Minnesota Bridge

Awards Party for Unit 103

Doing well in events and winning is loads of fun.  Just as much fun is earning awards for our great performances - and attending a party to celebrate it all!  Unit 103 is having just such a party on Saturday, March 20th, at the Bridge Center of St. Paul at 2603 6th Avenue in North St. Paul.

The Unit 103 Awards Party for Ace of Clubs and Mini McKenney presentation will feature a catered luncheon by Bascali's Brick Oven.  Cost for the lunch is $6; entry fees for the game following awards is also $6 per person.

This year, organizers selected an earlier time to make attendance easier for those who live outside the metro area. 

The schedule is:

12:00PM     Lunch

12:30PM     Awards Presentation

1:00PM   Unit Game

We hope that you can attend! 

Please RSVP by Wednesday, March 17th to 651.490.5430 if you can make it!

 

Play with an Expert!

Often, if we're a newcomer, we play with other newcomers - and so on, up the bridge experience "food chain."  Of course, sometimes friends will play with their buddies even if there is a great disparity in expertise.  But, usually beginners do not have an opportunity to play with experts.

Well, the Twin City Bridge Center had an event to alter that dynamic!  On February 25th, an "Expert-Novice" game was held.  Marv Riedesel, experienced player and president of Unit 178 was in attendance.  Marv thoughtfully sent many photos to be posted, along with a great write up below about the festivities and the game.

Let me second Marv's thoughts with a big "thank you" to all the experienced players who offered their services at this event, to Larry Oakey for his great efforts in making certain the event was as excellent as possible, and to Teri Blu for all her work toward having great games such as this one at the TCBC.  Finally - congrats to expert Roger Anderson and Christine Garner, who won!

Be sure to check out Marv's reporting and lots more photos below!

ACBL Goals

Sharon Anderson, District 14's representative to the ACBL Board of Directors, is looking for your input.  She will be leaving soon for the Spring board meeting in Reno.  Please read this post at her blog.  She is very interested in hearing what Minnesotans have to say about the direction of our organization!

Have a Blast!

Must you be an expert player to compete in the grassroots Grand National Teams?  Well, you can be an expert . . . .   But, irrespective of your level of experience, you are welcome to compete - and win!

Judy Hansen, along with Mary Sass, and Jeff and Jake Olson, competed and won Flight C of District 14's GNT!  You can read about Judy's incredible experience at the Summer NABC below.

On March 27, members of Units 103 and 178 have the opportunity to play in Unit Finals for this fabulous event.  You need not play in the Unit Finals to be eligible for the District Finals.  But, if you do, you will save an $11 fee at the District competition, you can earn masterpoints - and you can have a great day of bridge!

The details are here.  If you are wondering whether you should play or not, then be sure to read Judy's account.  After hearing what fun it all was for Judy - I'm hoping we have enough room to hold all the teams that come to play!

First-Timers

First time partnerships are unknown quantities.  Sometimes they can be disasters.  You have one style, he another – and never the twain shall meet.

Sometimes, however, the partnership can be a sparkling success.  International stars Bart Bramley and Bjorn Fallenius played together for the first time – and won the Summer NABC 6-session Life Master Pairs.  Then they played for the second time ever – and won the Fall NABC 6-session Blue Ribbon Pairs!  That is indeed “first time success”!

Today, John Koch describes a he had with a first-timer at Tony Ames’ game in the Twin Cities.  The hand may not be quite as dramatic as a national title.  Nevertheless, it is an excellent and instructional story.

Thanks, John.  And, may all of our first time partnerships be as intriguing and challenging as the one described below!

ACBL Senior Pairs

The Twin City Bridge Center saw 26 pairs competing for the ACBL-wide Senior Pairs yesterday.  This was the first time that the event was available in the Twin Cities area.

Mike Cassel and Barry Purrington earned an excellent 67.31% game; we're looking forward to seeing how they do in the overall ACBL rankings.  John Dunstan and Judy Malcomson put together a nice 61.86% for second overall at the TCBC.

The Senior Pairs was stratified.  Thus, 15 pairs across the field earned masterpoints.

Thanks to Teri Blu for offering the event to our seniors, and to Larry Oakey for making all the boards!

Chatfield Sectional

Although the first day of competition at the Chatfield Sectional has completed, you still have two more days of play to enjoy.  Check out the schedule here.

Our director, Mike Flader, will be sending us results when he can. 

UPDATE:  All results are now posted, along with a list of masterpoints earned.  Kudos to John Koch and Paolo Ranaldi for being the masterpoint leaders!

