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In This Issue
Recent Events
Eddie Tips
Barry Crane
Milestones
Tournament Fix 2
Solomon Teams
Table Tips
Club News |
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Recent Events
Since the last newsletter, we have had great successes at the Wilkes-Barre and Conshohoken Sectionals, and hosted the Annual Dinner. For those of you who participated in these events, we hope that you enjoyed the experience, including the new event times and upgraded hospitality in Conshocken.
For those of you who haven't joined us yet, please do. We look forward to seeing each of our members at an upcoming Unit event soon, such as the Mays Landing Sectional. Please consult "Upcoming Events" in this newsletter and click on the links for details.
 | | Kathy Upp, Wendy De Chadarevian, and Tournament Chairman Meyer Kotkin in Conshohocken |
 | | 244 total tables in Conshohocken--a great success! |
 | | Hospitality Chair Jane Ball and her "Helpers" served terrific meals and snacks throughout the Conshohocken Sectional. |
 | Unit President Joann Glasson honors Roger Reed as a new Life Master at the Annual Dinner.
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Tips from Eddie
Eddie Kantar is one of the all-time great bridge players and teachers. He has a wealth of tips on his website at www.kantarbridge.com. Here are three of his best on this great partnership game:
1. Never, but never, forget you are playing with a partner. It pays to consider what things may look like from partner's point of view, particularly when you are privy to some information that partner isn't.
2. You cannot expect your partner to defend properly if you make faces or show other signs of disapproval.
3. If partner makes a nice play, a kind word or two at the end of the hand goes a long way.
Remember that you and your partner are on the same side.
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The Barry Crane Top 500
The Barry Crane Top 500 recognizes the 500 ACBL players who have accumulated the most masterpoints in a year. The award honors Barry Crane, widely acknowledged as the greatest matchpoint player of all time.
In 2010, nine members of Unit 141 earned a spot on the list. Consider how many units there are across the country and you will realize what an impressive number that is. The Unit members for 2010 are:
37. Ken Cohen 1320
133. Eric Greco 846
233. Corey Krantz 685
287. Neil Satten 616
386. Craig Robinson 528
408. Joann Glasson 514
423. Ray Raskin 509
472. Carl Berenbaum 483
488. Elliot Shalita 478
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Member Milestones
 Ken Cohen Reaches 20,000
Unit 141 player Ken Cohen reached the 20,000-masterpoint mark while playing in the Wilkes-Barre Regional. He now ranks 77th on the all-time masterpoint total list, and his number keeps growing. Ken has won four national events, including a National Swiss Team last year with Neal Satten, Tom Weik, and Rick Rowland, and a National Mixed Pairs with JoAnn Sprung. He has also won the Fishbein Trophy and the Ace of Clubs race (twice), including a record setting total in 2006. Ken is the first Unit 141 member, and only the second District 4 member after the legendary David Treadwell, to reach this total.
Unit 141 Members Win Red Ribbon Pairs
Brad Barry of Phoenixville and and David Amsterdam of Wayne won the Bean Red Ribbon Pairs at Nationals in Louisville, KY. The pair, a 10-year partnership, won the event by 3 matchpoints. After the first day of the event, Barry and Amsterdam ranked 15th. Final day scores of 65.21% and 57.16% vaulted them to the first place finish. Congratulations to Brad and David! |
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Linda Hutchinson Boritz
Linda Hutchinson Boritz, a Unit 141 and District 4 communications pioneer and Board Member Emeritus, died on April 25.
Linda started playing bridge in 1963 and became a life master in the early 1970s. She remembered her greatest bridge accomplishment as the victory with Art Weiss in the 1977 Mixed Pairs in Atlantic City.
In 1972, Linda and her then husband David created the PCBA Review, Unit 141's first regular newsletter. Linda served at its editor until 1980 and wrote most of the articles. She also created and served as the editor of the District 4Spot for 15 years and published the first daily bulletins for District Regionals. In the days before computers, the effort to put out the bulletins could be grueling and Linda often stayed up all night typing tournament results and copying the printed bulletins.
Linda was elected to the Unit 141 Board of Directors in the late 1960s. She served on committees for publicity, finance, bylaws, and history. Her dedication was recognized in January 1996 when she was granted emeritus status. She also served as the District 4 Secretary, Vice-President, and President during the 1980s. Nationally, she helped found the Forum for Women in Bridge in 1985.
The format of the Unit 141 newsletter has changed greatly since Linda first created it, but it is an honor to recognize her efforts to improve the game and bring information to everyone who plays.
Click here for a PDF of the entire first issue of the PCBA Review, the first Unit 141 Newsletter created by Linda Hutchinson Boritz. |
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The Tournament Fix Is In!
 Part 2: Change is Good
In Part 1 of this series, I discussed how the Tournament Committee (TC) had spoken with the organizers of successful Sectionals around the country. At our Conshohocken Sectional in March, we implemented some of the lessons we learned.
