Minnesota Bridge

Tick Tock Tick Tock

 

 

Have you qualified for the North American Pairs? 

 

August 31 is the last date on which you can qualify to play in the District 14 NAP. 

 

The NAP is a thrilling event for many reasons.

 

• You can compete against your peers; Flights A, B and C play separately
• Pairs who place 1st through 3rd in Flight A, and 1st through 4th in Flights B and C will earn a nice subsidy to play in the Spring NABC in Reno
• You earn the opportunity to play in an NABC event at the nationals!
• The finals will be held locally, in Edina
• Minnesotans have a history of doing very well in national competition!

So - check with your local clubs.  Make certain if you are not already qualified, that you do play in qualifying games.  Even if you have already, extra practice is fun and aids to do well.

More details here.  Good luck to all!

 

Honored Guests

The Twin Cities Bridge Center enjoyed visitors from the Far East this weekend. Players from Nagasaki mingled with Minnesotans on Saturday, demonstrating that our game ties competitors from around the world.

If you missed seeing our Japanese counterparts in Minneapolis, then consider attending today's game at the Bridge Center of St. Paul. Our visitors will be competing at their club today.

More photos of guests and "regulars" below!

Nagasaki Visitors!

Welcome to our bridge playing friends from Nagasaki, Japan!

As part of the Sister City Program, a delegation from Nagasaki, Japan, will be in St. Paul for a week. Nine of the visitors are bridge players and are excited to play with Americans at our local clubs.

We encourage you to come to one of the following games to interact with our visitors and give them a warm Minnesota Bridge welcome.

Here is the schedule for bridge in Minneapolis and St. Paul:

Saturday, Aug 22: Chat bridge at 10 and Open Pairs at 1:00 at the Twin City Bridge Center

Monday, Aug 24: Open Pairs at 10 am at The Bridge Center of St. Paul and Open Pairs at 7:00 pm at the Twin City Bridge Center

Autumn Competition

Our great state has great tournaments scheduled for us this fall!

Late October will see the Minnesota State tourney.  Note the new location!  Chairman Kerry Holloway has sent the flyer for the tourney which is posted below.

And, in September, we have the Bill Quinn Sectional coming up, followed by the Paul Bunyan further to the north.

Links to all our tourneys can be found under "Upcoming Tournaments" to the left.

Come, compete and ENJOY!

Chicago NABC Summer 2015 - Recap & More

If you've never attended a North American Bridge Championship (aka "the Nationals") - then you should consider doing so. Whether you are an elite champion, a solid player or a newbie - there are events with your peers in which to compete, tons of hospitality and stars to kibitz. A number of Minnesotans headed south to Chicago the last couple of weeks, competing against players from literally all over the world.

Paul Meerschaert was one of those players. Most fortuitously for your blog master, Paul wrote a great write up of some excellent achievements and near misses by Minnesotans in the Windy City. As I've had a heavy schedule lately myself and always appreciate Paul's perspective, his report below is most welcome.

A few notes, though.  First, Paul downplays his achievements - as always! He's a tough competitor and no one should take him for granted at the table.  I also might note that his Spingold team, succumbing to the Tulin team in the round of 64 by a mere 2 IMPS, is quite the performance.  Tulin went on to soundly thrash the Nickell team the next day; enough said!

Also, a newcomer to the Minnesota area, Zizhou Wang, made it to the Round of 16 in the Spingold, losing by a modest margin to, once again, the Tulin team.  Very impressive!

If  you had an accomplishment in Chicago that we should be sharing, please let us know! Email Peg at mrmollo@aol.com.  We want to let the world know!

Now - on to Paul's great round up of people, placings and hands from Chicago. Well done, all!

Don Priewert Memorial

 

A memorial service for Don Priewert will be held on Thursday, August 20th from 3:30PM to 5:30PM at the Twin Cities Bridge Center.

An informal presentation at 4PM will include the sharing of memories of Don for all who wish to participate.

We hope that many can attend this gathering to remember one of our most colorful characters and a man who truly loved our game.