Buffalo Niagara duplicate bridge notes: Nov. 15, 2025

 

New installments of Buffalo Niagara duplicate bridge notes are no longer available on the Buffalo News website. Future postings will appear weekly here, usually by midweek, on Dale Anderson’s bridge blog at http://newsdupli.blogspot.com/

The Niagara Regional Tournament continues today, Saturday, Nov. 15, and 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. today, Saturday, with Swiss teams at 10 a.m. Sunday. For more info, click this link.

The annual Western New York Unit 116 general meeting, luncheon and game is coming up 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.

Next party game at the Buffalo Bridge Center is next Saturday, Nov. 22. Snacks at noon. Game at 12:30 p.m. Bring munchies to share. For partnerships and info, call Pat Haynes at 716-472-5189 or email phaynes508@roadrunner.com. Next month’s party game is Saturday, Dec. 13.

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. 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.

Other ACBL sanctioned clubs: Contact for the Bridge Club of East Aurora is Dave Larcom at dmocral@verizon.net. Games are at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Aurora Senior Citizens Center, 101 King St., East Aurora. 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. Website is bridgewebs.com/Niagara. 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. Website is visit bridgewebs.com/niagaraonthelake.

Non-sanctioned clubs: Tonawanda Senior Center, 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays; Amherst Senior Center, 12:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays.

Upcoming tournaments: Niagara Regional – Holiday Inn & Suites, 327 Ontario St., St. Catharines, Ont. Today, Saturday, Nov. 15, and Sunday, Nov. 16. For more info, click this link. District 5 Sectional Tournament at the Clubs (STaC) – At participating local bridge clubs. Tuesday, Dec. 9, to Saturday, Dec.13.

Scores from ACBL Live for Clubs

Week of Nov. 3 to Nov. 9

Buffalo Bridge Center Monday evening – 0-900 game online. Michel Dupuis and Gary Keenan, 65.28%; Carol Licata and Larry Himelein, 54.17%; Fran Schmidt and Richard McGowan, 52.78%; Candace Graser and Cynthia Tashjian, 50%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Tuesday morning – 0-1,600 game. North-south, Larry Himelein and David Schott, 61.99%; Ruth Nawotniak and Paul Zittel, 55.53%; Betty Metz and Audrey Ray, 51.19%; Brian Fleming and John Brennan, 49.19%; east-west, Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 63.98%; Linda Milch and Linda Zittel, 57.06%; Anthony Girasole and Dennis Daly, 54.85%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 53.57%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Wednesday morning – Open game. Home style pairs. Donna Steffan and Judy Graf, 3 wins; (3-way tie) Chris Urbanek and Kamil Bishara, Mike Ryan and John Ziemer, Tova Reinhorn and Bob Padgug, 1 win.

Buffalo Bridge Center Thursday morning – 0-2,000 game. North-south, Joyce Frayer and Mary Ball, 57.50%; Sharon Wilcox and Joyce Greenspan, 55%; east-west, Agi Maisel and Joanne Nover, 56.25%; Audrey Ray and Pat Hayners, 54.38%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Friday morning – Open game. Donna Steffan and Audrey Ray, 66.67%; John Ziemer and Vic Bergsten, 60.42%; Linda Burroughsford and Davis Heussler, 54.17%; Mike Ryan and Jim Gullo, 50%.

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Open game. Joanne LaFay and Joe Miranda, 65.97%; Wilson McClaren and Bob Mampe, 61.81%; Sandi England and Linda Zittel, 59.03%; Ruth Wurster and Nancy Kessler, 54.86%.

Delaware Wednesday evening – 0-2,000 game online. Henry Chudy and Jeff Bender, 60.19%; Eugene Giorgini and Jim Lanzo, 59.26%; Ed Harman and Bob Ciszak, 56.48%; Deborah Elston and Gary Keenan, 55.56%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 53.70%.

Non-sanctioned clubs

Tonawanda Senior Center Wednesday afternoon – Rose Bochiechio and Edna Fill, 68%; Judy White and Fritz Schweiger, 50%.

