Buffalo Niagara duplicate bridge notes: Jan. 10, 2026

 

News and notes for the Buffalo area duplicate bridge community appear weekly here at http://newsdupli.blogspot.com/, usually by midweek.

There's a new president of ACBL Unit 116 for 2026. Joyce Greenspan is succeeding Larry Abate, who now is vice president. Sandi England is secretary and John Bava is treasurer. Rounding out the roster of board members are Jim Lanzo, Larry Himelein and Sushil Amlani. Leaving the board are Ruth Wurster and Rajat Basu.

The Cleveland Rock and Roll Regional in the suburb of Independence began Wednesday, Jan. 7, and continues through Sunday, Jan. 11. For more details, check this link. 

Next tournament locally is the Niagara Winter Sectional Friday, Feb. 13, to Sunday, Feb. 15, in St. Catharines, Ont. And details have just been announced for the Finger Lakes Regional in June in Penn Yan. For details, see the links in the tournament listings below.

The Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. off Exit 1 of the I-190, is closed whenever Buffalo schools are closed because of winter weather. When the streets are clear, it 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 the club’s annual meeting and game on Saturday, Jan. 24. For more info, visit the Buffalo Bridge Center website at https://buffalobridgecenter.godaddysites.com/ or call 716-424-0014. Fee for games is $8 for members and $12 for non-members. Membership is $80 annually.

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 bridgewebs.com/niagaraonthelake.

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

Tournament calendar

2026

Cleveland Rock and Roll Regional – Embassy Suites Hotel, 5800 Rockside Woods Road, Independence, Ohio. Continuing today, Saturday, Jan. 10, and 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. For more info, click this link.

Buffalo Spring Sectional – Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. Friday, April 10, to Sunday, April 12. For info, click this link.

Finger Lakes Regional – Seasons on Keuka Lake, 110 Mace St., Penn Yan. Monday, June 8, to Friday, June 12. For more info, click this link. 

Scores from ACBL Live for Clubs

Week of Dec. 29 to Jan. 4

Buffalo Bridge Center Monday evening – 0-900 game online. Fran Schmidt and Richard McGowan, 68.06%; (tie) Laura and John Houghtaling, Margaret Zhou and Joyce Frayer, 56.94%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Friday morning – Open game. Howard Foster and Michael Ryan, 64.29%; Donna Steffan and Jay Costello, 56.55%; Linda Burroughsford and Davis Heussler, 54.76%; Chris Urbanek and Kamil Bishara, 52.98%; Tova and Andrei Reinhorn, 51.19%.

Non-sanctioned clubs

Amherst Senior Center Friday afternoon – North-south, Shirley Cassety and George Mayers, 57%; Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 47%; east-west, Carol Neuhaus and Fritz Schweiger, 61%; Mary and Jim Atwood, 50%.

Unit 116 Master Point Leaders for Club Play

Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2025

0-5 Points – Julie Mitchell, 25.56; John Brennan, 8.79; Maureen Piasecki, 7.36; Joan Warren, 6.11; Linda Marsh, 5.39; Susan Mann Dolce, 4.50; Amy Licata, 4.06; Ann Bonte, 3.81; Arthur Ziller, 2.10; Barbara Burns, 2 even.

5-20 Points – Devon Marlette, 1.25; Amber Dizon, 0.67.

20-50 Points – Dennis Daly, 13.88; Anthony Girasole, 10.90; Molly Morris, 5.53; Gini Sicignano, 5.18; Zakie Nohra, 5.15; Phyllis Stasiowski, 0.83; Chris-Elaine Santilli, 0.57.

50-100 Points – Brian Fleming, 25.17; Ilene Rothman, 10.31; Donna Starnes, 10.26; Susan Cardamone, 8.02; Pepe Justicia-Linde, 5.89; Maureen Cancilla, 5.03; Mary Berlow, 4.08; Susan Burns, 3.25; Candace Graser, 3.08; Carole Sedita, 2.83; Amy Habib, 2.56.

100-200 Points – Carol Licata, 9.51; Mike Meacham, 6.05; Betty DeFeo, 5.78; Joan Ciszak, 2.51; Pam Righter, 1.96.

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

300-500 Points – David Schott, 46.93; Pat Haynes, 38.73; Joanne Nover, 35.30; Audrey Ray, 31.58; Maryann Szafran, 20.09; Ruth Nawotniak, 19 even; Linda Milch, 15.03; Agi Maisel, 12.60; Carl Hasselback, 9.14; David Whitt, 9.12.

500-1,000 Points – Larry Himelein, 53.39; Linda Zittel, 42.70; Joyce Frayer, 39.21; Andrei Reinhorn, 37.96; Mary Terrana, 25.33; Jo Nasoff-Finton, 24.63; Jim McClure, 21.13; Paula Rosen, 20.87; Gordon Crone, 20.12; Dave Larcom, 19.54; Joe Miranda, 17.98.

1,000-1,500 Points – Paul Zittel, 47.22; Howard Foster, 46.59; Betty Metz, 46.33; Mary Ball, 44.02; Joanne LaFay, 34.14; Marilyn Wortzman, 28.10; Jim Easton, 27.90; Bert Feasley, 24.10; Terry Fraas, 23.15; Larry Abate, 20.67.

1,500-2,500 Points – Pinky Regan, 44.57; Kamil Bishara, 38.39; Tova Reinhorn, 34.77; Paula Kotowski, 32.99; Joyce Greenspan, 26.60; Sandi England, 23.40; Nancy Kessler, 16.16; Walt Olszewski, 14.32; David Colligan, 12.19; Judy Kaprove, 9.45.

2,500-3,500 Points – Linda Burroughsford, 47.95; Dale Anderson, 24.88; Elaine Kurasiewicz, 2.25; Art Morth, 2.07; Pat Rasmus, 1.78; Fred Yellen, 1.43.

3,500-5,000 Points – John Ziemer, 66.03; Judy Graf, 65.14; Davis Heussler, 62.04; Martha Welte, 46.05; Jim Gullo, 33.32; Donna Steffan, 31.67; Allen Beroza, 4.86; Chongmin Zhang, 0.74; Brian Meyer, 0.60.

More than 5,000 Points – Mike Ryan, 77.34; Chris Urbanek, 53.36; Jay Costello, 48.25; Bud Seidenberg, 44.09; Jay Levy, 16.54; Kathy Pollock, 3.25; Sharon Benz, 1.38; Dian Petrov, 1.03; Dan Gerstman, 0.60.

Dale Anderson made his first 3 No Trump contract as a teen and has compiled notes on duplicate bridge activities locally for more than 20 years. A Gold Life Master, he reached a career milestone, 3,000 master points, at the Buffalo Fall Sectional Tournament last September. You can call or text him at 716-860-2305 or send an email to  dahotwings@aol.com.