Unit 178 Board Meeting

For those who like to keep up to date with what their unit boards are doing, this post is for you.

On Saturday, February 27, Unit 178's board will meet to address a number of ongoing and upcoming issues and events.  You can view the agenda which President Marv Riedesel has forwarded.  Thanks to all our board members, from Units 178 and 103, for all the effort they deliver for bridge!

Gopher 2010

Yes, I know it's still February.  Snow is on the ground, icicles hang from the roof, temps continue to bite and spring bulbs flower only in our imaginations.  Yet, May and the Gopher Regional are no longer that far away!

Co-chairs Patti Stuhlman and Sue Jackson, along with their mighty volunteers, are hard at work to bring you the best Gopher tournament ever!  This year, our tournament will be held right by the Mall of America at the Ramada.  The regional will begin May 25th and end the 31st.  A flyer with the schedule and additional details can be seen below.

Speaking of "being seen" - we want to see you this year at Minnesota's biggest and best tournament!  Check out our schedule and start making your plans now.  May is closer than you think!

Goodbye to Marshall

Details about Marshall Schneider's memorial service may be found here.

Thumpers

We have all played against them:  people who play their cards a bit more emphatically than they ought.  You know; "thumpers."

What should you do when you find yourself at the table with a thumper?  John Koch explains below.

Memories of Marshall Schneider

Our thanks to good friend Ron DeHarpporte for these remembrances.

Marshall Schneider died last weekend.

Marshall began playing tournament bridge in the early 1950's.  Marshall and his next door neighbor and close buddy learned together and honed their games in the Card Room at Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota.  His lifelong friend moved to Los Angeles, where he achieved world wide fame as a bridge player, teacher, and author. His name is Eddie Kantar.

Marshall stayed in the Twin Cities.   While not quite achieving Eddie's level of fame or expertise, Marshall was considered one of the best players in the area when I first met him at the Minneapolis Grand Slam Club in 1958.  He had regular partnerships with the top players of his time.  Don Horwitz, Morrie Frier, Ethel Dayboch, Julian Phillipy, Farrel Green, Irving Levine, Bob Bullock, Newt Dockman, Pat Hassett, Eddie Langer, Jerry Lee, and others all played on teams and as partners with Marshall.  

Soon some of us new players, Huge MacLean, Russ Weikle, Jim Hall, Dave Setterholm and Murray Appelbaum began playing in that group.  I remember many an enjoyable evening playing with Marshall.  We played at both at local clubs and team games held at peoples' homes, usually Ethel's, of his friends.  

Marshall worked for a living and seldom traveled to tournaments.  Consequently, he did not accumulate as many master points as some of us. 

 

Nevertheless, Marshall was a fine bridge player for many years.  He was also a very nice guy.  I shared season tickets with him and Jim and some of the other bridge players for the Vikings and the North Stars.  We went together to many Twins game and Marshall was always part of the banter and the fun.

In recent years, Marshall's health held him back from playing a lot of bridge.  But those of us who remember the bridge scene in the past decades will miss him.

Marshall Schneider

Marshall Schneider, a long time bridge player from Minneapolis, died this past week.  Apparently Marshall suffered a fall, and never was able to recover.

Marshall attended high school with bridge great Eddie Kantar, and was buddies with some of our other departed bridge greats, like Jim Hall.  Ron DeHapporte has kindly offered to write some remembrances of Marshall; I will post Ron's memories as soon as I have them.

Darlene Schneider, Marshall's wife, is planning his memorial service for February 19th, Friday, from 6PM to 8PM at the Washburn McReavy Funeral Home at 2300 W. Old Shakopee Road (Penn and Old Shakopee) in Bloomington.  From 8-8:30 there will be an informal memorial when people can share their remembrances of Marshall.  An obituary is scheduled for the Wednesday Star Tribune.

Top One Hundred

Who are the top 100 players who have accumulated the most masterpoints in Minnesota?  How many do they all have?  What is the overall breakdown of masterpoint holdings in our state? 

Marv Riedesel, president of Unit 178, has given us the current standings for Units 103 and 178.  In addition, as a numbers guy, Marv has lots of data to enlighten and amuse us!

Here are the top ten masterpoint holders as of February 10, 2010.  Marv's rundown and the full lists are below.

1	Peggy	Kaplan	12025.16
2	Jerome	Lee	10136.71
3	Larry	Oakey	9591.31
4	Peder	Langsetmo	8887.79
5	Jack	Rhatigan	8853.76
6	Bob	Balderson Jr	7588.00
7	Terry	Beckman	7298.53
8	Cynthia	Balderson	7069.86
9	Steven	Gaynor	6764.72
10	Sharon	Anderson	6686.11

Picture Perfect

Usually, declarer's calculation to locate high cards is one part art, one part logic - and one part good fortune.  Once in a while, however, the "picture is perfect" - we know from the auction where every face card must be located.

