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72.22% Charles Carroll and Andrew Caranicas, August 4, Bridge Center of St Paul 71.28% Larry Uttley and Dianne Carr, August 18, Duluth Duplicate Bridge 71.13% Vern Swing and Keith Connolly, August 11, Plymouth DBC HONORABLE MENTION THIS MONTH: 69.96% Jackson Wahl and Andy Caranicas, August 25, Bridge Center of St Paul |
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   | Now that the NAP qualifying season is over, how did these programs do? Unit 103's program will reimburse a total of 49.0 NAP Flight "C" table fees; that comes to $252.35. (49.0 NAP tables at a table fee of $5.15 each.) The 49.0 tables of Flight "C" game-only players in Unit 103 is an increase from 2024 (up 2.5 tables, or +5.4%). More Flight "C" tables is always better - and now we will see if this translates into greater Flight "C" participation when we get to November's online D14 NAP Finals. Unit 178's program will reimburse their clubs for 307.0 NAP game tables; 41.5 STAC tables; 10.5 Grass Roots FUNd tables; and 6.0 Pop-up tables. (365 special game tables @ $4.00/table would come to $1,460.00 since June 1st.) Unit 178's NAP table count for this three-month club-qualifying period was up by 307 tables, or 62 tables more than last season's NAP period (that's a whopping +25.3%). The Unit 178 board elected to continue this reimbursement program through the end of 2025 at their August meeting, so this will also cover upcoming GNT games, along with every other special club game. The number of NAP-qualified players here in Minnesota this year stands at 569. There were 226 players in Unit 178 that qualified, which is 4 more Unit 178 players than in 2024. Unit 103 saw 343 players qualify for the NAP this summer, or 2 fewer players than last year. The bottom line - the 569 players in Minnesota is still (technically) an improvement over the 567 Minnesota NAP players that qualified in 2024. In short, both reimbursement programs have done what they were designed to do, which was help get more players involved in the NAP; now we will see what sort of attendance we have at the non-qualifying Unit Final in Roseville on Saturday September 6th - and then the D14 NAP Finals coming up online November 22nd/23rd. Remember to thank your local Unit board member for their efforts to keep this game going! |
 | There are 569 Minnesota players who have qualified for the NAP competition this summer; it doesn't matter which Minnesota unit you are in, if you've qualified for the NAP you can play next Saturday at the Bridge Center of St Paul. Games are at 10am and 2pm, lunch and sodas will be provided, and wheelbarrows available for rent should you need to wheel out all those red and gold points. Get a partner and play next Saturday; everyone who plays next Saturday can go on to the November 22/23 D14 NAP Finals online (and even if you don't play next Saturday, if you've qualified this summer at your local club you can still play online in November). But why miss a party? |
 | (The D14 Conditions of Contest have not yet been issued, but we have a request in to get a copy once issued and we'll have them posted when that happens.) |
While it may be true that "things could always be better", bridge in Minnesota is going really quite well - and if you're reading this right now, you're a part of the reason why it's doing so great. |
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 | With the NABC next year (and an NABC fundraiser week scheduled for late May during the normal Gopher Regional week), Unit 178 was without the opportunity to have their Aquatennial Sectional during the summer in 2026. It sounds like this tournament will get moved next year to late March (possibly 26th to 28th, location TBA). 178's subsidy program to clubs for the extra $4/player for special masterpoint games this summer has been extended to the end of the year - so if you're playing in Edina or Maple Grove and enjoying the extra masterpoints, be sure to let your 178 board member know. And there's a new chat bridge Fridays from 12:15p to 3:00p starting September 12th at the Edina Senior Center. There's much more to check out, and you can "read all about it" by perusing the August meeting minutes - just click here. Remember, the archive for board minutes from both of Minnesota bridge units can be found by clicking here. |
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REGIONAL Sept 15-20 Rochester  | Sectional October 4-5 Mankato  | Sectional Sat October 11 Sauk Rapids  | Sectional October 23-25 Roseville  | Sectional December 11-14 Roseville  | Sectional January 29-Feb 1 Roseville  |
It's all held at the Empire Event Center, and you can find directions to the Empire Event Center by clicking here. | |