• • •

Unit 116 Master Point Leaders for Club Play

Jan. 1, 2025, to Oct. 31, 2025

0-5 Points – Julie Mitchell, 20.27; John Brennan, 8.42; Maureen Piasecki, 6.09; Linda Marsh, 3.15% Joan Warren, 3.03; Susan Mann Dolce, 2.20; Arthur Ziller, 2.10; Ann Bonte, 1.65: Amy Licata, 0.99; (tie) Walter Balon and Ellen Balon, 0.89.

5-20 Points – Devon Marlette, 0.79; Amber Dizon, 0.21.

20-50 Points – Dennis Daly, 11.87; Anthony Girasole, 9.45; Zakie Nohra, 5.15; Molly Morris, 5.13; Gini Sicignano, 5.02; Phyllis Stasiowski, 0.83; Chris-Elaine Santilli, 0.57.

50-100 Points – Brian Fleming, 22.04; Donna Starnes, 10.26; Ilene Rothman, 9.22; Susan Cardamone, 8.02; Pepe Justicia-Linde, 5.89; Maureen Cancilla, 3.77; Carole Sedita, 2.83%; Susan Burns, 2.72; Amy Habib, 2.56; Mary Berlow, 2.32.

100-200 Points – Carol Licata, 8.42; Betty DeFeo, 5.78; Mike Meacham, 5.55; Joan Ciszak, 1.87; Pam Righter, 0.28.

200-300 Points – Judy Babat, 1.88; Ethan Xie, 1.60; Hannah Weinberg, 1.13.

300-500 Points – David Schott, 40.23; Pat Haynes, 33.72; Joanne Nover, 30.15; Audrey Ray, 27.53; Maryann Szafran, 18.73; Ruth Nawotniak, 14.66; Linda Milch, 14.26; Agi Maisel, 9.98; Carl Hasselback, 8.61; David Whitt, 8.05.

500-1,000 Points – Larry Himelein, 46.48; Linda Zittel, 37.43; Joyce Frayer, 34.09; Andrei Reinhorn, 33.39; Mary Terrana, 25.33; Gordon Crone, 20.12; Jim McClure, 19.71; Paula Rosen, 18.59; Joe Miranda, 17.98; Dave Larcom, 17.96.

1,000-1,500 Points – Paul Zittel, 43.20; Betty Metz, 42.38; Howard Foster, 40.51; Mary Ball, 38.90; Joanne LaFay, 27.65; Marilyn Wortzman, 25.03; Jim Easton, 24.83; Terry Fraas, 23.15; Bert Feasley, 18.43; Larry Abate, 17.85.

1,500-2,500 Points – Pinky Regan, 36.95; Kamil Bishara, 36.53; Tova Reinhorn, 30.91; Paula Kotowski, 29 even; Joyce Greenspan, 26.06; Sandi England, 21.98; Walt Olszewski, 13.73; Nancy Kessler, 13.54; David Colligan, 12.19; Judy Kaprove, 6.01.

2,500-3,500 Points – Linda Burroughsford, 36.07; Dale Anderson, 21.02; Elaine Kurasiewicz, 2.25; Art Morth, 2.07; Pat Rasmus, 1.78; Fred Yellen, 1.43.

3,500-5,000 Points – Judy Graf, 57.86; John Ziemer, 56.97; Davis Heussler, 50.29; Martha Welte, 39.47; Jim Gullo, 31.95; Donna Steffan, 29.66; Allen Beroza, 4.86; Chongmin Zhang, 0.74; Brian Meyer, 0.60.

More than 5,000 Points – Mike Ryan, 68.21; Chris Urbanek, 49.22; Jay Costello, 46.15; Bud Seidenberg, 43.19; Jay Levy, 16.54; Sharon Benz, 1.38; Dian Petrov, 1.03; Kathy Pollock, 0.75; Dan Gerstman, 0.60.

• • •

The Duplicate Bridge column in The Buffalo News dated back to the 1970s and had been compiled by Staff Reporter Dale Anderson for more than 20 years. The print version stopped in March 2020 when the pandemic forced local bridge clubs to halt face-to-face play. It continued online on Buffalo News website until last Saturday, Nov. 8.

Dale Anderson played bridge socially as a teen and was drawn into playing seriously in 2005. He's a Gold Life Master and reached a career milestone, 3,000 master points, at the Buffalo Fall Sectional Tournament in September. Now that he's laid off from his full-time job, he should have more time to blog about his bridge adventures here.