Duplicate Bridge: Aug. 23, 2025

 

Western New York Unit 116 holds its annual picnic lunch and bridge game today, Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. off Exit 1 of the I-190. It begins at 11:30 a.m. with a Weidner's chicken barbecue lunch, followed by the game at 12:30 p.m. Cost is $10 for unit members, $15 for non-members. Pre-registration is required. Call or text John Bava at 908-256-6466 or email him at jbava@roadrunner.com.

• • •

The Buffalo Bridge Center offers a regular schedule of in-person and online games Monday through Friday with party games once a month on weekends. Next party games are Saturday, Sept. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 18. For more info, visit the Buffalo Bridge Center website or call 716-424-0014. Fee for games is $8 for members and $12 for non-members.

Don’t want to clean up the house for kitchen bridge? The Bridge Center also hosts a social game in its lessons room on Tuesday mornings during the regular 10:30 a.m. game. Players can go at their own speed and style. Fee is $5 to cover expenses.

In-person games:

Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. For players with fewer than 1,600 points. Simultaneous game for players with fewer than 99 points if there are enough tables. Free lesson at 10.

Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. Open to all players. Simultaneous game for players with fewer than 99 points if there are enough tables.

Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. Upgraded to now include players with up to 2,000 points. Simultaneous game for players with fewer than 99 points if there are enough tables. Free lesson at 10.

Fridays, 10:30 a.m. Open to all players by pre-registration only. Call 716-424-0014.

Virtual games on Bridge Base Online:

Mondays, 7 p.m. For players with fewer than 750 points.

Wednesdays, 7 p.m. Delaware Wednesday game for players with fewer than 2,000 points. For info on this game, call Ed Harman at 716-480-1666 or email eharmon@roadrunner.com.

• • •

More access to virtual games on Bridge Base Online is being offered by the Airport Bridge Club, which currently is not holding face-to-face games. It has affiliated with a new group of clubs, the SE Club of Clubs Online Bridge Collective, where most games are $5. For more info, click this link.

The Airport Club also continues to be part of the Alliance 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 716-603-6943.

• • •

The East Aurora Bridge Club begins play at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Aurora Senior Citizens Center, 101 King St., East Aurora. Attendance is generally three or four tables. For more info, email director Dave Larcom at dmocral@verizon.net.

• • •

The Bridge Centre of Niagara (BCON) in St. Catharines, Ont., offers face-to-face games five days a week at its club in Tremont Square opposite the Pen Centre shopping plaza off Glendale Avenue:

Mondays, 1 p.m. Open and 499er (fewer than 499 master points) games.

Mondays, 6 p.m. Beginner game, fewer than 50 master points. Register at mon-eve@bcon.club.

Wednesdays, 1 p.m. Open game.

Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. 499er game. Register at wed-eve@bcon.club.

Thursday, 9:30 a.m. New 99er game.

Thursday, 1 p.m. 999er game.

Friday, 1 p.m. Open and 499er games.

Saturday, 6:30 p.m. New open game. Arrive by 6 p.m. if you need a partner.

Fees are $9 Canadian for members, $12 Canadian for non-members. $9 Canadian for all players for Monday beginner game. Membership is $65 Canadian for a year, beginning April 1. For more information, visit bridgewebs.com/Niagara.

The club has just cut back to a single virtual game on Bridge Base Online, the one for players with fewer than 750 points at 10 a.m. Tuesdays. Turnout for the other one, an open game at 7 p.m. Thursdays, had gotten too small. For more info, click here.

For online play, BCON recommends going to the SE Club of Clubs Online Bridge Collective, which appears as “SE Carolina” on Bridge Base Online. Games run throughout the day. A full lineup of games can be seen at SE Carolina On-line Bridge.

• • •

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Bridge Centre plays in the Community Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., on Anderson Lane off Mississauga Street on the western end of the village. Open games are at 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays. Fee is $5 Canadian for members, $7 Canadian for non-members. Annual membership is $20 Canadian. For more information, visit bridgewebs.com/niagaraonthelake.

• • •

Face-to-face play in non-sanctioned clubs is offered at the Tonawanda Senior Center at 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays and at the Amherst Senior Center at 12:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays. The Tonawanda Senior Center game will be closed on Wednesday, Aug. 27. Play will resume Wednesday, Sept. 3.