Patti Stuhlman [Minneapolis] is head of the local portion of next year's NABC here, and she's looking to make it successful by raising money through your local club. Check with your local club manager or director to see which games this week will help out with the NABC next summer, and then play in them! And if they aren't running any such games, it's not too late to change their game to help out Patti's fundraising drive. The money raised during this week will be used for hospitality, promotion, transportation services, free parking for our many volunteers on their volunteer days, and an end-of-tournament social event for our local volunteers. And if you've got an idea as to how your local club can help raise money, let them know. There will be two more weeks after this upcoming week for NABC fundraising (the next week is in November). |  |
| Two weeks from now on Saturday September 6th, there's a two-session bridge game for NAP-qualified players taking place at the Bridge Center of St Paul. Three different flights are taking place (Flight C, Flight B, and a combo Flight A + Championship Flight) starting at 10am. The sponsoring Unit will provide lunch and sodas between sessions, and all Minnesota players that qualified for the NAP this summer are welcome to come get in on the action. All the details can be found on the flyer to the left or by clicking here. NOTE that although this non-qualifying Unit Final is sponsored by Unit 103, it's a multi-unit final by design to include every NAP qualifier in Unit 178. So every one of the 550 Minnesota NAP-qualified players can play in it - plus you do not need to play in this Unit Final to go on to the D14 Final which will be online in November. |
  | With the success of the Bridge Center of St Paul's NLM Sectional this past week, Minnesota's tournament tables are over 1,600 so far this year. The 71.0 tables in Roseville was a nice +18.3% gain over last year's NLM Sectional there, and brought Minnesota within 3.3% of last year's tournament tables to date. Next up is the big regional in Rochester - we will see if we can keep this momentum going into September and beyond. |
   | On day 3 of the tournament, it was "home field advantage" to David Klevan [St Paul] and James Lair [St Paul] who came in 1st of a 13-table field with their 65.15% game. The afternoon session also saw 13 tables in play, with Dan Ganter [Maple Grove] and Thomas Bedford [St Paul] taking the game with a 61.74% score. The afternoon win combined with their 2nd place finish this morning allowed them to win the day - and 3.79 silver points. Your top 20 masterpoint winners are to your left. All of the results from this tournament can be found by clicking here. Congratulations to everyone who had fun at the table! |
 | Whether it's helping to volunteer during the event itself, making a donation, naming a game for someone (or an organization), or anything else, you'll find those options by clicking here (or on the image to your left). Naturally, any help you can provide will be appreciated - and will help showcase Minnesota to the bridge world on a national stage! |
  | Full results from this tournament can be found by clicking here. Your masterpoint leaders for this tournament are to your left - but there's still one day to go. (That means it's anyone's crown for the title.) |
 | During a 12-month period (2021-2022) while he was 89 years young, Robert played with fifty-nine different partners at the St Cloud Bridge Club. It's entirely possible you haven't played with fifty-nine partners during the course of your bridge career (let alone in one year). The St Cloud club is keeping Robert's legacy alive by encouraging people to come play next Wednesday at 12:30pm - with someone they have not played with before. It sounds like a lot of fun and it's a great way to keep Robert's legacy going. You can read more about Robert Nairn by clicking here. |
The latest Unit 178 board minutes from the July 15th meeting are available by clicking here. The new board is:
VICE PRESIDENT Sue Sanger TREASURER Vicky Smith SECRETARY =Open position= BOARD MEMBER Jane Schmidt (Acting Secretary) BOARD MEMBER Teri Blu BOARD MEMBER Marilou Doerrie BOARD MEMBER Jenny Peterson BOARD MEMBER Todd Flowerday BOARD MEMBER Steve Gaynor |
 MEMBERSHIP in the ACBL declined -5.96% in the past 12 months, now at 121,499. The ACBL will be creating an ONLINE STORE for "exclusive" merchandise, available for members to purchase. The SAPPHIRE PROGRAM was created, which rewards new players with badges (not masterpoints) earned for progress and participation in completing lessons, engaging with local clubs, etc. The GUEST MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM has changed, so that a Guest membership does not expire by the calendar any more - they are free until a player has reached 20 masterpoints. At that point a full membership would be required. ONLINE EVENTS at F2F REGIONALS were ended (see previous post on the blog here) due to poor attendance and financial losses. The ACBL is updating its internal regional planning document, which will "modernize regional schedules and align them with current player demographics". EVALUATING THE FUTURE OF LOCAL SECTIONALS. The Board Bridge Committee will effort to figure out how Local Sectionals can "be adapted to better serve the needs of players". (We're not sure exactly what that