Minnesota Bridge Blog

July 30 2024
COVID: WE'RE NOT DONE YET

Not everything on this blog is "happy news", although that would be okay; occasionally, a not-so-happy topic comes up that's best addressed. The explosion of COVID cases at the recent Toronto NABC wasn't completely unexpected, as any time you get 1,400 people in the same giant room at bridge tables, you're bound to have a case or two from the start.

But Minnesota's COVID levels have also been rising this summer to near-wintertime levels (as have levels across the US). Here's a friendly reminder that we are not done with COVID yet; and although the ACBL eliminated all COVID protocols in May, you may still want to take some precautions. You also may notice a few more local players staying home because they're not feeling well, or you may see a few extra masks at the bridge club this month. The CDC does not track cases like they used to - but there are still COVID viral indicators available. Here is a look at wastewater viral activity in our state over the past twelve months - indicating six times as much COVID activity as last summer:

Click here for more information - and be careful out there.

July 30 2024
FIVE WEEKS TO THE MED CITY REGIONAL

Minnesota's second open regional of the year is taking place in just five weeks. Final preparations are being squared away for players, including off-site get togethers and some online bridge in the evenings.

Partner requests can be made through Sheri French (rochestermnbridge@gmail.com) and for Non-Life Masters and Gold Rush partnerships, Joanne Long (NLMPartnerships@gmail.com) will set you up. Hotel reservations code is "MedCity" and the site for making a reservation can be found by clicking here.

Click on the flyer to your right for more information, and you can get the full details of this tournament by clicking here.

July 29 2024
PLAYER CONTRIBUTIONS MATTER SO MUCH

Whether you're mentoring a bridge player who is far less experienced, or opting to help take down tables at a bridge tournament, player contributions matter.  Writing a check also falls into this category, naturally.

The St Cloud club's dealing machine went kaput this month.  Technology is terrific - as long as it works - and when a bridge club's dealing machine goes down, it's up to the club manager or player volunteers to make the boards. . .by hand.  Now, Dave Boushek [Waite Park] and Scott Krupke [Little Falls] and their fingerpads are getting a reprieve as the St Cloud Bridge Club is getting a new dealing machine.  Thanks to equal contributions from club member and all-around good guy Roger Melaas [St Cloud], along with their home unit, Unit 103, the dealing machine will cost the St Cloud Bridge Club absolutely nothing.

Players might not notice the difference - and thanks to the generous contributions involved, there won't be any difference in their club's funds.  It will, however, make things much, much easier for Dave, Scott, and everyone else who helped to put made boards together.  A special thanks goes out to Roger Melaas, for making such a selfless contribution to bridge in central Minnesota!

(That's Scott and Roger in the photo to your right.)

July 29 2024
MINNESOTA NAP TABLES UP 31% FROM LAST YEAR

We're two-thirds of the way through the club-qualifying phase of the North American Pairs now. A concerted effort has been made to drum up some excitement for this contest this year, and that effort appears to be paying off. Overall, statewide NAP tables at local bridge clubs through these two months have totalled 539 (vs 413 through this period last year). And by every metric, participation is up (statewide NAP tables are up 30.5% over last year at this time). To your right is a chart of NAP tables in Minnesota, and whether you are breaking it down by Unit or geographic district, everything is pointing towards better participation than 12 months ago. One more month to go, and then all qualified players (493 of them, to date) are eligible to play in the big NAP Unit Finals party at the Bridge Center of St Paul in September.

July 28 2024
NABC MINNESOTA MASTERPOINT WINNERS

Congrats to all Minnesotans who took part in this NABC and had some fun!