• • •

Tournament calendar

2025

Pittsburgh Labor Day Regional – Greater Pittsburgh Masonic Center, 3579 Masonic Way, Pittsburgh, Pa. Wednesday, Aug. 27, to Monday, Sept. 1. For more info, click this link.

Great Lakes Sectional – Erie Bridge Club, 1221 Grant Ave., Erie, Pa. Saturday, Sept. 6, and Sunday, Sept. 7. For more info, click this link.

Buffalo Fall Sectional – Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St., Buffalo. Friday, Sept. 12, to Sunday, Sept 14. For more info, click this link.

CANCELED: Buffalo Regional – Millennium Hotel, 2040 Walden Ave., Cheektowaga. Tuesday, Oct. 21, to Sunday, Oct. 26.

Niagara Regional – Holiday Inn & Suites, 327 Ontario St., St. Catharines, Ont. Tuesday, Nov. 11, to Sunday, Nov. 16. For more info, click this link.

• • •

Bridge club websites:

Click names for links.

Bridge Center of Buffalo.

Western New York Unit 116.

The Airport Bridge Club, which continues to be on hiatus, does not have a website. For info, call 716-603-6943.

• • •

Duplicate scores from ACBL Live for Clubs

Week of Aug. 11 to Aug. 17

ACBL Affiliated Clubs

Buffalo Bridge Center Tuesday morning – 0-1,600 game. North-south, Betty Metz and Ruth Wurster, 55.36%; Joanne Nover and Larry Himelein, 55.06%; Maryann Szafran and Jim McClure, 53.27%; Sushil Amlani and Jim Lanzo, 52.38%; east-west, Adrian Figliotti and Audrey Ray, 59.23%; Linda Milch and Susan Cardamone, 54.76%; Carol Licata and Ilene Rothman, 54.46%; Agi Maisel and Pat Haynes, 53.57%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Wednesday morning – Open game. Jay Costello and Bud Seidenberg, 62.96%; (tie) Davis Heussler and Howard Foster, Kamil Bishara and Chris Urbanek, 60%; Linda Burroughsford and Art Morth, 59.63%; Judy Graf and Jim Gullo, 54.44%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Thursday morning – 0-2,000 game. North-south, Paula Rosen and Linda Milch, 55%; Audrey Ray and David Whitt, 53.75%; Barbara Landree and Anthony Girasole, 52.50%; east-west, Larry Himelein and David Schott, 61.25%; Joyce Greenspan and Andrei Reinhorn, 53.13%; Judie Bailey and Betty Metz, 51.25%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Friday morning – Open game. Tova and Andrei Reinhorn, 61.46%; Jay Costello and Bud Seidenberg, 59.38%; Donna Steffan and John Ziemer, 54.17%; Martha Welte and Larry Abate, 50%.

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Open game. North-south, Jan and Carl Hasselback, 62.33%; Mary Terrana and Gordon Crone, 56.46%; Pat Haynes and Joe Miranda, 55.38%; east-west, Nancy Kessler and Paula Kotowski, 53.58%; Maureen Cancilla and Kathy Donnelly, 53.19%; Ann and Joe Williams, 50.82%.

Other clubs

Amherst Senior Center Monday afternoon – North-south, Judie Bailey and Dan Blatz, 65%; Jo Nasoff-Finton and Nancy Wolstoncroft, 62%; east-west, Mary and Jim Atwood, 63%; Jack Cukierman and Mel Mesnekoff, 57%.

Amherst Senior Center Friday afternoon – North-south, Edna and Ron Fill, 63.9%; Shirley Cassety and George Mayers, 63.5%; east-west, Linda Milch and Paula Rosen, 62%; Shrikant Joshi and Ron Helfman, 56%.

Tonawanda Senior Center Wednesday afternoon – Judy White and Fritz Schweiger, 68.75%; (tie) Susan and Harvey Lichtblau, Mike and Bob Rupp, 51.25%.

• • •

Unit 116 Master Point Leaders for Play in All Venues

Jan. 1, 2025, to July 31, 2025

0-5 Points – Julie Mitchell, 29.01; John Brennan, 4.89; Maureen Piasecki, 4.77; Joan Warren, 1.80; (tie) Walter Balon, Ellen Balon, 0.59; John Eckis, 0.48; (tie) Linda Marsh, Arthur Ziller, 0.40; Jeanette Bockstahler, 0.33.

