Minnesota Bridge

Ten Reasons

 
We are less than one week away from the MN State Sectional at Mystic Lake!  Steve Gaynor provides us with ten reasons to attend!

Here's the weekend schedule; Mike's reasons below!

Up to Date with Unit 178

For those who like to know what is happening in the Unit, our most recent minutes from the October 23, 2010 meeting are below.

As always, our thanks to the board members for all their continuing efforts!  And - if anyone is willing to volunteer in any capacity to help bridge in our community - thanks in advance and do get in touch with a board member! 

Weighing the Options

As those of us who know it and love it understand, bridge is not a simple game.  Learning how to bid, how to declare and how to defend take time and effort.  Then - one must learn strategy and judgment.  Add to that zillions of exceptions to all the rules that we take to heart - no wonder our game is fascinating, challenging - and frustrating!

This week, John Koch highlights how to weigh the options as declarer - and why.  If your defender is a new player, a competent Flight B player - or Bob Hamman, it does make a difference!

Viva la difference below!

Unit 178 Board Meeting

The next Unit 178 Board meeting is this Saturday, October 23, at the Twin City Bridge Center at 9:30AM.  The agenda for the meeting is below.  As always, feel free to peruse the agenda, stop by or contact any board members with question!

Well Endowed

Playing matchpoints is often living "on the edge."  Double a partscore and beat it - particularly vulnerable - matchpoint riches can be yours.  Double it and it makes; no supper for you tonight!

This week, John Koch tells about a pair that doubled and could have made a sizeable deposit in their matchpoint pile.  Fortunately for declarer, however, a combination of mistiming and being too well endowed led to catastrophe.

As always, our thanks to John for instructing us on how to get as rich as possible at the table.

World Juniors

Mike Cassel continues to be on the job!  Now Mike has presented us with a tale of two back to back slams from the Junior championships.

Thanks, Mike!

Team Diamond

Thousands of players from around the world watched the greatest bridge show on earth this past week.  Bridgebase Online had vugraph shows every day for the Rosenblum Cup - the event at the World Championships in Philadelphia that would select the gold medal winner.

Mike Cassel was one of those watching bridge at its best in the final match between the Diamond and Nickell teams.  At the end of the day, the Diamond team was victorious. 

Congratulations to the team - and our thanks to Mike for the article!

Be Like Zia

"Zia" - the world famous bridge player who everyone knows by his first name alone - doesn't get every hand he plays right.  Yet, if you can imitate Zia, you will win far more than most.

This week, John Koch tells us about a hand where you can "be like Zia."  Thanks, John!

Autumn Harvest Final Results

Congratulations to John Koch and Paolo Ranaldi for earning more masterpoints at the Autumn Harvest Sectional than anyone else.  All results for the sectional can be viewed here.

Well done, all!

 

Howie & Steve

Fans of Steve Garner and Howie Weinstein can see their boys play in the Round of Sixteen tomorrow in the Rosenblum Cup on Bridgebase Online.  Will Steve & Howie, part of the Strul Team, beat up on the Polish team they're playing?  Here's hoping!

Mid-Autumn Harvest

Curious about results from this weekend's Autumn Harvest Sectional?  Be curious no more!

Mike Flader has kindly sent me the sessions he has from this weekend.  Check below - the rest will be coming as they are available!

UPDATE:  Saturday's results are now posted.

MN State Sectional I/N Opportunities

I/N players will have a wealth of opportunities at the upcoming MN State Sectional November 5-7!

Players with 0-5 masterpoints can play for free Friday night at 7PM, and again on Saturday at 1:30PM.

Friday at 6:30PM, Randy Mertens will be speaking on:  "Listen - Learn - Evaluate".  Teach yourself how to understand what is happening at the bridge table.  This valuable asset will improve your defensive skills!

Saturday at 6:30PM, John Koch is our featured speaker.  "More Than You Want to Know About a Neglected Subject" is John's material.

If you're an I/N player, take advantage of free games and great speakers - plus trophies for winners and door prizes!

 

 

 

 

Live from Philadelphia!

Few Minnesotans have made the trek to Philadelphia for the World Championships.  Yet, whether you are in Edina or Eagan, Mankato or Minneapolis, you can share in all the excitement.  At Bridge Base Online, every day you can watch as the play unfolds in the prestigious Rosenblum Cup.

Bridge players throughout the world should extend thanks to Bridge Base for affording us this incredible opportunity.  Whether you can only watch a match or two, or whether you plan to watch as many hands as possible, Bridge Base is a marvelous tool for bridge players around the world.

See how home-grown Minnesota stars like Howie Weinstein, Steve Garner and Joe Grue do as they take on the rest of the world!

Autumn Harvest Sectional

After an exciting NAP District 14 Finals, another exciting weekend competition starts tomorrow!

Be sure to check out the schedule for the Autumn Harvest Sectional.  Grab your favorite partner and teammates and head to Maplewood!

NAP - Full Results

For those who are interested in results from last weekend's North American Pairs, check out this post at our district director's blog.

Decoupling Couples

As John Koch detailed last week, playing against couples can be a challenge.  When the couple has never-ending chatter, too - the challenge morphs into high alert!

On this week's slam hand, John shows how to deal with the "couple challenge" in fine style!

North American Pairs - 2010-2011

Congratulations to those competitors who will represent District 14 at the Spring NABC in Louisville!  Here are the top three finishers in each flight.

Flight A

1.  Bob Balderson - Paul Meerschaert

2.  Mike Cassel - Barry Purrington

3.  Peder Langsetmo - Gregg Van Dyke

Flight B

1.  Paul Gutterman - Eric Hendrickson

2.  Diane Henson - Larry Henson

3.  Bill Cummings - Brian Weikle

Flight C

1.  Jake Olson - Jeffrey Olson

2.  Christine Greenberg - Margaret Lichty

3.  Andrew Roe - John Kappler

Best of luck to all!  Do well and have a wonderful time in Louisville!

New District 14 Website Request

We are working on putting together a new website for our district.  Please visit District Director Sharon Anderson's blog to see if you can volunteer and participate in the process!

Unit 178 Board News

Unit 178 President Marv Riedesel alerted me to a number of changes and assignments within the Unit.

Two new non-voting positions have been added to the Board.  Brendan Byrne is now Youth Bridge Coordinator.  Nita Fronk is Intermediate/Newcomer (I/N) Coordinator.  Short bios about Brendan and Nita are below, so you can get to know them.

In addition, Mike Cassel is GNT Coordinator, Verda Gould is NAP Coordinator, Sue Jackson is Vice President and Recording Secretary, Linda Brammer is in charge of Properties, and Diane Henson handles Publicity. 

To our newcomers - welcome!  And to all - a large "thanks!"