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76.04% Ryan Johnson + William Anderson, Mankato DBC, 3/2 73.81% Barb Zipoy + Judy Hansen, Plymouth Bridge Club, 3/23 72.50% John Koch + Kathleen Stadther, St Cloud Bridge Club, 3/5 71.43% Larry Uttley + Warren Nelson, Duluth DBC, 3/16 71.30% Tom Grue + Terry Beckman, Bridge Center of St Paul, 3/25 70.53% Les Hassler + Joseph Browan, Woodbury Bridge Club, 3/23 70.44% Terry Beckman + Kathy Beckman, Spades and Company, 3/21 70.38% Joan Cassel + David Juberien, Mankato DBC, 3/25 70.24% Kristine Verdin + Bill Voedisch, Woodbury BC, 3/19 70.24% Bill Heyer + Joan Cassel, Mankato DBC, 3/4 LIMITED MASTERPOINT GAMES: 73.50% Tracy Leblanc + Karla Nornberg, St Cloud Bridge Club, 3/23 72.62% Ruth Brunelle + George Holmquist, Plymouth BC, 3/17 71.88% Roger Andre + Rebecca Rubinstein, Bridge Center of St Paul, 3/23 71.00% Rick Mattson + Jerry Johnson, Bridge Center of St Paul, 3/3 |
    | What's significant is that it was the Non-Life Masters that made the difference. Open player tables this weekend were down by -15.1% (107 this year vs 126 last time). The 499er section tables were up a whopping +68.6%, from 25½ tables to 43 this time. Quite the NLM turnout! This made the 499er section tables this year more than ¼ of the total tables, or 26.7%. The last time this tournament was held in St Paul, the 499er tables amounted to only 16.8% of the total tables. It's a good thing. Finally, the tables per session of bridge at the Aquatennial Tournament last week came in right at 25.0 per session. That's just a tiny bit lower than two years ago (when the tournament was also held in St Paul, with 25.2 tables per session) - but it's a sharp increase and nice bounce back from when the tournament was held last year in Maple Grove. Last year in Maple Grove, Unit 178's tournament had 22.8 tables per session. Next up is the Med City Sectional in Rochester! Mark that calendar for April 16-18 and we'll see you in Rochester in just a few weeks. |
There are also a few limited masterpoint events available for advancing players! Here's a look at the upcoming tournaments and their schedules (click on any flyer to open it in a new window): |
Sectional Sat April 11 St Cloud  | Sectional April 16-18 Rochester  | Sectional May 20-24 Roseville  | Sectional June 4 Rochester  | Sectional June 5-6 Plymouth  | Sectional June 12-14 St Cloud  |
The webmaster/blog editor for this site does not accept a stipend or payment for services of any kind - as our only interest is in the promotion of bridge (everywhere, but particularly Minnesota). In addition, we're hoping to provide an outlet where Minnesota bridge players can find bridge-related news of all topics. Here's a shout-out to both Minnesota bridge units for wanting to keep this going, as Peg Kaplan [Minnetonka] had done the blog for so many years, passing the torch in 2020. If there's anything that you'd like to see on this website (or anything you don't want to see), feel free to let your Unit representative know. You can also email the blog editor directly at medcitybridge-at-gmail-dot-com. |
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 | Due to the NABC coming in July, not only was the Aquatennial moved from July to this weekend, but the Gopher Regional will not take place this spring. . .so the Rochester Med City Regional will end up the only regional tournament for 2026, before the Gopher returns in a little more than a year. The flyer is now official and on your left; click on it to open it in a new window. You'll see the flyer at your local club soon. It's still a bit less than six months out, but it's never too early to start planning those partnerships for a regional tournament. |
In the Non-Life Masters section, it was Janice Dunker [Cannon Falls] and Marc Anderson [New Prague] topping all comers with a 62.50% score. These two combined with Tom Sneed [Plymouth] and Carol Walter [Minnetonka] to take the NLM Teams portion of the morning session in a squeaker. Janice and Marc pulled a "two-fer" today, as they also won the afternoon pairs in the Non-Life Master group with a 61.11% game. (We're wondering if they're ready to try the Open crowd?) The teams portion of the afternoon NLM crowd was another tie (second of the day) with Marc and Janice teaming up with Robert Marx [Maple Grove] and Joyce Hatch [Minnetonka] to earn 1.39 silver points - along with the foursome of Diane Alshouse [St Paul], Nancy Hartzler [St Paul], Tom Owens [Woodbury], and Lynn McNabb [Mendota Heights]. Always great to see the silver points spread around! There was another 18 tables in the afternoon Open session, which makes the 2-day total of 109.0 tables up by ½ table from the last Aquatennial in St Paul's Roseville club (that's +0.5% if you're keeping track). The post-lunch Open Pairs found Erwin Heisler [Minneapolis] and Dallas Burns [Eden Prairie] with their 60.69% game edging out Michael Orsted [Stillwater] and James Essex [St Louis Park] by ½ matchpoint! Oh, for that overtrick! The afternoon teams portion of the Open crowd was yet another tie (3rd of 4 for the day) with Michael Flader [Eagan], Del Swanson [Bloomington], James Lair [St Paul], and David Klevan [St Paul] tying Dan McElroy [Burnsville], Cass Weil [Minneapolis], Tony Ames [Minnetonka], and George Bleskachek [Eau Claire WI] all sharing some major silver points. One more day tomorrow of tournament play before things get back to normal. You can view all of the results for this week's Aquatennial Sectional by clicking here. |
