The Duplicate Bridge column is bidding farewell to the Buffalo News website. Future installments will appear weekly right here at http://newsdupli.blogspot.com/
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The Niagara Regional Tournament opens Tuesday, Nov. 11, and continues through Sunday, Nov. 16, in St. Catharines, Ont., in the Holiday Inn & Suites, 327 Ontario St. Games begin at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with Swiss teams at 10 a.m. Sunday. For more info, click this link.
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Western New York Unit 116 will hold its annual general meeting, luncheon and game on Saturday, Dec. 6, in the Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. off Exit 1 of the I-190. The meeting is at 11 a.m., with lunch at 11:30 and an open pairs game at 12:30 p.m. Fee is $10, lunch included. Preregistration requested by Dec. 1. Prepayment not required. Email larab1016@verizon.net or jbava@roadrunner.com.
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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 game is
Saturday, Nov. 22. 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.
A new series of lessons in basic bridge strategies is
in progress at the Bridge Center’s clubrooms. Wednesday lessons begin at 2:30
p.m. Saturday classes start at 10 a.m. For more info, call 716-424-0014 and
leave a message.
The Bridge Center also has started a course of
supervised play at 11 a.m. on Mondays for players who know the basics and want
to step up their skills in the game. Each hand is discussed after it is played.
Mini lessons may be given on some of the topics and there will be possibilities
to play for master points. To come, text Pat Haynes at 716-472-5189.
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. Upgraded now to
include players with fewer than 900 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.
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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.
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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.
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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. 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 in the 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.
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The Niagara-on-the-Lake Bridge Club 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 $6 Canadian for members, $8 Canadian for
non-members. Annual membership is $20 Canadian. For more information,
visit bridgewebs.com/niagaraonthelake.
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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.
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Tournament
calendar
2025
Niagara Regional – Holiday
Inn & Suites, 327 Ontario St., St. Catharines, Ont. Tuesday, Nov. 11, to
Sunday, Nov. 16. For more info, click this link.
2026
Toronto Winter Non-Life Master Regional – Sheraton
Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ont. Saturday, Jan. 3, and
Sunday, Jan. 4. For more info, click this link.
Toronto Winter Sectional – Sheraton
Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ont. Saturday, Jan. 3, and
Sunday, Jan. 4. For more info, click this link.
Cleveland Rock and Roll Regional – Embassy
Suites Hotel, 5800 Rockside Woods Road, Independence, Ohio. Wednesday, Jan. 7,
to Sunday, Jan. 11. For info, click this link.
Niagara Winter Sectional –
Holiday Inn & Suites Parkway Conference Center, 327 Ontario St., St.
Catharines, Ont. Friday, Feb. 13, to Sunday, Feb. 15. For more info, click this
link.
Toronto Easter Regional – Sheraton
Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ont. Tuesday, March 31, to
Sunday, April 5.
Buffalo Spring Sectional –
Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. Friday, April 10, to Sunday, April 12.
For info, click this link.
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Bridge
club websites:
Click
names for links.
The
Airport Bridge Club, which continues to be on hiatus, does not have a website.
For info, call 716-603-6943.
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Duplicate
scores from ACBL Live for Clubs
Week
of Oct. 27 to Nov. 2
ACBL
Affiliated Clubs
Buffalo Bridge Center Monday
evening – 0-900
game online. Fran Schmidt and Richard McGowan, 63.89%; Betsy and Jim Greno,
55.56%; Nancy Prussky and Gary Keenan, 54.17%; Carol Licata and Larry Himelein,
51.39%.
Buffalo Bridge Center Tuesday morning – 0-1,600
game. North-south, Betty Metz and Ruth Nawotniak, 58.73%; Pat Haynes and
Maryann Szafran, 57.54%; Barbara Landree and Paul Zittel, 53.97%; Larry
Himelein and David Schott, 53.57%; east-west, Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer,
58.73%; Bill and Nathan Kross, 57.94%; Linda Marsh and Arthur Ziller, 52.78%;
Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 50.79%; Carol Licata and Ilene Rothman, 50.40%.
Buffalo Bridge Center Thursday morning – 0-2,000 game. Julie Mitchell and Walt Olszewski, 67.26%; Joyce Greenspan and Audrey Ray, 64.11%; Larry Himelein and David Schott, 61.48%; Maryann Szafran and Betty Metz, 55.61%.
Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Open game. Joann LaFay and Sandi England, 65.97%; Judy Graf and Mike Ryan, 65.28%; Linda and Paul Zittel, 50.69%; (tie) Mary Terrana and Gordon Crone, Pat Haynes and Joe Miranda, 49.31%.
Delaware Wednesday evening – 0-2,000 game online. Bill Rich and Richard McGowan, 59.72%;
Wendy Zinman-Smith and Tom Fahey, 58.33%; Jeff Bender and Henry Chudy, 51.39%;
Ed Harman and Bob Ciszak, 47.22%.
Other
clubs
Amherst Senior Center Monday afternoon – North-south,
Shirley Cassety and George Mayers, 63%; Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 54%;
east-west, Mary and Jim Atwood, 53.3%; Joan Stankiewicz and Ellen Lochead, 50%.
Tonawanda Senior Center Wednesday afternoon – Susan and Harvey Lichtblau, 56.9%; Ann Dunlop and Patricia Sexton, 55.5%; Rose Bochiechio and Edna Fill, 54.1%.
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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. The final installment of the online version on the News website is appearing today, Nov. 8.
From now on you can find it online by searching for
“Duplicate Bridge” plus the current Saturday date on Google. That should bring it
up here on Dale Anderson’s bridge blog at http://newsdupli.blogspot.com/
Deadline for submission of scores and notices is
Tuesday night. Email dahotwings@aol.com. Cell and text is
716-860-2305.
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A Gold Life Master,
Dale Anderson reached a career milestone, 3,000 master points, at the Buffalo
Fall Sectional Tournament. He blogs about his bridge adventures here.
