DISTRICT 24 NEWSLETTER Alvin Levy vol. 2000.2
ANAHEIM, stay indoors and beat the traffic
Anaheim was a typical NABC. There were many interesting places to visit, besides Disney and Universal Studios, and excellent restaurants to frequent. Of course, travelling around the city was sometimes a problem, as traffic is even worse than in the NY metropolitan area. The adjacent tournament Hotels, the Marriott and Hilton, offered excellent playing space and meeting rooms. The $100+ at these hotels were not expensive for a big city.
The table count was a disappointing 13,712. Even though this was the largest summer NABC since 1994 in San Diego (15,879 tables), the table count was 13% below expectations. Attendance is not expected to be high at the next two NABCs, as they are being held in not-overly-popular tourist cities…Birmingham and Kansas City.
Hall of Fame Induction Dinner
The Hall of Fame banquet took place Wednesday, August 10, 2000, at the start of this Summer's NABC. The current yearly selection process starts with nominations from the Hall of Fame committee. There are two nomination categories, living and deceased players. Living nominees must be at least 60 years old. Ballots go to the top masterpoint holders, journalists, and administrators. The top vote getter in each category is elected. Others elected, with a maximum of two in the living category, must be named on at least 50% of the ballots cast. The nominating committee also selects two Hall of Fame inductees - the recipients of the von Zedtwitz and Blackwood awards.
The selections for the von Zedtwitz and Blackwood awards were announced last November, and were Meyer Schleifer and George Rosenkranz, respectively. The living members elected this year are Sidney Lazard, and our own Ira Rubin. Deceased members elected are Lou Bluhm, Charles Soloman, and NY's Harry Fishbein.
At the Induction dinner, the Beast was presented by Gail Greenberg and Fishy was presented by Alan Truscott. Ira's acceptance speech did capture the audience's attention, as he described his bridge life, starting at age 2, and introduced new twists (at least to me) on some of the cheating scandals of the past.
District 24 Players shine in NABC+ Events
District 24 players had more than their share of success in NABC+ events. Winners included: Zia Mahmood, winning the six-session Life Master Pairs; Alan Sontag, winning the Spingold KO Teams; Jill Levin, winning the Wagar Women's KO Teams; Chris Willenken and Aaron Silverstein, winning the newly established Fast Open Pairs; and Barry Regal, Sylvia Moss, Judi Radin, Susan Picas and Alex Ornstein, winning the Mixed Board-a-Match Teams.
Other top finishers in NABC+ events include: Kelley Hwang, Franco Baseggio, Alan Hayman, Robert Beinfield, and David Moss, 5/8 in the Flight B Grand National Teams; Brian Pollack, Jeanette Tabb, Robert Berger, and Anita Gumuchdjian, 5/8 in the Flight C Grand National Teams; defending champion Sam Lev, 2nd in the Life Master Pairs; Linda Gordon and Robb Gordon, 8th in the Life Master pairs; Kitty Munson, 4th in the Imp Pairs; Krystian Rudo, 7th in the IMP Pairs; Brad Mossand Roy Welland, 2nd in the Spingold KO Teams; Jimmy Cayne, 5/8 in the Spingold KO Teams; Richard Schwartz, Larry Cohen, David Berkowitz, and Zia, 5/8 in the Spingold KO Teams; Mel Colchamiro, Janet Colchamiro, and Kitty Munson, 2nd in the Mixed B-A-M Teams; Susan Wexler and Mark Feldman, 4th in the Mixed B-A-M Teams; Jane Dillenberg and John Solodar, 6th in the Mixed B-A-M Teams; Robb Gordon, Linda Gordon, and Leslie Paryzer, 7th in the Mixed B-A-M Teams; John Rengstorff, 8th in the Mixed B-A-M Teams.
Unofficially by far the best District showing in Anaheim, with 10 players winning NABC+ events, including 5 of the 7 major titles.
Interesting Items from the Anaheim NABC
Bill Gates has been playing in ACBL sanctioned events this past year. Rumors of his attending the Anaheim NABC proved to be true. Playing in his first NABC Gates, partnered with Sharon Osberg, entering the NABC Mixed Board-A-Match. Besides Osberg, Gates' regular partners include Warren Buffet and Fred Gitelman. Buffet was scheduled to play on Gates' team but was not fully recovered from recent surgery. Gates' appearance attracted media attention, as expected. Celebrity appearances attract media attention to bridge and provide an opportunity for bridge to be showcased to the general public.
At the Goodwill Day reception, Goodwill Committee chairman, Aileen Osofsky, honored the Directors who run the NABCs. Most notably recognized was NY metropolitan area head Director, Sol Weinstein. Besides making sure our Regionals and Sectionals are run properly, Solly often serves as the chief Director at NABCs, and was co-chief Director at Anaheim, along with Doug Grove of Silver Spring MD. Solly's dedication to District 24's tournaments has been invaluable. On a personal note, it has been pleasure interacting with Solly over the past 15+ years.
