DISTRICT 24 Newsletter                   Alvin Levy, District Director                                                       2012.3
published after each NABC

San Francisco Fall NABC

San Francisco is one of the most popular cities for our NABCs.  A great town that offers so much we returned after five years (Fall 2007).  The overall attendance was 10% below expectation, with 13, 410 tables (compared to 14,858 in 2007) and 5,610 players.  Slightly lower NABC attendance has been the trend recently.

 

Top District 24 finishers in NABC+ event (top 25, except where noted)

Bobby Nail Life Master Open Pairs: Zia Mahmood, WINNER; Joel Wooldridge - Kent Mignocchi, 17th.

Helen Sobel Smith Life Master Women’s Pairs: Migry Zur Campanile, 2nd; Ljudmila Kamenova, 8th; Gail Greenberg - Sue Picus, 9th; Judi Radin, 11th.

Victor Mitchell Open Board-A-Match Teams: Sam Lev, 3rd; John Hurd - Shane Blanchard - Robert Blanchard - Joel Wooldridge, 4th; Alan Sontag, 5th; James Cayne, 6th; Martin Fleisher - Zia Mahmood - Chris Willenken, 8th; Michael Moss; 10/11th; Roy Welland, 11th; Jared Lilienstein - Michael Polowan, 14/16th.

Marsha May Sternberg Women’s Board-A-Match Teams: Diana Schuld, 6th; Migry Zur Campanile, 8th; Dana Berkowitz, 9/10th; Judi Radin, 9/10th; Sandra Rimstedt, 13th.

Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs (top 30): Zia Mahmood, 4th; Jared Lilienstein, 6th; Martin Fleisher, 7th; Roy Welland, 10th; Bjorn Fallenius, 11th; Winthrop Allegaert, 13th; Christal Henner-Welland - Uday Ivatury, 17th; Mel Colchamiro , 19th; Alan Sontag, 23rd.

Senior Mixed Pairs: Jim Gobert, 14th.

0-5000 Mini-Blue Ribbon Pairs: [no top finishers, 78 places]

Grant Baze Senior Knockout Teams: William Pollack, 9/16th; Glenn Eisenstein - John Rengstorff, 9/16th; Jim Gobert, 9/16th.

Reisinger Board-A-Match: (Top 10 in final day) Roy Welland, 2nd; Bob Blanchard - Shane Blanchard - John Hurd - Joel Wooldridge, 3rd; Marty Fleisher - Zia Mahmood - Chris Whillenken, 4th; Adam Wildavsky, 5th; Mike Moss, 6th; James Cayne, 9th.

Ethel Keohane North American Swiss Teams: William Pollack, 5th; Winthrop Allegaert - Judith Bianco - Lapt Chan, 14th; Michael Polowan, 17th.

Zia Mahmood won the Goren Trophy, awarded to the player who wins the most masterpoints at the Fall NABC, and also

was the 2012 Player of the Year, winning the most Platinum masterpoints.  Platinum masterpoints are only awarded in NABC+ events.

 

ACBL tidbits

Membership stands at 166,500 before 2012 year's end.  This is approximately 1.000 greater than the same time last year.  Full membership statistics can be found at http://web2.acbl.org/bb/BOD/Active%20Membership%20Statistics.pdf

Total Regional, Sectional and STaC table count is approximately 1% higher (for the first 10 months of 2012) than at the same point last year.  See http://web2.acbl.org/bb/BOD/2012TC.pdf

 

Club game table count is steady.  Increases continue in online games, with table count up 15% from last year.

 

We continue to work on ACBLscore+.  Outside consultant Nicolas Hammond reports to management and the board periodically.  So far the project is on schedule.

 

The ACBL will host three Regionals at Sea (RAS) in 2013, including one out of NYC in September, with George Jacobs as host.

 

The ACBL's Youth NABC and the WBF's World Youth Congress will both be held in conjunction with the Atlanta NABC.  The WBF event the day after the Youth NABC finishes.

 

Board Actions

Congratulations to Don Mamula, elected 2012 ACBL president.

I along with Paul Janicki were elected to a three-year term as two of the five ACBL representatives to the World Bridge Federation.  We join Joan Gerard, Bruce Blakely and Georgia Heth.

I was also appointed to the Laws Commission.  I was also elected to continue to serve as Trustee of the ACBL's 401k.

(It's always very busy for me...and Beverly might be threatening divorce except she likes the travel and keeping me busy gives her more time to shop.).

 

Sandy DeMartino was elected Aileen Osofsky Goodwill Committee chair.

 

Audrey Grant and the late Millard Nachtwey were selected as ACBL Honorary Members.

 

The board approved a new investment policy brought forth by management.  Assets that aren't needed for cash flow will now be invested in a portfolio of fixed income and equity investments under the management of a professional investment firm.


The board approved Grass Roots Fund month moving from December to January, starting in January 2014.  There will be no Grass Roots Fund Month in 2013. Note: The January International Fund Game will be moved to March.

The board approved that: anyone who is a current club manager for a club running ACBL sanctioned games must be an ACBL Member in good standing with all service fees and dues paid. Any club or higher-rated director must be an ACBL Member in good standing with all service fees and dues paid to be eligible to direct an ACBL sanctioned game.

 

The board approved a motion that, in part, allowed for cell phones to be brought into NABC+ events, as long as, except for health-related equipment, or by permission of the Director-in-Charge of the tournament, cell phones, audible pagers or similar equipment are not operated in any manner in the playing area during a session of play. Any such equipment must not be visible during the session and must remain off at all times.

 

2013 ACBL Goodwill Committee and Charity Committee Appointments

Congratulations to the District 24 recipients.

ACBL Goodwill Committee
Russell Brooks

Joe Byrnes

Alan Miller

Ilana Seror

ACBL Charity Committee
Sylvana Zangri

Reza Khatib