Buffalo Niagara duplicate bridge notes: March 28, 2026 (belated)

 

News and notes for the Buffalo area duplicate bridge community appear weekly here at http://newsdupli.blogspot.com/, usually by midweek.

Suddenly, it’s high season for tournaments. Coming up next week is the Toronto Easter Regional begins Tuesday, March 31, in Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St. West, and continues through Sunday, April 5. For more info, click this link.

Then there’s our own Buffalo Spring Sectional Tournament from Friday, April 10, to Sunday, April 12, in Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. off Exit 1 of the I-190. For more info, click this link.

And let’s not overlook the Rochester Spring Sectional on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, in the Gates Community Center, 1605 Buffalo Road, Gates. For more info, click this link.

The Buffalo Bridge Center offers a regular schedule of in-person and online games Monday through Friday with party games once a month on weekends, usually on Sundays. The game next month will be on Sunday, April 26. For more info, visit the club’s website at https://buffalobridgecenter.godaddysites.com/ or call 716-424-0014. Fee for games is $8 for members and $12 for non-members. Membership is $80 annually.

Online games hosted by the Bridge Center at 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday have been transferred from Bridge Base Online to a new platform, RealBridge. For more info, including a player guide, visit realbridge.online.

In addition, the club hosts a supervised play session for players who want experience and advice to improve their games from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, which has been a great success. Small games now have been added to the session. All are welcome. No pre-registration needed. Also popular is the club’s social bridge game just for fun at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays. Signup needed for this one. Call Ruth Nawotniak at 716-949-7574 or email at ruth2250@outlook.com. 

For beginners who want even more tips on how to play better, the Buffalo Bridge Center is starting two new sets of classes in April. A 10-week course, Competitive Bidding, begins Thursday, April 9. Classes run from 1 to 3 p.m. Fee is $175. For info and registration, call or text Ruth Nawotniak at 716-949-7574 or email ruth2250@outlook.com. Another 10-week course, Bridge Basics Part I, starts Wednesday, April 15, and will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Fee is also $175. For info and registration, call or text Joyce Frayer at 716-984-3570 or email joycefrayer@gmail.com.  

Other ACBL sanctioned clubs: Bridge Club of East Aurora games are at 10 a.m. Wednesdays in the Aurora Senior Citizens Center, 101 King St., East Aurora. Contact is Dave Larcom at dmocral@verizon.net.

The Bridge Centre of Niagara (BCON) in St. Catharines, Ont., offers face-to-face games five days a week at its club in Tremont Square opposite the Pen Centre shopping plaza off Glendale Avenue. Website is bridgewebs.com/Niagara.

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Bridge Club plays in the Community Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., on Anderson Lane off Mississauga Street on the western end of the village. Open games are at 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays. Website is bridgewebs.com/niagaraonthelake.

Non-sanctioned clubs: Games are held at 12:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays in the Amherst Senior Center and at 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays in the Tonawanda Senior Center.

Upcoming tournaments

Toronto Easter Regional – Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ont. Tuesday, March 31, to Sunday, April 5. For more info, click this link.

Buffalo Spring Sectional – Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. Friday, April 10, to Sunday, April 12. For info, click this link.

Rochester Spring Sectional – Gates Community Center, 1605 Buffalo Road, Gates. Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19. For more info, click this link.

Finger Lakes Regional – Seasons on Keuka Lake, 110 Mace St., Penn Yan. Monday, June 8, to Friday, June 12. For more info, click this link. 

District 5 Sectional Tournament at the Clubs (StaC) – Participating local clubs. Monday, June 8, to Sunday, June 14. For more info, click this link.

Cleveland All American Regional – Embassy Suites Hotel, 5800 Rockside Woods Road, Independence, Ohio. Tuesday, June 23, to Sunday, June 28. For more info, click this link.

Buffalo Summer Sectional – Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. Friday, July 10, to Sunday, July 12.

Oakville Summer Regional – St. Volodymyr Cultural Centre, 1280 Dundas St. West, Oakville, Ont. Tuesday, July 21, to Sunday, July 26. For more info, click this link.

Rochester Summer Sectional – Gates Recreation Center, 1605 Buffalo Road, Rochester. Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26.

Scores from ACBL Live for Clubs

Week of March 16 to March 22

Buffalo Bridge Center Monday evening – 0-900 game online. Cynthia Tashjian and Candace Graser, 58.33%; (tie) Gary Keenan and Michel Dupuis, Terry Camp and Jim Hassett, 52.78%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Tuesday morning – 0-1,600 game. Carol Licata and Ilene Rothman, 62.21%; Pat Haynes and David Schott, 59.97%; Ruth Wurster and Paul Zittel, 56.82%; Terry Fraas and Brian Universal, 51.63%; Bill and Nathan Kross, 51.61%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Thursday morning – 0-2,000 game. Joanne Nover and David Schott, 61%; Walt Olszewski and Ed Drozen, 57%; Barbara Landree and Betty Metz, 53%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Friday morning – Open game. Judy Graf and Mike Ryan, 62%; Linda Burroughsford and Jim Gullo, 59%; Davis Heussler and Bud Seidenberg, 55%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Sunday afternoon – Open game. North-south, Linda Burroughsford and Davis Heussler, 59.16%; Joanne Nover and David Schott, 57.83%; Judy Graf and John Ziemer, 56.09%; Chris Urbanek and Kamil Bishara, 51.91%; east-west, Mike Ryan and Bert Feasley, 64.07%; Sue Bergman and Tova Reinhorn, 57.78%; Barbara and Martin Pieterse, 51%; Joyce Greenspan and Sushil Amlani, 46.93%.

