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Snow is still on the ground in the Twin Cities. Nevertheless, temperatures are rising and spring is soon to be here!
Enjoy the season with the Hiawatha Valley Spring Sectional in Rochester. Competition starts tomorrow afternoon at 1PM with a Pairs/Team game. Various other events are scheduled throughout the weekend. The entire schedule and additional details are here.
Don't be an April Fool! Get smart and head to Rochester!
Declaring a no-trump game? Most of us are trained to set up our long suits - then go from there.
The more experienced we become, however, the deeper we look into a hand. Once our tricks are available, do we have the transportation to cash them? Perhaps not. Then, what other options are available?
One of the best declarers and theoreticians in Minnesota - John Koch - explains how to figure it all out.
Sunday, the Twin City Bridge Center hosted a Unit Finals for the Grand National Teams. Teams entered competed in three brackets; results are posted below.
Mike Cassel, organizer and tireless worker for GNT, has offered these comments on Sunday's competition and on the upcoming District Final in May.
Eighteen teams competed in last weekend's GNT Unit Final at the Twin City Bridge Center, one fewer than last year. We had 6 Open flight teams, 2 Flight A teams, 6 Flight B teams and 4 Flight C teams.
If 1/3 of Sunday's participants travel to Iowa they will save about $275 in surcharges and will receive close to $20 in travel subsidies from the Unit Final profit.
The event paid out about 140 masterpoints across the four flights: 84 in the top 2 brackets, 41 in Flight B, and about 14 in Flight C, that otherwise wouldn't have happened.
At District 14 Director Sharon Anderson's website, photos of Minnesotans and other District 14 competitors in action!
Partner puts down the dummy. You see 11 tricks on top for your side.
Uh, oh; you've contracted for 12 by bidding 6NT!
Not only does maestro John Koch explain how we can find the 12 we need - he lets us know how to make them all!
The secret? Criss-cross squeeze.
See below to discover how you, too, can perform expert play at the table!
"Greed is good," Gordon Gekko tells us in the movie Wall Street.
But - what about at the bridge table? Is greed good there, too?
Irwin Boris enlightens with a hand from a team match.
Two of our best, brightest and most lovely ladies in between competition in Louisville's Women's Pairs!
Imagination contributes mightily to success in bridge. What could possible layouts be? How can a creative maneuver confuse the opponents?
Few Minnesotans are as talented as our John Koch as imagining the road to success. Nevertheless, even John doesn't get 'em all right.
Here's a tale of imagination gone wrong. As you enjoy John's sad but amusing tale, you can also enjoy a shot of beginners starting out in the world of bridge at the Louisville NABC. Perhaps one day some of these players will be confounding one of us!
Roger, Tony and Sharon having a fabulous time!
It's some years now since little Joey Grue started competing at the Twin City Bridge Center. Even when he began in his early teens, Joe rattled those with dozens of years more experience. Joe didn't bat an eye if he went for 800 - and amazingly early he found amazingly good plays.
Though Joe left the Minneapple some years ago for the Big Apple, all of us back home remember him with fondness - and applaud his successes with pride. Well; we've got another one to applaud; last night, Joe and his partner, Shane Blanchard, won the North American Pairs, Flight A.
Shane is also a top young star, with bridge lineage of the highest order.
Congratulations to these young men on their win! We look forward to many more impressive accomplishments to come.
Most of the action at the Spring NABC in Louisville begins on Friday, March 11. Yet, for a few select players, competition began yesterday in the NAP. Two District 14 pairs from the Twin Cities, Paul Meerschaert & Bob Balderson and Barry Purrington & Mike Cassel, finished the first two qualifying sessions. Paul and Bob qualified 22nd in the field.
Mike and Barry? Mike mournfully told me that they missed the cut by a painful one matchpoint! He recounted a hand where he saved against a grand slam bid by the opponents. "We were only going to get 4.5 matchpoints had we defended against the cold slam," Mike relayed. "But, on a number of various layouts, we had a save that would "only" go for 1400." Alas. The actual layout meant minus 1700 for the boys - and no matchpoints. When
you need only one, a tough break.
In any case, lots more action to come! For those MN players who are heading to Kentucky, good luck!
Join Unit 103 for their Awards Celebration!
Date: Saturday, March 26, 2011
Time: Lunch at 12PM, followed by awards presentation
Game following at 12:45PM; $6.00 entry fee
Lunch catered by DeGidio's at a cost of $6.00
Location: Bridge Center of St. Paul, 2603 6th Avenue, N. St. Paul 55109
Please RSVP to 651.490.5430 by Wednesday, March 23rd if you are able to attend
We look forward to seeing you at this happy and fun event!
The 2011 Awards Party for Unit 178 will be held on April 30th. Unit 178 president Marv Riedesel would like everyone to save the date and attend!
More news will be forthcoming.
Lake Geneva regionals in neighboring Wisconsin are superb. The playing areas are well lit and comfortable; hospitality is excellent. The facility itself, the Grand Geneva, is set on acres and acres of gorgeous land with a fine golf course. And, perhaps most importantly, usually the competition is challenging, providing plenty of great bridge and excitement.
This week's hand was dealt and played by John Koch's team at a Lake Geneva tournament. Surely the ending at trick twelve is as pretty as the twelfth hole - if not more so!
As every single living, breathing bridge player knows, none of us ever plays perfectly throughout a session. What we want to do, however, is take full advantage when the opponents have their "fail to play perfectly" moments.
This week, John Koch shows us just how to do it.