July 28 2024
NABC UPDATE ON THE REMAINING MINNESOTANS

Long time partners Lynne Castoldi [Minnetonka] and Aly El-Selehdar [Minnetonka] are playing in the 0-10K Mixed Swiss event (along with teammates Patty and Gonzalez Herrera from Mexico). They had a nice qualifying session yesterday, with their team placing in 4th out of 34 teams. Here's how it is going in today's matches:

NABC MIXED 0-10K SWISS TEAMS - Sunday play, 18 teams remaining

Match 1	Match 2	Match 3	Match 4	Match 5	Match 6	Match 7	Match 8
vs #3 team	vs #1 team	vs #4 team	vs #3 team	vs #6 team	vs #4 team	vs #4 team	vs #5 team
WIN by 35 IMPs	LOSE by 22 IMPs	WIN by 13 IMPs	WIN by 4 IMPs	WIN by 13 IMPs	WIN by 42 IMPs	LOSE by 25 IMPs	LOSE by 5 IMPs
4th to 2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd to 1st	1st	1st to 2nd	2nd

Just missing out on 1st place is tough, but what a fun dinner tonight and plane ride home for them both.  (And just for the record, the Castoldi/El-Selehdar team beat the eventual 1st place team by 35 IMPs in a match today, FWIW).  Those 45 points they earned (40.50 gold/4.50 platinum) helped them top all Minnesota players for masterpoints won at this year's summer NABC.  Congratulations!

Keith Connolly [St Paul] and Vern Swing [Minneapolis] competed in the four-session NABC Fast Pairs this weekend.  All four of their games in this contest were better than average - with game percentages of 52.43%, 53.22%, 51.62%, and 52.86%.  The result was 28th place out of 38 pairs left today, for 12.12 platinum points!  Well done!

And finally, Aydn Math [Northfield] is one of Minnesota's youngest bridge players at the age of 22.  He played in a lot of the Collegiate events this week at the NABC, and today was on a foursome that won their bracket in the round robin teams event.  He finished with 11.11 masterpoints for the tournament.

July 28 2024
MONTHLY MILESTONES IN JULY

There's a new Emerald Life Master in town - and a new Gold Life Master - along with two new Life Masters! Here's the list of rank achievements made by Minnesota players during the month of July:

LIFE MASTER - Jan Jansen [Stillwater], Kathy Stadther [St Cloud]

July 28 2024
NEW NAP AND GNT FLIGHTS GET THE ACBL's GREEN LIGHTS

At the Toronto NABC last month, the ACBL's Board of Directors got together and voted to alter both the North American Pairs flights (12-1, approving) and the Grand National Teams flights (12-1, approving). The idea was to increase participation for lower- and mid-masterpoint players that stopped competing as they were forced into higher strats. Click on the image to the right to have a look at the new details and vote results. NOTE that the GNT changes take place this November, but the NAP flights won't change until 2025.

July 27 2024
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE

Just one day remains at the Toronto ON NABC, but Minnesota players are not yet finished with this tournament. Lynne Castoldi [Minnetonka] and Aly El-Selehdar [Minnetonka] entered the 0-10K Mixed Swiss event, and their team is in 4th place out of 34 teams today. That will propel them into the final sessions tomorrow, and ensure that Minnesota players will still be getting masterpoints on the last day of the NABC!

This is the tournament that will make its appearance in Minneapolis in July of 2026. As it turns out, the NABC this summer has been quite successful in terms of table counts; with one day to go, there have been 8,988 tables in play. That's up +12.5% compared to the same tourament in Chicago last summer. It remains to be seen how Minnesota's NABC will do, but Minnesota players have done quite well in this tournament over the past 11 days.

That's Unit 103 President Sue Greenberg [Byron] taking a break from the big tournament to enjoy some of the host city!

July 27 2024
NEW MEMBER CONTACT PERSON NEEDED

Judy Hansen [Eagan] has been putting together a "new member" packet for all new Minnesota bridge players for as long as we can remember. Each new Minnesota player gets a welcome letter in the mail which includes details about upcoming tournaments, where to play and when, website information, and more. It has been a terrific way to contact new members with important information, especially who can answer questions for them (at all levels of bridge contact).

