Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Duplicate Bridge: Jan. 2, 2021

 

The next eight-week series of free online Junior Lessons sponsored by Unit 116 Youth Program will begin Sunday, Jan. 10. Middle and high school students who would like to learn how to play should contact Kathy Pollock at bridgekat@gmail.com.

• • •

Frank Stewart’s Daily Bridge Club column stopped appearing in The Buffalo News last fall when pages were eliminated to cut costs. Stewart himself believes that reader sentiment can bring it back. In an email to this column last month, he wrote:

“I will be most grateful to readers who go to bat for bridge and for me and contact the paper to ask that my column be reinstated. I rarely lose a paper; bridge players are notably loyal to their local column, and there have been several instances where a paper proposed to drop my column and had to back off after a deluge of complaints. But a paper will act only in response to reader feedback.”

Stewart noted that he has emailed Mike Connelly at mconnelly@buffnews.com and Margaret Kenny at mkenny@buffnews.com.

Stewart, meanwhile, is still writing instructive columns featuring Cy the Cynic, Unlucky Louie, Minnie Bottoms and all the other denizens of the penny game at his club. You can read them at bridgefeed.acbl.org. Or better yet, follow Judie Bailey’s suggestion and find a whole Frank Stewart archive at Baron Barclay here.

• • •

Bridge Base Online has teamed with the ACBL to offer games with ACBL master points, some of which benefit local clubs. Among the clubs taking part in Virtual Club play locally are the Airport Bridge Club, the Bridge Center of Buffalo, Delaware Wednesday and the Lockport Duplicate Bridge Club. More info can be found at acbl.org or bridgebase.com.

The Airport Bridge Club is linked with the Alliance Bridge Club, the ACBL’s largest 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 603-6943.

The Bridge Center of Buffalo offers games at least three days a week on Bridge Base Online and the Lockport Duplicate Bridge Club has scheduled games there on Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon, the same days they played face to face.

The Bridge Center has added an open game to its Tuesday afternoon game for players with fewer than 999 master points on Bridge Base Online. The 999er session starts at 12:05 p.m, while the open game for all players begins at 12:20 p.m. Winners in the open game receive large point rewards since they are based on the total table count from both sections.

For more info, visit the Bridge Center of Buffalo website, call 691-6201 or email acting club manager Terry Fraas at tmfraas@gmail.com.

The Delaware Wednesday Club, which is invitational, plays under auspices of the Bridge Center of Buffalo on Bridge Base Online at 7 p.m. Wednesday. For info, call Ed Harman at 480-1666 or email eharmon@roadrunner.com

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The East Aurora Bridge Club has resumed face-to-face games, the only ACBL sanctioned club in the area to hold live competition. Play begins at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Aurora Senior Citizens Center, 101 King St., East Aurora.

Director Dave Larcom says that players have their temperatures checked upon arriving and must wear masks. For more info, email him at dmocral@verizon.net.

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Tournament calendar

2021

CANCELED: Cleveland Rock and Roll Regional – Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd., Independence, Ohio. Wednesday, Jan. 6, to Sunday, Jan. 10. 

CANCELED: Buffalo Winter Sectional – Main-Transit Fire Hall, 6777 Main St., Amherst. Friday, Jan. 22, to Sunday, Jan. 24. 

RESCHEDULED: St. Catharines Sectional – Holiday Inn and Suites Parkway Conference Center, 327 Ontario St., St. Catharines, Ont. Was Friday, Feb. 12, to Sunday, Feb. 14.  Rescheduled for Friday, March 26, to Sunday, March 28. 

NO LONGER on ACBL Tournament Schedule: Rochester Spring Sectional – Webster Columbus Center, 70 Barrett Drive, Webster. Saturday, March 27, and Sunday, March 28. 

NO LONGER on ACBL Tournament Schedule: Toronto Easter Regional – Sheraton Toronto Centre, 123 Queen St. West. Tuesday, March 30, to Sunday, April 4. 

NO LONGER on ACBL Tournament Schedule: Unit 112 (Rochester) 199er Tournament – Strathallan Hotel, 550 East Ave., Rochester. Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10. 

Buffalo Spring Sectional – Main-Transit Fire Hall, 6777 Main St., Amherst. Friday, April 16, to Sunday, April 18. 

Cleveland All-American Regional – Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd., Independence, Ohio. Tuesday, May 25, to Monday, May 31. 

Niagara-on-the-Lake Intermediate/Novice Sectional – Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre, 14 Anderson Path, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Friday, June 4, to Sunday, June 6. 

District 5 Sectional Tournament at the Clubs (STaC) – Local clubs. Monday, June 14, to Sunday, June 20. 

Southwest Ontario Regional – Bingemans Conference and Convention Centre, 425 Bingemans Centre Drive, Kitchener, Ont. Tuesday, July 6, to Sunday, July 11. 

NO LONGER on ACBL Tournament Schedule: Rochester Regional – RIT Inn and Conference Center, 5257 W. Henrietta Road, Henrietta. Monday, Aug. 2, to Sunday, Aug. 8. 