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  | Each of these Rochester bridge players teach a class or two, and in addition to introducing the TV hosts to the game of bridge (along with their viewers), they were able to give a plug to their classes at the Rochester Community Education Center. Everything helps in keeping our game going, and certainly a little out-of-the-box effort on local television will be part of that. Again, kudos to these three for taking the time and effort to both teach the classes - and educate the public. |
    | Table counts for play on Thursday were up slightly over the last time this tournament was held at the Bridge Center of St Paul (up +1.7%), but that's not the whole story. Open crowd tables were off Thursday by quite a bit (down -19.1%), but the Non-Life Masters nearly doubled their attendance from last time with tables up +90.9%. Yowza! Keep in mind, Unit 178 moved this tournament from July to March this year - and from Unit 178's Maple Grove club to Unit 103's Roseville club - so when you're looking at attendance figures, it's difficult to compare apples to apples. (2024's Aquatennial was also held in Roseville, but that was July, almost two years ago - again, not ideal.) Whether tables are up or down, or the crowd is of a completely different makeup than last summer, it matters not to the players having fun in St Paul this week. Masterpoint leaders through day 1 are to your left; don't forget that with these pair/team events, you might get two masterpoint awards (one for the pairs, and one for the teams). But you don't get both. You only receive the higher masterpoint award of the two, and the ACBL doesn't figure all THAT out until a few days after the tournament. . .so if you're wondering why the awards here on the Bridge Blog are different than those posted by the ACBL, it's because the ACBL is a little slow to the party. Two more days of tournament action are on the way - and the weather is perfect for getting to enjoy a little indoor bridge. All of the results for this week's Aquatennial Sectional can be found by clicking here. |
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 | This month's Report has just been released; you can click on the image to your left to open up the report in a new window and read all about it - or you can click here. Some bullet points from the Spring Management Report include membership down close to 6%; the 2025 fiscal year concluded in a "stable" position; their strategic focus remains centered on membership growth and retention; an update from the Tournament Task Force; and there's much more in the full report. The upshot is that ACBL management is taking a pro-active approach to the many challenges facing the bridge-playing world right now - that's what we need, and they're doing it. You can read more details in full by clicking on the image to your left. |
How is it going in Minnesota? We'll know the answer to that in about one week, as the quarterly 5-5-5 report will be issued one week from tomorrow. |  |
To your right is a look at the tables per game for all of Minnesota's bridge games. The data is for the first 12 weeks of the year, and for each year since 2023. Keeping in mind that the minimum tables per game is not 0.0 (it's 2.0), here's a look at some games that are showing some flashing red signs:     Each of Mankato's open games during the week are seeing a year-over-year drop that's not sustainable. Losing more than a half-table in each game the past 12 months, there currently aren't any limited masterpoint games from which to draw from in Mankato at present. The Rochester 299er game on Mondays is also seeing a trend of considerably smaller games, although they do have a Monday morning chat bridge game (and robust lesson program for beginners). This would be a great time to get those real beginners into the 299er program. Even the Bridge Center of St Paul's chat bridge has fallen to an average of less than 3½ tables per game. There's work to be done in many bridge clubs. Those are all Unit 103 clubs; but Unit 178 isn't immune from the trend of smaller games. What were once the two biggest games in Minnesota, the Edina Monday game and Maple Grove Wednesday game, are each losing players year-over-year. (Edina's Monday game losing roughly a table per game each year.) Because these games are still relatively well attended, the contraction in tables per game isn't so significant - but it is a trend for these games and one we'd like to see reversed.   