DISTRICT 24 NEWSLETTER          Alvin Levy          Volume 04.3

 12^th World Bridge Olympiad in Istanbul

USA wins Senior Cup
USA take silver in the Women’s Teams
USA takes Bronze in the World University Teams Championship
USA Open Team loses to Italy, the eventual winners, in the round of 16
Zia Mahmood, representing the USA, on winning Transnational Mixed Team

The 12^th World Bridge Olympiad took place in Istanbul from October 23 – November 6, 2004.  Competing were 72 Open teams, 42 Women’s teams and 30 Seniors teams.  In all 80 countries competed in the Olympiad.

The USA won the Senior Cup, which was a straight round-robin event with no knockout phase.  Winners were Leo Bell, Neil Chambers, Marshall Miles, John Onstott, Jim Robison and John Schermer.

The USA Women’s team took the silver medal, losing narrowly to Russia in the finals. Silver medallists were Marinesa Letizia, Jill Meyers, Randi Montin, Janice Seamon-Molson, Tobi Sokolow and Carlyn Steiner.

The USA Open team lost narrowly to the eventual winners, Italy, in the round of 16.  The all District 24 Open team was Bjorn Fallenius, Roy Welland, Bobby Levin, Zia Mahmood, Michael Rosenberg and Steve Weinstein.

Zia stayed went on to win a gold medal and his first world championship as a member of the winning squad in the 3^rd Transnational Mixed Teams.

The USA took the bronze in the 2^nd World University Teams Championship USA.  The team included John Kranyak, Charlie Garrod, Marc Glickman, Ari Greenberg, Joon Pahk and Noble Shore..

While near impossible to duplicate the success at last year’s world championships in Monaco where the USA won all the major championships…the Bermuda Bowl, the Venice Cup and the Senior Bowl…they still had a very successful championship.

At this year’s team trials the Nickell team won the right to represent the USA in the Open Teams in Istanbul.  They Nickell team opted to skip the 2004 Olympiad and instead take one of the two USA team spots in the 2005 Bermuda Bowl.  The Welland team, finishing second, represented the USA in Istanbul in their stead.  Similarly, the Meltzer team won the right to represent the USA in the Senior Cup in Istanbul but opted to skip the 2004 Olympiad and, if they don’t qualify as the second USA Bermuda Bowl team, take one of the two USA Senior Cup spots in 2005.

Future Championships

The 2005 world championship feature the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, Senior Bowl and Transnational Open Teams.  It will be held in Estoril, Portugal from October 22 – November 5.  In the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup and Senior Bowl, the ACBL, representing Zone 2 of the World Bridge Federation, will be allowed three teams, two from the USA and one from either Canada or Mexico.  In addition, I will organize the 2005 9^th world computer-bridge championship to be held during the world championships.

The 2006 world championship will be held in Verona, Italy from June 9 – 24.  For the first time all championships will be transnational.  The 2006 University World Championships will be held in China.

Systems

In the 2005 Bermuda Bowl/Venice Cup “Brown Sticker” conventions will be limited to two in the round-robin and seating rights will be lost in any stage if more than one Brown Sticker convention is used by a pair.  Brown sticker conventions will not be allowed in the 2006 Transnational championships.

Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the General Association of International Sports Federations  (AGFIS) and the International University Sports Federation (FISU) have all recognized bridge as a sport and have recognized the International Bridge Federation (IBF, also known as the World Bridge Federation) as an International Sports Federation, representing bridge.

The 2^nd World University Bridge Championship, held in Istanbul, was held under the auspices of the FISU.

The IOC and AGFIS are considering establishing the Intellympic Games, composed of Bridge, Chess (including Chinese Chess), Draughts and Go.  Education Ministers and UNESCO have recognized these sports for their educational value.  They are recognized as helping to increase attention, memorization and concentration and teach the art of reasoning.  The hope is to see the Intellympics at the Turin 2007 Olympics.

