Duplicate Bridge: Jan. 20, 2024

 

All this snow has prompted the Buffalo Bridge Center to postpone its annual meeting and game scheduled for today, Saturday, Jan. 20, in the club rooms at 60 Dingens St. off the I-190 at Exit 1. The meeting and game has been rescheduled for noon next Saturday, Jan. 27, weather permitting. Meeting first, then an open game follows, It’s free for Bridge Center members.

Games next week at the Bridge Center will be held as scheduled, depending on the weather. If Buffalo schools are closed, then the Bridge Center will be closed.

Under normal circumstances, the Bridge Center offers a regular lineup of in-person and online games. As of Jan. 1, fee for face-to-face games is $8 for members and $11 for non-members. Membership is $75 per year. For more info, visit the Buffalo Bridge Center website or call 716- 424-0014.

In-person games:

Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. For players with fewer than 1,200 points. Simultaneous game for players with fewer than 99 points if there are enough tables. Free lesson at 10.

Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. Open to all players. Simultaneous game for players with fewer than 100 points if there are enough tables.

Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. Upgraded to now include players with up to 2,000 points. Simultaneous game for players with fewer than 99 points if there are enough tables. Free lesson at 10.

Fridays, 10:30 a.m. Open to all players by pre-registration only. Call 716- 424-0014.

Virtual games on Bridge Base Online:

Mondays, 7 p.m. For players with fewer than 750 points.

Wednesdays, 11 a.m. Currently on hiatus. Kathy's Snowbird Game for players with fewer than 750 points. For more info on this game, call director Kathy Pollock or email BridgeKat@gmail.com.

Wednesdays, 7 p.m. Delaware Wednesday game for players with fewer than 2,000 points. For info on this game, call Ed Harman at 716-480-1666 or email eharmon@roadrunner.com.

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More access to virtual games on Bridge Base Online is being offered by the Airport Bridge Club, which currently is not holding face-to-face games. It has affiliated with a new group of clubs, the SE Club of Clubs Online Bridge Collective, where most games are $3.50. For more info, click this link.

The Airport Club also continues to be part of the Alliance 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 716-603-6943.

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The East Aurora Bridge Club was the first local club to return to face-to-face games more than three years ago. Play begins at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Aurora Senior Citizens Center, 101 King St., East Aurora. Attendance is generally three or four tables. For more info, email director Dave Larcom at dmocral@verizon.net.

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The Bridge Centre of Niagara in St. Catharines, Ont., offers a mix of online games and in-person games at its club in Tremont Square opposite the Pen Centre shopping plaza off Glendale Avenue.

Face-to-face games for all players are offered at 1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There is also a face-to-face game for 499ers (players with less than 500 points) at 1 p.m. Monday, a beginner game with a mini-lesson at 6 p.m. Monday, a game for 199ers at 1 p.m. Tuesdays, a 299er game at 7 p.m. Wednesday; a 999er game at 1 p.m. Thursday, and a 299er game at 9 a.m. Friday.

The club also hosts several virtual games on Bridge Base Online. There’s one for 499ers at 10 a.m. Tuesdays, a Swiss teams contest at 7 p.m. Tuesdays (pre-registration required), alternating with open games every other week, and an open game at 7 p.m. Thursdays. For more info, click here.

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Face-to-face play in non-sanctioned clubs is offered at the Tonawanda Senior Center on Wednesday afternoons and at the Amherst Senior Center on Monday and Friday afternoons.

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Tournament calendar

2024

Niagara Sectional – Holiday Inn and Suites Parkway Conference Center, 327 Ontario St., St. Catharines, Ont. Friday, Feb. 9, to Sunday, Feb. 11. For more info, click this link.

Toronto Easter Regional – Sheraton Centre, 123 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ont. Tuesday, March 26, to Sunday, March 31.

Buffalo Spring Sectional – Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. off the I-190 at Exit 1. Friday, April 26, to Sunday, April 28.

Cleveland All-American Regional – Embassy Suites Hotel, 5800 Rockside Woods Blvd., Independence, Ohio. Tuesday, May 21, to Monday, May 27.

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Bridge club websites:

Click names for links.

Bridge Center of Buffalo.

Western New York Unit 116.

The Airport Bridge Club, which continues to be on hiatus, does not have a website. For info, call 716-603-6943.

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Duplicate scores from Bridge Base Online

Week of Jan. 8 to Jan. 14

ACBL Affiliated Clubs

Buffalo Bridge Center Monday evening – 0-750 game online. Carol Licata and Larry Himelein, 66.67%; Jennifer and Howar Epstein, 58.33%; Betsy and Jim Greno, 52.78%; Jim and Michael Hassett, 50.69%; Fran Schmidt and Richard McGowan, 50%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Tuesday morning – 0-1,600 game. North-south, Ruth Wurster and Mary Terrana, 61.25%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 55%; Joanne Nover and David Schott, 50.63%; east-west, Carol Licata and Ilene Rothman, 60.42%; Betty Metz and Ruth Nawotniak, 53.65%; Joyce Greenspan and Andrei Reinhorn, 52.60%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Wednesday morning – Open game. John Ziemer and Mike Ryan, 61%; Sue Neubecker and Wilson McClaren, 60%; Martha Welte and Gay Simpson, 56%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Thursday morning – 0-2,000 game. Sue Neubecker and Ed Drozen, 61.64%; Paula Kotowski and Nancy Kessler, 61.36%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 58.21%; Pat Haynes and David Schott, 56.33%; Betty Metz and Anthony Girasole, 52.63%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Friday morning – Open game. Chris Urbanek and Kamil Bishara, 70%; Jay Costello and Bud Seidenberg, 55%; Judy Graf and Mike Ryan, 52%.