Woodbury and St Cloud are still going gangbusters (see the table to your right), but increased tables per game at those clubs won't matter much to the people who play in Mankato, should the Mankato games stop operating. Even if your local club is actively replacing players as existing ones depart the game, getting involved - mentoring - and helping to encourage beginners and jump start beginner programs - all will do some good for your local games. (And if that just makes Minnesota's statewide numbers that much more impressive, so be it.) [Ed.: We inadvertently left Northfield's data off the table to the right; Nate Pike in Northfield does such a great job there! Our apologies for the omission.] |  |
31.9% of all tables during the week are attended on Mondays. The weekend is the weakest part of the bridge week, as one might expect, with just 2.3% of the weekly tables played on Saturdays - and 1.6% of the weekly tables played on Sundays. The second chart shows the nominal tables during this 52-week period. 3,423 table were played on Mondays, with Thursday coming in a distant second during the week (when 2,049 tables were played here in Minnesota). Wednesday came in 3rd during the week and Tuesday a close 4th. |   |
A Few Reasons to Attend and Play in the Summer Nationals: Free lessons for newer players will be held every day, July 10th to 17th. Experienced players can compete against top players in Regional and National events. All players can test their bridge skills against their peers from all over the country and the world. Everyone can promote goodwill and the game we all love! Other Benefits Available: District 14 paid ACBL members are eligible for a $10 discount on entries when they use ACBL's Entry Express. (Stay tuned for future information about how to use Entry Express.) The ACBL will provide free breakfast every day. The registration packet will include a Travel Wallet RFID Blocking Organizer and a visitor's guide, tournament schedule, restaurant guide, and a parking guide. Make Your Hotel Reservations Now Before the Host Hotels are Fully Booked (The Sheraton already is.) For help, the ACBL's Official Housing Bureau is available Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. (Eastern) by calling toll-free at 855-956-0776 or contact acbl.org/minneapolis. Please note: The Housing Bureau will close on June 18th. See You Next Month! Summer NABC PR Committee |
St Cloud DBC (Unit 103) Rochester Duplicate Bridge Club (Unit 103) Woodbury Bridge Club (Unit 103) Northfield Bridge Club (Unit 103) Duluth Duplicate Bridge Club (Unit 103) Mankato Duplicate Bridge Club (Unit 103) Spades and Company (Unit 178) in Plymouth |
Keith Connolly [St Paul] Vern Swing [Minneapolis] Robert Schachter [Eden Prairie] Paul Meerschaert [Long Lake] Paul Lewis [Sioux Falls SD] Linda Lewis [Sioux Falls SD] |
Andy Caranicas [St Paul] Richard Lawson [Plymouth] Charles Carroll [St Paul] Paul Gutterman [Eagan] Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] | Jeffrey Walker [Eagan] Todd Flowerday [Coon Rapids] Gerry Keith [North Oaks] Peter Bock [Apple Valley] | Ross Anderson [Woodbury] Mark Feld [Bondurant IA] Thomas Lee [St Paul] Linus Bendel-Stenzel [Richfield] |
 | AFTERNOON UPDATE: Were "At The Half" in the GNT Finals today, and there's news. First of all, the two teams that are going to the NABC from D14 Flight "B" have been determined. The #1 seeded Belau team (Matt Belau [Rochester], Bob Roediger [Rochester], Jake Olson [Rice], and Scott Krupke [Little Falls]) is going, as is the #3 seeded Walker team (Jeffrey Walker [Eagan], Peter Bock [Apple Valley], Todd Flowerday [Coon Rapids], and Gerry Keith [North Oaks]). These two teams play this afternoon for extra gold points, pride, and the D14 NABC subsidy for the winners. Next, the Flight "A" is at the half, with the #1 seeded Caranicas team blasting out to an 83-2 lead after 13 boards. They're leading 96-29 with two sessions to go. Should they hold on this afternoon, not only will they represent D14, but all four flights of players in D14 would end up being from Minnesota. And in Flight "C", the #1 seed Trachy and #2 seed Anderson teams both advanced to play for the Flight "C" title this afternoon. We'll have a final update once everything wraps up tonight. PREVIOUSLY: Today is the day that all "family business" gets settled when it comes to the Grand National Teams in D14. Lots of teams will be narrowed down to one in each of three flights, to see who will join the Connolly squad in the Championship Flight to represent D14 at the Summer NABC in July. Of the 10 teams remaining in the D14 GNTs, 9 of the 10 are from Minnesota - with 1 from Nebraska. Could it be an all-home-field-advantage GNT for the District? We'll know tonight just after dinner. Updates will be posted here as they come available, with the first sessions starting today at noon - and the finals at 4pm. |