means.) A number of changes to their DISCIPLINARY REGULATIONS were approved, primarily a softening of their previous disciplinary system protecting the game's integrity. These changes include allowing suspended players back in your local club (see previous blog post here), what appears to be a form of amnesty for cheaters who quit cheating as of 2022, a change in the admission of guilt required by the ACBL to a "no contest" plea, and no longer will players need to fill out either the Ethics Certification form or submit a Fair Play Pledge. (We're. . .we're really not a fan of the direction the ACBL has taken with this.) NEW NABC PROGRAM in Fall 2028: All Regional and other non-NABC events will be eliminated at the 2028 Fall NABC. This means only NABC and NABC+ events will take place, allowing for smaller venues and less staff. For players with fewer than 10,000 masterpoints, TITANIUM POINTS are coming to future NABCs. This new class would be designed to encourage players to attend NABCs. (Or in our case, they may as well call them "UNOBTANIUM points".) |
Philip Williams [St Paul] and Doug Gwost [Shoreview] took the 10-table afternoon session, with a 62.73% game. Finishing 1st in the E-W direction in the afternoon was David and James from the morning, and they took the 1st place overall for 3.07 silver points. This tournament is off to a good start! You can find all the results for the action in this I/N Sectional by clicking here. |
Rochester's Med City Regional takes place next month, September 15-20, so you'll have another shot at getting lots of gold points. There's also a special non-qualifying NAP Unit Final at Roseville on Saturday, September 6. All this and lots more during the month upcoming - check out your calendar below.       |
 | All next week, players in any Plymouth DBC or Metro DBC bridge game will get a raffle ticket included in the price of their entry fee. Additional raffle tickets are available for $2 each, or 6 for $10. The net proceeds from the raffle ticket money will go to the NABC Fundraising drive, which is a terrific cause. So what's in it for you? When the week is over, on Wednesday September 3rd, they'll draw 13 winning raffle tickets. 12 of the 13 will get a chance to play for free in any Plymouth or Metro BC game with one of these fine players:
Joe Koester John Schlundt Patti Stuhlman Keith Thompson Betty Triliegi Peg Waller Tony Ames It sounds like a lot of fun, and remember even if you don't win a date with one of these players, you're still supporting our local NABC fundraising efforts - which is definitely a win of another sort. |
Directions to the Marsh in Minnetonka can be found by clicking here. Results of the games held on Friday mornings can be found by clicking here. They'd love for you to stop by (and you might just love it, too). |
| This year there's a Chat Bridge option for players with under 20 masterpoints on Monday, and each day's events are single-day events (so no carry-overs to day 2). It's all held at the Empire Event Center, and you can find directions to the Empire Event Center by clicking here. |
   | With the table count for this year's Cornhusker Regional at 697, or off -14.6% from last year, they finally gave up their D14 crown. Benefitting from some rainy weather back in late May, the 735 tables at the Gopher means this is the first time that Omaha's regional was not the "Big Dog" in D14 - and with the NABC in town next summer, the Gopher is taking a year off in 2026. But all plans are to get the momentum going once again in late May 2027. Smaller sized regionals year-over-year is not anything limited to Omaha's tournament this week, and despite the fewer tables, the fun o' the cards was not impacted. Over 400 players attended the Cornhusker this year, including more than a dozen of our local Minnesota players - their masterpoint totals from the week are listed to your left. |
 | First, because the ACBL felt their approach to online cheaters was "too rigid", anyone who was convicted of cheating between 2020 and 2022 will have their case reviewed. Previously-issued punishments that are "modified" will have these modifications sent from the National Recorder's office to the player in question. (Ed.: Any "modifications" aren't expected to be more severe, and full amnesty was not ruled out.) Second, the mandatory admission of guilt has been replaced with a "no contest" plea. Third, players are no longer required to fill out an Ethics Certification and Fair Play Pledge. Fourth, players under suspension are allowed to play at local clubs (under certain conditions, see previous blog post here). Finally, the ACBL stopped running the EDGAR program to detect cheaters in November of 2024. It has been used very sparingly, for players considered for the Hall of Fame or National Committees; no new runs on the EDGAR computer for nine months now. They did not indicate when (or if) they would be firing up the cheating detection program in the future. |