John Solodar became a Grand Life Master during the Anaheim NABC. The title is earned by players with 10,000 masterpoints and at least one NABC win. John is a world champions (Bermuda Bowl, 1981), and a national champion (LM Men's Pairs, 1968).
Mel Colchimaro suffered a heart attack during the Anaheim NABC, and underwent angioplasty. His team was forced to withdraw from the Spingold after winning its opening match. Nothing stops a bridge player. After being released from the hospital, Mel along with Janet, finished second in the NABC+ Mixed B-A-M Teams.
The newest NABC+ event, the Fast Pairs, ran against the NABC+ Imp Pairs. The Fast Pairs was introduced partially because the IMP Pairs appeared, based on table count, not to be an overly popular event. The Fast Pairs drew only 71 tables, while the Imp Pairs drew 182 tables. Not necessarily a bad showing for the first year, but certainly not a good showing. I didn't believe a Fast Pairs event should be a national event, and I still don't...but at least District 24 players won.
Actions by the ACBL Board of Directors
The most controversial issue was the consideration of the World Bridge Federation's proposed new dues structure, requiring the ACBL to pay approximately $0.56/member starting in 2002. This represented a $0.46/member increase. The WBF's need for increased funds is due, in part, to funding their campaign to bring bridge to the Olympics. Also, while the WBF has a good record of obtaining sponsorship, there has been a decrease in this area recently. The ACBL Board agreed to pay $0.50/member, with some restrictions. This amount is close to the requested amount, but the small difference, as well as the restrictions, may not be acceptable to the WBF. The ACBL representatives to the WBF executive council have their work cut out for them at the WBF meeting in Maastricht.
The ACBL has been running at a $250,000 deficit in 1999 and 2000. Considering this deficit and the expected WBF dues increase, ACBL membership dues have been raised from $30 to $32, starting in 2001.
Starting with next year's spring NABC, the traditional opening night's Charity game will be renamed the Educational Foundation game, with the proceeds going to the ACBL Educational Foundation, rather than the ACBL Charity Foundation. This will increase the funds that the Educational Foundation can use to support various teaching programs.
Units and Districts that advertise their Regionals in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin can now put their Regional ads on the ACBL WebPage without cost.
Except for health related equipment or by permission of the Director-in-Charge, cell phones, audible pages, or other similar communication devices may not be operated in the playing areas during sessions at NABCs. Sponsoring organizations are strongly encouraged to adopt this policy.
The position of ACBL vice-president has been eliminated, by a 13-12 vote. Last year, by a vote of 13-12, the ACBL established the position of ACBL vice-president. Next year…who knows.
The designation of 'expert' was eliminated. Last year the designation was created. There appeared little interest, and record keeping appeared to be a problem. Platinum point, obtained from overall placing in NABC+ events, is retained.
The United States Bridge Federation was created to represent the interests of the United States bridge players. This organization will pursue the United States entering a bridge team into the Olympics.
Management is authorized to require all official District and Unit business to be conducted electronically.
The North American Collegiate Team Championship is reinstated. The early stages will take place on the Internet, with finalist playing for the championship at an NABC.
Internet Activities
The ACBL (www.acbl.org) has formed a licensing partnership with e-bridge (www.e-bridgemaster.com), a privately held international company with offices in Tel Aviv, Israel, and New York City, for an ACBL run online game. It will be available this fall. Both the ACBL Online and e-bridge web sites provide comprehensive material on all aspects of bridge, including worldwide news, bridge columns, hand analysis, chat rooms and bulletin boards, and much more. Check out their web sites.
The MSN Gaming Zone World Computer Bridge Championship, the fourth ACBL hosted World Computer Bridge Championship, will be held in conjunction with the upcoming bridge Olympiad, in Maastricht. I will be running the event. The field is bigger than ever, with 10 entrants from around the world competing.
Check your masterpoint total online. Go to the 'Members' option on the ACBL Home Page at www.acbl.org.
District News
Good Luck to David Berkowitz and Larry Cohen, who will represent the US in the upcoming Bridge Olympiad 2000 in Maastricht. Congratulations to Kent Mignocchi, who earned the right to represent the US in the 2001 World Junior Championships in Brazil.
National Goodwill Committee Chairman, Aileen Osofsky, was re-appointed to another 3-year term. Congratulation to Aileen. Aileen does a tremendous job 'working' our NABCs, as well as working all year long spreading Goodwill.
Gail Greenberg, was appointed chairman of the Hall of Fame committee. Gail is well qualified. Besides being a world and national champion herself, she has served on many national committees.
Roberta Magnus, District president, reports that the District Board has appointed Diana Schuld, Ruth Stober, and Larry Ascher to the ABCL Board of Governors.
Any comments, suggestions, criticisms, e-mail allevy@aol.com
Alvin Levy
631-858-9225
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