DISTRICT 24 Newsletter                    Alvin Levy                              2011.2
published after each NABC

Toronto Summer North American Bridge Championship

The Toronto NABC had mixed reviews.

The table count of 13,914 was slightly higher than expected, but well below the 2001 Toronto summer NABC of 16,080.  Times have changed and recently our NABC attendance has been below expectations, which in turn has been below past similar NABCs.

Toronto is still a very popular city and the attendance, although well below 2001, is well about less popular recent NABC cities.

The two host hotels were within walking distance and there was a bus shuttle running al regular intervals.  However, it was still a problem as some schedules were changed causing confusion and for many who stayed at one hotel and played some events at the other, it was time consuming.  Of course, the city has a lot to offer so for most the positive outweighed the negative. 

NABCs are the place to go to for the bridge enthusiasts.  No where else will you bump into so many of the worlds best players and for the experienced player, a chance to play against the best.  There are special receptions for: teachers; club official; intermediate/newcomers; juniors; national Goodwill members; and patron members.  There are free teaching programs and lectures almost every day.

Youth NABC

The fourth Youth NABC, open to players 19 and younger with fewer than 5000 masterpoints, was held as part of the summer NABC.  More than 100 youngsters from around North America came and had a great time.  The three day happening included many events, lunches, a youth lounge, a Winners' reception and special entertainment.  The winners of the Open competition each receive a $1,000 scholarship from Baron Barclay Bridge Supply.  There was a special section in the Daily Bulletin devotes to the Youth NABC.  Go to the Youth4Bridge website to see all the happenings.  http://www.youth4bridge.org/events/youthnabc/results.php

Collegiate Team Championship

The University of Pennsylvania defeated the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to win their second straight Collegiate Team Championship.  Nine teams qualified to participate.  The event is sponsored by the ACBL Educational Foundation.   

Hall of Fame Receptions

Eric Kokish and Russ Arnold were inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame, emceed by George Jacobs.  At the reception Betty Ann Kennedy was the recipient of the Sidney H. Lazard Jr. Award for Sportsmanship.

The Canadian Bridge Hall of Fame inducted five members at a ceremony emceed by John Carruthers.  The inductees were the late Ralph Cohen, Doug Drew, Diana Gordon, eric kokish and George Mittelman. 

District 24 Players placing high in NABC+ Events...

Morehead Championship Flight Grand National Teams: Joe Grue - Shane Blanchard - Bob Blanchard - Joel Wooldridge - John Hurd - Kevin Bathurst, 3/4. (The winners included some ex-District members...Michael Becker, Warren Spector and David Berkowitz).

Goldman Flight A Grand National Teams: Igor Savchenko - Ljudmila Kamenova - Doug Herron - Bill Begert - Valentin Cariu - Sorin Pleacof, 2nd.

Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs:  Zia Mahmood, 2nd; Chris Willenken - Steve Weinstein, 13th; Marc Nathan, 25th.

Bruce Life Master Pairs (0 - 5000): Jane Dillenberg - Roberta Magnus, 23rd.

Young Life Master Pairs (0-1500): Charles Bilich - Norman Trabulus, 3rd; Ryan Connors - Randi Adelman, 6th; Jess Jurkovic - Peter Clark, 21st.

Wernher Open Pairs:  Scott Levine - John Rengstorff, 22nd.

Wager Women’s KO Teams:  Valerie Westheimer, 2nd.

Fast Pairs:  Jesus Arias - Michael Polowan, 20th; Michael Lipkin, 24th.

Richard Freeman Mixed Board-A-Match Teams: Winthrop Allegaert, WINNER; Sylvia Moss, 4th; Ljudmila Kamenova, 5th; Barry Rigal - Susan Picus, 6th; Cathy Nathan - Marc Nathan, 17th; Joe Grue, 20/21; Michael Gore - Roberta Magnus - Jane Dillenberg, 25/26th.

Roth Open Swiss: Alan Sontag, WINNER; Aaron Silverstein - Andrew Rosenthal - Bjorn Fallenius - Chris Willenken, 2nd; Kevin Bathurst, 11th; Adam Wildavsky, 14th; Benjamin Robles, 16th; Sam Lev, 24th.

Spingold KO Teams:  Zia Mahmood, 2nd; James Cayne, 3/4; Martin Fleisher, 3/4; Roy Welland, 5/8th; Andrew Rosenthal - Aaron Silverstein - Bjorn Fallenius - Chris Willenken, 9/16th; Richard Schwartz, 9/16th; Sam Lev, 9/16th; Kevin Bathurst, 17/32nd; Adam Wildavsky, 17/32nd; Winthrop Allegaert - Bianco, 17/32nd; Uday Ivatury - Christal Henner-Welland, 17/32nd; Barry Rigal, 17/32nd.

Membership and Tournaments

Membership is flat at 165,250, after a number of years of steady increases.

Tournaments and club table count are flat to slightly up compared to last year.

Board Business

The ACBL Board of Directors supports a World Bridge Seriers Championship in 2018 and will provide $100,000 toward the sponsorship of the event.

Online 12-board game awards will be reduced to 60% (from 80%) of a regular game awards.

15th annual World Computer-Bridge Championships

The 15th annual ACBL/WBF World Computer-Bridge Championship will be held October 23-28, as part of the 2011 World Team Championships, held in The Netherlands.  See past years results at www.computerbridge.com