Buffalo Niagara duplicate bridge notes: April 18, 2026

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

Final event in this month’s flurry of tournaments in the area is the Rochester Spring Sectional today, Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, in the Gates Community Center, 1605 Buffalo Road (Route 33), Gates. Pairs games at 10 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. Saturday. Open and 749er Swiss teams at 10 a.m. Sunday. For more info, click this link.

Next party game is Sunday, April 26, at Buffalo Bridge Center, 60 Dingens St. off Exit 1 of the I-190. Refreshments at noon, game at 12:30 p.m. $8 members, $12 non-members. Bring a snack to share. For partnerships, call Pat Haynes at 716-472-5189 or email phaynes508@roadrunner.com.

The Bridge Center also offers a regular schedule of in-person and online games Monday through Friday with party games once a month on weekends, usually on Sundays. 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 game from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 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. 

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

Rochester Spring Sectional – Gates Community Center, 1605 Buffalo Road (Route 33), Gates. Today, 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 (Route 33), Rochester. Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26.

Scores from ACBL Live for Clubs

Week of April 6 to April 12

Buffalo Bridge Center Monday evening – 0-900 game online. Fran Schmidt and Richard McGowan, 56.25%; Larry Gash and Bill Hankin, 55%; Fran Riordan and David Schott, 53.75%; Jim Hassett and Terry Camp, 52.50%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Tuesday morning – 0-1,600 game. North-South, Paula Rosen and Jim McClure, 60.92%; David Schott and Brian Universal, 55.50%; Barbara Landree and Ruth Wurster, 50.25%; east-west, Nathan and Bill Kross, 56.53%; Marilyn Wortzman and Jim Easton, 53.67%; Carol Licata and Ilene Rothman, 52.58%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Wednesday morning – Open game. Chris Urbanek and Kamil Bishara, 61.46%; Davis Heussler and Howard Foster, 59.38%; Donna Steffan and Jay Costello, 55.21%; John Ziemer and Mike Ryan, 52.08%.

Buffalo Bridge Center Thursday morning – 0-2,000 game. Julie Mitchell and Brian Fleming, 69.05%; Pat Haynes and David Schott, 54.76%; Joanne Nover and David Whitt, 53.17%.

Bridge Club of East Aurora Wednesday morning – Open game. (Tie) Bert Feasley and Paul Zittel, Joanne LaFay and Linda Zittel, 54%; Maureen Cancilla and Kathy Donnelly, 52%.

Non-sanctioned clubs

Amherst Senior Center Monday afternoon – North-south, Shirley Cassety and George Mayers, 60%; Edna and Ron Fill, 59%; east-west, Jill and Bruce Brown, 58%; Mary and Jim Atwood, 56%.

Amherst Senior Center Friday afternoon – North-south, Jill and Bruce Brown, 56%; Bobbi and Joe Huber, 52%; east-west, (tie) Nels Larson and Ed Drozen, Ellen Lochead and Dan Blatz, 55%.

Buffalo Spring Sectional Tournament

Friday morning – Open pairs. Jay Levy and Saleh Fetouh, 65.70%; John Bava and Ed Morgan, 61.86%; Lynn Ackerman and Mary Miller, 61.54%; Martha Townson and Jim Lanzo, 60.06%; Chris Urbanek and Kamil Bishara, 59.93%; Kathy Pollock and Bill Rushmore, 56.80%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 56.21%; Linda Zittel and Joanne LaFay, 56.21%.

Friday afternoon – Open pairs. Donna Steffan and John Ziemer, 70.03%; Jay Costello and Bud Seidenberg, 67.67%; Martha Welte and Vera Carpenter, 64.04%; Terry Fraas and Cathy Majewski, 58.25%; Linda Zittel and Joanne LaFay, 55.97%; Kathy Pollock and Bill Rushmore, 55.31%; Mary Ball and Joyce Frayer, 52.08%.

