DISTRICT 24 NEWSLETTER              Alvin Levy                              Volume 05.2
Published after each NABC

Atlanta summer NABC – an experiment in 10 am & 3 pm game times

The Atlanta summer NABC was an experiment in 10 am & 3 pm game times for most Regional events and all NABC events, along with 8 pm side games and Bracketed and Compact KOs.  This replaced the usual 1 & 7:30 pm Regional and NABC events, 10 am & 3 pm Senior games and 9 am side games and KO events.  The new times met with mixed reactions from the players.  Many liked the new starting times but slightly more (best guess 60%) didn’t.  Some of the problems that developed as a result of the new schedule included not having enough time between sessions, especially for the NABC teams events and food and elevator facilities were too crowded because everyone was playing at the same time (as opposed to 10 am 3 pm Senior events and 1 pm & 7:30 pm Open events).  It seems that some changes in the new schedule might eliminate these problems and result in a workable schedule that more would enjoy.  In the meantime the next few NABCs will have the more traditional times.

The starting time debate will continue, but there was general agreement that the tournament was a success.  The table count of 13,463 met the pre-game predictions.

Hall of Fame Banquet

On Saturday night, at the Hall of Fame Banquet, four new members were inducted into the ACBL Bridge Hall of Fame. They were Marshall Miles, Betty Ann Kennedy, Kit Woolsey and the late Percy Sheardown.  Also honoired was Nick Nickell, winner of the Sidney H. Lazard Sportsmanship Award.

Junior activities

Three new members of the Junior Corps, Andrew Dubay, Patrick Amerine and David Banh were honored at the Atlanta NABC, and were congratulated by Bill Gates , who visited the reception.  The Junior Corp is composed of players age 25 and younger who are active in promoting bridge to other young people.

United States Bridge Federation School Teams Trials

2005 College Championships

Board Actions

Harriette Buckman, from Lincolnwood, IL, representing District 13, was elected ACBL President for 2006.

North American Pairs and Grand National Teams

The funding for NAPs has changed slightly.  The District winners in each category will receive a lodging subsidy equal to three nights stay at the host hotel.  Previously, winners had to stay at the host hotel.  Now they can make any arrangements they desire.

A player must be a dues paying or service fee-paying ACBL member before playing at the NAP or GNT Unit and District levels.  Previously a player could pay dues or service fees after winning at their District level and receive a free trip to the NABC finals.  This is consistent with our policy of requiring membership or service payment to play in NABC events.  This does not apply to any club qualifying stages.

District eligibility for the GNT will be determined at the fall Board meeting.  Currently the requirement to play in the GNTs is District membership.  On the table is a proposal to require District residency as well as membership.  This will affect our District greatly, as many District members live in the surrounding areas, such as parts of New Jersey and upset New York.  Now our GNT Championship Flight District finals are comparable to the Spingold or Vanderbilt quarterfinals.

Ace of Clubs and Mini-McKenney races

My motion to change a player's eligibility for the Ace of Clubs and Mini-McKenney masterpoint races at all levels (overall and Unit placements) was passed.  Effective January 1, 2006, the new eligibility will be determined by a players’ total masterpoints at the start of the year.  Currently eligibility is based on rank.  This will eliminate players with sufficient masterpoints to advance to a higher rank, but missing some pigmented masterpoints to advance, from competing at the lower level.  There have been cases of players with 2000+ masterpoints at the start of a year winning races designed for non-life masters.

NABC Selection Criteria

My motion to add to the NABC selection criteria, as a high priority, the popularity of the city/site, was passed 14-11, with management opposed.  See my editorial posted in my last newsletter.  A popular city is defined (for those that need a definition) as a city/site that will attract more of our players; cities/sites our players would want to spend their vacation dollars even without bridge; large population cities that will attract more local players; and cities that have a better chance of publicizing our game and attracting new players.  This was meant to get us more often to cities such as San Francisco, Vancouver, New York City and Montreal, and less often to Pittsburgh and Birmingham.