Delaware Wednesday evening – 0-2,000 game online. North-south, Walt Olszewski and Sushil Amlani, 67.59%; Wanda Moorman and Donna Rait, 59.72%; Betsy and Jim Greno, 55.09%; Jim Lanzo and Madhav Deshmukh, 49.07%; east-west, Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 61.11%; Ed Harman and Bill Rich, 56.02%; Wilma Ziegman and Wendy Zimman-Smith, 52.31%; Jennifer and Howard Epstein, 51.39%.

Other clubs

Amherst Senior Center Monday afternoon – North-south, Ron Fill and David Young, 58%; Joe Huber and Fritz Schweiger, 55%; east-west, Ellen Lochead and Bill Westley, 69%; (tie) Jill and Bruce Brown, Elaine Wegrzyn and Jim Cook, 52%.  

Amherst Senior Center Friday afternoon – North-south, Linda Vassallo and Walt Olszewski, 61%; Nancy Wolstoncroft and Dan Blatz, 56%; east-west, Ruth Nawotniak and Bill Rogers, 57%; Elaine Wegrzyn and Gus Alfano, 54%.

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Unit 116 Master Point Leaders for Virtual Club Play

Jan. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023

0-5 Points – Brian Fleming, 10.64; Bill Rogers, 4.21; Michael Rupp, 3.54; Fran Holmes, 3.05; Ilene Rothman, 2.18; David Taylor, 2.05.

5-20 Points – Karen Dearing, 4.29; Devon Marlette, 3.66; Mary Luce, 3.63.

20-50 Points – Maria Schory, 18.25; Mike Metzger, 15.98; Kathleen Voigt, 8.23; Michel Dupuis, 7.72; Phyllis Stasiowski, 7.63; Anne Slater, 7.58; Jo Ann Smith, 4.34; Maxine Johnson, 3.71; Maureen Saab, 2.97; Donna Starnes, 2.09; Judy Reich, 1.23.

50-100 Points – Carol Licata, 22.21; Howard Epstein, 21.41; Jim Greno, 17.30; Betsy Greno, 15.61; Cynthia Tashjian, 14.47; Candace Graser, 12.09; John Houghtaling, 10.32; Gary Keenan, 10.10; Susan Burns, 7.33; Mary Ellen Cotter, 5.42.

100-200 Points – Maria Amlani, 35.10; Fran Schmidt, 20.28; Jim Hassett, 17.17; Judy McDermid, 13.74; Betty DeFeo, 3.51; Bill Noltee, 1.84; Janie Polk, 1.37.

200-300 Points – Kusum Phadke, 54.88; David Schott, 16.68; Bob Ciszak, 10.80; Laura Houghtaling, 10.32; Pat Haynes, 7.78; Joanne Nover, 5.23; Gerry Hooley, 4 even.

300-500 Points – (Tie) Bram Hamovitch, Terry Hamovitch, 58.35; Larry Himelein, 25.24; Ruth Nawotniak, 14.97; Jim O’Hara, 8.23; Margaret Zhou, 6.34; Audrey Ray, 4.52; Jim McClure, 3.44; Diana Smith, 2.95; Judy Zeckhauser, 1.03.

500-1,000 Points – Jim Lanzo, 100.92; Martha Townson, 70.04; Vic Bergsten, 58.24; Violet Makhija, 48.79; Jasbeer Makhija, 46.70; Richard McGowan, 26.27; Joyce Frayer, 25.36; Sushil Amlani, 25.22; Bonnie Clement, 20.09; Brian Block, 16.98; Bill Rich, 16.64. 

1,000-1,500 Points – Amita Arora, 106.02; Bob Kaprove, 15.58; Jim Easton, 15.48; Rajat Basu, 14.89; Mary Ball, 8.93; Bert Feasley, 3.89.

1,500-2,500 Points – Gay Simpson, 102.02; Sandi England, 63.86; John Bava, 55.17; Pinky Regan, 13.67; Walt Olszewski, 11.72; David Colligan, 2.50; Elaine Kurasiewicz, 2.12.

2,500-3,500 Points – Ken Meier, 125.42; Allen Beroza, 27.58; Linda Burroughsford, 20.93; Dale Anderson, 5.01.

3,500-5,000 Points – Barbara Libby, 45.08; Davis Heussler, 21.07; Martha Welte, 17.31; Judy Padgug, 10.33; Kathy Pollock, 2.08.

Over 5,000 Points – Saleh Fetouh, 16.17; Jay Levy, 7.40; Dian Petrov, 4.41; John Sinclair, 3.25. 

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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.

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A Gold Life Master, Dale Anderson has a career total of more than 2,950 master points. He occasionally writes about his quest for the next measure of achievement, Sapphire Life Master (3,500 points), and other bridge adventures here.