New Orleans Summer North American Bridge Championship

It is a marvel how the so-many local volunteers throughout ACBLand greatly help bridge grow and prosper.  It is most visible at NABCs, where the local Unit/District organization(s) organize and run so many of the activities, including late night food and entertainment.  This NABC was no exception, as the locals put on a great show in New Orleans.

Attendance was not good, with the table count at 10,995, below expectations and over 3,000 tables less than last year's summer NABC in Washington D.C., and lower than the lowest NABC summer attendance since 1999 (1999 San Antonio NABC at 12,281 tables).  This was no doubt partially due to the lower tourist travel in the areas affected by the recent gulf oil spill.

Youth NABC

District 24 Players place high in NABC+ Events

Flight B Grand National Teams:  District 24's team of Ryan Connors - Maria Tspokalas - Randi Adelman - Stephannie Russo finished 3/4th.

Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs:  Joe Grue, 4th;  Alan Sontag, 5th; Zia Mahmood, 7th; Winthrop Allegaert, 8th; Michael Rosenberg, 9th; Glenn Milgrim, 15th; Gail Greenberg - Jeff Hand, 18th; Michael Polowan - Jared Lilienstein, 19th; Martin Fleisher, 23rd.

Bruce LM (0 - 1500) Pairs:  Ted Newman - Cordelia Menges, 20th.

Truscott Senior Swiss:  Mel Colchamiro, 2nd; Melih Ozdil, 3rd; R Jay Becker, 4th; Jeff Hand - Gail Greenberg, 9th; Steven Zlotnick - Michael Gore, 13th. 

Wernher Open Pairs:  Michael Moss, 11th; Josh Sher, 19th.

Wager Women’s KO Teams:  Valerie Westheimer, 2nd; Debbie Rosenberg, 3/4th; Sylvia Moss - Judi Radin - Migry Zur Campanile, 3/4th; Susan Picus, 5/8th; 

Fast Pairs:  Adam Wildavsky, 7th; Zia Mahmood, 12th; Martin Fleisher, 17th.

Richard Freeman Mixed Board-A-Match Teams: Migry Zur Campanile, 4th; Debbie Rosenberg, 5th; Justine Cushing - Melih Ozdil - Erez Hendelman, 9th; Richard Schwartz - G. Margie Gwozdzinsky, 10th; Michael Rosen - Jeff Hand - Cynthia Colin - Sandrea Friedman, 12th; Barry Rigal - Susan Picus,, 13th; John Hurd, 14th; Josh Sher, 20/21th.

Roth Open Swiss: Martin Fleisher, 1st; Adam Wildavsky - Michael Polowan, 2nd; Mel Colchamiro, 3rd; Debbie Rosenberg, 4th; Joe Grue, 5th; Aaron Silverstein - Andrew Rosenthal - Chris Willenken - Michael Rosenberg, 6th; Zia Mahmood, 10th; Barry Rigal, 14th; Judith Bianco - Winthrop Allegaert, 16th; Richard Schwartz, 19th; Michael Moss, 24th.

Spingold:  Alan Sontag, 2nd; Jim Krekorian, James Cayne, 3/4th; 5/8th; Bjorn Fallenius, 5/8th; Michael Polowan, Zia Mahmood, 9/16th; Martin Fleisher Steve Weinstein, 9/16th; Christal Henner-Welland - Roy Welland, 9/16th; Sam Lev, 9/16th; Winthrop Allegaert, 9/16th; Michael Polowan, 9/16th.

Membership and Tournaments

Membership continues to climb, and stands at 165,500, up 5,000 from this time last year.

Tournaments and club table count are up slightly overall from this time last year. The 2009 tournament and club table counts are: Regionals, 174,500; Sectionals, 161,500; STaCs, 107,500; club games, 2,260,000 and online club games, 584,200.

Cooperative Advertising Program

The Cooperative Advertising Program, which subsidizes advertising by clubs, Units and teachers for beginner/newcomer ad campaigns, continues to be utilized, with 375 grants in 2009.  Teachers and Clubs should take advantage of this program.  For more information click here.

Board Business

The Executive Committee of the board approved the site of the Fall 2016 and 2022 NABCs.  They will be held at the Swan & Dolphin, Orlando.  The dates are November 24 - December 4, 2016 and November 24 - December 4, 2022.

The Technology Committee reported on many projects.  One notable successful project is the ability for a club to report their daily results online, for free, through the ACBL website.  There are many other features added recently to the ACBL website.  You can now search for major winners of NABC+ events.  You can search for club locations by mileage ranges and zip codes.  You can view video clips of Hall of Fame members.  The Youth was redesigned.  Come explore all the features at www.acbl.org

For Units and clubs to consider...Repeating a motion passed last year...In stratiflighted and limited pair and team events, once the flight of  pair or team is determined, stratification within each fight may be based, at sponsor option, on the average masterpoint holding of the pair or team.  In stratified events the stratification of a pair or team may be based, at sponsor option, on the average masterpoint holding of the pair or team.  This options may be exercised in both club and unit games and tournaments, but not in qualifying events.

The board meets for four days, usually just before the start of each NABC, first in committees, and then in full board session where official business is conducted and board motions are voted on.  Most motions that come before the board are submitted well in advance of the meeting and discussed by board members through a web board.  The process is very thorough.  In the end many motions are defeated, many are altered before passing and some are deferred. For the first time I am including all the motions considered at an ACBL board meeting, even if many are of little interest to the most players, or to Unit and District officials.

