Buffalo Niagara duplicate bridge notes: Jan. 24, 2026

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

The Buffalo Bridge Center’s annual meeting precedes the next special game today, Saturday, Jan. 24, at the club at 60 Dingens St. off Exit 1 of the I-190. It also will be a Unit Championship Game with extra points for the winners. Refreshments and meeting at noon. Game at 12:30 p.m. Players are encouraged to bring refreshments to share. Free for members. $12 for non-members. For partnerships, call Ruth Nawotniak at 716-949-7574 or email ruth2250@outlook.com.

The Bridge Center also offers supervised play from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays for players who want experience and advice to improve their games. All are welcome. No pre-registration needed. The club also hosts a social bridge game for fun at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays. Signup needed for this one. Once again, Ruth Nawotniak is the person to call at 716-949-7574 or email at ruth2250@outlook.com. 

The Buffalo Bridge Center 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. 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: Bridge Club of East Aurora games are at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Aurora Senior Citizens Center, 101 King St., East Aurora. Contact is 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. 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.

Upcoming tournaments

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 Jan. 12 to Jan. 18

Buffalo Bridge Center Tuesday morning – 0-1,600 game. North-south, Paula Rosen and Jim McClure, 59.52%; Gini Sicignano and Pat Wolcott, 51.19%; (tie) Joanne Nover and David Schott, Sharon Wilcox and Paul Zittel, 50.40%; east-west, Bonnie Clement and Agi Maisel, 59.13%; Betty Metz and Ruth Nawotniak, 56.35%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 50.40%; Carol Licata and Ilene Rothman, 48.02%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Wednesday morning – Open game. Chris Urbanek and Saleh Fetouh, 62.22%; Jay Costello and Bud Seidenberg, 55.56%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 54.81%; Martha Welte and Howard Foster, 54.07%; Donna Steffan and David Colligan, 52.22%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Friday morning – Open game. Jay Costello and Bud Seidenberg, 62.50%; Donna Steffan and John Ziemer, 55.21%; Linda Burroughsford and Davis Heussler, 54.17%; Tova and Andrei Reinhorn, 51.04%.

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Open game. Joanne LaFay and Linda Zittel, 57.14%; Paul Zittel and Bert Feasley, 53.37%; (tie) Joyce Greenspan and Ruth Wurster, Jan and Carl Hasselback, 51.79%; Brian Universal and Bob Mampe, 50%.

Delaware Wednesday evening – 0-2,000 game online. Mark Chasse and Jason Carter, 66.67%; Eugene Giorgini and Jim Lanzo, 54.17%; (tie) Ed Harman and Bill Rich, Jim Hassett and Terry Camp, 52.78%.

Non-sanctioned clubs

Amherst Senior Center Monday afternoon – North-south, Joe Huber and Fritz Schweiger, 57%; Shirley Cassety and George Mayers, 56%; east-west, Mary and Jim Atwood, 56%; Jill and Bruce Brown, 55%.

Amherst Senior Center Friday afternoon – North-south, Shirley Cassety and George Mayers, 67%; Nancy Wolstoncroft and Ed Drozen, 63%; east-west, Ellen Lochead and Joan Stankiewicz, 63%; Mary and Jim Atwood, 55%.

Tonawanda Senior Center Wednesday afternoon – Mike and Bob Rupp, 61.1%; (tie) Susan and Harvey Licthblau, 56.9%; JoAnne Biondo and Ron Fill, 56.9%.

Unit 116 Master Point Leaders for Play in All Venues

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

0-5 Points – Julie Mitchell, 47.13; Susan Marin Dolce, 9.30; Maureen Piasecki, 8.94; John Brennan, 8.79; Joan Warren, 8.07; Linda Marsh, 6.35; Amy Licata, 4.60; Ann Bonte, 3.50; Arthur Ziller, 3.06; William Kross, 1.97.

5-20 Points – Devon Marlette, 8.06; Mike Rupp, 6.46; Fran Holmes, 3.90; Amber Dixon, 1.46; David Taylor, 0.63.

