grandfather.

To Jim's family, wife Beth, daughter Linaya, son David and others - thanks for sharing him with us.  Jim will be sorely missed.

Big Mo in Motown

No national wins were secured by Minnesota players in Detroit last week.  Nevertheless, many players aquitted themselves well.  Here are those who placed in the national overalls in Detroit - congratulations, all!

Silidor Open Pairs

34.  Paul Meerschaert - Peggy Kaplan

Silver Ribbon Pairs

9.  Rick Ekstrum - Steve Gaynor

Mixed Pairs

18.  Judy Schwarz - Phil Schwarz

Whitehead Women's Pairs

8.  Peggy Kaplan - Nancy Popkin

IMP Pairs

49.  Melody Bi - Fred Chang

Golder NAP Flight B

6.  Patti Stuhlman - Mark Krusemeyer

Presidents Cup NAP Flight C

6.  Matthew Huntington - David Gronbeck

10.  Diane Henson - Larry Henson

Machlin Women's Swiss

5.  Cindy Balderson - Carole Miner - Melody Bi - Peggy Kaplan

Trick Two

You're defending and you make your best move.

Or - do you?

Sometimes declarer has clues from your actions that negate your wise decision.

John Koch explains to us how to sift through the evidence at tricks one and two.  See below for the specifics!

Unit 178 Awards Party Photos

Previously, we posted a recap of Unit 178's Awards Party.  Now, we are able to supplement that report with photos of the celebratory event!  Thanks to Mike Cassel for his report, and Unit 178 President Marv Riedesel for his photos!

More below!

Howie on Hall

Even though Howie Weinstein long ago moved away from Minnesota, we here still consider him a "Minnesota boy."  Howie sends his remembrances of an old friend, frequent teammate and occasional partner from "the old days."  Thanks, Howie.

For many years Jim was often my teammate, occasional partner in both bridge and golf, but always a good friend and class guy.  During the 70's I usually played on teams with some combination of Jim, Larry Oakey, Dick Melson, Dave Lehman, and Steve Garner, until I left Minneapolis around 1980, and then more rarely after that.  Jim was always a great teammate and partner.  He had a great perspective on the game, playing well, but always with a sense of humor, rarely critical of partners or teammates.  He limited his amount of bridge play and associated travel because his family was always his foremost priority. More than once he told me liked spending time with his family too much to spend any significant time away from them.

We played golf together many times and his golf game resembled his bridge game.  He was an extremely good golfer and maintained a low single digit handicap for most of his life, despite a bad back much of that time.  He didn't hit spectacular shots and was not a long hitter, but he hit the ball extremely straight, and had as good of a short game as anyone I have played golf with.   

I do have to relate one story from the first time I played on a team with Jim at a Thunder Bay regional circa 1973 with Ron DeHarpporte, Larry Oakey, Doug Thompson from Winnipeg, and possibly a sixth that I can't recall.  We had won the Swiss qualifying for a 16 team KO and faced a team with a sponsor and a few semi-pros in the first match.   Unfortunately this match fell on Yom Kippur.  Since I was still living at home at this time while a student at the U of Minnesota, and thought my father would be upset if I played on Yom Kippur, I sat this match out. 

I came down to the playing site around noon to discover that we had lost to a forfeit.  Being of curious mind, I innocently asked how this was possible.  The team we faced had a commitment to play another regional the next day, couldn't continue in the event, and were going to forfeit the match.  However, their sponsor wanted to play the match for fun.  Jim said that he was going to breakfast and refused to play, the position also held by at least two others (and admittedly would have been mine as well).  The other team said then we'll play the match for real.  They did, our team lost by 3 imps to the forfeit, and the other team withdrew, with their next day's opponents receiving a bye. 

Jim was the face of Minnesota bridge for years and will be very missed, as a bridge player, but more even much more as a great stand-up guy.

The Great Hall

Minnesota mourns the loss of our best.  Thursday morning, after a valiant battle against cancer, Jim Hall died.