 | Warren Nelson [Cloquet] and Larry Uttley [Duluth] played in the 8-table Duluth game on Monday, scoring a 71.43% game. That's tops in District 14, for a 15.00 masterpoint award - well done! Of the 2,995 pairs that played in the game overall, Warren and Larry came in 8th place. That's quite impressive. Grant Duffrin [Roseville] and Sandy Casey [St Paul] picked up 11.25 masterpoints, with Tom Grue [Apple Valley] and Terry Beckman [Brooklyn Park] earning 8.44 points for their effort. |
 | Updates today as they become available. |
So much to check out! Here's a look at club calendars that have been issued for April - get those partnerships together and get into some trouble next month.        |
There are a couple of other changes that they've made effective immediately. The in-person card fee dropped from $8 to $6, and they're giving away a free NABC play for each game they have in Roseville through June 26. What has not changed is the fun of the cards, and they are working hard to try and keep this Friday game afloat - you can help reward their efforts by RSVP'ing in the affirmative and playing in a Friday night game (or games). | 
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The PR committee met via Zoom last night, headed by PR Chair Warren Nelson [Cloquet]. Also in attendance at this get-together was Matt Belau [Rochester], Bob Balderson [Eden Prairie], Sherry Cyza [Minneapolis], Keith Thompson [St Paul], and Tournament Chair Patti Stuhlman [Minneapolis]. Topics this month included:  An update on the monthly Pianola blasts and what will be in them; with less than four months to go, the timing of what goes into the blasts and when was discussed for maxmimum impact to players. How to best let teachers, directors, and club managers know that Guest Memberships are allowed for a very few of the NABC events - but not for most of them. Each of Minnesota's bridge units will upgrade a Guest Membership to a regular membership (which would allow a beginning player to play in any NABC event) at no cost to the individual player. Social media may play a large role in familiarizing players from across the District and around the world with how to get around downtown Minneapolis. The Blue Line will be out of commission during the summer, and subsequently during the NABC. There will be buses operating from the Mall of America and the Airport to downtown Minneapolis during the NABC, providing transporation that's just as good as the Blue Line. Some visits are scheduled to local restaurants to determine how ready they'll be for bridge players who want to eat lunch between sessions. And the committee was asked to consider what should be included in the ACBL Bulletins coming up prior to the NABC taking place.
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 | Last year, the Aquatennial Queen was Carole Miner [Rochester]. To your right is the list of the champions for this tournament over the past 20 years. You can add YOUR name to this list, but of course you'll have to play in the tournament to do so. For most of us - we won't be walking away with any trophy next week - but we'll still have a lot of fun at the bridge table, and that is what tournaments are all about. |
This latest Minnesota late winter snowstorm was expected to create havoc among Sunday and Monday games this week, and it pretty much lived up to expectations. The only Sunday game on the schedule at the Bridge Center of St Paul in Roseville was canceled, and then on Monday both the Rochester and Edina games did not take place because of the weather. (Rochester moved theirs online.) Statewide, club tables were off -32.6% compared to the past 10-weeks average; it's quite a hit to tables in Minesota and certainly on the most popular day of the week for bridge around here. The chart to your right takes a look at clubs across the state, how many tables they had yesterday, and how that compares to their 10-week average for Monday games. All we can say is that it's a good thing spring starts on Friday. |  |
--Norrie |  |
