Minnesota Bridge

Sharon Anderson & Barbara Heller - #3 in Hawaii!

 

Reading Bridgewinners this morning, I saw Sharon and Barbara's name up in lights!  Their partnership earned third place in the Whitehead Women's Pairs!

Well done, ladies!

 

Alert! St. Paul Holiday Sectional - November 30 - December 2!

 

Still full of turkey and need to move around?

Then come join us at the Bridge Center of St. Paul’s annual

HOLIDAY SECTIONAL 

Nov 30 – Dec 2, 2018

 

• All open games are Pair / Team (Looking for swiss?  Find a ham sandwich.)
• I/N games every day
• Entry fee still only $10!
• No turkey and stuffing … but FREE PIZZA daily
• Easy parking
• Great pop selection: 50 cents
• More fun than you are allowed to have, and still be legal.

 

Tournament Flyer Below 

You do NOT want to miss this!

Toby Feiges - 1938 - 2018

Sadly, our bridge community has lost yet another of our long time, wonderful members.  Toby Feiges passed away on Thanksgiving, November 22nd.

Again, many of our newer players may not have known Toby.  But for those of us who have been part of the Twin City bridge community for decades remember Toby well.  She and her husband Dale, both fine bridge players, were successful, fun and a colorful couple.  Both had a great sense of humor and loads of friends. 

Our deepest sympathies to Dale and all the rest of Toby's family.  She will be missed greatly.

Her obituary appears in today's Star Tribune here.

 

 

Minneapolis Grand Slam Knockouts - Old Codgers VS College Up & Comers!

 

For roughly 40 years, your webmaster has been competing in the Minneapolis Grand Slam Knockouts. The KO event is held outside of regular September-May Friday night sessions. It is a super fun way to get in some extra competition against many of the top players in our area.  Above you see one of them; my team's captain, Kerry Holloway.

This year, we are very excited to have a team of students in the MGSC KO - five players from Carleton College and one from University of MN. While it is tough to face players who have played for decades when you yourself have only been playing a year or so - or less - the college competitors are tough and smart.  They appreciate that one of the most successful ways to improve your game is to play against good and experienced players.  And thus - that is exactly what they are doing.

 

Captain Thomas Scruggs, before the battle begins

 

Four members of my team (Captain Kerry, Mike Flader, Chuck Cummins and myself) headed down to Carleton last week. There, we played four of their six teammates:  Captain Thomas Scruggs, Jackson Wahl, Allie Clark and Owen Barnett.

 

Chuck Cummins and Mike Flader, finishing up their convention card and waiting for game time!

 

The teams sat the same direction each half, with Kerry and I competing against Thomas and Jackson, as Allie and Owen took on Mike and Chuck.

 

Allie Clark and Owen Barnett - reviewing notes and weighing their team's lineup

 

At our table, I was quite impressed with Thomas and Jackson. As the coach of their college team, I already knew that they had learned a lot with all their practice and study. Still, throughout our first half, they performed far better than one might expect from players without years of experience. Indeed; at the half our match was fairly close.

 

Kerry and Jackson, in the heat of battle

 

The second half went better for the Holloway team. Some of it I would chalk up to experience - and note that Owen is so new to the game I had not yet met him. Still, some of the reason our team won the match was that always present factor for every player:  luck.

For example, Hand #25.

Terry Borne - 1945 - 2018

 

Many of Minnesota's newer players - those who began to compete in the last 15 years or so - will likely not recognize the name "Terry Borne."  Yet, we "old timers," who were playing in the 70's, 80's and 90's could never forget Terry "The Bird" Borne.  Not only was Terry one of our strongest competitors, he was one of the most jovial, fun, creative and outgoing of our era.  Playing on a team or as a partner with The Bird was an experience and always offered an excellent chance of coming out a winner.

Sadly, some years ago, Terry contracted muscular dystrophy. While it did not stop him from competing at first, eventually this debilitating disease did stop Terry's days at the table. Still, many of the bridge players stayed in touch with their fun friend.

And yesterday, despite years of battling - as The Bird always did - his days with us ended. Terry passed away yesterday, as his final run to the hospital (alas, there were so many) turned out to be his last.

The picture above is of Terry with his wife, also one of our fine, long standing players:  Audrey Weikle. As Audrey was one of my regular bridge partners for many years, our phone call included both some Bird stories and some of our own.  It was a different world, back in the day of no stratification or Gold Rush, when the novices faced the experts and we all had a ton of fun doing it.  Terry was often the ringmaster of having a great time!

 

 

Above is a shot of the Swiss Team winners at the Duluth Regional, circa 1977. A young Terry is on the left, with other "Ranger" competitors Howie Weinstein, Dick Melson and Steve Garner.

I invite all those who knew Terry "back in the day" to share their stories with us.  (Believe me; there are many!)

Terry was a huge part of our bridge community for many years - and a most special one.  Our condolences to Audrey and the rest of Terry's family - and a farewell to a great friend, competitor and class act guy.

 

Unit 178 Board of Directors November 2018 Meeting - Agenda

Our thanks to all the Unit 178 BOD volunteers!  Their upcoming agenda for November 17, 2018 is posted below.