It'll be tough to follow in Judy's footsteps here, but she's earned a well-deserved break from this (she actually started this program from scratch - and on her own - many, MANY years ago). Now, Sue (Unit 178 President) and Sue (Unit 103 President) are looking for a volunteer to take over sending out these letters to newer players. If you're interested (or know someone who would be) please give your Unit President a shout. (And next time you see Judy, give her a shout-out for her great work.)

July 27 2024
MINNESOTA'S NEWEST EMERALD LIFE MASTER

It's Lance Chamberlain [Rochester]. Although Lance is playing in the NABC in Toronto, ON this week, he crossed the 7,500 masterpoint line sometime this last month playing right here in Minnesota. There are rumours of a party down the road for Lance (if you know Lance, you know he is the "hard partying type") and when that get-together takes place we will make sure to post some photos here.

A hearty shout-out to Lance, Minnesota's newest Emerald Life Master!

July 26 2024
TWO DAYS TO GO IN TORONTO

Just a couple of days left at the Toronto NABC, but Minnesota players are still making their mark. Randy Okubo [St Paul] and his partner from Somerville MA came in 9th of 44 pairs in today's Fast Pairs morning session. Lynne Castoldi [Minnetonka] and Aly El-Selehdar [Minnetonka] had a nice carryover score from their 4th place qualifying position yesterday in the NABC 0-10K Pairs - then had a 58.52% game this morning and finished today's sessions with a 4th place overall finish - good for 17.92 gold points 1.99 platinum points!

July 26 2024
METRO BRIDGE CLUB HANDICAPS - UPDATE

The Wednesday morning Metro Bridge Club game in Edina is the biggest game in the state of Minnesota (averaging 15.08 tables per game each week over the past 18 months). So far this year, there have been 30 Wednesday morning games held - and 181 different bridge players have earned some masterpoints there in 2024. To your left is an update on the handicaps for these players, with Joe Koester [Brooklyn Park] and John Schlundt [Eden Prairie] still holding on to a very tight race for "player of the year". (A reminder that there's a minimum number of games one must play in to be considered eligible for a handicap. There are a couple of Wednesday morning players who do have higher average scores than these two, but haven't played in enough games yet to be added to the list. . .so things could certainly change.)

July 26 2024
KATHY STADTHER MAKES THE NABC BULLETIN

Congratulations to Kathy Stadther [St Cloud] who became a new Life Master yesterday! Kathy (along with partner Jan Gembol [Clear Lake]) won the Gold Rush Pairs on Thursday, racking up 12.34 gold points, far more than the 5.11 gold needed for her Life Master achievement. Kathy had her photo taken and put in the Toronto NABC Bulletin today (see left) - and there may be a photo of her with Bronia Jenkins, the head of the ACBL (we're still looking for that one).

It's always exciting to "cross the line" and become a Life Master, more so at a tournament (of any kind), and to have it happen at an NABC is *chef's kiss*. Congratulations again to Kathy! (And how fun must that plane ride back to Minnesota have been.)

July 25 2024
LOCAL PLAYERS EXCELLING IN CANADA

A tip of the hat today to Kathleen Stadther [St Cloud] and Jan Gembol [Clear Lake], who won the two-session Gold Rush today! They came in 1st place overall, with two outstanding games of 64.20% and 65.52%. Kathy and Jan earned 12.34 gold points for their efforts today, which is awesome. Lynne Castoldi [Minnetonka] and Aly El-Selehdar [Minnetonka] had a sparkling 65.23% morning session in the 0-10K Open Pairs, and that was enough to send them into tomorrow's final sessions. Several Minnesota players increased their masterpoint haul at Toronto today and the updated list is on your left.

July 25 2024
IT'S THE HARDEST PART ABOUT BRIDGE

Friends and family that don't play the game of bridge frequently will ask "what's the hardest part about playing bridge?" It can be many different things to different players; for some, it's counting all four suits as you play, or trying to defend when a situation appears hopeless. But IMHO, the hardest thing about the game of bridge has nothing to do with the cards. It's watching a partner of yours as they lose their edge over time - not playing as capably as they used to - making more and more mistakes that you know just isn't like them. Bridge is such a cerebral game, it makes it easy to notice when one of your regular partners starts that downhill slope (which will surely come for pretty much all of us at some point).