| Beginners Bridge Class (Rochester): Tuesdays, 6:30p - 8p Sep 2 - Oct 21 Never played bridge? Haven't played since college? Play occasionally but never quite seem to "get it"? If so, this may be your class! We will use Audrey Grant’s "Bridge Basics 1: An Introduction" (available from Layne, elvinje@charter.net, at a reduced price) and cover the basics of point count, bidding, play of the hand, and simple defensive strategies. You will meet other "novice" players and perhaps put together your own social bridge group. $59 for 8 sessions, at the Northrop Building Room 308. More information - click here. Beyond Beginning Bridge (Rochester): Tuesdays, 10a - 11:30a Sep 9 - Oct 21This class reviews beginner basics and introduces bridge in competition using Audrey Grant’s Bridge Basics 2: Competitive Bidding. This book covers Preemptive Opening Bids, Overcalls and Advances, and Takeout Doubles and Advances. $59 for 7 sessions, at the Northrop Building Room 308. More information - click here. Bridge Basics 1: An Introduction (Roseville): Mondays, 6:30p - 8:30p Sep 8 - Oct 27$70 for 8 lessons and taught at the Bridge Center of St Paul, this course is he perfect introduction to the game of bridge and is intended for people who have never encountered bridge and will also provide information of value to people who may know the basic mechanics but have not learned the principles of modern bidding. Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] will be teaching a six-week class at the Bridge Center of St Paul starting Saturday mornings on September 6th. The cost of the class is $75, with the class being held from 9:30a to 11:30a on Saturdays through November 8th. You can sign up at the BCSP (or give them a call to sign up) and learn a few things from someone who both knows a few things and is willing to teach a few of them to you. Various Weekly Topics (St Cloud): Tuesdays Jim Schnepf [Avon] and Connie Nelson [Avon] teach a class on all kinds of bridge topics Tuesdays through the rest of 2025. You can find out more information on their classes by clicking here. Social Duplicate Bridge (Minnetonka): Fridays, 9:30a - 12:30p, through October 3Keith Thompson [Bloomington] and Steve Gaynor [Arden Hills] provide instruction for this Social Duplicate group that has a focus on education, competition, and an atmosphere of joy as players improve their skills learning this amazing game. The cost for each Friday morning is $15, which includes a lesson, 12-18 boards of competitive play, and a discussion following the hands of what you just played. These games are sanctioned and pay ACBL masterpoints. Contact Norrie Thomas (norrieathomas-at-gmail-dot-com) for more information. Brushing Up On Basics (Rochester): Thursday mornings, starting October 2Sue Greenberg [Byron] will be helping you brush up on your bridge basics at St Luke's Episcopal Church. She'll cover 1NT/2NT opens, responses, strong 2♣ openings, preempts, reverses, and more. Further description of the course and signup sheets will be available at St Luke's Church in Rochester starting next week. |
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This year it was the team of Scott Krupke [Little Falls], Mark Doucette [Little Falls], Mark Huseth [St Cloud], and Brian-Paul Crowder [Little Falls] who took the big prize, going 4-0 in their matches Thursday night. No word on whose marble was drawn at the end of the night - and there's been nothing (so far) that we've seen on the Stearns County Sheriff's blotter. For those unfamiliar with the event, it's one of the hottest tickets in summertime bridge across Minnesota - and a really great way to remember someone that everyone remembers so fondly. |
| A special shout-out to Arlyce Anderson [North Mankato] who got us a copy of the flyer. We're told it's been done for months now, but we haven't seen it on the ACBL tournament page yet (and requests to get a copy went without response). But better late than never! And hopefully we will see you down in Mankato in a few weeks. |
  | The morning session was won by Steve He [Rochester] and Pari Pew [Rochester] with a 65.93% game. (Another local pair, Bob Friedhoff [Rochester] and Becky Cook [Rochester] came in second at 65.60%, so a very close match.) Then in the afternoon session, Steve and Pari again came in 1st, this time with a 64.58% score. And again, just squeaked out the win, this time over Susan Dodge [Rochester] and Mary Bulau [Rochester] who came in 2nd place with a score of 63.10%. Masterpoint winners can be found by clicking here - and players for this tournament came from as far away as Australia! All of the results for this tournament can be found by clicking here. If you happened to miss out on this NLM Sectional, there's another one coming up in October up in Sauk Centre; but you really only have to wait until Wednesday when the Bridge Center of St Paul gets going with their 3-day NLM Silver point silver fest. Lots of opportunities for advancing players, which is what we really like to see. |
  | Today's Gold Rush pairs was won by Minnesotans Pat Kotten [Eagan] and Michael Kotten [Eagan], who topped the 12-table field to pick up 4.82 gold points. All of the results from this regional can be found by clicking here. |
