22 May 2015.indd - Western Conference Contract Bridge Forum

May 2015
What’s New in District 22
As a final note, BA II will be holding its
first ever Pro-Am Swiss game on Saturday,
May 2. Dinner will be at 5:30 p.m. with
the game starting at 6:00 p.m. If you can,
please plan to join us for what promises to
be a fun evening of bridge.
(Continued from page 15)
coveted Life Master rank.
Congratulations to all of the above for
achieving these new ranks.
Our members participated in three 70%
games in March. First, Connie Raabe and
Connie Vinson combined for their second
70% game of the year, scoring an impressive 74.68% in a Sunday afternoon
299er game. Vera Iobbi and Pippa Young
combined for a 70% game in the newly
expanded Thursday night 749er game. Finally, Charles Clarke and Ron Westwood
scored a very nice 72.94% game against a
tough Friday morning field. Kudos for all
the above for these excellent performances.
The unit held its monthly unit game on
March 29. In addition to the great bridge,
10 ½ tables also were on hand for the announcement of the Ace of Clubs and MiniMcKenney unit award winners for 2014.
Tom Waite won both awards for the 0-5
masterpoint group, as did Pippa Young for
the 5-20 masterpoint group. Margaret Bissell also won both awards for players beginning the year with 20-50 masterpoints.
In the 50-100 masterpoint group, Susanne
Lee picked up the Ace of Clubs award,
while the Mini-McKenney was won by
Helen Yamashiro. A similar split took
place in the 100-200 masterpoint group,
with Connie Vinson winning the Ace of
Clubs, while Skip Calvert edged her out
for the Mini-McKenney. For the 200-300
masterpoint group, Kirit Dharia won the
Ace of Clubs and Gordon Whitehead won
the Mini-McKenney. Teryl Burke won
both awards for 300-500 masterpoints,
while Larry Gordon and Gary Ansok won,
respectively, the Ace of Clubs and the
Mini-McKenney awards for 500-1,000
masterpoint group. In the 1000-2500 masterpoint group, both awards went to Donna
Bell. Joe Conti won the Ace of Clubs and
Ron Westwood won the Mini-McKenney
for players with 2500-5000 masterpoints.
Finally, Bill Hall captured both awards for
the 7500-10,000 masterpoint group. Please
join me in congratulating all of the award
winners for their 2014 bridge exploits.
Ventura
By Jody Fickes Shapiro
U
nit 547 had a number of folks who
braved the cacophony of Spring
Time Nationals in New Orleans
to join the hunt for gold. Coming home
with the richest purse (aside from Alex
Kolesnik who is in the ether of top players)
was Roseann Buckley who, with her Memphis-based daughter Deborah Harrington,
amassed 5 ½ gold points and another 7+
red points. Roseann and Deborah won their
very first ever team event with two of Deborah’s Memphis colleagues. Roseann also
brought home a case of pneumonia so we
hope by the time she reads this, she is back
at our bridge tables.
Some of the other New Orleans victors
were Anne Cline, Peggy Nielson, Don
Cline, Marsha and Ken Vandiver, Ken
Kidd, and another big point winner, Ron
Westwood with almost 13 MPs.
Speaking of winners, Saurin Chakrabarti placed first in both the 2014 MiniMcKenney and Ace of Clubs for members
in the 0-5 point range. Saurin first began
playing in Unit 547’s Novice game on
Tuesday mornings with Jack Sonnenshein,
about two years ago. The pair soon found
themselves playing more often in the open
games as they volunteered to round out
half-tables. Saurin’s wife, Karen, had induced Saurin to play on Mondays at the
Palms but it was Saurin who finally convinced Karen to try the Novice Games with
him at the Temple Beth Torah venue. The
pair now plays regularly in Wednesday’s
299er game and the Tuesday open, and are
holding their own in both games.
