Minnesota Bridge

Minneapolis Grand Slam Club - 2019-2020

MGSC President Dave Neiman at a recent MGSC Function

 

Dave Neiman, President Extraordinaire for the Minneapolis Grand Slam Club, welcomes all bridge players to the new 20190-2020 season!

On Friday, September 6, 2019, the Minneapolis Grand Slam Club reconvenes for our 82nd consecutive season of friendly, tournament-quality bridge.

Join us Friday nights at the Edina Senior Center throughout the 2019-2020 season for a variety of duplicate pairs and team games. Most all games pay extra masterpoints without additional cost.

We welcome players of all skill levels who enjoy the competitive aspect of duplicate bridge.

You can find the schedule here.

 

 

Long Time MGSC Members Having A Ball!

 
New this year:  Game time is now 7:00 pm (15 minutes earlier).  Card fees for members remains at $6, while non-members pay $8. Extra fees for special games are paid by the Club. Card fees for full-time students remains at $5.

All games are stratified.

 

 

Juniors & Long Time Players at the MGSC

 

Not new but worth mentioning:  All games are single-session.  Where the schedule lists two games as #1 and #2, they are connected simply for the purposes of MGSC awards; you may choose to play in either or both of those games.

Once again, we will be running an extended team competition alongside the weekly game.  Format is under review and will depend on the number of teams registered. More information on this event will be provided soon. Team registration is now open.

The Club continues to offer the Player Pool, which guarantees a partner for all pairs games. We want you to come and play with us, and we don’t want the lack of a partner to stop you. (You can even volunteer to BE the Pool person; see below.)

Club membership remains at $20, $10 for full-time students.

 

 

Everyone Enjoys Bridge at the MGSC!

Membership perks include discounted card fees, 4 free Club Nights, the weekly bulletin, and a hefty discount to the end-of-year Party.

The Club provides coffee free of charge at each game. We invite players to bring treats to the game to share with everyone.

The Club website is at http://grandslammn.org.  You can find the full schedule here as well as the team registration page and a signup sheet to volunteer to bring treats, sell entries, or be the Pool person.

 

We look forward to seeing you at the Best Bridge Game in Town!

 

The Road to Northfield

 

As all of us in Minnesota are aware, this winter has been a toughie. Your webmaster, also known as Carleton College Coach Peg, planned to visit with her students a week ago. A snowstorm, however put paid to that. Then a week later, news reports of dense fog and some icy roads worried me a bit. Fortunately, however, I tested the waters (so to speak) and found that the trip to Northfield wasn't too bad. Wonderful news, as spending time with my college bridge students is always a treat! 

 

 

I was delighted to meet a new player, Charlotte. We had the opportunity to play a few hands together; I was both impressed at how well Charlotte was doing at this early stage. And she has already adapted to UDCA (upside down leads and carding); woo hoo!

 

 

Another newer player was in the mix, too; Owen. Owen and some other Carleton students played in the MGSC KO event this year. Wise people to realize that you get better by playing against tough competition!  

 

 

The rest of the competitors from Sunday are "old hands" - so to speak!  I continue to be delighted in how well they are playing, how rapidly they are picking up concepts - and how much they are enjoying the game. When I asked whether they preferred to have some discussion or play, there was a resounding "let's play!"  And - so we did.  On this hand, able Jeffrey was declaring, with last year's club president, Alexander, at his left, partner Sophia and this year's president, Thomas on his right.

 

 

When Thomas had to take off early, Coach Peg was inducted into the fray. I partnered Alexander, and as is usually the case with our game, some hands were quite intriguing!  Club vice president Allie joined us and we forged on!

 

Alas. On not one but two of the hands, guess who (you get ONE guess!) managed to find the losing decision on both. Yes; Coach Peg it is!  As we compared, I could feel inside my bones the students wondering; "Gee, how did Peg get not one, but two hands wrong?!"

A good question.  I presented the two hands in 3 parts on Bridgewinners (a most interesting website for bridge players, if you are not familiar with it.)  Links to the hands are presented below the line. 

 

 

Yet speaking of "lines" - the bottom line is that everyone had a fun day playing our favorite game.  This sure looks like lotsa fun to me!

More photos and the Bridgewinner links below. My thanks to all the Carleton students for their keen interest in this incredible card game, their strong efforts to learn more and more - and their putting up with their coach when she doesn't get 'em all right!

