Duplicate Bridge: May 29, 2021

Silver Linings Week continues today, Saturday, May 29, and Sunday, May 30, on Bridge Base Online, offering a chance to win silver points from play in regularly scheduled virtual club games. More info can be found at acbl.org or bridgebase.com.

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The Airport Bridge Club is linked on Bridge Base Online 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 Buffalo Bridge Center, formerly the Bridge Center of Buffalo, offers games at least three days a week – Monday, Tuesday and Thursday – on Bridge Base Online. Open games have been added to the Tuesday and Thursday afternoon games for beginning players on BBO. The novice 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 larger point rewards since they are based on the total table count from both sections. For more info, visit the Buffalo Bridge Center website, call 691-6201 or email acting club manager Terry Fraas at tmfraas@gmail.com.

The Delaware Wednesday Club 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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Another option is the Rust Belt Bridge Group, which invites players from Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh to play. Games for 499er novices are held at 10:05 a.m. Monday to Saturday. Open games start at 10:15 a.m. Monday to Saturday. The club also takes part in ACBL special games. To visit the group’s homepage, click this link. For other info, call Dian Petrov at 688-1226 or email dpetrov@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.

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Tournament calendar

2021

CANCELED: Cleveland All-American Regional – Embassy Suites, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd., Independence, Ohio. Today, Saturday, May 29, 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 May 17 to May 23

Bridge Center of Buffalo Monday evening – 49ers. Pat Pasculle and Michel Dupuis, 58.89%; (tie) Karen Dearing and Michael Metger, Meena Rustgi and Phyllis Stasiowski, 58.33%; Fran Schmidt and Maria Schory, 53.89%.   

Bridge Center of Buffalo Monday evening – Open game. David Schott and Vic Bergsten, 57.64%; (tie) Linda Henschel and Martha Cain, Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 56.94%; Gerry Hooley and Phyllis Wilkinson, 54.17%.   

Bridge Center of Buffalo Tuesday afternoon – 999er game. Usha Khurana and Mary Terrana, 68.44%; Amita Arora and Jim Lanzo, 62.50%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 58.44%; Bonnie Clement and Larry Himelein, 57.81%; Betsy and Jim Greno, 54.06%; Paula Rosen and Jim McClure, 52.81%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Tuesday afternoon – Open game. Christy Kellogg and Judy Padgug, 75%: (tie) Martha and John Welte, Allen Beroza and Bob Padgug, 55%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Thursday afternoon – 299ers. Martha Cain and Linda Henschel, 70.42%; Bill Noltee and partner, 56.25%; (tie) Judy Katz and Natalie Abramson, Carol Roth and Audrey Ray, 53.75%; (tie) Larry Himelein and David Schott, Laura and John Houghtaling, 52.92%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Thursday afternoon – Open Game. Rajat Basu and John Bava, 58.93%; Miriam Regnet and Jim Lanzo, 57.14%; Sharon Wilcox and Joyce Greenspan, 54.76%; John Marvin and Wilbur Palmer, 54.17%.

Bridge Center of Buffalo Sunday afternoon – Youth Game. Darwin Skalski and Tiger Li, 65.74%; William Qu and partner, 60.42%; Tyler Mu and Michael Passucci, 59.03%; Andrew Jiang and Eric Ma, 51.16%. 

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Joe Rooney and Joe Miranda, 62%; (tie) Bill Feasley and Paul Zittel, Barbara Booi and Jane Larcom, 58%.

Delaware Wednesday evening – Jan O’Mara and Walt Olszewski, 59.72%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 58.33%.

Garret Club Invitational Monday morning – Jane Mitchell and Susan Burns, 55.56%; Jane Constantine and Linda Henschel, 54.17%; Devon Marlette and Robin Coffin, 52.78%.

Twentieth Century Club Invitational Friday morning – Donna Starnes and Sheila Hess, 71.53%; Elaine Idzik and Martha Townson, 56.94%; Phyllis Wilkinson and Peggy Stock, 54.86%; Cherry Searle and Nancy Deneen, 53.47%; Anne Allen and Mary Ellen Cotter, 52.78%.

Other Clubs

       Clarence Senior Center Thursday morning – Kathy Borcik and Bill Westley, 64%; Mike Ryan and Wilson McClaren, 57%; Judy Graf and Donna Steffan, 55%.