Perhaps one of the secrets to Saurin’s
success is that he has been playing bridge
informally for over sixty years. Born in a
small village in East Bengal, India, which
became East Pakistan in 1947, and is now
Bangladesh, his father was the area physician. For a time, although they were Hindu, they remained in the newly partitioned
country, until his mother, then a widow, decided the family would be safer in Kolkata
(Calcutta). Saurin was the youngest of her
ten children. His older siblings, particularly his brothers, often played cards, including bridge, which they taught to their
youngest brother.
In 1968, by then in his early twenties,
Saurin became the only member of his
immediate family to study in the United
States. He enrolled at The University of
Washington, to get his MS in Civil Engineering with a specialty in Structural. He
remained in the states and his career was
mostly based in California. When Saurin
retired from his work as a structural engineer with a Pasadena based firm in 2010, it
gave him more time to enjoy golf, and, of
course, bridge. He also volunteers at Food
Share in Oxnard, along with Karen who is
a practicing pharmacist. She now works
part time for a private pharmaceutical
company that has a branch up in Northern
California, in Redding, where Saurin plays
while Karen is working.
Karen tells a funny story about how, when
she and Saurin first met in Seattle, she, a total novice to bridge, was scolded by Saurin
for her less than stellar play. For a long time
after she did not play bridge. Now, however, if you are lucky enough to play opposite
from them, you will discover Saurin to be
a calm and unflappable player, who sets a
high bar for his gentlemanly play.
Visalia
By Robbie Rouch
H
ighlighting the spring welcoming schedule was our annual J. P.
Morgan-sponsored two-session
club championship charity event, hosted
graciously by Cindy Myers at the Visalia
LA JOLLA AND BEACH (Unit 526)
MEMORIAL WEEKEND SECTIONAL
May 23-25, 2015
Welcome to Unit 516’s
21st Annual Big Bear Lake
Sectional Bridge Tournament
June 12, 13, and 14, 2015
SATURDAY MAY 23 27% more MPs
10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (single sessions)
Stratified Open Pairs 0-1000/3000/3000+
Stratified 749er Pairs 0-300/500/750
Stratified 199er Pairs 0-50/100/200
Friday, June 12
1 PM & 7 PM
Bracketed Compact KO (Rounds 1-2) 10:000 am
Bracketed Compact KO (Rounds 3-4) 2:300 pm
Stratified Swiss Teams
2:300 pm
A:
B:
C:
m..
SUNDAY MAY 24 10:00 a.m. and ~ 2 p.m.
(plan to be out before 6 p.m.)
Stratiflighted Swiss Teams
Flight A/X 0-5000/5000+
Strats B/C/D 0-750/1500/2500+
IDED
PLAY THROUGH WITH LUNCH PROVIDED
Stratified 299 Pairs
D: 200-300
E: 100-200
F: 0-100
(Single Sessions)
Bear City Raccoons
Big Bear Stratified Pairs
Adventures in Bridge Club
10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (single sessions)
Stratified 749er Pairs 0-300/500/750
Stratified 199er Pairs 0-50/100/200
6150 Mission Gorge Rd, Suite 122
San Diego, CA 92120
6150 Mission Gorge Road, Suite 122
San Diego, CA 92120 619-287-8313
2000 +
750-2000
0-750
Saturday, June 13
10 AM & 3 PM
MONDAY MAY 25
Stratified Open Pairs 0-1000/3000/+ 10:00 am
Stratified BAM Teams 0-1000/3000/+ 2:30 pm
Stratified Swiss Teams
2:30 pm
To Be Held at the Beautiful
(Single Sessions)
Bear City Raccoons
Big Bear Stratified Pairs
All Saturday events are regionally rated!!
http://lajollabridge.com
for info and results.