 | Patti reported that the 2026 summer NABC table in Philadelphia PA was well attended; she noted that the Minneapolis Hyatt Hotel had been sold, so the hotels for the 2026 summer NABC will be the Minneapolis Hilton and the Sheraton. Also, there are no 4-session events available to name - so anyone who would like to sponsor an event can do so for $100 (for a 1-session event), $200 (for a 2-session event), or $1,000 (for a day). Topics that will require some further discussion included possibly having food trucks for the NABC; would they be allowed, and if so, would they work for this tournament? How often should we be sending e-mail blasts out to players, and when to schedule those? Your volunteer committee for this upcoming NABC is hard at work. Any suggestions you have (or donations to make) will be gladly received by anyone on the PR committee. |
7 of the 11 operating bridge clubs in Minnesota have a regularly-scheduled Monday game (or two). And for those clubs that have Monday games and games during the rest of the week, the Monday game is the biggest game of those weeks. Almost a full third of Minnesota's weekly bridge tables (32.4%) were attended on Mondays over the past 52 weeks (club tables only, no tournaments there). It almost makes you wish for more Mondays during the week! (Almost.) But if you're looking for a way to kick-start the week, a game of bridge on Monday might be just the thing, especially if you're looking for a crowd. |  |
 | The schedule is the same as it was in 2024, but so far tables in every event at the regional are down from 2024. NOTE: Nebraska's club tables for the first six months of 2025 (2,698) were off -11.5% compared to the first six months of 2024 (3,051), so this is not just something happening at their big tournament this week. There's something going on in Nebraska bridge that's not taking place so much here in Minnesota. Still, there's time for this to turn around - and time for you to make the drive to get into some trouble there. But with our own Med City Regional on the way, this is something we'll be keeping an eye on. |
 | 103 President Sue Greenberg [Byron], VP Warren Nelson [Cloquet], Matt Belau [Rochester], Tom Owens [St Paul], and Lance Chamberlain [Rochester] were in on the call. Sue had attended the Unit President's meeting with Bronia Jenkins just a few hours prior, and let the ACBL President know she thought it was really increasing the workload for club managers to have to determine when a suspended player [for cheating] could play or not and in what games. Bronia's response was "I understand", but this is the policy for now. The Unit 103 Board made the recommendation to make to clubs to have each club's Board of Directors either make or help make these decisions (so as to make it easier on club managers). Efforts to create one unified Unit across all of Minnesota are currently on hold, as repeated efforts to engage Unit 178 in merger/dissolvement talks over the past four months have been met with radio silence. Patti Stuhlman [Minneapolis] has asked Unit 103 for a $1,000.00 donation to her local NABC Fundraising efforts. An electronic vote via email will take place and the donation is expected to be approved. And Amy Dutton [Mendota Heights] will be moving on from the Board - and Minnesota - as she settles in to her new home in Omaha NE. Unit 103 will be looking for an East Metro player in the Twin Cities towards the end of the year to fulfill the position that Amy currently holds. More on that in a future blog post. But if you've got some interest in helping to shape the bridge world, get in touch with a current 103 Board member. UPDATE (8/14): Communication efforts for any merger/dissolvement have been working at the top of both Minnesota Units, but Keith Thompson [Bloomington] sent an email (8/13) stating he has replaced Sue Sanger [Bloomington] as Unit 178 President. We haven't seen that officially in the Unit 178 Minutes, but that could help get merger/dissolvement talks going again. Fingers are crossed. |
| All games the week of August 25 to August 31 are allowed to be "NABC Fundraiser" games at your local club. These games charge an extra $1 per person while providing the most masterpoints allowed in a local club game - BIG payouts. The money that's raised goes to support our local NABC volunteers right here in Minnesota, so it's for a terrific cause. And it's not too late for your local club to schedule an NABC Fundraiser Game (or two) - they can even do it the day of the game. Check with your local club manager to see if and when they're running these games at the end of the month - and if they need to schedule a couple of games, let them know how easy it is - and beneficial to you, the player. |
 | Former St Paul resident and now relocated to Florida's Stephanie Steele [Sarasota FL] played in the teams game Monday with Sandy Nelson [Minneapolis] and current MN resident soon-to-be Omaha local Amy Dutton [Mendota Heights]. So quite a few Minnesota players have already made the trip to Omaha NE - and it's not too late to make the trip and join them. Full results from the Omaha Regional can be found by clicking here. |
