Minnesota Bridge

North American Pairs - 2014-2015 - Changes

Changes have been made for the conditions of contest, qualifying and potential subsidies earned for the NAP. Please read this post at District 14's website for all the details!

Bill Quinn Labor Day Silver Point Sectional

Just to Roger Anderson's right is Bill Quinn, one of our long time players for whom this Labor Day weekend sectional is named. Aptly, the Friday through Monday tournament will be held at the Twin City Bridge Center, where Bill enjoyed and won many a game.

Our schedule can be found here. Festivities begin tomorrow, Friday August 29th, and we hope that many of you will avail yourselves of the fun events!

Swedish Gold

Congratulations to the Swedish youngsters for their gold medal in Istanbul!

Silver!

The final hands from the 2014 World Youth Championship Youngsters (under 21) have concluded. USA1 earned silver!

Ben Kristensen's dad Curt (mentor, teacher, coach and cheerleader extraordinaire) emailed me early this morning with the news. Though Ben's team fought hard, led the Swedish team at certain stages and kept the match within reach, the Swedish youngsters were formidable opponents and ended victorious. Scores from each set and final totals can be viewed here.

We here in Minnesota - and across the USA - applaud Ben and his teammates for their great achievement! We look forward to more and more success from Ben at the bridge table - and are so happy that he and his team earned the silver!

Rules for Rescue

Your partner bids. You have no fit for partner - and few high card points. 

What to do?!

Sue Jackson has the answers on when and how to rescue!

Finals of the Youth World Championships!

Minnesota's Ben Kristensen and his under 21 "Youngsters" team has made it to the finals of the 2014 World Youth Team Championships! Here are the scores from the two semi-final matches. USA1 beat France by 20.5 IMPS, and will face Sweden's team in the final match.

For those interested in watching Ben's team play live, here is the schedule at BBO for Vugraph.

You may not get as much shut eye as usual if you catch the action. I'm sure, however, that you'll have a marvelous show!

Good luck to Ben and the other USA1 Team competitors!

Ben on BBO!

It's a bit before 9AM. Turn on your computer, head to vugraph at BridgeBase and you can watch Minnesota's Ben Kristensen compete against France in the semi-finals of the World Youth Championship!

Best of luck to Ben and his team! They are ahead a bit right now!

Ben's in Istanbul!

Minnesota's own Ben Kristensen, a member of USA-1 is currently playing in Istanbul  in the 2014 World Youth Championships. Ben's team has qualified and earned the right to play a talented China team in the quarter finals of their knockout.

In the above photo, left to right, is non-playing captain Barry Goren, Oren Kriegel, Ben, Cole Spencer, Kevin Rosenberg, Chris Huber and Nolan Chang.

Partnerships are: Kriegel-Huber; Kristensen-Rosenberg; Spencer-Chang.

Everyone in Minnesota - and the US - is rooting for Ben & Company!

And our thanks to Ben's dad, Curt, for the photos and updates!

 

 

Seeing Spots

Are you seeing spot cards?

Sue Jackson explains how critical doing this can be! Learn how to pay attention and remember - and gather in more tricks, matchpoints and IMPS!

299er Sectional

Starting tomorrow, a great opportunity for our 299er crowd! The Bridge Center of St. Paul is offering three days of pair and team events, with pizza inbetween sessions tomorrow, Friday August 15th and free lunch on Saturday at noon!

Check out the schedule for this weekend's 299er sectional for fun, great hospitality and competition among your peers!

Deception

Billy Rosen, 2014 von Zedtwitz Award & Hall of Fame Member

Deception at the bridge table can be a two edged sword. During the auction or defense, fool the opponents - and you may find yourself confusing partner, too, to disadvantage.  Yet as declarer, dummy merely plays the cards, while you attempt your magic against the defenders.

Surely such ploys can work against moderate opposition. But when your opponents are expert level? What then?

This week, John Koch demonstrates that even the best of the best can be ensnared in a crafty declarer's dastardly plot!

It's More Than Just the Game

Without a doubt, bridge is the best mind game there is. Always challenging, always fascinating, always new, always thrilling - bridge has so very much to recommend it.

Yet, despite all these fine attributes, something else is even better about bridge:  its people. The people who play bridge are in a class all their own. Smart, fun, creative, competitive - and, most of all - wonderful friends.

When I put up this post about Peder Langestmo's recent achievement in becoming a Platinum Life Master, I did think many would enjoy reading about Peder's success. Yet, I was gladdened to see the very many comments posted on the announcement. Not only were people happy for Peder's success - they were so grateful for his partnership and team support and sportsmanship and friendship.

We who have enjoyed this great game for decades know how incredible it is. Still - even more special are the people who love the game.

I am terrifically grateful for the most marvelous friends I have met through bridge. Thank you to all for your friendship, your support, your giving and all the rest that goes with it.

Are we lucky - or what?!

 

A Night of Giving

We bridge players are so fortunate to enjoy a game so fascinating, so challenging and so deep, it intrigues us just about forever.

Yet - even as important as the game itself is - our people are equally important. Saturday night at the Twin City Bridge Center, just how amazing was most demonstrable. 

Sue Jackson, John Crouch and many other incredibly wonderful volunteers, worked to put together a superb night of charitable giving, dining and bridge. At 5:15, people gathered to enjoy a lovely variety of dishes and desserts. While visiting and dining, everyone also inspected the many items that were available for silent auction - including donations of games with expert players.

Rolf Svendsen, the co-founder and current Chairman of the Board of Tree Trust of Minneapolis, the charity selected as the beneficiary of our event, was on hand. Rolf explained the great work for both people and environment that Tree Trust provides. And - the good news is that at the end of the evening, we found that the day had raised $4275 for Tree Trust!

Many people contributed to make the auction, the food and the night of bridge a success. We do not have everyone's name - but please know that the efforts of each and every one of you is appreciated greatly.

We hope that you enjoy the photos from the evening - and are as thankful for the people in our bridge community, as well as our great game - as we are!

Platinum Life Master

Only a few Minnesotans have ever earned over 10,000 masterpoints. In recent years, only one player topped that figure.

As of this masterpoint cycle, however, we have a new competitor who has gone over the 10,000 masterpoint threshold: Peder Langsetmo!

Please join me in congratulating a long time member of our community, a player who is always tough and a challenge to meet at the table - yet a wonderful friend and buddy to so many. Now, Peder is in the lofty status of Platinum Life Master.

Well earned and well deserved, Peder! And good luck in your quest for more success and masterpoints to come!

Unit 178 - August 2014 Agenda

As we enjoy the last weeks of summer, Unit 178 President Sue Jackson has forwarded the August agenda for this month's board meeting on August 16th. Do feel free to read through, and contact any board members with questions or input!

As always, our thanks to those who serve to make bridge as good as it can be in Minnesota!

Tips for Leading

Knowing what to lead and understanding what signals mean can be critical to success or failure at the bridge table.

This week's I/N lesson is ably handled by Tom Hammond on this topic! Please see below.

For those especially interested in this topic, you might search for a copy of Robert Ewen's classic book, Opening Leads. Irrespective of your level of experience, the book has most valuable advice!