Thursday, December 17, 2020

Duplicate Bridge: Dec. 19, 2020

Bridge online on Christmas? Not every club is doing it. We just got notification from the Bridge Centre of Niagara in St. Catharines, Ont., that their Bridge Base Online games are canceled for Christmas Eve in the evening and Christmas Day. Schedules for other clubs may be altered, too.

• • •

Frank Stewart’s Daily Bridge Club column stopped appearing in The Buffalo News a couple months ago when pages were eliminated to cut costs. Stewart himself believes that reader sentiment can succeed in bringing it back. In an email to this column last week, he wrote:

“I will be most grateful to readers who go to bat for bridge and for me and contact the paper to ask that my column be reinstated. I rarely lose a paper; bridge players are notably loyal to their local column, and there have been several instances where a paper proposed to drop my column and had to back off after a deluge of complaints. But a paper will act only in response to reader feedback.”

Stewart noted that he has emailed editor Mike Connelly at mconnelly@buffnews.com and deputy managing editor Margaret Kenny at mkenny@buffnews.com.

Stewart, meanwhile, is still writing instructive columns featuring Cy the Cynic, Unlucky Louie, Minnie Bottoms and all the other denizens of the penny game at his club. You can read them at bridgefeed.acbl.org. Or better yet, follow Judie Bailey’s suggestion and find a whole Frank Stewart archive at Baron Barclay here.

• • •

 The Winter Wonderland Tournament on Bridge Base Online continues today, Saturday, Dec. 19, and Sunday, Dec. 20. Stratified two-session games will be held mornings and early evenings each day, awarding gold points.

Daily side games, open to all players and awarding gold points for those who play in two of them, will be held at 10:45 a.m., 2:15 p.m., 5:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.

Two flights of single session games for novice players, awarding red points only, will held four times daily, beginning at 10:15 a.m.

Fee is $15 per session, 18 boards per session. For more info, visit acbl.org or bridgebase.com.

• • •

The Bridge Center of Buffalo has added an open game to its Tuesday afternoon game for players with fewer than 999 master points on Bridge Base Online. The 999er session starts at 12:05 p.m, while the open game for all players begins at 12:20 p.m. Winners in the open game receive large point rewards since they are based on the total table count from both sections. For more info, visit the Bridge Center of Buffalo website.

• • •

Bridge Base Online has teamed with the ACBL to offer games with ACBL master points, some of which benefit local clubs. Among the clubs taking part in Virtual Club play locally are the Airport Bridge Club, the Bridge Center of Buffalo, Delaware Wednesday and the Lockport Duplicate Bridge Club. More info can be found at acbl.org or bridgebase.com.

The Airport Bridge Club is linked with the Alliance Bridge Club, the ACBL’s largest bridge club, which offers more than a dozen games every day. Anyone who has played at the Airport Club is automatically a member. For more info, visit alliancebridgeclub.com or call Airport Club manager Bill Finkelstein at 603-6943.

The Bridge Center of Buffalo offers games three or four days a week on Bridge Base Online and the Lockport Duplicate Bridge Club has games there on Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon. For the most part, the calendar follows the schedule that the clubs maintained when they were able to play games face to face.

For more info, visit the Bridge Center of Buffalo website, call 691-6201 or email acting club manager Terry Fraas at tmfraas@gmail.com.

The Delaware Wednesday Club also plays under auspices of the Bridge Center of Buffalo on Bridge Base Online at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the same time that it had its actual games.

Delaware Wednesday is invitational. For info, call Ed Harman at 480-1666 or email eharmon@roadrunner.com

• • •

The East Aurora Bridge Club has resumed face-to-face games, becoming the first ACBL sanctioned club in the area to resume live competition. Play begins at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Aurora Senior Citizens Center, 101 King St., East Aurora.

Director Dave Larcom says that players will have their temperatures checked upon arriving and must wear masks. For more info, email him at dmocral@verizon.net.

• • •

Tournament calendar

2021

CANCELED: Cleveland Rock and Roll Regional – Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd., Independence, Ohio. Wednesday, Jan. 6, to Sunday, Jan. 10.

CANCELED: Buffalo Winter Sectional – Main-Transit Fire Hall, 6777 Main St., Amherst. Friday, Jan. 22, to Sunday, Jan. 24.

RESCHEDULED: St. Catharines Sectional – Holiday Inn and Suites Parkway Conference Center, 327 Ontario St., St. Catharines, Ont. Was Friday, Feb. 12, to Sunday, Feb. 14. Rescheduled for Friday, March 26, to Sunday, March 28.

NO LONGER on ACBL Tournament Schedule: Rochester Spring Sectional – Webster Columbus Center, 70 Barrett Drive, Webster. Saturday, March 27, and Sunday, March 28.

NO LONGER on ACBL Tournament Schedule: Toronto Easter Regional – Sheraton Toronto Centre, 123 Queen St. West. Tuesday, March 30, to Sunday, April 4.

NO LONGER on ACBL Tournament Schedule: Unit 112 (Rochester) 199er Tournament – Strathallan Hotel, 550 East Ave., Rochester. Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10.