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Unit 103 will have their Awards Game and Luncheon at their Bridge Center of St Paul club in Roseville. This game will be held on Sunday, May 3, at 12:30pm with a luncheon served and the awards announced starting at 11:00am. The game is $6, unless you are one of the top three winners in your Unit 103 masterpoint race category for 2025, and then you're playing (and eating!) for free. You're asked to sign up for the game either in person at the Bridge Center of St Paul or by contacting the BCSP either by phone (651-490-5430) or by email (bridgecenterofstpaul-at-gmail-dot-com). Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul is also hosting the Unit 178 Awards game, as the 178 board voted last week to have their Awards game over in Roseville. Details of Unit 178's event have not yet been made public, but it's very possible they'll have a sign-up for their event as well (after all, one would like to know how much chow to purchase). So this is where it might get confusing. Odds are everyone is welcome at each of these Awards events, but there's a really good chance that you'll find two sign-up sheets at the Roseville club, one for each Unit's party. Be sure to know which one you're signing up for - and then congratulate the winners of the masterpoint races while you enjoy the luncheon and cards. |   |
Originally, the number of cheating players online was over 8% when the player memos were examined; during this latest four-month period, that number was 1.55% of players cheating. Overall, that figure is currently 3.57% of all players, but the final figure when everyone has been examined should be somewhere between 2.33% and 2.50%. (The final runs should be done by late spring 2026, maybe late May.) Clearly, this is still too many people cheating at bridge, but the number is coming down - and the ACBL is still working on identifying those that are not playing by the rules. |
| Volume does not equal conversion. You can have as many guest membership sign-ups as you want, but that does not translate to players who convert to become ACBL members. Inactivity of new members of greater than 60 days is a significant sign of risk that the inactive player will be lost for good. Mentoring and mentor play early on with a new player helps considerably in converting them to full membership. According to Bronia, the first 30-60 days are crucial.
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 | It's an impressive list! One most of us will likely never be on, but then again it's the other 1,400 Minnesota players that keep this game going in this state. |
 | It's a good group. We are waiting on the official rosters from Peggy Norris [Deadwood SD], but the format is out.
The four teams in the Flight "A" will play a Swiss team format on Saturday, with the top 2 teams advancing to Sunday in a 2-session KO. The ten teams in Flight "B" will also play a Swiss team format Saturday, with the top 4 teams advancing to Sunday. The six teams in Flight "C" play a Swiss team format Saturday, also having the top 4 teams advancing to Sunday. |
 | SUNDAY MORNING UPDATE: The first cancellation of Monday is here, as Steve Gaynor [Arden Hills] would normally be teaching a class in Plymouth tomorrow morning. That has been cancelled. The Sunday evening game at the Bridge Center of St Paul in Roseville also not taking place. Even if no additional Monday cancellations take place, games are likely to be smaller, and blizzard conditions subsiding sometime on Monday. FRIDAY MID-MORNING UPDATE: The Sunday band of heavy snow in this morning's forecast package has drifted northward; now 14" to 20" forecast for the Twin Cities metro area. There's still 36 hours before this storm arrives and a small shift in the storm's track will still have an impact on how much snow you get. But whatever your current forecast is - it's going to be a lot. Spring starts a week from today. PREVIOUSLY: Of the few major snowstorms we have experienced this winter in Minnesota, it's a bit surprising that they've always been on the weekends. Many bridge players are retired and may be a bit unfamiliar with what a "weekend" is, but Saturday and Sunday have seen far more big snow dumps this winter than any other two-day period during the week. Not that there's anything wrong with that; a six-table Saturday game and three-table Sunday evening game at the Bridge Center of St Paul in Roseville might get canceled, but considering most of Minnesota's bridge games are held elsewhere during the week, those two games are the fewest tables that would be affected by such a snowstorm. This weekend looks rough. Computer forecast models are suggesting more than 20" of snow by Sunday afternoon around Rochester, with 10" to 16" in the Twin Cities Metro area. Once the snow stops falling Sunday, blizzard conditions are expected for some of Minnesota Sunday night. The point of all this is that Monday morning's bridge game (and maybe Monday afternoon's) is going to feature some tough sledding for anyone planning to play. Expect to spend some extra time in getting to the bridge game - and extra space for braking both to and from the cards - as Monday's forecast looks dicey enough, even with the snow ending some time on Sunday. |
