Minnesota is graced with another autumn tournament in October!
This tournament is two single sessions on October 26th in Rochester. For non-Life Masters with 500 or fewer masterpoints.
An opportunity to earn silver points - enjoy snacks and coffee - and hear a lecture from professional Platinum Life Master Jade Barrett.
The tournament flyer is below. Please attend; have fun - do well and learn!
Minnesotans often shine in District 14's NAP qualifier for spring's NABC. This year's District Finals did not disappoint.
Congrats to all qualifiers! Best of luck this coming spring!
And a special shout out to Jackson Wahl and Sarah Emmons, students at Carleton College, for their qualification to go to Ohio. Bridge for young people is alive and well in Minnesota! May the successes of our college students spur more youth to also become bridge competitors!
NAP Flight A
John Koch - Terry Beckman
Leon Blackwell - Grant Broadwine
Bob Balderson - Cindy Balderson
Vern Swing - Bruce Boie
NAP Flight B
Debra Tyrdik - Lynda Peterson
Del Swanson - Gene Brandl
Gerald Burdeski - Mark Sinner
Diane Henson - Larry Henson
NAP Flight C
Peter Bock - Beverly Meyer
Katie Albers - Brad Albers
Jackson Wahl - Sarah Emmons
Another fine Minnesota tournament is drawing closer and closer!
If you want to take lots of TRICKS and have a tournament filled with lots of TREATS - then be sure to attend the sectional at Oak Marsh Golf Club in Oakdale, starting on October 31st (yes; that's Halloween!) and running four days through November 3rd.
The events are great, with something for everybody. Treats will be present - and a popular Swiss will be held on Sunday.
The flyer for the sectional is below. If you have questions, contact co-chairmen John Schlundt or Kerry Holloway. And if you are in need of a pard, Maureen Weiman can help you.
We hope to see all of you - and watch you have a BOOtiful time at the tourney!
After more than 3 decades without a regional tournament in the medical mecca of the nation, Rochester enjoyed a fine one this past week. Many people deserve applause for all the efforts put into organizing a regional in a location that has not scheduled a regional in many years. Above (left to right) are tournament chairs par excellence Layne Vinje, Sheri French and Barbara Wijdicks.
And speaking of "fabulous" - Wisconsonites Paolo Ranaldi and Lee Prellwitz put on quite the show! Their partnership tied for 1/2 overall, with an impressive 89.03 masterpoints each. In 3rd, 4th and 5th overall respectively were Darlene Anderson, 44.71 mps, Terry Beckman, 41.72 and Henry Thibault, 40.59 The entire list of masterpoint winners is here. Details of each event's overall competitors can be found here.
In addition to success in the tournament events, other big achievements occurred. Above is a photo of Carole Mataya of Rochester. Carole, along with Pam Baker and Bev Berg of St. Cloud achieved the goal at which all bridge players aim: Life Master status. Congrats to Carole, Pam and Bev (sorry only one photo!)
As always, we are so grateful for our directors, DNC Peter Wilke, along with Kim Hayward and Tony Ames, for their fine efforts from start to finish in Rochester.
We are extremely grateful to them, along with all the other volunteers and contributors to the Med City Regional that made is so much fun and successful.
We know that in addition to being great fun, an intellectual challenge and exciting - bridge can be exhausting, too! Above, Carol Mahoney takes a little snooze inbetween the excitement.
Your webmaster was quite sad she could not partake in all the competition and fun in Rochester. Yet my thanks go out to all who made the tournament so wonderful, our pinch hitter photographers, Sue Greenberg and Kathy Beckman - and - of course! - all of YOU - our great competitors! Big thanks to all!
More photos below the line!
September's Rochester Regional Tournament is in full swing - and in the news, too!
Grateful to Greg Caucutt for sending us this fine article about the regional. You can see Greg and partner Ginny Rice, competing away against a room full of players!
Exciting that the city has their first regional tournament in 30 years! And - if you have not yet been competing - plenty of time to do so! Games are held tomorrow, Thursday, through Sunday.
Here's the Post Bulletin's article about the September competition. Best of luck to everyone playing - and big thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, caddies and directors who are making the tournament great!
September's Rochester Med City Regional is less than one week away! Enjoy fine hospitality, guaranteed hospitality, a fine venue, a great schedule and much more!
In addition to the superb tournament itself, autumn is glorious in Minnesota in late September. When you're not battling away at the table, you can appreciate the excellent opportunities for fine dining and the gorgeous colors outdoors. If you need a quickie check-up, renowned Mayo Clinic is a few minutes away (ONLY kidding - despite this temple of health care being one of the finest in the world!)
So many reasons to attend, you must make it to Rochester next week! Whether you are close by or in another state - please attend the Rochester Med City Regional and treat yourself to a fine tournament and fun bridge!