Another Minnesota bridge player stopped playing this month. Not because they're physically ill or infirmed; the game just got to be too frustrating. This doesn't mean one can't offer to still play with them, or enjoy a game away from the bridge club (that's more informal or even party bridge) - but it's still disappointing to them and to everyone else. And it's what some of us consider to be the hardest part about bridge. (It's also why you should play as often as you can and with as many different partners as you can, while we're all still able to.)

July 25 2024
2nd ANNUAL KORY SOLARZ KNOCKDOWN TOURNEY

Mark your calendar for Thursday, August 8th, for the 2nd Annual Kory Solarz Knockdown Tournament! It's happening up in St Cloud on Thursday evening (the 8th) at 5:30pm at the St Cloud Labor Home (for directions to the Labor Home, click here). Here is how Connie Nelson [Avon] describes the fun:

"What is 'knockdown' bridge?  It is nothing more than a team game with a few twists and add-ons.  First, the format is that of a traditional, non-bridge tourney——-winners play winners/losers play losers until only one winner is left standing, and one loser is alone at the bottom.

Players enter as a pair.  The teams are formed randomly the night of the event.  One pair is randomly drawn for each table.  (Teammates to be determined.)  The drawing then continues with a second pair randomly selected for each table.  The teams can determine which pair will play N/S——E/W.

The winning team has its members’ names memorialized on a permanent trophy and is awarded four gift cards, one for each player.  Among the losers, even that very last team need not despair.  There is a second set of gift cards awarded to the team lucky enough to succeed in a blind drawing.  It is not a random drawing.  The winners are eliminated from the drawing.  All other teams are assigned a designated colored set of marbles.  There are eight teams, so with the winners banished from this drawing, the second place team is allowed seven of its marbles in a bag, third place six marbles, all the way down to the last place team which is allowed one marble.  The bag is shaken and one marble is blindly extracted.  What ever the color, the team assigned that color gets the second set of gift cards.

The Kory Solarz Knockdown Bridge Tournament is a night of bridge played in the midst of some fun and frivolity."

--Connie

This sounds like a GREAT time - and a fun way to celebrate Kory's legacy in regard to bridge across central Minnesota.

Last year's big winners (L to R, Rick Bredlie [St Cloud], Joe Lisbon [St Cloud], Saundy Fedor [Waite Park], and Darlene Nastrom [St Cloud]):

July 25 2024
THINGS GO BETTER WITH KOCH

John Koch [St Cloud] has been writing about bridge hands for decades. To help you at the table (whether it's bidding, declarer play, defense, anything, really) and edcuate while entertaining, we'll post one of his columns here every Thursday.

This week - do you play for the finesse or for the drop? There might be a clue - or two clues. Click on the image to the right or click here to check out what John has to say about it.

July 24 2024
HOW MINNESOTANS ARE FARING

Almost three dozen Minnesota players have been taking part in the NABC this summer in Toronto. Through today, they have earned more than 437 masterpoints! (437.09, to be exact.) Aydn Math [Northfield] entered the competition today, and promptly scored some gold points finishing 19th out of 84 pairs in today's Gold Rush. (Games of 56.20% and 52.51% were not bad at all!) Randy Okubo [St Paul] joined a foursome in the Top-Flight Swiss today, coming in 7th overall of 24 teams - good enough for another 9.84 gold points. And Lance Chamberlain [Rochester] picked up a partner from Montreal, winning their section in the Open Pairs today with a 62.04% game.

One bit of unfortunate news from Toronto, though, with a reported COVID outbreak that took hold late last week. It's not surprising, as any time you get 1,200 to 1,400 people together in such close quarters for each session of bridge, there are bound to be some COVID cases. Here is hoping everyone weathers this with minor cases and quick recoveries.