 | (Today, coming in 1st in a 9-table special fund game would net you 4.02, posted online and to your masterpoint total as pending within a few minutes of the game.) One other note - the old bank building of the ACBL National Headquarters in 1970, 125 Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich CT, last sold for $13,500,000.00. |
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 | The 23.10 masterpoints Jane earned in club games does not include any online game points or tournament points - just what took place at the local club bridge table and in person. And she did it in convincing fashion during July, a full 4+ masterpoints ahead of her nearest Royal Subject, Scott Krupke [Little Falls]. Jane played 10 pairs games last month, averaging 56.46% for the period. Oh - and she and her teammates also dominated the St Cloud Teams game for the month. To your left is the "Top 20" list of players who earned masterpoints at the local club level this past month. . .lots of familiar names on this month's list. But at the top is Jane, and we say congratulations!  |
  | First, the ACBL is allowing players who were caught cheating and are suspended to play in your local club while they are serving their suspension. Players suspended for cheating can apply to your local club manager to play in local club games - and then it's up to the club manager whether to allow the suspended player to play or not. (The club manager is not required to divulge to the rest of the players if any players in the game are convicted cheaters.) There are also specific games at the club in which the suspended player can and cannot play. They can play in a Silver Linings Game for silver points - but cannot play in a STaC game for silver points. They can play in a Unit Grass Roots FUNd game, but cannot play in a Unit Education Fund game. It can get very confusing for your club director very fast. The details of this new plan are to your left. The bottom line is that players who are convicted of cheating and placed on suspension could be right back at your bridge table without really having served any of their suspension. Second, a previous post here detailed a situation in which an ineligible player who was under suspension ending up playing in the D14 GNT Final back on March 29th. Not only was he not allowed to play, but his teammates committed a 2nd Degree Conduct Violation and should have been suspended themselves, according to the ACBL's Code of Disciplinary Regulations (see 302.B.6). In an effort to help keep this from happening again, we spoke with Jeff Edelstein (ACBL National Recorder) about this, on the condition that there would be no retroactive action taken against either the ineligible player or his teammates in the D14 GNT Final from March, to which Jeff agreed. He let us know that the ACBL is taking steps to help members "not in good standing" more fully understand what they are and are not allowed to participate in. (This includes a recently updated ACBL website with the information available from a link on the front page.) But there isn't going to be any effort to let everyone else know about the risks of playing with an ineligible player, so the onus is still on you to know what your partner(s) or teammates can and can't be doing. The best way to save your own bacon down the road is to educate yourself with the new rules - and be your own advocate. With more and more players coming back from suspensions and probations, we're hoping to avoid having this situation affect our local players as much as possible in the future. (Ed.: We did contact Keith Connolly [St Paul], our D14 GNT Coordinator, to weigh in on the problem with this year's D14 GNT Finals; he declined to comment.) |
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 | As some tournament chairs don't understand the costs associated with this program (and ultimately are losing money as a result), the ACBL has moved to eliminate this online option for F2F regionals effective immediately. Minnesota's Gopher Regional had never exercised this option since it's availability showed up in 2022, and while Rochester had (slightly profitable) online games last year during its regional, Rochester elected to pass on the program this September. The only other D14 tournament to have allowed Minnesota players to get some gold points in online play during their regional was Omaha NE in 2023; they did not have this option last year and don't have it this month. |
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| It's all held at the Empire Event Center, and you can find directions to the Empire Event Center by clicking here. In addition - the daily bulletin for day 1 has just come out. Click on any page immediately below and you'll get the daily bulletin in a new window to check out. . .and start making your plans to have some fun "down South" in September.