Tournament flyer and all details below.
Continue reading "Rochester Med City Regional - Sept 24-29" »
Amidst the advent of autumn, players throughout Minnesota attended, along with Canadians and some players from far flung locals. Excellent events - and excellent results.
The top masterpoint holder for the tourney was the Twin Cities' Steve Gaynor. Steve came close to 20 masterpoints with his 19.44 - and Thunder Bay's Ross Cody was close behind, earning 18.76. Jill and Mike Flader tied for 3/4 with 17.60, another Thunder Bay player, Cliff Campbell, had 16.49, and Kathy and Terry Beckman scored a tie with their 15.61. The full masterpoint list is here. Overalls in each event can be found here.
Big thanks to Dianne Carr and Warren Nelson, our tournament chairpersons, to Tony Ames, our tournament director, and to Tess Schirmer and Elise Pechek who oversaw partnerships.
A special thanks to all those who came and competed! We hope you had a great time playing Up North - and we look forward to seeing you (and more!) next year!
Labor Day signals the start of school and the final days of summer. And Nicky Bredeson's big, beautiful smile highlights how much FUN we have at our Minnesota tournaments!
Some of the people having quite the good time were these masterpoint leaders: Joe Koester** headed the list with an impressive 29.17 masterpoints. Frequent partner Sharon Christenson earned the 2nd spot with 25.87. Rounding out those who secured over 20 masterpoints were Brian Crossley with 22.75 and Harry Sapienza with 21.99. The entire list of masterpoint winners is here; results from each event can be found at this link.
As always, a big shout out to Tony Ames, Director extraordinaire - and to Teri Blu, marvelous teacher and TCBC co-owner (among other marvelous qualities!)
More photos of our competitors below! And a ** apology to Joe Koester from me. He played great - but the photo I took of him did not cooperate. Sorry Joe; next time I'll grab a good one!
Continue reading "Labor Day Silver Point Sectional Results" »
Today's the day! The Paul Bunyan Sectional Tourney in the Duluth area begins at 2:15PM today, Thursday September 5th. Enjoy three days of excellent events at the Black Bear Casino in Carleton, fine hospitality and beautiful leaves that herald the start of autumn.
The schedule of events is here; hope everyone has a glorious time!
Last chance to play at the Twin Cities Bridge Center before the leaves start to turn color and temps turn cooler. The long weekend gives us four days to play bridge and do our best to beat the other guys!
The schedule for the Labor Day Silver Point Sectional is below. Grab your favorite partner (or two or three) - then have fun and do well!
Tournament schedule and flyer below!
Continue reading "Labor Day Silver Point Tournament - August 30-Sept 2" »
As mentioned the other day, Minnesota's own, Ben Kristensen, has been battling away in Opatija, Croatia in the Sixty World Youth Open Bridge Championship, with partner Kevin Rosenberg and teammates Cornelias Duffie and Sarah Youngquist.
The team had been doing superbly, often winning by such a large margin that opposing teams waved the white flag before the final set. Ultimately, the team faced the Netherlands team in their matches for first place overall.
Your webmaster was watching this morning; Ben & Company was continuing to do well when suddenly they hit a rough patch. In error, I thought that the set I was watching was the last - and thus was relieved to see them move into the plus column on their last hand.
As it turned out, however, they had one more set to go. That set turned into a "crush them" set. Team Sivy + B racked up double digits wins throughout - until near the end of the final match. The Netherlands scored some comebacks. Yet, as the USA team had mounted such a fierce fight earlier, even on the last board they could not lose. In fact, Ben declared a tough hand, and as he almost always does, Ben brought in his contract, gaining a small pick up.
We here in Minnesota and throughout the world are proud of Ben, of his world class partnership with Kevin and of their fine teammates, Cornelias and Sarah. Big congratulations to the team for your fine skills and non-stop pressure on the opponents.
You are worthy victors - and we look forward to many more titles in the coming years!
The Sixth World Youth Open Bridge Championship is currently in being held in Opatija, Croatia. And our own uber-expert, Ben Kristensen, from Duluth, is succeeding mightily with partner Kevin Rosenberg and teammates Cornelias Duffie and Sarah Youngquist.
The SIVY B team (Minnesotan Ben with Silicon Valley players) had a magnificent match today. They pounded their opponents from Poland with an impressive 133 to 44 score.
The event continues on tomorrow, Monday, starting at 3:30AM for the semi-final matches. (Later times are available for viewing if 3:30AM is not your cup of tea! Vugraph schedule is here.)
Your webmaster did watch Ben and Kevin compete today; "impressive" is an understatement!
Ben is highlighted in Monday's Bulletin. Look for the third page for a fine write up about how Ben made multiple winning decisions so that he and Kevin could extract maximum punishment from the opponents.
