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District 14 MILESTONES MAILBAG

Deana Liddy, our former D14 Director, wrote to each D14 player who attained a new rank; this tradition is now carried forward with Dennis Carman, our R5 Director.  Here is what they send - and some of the responses we've gotten from D14 players.

As your representative from District 14 on the ACBL National Board, it is my honor to extend my congratulations on reaching this new status. I would love to hear your story on how you achieved this milestone and would like your permission to share your story as a inspiration for others. If you are comfortable, please include/attach a self-portrait that we can include with the story.

Are there things that we could have done in District 14 or in your Unit to improve your bridge experience? What can we do to help you achieve your next bridge goal?

I would also welcome any comments and suggestions on how the ACBL can serve you better.

Sincerely,

Deana Liddy

And the responses:

New Diamond Life Master Warren Nelson (March 7, 2024)
Hi Deana, I don’t have much of a story to tell. I started playing duplicate bridge at the University of Michigan in the late 60’s. Any success I’ve had is due to longevity and perseverance rather than skill. I have played mostly in small clubs once or twice a week, so the points have come slowly. I began playing on-line on BBO in 2020 when Covid arrived, and that helped my point total considerably. I have one fun thing to note: I won my first fractional point at the U of M and my 5000th point with the same partner! Thanks for asking. Warren

New Bronze Life Master Todd Flowerday (February 7, 2024)
Hi Deana, Wow. You're on top of people passing through those milestones. I wasn't sure myself; it seems the ACBL tracking between 2023 and this year is a bit fuzzy. I thought I was at 496. Thanks for the confirmation. Story? Just lots of club play, twice a week. Like everybody else, I'd have to appreciate my regular partners. They put up with my occasionally sloppy declarer play. My aggression on penalty doubles makes them nervous. The sectional day that put me past 500 was an exceptionally poor day for me as a player. Teammates and partner saved the day. In all seriousness, I do think we need wider discussions on promoting the game, not just on the boards and committees. It almost seems too late. And the unit 103/178 problem too, of needing to work better together. While I appreciate the predicament for the ACBL on the hotel thing, I've heard local rumblings from people likely (or less) to go to Louisville. The discussion doesn't really impact me as a working person on a limited budget. The only NABC I'll see is the one we're hosting in a few years. It's a delicate balance these days, I know. The future is unclear. People are skittish about cheaters. People like to play at home in their pajamas. Good friends and competitors are dying. The $10 surcharge has alienated about three people I know. This month's bulletin tries to whitewash it. I was a chess organizer in the late 70s/early 80s, and on the unit board in Washington state tasked with a modest sectional. So I understand the dilemma. Our sectional in Bremerton WA got priced out by the local hotel in 2017. Our new location in 2018 was subpar and many promised never to return. Then they dropped it in my lap and we had to think outside the box--we went to the local mall and focused on the best hospitality for players we could muster. If the ACBL relies on tournaments, it needs to look carefully at other possibilities. Hotels are convenient, and they have great amenities. Especially when I'm travelling for work. But they are also pricey for people who are there only for a bed in between bridge sessions and meals. Peace Todd

New Regional Master Laurie Schulte (February 7, 2024)
Hi Deana, Thank you so much! Laurie

New Bronze Life Master Bev Meyer (January 7, 2024)
Hi Deana, Thank you! Bev

New Ruby Life Master Kathy Breen (December 12, 2023)
Thank you Deanna. I moved from Kansas City to southeast Iowa and there’s no game within an hour drive from me. I’m still working so I mainly play online now. The only thing that would be easier for me is having the sectionals on Saturdays and Sundays as I still work and Fridays are not an easy day for me to takeoff. Thanks again, Kathy

New Club Master Gail Stubbs (November 19, 2023)
Dear Deana - here is my story: My interest in bridge began with my mother who was an excellent bridge player. My parents taught my siblings and me card games as children which led up to the game of bridge as teenagers. In college I played "sorority bridge" which meant no one really knew the rules! After I moved to Des Moines in the early 80s, I joined three bridge groups and was very much a beginner. They were all social bridge groups with rubber bridge scoring. Eventually I was asked to sub in some duplicate groups and started to learn that style of play and scoring. Over the years, a close friend was encouraging me to come to the Bridge Center in Urbandale. I was afraid I was not a good enough player and concerned that I did not have a partner to play with. Three summers ago, another friend asked me to play with her. I kindly declined but she wore me down and I finally consented! I knew she was a better player than I am and this would be a great opportunity to improve my game. We play together at the Bridge Center in the summer and I play with other partners during the winter when she is gone. I started out with .5 master points and recently reached Club Master, earning most of my points at the bridge center. I have played in only two tournaments but would like to do more. I find the ACBL website to be a good reference source and I enjoy playing BBO. The Bridge Bulletin is another great resource. Most of my learning takes place at the Bridge Center. The lessons are excellent and I find everyone to be kind and helpful. I just wish I would have started playing there sooner! I hope to keep earning points and make my way to the next level. Gail Stubbs West Des Moines, Iowa