St. Catharines 299er Sectional – Bridge Centre of Niagara, 6-2E Tremont Drive, St. Catharines, Ont. Saturday, Aug. 21, and Sunday, Aug. 22. 

Pittsburgh Labor Day Regional – DoubleTree Pittsburgh-Green Tree, 500 Mansfield Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. Tuesday, Aug. 31, to Monday, Sept. 8. 

Great Lakes Sectional – Erie Bridge Center, 1221 Grant Ave., Erie, Pa. Saturday, Sept. 11, and Sunday, Sept. 12. 

Buffalo Fall Sectional – Main-Transit Fire Hall, 6777 Main St., Amherst. Friday, Sept. 17, to Sunday, Sept. 19. 

RESCHEDULED: Buffalo Regional – Millennium Hotel, 2040 Walden Ave., Cheektowaga. Was Tuesday, Oct. 19, to Sunday, Oct. 24.  Rescheduled to Tuesday, Oct. 5, to Sunday, Oct. 10. 

Niagara Falls Regional – Crowne Plaza Hotel, 5685 Falls Ave., Niagara Falls, Ont. Tuesday, Nov. 9, to Sunday, Nov. 14. 

Unit 255 Sectional – Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre, 14 Anderson Path, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Friday, Nov. 13, to Sunday, Nov. 15. 

District 5 Winter STaC – Local clubs. Monday, Dec. 6, to Sunday, Dec. 12. 

• • •

Bridge club websites:

Click names for links.

Bridge Center of Buffalo.

Bridge Club Meridian.

Western New York Unit 116.

The Airport Bridge Club does not have a website. For info, call 716-603-6943.

• • •

The Duplicate Bridge column is compiled weekly by News Staff Reporter Dale Anderson. The print version stopped appearing Saturdays in The Buffalo News 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.

If you can’t get to it there, go to 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.

• • •

Now a Gold Life Master, Dale Anderson is playing online these days and his career total is approaching 2,800 master points. Online play doesn’t provide as much drama for his bridge blog as face-to-face competition, but he still writes about his quest for the next measure of achievement, Sapphire Life Master (3,500 points), and other bridge adventures here.

• • •

Duplicate scores from Bridge Base Online
Week of Dec. 21 to Dec. 27

Bridge Center of Buffalo Monday evening – 99ers. North-south, Shyam and Sarmishtha Kumar, 58.33%; David Schott and partner, 56.60%; Carole Licata and Stephane Ronget, 53.47%; Amy Habib and Jane Constantine, 51.39%; east-west, Martha Cain and Linda Henschel, 67.01%; Janet and David Desmon, 62.15%; Barb and Jim Aston, 57.29%; Joann and Gary Keenan, 56.25%.   

Bridge Center of Buffalo Tuesday afternoon – 999ers. North-south, Susan Cardamone and Linda Milch, 69.44%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 67.32%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 61.51%; Bonnie Clement and Larry Himelein, 58.91%; east-west, (tie) Rose Ann Grimaldi and Betty DeFeo, Paula Rosen and Maryann Sazafran, 60.28%; Beena and Madhav Deshmukh, 55.56%; Janet Desmon and Joanne Nover, 54.39%; Dorothy and Larry Soong, 53.13%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Tuesday afternoon Open game. Sharon Benz and John Marvin, 61.11%; Martha and John Welte, 54.17%; Judy Padgug and Rajarshi Roy, 50%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Thursday afternoon – Under 1,500 points. North-south, Richard McGowan and Jim McClure, 63.39%; Agi Maisel and Tova Reinhorn, 60%; Jennifer Epstein and Terry Camp, 58.75%; Fran Kurtz and Carol Bedell, 57.14%; Gabe Tannenbaum and Jim Lanzo, 54.46%; east-west, John Bava and Rajat Basu, 66.43%; (tie) Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, Joanne Nover and Janet Desmon, 58.75%; David Schott and Larry Himelein, 56.79%; Susan Levy and Doreen Skok, 53.37%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Friday morning – Christmas 999er game. North-south, Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 60.76%; Paula Rosen and Linda Milch, 55.56%; Joanne Nover and Bonnie Clement, 54.51%; Richard McGowan and Ruth Nawotniak, 53.47%; east-west, Larry Himelein and David Schott, 67.01%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 56.25%; Martha Townson and Amita Arora, 53.12%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 52.08%.

Delaware Wednesday evening – Shyam and Sarmishtha Kumar, 68.52%; (tie) Henry Chudy and Jeff Bender, Beena and Madhav Deshmukh, 62.92%.

Garret Club Invitational Monday morning – Robin Coffin and Jane Constantine, 60.19%; Linda Henschel and Jane Mitchell, 56.48%; Judy Reich and Martha Cain, 55.56%.

Lockport Duplicate Bridge Club Wednesday evening – Martha Townson and partner, 63.89%; Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 52.78%; Gay Simpson and partner, 51.39%.


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