This week, John Koch gives us such a hand.  The big question is:  if we know where all the honors are - then can we perfect the play?

John shows us how below.

Twin City Bridge Center News

A lot is happening at the Twin City Bridge Center at 60th and Nicollet!  Here is a run down of all the fun and new activities available!

There is a new novice (0-99) game on Monday at 11:00 with a mini-lesson at 10:30.  The Open game also has a mini-lesson at 10:40.  Extra master points will be awarded as a result of the two games!

Matthew Huntington is directing a Saturday evening game at 5:45.  Enjoy a pot luck before bridge at 5:00.  As a bonus, the evening game is 1/2 price for players who play in the Saturday afternoon game.  Make it a "date night" with food, fun, and a non stress evening of bridge.  The game will finish early and Matthew is considering a discussion of hands after the game.  If so, hand records would be provided.

On Monday, Feb 22, a nationwide Senior game will be held at 11:00.  You must be 55 or over to play in this game.  Overall and section master point awards will be based on a sectional rating.  Hand records will be provided and a web address will be given in order to obtain a detailed analysis of the hands.

On Thursday, Feb 25th, an experienced-novice game is scheduled at 7:00.  Appetizers and sweets will be available at 6:00.  Last time this game was held over 20 tables of players participated!  Teri is looking for some experienced players (LM with 500+ mp)  to play with novices.  If you can help, please call TCBC (612-861-4487) and leave a message.  Teri will help match up the pairs.  A donation of an appetizer or a dessert would be appreciated.

A Silver Point Sectional Tournament will be held Friday, March 5 through Sunday, March 7 at the TCBC.  Open and 299er games will be held on both Friday and Saturday with both pair games and team games offered on Sunday.  Please check the TCBC website http://www.tcbridgecenter.com/  for further details.

Yesterday and Tomorrow

Updates on two great Minnesota tournaments!

The first is about the Winter Carnival. Although Mike Flader was kind enough to send us results immediately after the end of the sectional, the ACBL website just posted their official results.  Congratulations to Kerry Holloway, whose total of just over 18 masterpoints put him at top of the class. Additional results and totals are here, with the top ten competitors being:

   1   18.06 Kerry Holloway
   2   15.67 Thomas Baskin
   3   15.67 Dan Sershon
   4  14.44 Joseph Rice
   5   12.25 Steven Gaynor
   6   12.25 Jean Boettcher
   7   12.10 Terry Beckman
   8   12.10 Kathy Beckman
   9   11.37 Greg Caucutt
  10 10.91 Michael Cassel II

Well done, all!

Secondly, we have an upcoming tournament the weekend of February 19-21.  Come to Chatfield, just south of Rochester, for pairs and Swiss Teams.  The schedule and location can be found here.

Yes, we may have a pile of snow on the ground.  At the bridge table, however, our tournament competition is sizzling!

Fun at the Bridge Table

A winter wonderland covering the landscape?  Not to worry.  You can always have fun at the bridge table!  Irrespective of the weather, time of year - or wherever you are, our game is the greatest.

Steve Gaynor instructs us today on how to get the most fun out of every game we play! Please see below.

Bridge is Local

Sometimes, we focus on big events in bridge:  NABC's and regionals.  But, bridge is "local" every day in Minnesota!

Here are some excellent opportunities for bridge players in the Twin Cities.

Both the Minneapolis and St. Paul Bridge Centers have huge Tuesday morning games.  They reach over 50 tables combined on a regular basis!  Join in the fun at your most convenient club.

Are you new to duplicate?  Then don't miss Teri Blu's "Introduction to Duplicate" seminar.  Teri will cover duplicate tactics, scoring and strategy - along with a practice game.  Stop by the Twin City Bridge Club on Friday, February19th from noon to 3PM.
 
Kim Hayward has an excellent game at the Saint Paul Club; Sundays at 5:30PM.  As our days begin to get longer, you can even achieve daylight when you're done - well, one of these days!

Enjoy!
 

 

An Offer You Can't Refuse!

I've been posting links to various Larry Cohen articles and bridge tools at District 14 Director Sharon Anderson's website.  Now, Larry Cohen has made a wonderful offer to us!

Larry's links are well worth investigating on their own.  Add in a personal offer from Larry for more assistance, and this is one offer no one should refuse!