Buffalo Spring Sectional – Main-Transit Fire Hall, 6777 Main St., Amherst. Friday, April 16, to Sunday, April 18.

Cleveland All-American Regional – Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd., Independence, Ohio. Tuesday, May 25, to Monday, May 31.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Intermediate/Novice Sectional – Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre, 14 Anderson Path, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Friday, June 4, to Sunday, June 6.

District 5 Sectional Tournament at the Clubs (STaC) – Local clubs. Monday, June 14, to Sunday, June 20.

Southwest Ontario Regional – Bingemans Conference and Convention Centre, 425 Bingemans Centre Drive, Kitchener, Ont. Tuesday, July 6, to Sunday, July 11.

NO LONGER on ACBL Tournament Schedule: Rochester Regional – RIT Inn and Conference Center, 5257 W. Henrietta Road, Henrietta. Monday, Aug. 2, to Sunday, Aug. 8.

St. Catharines 299er Sectional – Bridge Centre of Niagara, 6-2E Tremont Drive, St. Catharines, Ont. Saturday, Aug. 21, and Sunday, Aug. 22.

Pittsburgh Labor Day Regional – DoubleTree Pittsburgh-Green Tree, 500 Mansfield Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. Tuesday, Aug. 31, to Monday, Sept. 8.

Great Lakes Sectional – Erie Bridge Center, 1221 Grant Ave., Erie, Pa. Saturday, Sept. 11, and Sunday, Sept. 12.

Buffalo Fall Sectional – Main-Transit Fire Hall, 6777 Main St., Amherst. Friday, Sept. 17, to Sunday, Sept. 19.

RESCHEDULED: Buffalo Regional – Millennium Hotel, 2040 Walden Ave., Cheektowaga. Was Tuesday, Oct. 19, to Sunday, Oct. 24. Rescheduled to Tuesday, Oct. 5, to Sunday, Oct. 10.

Niagara Falls Regional – Crowne Plaza Hotel, 5685 Falls Ave., Niagara Falls, Ont. Tuesday, Nov. 9, to Sunday, Nov. 14.

Unit 255 Sectional – Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre, 14 Anderson Path, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Friday, Nov. 13, to Sunday, Nov. 15.

District 5 Winter STaC – Local clubs. Monday, Dec. 6, to Sunday, Dec. 12.

• • •

Bridge club websites:

Click names for links.

Bridge Center of Buffalo.

Bridge Club Meridian.

Western New York Unit 116.

The Airport Bridge Club does not have a website. For info, call 716-603-6943.

• • •

The Duplicate Bridge column is compiled weekly by News Staff Reporter Dale Anderson. The print version, which formerly appeared Saturdays in The Buffalo News, went on hiatus in March when the pandemic forced local bridge clubs to halt face-to-face play.

During this hiatus, it can be found in two places online. Google “Duplicate Bridge” plus the current Saturday date and that should bring up a link to it on buffalonews.com, the Buffalo News website.

Sometimes the online version does not materialize on the Buffalo News website, at least not in a timely fashion. Sometimes non-subscribers can’t get access to it at all. And sometimes columns from previous weeks cannot be found on the News website. But fear not, they’re available in an appendix to Dale Anderson’s bridge blog at http://newsdupli.blogspot.com/

Deadline for submission of scores and notices is Tuesday night. Email danderson@buffnews.com or dahotwings@aol.com. Office phone is 716-849-4420.

• • •

Now a Gold Life Master, Dale Anderson is playing online these days and his career total just surpassed 2,700 master points. Online play doesn’t provide as much drama for his bridge blog as face-to-face competition, but he still writes about his quest for the next measure of achievement, Sapphire Life Master (3,500 points), and other bridge adventures here.

• • •

Duplicate scores from Bridge Base Online
Week of Dec. 7 to Dec. 13

Bridge Center of Buffalo Monday evening – 99ers. Martha Cain and Linda Henschel, 62.22% Betsy and Jim Greno, 58.33%; Karen Dearing and Michael Metzger, 57.78%; Joann and Gary Keenan, 55%; Carol Licata and Stephane Ronget, 53.89%.  

Bridge Center of Buffalo Tuesday morning – 999ers. North-south, Bill Noltee and David Schott, 62.96%; Margaret Zhou and Audrey Ray, 61.57%; Bonnie Clement and Larry Himelein, 59.03%; Jim McClure and Richard McGowan, 57.87%; Jim Hassett and Bill Rich, 57.64%; east-west, Seema Bhagwat and Beena Deshmukh, 62.04%; Janet Desmon and Joanne Nover, 59.95%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 57.64%; Martha Townson and Jim Lanzo, 54.63%; Pat Haynes and Judy Zeckhauser, 50%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Tuesday morning – Open game. Saleh Fetouh and Bud Seidenberg, 65.74%; Kamil Bishara and Rajarshi Roy, 55.56%; Sharon Benz and John Marvin, 54.63%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Thursday afternoon – Under 1,500 points. North-south, Linda Milch and Jim McClure, 68.75%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 68.06%; (tie) Gabe Tannenbaum and Jim Lanzo, Dorothy and Larry Soong, 59.20%; (tie) Paula Rosen and Maryann Szafran, David Schott and Larry Himelein, 54.34%; east-west, Richard McGowan and Bill Rich, 61.11%; Seema Bhagwat and Beena Deshmukh, 60.07%; Agi Maisel and Tova Reinhorn, 57.29%; Amita Arora and Stephane Ronget, 56.60%; Amy Habib and Susan Burns, 55.21%; Rose Bochiechio and Meena Rustgi, 53.47%; Jim Hassett and Bill Noltee, 53.30%.