Our Volunteers; Thank You!

 

Keith Thompson, Larry Huiras, Sue Greenberg, Warren Nelson, Kathy Beckman, John Koch

Unit 103 Board Members Not Pictured:

Rajiv Kapidia, Sandy Casey, Amy Dutton and new secretary, Patti Huiras

 

During the well attended and very well run MN Autumn Sectional, Unit 103 held a board meeting. 

Big focus was given to creating an environment to make our game fun and welcoming for all players!

Unit 103 encourages players to be respectful and positive to all. If players have questions or concerns about any aspect of our bridge community, or suggestions as to how to improve, please contact a board member.

Bridge is the greatest game!  And the Board wants everyone to have the greatest time enjoying it!

Thanks to all our volunteers who work diligently to make our game as excellent as possible!

 

Minnesota Autumn Sectional Results

 

Once again, our fall tournament at the Oak Marsh Golf Club in Oakdale was a fine success.  A varied array of events, including popular pair-team events ran from November 1st to November 3rd.

Results from each event are here.  Overall masterpoint winner stats, however, have not been posted.  (Rest assured that if they do pop up, I will share them with you!

Our thanks to co-chairs Kerry Holloway and Kathy Beckman for their superb work in all aspects of the tournament. Directors Kimberly Hayward and Bjorgvin Kirstinsson, as always, kept our games moving smoothly. Partnership chair Maureen Weiman helped to fix up everyone with a pard so they, too, could compete!

To all who came, who volunteered and who competed - we thank you and we look forward to seeing you next year!

 

Collegiate Online Bridge Results

Once again, our Minnesota Collegiate bridge players shine brightly!

Here are the results for the November 1 online collegiate competition.

Congratulations to all our Minnesota players who competed, did well AND won prizes!

And - thanks to all who encourage and mentor our very special college competitors!

 

November 1st Special Tournament Results!

See attached hand analysis for board 12 from Thursday’s event.

 

Congratulations! The following have all won Amazon Gift Cards or a free entry in the NABC Online Individual Event also known as the Pajama Game - a $40 value and chance to win gold points. Winners- please email me and let me know your choice.

• 1^st place, $50 GC or free entry –  coolbeans from the University of Florida
• 2^nd place, $30 GC or free entry –  acarl from Carleton College
• 3^rd place, $20 GC or free entry –  ijwolff from the University of Chicago
• Random drawing winner, $25 GC or free entry –  jsphkn from MIT

 

Encourage your friends to play in the dailies, and don’t forget, if you attend a school without a student bridge club or team and would like help getting one started, we can help!

 

The following won Masterpoints in Thursday’s tournament:

Name	College	Score (%)	Rank	Points
coolbeans	U of Florida	72.45	1	0.90
acarl	Carleton College	69.71	2	0.63
ijwolff	U of Chicago	68.28	3	0.45
sp354	NC State University	67.62	4	0.32
jsphkn	MIT	66.62	5	0.18
zanbato	Carleton College	66.22	6	0.15
Elyk25	Northwestern University	65.12	7	0.13
cduffie	McGill University	65.06	8	0.11
fox326	Stanford	64.21	9	0.10
ardaak47	Fanshawe College	63.24	10	0.09
benjk	U of Minnesota - Duluth	62.83	11	0.08
sunwind	U of Chicago	62.21	12	0.08
lesir	Carleton College	61.32	13	0.07
borktalk	GA Tech	59.97	14	0.06
cyrenman	GA Tech	59.28	15	0.06
RobertLii	UC Berkeley	58.91	16	0.06
r168r	GA Tech	58.78	17	0.05
IHATEAPPLE	Fordham University	58.46	18	0.05
7 bridge	Northwestern University	58.46	18	0.05
sspitze	U of Georgia	58.36	20	0.05
hijunny132	Princeton	57.65	21	0.04
nevens05	U of Chicago	57.37	22	0.04
ajer95	UC Santa Barbara	57.04	23	0.04
JimmyK4542	GA Tech	55.92	24	0.04
jobsless	Carnegie Mellon University	55.08	25	0.04
amgiddings	GA Tech	54.50	26	0.03
hmli9466	GA Tech	54.11	27	0.03
Jacob04	U of Western Ontario	54.07	28	0.03
germs345	Tufts University	53.80	29	0.03
jmagicd2	Northeastern University	53.40	30	0.03

 

 

 

Stephanie Threlkeld

Education and Communications Manager

BOO to YOU from Rochester!

 

What a day in Rochester! 

We had seventeen tables for our Instant Matchpoint Game!

AND... we had our annual costume competition!

 

 

Alice Ernster and June Lamb-Kmiecik as the Bridge Fairy and Queen of Card

 

  Marie Nelson as our resident witch

 

Our favorite Mountain Man, John Ryder

 

Genny Rice with her sticky web

 

Additional treats were people from Northfield, LaCrosse and other communities in southern Minnesota.  All, of course, were welcomed by the Rochester Players.

Dick Estry and Al Larson topped the field with a hefty 62.73% game!

Come to our club and join us for a great session!

 

Sue Greenberg, Club Manager