Minnesota Bridge

Deciding Hand

Some of the sets from the Spingold in Toronto this past week have been incredibly exciting.  More than a few matches have literally been decided on the last hand.

Mike Cassell has been kibitzing on BBO like thousands of other bridge players around the world.  This particular hand decided the Round of 32 match between Nickell and Levine.

One aspect of the hand that Mike did not mention was tempo.  I was watching live, and at least 5 minutes passed prior to Zia making his opening lead.  In my opinion, and that of many others, declarer might well have assumed that Zia was taking a very long time to consider an underlead of an ace.  If that is the case - there could only be one reason why:  a void.  And after the club 9 switch - the void could only be in diamonds.

The Levine team played extremely well throughout this match.  Sometimes, it seems a pity that either team must lose!

Thanks for the hand, Mike - and thanks to all these incredible players for their thrilling play!

Guard Squeeze

Some of our players are not known well nationally.  Often, they have jobs and families; commitments make it impossible for them to attend all the NABC's and travel a lot to tournaments. 

Nevertheless; make no mistake.  Despite not having thousands upon thousands of masterpoints, they still can be excellent players.  Kurt Schaeffer, along with the rest of his GNT Flight A winning squad, proved this to be the case in Toronto.

Kurt sent me a hand that is not from their win.  Nevertheless, like many of us, Kurt appreciates a good hand, whether it's from the Spingold or party bridge!  Thanks Kurt - and congratulations once again to you, Kerry, Keith and Bjorgvin!

ACBL President Craig Robinson

Please note; President Craig Robinson will be in both Minneapolis and St. Paul during his visit to the Twin Cities!  More details in this post.

GNT Open Final

 
Although all of us in Minnesota were cheering on our victorious team in Flight A GNT, another GNT final was on Vugraph concurrently.  My thanks to Mike Cassel, who kibitzed along with thousands and wrote up this GNT Open Final wrap-up!

No Story

This week, John Koch sends us a hand that demands incisive card reading skills and play.  Of course, as John says - if 7 diamonds had been reached, there would be no story.  Kudos to Tony Ames for his fine declarer play.

Many years ago in the Vanderbilt, I had a similar experience against Meckstroth and Rodwell.  I reached 6 notrump, when 6 diamonds was a "pull trump and claim" type of hand.

Rodwell said, "Peggy, you could have made it on a clash/guard squeeze."  Right, Eric!  Alas, I took a finesse and went down.

Enjoy Tony's talents!  Thanks, John!

Meet Our President!

ACBL President Craig Robinson is coming to the Twin Cities!

On Friday, August 12, craig will attend the 7:15 game at the Twin Cities Bridge Center.  Prior to the game, Unit 178 and the Minneapolis Grand Slam Club invite you to enjoy a lasagna dinner (meat and vegetarian options available, plus salads and desserts) at 5:30.  A program will follow at 6:30.  Open and 299er games will be held.

To assist with our estimates for food preparation, RSVP's are greatly appreciated.  Please either sign up at the TCBC, or email Sue Jackson at sjackson@smumn.edu.

Don't miss this fun and exciting opportunity!

Also, for those in the St. Paul area, please be aware that Craig will be visiting there, too.  On August 12th at 10AM, Craig will be at the Bridge Center of St. Paul, 1603 6th Av. in North St. Paul.  His goal is to play a session of duplicate at each club with a local player and offer time following the game for a "question and answer" period with all in attendance. 

The ACBL has 160,000 members and serves over 3,200 duplicate bridge clubs!  Come meet Craig at the location most convenient to you!

 

GNT Champs!

 
Congratulations to Minnesota's District 14 GNT Flight A champs!

District 14 GNT!

District 14's Flight A GNT team is in the finals!  Best of luck to Kurt Schaeffer, Kerry Holloway, Bjorgvin Kristinsson and Keith Connolly as they compete for the GNT title!

Photos from yesterday's semi-final competition in which the team was victorious.

 

GNT in Toronto

Four teams from District 14 traveled to Toronto to compete.  Three made it to day two; now, one team remains.  Best of luck to Kerry Holloway, Kurt Schaeffer, Bjorgvin Kristinsson and Keith Connolly as they battle through day three!

Showing the Way

Do you like it when the opponents preempt?  Most of the time, we do not.  Our ability to communicate with partner, to find out shape and strength, is compromised.  Too often we must then guess what to do - and too often, we guess wrong.

Yet like everything else in bridge, preempting is not an absolute plus for the other side.  Sometimes, they go for a big number.  Other times, the information gained from the preempt helps us to make a hand we might not otherwise bring home.

Today, the latter scenario is exactly what happened to one declarer.  John Koch demonstrates how to judge what to do when the opponents help to show the way!

