May 6 2024
LATEST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE ISSUED
Courtesy of D14 President and local "El Jefe" Steve Gaynor [Inver Grove Heights], here's a look at the latest tournament schedule for those who like to plan ahead. Thanks to Steve for putting this together (as you know he has plenty to do already).
Click on the image to the right to open the schedule in a new window for viewing and printing. |  |
May 5 2024
D14 GNT FLIGHT "C" MATCH RESULTS + WINNERS
Two teams today in the D14 GNT Flight "C" competition - one from Minnesota and one from Iowa. With only two teams competing in this flight, the team that will represent D14 in Toronto will be decided this afternoon. Here is a look at the results as they come in:
| PLAYERS | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Match 4 | Chris Westermeyer
Ross Anderson
Sarah Wahl
Jackson Wahl | 19 | 41 | 68 | 118 | David Nelmark
Amar Nath
Rhonda McCoy
Mark Feld
Bill Wallace | 6 | 19 | 30 | 55 |
Congratulations to Chris Westermeyer [Falcon Heights], Ross Anderson [Woodbury], Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis], and Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] for moving on to represent D14 (and the state of Minnesota) in the Toronto NABC GNT Flight "C" teams!
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May 4 2024
D14 GNT FLIGHT "B" MATCH RESULTS
Five teams today in the D14 GNT "B" Flight, all Minnesotans:
| PLAYERS | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
Mark Lasoff
David Neiman
David Trevor
David Goodrie | 16.39 | 34.97 | 49.25 | 59.25 | 64.71 |
Keith Thompson
Mary Wescott
Tom Botten
Arne Langsetmo | 13.43 | 23.43 | 29.15 | 44.67 | 62.35 |
Matt Belau
Bob Roediger
Jim Schnepf
Connie Nelson | 6.57 | 26.01 | 36.01 | 42.01 | 56.55 |
Jeff Walker
Lou Tesler
Rolf Hubmayr
Marc Ashton | 3.61 | 4.17 | 23.61 | 28.09 | 38.09 |
Joyce Lewis
Mike Salscheider
John Miller
Jan Morris | 10 | 11.42 | 11.98 | 25.98 | 28.30 |
No winner yet in Flight "B" - the top 4 teams here will advance to play on Saturday the 18th (per D14's CoC). Here are the matchups for later this month:
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May 4 2024
D14 GNT CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT RESULTS + WINNERS
Two teams today in the D14 GNT Championship Flight - here is how it is going:
What a match to see who goes to Toronto! The Balderson/Beckman team had a lead after two of the four matches today, however the Connolly/Meerschaert team managed to come back and tie everything up after 48 boards. Everything went to an 8-board playoff - and with four of the five swing boards in overtime going to the Connolly/Meerschaert team, they are heading to Toronto to represent D14 (and Minnesota!) in July. (Links above are to each individual match.) Congratulations to the winners - and to all participants here for a well-fought nail-biting match.
Here is a look at two of the playoff boards in this match and how they were bid at each table - for every Minnesota bridge player who has wondered "how do I bid this?" with a hand, you'll see even the top-flight players in our state don't all bid the same.
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May 3 2024
IT'S NOT JUST FLOWERS THAT ARE ABOUT TO OPEN UP
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As late spring in Minnesota blooms, so do local bridge clubs as the snowbirds return from their southern travels. This month, the Detroit Lakes Bridge Club will get going as of May 14th and their twice-a-week games at St Luke's Episcopal Church in DL. Those games are sanctioned ACBL games - but there are plenty of non-sanctioned bridge games that get going around the state as well. And as your summer plans for being up at the lake develop, consider dropping in on a game (sanctioned or not, as it's still bridge and still fun). Also getting going in May will be the games up at Bemidji and Park Rapids, for example. The Bemidji Duplicate Bridge group plays at the Eagles Club each Tuesday during the summer season, while games in Park Rapids are played at the Park Rapids Senior Center on Thursdays at 12:30pm. There's a terrific article on these two non-sanctioned games from the Bemidji Pioneer (click here). You can get more information on these events by clicking here.