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You can find a breakdown of all the NABC events this past two weeks and their table counts by clicking here. Finally, although there are no NABC events today (as everything shut down last evening), the ACBL does issue one last Daily Bulletin. It features the big winners from the last day of play, including a photo of a couple of local players who won their event in pretty dramatic style. |   |
| This would be a two-session flighted game, where any (or all) of the Minnesota NAP-qualified players can play in the comfort of a local club and play in a game amongst their peers - so all of the Flight C players would play together, for example, outside of the Flight A players. Lunch will be included - so will the sodas - and if you didn't want to play both sessions, one session would be enough (although to get gold points, you'd have to play both). NOTE that this is a non-qualifying multi-Unit Final, meaning you don't have to play in it to play in the online D14 NAP Finals come November. Also, both Minnesota Units are eligible to play in this game on September 6th, so no matter where you live (or what Unit you're in), you're welcome to get into some trouble at the table. Saturday, September 6th is the date! |
 | Mike Cassel [Roseville] played in the Top Flight Swiss today, picking up another 1.20 gold points. Cecilia Ehrlichman [Ann Arbor MI] played in the NABC Mixed Swiss, with her team at #15 of 18 at lunch today; she finished in 9th place for 2.10 gold points. Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] and Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] played in the Micro Spingold (0-3,000 MP) Finals today on the Grove team. Behind all day yesterday until the 4th quarter, today they jumped out to a 114-48 lead at the half. Crushing the opposition 70-10 in the 3rd session this afternoon, the Grove (Wahls) team had the 4th session off as the opponents withdrew from the match. 38.40 gold points to the winners! Rebecca Anspach [St Paul] and Keith Connolly [St Paul] started the NABC Fast Pairs this morning in 4th place of 78 pairs; their 50.22% morning game sent them to 24th place at the break. They followed this up with a 45.80% game in the afternoon and finished in 37th place overall (picking up 9.43 platinum points). Lynne Castoldi [Minnetonka] played in the Top-Flight Swiss Teams today, tying for 5th overall in today's Swiss teams for 10.22 gold points.
Aly El-Selehdar [Minnetonka] scored a really impressive 69.17% game in the first session of today's Fast Pairs; with that score it's no surprise that he and his partner were #1 going into the afternoon session. They scored a 56.02% game in the afternoon, which slipped he and his partner to 2nd overall - for 20.63 gold points for the day. Randy Okubo [St Paul] also playing in the Fast Pairs today, with a 52.20% morning session to come in 36th at the break. Randy had a solid 54.69% this afternoon, moving him up to 23rd place overall and 2.29 gold points. Curt Kristensen [Duluth] played in the Bracketed Pairs Sunday, coming in 4th in today's top bracket.
Mike Cassel [Roseville] came in 3rd overall among 20 tables of Open Pairs yesterday, with a 59.94% game in the afternoon, following a 55.56% game in the morning. That's 18.28 gold points. Former Carlton College student now the University of Michigan's Cecilia Ehrlichman [Ann Arbor MI] is playing in the NABC 10K Mixed Swiss. She and her team qualified for today's final two rounds - they are one of 18 teams that made it through from yesterday's qualifying. Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] and Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] have been playing on the Grove team in the (Micro) 0-3000 MP Spingold competition; having thrashed their quarterfinal team 236-49, they came back to win their semi-final yesterday in real comeback fashion, trailing until the very last of four matches. They are playing for all the marbles today in this event - updates to follow. Another NABC event is the Fast Pairs, which kicked off yesterday and continues its finish today. Rebecca Anspach [St Paul] and Keith Connolly [St Paul] had a terrific 59.87% game in the 1st session of qualifying, followed by a 58.36% in the second session - they finished in 4th place overall yesterday and are through to today's finals among 39 tables of players. Most everyone else has "left the building", as they say, but more than three dozen Minnesota players had some fun out East. We're pretty sure next summer's NABC will feature considerably more Minnesota players in the masterpoint winners column. |
 | Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] will be teaching a six-week class at the Bridge Center of St Paul starting Saturday mornings on September 6th. The cost of the class is $75, with the class being held from 9:30a to 11:30a on Saturdays through November 8th. You can sign up at the BCSP (or give them a call to sign up) and learn a few things from someone who both knows a few things and is willing to teach a few of them to you. This week, Jackson is playing with Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] at the NABC in Philadelphia PA. They're on a team playing in the "Micro" Spingold (0-3,000 MPs) and had a hand yesterday to your left. Click on it to enlarge it and view in a new window - it's a great example of using a couple of conventions to find a superior contract. And if YOU have any questions about how this hand was bid, you'll have a chance to ask it when you attend his class next month. |
 | Cathy Wehrman [St Paul] and Gary Rowland [Golden Valley] were elected to serve on the BCSP Board, replacing Jeffrey Walker [Eagan] and Dave Gustafson [St Paul]. A special thanks to Jeff and Dave for their volunteerism with the board - and a big welcome to Cathy and Gary. |
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