5-20 Points – Mike Rupp, 5.16: Fran Holmes, 3.44; Devon Marlette, 1.80; David Taylor, 0.63.

20-50 Points – Dennis Daly, 17.80; Zakie Nohra, 5.86; Anthony Girasole, 5.74; Molly Morris, 3.89; Gini Sicignano, 3.72; Maxine Johnson, 2.57; Karen Dearing, 1.57; Maureen Saab, 1.34; Phyllis Stasiowski, 0.67; Chris-Elaine Santilli, 0.57.

50-100 Points – Brian Fleming, 37.59; Ilene Rothman, 15.47; Mike Metzger, 12.43; Amy Habib, 11.88; Gary Keenan, 11.13; Cynthia Tashjian, 9.26; Donna Starnes, 9.15; Candace Graser, 8.32; John Houghtaling, 8.24; Susan Cardamone, 5.59.

100-200 Points – Mike Meacham, 19.41; Maria Schory, 14.53; Carol Licata, 14.44; Fran Schmidt, 11.60; Jim Hassett, 9.53; Betty DeFeo, 5.62; Jim Greno, 4.90; Betsy Greno, 4.27; Joan Ciszak, 1.64.

200-300 Points – Maria Amlani, 40.86; Ethan Xie, 22.79; Laura Houghtaling, 8.24; (tie) Barbara and John Scott, 5.66; Judy Babat, 1.88; Patty Porter, 1.55; Hannah Weinberg, 0.80.

300-500 Points – David Schott, 40.13; Pat Haynes, 31.18; Joanne Nover, 27.09; Audrey Ray, 24.78; Maryann Szafran, 13.82; Ruth Nawotniak, 13.20; Agi Maisel, 11.36; Linda Milch, 8.86; Carl Hasselback, 7.52; Bob Ciszak, 6.27.

500-1,000 Points – Larry Himelein, 55.12; (Tie) Terry and Bram Hamovitch, 50.39; Joyce Frayer, 40.28; Linda Zittel, 34.03; Andrei Reinhorn, 30.24; Sushil Amlani, 27.17; Martha Townson, 26.51; Richard McGowan, 20.03; Mary Terrana, 18.89.

1,000-1,500 Points – Jim Lanzo, 85.20; Vic Bergsten, 61.99; Howard Foster, 46.26; Paul Zittel, 43.28; Mary Ball, 41.46; Jim Easton, 34.72; Marilyn Wortzman, 33.59; Betty Metz, 33.31; Terry Fraas, 23.43; Ed Morgan, 20.51.

1,500-2,500 Points – Kamil Bishara, 81.46; David Colligan, 38.81; Paula Kotowski, 38.04; Pinky Regan, 31.22; Tova Reinhorn, 29.99; Walt Olszewski, 25.84; Joyce Greenspan, 25.32; Rajat Basu, 21.98; Sandi England, 15.39; Nancy Kessler, 14.10.

2,500-3,500 Points – Linda Burroughsford, 101.26; David Turner, 27.56; Dale Anderson, 16.59; Fred Yellen, 8.09; Art Morth, 6.91; Elaine Kurasiewicz, 5.06; Pat Rasmus, 0.51.

3,500-5,000 Points – Davis Heussler, 158.93; John Ziemer, 72.42; Chongmin Zhang, 61.10; Judy Graf, 56.08; Martha Welte, 41.07; Donna Steffan, 34.01; Jim Gullo, 28.93; Bill Rushmore, 11.46; Barbara Libby, 9.91; Mike Silverman, 7.43.

More than 5,000 Points – Saleh Fetouh, 593.32; Jay Levy, 187.84; Chris Urbanek, 177.61; Dian Petrov, 99.14; Mike Ryan, 86.96; Jay Costello, 62.48; Bud Seidenberg, 61.51; Kathy Pollock, 53.79; Glenn Milgrim, 31.21; Dan Gerstman, 0.60.

• • •

The Duplicate Bridge column has been compiled weekly by Buffalo News Staff Reporter Dale Anderson for more than 20 years. The print version stopped appearing Saturdays in The News in March 2020 when the pandemic forced local bridge clubs to halt face-to-face play.

These days you can find it 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, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Fridays. Another place to find it anytime is on 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.

• • •

A Gold Life Master, Dale Anderson has a career total of nearly 3,000  master points. One of his New Year’s resolutions for 2025 is to write more regularly about his bridge adventures here.