DISTRICT 24 Newsletter                    Alvin Levy                              2009.2

 

 

Washington D.C. Summer North American Bridge Championship

Washington D.C. put on a great show, with hospitality second to none.  The late night food was excellent and the entertainment memorable.  The Youth NABC was a giant success.  We even had robots playing in the 13th World Computer-Bridge Championship. Throw in good weather, delightful nearby restaurants, well lit and spacious playing areas and a great place to visit and you have one of the best tournaments ever.  Attendance was good, with the table count at 14,115, 500 less than the 2002 Washington D.C. summer NABC.

The ACBL honored our own Aileen Osofsky.  Aileen was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame, receiving the Blackwood Award for her contributions to bridge.  For over twenty years Aileen has chaired the ACBL Goodwill Committee, which meets at every NABC.  She has no equal as a Goodwill ambassador to bridge.

Youth NABC

The second Youth NABC was held as part of the summer NABC.  Almost 200 kids from around North America came and had a great time. Bill Gates and Astronaut Greg Johnson attended the NABC and addressed the children.  Our own Saundra Jones brought eight students with her and can be seen in a photo shot with Bill Gates.  Go to www.youthnabc.org and read all about the special activities at the Youth NABC.

 

District 24 Players place high in NABC+ Events

Championship Flight Grand National Teams:  District 24's team of Joe Grue - John Hurd - Kevin Bathurst - Shane Blanchard - Robert Blanchard - Brian Glubok,  finished 2nd.

Flight B Grand National Teams:  District 24's team of Andrew Skolnick - Sheng Li - Alan Hayman - Chieni Liao - Bruce Neiger, finished 5/8th.

Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs:  Jim Krekorian, 14th;  Bjorn Fallenius - Zia Mahmood, 16th; Gary Gottlieb, 17th.

Young LM - 1500 Pairs:  Charles Bilich - Norman Trabulus, 3rd.

Truscott Senior Swiss:  Mel Colchamiro, 6th; Stephen Lucas - Lesley Decker Lucas, 13th; 

Wernher Open Pairs:  Marius Agica, 16th; Larry Ascher - Diana Tenery-Ascher, 18th; Michael Moss, 20th.

Wager Women’s KO Teams:  Debbie Rosenberg, 3/4th.

Fast Pairs:  Michael Massimilla, 9th; Franco Baseggio, 12th; Justin Lall, 18th.

Mixed B-A-M Teams:  John Hurt, 1st; Martin Fleisher, 3rd; Migry Zur Campanile, 4th; Han Peters, 6th; Jessica Piafsky, 9th; Ron Haack, 11th; Ljudmila Kamenova. 15th; Brian Glubok - Jimmy Rosenbloom, 17th; Edith Sacks, 18/19th.

Mini Spingold I (0-5,000): Lorraine Cable, 3/4th; Evan Markowitz - Jared Markowitz - Patricia Cummins, 5/8th.

Open Swiss: John Hurt, 1st; Andrew Rosenthal - Aaron Silverstein - Michael Rosenberg, 3rd; Jim Krekorian, 4th; Martin Fleisher - Steve Weinstein, 5th; Josh Sher - Russell Samuel, 8th; Adam Wildavsky, 10th; Zia Mahmood, 16th.

Spingold:  Alan Sontag, 2nd; Jim Krekorian, 5/8th; Bjorn Fallenius, 5/8th; Michael Polowan, 5/8th; Barry Rigal - Robert Blanchard - Shane Blanchard - Glenn Milgrim - Alex Ornstein, 5/8th; Zia Mahmood, 9/16th; Joe Grue, 9/16th; Richard Schwartz.

Congratulations to John Hurd for winning the Fishbein Trophy, awarded to the player who wins the most masterpoints at the summer NABC.  John won two NABC+ events and 335 masterpoints.

Off to the Bermuda Bowl/Venice Cup/Senior Bowl in Sao Paulo

Congratulations to Adam Wildavsky for winning the Open Trials and representing the US as USA1 at the upcoming Sao Paulo Bermuda Bowl. 

Board and ACBL Business

Richard DeMartino, District Director from District 25, was elected 2010 ACBL president. 

St. Louis was approved as the site of the 2013 spring NABC.  it will be held at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront & Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark, March 14-24.

The board approved publishing the ACBL annual financial report in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin.

Dress-up night on the first Saturday at NABCs, was rescinded.

ACBL-wide masterpoint races for masterpoints won in ACBL sanctioned Internet bridge games was established.  The ACBL will consider an Internet webpage devoted to the Internet activities, such as sanctioned online bridge, informative websites, online teaching and International websites.

In stratiflighted and limited pair and team events, once the flight of  pair or team is determined, stratification within each fight may be based, at sponsor option, on the average masterpoint holding of the pair or team.

In stratified events the stratification of a pair or team may be based, at sponsor option, on the average masterpoint holding of the pair or team.  This options may be exercised in both club and unit games and tournaments, but not in qualifying events.

Membership continues to increase, with a growth averaging 1,500 per year over the past five years.

There are many new features on our website.  You can now search for major winners of NABC+ events.  You can search for club locations by mileage ranges and zip codes.  You can view video clips of Hall of Fame members.  The Youth website is being redesigned.  Come explore all the features at www.acbl.org

2010 World Championships to be held in Philadelphia, October 1-17

The 2010 World Bridge Series was awarded to the US and will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.  All events: are open, that is there are no qualification requirements other than to be approved by you National Bridge Organization; are transnational, that is, pairs and teams can be composed of players from different countries; and carry World titles.

13th annual World Computer-Bridge Championships

The 13th annual ACBL/WBF World Computer-Bridge Championship was held from August 26-31.  Jack (The Netherlands) recaptured the title from two-time defending champion, Wbridge5 (France) in a well played final.  See the results at www.computebridge.com  As organizer, I am announcing that the 14th championship will take place at the 2010 World Championships in Philadelphia.