Unit 178 has not just moved this tournament from its date on the calendar, but also from its previous location. This year the tournament will be held over in Roseville at the Bridge Center of St Paul. The flyer and schedule are just to your right - click on it to open it in a new window and get your partnerships squared away. Then plan to have some fun in two weeks. |
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 | When the Minn Grand Slam Club has a bridge game, either online or at the Bridge Center of St Paul's Roseville location, Mike Cassel [Roseville] is kind enough to put together a discussion of the game. Bidding, plays, defense, etc., it's all available to anyone who is on their mailing list - and just by playing in their game, you can start learning a few things from Mike each week. Sign up for a MGSC game (they're held Friday evenings) and take advantage of what is really a terrific opportunity. |
  | We don't have a turkey to give out to Joe Koester [Brooklyn Park], but he's earned one as much as anyone has in our bridge community, by earning the "King of Clubs" title for a third straight month. It was close (as is always the case each month), with Joe earning 24.87 masterpoints at the local clubs - and Greg Caucutt [Rochester] earning 23.13. The top 15 masterpoint earners in local Minnesota clubs for the last month are listed to your left. Congratulations once again to Joe! |
The first Saturday evening game is this Saturday evening at the Bridge Center of St Paul's Roseville location. Four times a year (or once every quarter), the BCSP runs a Saturday night game, and this time around it is an individual winner game. (Seriously, this is our favorite movement.) You'll play one round each with different partners throughout the evening - and there is a potluck dinner beforehand at 6pm. It sounds like a lot of fun, and you can get more details on their website by clicking here. The following weekend, there's a game taking place over in Plymouth, where there's a dinner and card game being held at the new Spades & Company Bridge Club. The details can be found within the image to your right, or you can just click here to read all about it. While they've got plenty of space, they do ask that you RSVP by registering beforehand for the game - and you can do that by clicking here. |  |
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 | Flights "B" and "C" of the North American Pairs finished up - once again, locals that are playing in St Louis MO this weekend did ok:  All the events from the NABC can be found by clicking here. All the masterpoint winners from the NABC can be found by clicking here. Next up: Minneapolis in July! |
Douglas Freeman [Rochester] |
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Just two NABC Open events left in this tournament, and they both got going today. The Jacoby Open Swiss teams took place, with Charles Fortney [St Paul] and Kathleen Fortney [St Paul] on one team, but were unable to qualify to tomorrow's finals; Vern Swing [Minneapolis] and Keith Connolly [St Paul] on another team, and they did qualify to tomorrow; and Kyra Helmbold [Minneapolis] on a third team and out for the day. The Women's Swiss teams also started today, with locals Deborah Weiss [Minneapolis] and Rebecca Anspach [St Paul] entering, but unable to overcome a tough morning and failed to qualify for tomorrow's finals. Last seen exiting the Women's Pairs, Carole Miner [Rochester] and Cynthia Balderson [Eden Prairie] scored a 56.94% game this morning in the Fast Pairs today - that was followed up with a terrific 66.67% game in the afternoon. They finished 2nd out of 14 pairs in this event. Minnesota masterpoint leaders are to your left (with one day to go!) and to everyone at the NABC, safe travels on the way home. |
Connie Nelson [Avon] followed Nancy Balfanz [St Cloud] and Sandy Johnson [St Cloud], who attended their first NABC last year. Their story (and it is a fun one) can be found by clicking on the image to your right or by clicking here. The Minneapolis NABC will feature some terrific highlights for advancing/newcomer players including: Free lessons from 8-9:45am on Saturday July 11, and Sunday July 12, followed by a free, 12-deal pair game for players with less than 20 masterpoints. (A Guest Membership can be used for this game.) Free 45-minute talks before the morning and afternoon sessions from celebrity and world-class players and teachers beginning Friday July 10, and continuing daily through Friday July 17. Play free in the 0-299er game on Friday July 10, at 10:00am for players with 0-5 masterpoints. (A Guest Membership can be used for this game.) Play in the 0-20 game at 10am on Monday July 13. (A Guest Membership can be used for this game.) A free reception between sessions on Saturday July 11, for all I/N and Gold Rush players. A single session 299er game at 10am and 3 pm each day from July 9 through July 18, plus a single session 499er game the morning and afternoon of July 19.
