Minnesota Bridge

Minneapolis Grand Slam Club - the 81st (!!!) Year!

 

With eighty years of fine bridge and camaraderie, the Minneapolis Grand Slam Club must be one of the ACBL's longest running and most excellent places to play bridge in North America.  September 7th will herald the Club's 81st year of existence.

David Neiman has been providing a wonderful job as president of the MGSC.  Above, we see David celebrating another year of great bridge at one of the MGSC's year end parties.

David's "welcome letter" for the 2018-2019 season is below.   If you're a long time MGSC competitor, welcome back.  If you haven't played at the MGSC, then please do consider checking it out.  You will be glad you did! 

As President of the MGSC, I am pleased to invite you to the 2018-2019 season of the MGSC Bridge Club.  Affectionately called (by us) the “best bridge game in town” (and hopefully the friendliest!), the MGSC meets most Fridays during the school year at the Edina Senior Center. Games begin at 7:15pm and will feature a variety of pair and team games.  Players of all skill levels are welcome and a partner is guaranteed for all single-session pair games. Member card fees remain at $6 per session ($5 for full-time students) while non-members pay $7 for regular games and slightly more for special games. (The Club absorbs extra fees for members.) 

Oh, and coffee and treats are free at every game! 

The full schedule is available at our website: http://grandslammn.org.  Click on the Calendar link on the left side for the schedule. (Note:  2018-19 schedule will be posted soon.) 

MGSC membership remains at $20/person and, while not a requirement to play, is about the best bridge deal you’re going to find in the upper Midwest. For your membership you get to play FREE at 4 “Club Nights”, a heavy discount to the End-of-Year Bridge BacchanaliaParty, and a subscription to our weekly newsletter, which is filled with club results and instructive & insightful articles. The newsletter is the best way to keep up-to-date on club news and results if you happen to miss one of the weekly games. The Board approved a $10 membership and $5 card fee for full-time students. 

Please join us for our first game of the season on Friday, September 7.

                          David Neiman, President MGSC

Collegiate KO - Atlanta 2018 NABC

 

As reported earlier, our fearless Carleton Penguins finished third in the Swiss qualifying of the Collegiate Bowl. This success then led to a day of play in the knockout phase of the event.

 

 

The Carleton team faced tough challengers from Columbia.  Our guys got some good licks in with double digit swings in their favor. At the end of the day, however, it was the Columbia team that moved forward.

 

 

Still, Alexander Frieden, Thomas Scruggs, Sophia Maymudes and Jeffrey Boitnott acquitted themselves admirably overall in the event.  They won 7 gold points for their efforts, had a great time and learned plenty.

 

As those of us who have been playing for decades know, in addition to being a fascinating game, bridge is also an extremely challenging one.  If two world class teams, competing in the finals of the 2011 Vanderbilt can both reach a grand slam off the ace of trump (!) - then you know that no one ever masters this brilliant yet confounding game!

 

 

I thought it also quite cool to see The Master of Vu-Graph herself, Jan Martel, doing Vu-Graph for our college players.

 

 

Also a thrill to see one of 2017's Reisinger winners, Dunga Lui, kibitzing our college competitors.  Not only is Dunga, from China, a fine professional player and national champ himself, he also has a connection to our Carleton students.  One of Dunga's proteges from China is now a student - and bridge player - at Carleton herself!

If ever there was a game that connects people from around the world and of all ages - bridge is it!

More photos below from the Collegiate Bowl knockouts.  Congratulations to everyone who participated in this event, from the start to compete to head to Atlanta - to the winners of the Bowl!  A great opportunity and challenge; a marvelous way to learn and have a super time, too!

 

See You in September!

 

Where has summer gone?!  Another 11 days and September will have arrived!

For bridge in Minnesota - this is great!  Loads of fun events throughout the month.

First, starting on the last day of August, we have the Labor Day Sectional at the Twin City Bridge Center.

Mid month - September 15th - Rochester features a Non Life Master Sectional.

The 21st through the 23rd, head to the Duluth area for the Paul Bunyan Bridge Sectional.

Then, on the 28th & 29th, back to the Twin Cities where New Brighton will host an I/N regional!

Get ready for cooler temps, the beginnings of autumn colors - and - LOTS of great bridge!

Collegiate Bridge - A WINNER!

University of Minnesota - Gopher The Finesse

Carleton College - Carleton Penguins

 

Sometimes a concept is "out of the ballpark" wonderful. Count me in as one who classifies the Collegiate Bridge Bowl in this category.

 

We were terrifically proud that not just one, but two fine Minnesota college teams competed and won trips to the 2018 Atlanta NABC to compete in this year's Bowl.  Winning teams received handsome subsidies to attend the competition.  Needless to say, this alone was a big help to our college players.  And, for those who placed in the top 4 of the knock-out phase, college scholarship money was available.

 

 

Did our students do well in Atlanta?  Yes they did!  The Carleton Penguins finished third overall in the Swiss, with 8 teams then moving on to the knock-out phase. Alas; Gopher The Finesse ended up 9th, just out of the money. Still a good showing; results from the Swiss phase are here.

