DISTRICT 24 NEWSLETTER…….Alvin Levy……………………Volume 06.2
Published after each NABC

Chicago summer NABC
Chicago is a popular city (one that attracts tourists, and a city that our bridge players would greatly enjoy), and the attendance at the summer NABC reflected that.  Even though the room block was too low and many players either stayed at expensive hotels not near the playing area or stayed away altogether, the table count was as expected at 13,373.  The playing area was generally good, with well lit rooms for the NABC+ events and not so well lit rooms in the basement were most of the Regional events were held.

The locals put on a good show every night and had many excursions for those that wanted to take some time touring the city and its many attractions.  Chicago should be on our A list for future NABCs.

table count for recent NABCs

D&O Insurance Policy for all Units and Districts
The ACBL has purchased a general policy that covers all Units and Districts.  Units can participate, free of cost to them, by simply submitting a simple application.  The insurance is both a general D&O policy and a policy that covers the actions of the Unit and District committees.

Hall of Fame Banquet
The Hall inducted four members during Thursday's Hall of Fame dinner.
The honorees:
Michael Becker, the only living player to be honored.
S. Garton Churchill was the recipient of the von Zedtwitz award for contributions to the game from an expert player.
Richard Goldberg received the Blackwood award for contributions not necessarily by a champions player.
In addition to the inductees, Ralph Cohen, who died this June, was honored as the recipient of the Sidney H. Lazard Jr. award for sportsmanship.

District 24 shined in NABC+ Events, as usual

Grand National Teams – Flight B: Mark Dean - Doug Herron - Peter Bonfanti - Daniel Wilderman, 5/8^th.

Life Master Pairs (six sessions) – Bjorn Fallenius, 1^st; Martin Fleisher, 2^nd; Richard Schwartz, 6^th; John Kranyak - John Hurd, 11^th; Michael Polowan, 19^th.

LM-5000 Pairs – Elliott Grubman - Ava Grubman, 4^th; Shelley Fishman - Frank Allison, 9^th; David Maidman - Marin Marinov, 19^th.

LM-1500 Pairs - Alan Levine - Marjorie Levine, 4^th.

Open Pairs (4 sessions) – Margie Gwozdzinsky, 15^th; Art Brodsky - Bob Gwirtzman, 19^th.

Fast Pairs –  Adam Wildavsky, 2^nd; Michael Polowan, 4^th; Chris Willenken,9th; Aaron Silverstein - Judith Bianco, 11^th.

Mixed Board-A-Match Teams – Richard Schwartz - Margie Gwozdzinsky, 2nd; Gail Greenberg, 5^th; Jacqui Mitchell, 6^th; Barry Rigal - Susan Picus, 7^th; Martin Fleisher, 16^th.

Women’s KO Teams - Judi Radin - Sylvia Moss, 1^st; Jill Levin - Debbie Rosenberg, 3/4^th.

Mini Spingold 0-5000 – Ava Grubman - Elliott Grubman, 3/4^th; Kelley Hwang, 3/4^th.

Open Swiss Teams – Christal Henner-Welland - Roy Welland - Bjorn Fallenius, 1^st; Michael Polowan - Chris Willenken, 7^th; John Fout, 8^th; Richard Schwartz - Jim Krekorian, 10^th; R Jay Becker, 16^th; David Maidman - Marin Marinov, 17^th.

Spingold KO Teams – Jimmy Cayne, 2^nd; Zia Mahmood - Michael Rosenberg - Steve Weinstein - Bobby Levin, 3/4^th; Joe Grue, 3/4th; John Fout, 5/8^th; Brad Moss, 9/16th; Michael Moss - Bjorn Fallenius, 9/16^th.

Bjorn Fallenius won the Fishbein Trophy, given to the player who wins the most masterpoints at the summer NABC.  Bjorn earned 365 masterpoints for winning two NABC+ titles and making it to the round of 16 in the Spingold KOs.

Board Actions

Sharon Fairchild, from Rocky River, Ohio, representing District 5, was elected ACBL President for 2007.

The Code of Disciplinary Regulations was modified to read, in part, Units have jurisdiction over
2.1.1 (d) Persons participating in a club sponsored ACBL sanctioned event held within the Unit’s geographical boundaries relating to complaints of alleged cheating by use of signals, other unauthorized information, other forms of cheating, or serious breaches of ethics. [Note: this does not include behavior issues]

2.1.6   Except for ACBL Management in accordance with CDR 2.2.5, none of the disciplinary bodies noted in CDR 2.2 has jurisdiction over the club’s manager or staff based on actions taken in pursuit of their club activities unless the action is brought by ACBL Management in accordance with CDR 2.2.1 (c).

Proposed new ACBL Foundation: A motion to request the members of the Charity Foundation and the Educational Foundation (the ACBL Board of Directors) to meet in a special session to discuss the combining of the two foundations into a single Foundation passed 14-10.  This new “combined” Foundation shall fund educational, charitable, social, scientific and historical endeavors that either promote bridge or are for the benefit of bridge players.

Minimum Age for Senior Events:  A motion to raise the minimum age to be able to play in an ACBL senior event to sixty years (from 55) was defeated, 17-8.

Gender Events: A motion to eliminate gender exclusive events at NABCs, with the exception of Mixed Pairs and Mixed BAM, was defeated, 19-6.

Appeals Committees for NABC+ events:  A motion to eliminate Appeals Committees for NABC+ events and refer all NABC+ appeals to Tournament Directors Panels in a manner similar to Regional Appeals hearings, was defeated 13-12.