Sunday, August 11, 2013 Volume 85, Number 10 Daily Bulletin 85th North American Bridge Championships Editors: Brent Manley and Paul Linxwiler WBF officials: ‘We can’t rest’ Polish team rallies in effort to promote youth bridge for Spingold berth Looking back on the Rona said the WBF was vs Grue 3rd World Youth Open especially grateful to ACBL The Polish team calling themselves Bridge 24, Bridge Championships, District 7 and the Mid- trailing by 22 IMPs with a quarter to go, stormed two of the central figures Atlanta Bridge Conference. from behind with a 69-32 set against the Andrew in the organization of the With Barbara Heller Gromov squad to make it to the final of the Spingold eight-day championship coordinating the effort, Knockout Teams. say that, despite some ups those two entities supplied Bridge 24 will face the team captained by Joe and downs, the tournament all the food, entertainment Grue, 138-105 winners over Richard Schwartz and in Atlanta was successful. and other amenities for the company. In the end, they said, competitors. Originally seeded at No. 39, Bridge 24 is Jacek the outcome is judged The Atlanta Kalita, Michael Nowosadski, Rafal Jagniewski and by whether the players championship Wojciech Gawel. Kalita has been regular at NABCs Gianarrigo Rona Ata Aydin enjoyed the experience. was organized with in recent years, but the others are not well known on “The players are having a good time,” said the cooperation and this side of the Atlantic. World Bridge Federation President Gianarrigo Rona support of the ACBL and the United States Bridge Gromov played with Aleksander Dubinin, with two days to go in the tournament. Federation and with the additional support of ACBL Norberto Bocchi, Agustin Madala, Krzysztof Buras Ata Aydin, chairman of the WBF Youth District 9 (Florida) and sponsorship from Turner and Grzegorz Narkiewicz. Committee, added that the goal of the tournament Broadcasting Systems and The Common Game. Gromov, the No. 6 seed, cruised into the organizers is to give the players the experience of The WBF president noted that the Youth semifinals with an average margin of victory of 120 good competition and the chance to build friendships. tournament is not a stepchild in the WBF hierarchy of IMPs in four matches. They started with a 40-14 first “In those terms,” Aydin said, “the championships championship events. “We consider the tournament a quarter against Bridge 24 and led 66-43 at the half. were very successful.” main event,” he said, “not a minor event.” It was 95-73 for Gromov, who could not hold off the Aydin said the tournament in Atlanta had more To that end, he said, the young players enjoyed Polish team. participation by players younger than 16 than either the same technological services – e.g., electronic Grue is playing with Les Amoils, Brad Moss, of the other two (in 2009 and 2011). In 2015, he said, scoring and big-screen display of results and Thomas Bessis, Peter Bertheau and Jacob Morgan. there will probably be a category for players younger standings – that the other championships have. The team won every quarter against the Schwartz than 16. continued on page 5 squad: Allan Graves, Boye Brogeland, Espen Lindqvist, Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz. Jim Miller heading for retirement – sort of At one time in his life, Jim Miller thought he century,” says CEO Robert Street leads Open might make a living playing bridge. “I would have Hartman. “He has been been a good pro,” he says. “I have the temperament a mentor to me about the Swiss quals for it.” He also had enough success in bridge to give governance aspects of my The team captained by Paul Street topped the him confidence in himself. job, and he knows more field in the opening round of the Roth Open Swiss In the end, though, he decided to go to college about the laws of bridge Teams. Street is playing with Barnet Shenkin, Israelis “and join the real world.” than anyone.” Dror Padon–Alon Birman and Danes Morton Bilde– That does not mean, however, that bridge didn’t Miller grew up in Dennis Bilde. The Street team scored 122 victory eventually become his livelihood – just in a different a small town in central points in the qualifying sessions. way. Nebraska, moving with In second with 119 VPs are Doug Doub of West At the end of this month, Miller will retire from the family – his father was Hartford CT, Adam Wildavsky of Longboat Key the ACBL after 24 years of doing a variety of jobs, doing his residency as FL, Richard Reitman of Los