Minnesota players and their masterpoint totals from this tournament are listed on your left - click on that image to open it in a new window.

July 24 2024
AN ANNIVERSARY PARTY IN THE WORKS?

It will be one year next week since the Bridge Center of St Paul made its big move to their Roseville location.  This level of change for a club (and its players) rarely happens, and as you may recall, it was quite the big deal!  It's also the type of move that is fraught with unknowns; people in general (and especially at our age) don't like change.  The good news is that the move has been largely positive, both for players and for the club.

Looking at the eight-week period between the Gopher Regional in May and the week ending July 21st, the year-over-year indicators are all green at the BCSP.  Club games that are available to players average 8.13 per week now - which is up +25.4% from last year over the same eight-week period.  The average number of weekly tables at the club is also up, from 48.88 in 2023 to 61.31 this year (+20.4%); and that's introducing a lot of new games for novice players.  Finally, even with the smaller novice games included, the average tables per club game is also up. . .by +3.87% from 7.24 to 7.52.  (Open games alone are up +8.38%, from 8.46 tables per game last year to 9.17 here in 2024).

Now the fine print.  These statistics don't include any Unit 178-hosted Saturday games held at the BCSP Roseville location.  An adjustment was made for the four-day Aquatennial Tournament held this month (so as to keep everything consistent).  And even though tables are up +20.4% over last year, that's not an indication of the financial health of the club (for example, costs could be up +30.0%).  But overall, the picture that's painted by the move last year appears to be a win-win for the BCSP and its bridge players - and most would agree that calls for some cake and balloons next week.

July 23 2024
DAY 7 AT THE NABC

More than two dozen Minnesota players are in Ontario, bidding, defending, and generally carousing at the Toronto NABC this week. They're part of a very successful NABC, with tables through day 7 up +8.4% so far from last year's tournament in Chicago.

Rebecca Anspach [St Paul] and Deborah Weiss [Minneapolis] entered the Women's Pairs yesterday, coming in 10th our of 108 pairs to qualify for today's final. They earned 3.43 platinum points! The Central Minnesota contingent arrived in Toronto today, and promptly earned some gold points, with Theresa Kornwolf [Elk River], Nancy Balfanz [St Cloud], Kathleen Stadther [St Cloud] and Jan Gembol [Clear Lake] having a fun first day at the tournament. Masterpoint totals (so far) for Minnesota players are listed to your left.

July 23 2024
SIX WEEKS TO MINNESOTA'S REGIONAL #2

If you haven't already arranged partnerships for the upcoming Med City Regional in Rochester, now is a good time to get to it. Minnesota's second big regional of the year, it starts the day after Labor Day. With pair and team games every day of the tournament, there is something for everyone - plus evening gold points will be available (and off-site parties for those staying overnight in Rochester).

Click on the flyer to your right for more information, and you can get the full details of this tournament by clicking here.

July 22 2024
TORONTO - "AT THE HALF"

They're halfway through the big NABC in Toronto ON (remember, this is the one coming to Minneapolis in two years) - and table counts are up from last summer's NABC in Chicago. . .so far. Below is a look at the total tables vs Chicago's 2023 NABC and 2022's Providence NABC. And to the right of that, how the tables for each event are comparing to one year ago through the first six days.

Today's action saw Minnesota players Rebecca Anspach [St Paul] and Deborah Weiss [Minneapolis] enter the Women's Pairs; this event had 108 pairs enter. Rebecca and Deborah finished up today in 10th place - and they clearly qualified to go on to tomorrow's final (well done!). Masterpoint totals (so far) for Minnesota players are listed to your left.