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Victory Point Game. Linda and Paul Zittel, 3 wins.

Delaware Wednesday evening – (Tie) Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 61.11%; Joan and Bob Ciszak, 58.89%; Jan O’Mara and Walt Olszewski, 57.78%; Ed Harman and Bill Rich, 56.11%.

Garret Club Invitational Monday morning – Elizabeth Schreier and Maureen Saab, 61.11%; Linda Henschel and Amber Dixon, 60.19%; Robin Coffin and Carole Sedita, 56.48%; Pinky Regan and Susan Burns, 55.56%.

Lockport Duplicate Bridge Club Saturday afternoon – Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 61.11%; Chris Urbanek and Rajarshi Roy, 56.94% Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 50%.

Twentieth Century Club Invitational Friday morning –North-south, Elaine Idzik and Martha Townson, 60.19%; Susan Burns and Jane Mitchell, 57.41%; Barbara Kaye and Barbara Meenaghan, 55.09%; east-west, Sheila Hess and Donna Starnes, 70.37%; Phyllis Wilkinson and Peggy Stock, 60.19%; Christine Nieman and Fran Schmidt, 48.15%.

Unit 116 Master Point Leaders for Overall Play

Jan. 1, 2020, to Nov. 30, 2020

0-5 Points – Linda Henschel, 51.33; Nancy Deneen, 41.62; Martha Cain, 40.91; Elaine Idzik, 35.65; Amy Habib, 29.30; Anne Allen, 24.91.

5-20 Points – Martha Townson, 110.94; Jane Constantine, 23.92; Susan Burns, 18.23; David Desmon, 13.16; Fran Schmidt, 13.01; Peggy Stock, 9.11; Tyler Mu, 8.91.

20-50 Points – David Schott, 37.42; Maria Amlani, 33.34; Mary Joyce, 32.71; Stephane Ronget, 26.96; Carole Sedita, 18.10; Cherry Searle, 17.51.

50-100 Points – Larry Himelein, 108.52; Joanne Nover, 53.28; Pam Righter, 29.60; Barbara Hill, 20.07; Rose Ann Grimaldi, 17.78; Betty DeFeo, 12.04; Bill Noltee, 11.17.

100-200 Points – Vic Bergsten, 144.09; Bonnie Clement, 95.50; Terry Hamovitch, 81.87; Bram Hamovitch, 79.57; James O’Hara, 60 even; Audrey Ray, 55.58; Carol Roth, 34.51.

200-300 Points – Jim Lanzo, 162.01; Patty Porter, 51.39; Jasbeer Makhija, 48.73; Margaret Zhou, 46.35; Ruth Nawotniak, 26.03; Agi Maisel, 16.59; Maryann Szafran, 15.99.

300-500 Points – Amita Arora, 107.48; Joyce Frayer, 97.02; Larry Abate, 81.87; Violet Makhija, 49.71; Sushil Amlani, 41.99; Paula Rosen, 19.57; Jim McClure, 19 even.

500-1000 Points –Bob Sommerstein, 114.68; (tie) Jim Easton, Marilyn Wortzman, 110.50; Mary Ball, 94.02; John Bava, 91.35; Ed Morgan, 57.57; Bill Rich, 54.86; Ten-Pao Lee, 44.61.

1000-1500 Points – Sandi England, 119.31; Gay Simpson, 118.51; David Colligan, 71.77; Terry Fraas, 33.74; Joyce Greenspan, 31.91; Joanne LaFay, 27.49; Howard Foster, 27.01; Kamil Bishara, 23.92; Miriam Regnet, 22.43.

1500-2500 Points – (Tie) Martha Welte, John Welte, 561.46; Davis Heussler, 157.23; Linda Burroughsford, 127.65; Nancy Wolstoncroft, 72.95; Pinky Regan, 55.55; Walt Olszewski, 44.82. 

2500-3500 Points – Allen Beroza, 160.90; Ken Meier, 151.02; Dale Anderson, 75.16; Fred Yellen, 59.98; John Sinclair, 58.89; Mike Silverman, 55.77.

3500-5000 Points – Barbara Libby, 118.08; Sharon Benz, 103.96; Judy Padgug, 66.25; Mike Ryan, 61.01; John Ziemer, 57.90; Christy Kellogg, 55.98; Kathy Pollock, 54.64.

5000-7500 Points – Saleh Fetouh, 205.92; Alan Greer, 100.85; Judi Marshall, 67.22; Bert Hargeshimer, 55.60; Jay Costello, 39.27.

Over 7500 Points – Bud Seidenberg, 143.68; Chris Urbanek, 109.14; Jay Levy, 47.82.

Email danderson@buffnews.com

 

  

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