Ben & Sivy players, we are cheering you on in tomorrow's match! Hope that many of us can watch our young superstar in action tomorrow on Vu-graph!
With autumn swiftly approaching, this year's competition for North American Pairs also draws nearer.
For District 14's GNT in 2019, the event will be held in Urbandale, Iowa at the Des Moines Bridge Center.
The event is scheduled for October 5th and 6th; competitors have 4 sessions for the event.
Opportunities to receive funds from ACBL and to compete in the Spring NABC in Columbus, Ohio are available for players in Flights A, B and C.
This is a superb opportunity to have a fine weekend of bridge, competing against pairs in your flight throughout District 14. And then chances to face your peers from all over ACBL land next spring!
This year's flyer is posted below. Do contact our NAP coordinator, Rich Newell, with questions! runewell71@msn.com
Continue reading "District 14 North American Pairs 2019 - October 5-6" »
How do the days zip by so rapidly?! We are nearing the end of summer, celebrating first with Labor Day and the Labor Day Sectional at the Twin City Bridge Center. The flyer and schedule for this tournament, starting on August 30th and ending on September 2nd, can be found here.
Soon thereafter, as fall begins, head Up North to compete in the Paul Bunyan Bridge Tournament. This Carleton Sectional starts September 5th and concludes on the 7th. The schedule and details are here.
Two great opportunities to enjoy our game and score some masterpoints! A fine way to celebrate Labor Day and herald in autumn!
Loads of players headed to the Twin City Bridge Center this past week to enjoy many sessions of great bridge - and escape some our steamy weather! Over 1000 masterpoints were earned - and - the most were earned by Dave Collins! Dave's total came to almost 32. Other fine masterpoint winnings were accomplished by Paul Meerschaert with almost 30, Gary Knippenberg with 27.71, Harry Sapienza at 27.75 and Brian Crossley with 26.67. The full list of those who earned masterpoints is here. And the overall finishes in each event is here.
Thanks to Kim Hayward for her ever wise directing skills and happy smiles - to Teri and Chip Blu for the TCBC and hospitality - and OF COURSE to all of you for being our great competitors! Whether decade long experts or newbies - we welcome you all!
A special "shout out" too to two of our college stars - Sarah Emmons and Jackson Wahl from Carleton College. Not only did Sarah and Jackson place 1st or 2nd in FOUR different 49er games .... they are headed to the Summer NABC Collegiate Pairs competition in Las Vegas after having won a trip to compete there! So - applause to them and to all of our other superb college kids who are learning and succeeding. (And sorry for any for whom I missed grabbing a photo; too busy week for your webmaster.)
One more shot of True Love at the Bridge Table, with Paul Meerschaert and Sandy Fisher - then a bunch of our other competitors below the line! Thank you for coming and having a great time, everyone!
Summer's Aquatennial Silver Point Sectional begins today! Enjoy stratified open pairs and stratified 499er pairs throughout the week, with Charity Pairs (paying extra points) on Sunday.
Head on over to the Twin City Bridge Center with it's convenient daytime schedule and have a blast! The full schedule with more details is below. See you there!
Continue reading "Aquatennial Silver Point Sectional - July 10 - July 15" »
With summer in full form now, the Granite City Sectional enjoyed a fine turnout! Players from throughout Minnesota - and even several states beyond - came, competed and conquered!
Results can be found here. Currently, masterpoint winners are not listed. But if they do appear, I will share them with you.
Of particular note was the success of Carleton College students Jackson Wahl and Sarah Emmons. After a most successful Gopher Regional, Jackson and Sarah followed up in St. Cloud with two wins, a second place and another overall position! Their first event, they managed to score over 64%; quite impressive! We are delighted to see that younger people can fall in love with our great game - and succeed big time at it, too!
Jackson and Sarah are two of our college students who won a trip to Las Vegas this summer in the ACBL collegiate competition. Please join me in wishing them well!
Our thanks to tournament & partnership chair Kory Solarz and tournament director Kim Hayward for their fine efforts. And we thank all our competitors for attending Granite City and enjoying an excellent sectional!
The Granite City Sectional in St. Cloud will soon be upon us! Thursday, June 13th is the start date.
Get your favorite partner and teammates and join in the competition!
The sectional flyer is below.
Yet again - our thanks to Steve Gaynor for delivering all the news and events that are fit to print for Minnesotans! His latest and greatest is below the line.
From Steve: My latest schedule. Let me know if you have any corrections. I encourage anyone who is planning any kind of activity that includes bridge players to check out dates so they can avoid conflicts.
And from yours truly, your webmaster. For all who celebrate, best wishes for a wonderful and meaningful Passover and Easter this weekend!