The TC adjusted the game times by adding a Friday morning game at 10 AM and eliminating the Saturday evening game. This change was successful, as the Friday morning game had 26.5 tables compared to an average of 10 tables for Saturday night games at previous sectionals. We hope that attendance will increase even more as word spreads about the Friday morning game.
Jane Ball and her Hospitality Helpers put on an unbelievable and never-ending offering of meals, wine, hors d'oeuvres, and snacks. Everyone who attended Conshohocken left happy, satisfied, and full.
The TC also implemented a third trait of successful Sectionals by running simple stratified events and eliminating conflicting events that reduced the size and masterpoint awards of the individual events. Due to the downward trend in Sectional attendance, the Stratiflighted and Bracketed events often had competitive imbalances. There were often too few X teams and/or the top team in a Bracketed Swiss had significantly more experience than the other teams. In a Stratified event, B and C pairs or teams do have to play against some A players, but the B and C masterpoint awards are based on how they perform against their peers while they can still share in the Flight A masterpoint awards. A stratified event also allows players to meet and greet people they might not usually play.
At the Unit 141 Mt. Holly Sectional (September 9-11), the TC will try stratifying by average masterpoint holding rather than maximum masterpoints of any player. This change will enable people to play in a more comfortable and appropriate bracket and with friends who might have exceeded the usual masterpoint limit for a stratification level. The other changes will still be in place, such as the world famous hospitality and 6 PM Friday Social Hour. So come experience the new Unit 141 Sectionals and let your friends know as well!
As always, your comments are welcome.
Meyer Kotkin
Tournament Chairman
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Solomon Teams Moves into
Knockout Phase
Solomon Teams Format
The Solomon Teams is an extended team event played throughout the year. Participating teams are encouraged to play in their homes to foster a more social atmosphere.
This year, the format included a round robin first phase to determine the teams that would move into a single elimination knockout phase. Eight teams moved into the Flight A bracket knockout and four teams moved into the Flight B knockout. There is no knockout phase for Flight C. A team can play in more than one flight in the knockouts if all team members are qualified.
Current Standings
Congratulations to the Dehlin Team, this year's Flight C winners (determined by the round robin): Barry Dehlin, Carol Vorchheimer, Lucille Schlack and Patrick Drake.
The first round matches in the Flight A knockout are Morgen vs. Dehlin, Giesler vs. Rabinowitz, Klein vs. Glasson, and Berenbaum vs. Korth.
First round matches in Flight B are Giesler vs. Dehlin and Klein vs. Bruchansky.
Solomon Finals Will Broadcast on BBO VuGraph
As we did last year, the championship match for Flight A will be broadcast on the BBO Vugraph. You can watch this exciting event with expert commentators for free when logged on to BBO. Watch for more details and the final schedule.
Details of the round robin phase and updates on the brackets are found here. Check the Unit website and watch for announcements about the date and time of the VuGraph finals and information about joining the Solomon Teams next season (Fall 2011). Plan on playing!
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Table Tips: The Bidding Box
The bidding box is an integral part of duplicate and tournament bridge. Its cards include the 38 legal bids (plus stop and alert) that enable players to speak the full language of bridge. The following tips will help all players use the box like a pro.
1. Touch the box only when you are ready to bid. Don't reach for the bidding box, fondle it, or fuss with the cards until you are ready to make a call. You should only touch a card when you are ready to pull and set it on the table. Premature card fussing and fondling can convey unauthorized information to your partner. It suggests that you have a problem deciding what to bid and which bids might be under consideration.
The rules of bridge say that once you touch a pass card, even if it stays in the box, you have officially passed. Most opponents will not enforce this rule, but they could. So be especially careful not to touch the green card until you are certain that you meant to pass.
2. What's up with the stop card? Many players wonder about the stop card. Should they use it? If so, when and how? This confusion is understandable, given that even the ACBL isn't entirely settled on how the card should be used. As recently as the Nationals in Louisville, the ACBL considered new proposals about its use. The best advice we can offer is that if you decide to use the stop card, be consistent in how you do. There are guidelines about the best way to use the stop card, so read up and/or consult an experienced player or pro.
3. Use the pass card to pass. When you intend to pass, set a pass card on the table rather than tap your fingers. A pass card is the only clear sign that you mean to pass. Some people drum their fingers on the table while they think, so tapping the table can send an ambiguous message. Also, the player sitting to the left of the "table tapper" still has a chance to bid. If he or she takes a moment to think, the "table tapper" will need to set down a pass card anyway. Why not do the right thing from the start?
Check out this link for more information about the bidding box and its history.
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Club News
This regular newsletter section provides updates and news from our Unit clubs.
Yorktown Bridge Club in Jenkintown, PA now hosts a
0-50 mp game each Thursday morning at 9 AM. For more information, contact Ellen or Sid Gordon at 215-635-5005 or visit the club website: www.yorktownbridgeclub.com.
Join The Philadelphian, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. in Philadelphia, every Thursday night at 7:00 PM for duplicate bridge. Card fees are $5, parking is free, and hand records are included. Contact Linda at bridge2401@gmail.com or visit the website http://www.bridgescore.com/2401/ for more information.
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