Saturday morning – Open pairs. Vera Carpenter and David Colligan, 60.99%; Bill Rushmore and Art Morth, 59.85%; Martha Townson and Jim Lanzo, 58.52%; Joyce Greenspan and Sharon Wilcox, 58.33%; Judy Graf and John Ziemer, 57.96%; Kathy Pollock and Chongmin Zhang, 57.26%; Tova and Andrei Reinhorn, 55.30%.

Saturday afternoon – Open pairs. Mike Ryan and Bert Feasley, 64.35%; Saleh Fetouh and Jay Levy, 63.19%; Martha Welte and Sushil Amlani, 56.44%; Mike Silverman and Martin Pieterse, 55.44%; Chris Urbanek and Kamil Bishara, 54.93%; Larry Abate and Rajat Basu, 52.44%; Sharon Wilcox and Joyce Greenspan, 51.03%.

Sunday – Swiss teams. Saleh Fetouh, Bud Seidenberg, Jay Costello and Chris Urbanek, 163 victory points; Jay Levy, Fred Yellen, Kamil Bishara and Dian Petrov, 111 vps; (tie) Mike Ryan, Howard Foster, John Ziemer and Judy Graf; Terry Fraas, Ed Morgan and Tova and Andrei Reinhorn, both 101 vps; Sushil and Maria Amlani, Julie Mitchell and Brian Fleming, 87 vps; Judie Bailey, Dale Anderson, Gerry Steenberge and Aleksandar Ivanov, 81 vps.

Master point leaders – Saleh Fetouh, 15.10; Jay Levy, 13.66; John Ziemer, 10.78; Bud Seidenberg and Jay Costello, both 10.18; Vera Carpenter, 9.80; Chris Urbanek, 9.56; Mike Ryan, 9.22; Kamil Bishara, 8.12; Jim Lanzo, 7.93; Ed Morgan, 7.34. In all, 57 players earned master points.

Unit 116 Master Point Leaders for Virtual Club Play

Jan. 1, 2026, to March 31, 2026

5-20 Points – Mike Rupp, 3.76; Bob Rupp, 3.27; Susan Mann Dolce, 2.30; Joan Warren, 1.86; Fran Holmes, 0.48; David Taylor, 0.22.

20-50 Points – Bill Kross, 7.60; Devon Marlette, 2.39; Maxine Johnson, 0.74.

50-100 Points – Mike Metzger, 4.16; Anne Slater, 3.87; Kathleen Voigt, 3.24; Susan Burns, 2.52; Jo Ann Smith, 1.84; Elaine Idzik, 1.21; Fran Riordan, 0.50.

100-200 Points – Jim Hassett, 6.85; Cynthia Tashjian, 6.78; Candace Graser, 5.05; Fran Schmidt, 4.82; Maria Schory, 4.72; Amy Habib, 3.28; John Houghtaling, 2.59; Brian Fleming, 0.97; Jim Greno, 0.63; Betsy Greno, 0.41.

200-300 Points – Laura Houghtaling, 2.59.

300-500 Points – Maria Amlani, 8.73; Eugene Giorgini, 1.26; David Schott, 0.50.

500-1,000 Points – Martha Townson, 11.01; Sushil Amlani, 8.25; (tie) Bram Hamovitch, Terry Hamovitch, 6.41; Richard McGowan, 5.71; (tie) Jeff Bender, Henry Chudy, 1.37; (tie) Pat Haynes, Joyce Frayer, 1.17; Ed Harman, 0.88.

1,000-1,500 Points – Vic Bergsten, 16.81; Bill Rich, 2.05; Mary Ball, 2.01; Bert Feasley, 0.80.

1,500-2,500 Points – Jim Lanzo, 39.31; Walt Olszewski, 1.46.

2,500-3,500 Points – Art Morth, 1.84.

3,500-5,000 Points – Martha Welte, 0.40.

More than 5,000 Points – Saleh Fetouh, 19.84; Jay Levy, 4.29; Dian Petrov, 2.11.

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.