20-50 Points – Dennis Daly, 23.22; Anthony Girasole, 12 even; Molly Morris, 7.11; Gini Sicignano, 6.01; Zakie Nohra, 5.86; Maxine Johnson, 3.06; Karen Dearing, 1.57; Maureen Saab, 1.34; Phyllis Stasiowski, 0.83; Chris-Elaine Santilli, 0.57.

50-100 Points – Brian Fleming, 63.33; Ilene Rothman, 20.67; Amy Habib, 16.49; Gary Keenan, 15.25; Mike Metzger, 14.09; Candace Graser, 13.51; John Houghtaling, 12.25; Cynthia Tashjian, 11.68; Susan Burns, 10.74; Donna Starnes, 10.26.

100-200 Points – Mike Meacham, 35.67; Carol Licata, 19.98; Maria Schory, 17.91; Fran Schmidt, 15.59; Jim Hassett, 14.14; Betty DeFeo, 5.78; Jim Greno, 5.58; Betsy Greno, 4.95; Pam Righter, 3.44; Joan Ciszak, 2.93.

200-300 Points – Maria Amlani, 71.27; Ethan Xie, 22.79; Laura Houghtaling, 12.25; (tie) Barbara and John Scott, 7.22; Judy Babat, 1.88; Patty Porter, 1.55; Hannah Weinberg, 1.13; Tom England, 0.42.

300-500 Points – David Schott, 73.72; Pat Haynes, 61.45; Joanne Nover, 53.27; Audrey Ray, 40.76; Ruth Nawotniak, 23.71; Maryann Szafran, 22.80; Agi Maisel, 21.39; Linda Milch, 15.99; Carl Hasselback, 11.01; David Whitt, 10.40.

500-1,000 Points – (Tie) Terry and Bram Hamovitch, 87.55; Larry Himelein, 78.63; Joyce Frayer, 67.16; Sushil Amlani, 52.69; Linda Zittel, 51.80; Andrei Reinhorn, 49.18; Martha Townson, 42.63; Mary Terrana, 33.25; Richard McGowan, 32 even.

1,000-1,500 Points – Jim Lanzo, 142.40; Vic Bergsten, 91.71; Howard Foster, 75.36; Mary Ball, 67.11; Paul Zittel, 60.41; Betty Metz, 52.26; Marilyn Wortzman, 44.16; Jim Easton, 43.96; Joanne LaFay, 39.63; Bert Feasley, 36.94.

1,500-2,500 Points – Kamil Bishara, 109.18; Paula Kotowski, 59.40; Pinky Regan, 56.02; David Colligan, 53.43; Tova Reinhorn, 48.76; Walt Olszewski, 38.64; Rajat Basu, 35.47; Joyce Greenspan, 34.84; Sandi England, 29.71; Nancy Kessler, 25.64.

2,500-3,500 Points – Linda Burroughsford, 194.60; Dale Anderson, 38.44; David Turner, 27.56; Art Morth, 15.30; Elaine Kurasiewicz, 8.57; Fred Yellen, 8.09; Pat Rasmus, 1.78.

3,500-5,000 Points – Davis Heussler, 258.82; John Ziemer, 124.21; Judy Graf, 110.62; Chongmin Zhang, 74.89; Martha Welte, 65.33; Donna Steffan, 56.02; Jim Gullo, 43.13; Bill Rushmore, 20.21; Barbara Libby, 12.84; Mike Silverman, 9.93.

More than 5,000 Points – Saleh Fetouh, 1,021.31; Jay Levy, 272.33; Chris Urbanek, 232.68; Dian Petrov, 184.03; Mike Ryan, 142.09; Jay Costello, 87.77; Bud Seidenberg, 81.03; Kathy Pollock, 72.90; Glenn Milgrim, 31.21; Sharon Benz, 1.38; Dan Gerstman, 0.60.

Dale Anderson has compiled notes on duplicate bridge activities locally since he began playing in competition more than 20 years ago. 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.