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Open game. Mary Terrana and Gordon Crone, 63.89%; Judy Graf and Mike Ryan, 59.26%; Sandi England and Walt Olszewski, 57.87%; Linda Zittel and Bert Feasley, 55.09%; Joan Ciszak and Kathy Donnelly, 49.07%.

Delaware Wednesday evening – Open game online. Art Morth and Dennis Douglas, 77.78%; Jim Lanzo and Eugene Giorgini, 44.44%.

Non-sanctioned clubs

Amherst Senior Center Monday afternoon – Violet and Jasbeer Makhija, 59%; Jill and Bruce Brown, 57%; Shirley Cassety and George Mayers, 56%.

Amherst Senior Center Friday afternoon – Jill and Bruce Brown, 68%; Mary and Jim Atwood, 56%; Joan Stankiewicz and Ellen Lochead, 53%.

Tonawanda Senior Center Wednesday afternoon – Judy White and Fritz Schweiger, 68.75%; Susan and Harvey Lichtblau, 62.5%.

Unit 116 Master Point Leaders for Play in All Venues

Jan. 1, 2026, to Feb. 28, 2026

0-5 Points – Arthur Ziller, 0.37; (tie) Walter and Ellen Balon, 0.26; Jane Arnold, 0.24.

5-20 Points – Frank Dluhy, 8.27; Susan Mann Dolce, 4.05; Maureen Piasecki, 3.13; Mike Rupp, 1.92; Joan Warren, 1.86; Amy Licata, 1.62; Bob Rupp, 1.41; Linda Marsh, 1.37; Ann Bonte, 0.83; John Brennan, 0.65.

20-50 Points – Julie Mitchell, 11.99; Gini Sicignano, 1.48; Anthony Girasole, 1.25; Devon Marlette, 1.24; Bill Kross, 0.95; Maxine Johnson, 0.42.

50-100 Points – Molly Morris, 6.01; Mike Metzger, 3.71; Anne Slater, 3.23; Kathleen Voigt, 2.60; Susan Burns, 1.90; Jo Ann Smith, 1.84; Mary Berlow, 1.61; Susan Cardamone, 0.98; Elaine Idzik, 0.85.

100-200 Points – Mike Meacham, 13.84; Brian Fleming, 10.09; Cynthia Tashjian, 5.76; Candace Graser, 4.79; Maria Schory, 4.27; Jim Hassett, 3.76; Fran Schmidt, 2.81; Amy Habib, 2.64; (tie) Ilene Rothman, Carol Licata, 2.63; John Houghtaling, 2.14.

200-300 Points – Ethan Xie, 9.24; Laura Houghtaling, 2.14.

300-500 Points – Maria Amlani, 6.75; Joanne Nover, 5.96; David Schott, 5.44; David Whitt, 2.90; Ruth Nawotniak, 2.77; Carl Hasselback, 2.46; Agi Maisel, 1.42; Maryann Szafran, 1.03; Eugene Giorgini, 0.98.  

500-1,000 Points – Jo Nasoff-Finton, 11.05; Joyce Frayer, 8.04; Sharon Wilcox, 6.11; Martha Townson, 6.09; Sushil Amlani, 6.05; Wilson McClaren, 5.13; Linda Zittel, 4.99; Richard McGowan, 4.38; Andrei Reinhorn, 3.53; Jim McClure, 3.51.

1,000-1,500 Points – Vic Bergsten,10.67; Mary Ball, 8.04; (tie) Jim Easton, Marilyn Wortzman, 7.87; Bert Feasley, 6.54; Paul Zittel, 6.44; Joanne LaFay, 4.98; Betty Metz, 3.85; Terry Fraas, 3.26; Bill Rich, 2.05.

1,500-2,500 Points –Jim Lanzo, 29.16; Rajat Basu, 9.32; David Colligan, 9.10; Pinky Regan, 8.84; Howard Foster, 8.15; Joyce Greenspan, 4.78; Paula Kotowski, 3.99; Kamil Bishara, 3.73; Tova Reinhorn, 3.64; Nancy Kessler, 3.19.

2,500-3,500 Points – Dale Anderson, 2.35; Fred Yellen, 0.90; Elaine Kurasiewicz, 0.05.

3,500-5,000 Points – Linda Burroughsford, 45.71; John Ziemer, 12.93; Donna Steffan, 9.85; Martha Welte, 7.10; Judy Graf, 6.30; Allen Beroza, 1.42; Chongmin Zhang, 0.90.

More than 5,000 Points – Saleh Fetouh, 204.07; Davis Heussler, 51.86; Mike Ryan, 12.82; Jay Costello, 9.83; Bud Seidenberg, 9.75; Kathy Pollock, 8.31; Chris Urbanek, 4.19; Dian Petrov, 3.43; Jay Levy, 3.36.

Dale Anderson has compiled notes on duplicate bridge activities locally since he began playing in competition more than 20 years ago. A Gold Life Master, he reached a career milestone, 3,000 master points, at the Buffalo Fall Sectional Tournament last September. You can call or text him at 716-860-2305 or send an email to  dahotwings@aol.com.