New Regional Master Bill Treadway (November 16, 2023)
Dear Deana, My Journey began in July 2021, The Bluffs Bridge Club ran an article in the Non-Pareil newspaper about reopening after the pandemic. I had played party bridge but never played Contract Bridge. A friendly voice answered the phone to answer my many questions. He said we get together on Friday morning for three hours with an instructor to cover the basics you will need to move up to our regular game on Thursdays. After a couple of Friday sessions I felt comfortable moving to the regular games. I wanted the challenge. The scoring in Duplicate is different than Party Bridge. My top priority was to understand the rules and strategies so that my play would improve and get the respect of the other players over time. So I ask Google and there all the information was. It may not be possible to jam all that information into my head. My misconceptions were many with much to still learn. The fellow players were friendly to the max. They were real quick to point out my errors in bidding and the play of the cards. Partners were chosen for me as I had joined without a partner. Sometimes the chosen ones would even ask me to play again with them. The overall experience was great and left me just wanting more. Since the Bluffs Club only plays on Thursdays, I joined three other clubs at the House of Cards in Omaha. More friendly people with the love of the game. So now I play Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I was invited to join the Board of Directors of The Bluffs Bridge Club. The Board has organized a two day tournament for Non-Life Masters on November 17th and 18th. This is the Club's first tournament and we are working hard to make it a success. Bill Treadway

New Bronze Life Master Vivian Shaver (November 13, 2023)
Dear Deana, Thank you for the letter. I am happy to have earned my Master. Jade, Donna and Svein are remarkable Bridge teachers! Vivian Shaver

New Life Master Nancy Balfanz (November 13, 2023)
Hello Deana! Thank you for the lovely congratulatory email regarding my reaching LifeMaster status. It is indeed a thrill. I joined the ACBL about 20 years ago so I could play with my mom and dad and earn some points too. I didn't play very often as I was busy raising my family. But I did earn a lot of gold and silver playing with my father in tournaments. We lived two and a half hours apart so we played together most often at tournaments. My mother's health was failing so I earned many of my points with my dad, altho Mom was also a Bronze Life Master, as well as my dad. Fast forward to 2020 when Covid put all the games online. My parents had both passed away so I reached out to one of my parent's friends in the Mankato Duplicate club and asked if she would like to play with me online. She did and we "went to town" playing 6-7 times a week. I earned over 120 points that year with Hazel Schmidt as my partner. Summer of 2022 I decided to play more regularly in my St Cloud club with random partners. By Sept of 2023 all I needed was 2.36 Gold points and I would have that long sought after Life Master status. The St. Cloud club held their first Non-Life Master Regional Sept 21-23 and I was on the tournament committee and was the lead on three days of food for our players. It was a busy tournament!! I was hopeful that tournament would do the trick BUT by the end of the Sat afternoon session I was still short .41 Gold point. Two weeks later I played in the NABC online tournament with the top four places receiving a stipend to head to Nationals in Louisville, KY in March 2024. My partner and my two sessions on the first day didn't go well and we were a bit disheartened. The first session the second day started at 130. I was in the middle of a baby shower given to two of my daughters in Oakdale, MN. At 130pm I politely moved my chair back and played bridge and half listened as the gifts were being opened among 14 people. No one else in the room plays bridge but they were good souls and allowed me to play even tho my daughters were the honored guests. Unbelievably my partner and I came in FIRST during that session, even though it was quite chaotic!! We followed up in the 530 session almost tying for first place. I earned 2.73 gold that weekend and knew I had finally earned my Life Masters! And the frosting on the cake was that we also qualified for Nationals in 4th place and will be heading there in March. Our St Cloud club director gave me a hearty congratulations and added, teasing, "guess you play better in chaos!" Nancy Balfanz

New NABC Master Jane Schmidt (October 11, 2023)
Thank you, Deanna, I played bridge in college, but gave it up for many years for family and career. I started taking lessons and playing duplicate about 5 years ago. This last summer, my twin sister, Jean Kiesel, who is a Ruby Life Master, agreed to mentor me. I learned a lot from her many "gentle hints" delivered as only a close sibling can. Our efforts paid off with good results in a team game at the WUMBA Regional in August. Jane

New Sectional Master Sandy Dose (October 11, 2023)
Deanna, I work full time. That means no daytime lessons for me. I would like to take evening lessons or at least late afternoon lessons. Please figure out a way to do this. I want to play a lot better than I do now. Sandy

New Life Master Wyn Seely (September 14, 2023)
Deanna: I had most of my points years ago but opportunities to go to Regionals were slim to none as I moved away from existing partners. In the new location people mostly had regular partners and also played a more advanced game so it took a long time to “catch up “ and “get in” with no mentor. I have tried to be available to less experienced players so they don’t feel so “out of the loop “. Also my pet peeve is the number of gold points available at special sectional games or in gold rush pairs at Regionals. Most of the time they are a fraction of 1 point and rarely more than 2 while Section A can get as many as 60 and up. Since the # of gold points needed for life master has raised since I started it makes that achievement almost impossible. Yes I know you can now play on line but that is not for everyone. Perhaps it draws in young players and that’s what we need. I am 82 and don’t like playing on line and I don’t know anyone in our club playing on line for gold points toward life master. Interestingly I went to this last Omaha tournament just to go with friends who were partners and I would just have fun playing with someone from the partnership desk. As it turned out I got a good partner and we moved into the big game and did well. Fortunately I didn’t know till after the fact that some of our opponents were nationally ranked. The end result was satisfying and now I can add that to my obituary :). Wyn