2004 Fall Orlando NABC

The Marriott World Center was the host hotel of the fall NABC and housed the entire playing area.  The site was a great choice, with 2000+ rooms, a golf course and five excellent restaurants with a bonus of a 20% discount.  Attendance was 14,641.5 tables, far surpassing the table count of 12,035 at the 1998 fall NABC held at the Peabody Hotel.  Hospitality by the locals was excellent, and included late night entertainment, arranged tours and free coffee and orange juice throughout the tournament.  Many of the players and non-playing spouses took advantage of the nearby Orlando attractions.  Overall, the players overwhelmingly rated the site and tournament as excellent and rated their dining experiences as pleasurable.

New York players do their thing in NABC+ events, as usual

Top finishers in NABC championships include:

Bobby Nail Life Master Pairs… Zia Mahmood, 7^th; Robert Levin – Steve Weinstein, 13^th; Roy Welland – Bjorn Fallenius, 14^th; Andrew Stark – Franco Baseggio, 16^th.

Life Master Women’s Pairs… A big win for Diana Schuld; Lisa Berkowitz, 3^rd; Laurie Vogel – Gail Greenberg, 6^th; Linda Rothstein – Roberta Magnus, 15^th; Gladys Collier, 20^th.

Skinny Miles Non-Life Master Pairs… Congratulations to winner Bernie Weiss.

Open Board-A-Match Teams… With District 24 players on eight of the top ten teams…Congratulations to winner Christal Henner-Welland finishing ahead of her husband Roy Welland and his teammates Bjorn Fallenius – Zia Mahmood – Michael Rosenberg, 2^nd; Joe Grue – Brian Glubok – Adam Wildavsky, 3^rd; Robert Levin – Steve Weinstein, 5^th; Richard Schwartz – David Berkowitz, 6^th; Brad Moss, 8^th; Mark Feldman, 9^th; Jim Krekorian, 10^th; Michael Moss, 15^th; Peter Weiden, 18^th.

Marsha May Sternberg Board-A-Match Teams…Congratulations to winners Debbie Rosenberg – Jill Levin – Susan Picus; Valerie Westheimer – Judi Radin, 3^rd; Lisa Berkowitz, 10^th; Diana Schuld, 11^th.

Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs…Robert Levin – Steve Weinstein, 2^nd; Jim Krekorian, 3^rd; David Berkowitz, 5^th.

Senior Teams…Mel Colchimaro, 3/4^th; Alan Truscott, 9/16^th.

Reisinger Board-A-Match Teams…Congratulations to Nick Nickell for yet another title in the premiere event; Richard Schwartz – David Berkowitz, 2^nd; Roy Welland – Bjorn Fallenius – Zia Mahmood – Michael Rosenberg, 4^th; Christal Henner-Welland, 5^th; James Cayne – Robert Levin – Steve Weinstein, 6^th; Sam Lev, 7^th; Adam Wildavsky – Chris Willenken, 12^th.

Keohane North American Swiss Teams…Congratulations to winner Martin Fleisher; Virginia Cave – John Kranyak – Kent Mignocchi, 19^th.

ACBL State of Affairs and Board Business

Overall Snapshot

The membership of the ACBL stands at over 168,000 up slightly from last year.  This number includes non-dues paying Life Masters and inactive life members.  An inactive member is defined as a non-dues paying life member who has no recognized bridge activity in the past two years.  The paying membership is 150,100, up from 149,725 one year ago.  The number of inactive members is approximately 10,000.

Financial Snapshot

Total net assets are $7,300,000.  This breaks down to approximately $5,050,000 in investments and cash, $1,500,000 in property and equipment and $750,000 in inventory.

With three very profitable NABCs this year, the league continues to be in excellent financial shape.  Reno, in the spring, produced a $385,000 profit on 14, 888 tables.  This compares with a profit of $246,000 on 10,852 tables in Philadelphia in 2003.  The summer NABC in New York City produced a profit of $172,000 on 13, 351 tables.  This compares with a profit of $103,000 on 12,247 tables in Long Beach in 2003.  With a similar table count but higher entry fees, Orlando should compare favorably to the 2003 fall NABC in New Orleans.

