Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Duplicate Bridge: Nov. 6, 2021 – Face-to-face bridge returns

 


Yes, face-to-face bridge is coming back. The Buffalo Bridge Center is opening up its tables again with a Welcome Back stratified pairs game at noon today, Saturday, Nov. 6, which will be free for all players. Limit is 28 pairs. Pre-registration required. Call Chris Urbanek at 716-694-9221, Terry Fraas at 716-998-4808 or Sharon Benz at 716-256-8469. Proof of vaccination required. Masks optional. No food will be served.

A full schedule of face-to-face games will resume next week – a 999er game at noon Tuesday with lessons at 11 and 11:30 a.m.; an open game at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday; a 0-2,000 master point game at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, and an open game at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Continuing online will be the 0-750 master point game at 7 p.m. Mondays and the Delaware Wednesday game at 7 p.m. Wednesday for players with fewer than 2,000 points.

Meanwhile, over in St. Catharines, Ont., the Bridge Centre of Niagara is starting live play again on a limited basis next week with an open game Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 10, and a 499er game Thursday afternoon, Nov. 11. All players must wear masks and there will be hand sanitizer at every table. 

“This schedule will be expanded with a positive turnout for these two games,” club president Wiebe Hoagland said in an email last weekend, “and hopefully we will be able to go back to the schedule of games we had prior to the Covid 19 outbreak, before the end of the year.”

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The East Aurora Bridge Club has been holding face-to-face games for quite some time now, the only ACBL sanctioned club in the Buffalo area to hold live competition. Play begins at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Aurora Senior Citizens Center, 101 King St., East Aurora. Players must wear masks. For more info, email director Dave Larcom at dmocral@verizon.net.

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In the meantime, players can earn ACBL master points in a variety of games sponsored by local clubs on Bridge Base Online. Info can be found at acbl.org or bridgebase.com.

The Rust Belt Bridge Group, which invites players from Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh to play on Bridge Base Online, has novice games at 9:45 a.m. Monday to Saturday, with open games at 9:50. 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 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 offers games at least three days a week – Monday, Tuesday and Thursday – on Bridge Base Online. Open games often are added to the games for beginning players on BBO at 7 p.m. Monday and noon on Tuesday and Thursday. Winners in the open games, which begin a few minutes after the novice games, 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 Buffalo Bridge Center 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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Nov. 20 is the deadline for local ACBL members to mail in their ballots for the Board of Directors for Western New York Unit 116. Ballots, which were emailed to members a couple weeks ago, should be mailed to Gay Simpson, 119 Parkhurst Blvd., Tonawanda, NY 14223. Need a little longer? They also can be cast in person at the annual Unit 116 meeting Dec. 4 in the Main-Transit Fire Hall, 6777 Main St., Amherst.

Candidates for the four open seats are Sandi England, Joyce Greenspan, incumbent Barbara Libby and former board member Kathy Pollock. All of them will win places on the board, but what the balloting will decide is the length of their terms. Members can cast votes for up to three candidates. The two who get the most will serve for three years. The others will take two-year seats.

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Tournament calendar

2021

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

CANCELED: 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, if face-to-face play has resumed. 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.

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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. Another place to find it is on 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 has a career total of more than 2,885 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 Oct. 25 to Oct. 31

Buffalo Bridge Center Monday evening – 0-750 game. North-south, Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 70.63%; Audrey Ray and Ruth Nawotniak, 56.75%; Pat Pasculle and Michel Dupuis, 54.37%; east-west, John Scott and Jim Lanzo, 60.32%; Bonnie Clement and David Schott, 59.52%; Fran Schmidt and Richard McGowan, 59.13%.  

Buffalo Bridge Center Tuesday afternoon – 999er game. North-south, Martha Townson and Jim Lanzo, 67.50%; Terry and Bram Hamovitch, 54%; Ruth Nawotniak and Violet Makhija, 53.75%; Cynthia Tashjian and Candace Graser, 53.50%; Carla Press and Agi Maisel, 52%; Jane Mitchell and Linda Henschel, 51%; east-west, Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 69.75%; Richard McGowan and Jim McClure, 65%; Janet Desmon and Joanne Nover, 60.25%; Bonnie Clement and Larry Himelein, 59.50%; Paula Rosen and Maryann Szafran, 51.50%.  

Buffalo Bridge Center Wednesday morning – 0-2500 Swiss teams. John Bava, Rajat Basu, Larry Abate and Vic Bergsten, 117 Victory Points; Betsy and Jim Greno, Cynthia Tashjian and Candace Graser, 87 vps; Joyce Greenspan, Kasum Phadke, Bonnie Clement and Larry Himelein, 84 vps.

Buffalo Bridge Center Thursday afternoon – 299ers. Judy Zeckhauser and Pat Haynes, 56.67%; Judy Katz and Natalie Abramson, 55.24%; Laura and John Houghtaling, 54.76%; Jennifer Epstein and Terry Camp, 54.29%; (tie) Hannah Weinberg and Judith Babat, Joanne Nover and Janet Desmon, 52.38%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Thursday afternoon – Open Game. Richard McGowan and Bill Rich, 55.36%; Terry and Bram Hamovitch, 54.17%; Rajat Basu and John Bava, 52.38%; (tie) Joyce Greenspan and Larry Abate, Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 51.79%.

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Pat and Dick Rasmus, 67.70%; Dan Clark and Dave Larcom, 57.30%; Pat Haynes and Joe Miranda, 45.50%.

Delaware Wednesday evening – Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 66.67%; Sushil Amlani and Walt Olszewski, 64.81%; Henry Chudy and Jeff Bender, 52.78%.

Other clubs

Amherst Senior Center Thursday – Edna and Ron Fill, 65%; Shirley Cassety and Alicia Kolipinski, 64%.

Amherst Senior Center Friday – North-south, Ellen Lochead and Bill Westley, 62%; Mike and Ed Rupp, 57%; east-west, Anita Fink and Freda Brummer, 65%; Karen Synor and Jeff Peters, 58%.

 

 

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