After Jim's diagnosis, he stayed with us far longer than most thought.  But, none of those who knew Jim well were much surprised.  Whatever task Jim undertook, he always gave the fight his best.  His illness was no different. 

Jim's nickname was "The Great Hall."  Indeed, he was a great player.  Although once in a while after a session, a partner might remark, "Well, today he was more of a moderate meeting room" - most of the time Jim was a huge auditorium. 

Throughout his bridge career, Jim partnered and teamed with all of Minnesota's finest players.  Jim was 239th on the list of the top 500 masterpoint holders in the ACBL, with 12,331.77 points.  And, just about all Minnesotan bridge players know that Jim was Number One on the list in Minnesota.

Few players in Minnesota ever won as much as Jim Hall.  He won countless regional and sectional events, and at the premier Minneapolis Grand Slam Club, Jim's name is listed, decade after decade, as a winner in every event offered.

Like any top bridge player, Jim wanted to win a national event - and alas; he got as close as you could without achieving that goal.  Nevertheless, three times Jim was a runner-up in bridge's most prestigious national events.  With Dave Lehman, Dick Melson and Tom Fox, Jim earned second in the Reisinger once and twice in the Mitchell Board A Match.  Just two years ago, Jim and Melody Bi were very close to winning the Mixed Pairs, ultimately coming in third.

The Early Bird

Have you ever risked life and limb to get your lead directing suit bid - only to have partner decide to lead something else?

This week, John Koch explains how the early bird to lead his side's suit often wins the game.  As always - good lessons for all!

Congrats and A Hand!

I have heard reports that the Annual Awards Party at the TC Bridge Center for 178's Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs winners was a success!  No photos yet (I still hope to get some though). 

Mike Cassel was kind enough, however, to send a mini-report and a play problem!  Many thanks, Mike; please check below for our hand!

King Hamilton Award

Near the front door of the Twin City Bridge Center is a plaque.  Have you ever noticed it?

It is the King Hamilton Award.

King Hamilton was a bridge player who passed away in 2003.  As a memorial to his father, King's son instituted a donation for the award.

The King Hamilton Award recognizes the Life Master and Non-Life Master who wins the most points in club games at the TC Bridge Center annually.

In the Life Master category, the annual winners are:

2007    Harold Dodson

2006    Susan Jackson

2005    Don Priewert

2004    Don Priewert

In the Non-Life Master category, the annual winners are:

2007    Alan Goldstein

2006    Alan Goldstein

2005    Alan Goldstein

2004    Mary Vik

NAP-ing in Detroit

For most of us, the ACBL Nationals in Detroit won't officially begin until Thursday evening.  But for a select few, competition begins today, Wednesday. 

The North American Pairs, which required earlier qualification at the District level, has three flights of competition:  A, B and C.  Here is the link to see which players led the way in District 14.

I'm not certain which of our Minnesotan competitors will attend in each flight.  I do know, however, that the partnerships of Kerry Holloway and Larry Oakey, plus Cindy Balderson and Carole Miner will be there.  Best of luck to them, and to all of our Minnesota representatives!  Here's hoping I have more excitement to report!

Check Your Reflexes

Bridge is full of aphorisms.  "Lead from strength."  "Eight ever; nine never."  "Third hand high."  Yet, the longer you play the game, the more you appreciate that now and then, breaking the rules is superior to abiding by them.

Judging when this is so - and when "tried and true" is superior is the hallmark of an expert.  One of our local experts, top notch writer and player John Koch, lends us a hint about this.  Your reflex may tell you to behave one way.  John instructs us when to ignore this - and why.

Viva Las Vegas!

If you want excitement, Las Vegas surely is a marvelous destination for you.  This summer, our National Tournament will be held there.  No doubt it will be huge, loads of fun - and definitely exciting!

If you want further excitement, check out this heart-stopping hand submitted by Mike Cassell.  This amazing hand originated in Las Vegas.  Mike also has lots of information for those planning on attending the Las Vegas Nationals. 

Do check out Mike's hand, and get in touch with him if need be.  Our thanks to Mike and Viva Las Vegas!