Given our excellent financial position, the 2005 budget contains a $300,000 deficit.

Tournament Play

Tournament play at Regionals is up 6%, with two fewer Regionals.  Average table count increased by 114 per tournament.  Table count increased 1% at Sectionals with 16 more tournaments.  Average table count dropped two tables per tournament.  STaC table count is up 9% with seven additional tournaments.  Average table count dropped 39 tables per tournament.

Club Play

The table count for clubs through August 2004 is up 2.3% to 1,385,680.  In addition, on-line table count for the same period is up 1.25% to 97,670.

This year there have been 20 Inter-Club Championship (ICC) games through October 28.  305 clubs have participated resulting in 3,010 tables.  There is a $1 per person fee to participate.  The games are scored across all clubs participating and hand records are available.

New High School Team Competition

In 2005, a new high school division will be added to the on-line school team bridge championship.  Bridgebase.com will host the online play starting on February 16, 2005.  To register, contact Charlotte Blaiss at juniors@acbl.org.

2005 ACBL President

Roger Smith from Sacramento, representing District 21, was elected president for 2005.  Chuck Wilkinson, from Jackson, MS, representing District 10, was elected 2005 president at the summer Board meetings in New York City, but resigned before taking office.  Wilkinson did not win re-election in his District, losing to Bill Cook, and resigned as president-elect.  Wilkinson could have held the position as 2005 president without voting rights.

New Website

The ACBL redesigned website is a clear improvement over the old website, and continues to be improved.

Bridge on TV

The ACBL has signed an agreement with Edge TV, a start-up cable channel, which is expected to be on the air by June 2005.  The format is under development.

Bridge in Schools

The ACBL is actively promoting teaching bridge in schools.  We have developed lesson plans and promotional material for this purpose.  Our efforts have led to a total of over 250 classes being taught in North America, mostly in middle-schools and high-schools, with over 4000 students taking lessons this year.  It is expected that these numbers will greatly increase in the future.

Simpson Communications, LLC (www.simpson-communications.com) has been hired to initiate a new marketing program primarily geared to enhance the interest in bridge in elementary schools through college institutions.

Tournament Expenses to Sponsoring Organizations

Effective January 1, 2005, the Tournament Director (TD) fees will increase by 9%.  This includes a 3.5% salary increase and a 5.5% increase to replace the elimination of the Director in Charge (DIC) supplement.  A summary follows.

Also, effective January 1, 2005, the per-table Sanction Fees will decrease by approximately 10%.  The changes follow.

Unit Rebates

Starting on 2005 Units will receive 11% of full dues payments and Life Master Service fees paid by their members. The amount will automatically increase with any future dues increase.  The existing Unit Incentive Program will be eliminated.

Junior Camp issue

A motion to restrict all junior bridge camps in Zone 2 (ACBL) to a maximum age of 20 years was defeated.  The age range remains 16-25 years old.  In the future, if there are enough participants, separating the junior players into two groups will be considered.

Bylaws

A revision of the ACBL By-laws was approved. The current and proposed by-laws can be viewed on the ACBL web site at: http://www.acbl.org/about/administration.html.

District 24 earns extra NAOP Flight A spot

Each District can qualify two pairs in Flights A, B and C to play in the NABC finals.  In addition, one District for Flight A and two Districts for Flights B & C, based on club stage participation, earn the right to invite a third pair.  District 24 had the greatest Flight A club participation and earned the right to invite a third Flight A pair to the NABC finals. 

Congratulations to Goodwill and Charity Committee Inductees

New inductees to the ACBL goodwill committee are: Erik Mock, Ira Herman, Farley Mawyer and Saundra Jones.  New inductees to the ACBL Charity committee are Marianne Fulfaro and Sandra Weil.  Congratulations to some very well deserving people.