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May 2 2024
MONTHLY MILESTONES
Congratulations to Chris Westermeyer [Falcon Heights] who just became a Life Master! Lots of monthly milestones to report this month - and hopefully a few celebratory cakes are in the works. Be sure to give a pat on the back to these players when you see them:
NEW Junior Masters: Ann Bradach [Carlton], Warren Leisinger [Pine City], Barb Owens [St Paul], Sandi Shapiro [Mendota Heights], Lynn Reis [Minneapolis], Matthew Yelle [Edina]
NEW Club Masters: Marilyn Krieger [Blue Earth], Del Otzenberger [Woodbury], David Wilhelm [Woodbury], Beverly Kasdan [Tucson]
NEW Sectional Master: Bonnie Lervik [Excelsior]
NEW Regional Master: Kristine Verdin [St Paul]
NEW NABC Master: Firoz Nilam [Lakeville]
NEW Life Master: Chris Westermeyer [Falcon Heights]
NEW Bronze Life Master: Mary Stern [Minneapolis]
NEW Silver Life Master: David Newhall [Mahtomedi]
NEW Ruby Life Master: Scott Krupke [Little Falls]
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April 29 2024
YOU ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST TIME
This past weekend's NLM Tournament up in St Cloud found twelve (12!) brand new tournament bridge players competing for the silver points and fun. Not only that, but more than half of the first-timers collected some silver points! Here is a look at some fresh faces that you will hopefully continue to see at the bridge table in the future:
From L to R, first time playing in an ACBL tournament: Brian-Paul Crowder [Little Falls], Mark Huseth [St Cloud], Karen Winkelmann [Edina], James Brink [St Louis Park], Halli Nelson [College of St Benedict's], Alex Warzecha [College of St Benedict's], Rachel Lawrence [College of St Benedict's], Rich and Jane Matthews [St Cloud], Bill Schnettler [St Cloud], Mary McKenzie [St Cloud]. Missing from this photo is Margaret Kappes [Henning].
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April 28 2024
MAPLE GROVE PLAYERS HAVE A HANDICAP
Ok, truth be told, it's not just players in Maple Grove, but every bridge player has a handicap. (And we're not talking about forgetting an honor played a trick one.) A handicap score in bridge is similar to a handicap score in golf; the lower your handicap (especially if negative), the more successful player you are. But handicap scores do more than tell you who the best players in the club might be - they can be used to determine who is the "most improved" player (as handicaps change over time) - they can also be used in handicapped games of bridge to completely level the playing field for players when it comes to earning masterpoints. Minnesota clubs don't generally run handicapped games - but an occasional handicapped game might be of interest. Here is how it all works:
To obtain a handicap score in bridge, one generally accepted way to do it is to average the last ten games a player has played at a club - then divide that by two (as you are only one of a pair at the table) and subtract that from 50.00%. In this case, we're looking at Wednesday games in Maple Grove in 2024. There have been 18 of them. During these 18 games, there have been 149 players at the table from time to time - but only 49 of them have played in half the Wednesday games (9 or more is the criteria here). The other 100 players are discarded from this example, since someone who played in Maple Grove twice and had two 70.00% games couldn't possibly keep that up over another eight games - so it's unfair to compare them to the handicapped group in question.
When a club holds a handicapped game, it's not a question of who comes in 1st in the game (as in normal bridge games) - but who does better relative to their normal, average score in bridge (and this is where the handicap comes in). For example, a pair that averages a 40.00% game but does 4.00% better than average in a handicap game would come in 1st ahead of a pair that averages a 55.00% game and did only 2.00% better than their average. How does a 44.00% game beat a 57.00% game for masterpoints? Their handicap makes it happen. Adding handicaps to scores completely levels the playing field when it comes to awarding masterpoints - so everyone (great players and duffers alike) have the same chance to earn them. Ask your club manager about it if you'd like more info. In the meantime, a look at the right will show you handicaps for these Maple Grove players. (And if you're not on the list? As time goes on, and you play more often, you and your handicap will show up. Look for an updated list of Maple Grove players this summer.)