 

 

WBF Youth Players - USA Youngsters VS Bulgaria

The World Bridge Federation Youth Tournament in China was a thrilling event. Many fine United States players competed with - alas - some matches heartbreakingly close - and a loss for some of our USA competitors. Also a challenge was watching when the action was on the other side of the world!  Your webmaster was able to do it for the 9PM session but not much beyond that.

On the job, however, was Mike Cassel.  Mike watched the USA Youngsters play Bulgaria.  And, he has kindly written up salient moments in that match.

Our thanks to Mike, to all who are contributing in working with the next generation of bridge players - and - to those who went to China to do battle!

Mike's article is posted below.

Ben Does China

 

Minnesota has had a number of extraordinarily talented young players over the years.  Now?  We have yet another one:  Ben Kristensen.

We understand that this is, essentially, "old news."  Ben has already won a Silver Medal in the 2014 World Youth Championships. And a year ago, Ben's junior team beat one of the top teams in the world in the prestigious Spingold - Team Monaco. (Indeed; 2/3's of the players on that team just won the 2018 Spingold in Atlanta).  Ben has had a multitude of other accomplishments along the way; but I digress. If we listed too many, we'd run out of space on the website!

Right now, Ben is competing in China as USA1, not surprisingly at present leading the Youth team competition. 

I am also happy to report that one of Ben's teammates wrote up a hand from one of the matches that delivered a "brilliancy" rating to Ben. Oren Kriegel has the tale of this hand posted at Bridgewinners.  We feel confident that this decision is but one of a great many that Ben will produce as he continues in his bridge career.

 

Ben Kristensen, Adam Kaplan, Zach Grossack, Christian Jolly, Kevin Rosenberg, Oren Kriegel

We wish the best to Ben and his formidable teammates - AND - if you are a night owl and/or an early riser, you can watch Ben & Company compete during some sessions on BBO on vu-graph!

Go Ben!  All over Minnesota we're rooting for you!

Fun AND Games

 

 

Is bridge fun AND games?  You can bet that it is!

The Wednesday night game at the Bridge Center of St. Paul celebrated Peter Solberg's 75th birthday.

Let him eat cake - and - let everyone have fun IN addition to their bridge game!

Happy 75th, Peter!

 

Baldersons BIG Tourney!

 

As reported earlier, District 14 did super during the Swiss portion of Grand National Teams. All four teams qualified for the next day knockout, with Open Flight Team Balderson's, along with Paul Meerschaert and Robert Schacter finishing 4th.  This high finish meant that they were able to select their opponents from the bottom qualifiers - often an advantage.

Unfortunately, 3 of our teams (including theirs) exited the event after Day Two. Yet, a great showing in the Life Master Pairs awaited Cindy and Bob!

Not only did Cindy and Bob make it to the third day of the LM's - no small feat in that field.  They ended up coming in twelfth overall!

If you look at the names surrounding theirs, you can see just how well they must have played to achieve this fine finish!

I must admit; your blogmaster contributed mightily.  Alas for my partnership; I had my worst round against Cindy and Bob!  Yet - if I had to Go Low - can't imagine another pair that I'd prefer to reap the rewards of my faux pas than the Baldersons!

Congratulations to Bob and Cindy. We applaud your Atlanta success and look forward to many more down the road!

 

 

Rochester Bridge Club Supports ARC

 

The Rochester Duplicate Bridge Club has local charity games in December.  This year, they are supporting ARC and Bear Creek Services.  both provide assistance to individuals with disabilities.

On July 30th at the ARC golf fundraiser, two teams competed (one achieving 4th place!) - and the 9th tee was anchored by a bridge playing table!  Decks of cards were also handed out with information displayed on the packaging.

 

 

Many thanks to Arne, Bar and Ann for their organization of these events and worthy causes!

 

Sue Greenberg

Club Manager

The Spingold - Minnesota Juniors VS Nickell

You're a college student, fairly new to bridge and are aiming to get better and better.  How do you go about achieving your goal?

You do just what Alexander Frieden, Thomas Scruggs, Sean McNally and Jeffrey Boitnott did.  They entered one of the the toughest events on the NABC schedule:  the Spingold.

 

 

Our four competitors had won trips to Atlanta to compete in the Collegiate Bridge Bowl Championship (3 representing Carlton and 1 for University of Minnesota - more on that later!)  As a "warm up" to that competition, however, they decided to take on the Big Boys.  And boy - did they!

 

 

Spingold's first day was a bye for many top teams, with 4 ways for many others. Team MN lost to an expert team in the afternoon. Yet at night, they were winners!  That meant their next match would be against Team Nickell, with five Hall of Fame members - and one member still too young to be eligible!

 

 

Our Minnesota representatives knew that winning would be a virtual impossibility. Yet, playing against one of the world's powerhouses would be a thrill, a huge challenge - and - a fabulous learning experience.

 

North St. Paul 499er I/N Tournament

 

Congrats to all who did well in July's 499er I/N Tournament!  Results are here.

Applause to Mark McGree and James Ashley for top masterpoint winners!

Unit 178 Board of Directors Minutes - 7.21.2018

Unit 178 Board - thanks for all your efforts and keeping us updated!  Minutes below.