July 21 2024
DAY 5 AT THE SUMMER NABC

One Minnesota pair, Bob Schachter [Eden Prairie] and Paul Meerschaert [Long Lake] made it into finals of the Von Zedwitz Life Master Pairs at the NABC - and today they earned 28.50 platinum points, finishing 31st in the event (this 3-day contest started out with 286 pairs on Friday). Today's Open Pairs saw Vern Swing [Minneapolis] and Deborah Weiss [Minneapolis] snaring a 62.33% game in the morning session, winning their 13-table section - also winning their afternoon section, and finishing with 22.31 points and 3rd overall. Keith Connolly [St Paul] and Rebecca Anspach [St Paul] finished first in their section in the afternoon set of the Fast Pairs today with a 58.47% game. And coming in 1st place in the Gold Rush Swiss today was the team which included Jackson and Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] scoring another 8.82 gold points! Sue Greenberg [Byron] got on a pickup team in the Mid-Flight Swiss to come in 19th out of 67 teams (not bad) for another 2.43 gold. More than two dozen Minnesota players have gotten some scratch at Toronto - the latest masterpoint awards for Minnesota players are to your left.

July 21 2024
CALLING ALL NON-LIFE MASTERS

It's time to start getting your partnerships together for the Bridge Center of St Paul's NLM tournament one month from now. You may have heard "silver points are the hardest to get!", and here's a great opportunity to get some silver points playing in the comfort of your own club.

This event is being held Wednesday August 21st to Friday August 23rd, with NLM pairs games at 10am and 2pm. Non-Life Masters with up to 749 masterpoints are invited, however because it's stratified, 99ers get compared to players with their own experience level. If you're looking to play and need a partner, Kim Hayward [Bayport] will set you up - call her at 651-271-3500. Click on the flyer to your right to expand it in a new window for printing or perusing. See you in four weeks!

July 21 2024
PLAYAHS PLAYIN'

While some Minnesota players are off to Toronto to have some fun at the NABC, players across our State continue to come out to the club - for club games and tournaments - in growing numbers. Looking at the six-week average of in-person tables (both club F2F and tournaments), that number is up +14.5% compared to last year at this time. Remember - this is the middle of summer! And while there are other things to do (no question), at the moment Minnesota players are playing bridge - and in greater numbers than last year. This rolling average, compared to 52 weeks prior, has been in the positive range every week since the reopening of bridge clubs in 2021.

July 20 2024
MINNESOTA PLAYERS DOWN SOUTH - DAY 4

(Here's an alert[!] that the Toronto NABC playing area is exactly 9.8 miles south of the Minnesota/Iowa state line.) 1 Saturday over at the summer NABC saw more Minnesota players in action - with more success stories to be had.

Sue Greenberg [Byron] picked up a player from Stoney Creek, Ontario, and won her section in the morning session of the Open Pairs today. Also among the 53 tables of the Open Pairs today was Warren Nelson [Cloquet] and Larry Uttley [Duluth], who came in 7th overall in that event. And Margaret Getman [St Paul] came in 2nd in her bracket of the Bracketed Swiss here on day 4. PLUS - Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] and Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] are playing three sessions a day. Oh, to be young again! Latest Minnesota masterpoint awards are to your left.

July 20 2024
AUGUST CLUB CALENDARS

It's not too early to be thinking about August club play, and here are those clubs who have issued their calendar for next month. August is the final month of the club qualifying for the North American Pairs, and there are still many NAP games yet to be played - plus the Non-Life Master Sectional at the Bridge Center of St Paul is coming up the 3rd week of the month. Click on any calendar to enlarge it and open in a new window.

July 20 2024
TORONTO - DAY 3

1 Friday at the NABC brought an end to the D14 GNT Flight C team's quest, but congratulations are in order for all these GNT teams for earning the opportunity to play at the NABC. This would be the second day of full-scheduled events, and 19 Minnesota players now have earned ~160 masterpoints. With more to come!

July 19 2024
A FEW CHAT BRIDGE TIPS

Here are some Chat Bridge tips, courtesy of Nate Pike [Northfield]. You can check out the bidding and even replay the hands - and when you've got a chance to do so, stop by the Northfield Bridge Club on a Thursday and say hello to everyone in person! (Their website and game schedule can be found by clicking here.)