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April 28 2024
ST CLOUD I/N TOURNAMENT RESULTS: HUGE
The St Cloud DBC held a one-day NLM event on Saturday, with 34 tables of players over the two sessions (that might well be a modern statewide record for a one-day NLM event). No other Minnesota club has had two section NLM games due to the huge crowd, so they are clearly doing something right in the Granite City.
The morning session found Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] and Linus Bendel-Stenzel [Edina] on top of a (very large) heap, with the afternoon crowd champs of Victoria Jacobson [Oakdale] and Margie Robinson [White Bear Lake] coming out on top. Click here for Connie Nelson's recap of the big day including tons of photos and results.
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April 28 2024
 TRA LA - IT'S HERE - THAT TERRIFIC TIME OF YEAR
- when tons of extra bridge events merrily appear.
You've got D14 GNT action over two weekends next month; the Unit 178 Awards Luncheon; and of course, the Gopher Regional! That's in addition to your local club games paying extra masterpoints to support the ACBL's Grass Roots Fund. What a month to go "blissfully astray" at the bridge table!
  
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April 26 2024
100 PLAYERS SCORE GOLD DUST IN ROSEVILLE
The Bridge Center of St Paul held enough "Stardust" games this week that one hundred (yes, 100!) players earned some Gold Dust over the past six days. In total, 23.27 gold points went out at their Roseville location this week - and that includes 16 players in their Thursday Chat Bridge game. Here's a look at those 100 - and congratulations!
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April 25 2024
MINNESOTANS DOMINATE D14's ACBL-WIDE CHARITY GAME
Of the 48 active D14 bridge clubs, 10 of them have a Wednesday afternoon sanction - but just 1 of these D14 clubs held the ACBL-Wide Charity game on Wednesday afternoon. (This is a game that can only be held Wednesday afternoon, so clubs that don't already have that session sanctioned, would have to make a special effort to hold it.) The sole D14 club participating was down in Rochester, and the result was that local players dominated the D14 overall awards - which were huge.
Judy Argue [Rochester] and Colleen Stacey [Zumbro Falls] came in 1st overall for ten full masterpoints. Here's a look at the overalls for D14 - full results for the ACBL nationwide can be found by clicking here - and the next ACBL-Wide Charity Game benefits the Junior Fund, which will be held on Monday, August 19. Check with your local club to see if they will be running this game in August - and if not, it might be worth a drive.
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April 24 2024
A SNAPSHOT OF MINNESOTA'S SHIFT TO IN-PERSON PLAY
Looking at the first sixteen weeks of 2024 (and comparing table counts to the same weeks one year ago), the percentage of in-person tables in play has increased dramatically. The chart below shows the weekly percentage of in-person tables compared to the total of in-person and BBO VACB tables for Minnesota clubs; you'll see the shift over the past year to face-to-face play has been pretty dramatic, with almost every week now having more than 90% of bridge tables F2F. This is not unique to Minnesota, of course, as BBO VACB clubs have been shedding players across North America. But given the mood considering in-person bridge play in 2020 and 2021, when COVID shut everything down, it's great to have people back in the club - and nice to see familiar faces.
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April 23 2024
CADDY REQUEST FOR THE GOPHER
Patti Stuhlman [Minneapolis] has just about wrapped up the advance work for Minnesota's big tournament next month - but there's one more request she has to make the tournament complete. Caddies are needed during the week (Monday through Friday). Here is Patti's request and contact information:
Caddies are needed Monday-Friday May 20-24 at the Gopher Regional. Do you know young people age 10+, teenagers. Grandchildren, spouse who would like to work at the tournament? $50/session $100/day. Morning session 9:30-1:30, afternoon session 2:00-6:00. Contact Patti Stuhlman at 612-865-2527 or pattistuhlman123@gmail.com.
