Duplicate Bridge: March 27, 2021

 

Stardust Week continues today, March 27, and Sunday, March 28, offering players a chance to earn extra points, including gold points, in regularly-scheduled games in virtual clubs on Bridge Base Online.  More info can be found at acbl.org or bridgebase.com.

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Most local bridge clubs host online games on BBO. The recently-organized Rust Belt Bridge Group, which invites players from Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh to play, will have Stardust Week games today, Saturday, March 27, for 499ers at 10:05 a.m. and 2:05 p.m. and open pairs games at 10:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. The RBBG also will host a Swiss team game at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 28. To visit the group’s homepage, click this link. For other info, call Dian Petrov at 688-1226 or email dpetrov@roadrunner.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, although the Lockport club has been inactive since the end of January.

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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All tournaments are canceled nationwide through the end of July because of the pandemic, the ACBL has declared. Depending on conditions, the people who do the sanctioning think that August may be safe enough to allow face-to-face play in sectional tournaments to resume. As for regionals, perhaps early October.

Western New York Unit 116 has scrubbed the Buffalo Spring Sectional Tournament in April. Plans for the annual summer picnic and the Fall Sectional in September are up in the air.

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Tournament calendar

2021

CANCELED: St. Catharines Sectional – Holiday Inn and Suites Parkway Conference Center, 327 Ontario St., St. Catharines, Ont. Today, Saturday, March 27, and Sunday, March 28. 

CANCELED: Rochester Spring Sectional – Webster Columbus Center, 70 Barrett Drive, Webster. Today, Saturday, March 27, and Sunday, March 28. 

CANCELED: Toronto Easter Regional – Sheraton Toronto Centre, 123 Queen St. West. Tuesday, March 30, to Sunday, April 4. 

CANCELED: Unit 112 (Rochester) 199er Tournament – Strathallan Hotel, 550 East Ave., Rochester. Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10. 

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

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

CANCELED: 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. 

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

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

CANCELED: 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. 

CANCELED: 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. 

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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.

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The Duplicate Bridge column is compiled weekly by News Staff Reporter Dale Anderson. The print version stopped appearing Saturdays in The Buffalo News in March 2020 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.

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Now a Gold Life Master, Dale Anderson is playing online these days and has a career total of more than 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.

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Duplicate scores from Bridge Base Online
Week of March 15 to March 21

Bridge Center of Buffalo Monday evening – 99ers. North-south, Carol Licata and Stephane Ronget, 64.29%; Peggy and Jeff Feather, 59.52%; Jo Ann Smith and Maria Schory, 51.59%; east-west, Jennifer and Howard Epstein, 60.71%; Cynthia Tashjian and Candace Graser, 56.75%; Isabelle Banas and Donna Saia, 53.17%.   

Bridge Center of Buffalo Tuesday afternoon – 999ers. North-south, Carla Press and Agi Maisel, 62.77%; Judy Zeckhauser and Pat Haynes, 56.72%; Paula Rosen and Maryann Szafran, 55%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 54.09%; Jennifer Epstein and Terry Camp, 53.22%; Margaret Zhou and Audrey Ray, 53.18%; east-west, Martha Townson and Jim Lanzo, 61.46%; Bonnie Clement and Larry Himelein, 60.95%; Jo Nasoff-Finton and Rajat Basu, 54.28%; Rivona Ehrenreich and Carol Roth, 53.66%; Richard McGowan and Jim McClure, 53.35%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Thursday afternoon – Under 1,500 points. North-south, Amita Arora and Martha Townson, 59.71%; Agi Maisel and Tova Reinhorn, 59.07%; Joanne Nover and Janet Desmon, 58.47%; Seema Bhagwat and Beena Deshmukh, 53.88%; Isabelle Banas and Donna Saia, 52.22%; Jennifer Epstein and Terry Camp, 51.78%; east-west, Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 62.78%; Richard McGowan and Bill Rich, 57.99%; Linda Milch and Jim McClure, 56.14%; David Schott and Larry Himelein, 55.10%; Sharon Wilcox and Joyce Greenspan, 53.33%; Mary Terrana and Gail Pitterman, 52.99%.

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Home-style pairs. (3-way tie) Pepe Justicia-Linde and Dave Larcom, Linda and Paul Zittel, Pat and Dick Rasmus, 2 wins.

Delaware Wednesday Evening – Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 68.75%; Ed Harman and Bob Ciszak, 65.97%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 56.02%; Miriam Regnet and Jim Lanzo, 55.79%; Nancy Deneen and Martha Townson, 52.08%.

Garret Club Invitational Monday morning – Virginia Gibson and Pinky Regan, 73.61%; Amy Habib and Judy Reich, 66.67%; Maureen Saab and Robin Coffin, 62.50%.

Garret Club Invitational Friday morning – Janie’s Game. Marcia O’Neil-White and Maureen Saab, 62.50%; Carole Sedita and Susan Burns, 61.11%; Martha Cain and Linda Henschel, 56.25%.

Twentieth Century Club Invitational Friday morning – Cherry Searle and Nancy Deneen, 61.11%; Kathleen Voigt and Anne Slater 59.03%; Phyllis Wilkinson and Peggy Stock, 55.79%; Anne Allen and Mary Ellen Cotter, 51.39%.