Also - big thanks to Professor Mark Krusemeyer, who also played with us on Sunday. Mark is camera shy so no photos.  But at the table, Mark is a fine partner and bridge educator!

Wednesday Nights at the Twin City Bridge Center

If you think that summer is only travel and barbecues, swimming and picnics - then think again!  Always lots of bridge to enjoy in Minnesota.  And, in the Twin Cities, Wednesday nights at the TCBC, is a great game for those who enjoy playing in the evening.  Steve Gaynor, director, has all the details!

This week (June 12th)  is a session of the Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC).

Prior to the game Peg Mitchell is having a dinner at her home.  Stop by her place at 5PM or later and eat, then come over to the TCBC for the evening game.

I hope to see you all then.  Let me know if you need a partner.  It is best to call me cell phone at 612-708-7563 of call the Bridge Center as there is a limited game and someone live is there all afternoon on Wednesday. Once I leave for work Wednesday morning I will not have access to my e-mails.

The schedule for the rest of summer Wednesday evenings is below.  Be sure to qualify for the NAP; we have five qualifying games left on Wednesday nights.

Also, definitely attend the Grass roots fund games (GRF).  The extra dollar comes back to our district to be used for bridge education and promotion.  We will run that event once a month.  Best of all:  all games all summer long will offer extra masterpoints!

Wed Summer Nights

Twin City Bridge Center - 6020 Nicollet Ave S

June 12 – Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC)

June 19 – NAPQ

June 26 – A midsummer's night Club Championship

July 3 –  Grass roots fund game

July 10 – NAPQ

July 17 - part of the Aquatennial sectional

July 24 – Charity game

July 31 - NAPQ

August 7 –  Junior fund game

August 14 – NAPQ

August 21 – Grass Roots fund game

August 28 – NAPQ (last chance)

 

MGSC B-A-M

Many think that Board-A-Match teams is the toughest form of the game. 

B-A-M is a team game where on every board, you have three options for a result:  a win, a loss, or a tie.  If you achieve a very poor result on a hand, yet your opponents' score was worse than yours - you get a tie. 

B-A-M is like matchpoints - except you only have one comparison.  As a result, every trick and getting to exactly the best contract is critical.

The Minneapolis Grand Slam Club is considered by many the place to play if you aim to push your game to the highest levels.  Some of the Twin Cities' best and brightest, now international stars, got their start at the MGSC:  Steve Garner, Howie Weinstein, and Joe Grue are three.  (Speaking of that last fellow, Joe's parents, Tom and Sue Grue, were in town Week #2 and were able to compete at their old stomping grounds.)

The MGSC aims to run their club like "Flight A" regional events.  Doing so and competing against our areas best players can only improve anyone's game.

The last two Friday nights, the MGSC held their annual B-A-M game.  Cindy & Bob Balderson, along with Kerry Holloway and Michael Howland turned in the top score both weeks, thus winning the title for this season.  The MGSC is one of the few places where our players can still compete in this tough event.  Kudos to Balderson-Balderson-Holloway-Howland on their win - and to the MGSC for keeping such a premier event on their calendar!

By the way, although the MGSC does sell memberships, you need not be a member to enjoy their Friday night games at the Richfield Community Center.  If you want to pump up the volume on your bridge game, then try them out!

Big Game

Cecil Frank has had serious health issues over the last half year.  But on Saturday, June 2nd, Cecil demonstrated that heatlh problems have not adversely affected his brain cells.  With partner Sue Jackson, Cecil had a Big Game in the World Wide Pairs.  Their 67.36% club score, when matchpointed across the world field, was 66.32%!

Throughout the game, the card gods were with them.  They won a world-wide top of 4542 on one hand when they doubled and earned 1100.  Overall, Cecil and Sue were 36th in the world field of 5117 players. Jeff Dziuk and Larry Johnson were 368th; Paul Gutterman and Eric Hendrickson were 546th and Ann Ziomeck and Don Priewert were 684th.

In Friday night's World Wide Pairs at the TCBC, Paul Meerschaert and Michael Howland's club score of 62.73% ended up rising to 64.23% world wide.  They placed 111th out of 5082 pairs.  Evan Sachs and Jack Rhatigan were 386th, with Sharon Christensen and Don Priewert placing 423rd and Brian Crossley and Jonathan Cohen finishing 435th.

Well done!