Toronto 2011

For those Minnesotans heading to Toronto for the summer NABC, have a wonderful time!  May you have many interesting - and successful! - hands.

First up on the schedule is the Grand National Teams.  Check out District 14 Director Sharon Anderson's website for the players heading from our district. 

Go get 'em, GNT teams!

Autumn Harvest

When temperatures hover around 100, thoughts of October and a fall sectional may be far, far away!  But - the Autumn Harvest Sectional will arrive sooner than you think!

The schedule for this October event, being held October 14-16, is below.  Start making plans now!

Save the Dates!

Craig Robinson, our ACBL President, will be in the Twin Cities next month! 

On August 11th, you can meet Craig at Tony Ames' evening game.  Craig will appear on the 12th at the St. Paul Bridge Center's morning game.  That evening, Craig can be found at Minneapolis' Twin Cities Bridge Center for their evening game.

Please stay tuned to the MN Bridge Blog for upcoming details!

 

Unit 178 Minutes for July Meeting

President Sue Jackson has sent us Unit 178's most recent minutes - hot off the press!  Here is what is keeping your board busy!

Aquatennial 2011 Results

The brutal heat of last week has passed - and the final card of this summer's Aquatennial sectional has been played.  Results for all events can be found here.

At the top of the masterpoint heap, we find Roger Anderson.  The 19.11 points he earned were less than 1 masterpoint away from Sue Jackson.  Well done!

We hope that everyone enjoyed the array of events available all week, the fine hospitality of the Twin Cities Bridge Center, the efforts of our directors and - of course - the competition!

Spot Watchers

Many of us can remember whether the ace, king and queen of a suit has been played or not.  But - the 8, 7 and 6?  Not always so easy.

Yet, if you are a champion "spot watcher" - then you often can seize victory from the jaws of defeat!  John Koch, along with Tony Ames, Rod Beery and Mary Egan won a national championship in 2004 with the Baze Senior KO teams.  Part of that success was due to their keen appreciation for spot watching.

This week's column features a hand where keeping an eye on the spots pays off big time.

AquaCool

Yes - I know it's brutally hot out there this weekend in the Twin Cities.  At the Twin City Bridge Center yesterday, however, during the Aquatennial - it was very cool!

Mike Cassel has the scoop!

Dave Skillingstad - 1945-2011

 
Dave was good at almost everything he did.  He was a scratch bowler and bowled a perfect game in the early 80’s.  He served in the Navy during Viet Nam and was stationed in the Great Lake Area where he worked as a computer programmer.  (He told me he bowled in 5 leagues a week when he was in the Navy!)  Nevertheless, Dave gave up bowling to play bridge.  He said, “My hands never hurt after a session of bridge”.   He was a good golfer with a banana drive that he knew how to play. 

Dave was an excellent bridge player.  He helped many a player become a Life Master and improve their game.   He loved to teach bridge and would play with most anyone who was interested in getting better.  When Dave worked for Control Data, he and buddy Dick Gerk used to take long and early lunches to play in the morning dupe.  Randy Mertens and Dave used to win about anything they entered. Ladies of any age loved him because he was charming and encouraging to everyone.   

Dave was fun and knew how to have fun.  He was a gambler – backgammon and bridge – and sports.  Hugh MacLean and Dave had a business called Sunday Vespers – football or basketball scores were the object of their prayers.   After Control Data, Dave sold Rainbow Vacuums and found out how good he was at selling.  He worked for Carpet King and helped many people find what they wanted. 

His health became an issue as well as his inability to control his addictions.  He had a loyal friend and companion in Judy Malcomson who helped him to the very end.  Dave had 3 terrific sons:  Mike, Brian and Chris – and 4 wonderful grandchildren.  He had his demons - they were evident - and ended up being his undoing.  

Upon learning of Dave’s death, Ed Carr said, “Dave was one of the nicest and kindest men I knew.”  He will be missed by many people in the bridge world.

Our thanks to Patti Stuhlman for providing us with this obituary.  Dave's Star Tribune obituary and funeral arrangements can be found here.  The service will be at the White Funeral Home in Burnsville at 7PM.  Visitation will start one hour before at 6PM.

Aquatennial Sectional

The Aquatennial Silver Point Sectional is in full swing!  Two days of sessions have passed - but - you are in luck!  The tournament continues through Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Check out the schedule, head to the Twin City Bridge Center and compete when you can!

Instant Messaging

In the world of the Internet, we all know about sending instant messages.  With just a few clicks, we can send information to anyone in the world.

At the bridge table on defense, those to whom we can communicate are vastly limited.  We must weigh sending data to our partner, whom we wish to help - and declarer, who we want to go wrong! 

This week, John Koch demonstrates how defenders can use signaling to transmit what the winning defense will be.  They may reach only one person - but it's the person who needs to know!