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| Linus Bendel-Stenzel [Richfield] and Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] picked up 25.00 platinum points today in the Women's Pairs; they finished 11th overall of 78 pairs in the event. This was accomplished with a couple of really outstanding games today in the final two sessions. A 56.99% game in the morning and a 59.23% game in the afternoon propelled them to their result. The other NABC event that finished up today was the Silodor Open Pairs, and Andrew Caranicas [St Paul] along with Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] earned 20.83 platinum points there. The morning started with a 47.96% session, but after lunch a 61.69% afternoon game did the trick. Imagine what these players will be doing once they've got home field advantage in July. The All-Minnesota team of Dan Knier [Waite Park], Thomas Knier [Burnsville], John Miller [Stillwater], and Daniel McIntyre [St Paul] tied for 1st in today's top bracket of the bracketed teams; that was worth 13.26 gold points. Many, many more Minnesota players are in St Louis MO and you can read all about the results for everyone by clicking here. |
Here are some great reasons to attend and play in the Summer Nationals: Newer players can attend free teaching and learning sessions everyday. Experienced players can play in National and Regional events competing against the top players in the world. All players can test their bridge skills against their peers from all over the country and world. There's no free lunch, but the ACBL provides breakfast fare every day of the Nationals! Everyone can engage in, play, and promote goodwill and the game we all love! District 14 paid members get a $10 discount on their entry when they use EntryExpress. (More about how to use Entry Express [is coming] in future newsletters). ---- Patti |  |
 | David Neiman [Minneapolis] and Mark Lasoff [Minneapolis] arrived for the NAP Flight "B" event this weekend and are getting in a warm-up session in the 0-3000 Pairs today. A 55.77% morning game and 39.93% afternoon game had them finishing 36th on the day. The cutoff for heading to tomorrow's sessions was the top 36. A squeaker! But they're moving on. James Schnepf [Avon] and Connie Nelson [Avon] earned a 46.81% game this morning in the two-session Open Pairs; a 43.64% game this afternoon left them out of the money but hopefully still having had some fun today. And Sue Greenberg [Byron] along with Joyce Lewis [Rochester] are in St Louis MO today, getting in some cards in the Bracketed Swiss teams. They played in the Bracket 2 today and got some red points (tho finishing out of the overalls). Finally, Carole Miner [Rochester] and Cynthia Balderson [Eden Prairie] arrived to play in the Smith Women's Pairs. Their 48.55% morning game and 54.98% afternoon session allowed them to advance to tomorrow's sessions as they finished 43rd out of 100 pairs. They were joined by Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] and Linus Bendel-Stenzel [Richfield] who finished 62nd on the day, and that's also good enough to move on to tomorrow. Best of luck to all! Many more Minnesota players are in Missouri today; you can check out all the action at the NABC by clicking here. |
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  | One NABC event today involving Minnesota players:  Masterpoint leaders from our state are listed to your left. You can get all of the results from this NABC by clicking here, and a look at the 2,861 players that have gotten some masterpoint awards by clicking here. |
NOTE that there are a couple of Monday lessons that Steve Gaynor [Arden Hills] has been teaching over in Minnetonka, but those lessons will now be at this new location in Plymouth effective immediately. It's not just the lessons Monday (or Tuesday morning, see the post below), but the excitement will be several times a week. Be sure to support Norrie and the crowd at Spades & Company as they are working hard to get more people excited about the greatest game in the world. Can't wait to see the new digs! |   
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  | Randy Okubo [St Paul] had a 53.13% game (good for 80th place at the break out of 270 pairs) and his 52.40% game after lunch qualified him to move on to tomorrow. The top 130 pairs are moving on to tomorrow, Randy finished today in the 79th position. Kyra Helmbold [Minneapolis] scored a 52.21% game (102nd of 270); her 51.23% game this afternoon was good enough to keep her in 104th place and move her into tomorrow's finals. Vern Swing [Minneapolis] and Deborah Weiss [Minneapolis] stood at 114th place at the break with a 51.31% game, but did not qualify to go on after their 42.90% afternoon session. Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] and Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] were in 126th place with a 50.66% morning game, then came back with a 51.61% game this afternoon to finish in 111th place and qualify to go on in the competition. Rebecca Anspach [St Paul] and her partner had a 50.09% game to land in 133th place. A 51.77% afternoon game was good enough to qualify her to the finals tomorrow, finished in 114th place. Kathleen Fortney [St Paul] and Charles Fortney [St Paul] had a 48.48% morning session followed by a 49.80% game in the afternoon; they did not qualify to go on. There's more! The Gold Rush today featured Cass Weil [Minneapolis] along with Dan McElroy [Burnsville], who had a nice 54.18% game at the break. They followed up with a 47.78% game in the afternoon, which was in the middle of their section, but not enought for any points today. And Charles Carroll [St Paul] played in the Soloway-style KOs today (bracket 2) but his team failed to qualify to go on to tomorrow's finals. Tomorrow is another day. |