New Junior Master Sue Lowum (August 11, 2023)
Hi Deanna, Thanks for the nice email. I'm new to the game (last couple of years) and I just love it. I'm going to try to get more involved with the club this fall. Thanks again. Sue

New Junior Master Anindya Bhattacharya (August 11, 2023)
Hi Deana, Good Evening and thank you for reaching out.I am absolutely fine to share my story with others. To start with, I was already an advanced player in India and moved to USA recently. I have played two club games in Davenport, Iowa and recently played Spingold Knockout Team event. We came very close to qualifying for round of 32 but unfortunately not to be. I really enjoyed playing in the club and everyone was so welcoming making it a wonderful experience . Planning to continue playing locally whenever I get an opportunity. It would be great to have more opportunities to play duplicate team events in the future .I would also look forward to forming a longer term partnership with an expert player locally for GNT and NAP games. Thanks a lot again for reaching out. Anindya

New Club Master Sonie Stark (June 19, 2023)
My name is Sonie Stark from Mankato, Minnesota in Unit 103 in District 14. After several years of playing party bridge, I was encouraged in my retirement to try duplicate. I had lots of help getting started. Our local bridge club members are eager to give kind advice to new members to advance their bridge knowledge. Rajiv Kapadia, our club director, teaches advanced classes and gives personal advice to make us stronger players. With the help of these experienced players, many with lots of master points, I became an enthusiastic new duplicate bridge player. It soon became obvious that I needed to improve my play as well as my communication with my regular partners. In the evening, my husband, who also became a student of bridge, and I deal out bridge hands face up. We then discuss proper bidding sequences and relevant conventions. I also host a regular game on Tuesday afternoons at my home with three other duplicate club members, one of them very experienced. After each hand is bid and played, we lay the cards on the table and discuss. Last winter on a vacation to Mazatlan, my husband and I located an ACBL club, which offered three games a week with excellent players from several countries. It’s fun to learn how others think and play and to use some of these tips with my partners. In the last year, one of my partners and I took our game to the next level. We played in the Gold Rush section at well-organized tournaments in Minneapolis and Rochester, MN. We were excited to earn 3.2 gold points when we came in first in one afternoon game . I’m off to a great start and find bridge a friendly, fun, and competitive game.

New Advanced NABC Master Florian Lauer (June 6, 2023)
I started to play some party bridge in college. I always enjoyed card games of various types so bridge fit right in. I played party bridge sporadically well into retirement. It wasn’t until I ran into duplicate bridge games while on vacation in Mexico that I became aware of that kind of bridge. There were usually 3 to 5 tables and it was a good way to meet people and a good way to spend a few hours. In 2007 I met Carol Garrison in the Mexican arena who invited me to play with her in the Minneapolis Bridge Club. I didn’t even know that there were bridge clubs at the time. Little did I know what kind of bee hive I was getting into. The Minneapolis club had a basement for beginners and the regulars played on the main floor. Carol was a regular so we were on the main floor. I will always remember my first time in the Minneapolis Club. Carol and I got doubled a number of times because my bidding was not too logical. More often than not we made the bid and had some good laughs. Our opponents just got misled with my bids. I knew that a 2-club opener was strong but my bidding became fussier after that. Of course, I never took any bridge lessons because I wasn’t aware of them. Carol developed some serious health problems and passed on. Subsequently, Dorothy Hardon became my partner. Dorothy’s objective was to achieve 1,000 master points. If I had been a more competent partner, maybe we might have gotten there. Both Carol and Dorothy were classic gals and I have many fond memories of them. With Covid, the Minneapolis Club closed and I started playing in the St. Paul Club. There I have three partners: Marcia Figus, a former high school science teacher; Jerry Bartlett, a former federal accountant administrator; and David Newhall, a former attorney. Well, those three have been trying to educate me in the finer points of bridge with varying degrees of success. I hope they continue to do so. Florian Lauer

New Emerald Life Master Carol Mahoney (June 6, 2023)
Thank you for your acknowledgement. I have to give our club a lot of credit for keeping active during covid. I was able to play both face to face games and online club games. At my age I don't travel much any more. Carol Mahoney

New Club Master Mark Oppenheimer (June 6, 2023)
I started playing bridge while in high school and participated in several duplicate tournaments in the early seventies. I subsequently took a 35 year plus hiatus from bridge playing. I retired as an endocrinologist in 2021. In November of 2022, I decided to retry bridge with the encouragement of Tom Masterson, a retired physician bridge player. He introduced me to modern conventions—I previously had played Precision. I now play bridge twice a week with a modicum of success. The Sioux Falls club has been very cordial and supportive with ongoing lessons. This weekend I will be playing in my first sectional in Sioux City. I have no hopes of becoming a life master at my current age of 68, but this does not deter me. Thank you for your support. Mark Oppenheimer

There are many more player responses - click here to check them out!