Click here to check out the hands.

July 19 2024
MINNESOTANS ALREADY SCORING SOME SCRATCH

It's really been just one day of play at the Toronto NABC, but already Minnesota players are earning some masterpoints. Overall tables for the opening day of play are up from last year (and 2022), and playing Minnesotans are also part of that good news.

July 19 2024
A PHOENIX IN TORONTO

"Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug."  It applies to all of us, excellent bridge players and novice players alike and everything in-between.  Some days, nothing seems to go right, and whereas the game of bridge should be entertaining and should be fun - occasionally you have just one of those days.

It happens to everyone, and it happened to the Minnesota team representing D14 in the Flight A GNT competition in Toronto.  Eight matches on Wednesday, winning zero of them, and a finish that could only have been better.

But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, these four players entered another team event not 24 hours later, and came in 2nd among their bracket.  Playing in bracket #2, and earning 12.20 gold points Thursday, winning four of the six matches, it was a much better day at the bridge table for Larry Uttley [Duluth], Warren Nelson [Cloquet], Bill Voedisch [Marine], and Dennis Cerkvenik [Minnetonka].  Getting back up off the ice and skating again can be the best remedy (ok, yes, enough with the metaphors already) and the lesson for everyone else here is to not let a bad game (or a bad day) of bridge get you down.  Especially for newer players at the table, a bad day can shake your confidence.  Don't let it.  There's more fun to be had, and you won't want to miss it.

July 18 2024
DAY 2 AT THE TORONTO NABC - UPDATE

Day 2 gets underway in Toronto this morning; in addition to the second day of the GNT Finals, Minnesota players will be arriving to play in everything else that's offered. One thing to watch today will be the Championship Flight of the D14 GNT, where that team of Minnesota players is playing D2's team - all of whom live in Toronto! Hopefully "home field advantage" means nothing here.

Results on your right as they come in today.

UPDATE: And then there was one! Two out of the remaining three D14 GNT teams fell out of the competition in today's Round of 16, with the Connolly Championship Flight and Lasoff Flight B foursome bowing out (scores to the right). The Wahl Flight C team, however, was victorious in their match and will go on to the quarterfinal matches tomorrow. It turns out two of the four players on the Flight C team were not able to play the entire five days (should it go that far) - so this team asked a couple of Iowans (David Nelmark [Urbandale] and Rhonda McCoy [West Des Moines]) to fill out their roster. Here is an update from Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis]:

"We had a pretty smooth match against a very nice team from Little Rock. The [qualifying] Swiss was a little rocky, we had plenty of close matches against the stronger teams in the event, but I'm glad we're in the top half of the bracket. Next match we'll play a team from Chicago we faced off against in the Swiss - a +18 [IMPs] result, so we hope to hold our own! Four of our six players are playing with screens for the first time."

Sounds like they are having fun (which is the best possible outcome).

July 17 2024
D14's ALL-MINNESOTA NABC GNT RESULTS

Here is a look at how the all-Minnesota squads of D14's Grand National Teams did in their first day of competition at the NABC in Toronto this week. It was tough sledding for all the D14 teams - but three of the four D14 teams have done well enough to advance to the next round.

Some wild stories from the first day in Toronto, with the D14 GNT Championship team laying low (22nd of 23 teams) until round 6 of 8. They crushed round 6 to win by 49 IMPs, then won round 7 by 9 IMPs. Then on the bubble for the last round as they were in 16th place (with 16 teams advancing), before winning that last match by 11 IMPs. The Flight "A" squad had a tougher time, unable to win any of their eight matches. Flight "B"'s GNT team fell to 19th place after the first four matches today, but came storming back with a couple of big wins (+27 and +19 IMPs) and winning three of the last four to finish in 9th place. And the Flight "C" team started out very strong - 3rd after 3 matches - and held on to finish in 7th place and advance to tomorrow.

