Minnesota Bridge

Holiday Sectional Results

 

 

The Holiday Sectional in North St. Paul was well planned!  Great bridge and avoidance of snowstorms with frigid weather!

That fine planning was followed with excellent competition and success from a number of our players.  At the top of the masterpoint list, we find one of our areas elite players:  Robert Schacter. With an impressive weekend score of 33.01, Robert outdid the rest of the field. Two other players did grab much success, too.  Brian Crossley's 26.92 and Gary Knippenberg's 26.19 rewarded them with 2nd and 3rd overall for point tallies.

The full report for who did what is here.  And to see the overall results of each event, check out these results.

We are most grateful for our hardworking tournament chair, Tom Owens.  And big thanks also to the woman who does superb double duty:  Kim Hayward, both director in charge and partnership chairman.  Of course, there are all of our wonderful players, too; we appreciate every one of you!

The photo above is becoming a reality, everyone!  So stay safe and warm over this week - and - go to your favorite bridge club to achieve this goal!

 

 

Special I/N Focus! Holiday Sectional Tournament in St. Paul This Weekend!

 

 

A big shoutout to Tom Owens, the tournament chair for the Holiday Sectional Tournament this weekend at the Bridge Center of St. Paul!  Not only is there a dedicated Swiss Team section for the I/N players, Tom has extended the Pair/Team format to the 0 to 500 I/N players for all 5 sessions of pair play on Friday and Saturday!

What is a pair/team game? In a pair/team game, you play with your partner just as you would during a regular pairs game.   But the table-mates with whom you start the game with are considered your teammates for a new section based on board-a-match scoring.

You don’t need to do anything different, but this format allows for two different ways for a pair to earn masterpoints. It is extra work for the director in charge to set up the additional sections, and it is extra work for the partnership chair to have fill-ins available to keep the tables full.  Yet it is a great opportunity for I/N pairs to experience a team game setting, and another way to earn points.

If you score well as a pair, you would earn a certain number of masterpoints. If your teammates do well also, your team score may be higher than your pair score. You earn the highest of the two scores (you cannot earn separate points, though, for each format). You won’t lose your pair result - but you may better it!

        Keith Thompson

 

And don't forget; the Holiday Sectional starts this Friday, December 6th!  Have fun, play bridge and get into the holiday spirit!  The flyer is below!  Our thanks to Keith and everyone else who is working hard for a great tourney and for all our competitors!

Holiday Sectional in St. Paul - December 6-8

 

Yes, the holidays are right around the corner!  Thanksgiving is a week from today...  And Hannukah and Christmas soon to follow.

To celebrate, St. Paul has a great sectional to offer.  Starting on Friday December 6th, team/pair events will be offered at the St. Paul Bridge Center. And Sunday the 8th, Swiss Teams.

Enjoy the season, the holidays - and - fun bridge with friends!  More details below the line with the flyer for December's event.

Minnesota Autumn Sectional Tournament - Results

 

 

Our Minnesota Autumn Sectional Tournament, which started on Thursday, Halloween, put a smile on a whole lot of people.  And - a whole lot of smiling people attended this fine event!  We had a big surge of competitors over last year; 276 tables of competitors, to be exact.

Our top masterpoint earner, Barry Purrington, amassed an impressive 44.40, to be exact. Quite impressive! Three players earned over 30 masterpoints: Tony Ames with 34.68, Paul Meerschaert with 30.87 and George Bleskachek, a hair behind Paul with 30.75.  Kerry Holloway secured the 5th spot with 24.54**.  The final list of masterpoint winners is here; overall placings are here.

Big thanks to Directors Kim Hayward and Bjorgvin Kristinsson, Maureen Weiman for partnerships, and of course, our fine co-chairs, John Schlundt and Kerry Holloway.

A special ** to Kerry, who went above and beyond the call of duty in many ways this tournament. In addition to his hard work in advance with John, Kerry first had to deal with a partner not being well enough to attend. And then Kerry himself had to cancel multiple games due to his wife's very unfortunate accident on Saturday. I'm sure we all wish Cara Holloway the best, who is now resting comfortably in the hospital after a fall that required hip surgery. Kerry, husband supreme, managed to handle details at the tournament but spent most of his time with Cara.

Here's to good health to all our Minnesota bridge players - applause for all our volunteers - and plans for our upcoming December sectional, too!

Thanks to all and thanks for attending!

 

A BOO-TIFUL Sectional!

 

The Minnesota State Sectional Tournament begins today at 10AM!  If you want to TRICK your opponents and get TREATS from them, better head on over to the Oak Marsh Golf Club with your favorite pards! 

No better way to spend Halloween than playing bridge today through Sunday!

Free coffee - free parking - no smoking!  

The tournament flyer is below with more details. Come one, come all and compete!

Rochester Non Life Master Tournament

 

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!

District 14 North America Pairs Finals for Spring NABC 2020

 

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

 

(Please note. Pairs are listed in order of finish.  Also, we are sorry that data was posted incorrectly originally.  Names that were originally at ACBL were not correct.  Thanks to all for your patience!)

 

Minnesota State Sectional Tournament

 

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!

Rochester Med City Regional Results

 

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!

In The News: Rochester Med City Regional!

 

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!

Rochester Med City Regional - Sept 24-29

 

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.

Paul Bunyan Sectional Tournament Results

 

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 Silver Point Sectional Results

 

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!

 

Paul Bunyan Bridge Sectional Tournament - Sept 5-7

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!

Labor Day Silver Point Tournament - August 30-Sept 2

 

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!

SiVY + B for a WIN!

 

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! 

 

 

 

Ben Kristensen & Company Take on World Junior Bridge!

 

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!

 

District 14 North American Pairs 2019 - October 5-6

 

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

Two for You!

 

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!

Aquatennial Sectional 2019 Results

 

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!