Country Club. Despite a vigorous secondround challenge by runners-up Alice Pickens and Jacqui McGreal, Warren and Suzie Cederborg held on with wins in both
sessions for overall honors and the right to
name next year’s charity recipient, which
this year was Visalia Aid. Almost as exciting was our “blind-date” Swiss event,
won convincingly by the team of Keith
Lindersmith, Joan Dinwiddie, Andi Sigmund, and John Morrison. Though Howell
movements are the norm Thursday evenings, The Tuesday/Friday lunch crowd
brought us back up to a 10-table average
with exactly 140 tables in play through
the 14 sessions of the reporting period.
Leading the pack of victors were Warren
and Suzie with six wins each, followed
by Robbie with four, and Barbara Fulmer
with three. Double winners were Allyson
Farrell, Bill Martin, Bob Iorio, and John
Butisbauch. Bringing the total number
of different winners to 31 for the 50 contested top spots were Alice Pickens, Andi
Sigmund, Bob Rouch, Donny Graham, Esther Perrotta, Gary Spaberg, Harlan Ellis,
Jacqui McGreal, Jean Moritz, Joan Dinwiddie, John Baughman, John Morrison,
Keith Lindersmith, Lorna Cheng, Marcie
Buford, Michiko Taylor, Mike Frank, Pat
Delamontanya, Pierre Gaston, Ralph Alvarado, Shirley Martin, Susan Spears, and
Vincent Cheng. On the tournament trail,
Warren and Suzie Cederborg made a fine
showing at the San Diego Regional with a
2nd place finish in a 48-table Swiss event,
and a KO quarter-final finish.
Keep in mind our own tournament, the
renowned Visalia Sectional, is coming up
May 15-17, again at the ambience-rich
Lakes venue under the delightful directorship of Nancy Boyd. Lorna Cheng is chairing the event yet again, Dee Quatraro (559
280-1372 ms.ddq@att.net) is ready to help
arrange partnerships, and countless others
will be providing the goodies and hospitality we love to show off to our bridge
friends throughout the region.
FREE coffee, snacks, and parking.
Light lunch on Saturday and Monday.
A:
B:
C:
2000 +
750-2000
0-750
Standby pair guaranteed for Monday BAM event.
CARD FEES: Pair games, Knockouts, and Single
Session Swiss: $10/player-session on Monday,
$11 on Saturday ($3 additional per player/session
for non and unpaid ACBL members). Sunday
Swiss: $100 per team (includes lunch).
Director-in-Charge: BRANDON SHEUMAKER,
SANCTION S1505163, MID-CHART in open
events only. Pre-Dealt Hands on Saturday and
Monday, RESULTS POSTED ONLINE DAILY.
All events stratified by average. 20 VP Team
scoring. Knockout events with only one bracket
may be handicapped. All facilities are air
conditioned.
1-800-866-3121
West Entrance to Big Bear Village
40650 Village Drive, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
ACBL Room Rates per Night:
Sunday, June 14
10 AM & TBA
Sugarloaf Swiss Teams
(Double Session)
TOURNAMENT CHAIRS:
Matthew Kidd (prez@lajollabridge.com)
PARTNERSHIPS and LODGING:
Lynne Anderson 858-353-3119.
Stratified 299 Pairs
D: 200-300
E: 100-200
F: 0-100
C: 0-750
299er: 0-300
(2 single sessions)
20 Point Victory Scale
$109.00
Room rate cannot be guaranteed
after June 25, 2015
A: 2000+
B: 750-2000
Director in Charge…………..…Peter Knee
Chairperson……………….........Christine Cook
Telephone …………......(909) 878-4524
Cell .................................(909) 702-8428
Partnerships………….….......Mary Ann Wotring
Telephone................... (909) 606-5679
Cell...............................(714) 510-5679
E-mail: wotring72@roadrunner.com
Card Fees: $10.00 ACBL Paid Members
$13.00 Non & Unpaid ACBL Members
per session
Smoking area provided
Free parking
Hospitality Breaks at all Sessions
Door Prizes
Events for Everyone
Sanction #1506099