These classes will be held on Tuesday mornings. Effective Tuesday, March 17, from 9:30am to 12:30pm you can learn from a half-hour lecture, followed by ten boards and then a post-bridge discussion of the hands. The flyer and all the details are just to your right. We're all about opportunities for players to learn and advance their game - and this sounds like a great opportunity. PLUS you couldn't have a nicer, more knowledgeable or conscientious instructor! |  |
 | Today, Vern Swing [Minneapolis] and Keith Connolly [St Paul] played in the Open Pairs; they had a nice 57.51% game in the opening session and a 51.78% session after lunch - that got them a little scratch overall. Deborah Weiss [Minneapolis] and Rebecca Anspach [St Paul] also entered the Open Pairs, with a 50.48% morning session. This afternoon, they had a 49.57% afternoon game and earned 3.23 red/gold points. Kerry Hanlon [Cass Lake] played in the Mid-flight pairs and followed up a 54.23% morning game with a 55.63% afternoon session for 3.38 gold points. Also in the mid-flight today was Norrie Thomas [Plymouth] and Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis]; they had a 49.83% opening session and a 47.86% session this afternoon but finished out of any masterpoints. In the Gold Rush today, Joseph Carter [Eagan] and his partner started with a 50.06% game; they had a 47.32% game later and picked up 0.73 red points. Also in the Gold Rush today was Cass Weil [Minneapolis] and Dan McElroy [Burnsville]; following a 44.44% game in the morning, they improved to a 53.44% game this afternoon. It just missed earning them some masterpoints. Finally, the Silver Ribbon Pairs today featured Paul Meerschaert [Long Lake] and David Collins [Fridley] who scored a 52.94% game in the 1st session; they followed that with a 49.36% afternoon game and picked up another 1.92 platinum points. |
Overall, the picture for Minnesota bridge is excellent, with club tables up +16.0% compared to last year. Almost every club saw an increase in player participation during the past four weeks, with St Cloud leading the way - their 36.9 tables per week is a whopping +45.3% increase over 2025. Rochester saw an increase of +27.1% in tables, and Edina was up +19.2%. On the other hand, there are a couple of flashing red lights out there, with both Mankato (-24.0%) and Northfield (-23.7%) shedding almost ¼ of their tables since last year. We'll see if that is a blip or part of a larger trend going forward. Across the Midwest, Minnesota's February face-to-face club tables accounted for 33.1% of all Midwest bridge club tables (excluding tournaments and online tables), or 804 of 2,431. That's a slightly bigger slice of the pie than 12 months ago, when Minnesota accounted for 32.1% of all February Midwest club tables. One asterisk, in the interest of full disclosure, and that is that the February numbers for the Bridge Center of St Paul are not for the entire month. Last year, they held their Leap Year Sectional, which took the last three days of February out of the count (these table counts below are all club F2F tables and don't include any tournament numbers). This February, they did not hold the sectional, so their table comparison below is for February 1-25 of 2026 compared to February 1-25 of 2025. |
 |  Randy Okubo [St Paul] also was in the 0-10K Swiss competition today (on a different team, of course) - he and his squad finished 6th of 12 for 6.80 gold masterpoints. Seventeen Minnesota players now have earned some pigemented points at this NABC, and it's just through the first weekend. The complete list of masterpoint winners can be found by clicking here, and the results for everything during the past four days can be found by clicking here. |
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The rest of District 14 (North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska) saw the number of qualified players plummet -40.5%. Then there is the matter of why there might be so few D14 qualifiers across the rest of the Midwest. GNT tables in play during the past six month qualifying period are also on your right, and while Minnesota's GNT table count was up +9.5% from last year, the rest of D14 saw their tables crash by -73.8%. The GNT contest in the Upper Midwest continues to look increasingly like a uniquely Minnesota affair, with 89.6% of all D14 GNT Tables this qualifying season and 76.4% of all D14 qualified players taking place right here in Minnesota. A list of qualified players in D14 can be found by clicking here; and good luck to everyone in the D14 Finals the weekend of March 21-22! |    |