Here are their results from day 1 and position of finish (the top 16 teams in each flight go on to play tomorrow):

D14 CHAMPIONSHIP

Keith Connolly
Vern Swing
Paul Meerschaert
Bob Schachter

Match scores today
+9 -11 -33 -11
-12 +49 +9 +11
Finished 12th of 23

D14 FLIGHT "A"

Larry Uttley
Bill Voedisch
Warren Nelson
Dennis Cerkvenik

Match scores today
-8 -27 -11 -3
-2 -19 -0 -21
Finished 23rd of 23

D14 FLIGHT "B"

Mark Lasoff
David Trevor
David Goodrie
David Neiman

Match scores today
+18 -1 -7 -19
+27 -14 +19 +7
Finished 9th of 32

D14 FLIGHT "C"

Chris Westermeyer
Ross Anderson
Sarah Wahl
Jackson Wahl

Match scores today
+14 +1 +18 -13
-6 -4 -1 +4
Finished 7th of 23

July 17 2024
WE'RE PUBLISHED

Minnesota's second regional of the year has been published in your Bridge Bulletin. Keep an eye out for the Med City Regional's ad in the August issue of your Bridge Bulletin - and we'll hope to see you in six weeks.

July 17 2024
MINNESOTA TABLES OVERALL: ON THE RISE

Have a look at how bridge is going across Minnesota during the first six months of the year. Tables are broken down by tournaments, online virtual club games, in-person face-to-face games, and the combined total of these divisions.

When compared to the first six months of last year, overall tables are up - by +2.9%. An extra tournament has helped tournament tables jump +16.0% during the first half of the year, and face-to-face tables at your local club have soared by 20.5% compared to 2023. As is the trend nationally, virtual club games and their table counts have really fallen off since last year. . .with Minnesota BBO VACB tables off -69.6%. There may be a few virtual players that have not yet made the jump back to your local club, but judging by the comparative F2F table counts, there are not many of them left.

July 16 2024
SUMMER NABC UNDERWAY TOMORROW

Dozens of Minnesota bridge players will be taking part in this summer's NABC over in Toronto starting tomorrow. (Trivia: The Toronto playing site is 9.8 miles south of the Minnesota/Iowa state line.) Everything kicks off with the Grand National Teams play on Wednesday, and this year all four D14 teams are composed entirely of Minnesota players. Here is who we will be watching as things get underway:

Best of luck to all Minnesota players at the NABC!

July 15 2024
FROM THE KOCH FILES

15 years back, our good friend John Koch [St Cloud] was writing and submitting for publication a weekly column about life at the bridge table. These columns include the hands, the bidding, what inferences to take, how to play the hand, and more - and are as fun to read (and great to learn from) today as they were when he wrote them back in 2009. Below are roughly two dozen of John's columns - click on any one of them to open it up in a new window for better viewing or printing. And thanks to John for writing them (along with Peggy Kaplan [Minnetonka], who first posted them on her bridge blog so many years ago).

A Tale At Two Tables
Averting Disaster
Companion Card
Deferred Ending
Double Clutch
Double Inference
Early Concession
Excess of Zeal
Five Or Three
Hitch
Instant Alert

Labyrinthine Approach
Outside The Box
Preserving Self-Esteem
Rational Explanation
Restricted Choice
Safe Lead
Student Partner
Taking Care of Partner
The Last Trump
Unexpected Dummy Entry
Unorthodox

July 14 2024
A QUICK UPDATE ON THE NORTH AMERICAN PAIRS

Six weeks down in the North American Pairs qualifying stage and six weeks to go - so where are we? 443 Minnesota players have already qualified to go on in the NAP competition past August 31st! This includes 203 Flight "C" players, which is hard to believe - another 179 players have qualified for the Flight "B" competition, and 61 Flight "A" players have qualified. It's a terrific crowd. (Of course, not all 443 players will show up at the Bridge Center of St Paul's NAP Unit Final on September 21st, right? Having 110 tables in play there could be a bit tight.)