Gatos CA and Michael the most recent being National Recorder. an ob-gyn doctor – to Minnesota and North Dakota Schreiber of Memphis TN. Miller, 67, will continue his association with before settling in Greeley CO. The third place spot is held by “Team Monaco,” the ACBL as a consultant and will be a presence at After graduating from high school in Greeley, the multi-national squad of Pierre Zimmermann, NABCs. He just won’t be driving from his home in Miller went back to Minnesota to attend Carleton Franck Multon, Fulvio Fantoni, Claudio Nunes, Tor Olive Branch MS to ACBL Headquarters in Horn College. He planned to major in chemistry and Helness and Geir Helgemo. Their score is 116 VPs. Lake MS five days a week. physics. “Jim has served the ACBL for nearly a quarter continued on page 5 We want your photo! See page 2 for deatils. Meckstroth leads Player of the Year Jeff Meckstroth has Flight of the Grand National Teams and 80 for his WBF reports inside earned the most platinum squad’s performance in the Spingold KO — giving Today and through the end of the tournament, points thus far in 2013, him a total of 460. But two members of the one of the middle four pages of the Daily Bulletin include making the many-time the squads in the final of the Spingold KO can catch reporting from the World Youth Open Bridge national and world him: Sweden’s Peter Bertheau and France’s Thomas Championships. champion the leader in Bessis. After the Spring NABC, Bertheau and Bessis the Player of the Year each had 222 platinum points, but a win in the contest. Depending on the Spingold would give the duo (members of Joe Grue’s winner of today’s final of team) an additional 250, giving the partners just over the Spingold Knockout 470 each, enough to top Meckstroth. Goodwill Message Teams, however, as well Even if the Grue team wins, Meckstoth can still as how Meckstroth’s team maintain the lead in the Player of the Year race with It is nice to be important but more important to performs in the Roth Open Swiss Teams, two players any decent showing in the Roth Open Swiss, which be nice. could surpass his current total. pays platinum masterpoints for dozens of the top Sandy DeMartino, Goodwill Chair At the Spring NABC in St. Louis, Meckstroth finishers. earned almost 280 platinum points, awarded only The Player of the Year contest will officially draw ATTENDANCE for the very tough NABC+ events. In Atlanta, to a close with the completion of the Fall NABC in Meckstroth has already scooped up 180 platinum Phoenix. 11,841 tables points — 100 for his win in the Championship Page 2 Sunday, August 11, 2013 Daily Bulletin SPECIAL EVENTS MEETINGS / SEMINARS / RECEPTIONS Sunday, August 11 TBA Peter Pender Memorial Vugraph Theater. Regency VII, LL1 Tricks of the trade NABC Slideshow By Barry Rigal The Atlanta planning committee is putting together a slideshow of the overall winners of Dlr: South ♠ J 2 tournament events. We will take pictures of overall Vul: N-S ♥ K Q J 5 winners in the Prize Room located on the Exhibit ♦ Q 10 9 2 Level, two floors below the main lobby. The Prize ♣ A 10 2 Room will be open each day between 9:15-9:50 ♠ A Q 10 6 4 ♠ 9 7 5 a.m., 2-2:50 p.m. and 6:30-7:20 p.m. We need both ♥ A 9 4 ♥ 10 8 7 3 partners from a pair and/or all members of a team to ♦ K J 7 ♦ A 6 3 come to the prize room for the picture if they are the ♣ 7 5 ♣ K 6 4 overall winners of an event. The slideshow will be on ♠ K 8 3 display on the Exhibit Level and will include other ♥ 6 2 tournament information and presentations you won’t ♦ 8 5 4 want to miss. ♣ Q J 9 8 3 Second in the Wernher Open Pairs: Jim Foster West North East South Restaurant information and Larry Sealy. Please note that two restaurants – White Oak Nilssen Leong and Max Lager’s – do not accept the $5 restaurant Pass coupons nor offer a discount with your convention 1♠ Dbl Pass 2♣ The bridge game card. Pass Pass 2♠ All Pass By Richard Bagnetto Deep Finesse suggests that West can make nine The game was already quite under way tricks, but he had better guess the play well. When I heard someone, at bridge, heard him say, Convention card reminder Ulf Nilssen, playing with Eric Leong, declared “I bid seven notrump,” then there was a rumble. Each player is required to have a convention 2♠ on the ♥K lead, South encouraging with the ♥6. I heard a response in a sort of a mumble. card filled out legibly and on the table throughout a Nilssen tried the effect of dropping the ♥9 – and it “Double!” “Redouble!” Yes, who had the nerve? session.