The Appeals and Charges Committee deals with Disciplinary hearings that come before the ACBL board, and in New Orleans, discussed a number of amendments to the Code of Disciplinary Regulations (CDR) involving disciplinary procedures at tournaments, the changes carried unanimously [by the full board.]

The Bridge Committee dealt with: eliminating the pre-alert of undisciplined preempts, and referred the matter to the Competition and Convention Committee, to be considered as part of the upcoming modification to the alert procedure, carried [by the full board] 22-3; establishing the designation of Flight A to all Life Masters who win a two-session Regional unrestricted Open event, failed 23-1-1; amending the General Convention Chart to include defense to natural notrump opening bids and overcalls, except direct calls other than double, two clubs and two diamonds must have at least one known suit; failed 15-10; under General Conditions of Contest, unless instructed otherwise by a tournament director, a member of each side must be present and seated before cards are removed from a board, carried unanimously; the three appointees made by the Chairman of the Board of Governors to serve on the Competition and Convention Committee have voting rights on said committee, failed 23-2; eligibility for overall awards in a STaC, or any event across more than one club, namely, to be eligible the minimum number of boards played is set at 20, carried unanimously; General Conditions of Contest for the Mini-Spingold Flight I and II, namely the Flight II (0-1500) event will last no longer than five days, carried 19-6, and conventions for Flight I (0-5000) are per the ACBL Mid-Chart and for Flight II are per the ACBL General Chart, carried unanimously; amending the Conditions of Contest for the national level North American Pairs events so that approximately 50% of the original field qualify (rather than the current CoC in which 28 pairs qualify) for the two-session final, carried 24-1; a recommendation for two-session Swiss Teams round robin when four to nine teams are entered, carried unanimously; a GNT Condition of Contest for District Finals, namely, for one team entered, no overall award, for 2 teams entered 1 overall award, and for 3-4 teams entered 1 overall award, for more 5 or more teams, as currently specified, or if any phase is a KO, the depth of award is as specified for a KO event of the same size as the original number of district final entries, carried 20-5.

The Finance Committee worked on the yearly budget and dealt with only one motion before it, a motion dealing with per diem for ACBL tournament Directors working in Canada, deferred to the fall 2010 NABC, 24-1.

The Governance Committee dealt with: changes to the Hall of Fame Committee operating procedures, namely, which NABC+ events are considered important for election to the HoF, and the qualifications of the electors, the changes were carried [by the full board] unanimously; summaries of oral reports given by committee chairs, namely, such reports will be included in board meeting minutes, carried, 24-1; the national Goodwill Committee name, namely, the name of the "ACBL Goodwill Committee" shall be changed to the "Aileen Osofsky ACBL Goodwill Committee," carried unanimously.

The Special Events Committee considered: establishing a four-session NABC Senior Mixed Pairs at the Fall NABC, to be held Wednesday and Thursday, carried 23-2; terminating the right for the United States Bridge Federation to hold a Regional, failed 20-5; allowing only the ACBL to sponsor or conduct a Regional at Sea, deferred with a moratorium on review of future sanctions requests received after July 19, 2010, carried 13-12.

The Tournament Committee considered: a motion that specified specific penalties for clubs that do not comply with the regulation to not hold upgraded fund games when there is a Regional or Sectional within 25 miles, failed 22-1-2; regulations of videotaping by the Recorder, namely removing the requirement that the ACBL CEO must approve the Recorder's decision to videotape, carried 24-1; amending slow play regulations, consideration of the proposed changes were deferred to the Fall NABC unanimously; naming the Mixed BAM Team trophy the Richard Freeman Mixed Board-A-Match Teams, carried unanimoulsy; changing the starting times at the 2012 summer NABC in Philadelphia to 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.* (* plus or minus 30 minutes) (instead of 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.), with the 2nd sessions of NABC+ events starting 30 minutes after the regional events, carried 19-5-1; the Condition of Contest for the 0- 5000 Blue Ribbon Pairs be amended to make it a Mid-Chart event, carried unanimoulsy; charging the ACBL president with appointing a committee to discuss the entire structure by which masterpoints are awarded, carried 21-4; a number of changes to Sectional Tournament scheduling and allocations submitted by a special committee appointed to review the matter, the changes carried unanimously; a number of changes to Regional tournament scheduling and allocations submitted by a special committee appointed to review the matter, the change carried 24-1; a requirment that tournament entry fees at ACBL sanctioned tournaments shall not be contigent upon purchase of any other good or service, failed 21-4; a requirement that entry fees at sanctioned tournaments be available for purchase on a per event basis for pairs and on a per-match basis for teams, failed 24-1.

2010 World Championships to be held in Philadelphia, October 1-16

The 2010 World Bridge Series Championships will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, October 1-16.  All events: are open, that is there are no qualification requirements other than to be approved by you National Bridge Organization; are transnational, that is, pairs and teams can be composed of players from different countries; and carry World titles.  For WBSC schedules, housing, and additional information please click on the following links:
WBF, USBF and Brochure. 

14th annual World Computer-Bridge Championships

The 14th annual ACBL/WBF World Computer-Bridge Championship will be held October 10-15, as part of the 2010 WBSC.  See past years results at www.computerbridge.com