ACBLscore

A motion was passed to encourage all clubs to use the latest version of ACBLscore, which is free and can be downloaded from the ACBL website.  (A new Window version should be available in January 2006.)  This will substantially reduce the league’s cost for processing club masterpoints and club financial reports.  To that end, a small extra fee per game will be added for games that do not use the latest version of ACBLscore.  Effective January 1, 2006, an additional $2 per game will be charged for non-compliance.  Also, effective January 1, 2007, clubs that do not use ACBLscore to submit their monthly financials and masterpoint reports must pay an additional $2 per game.

Insurance

The ACBL Insurance Committee is currently reviewing the ACBL's insurance coverage.  This includes General Liability and Directors & Officers coverage available to Districts and Units, as well as club insurance.

Hall of Fame

The requirement for electors has been changed resulting in the number of electors increasing to approximately 400 from 200.  The major change was the inclusion ACBL Grand Life Masters.

ACBL headquarters

The ACBL continues to look for a buyer of its headquarter property.  A move is now imperative as the neighborhood has determinate.  A search for a new headquarter site is also underway.

District 24 shined in NABC+ Events, as usual

Grand National Teams – Flight A: 2^nd Valentin Carciu - David Gurwich - Michael Lipkin - Ira Ewen - Sorin Pleacof

Grand National Teams – Flight B: 3/4^th Bill Begert - Robert Verthelyi - Kevin Casey - Susan Schnelwar

Grand National Teams – Flight C: 5/8^th Peter Clark - Steven Waldman - Scott Heaydon - Gary Bagley

Life Master Pairs (six sessions) – 2^nd Zia Mahmood; 7^th Brad Moss; 12^th David Berkowitz; 13^th Debbie Rosenberg; 18^th Gary Gottlieb; 24^rd Robert Heitzman; 29^th Al Levy; 32^nd Jaggy Shivdasani - Winthrop Allegaert

LM-5000 Pairs – 1^st David Maidman - Marin Marinov; 5^th Cordelia Menges

Senior Swiss – 9^th John Solodar; 10^th Glenn Eisenstein; 20^th Diana Schuld

Open Pairs (4 sessions) – 20^th Melania Tucker

Fast Pairs –  1^st Chris Willenken; 3^rd Peter Weiden; 10^th David Gurvich - Michael Lipkin; 14^th Janos Racz; 16^th David Maidman - Marin Marinov

Mixed Board-A-Match Teams – 1^st Martin Fleisher; 12^th Michael Polowan - Debbie Rosenberg; 13^th Robert Heitzman - Art Brodsky - Pat Brodsky; 17/18^th Mel Colchamiro - Janet Colchamiro; 19^th Jill Levin

Women’s KO Teams - 3/4^th Lisa Berkowitz; 5/8^th Sylvia Moss - Judy Radin - Gail Greenberg - Jacqui Mitchell - Amalya Kearse

Mini Spingold 0-5000 – 1^st Ava Grubman - Elliott Grubman; 5/8^th Anna Bromberg - Paul Klarreich - Sandra Levine - Irma Schulman

Mini Spingold 0-1500 – 5/8^th Reisha Berkowsky - Gail Levy

Open Swiss Teams – 1^st Christal Henner-Welland; 3^rd Bojorn Fallenius - Roy Welland; 8^th Robert Levin - Steve Weinstein; 20^th Adam Wildavsky - Michael Polowan

Spingold KO Teams – 1^st Brad Moss; 3/4^th Michael Rosenberg - Zia Mahmood; 3/4^th Jim Krekorian; 5/8^th David Berkowitz; 5/8^th Christal Henner-Welland; 5/8^th Michael Moss; 9/16^th Roy Welland - Bjorn Fallenius; 9/16^th Jimmy Cayne - Robert Levin - Steve Weinstein; 9/16^th Sam Lev; 9/16^th Valerie Westheimer