--Patti
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April 22 2024
GOPHER REGIONAL: T-MINUS FOUR WEEKS - UPDATED
You have probably already got your partnerships set for the Gopher Regional next month in Bloomington; but if not, you've got less than a month to schedule your teammate(s)! As of today, we are four weeks away from the start of the big tournament at the Crowne Plaza Aire Hotel. Cheapest hotel rooms at the host hotel are still available through this Sunday; Mike Cassel [Roseville] has put together the pre-tournament bulletin (see below). Click on either the pre-tournament bulletin or the flyer below to open in a new window. UPDATE: The host hotel has extended the discounted bridge rate for reservations to May 10th (as long as rooms are available). You can make a reservation at the host hotel by clicking here.
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April 21 2024
MINNESOTANS SCORE BIG IN TENNESSEE
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This week proved to be quite fruitful for the dozens of Minnesota players that made the trek to the Gatlinburg TN Regional. It's the closest thing to an NABC that isn't an NABC, and there is undoubtedly no shortage of stories to come from the past seven days. On top of the dinners and wild contracts and overall fun of the past week, Minnesota players earned quite a few masterpoints as well. Here's a look at how your local partners (and opponents) did while in the Volunteer State.
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April 20 2024
CALLING ALL NON-LIFE MASTERS
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Next Saturday (the 27th) will be St Cloud's one-day Non-Life Master sectional at the Sartell Community Center (flyer to the right). Connie Nelson [Avon] says they're expecting at least sixteen tables (!) and have room for plenty more. The forecast towards the end of the week is for some unsettled weather (breezy, mid-50s, maybe a few showers), which would be perfect for some F2F bridge games. Partnership info is on the flyer to the right. (Click on the flyer to the right to open in a new window to print or view.) | |  |
April 19 2024
GRANITE CITY'S GATLINBURG GOLDEN GIRLS
Minnesota clubs are a little lighter on the table counts this week, as dozens of local players have made the trip to "America's Favorite Regional" in Tennessee. The St Cloud area alone could have chartered their own coach to Gatlinburg, with over fifteen area players getting in on the fun there! Here's a photo from the tournament this week, from L to R that's Nancy Balfanz [St Cloud], Lynn Schnettler [St Cloud], Amy Roske [St Cloud], Rhonda Rossman [Cold Spring], Judy Knutson [St Cloud], and Saundy Fedor [Waite Park].
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April 18 2024
GRAND SLAM CLUB MAKES A MOVE
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Minnesota's Grand Slam Club has made the move from Friday evenings to Tuesday evenings for their weekly game. In addition to the change of weekday, it's also in a new location - the game will take place wherever you happen to be. If you're looking to play Tuesday evenings, the MGSC game is now online on BBO and gets going at 6:30pm. (There's also a Zoom meeting after the game to go over hands!) |
April 14 2024
UNIT 103 AWARDS GAME HELD
18 tables of players showed up to honor the Unit 103 Awards winners at the Bridge Center of St Paul on Saturday; a shout-out to Terry Beckman [Brooklyn Park] and John Koch [St Cloud] who bested all comers to win the open crowd. You can check out all the scores and contracts for the open crowd by clicking here. In the 499er game, it was Virginia Hughes [St Paul] and Judy Lipovetz [Stillwater] that came in 1st overall. Scores and results for the 499er game on Saturday can be found by clicking here. Amy Dutton [Mendota Heights] provided the spread and Sue Greenberg [Byron] oversaw the presentation of the awards. (Thanks to the BCofSP for hosting - and next up would be Unit 178's Awards, that's on May 11th. Details in an earlier item below.) A few snapshots from the game (including the new Diamond Master, Warren Nelson [Cloquet]):
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