November 18 - November 27, 2001 75th Fall North American Bridge Championships Las Vegas,Nevada DailyDailyVol. 75, No. 4 Thursday, NovemberBulletinBulletin 22, 2001 Editors: Henry Francis and Paul Linxwiler The Open Board-a-Match Teams was decided by Meltzer wins Open BAM in photothe narrowest finish of margins — .01 — as the reigning Ber- muda Bowl champions captained by Rose Meltzer held on to claim victory in the two-day event. The team of Meltzer, Kyle Larsen, Peter Weichsel, Alan Sontag, Lew Stansby and Chip Martel posted a final score of 40.08 to squeak past the international squad of George Jacobs, Ralph Katz, Alfredo Versace, Lorenzo Lauria, Giorgio Duboin and Norberto Bocchi. The Jacobs team scored 40.07. Two other teams were also extremely close. In third with 39.29 was the squad of David Lehman, Dick Melson, Sharon Osberg and Mark Feldman. The fourth- place team of Richard Schwartz, Michael Becker, Larry Cohen, David Berkowitz, Michael Rosenberg and Zia Mahmood scored 39.11. In what was one of the closest finishes ever in an NABC event, the top four teams finished less than one Open BAM winners, from left: Kyle Larsen, Alan Sontag, Peter Weichsel, Rose Meltzer, Chip Martel and Lew Stansby. board apart. The squad of HjordisEythorsdottir Eythorsdottir, Valerie team takes Womens BAM Westheimer, Rozanne Pollack and Carol Simon outscored a powerful field to claim victory in the four- session Women’s Board-a-Match Teams. The foursome led throughout much of the two-session final. The winners posted a final tally of 35.90 to finish a half board ahead of the powerhouse squad of Lynn Deas, Beth Palmer, Kerri Sanborn, Irina Levitina, Randi Montin and Jill Meyers who scored 35.40. In third with 34.10 was the team of Petra Hamman, Joan Jackson, Mildred Breed, Shawn Quinn, Judi Radin and Sylvia Moss. The winners scored 18.5 out of 27 in the afternoon session and 16.5 out of 24 in the evening session. The back-to-back nearly-69% sessions lifted the team to the win. The members of the Eythorsdottir’s team have each previously won multiple NABC events. Forty teams participated in the final. Women's BAM winners, from left: Carol Simon, Rozanne Pollack, Valerie Westheimer and Hjordis Eythorsdottir. Senior Knockouts Goodwill Committee Matthews is Caddy meeting tomorrow Eightquarterfinals teams advanced to action today in today’s Senior TheMaster, job of staffing Step and supervising Mom the small army Pavilions 3 and 4 Knockouts. The only upset in yesterday’s matches was Goodwill Committee members are urged to attend. of caddies that are necessary to run a successful NABC the contest between the #3 seed, the team captained by is a daunting task, which is why the ACBL relies Gary Yant, and the #14 seed, led by Ed Lazarus. Lazarus heavily on the experience of Jackie Matthews. ousted Yant 155–39 in three quarters of play. Matthews is a tournament director whose task at The #5 seed, Harris, trailed throughout the first half the NABCs for the past 16 years has been to train, of its match with #12, Hardy, but came back in the 54 foreigners made organize, support and even play step-mom to the doz- second half to win 156–100. ens of young men and women who serve as NABC Today’s matches are #1 Budd vs. #8 Weed, #4 As theOpen results were BAM processed final for the qualifiers in caddies. Bennett vs. #5 Harris, #3 Lazarus vs. #6 Gabriel and the Open Board-a-Match Teams, it was discovered that “We try to make it fun for them,” said Matthews, #2 Levine vs. #7 Onstott. a record-breaking number of foreign players made the who likens the caddies she’s known over the years to final. Altogether there were 54 players from 14 coun- an extended family. tries outside ACBLand. “I feel like I’ve raised many of these kids, because When we asked a few people which country they a lot of them work at the NABCs for several years in a thought had the most, the answers usually were Po- row and I get to see them three times a year.” Attendance racing land, Italy and Sweden. Wrong! The biggest contin- Many of the caddies at the North American cham- gent was from England – 13. The next largest was from pionships work at the events because their parents play Total atattendance record through yesterday,pace excluding Iceland – eight. the game. The caddy job is a win-win scenario for par- midnight games, totaled 7797.5 tables, almost 2000 Other nations: Italy 6, Sweden 5, Poland 4, Nor- ents and their teenaged children. Parents don’t have tables per day. Las Vegas 2001 appears to be a lock way 4, Turkey 4, China 3, Russia 2, Australia 2, France to worry about where their children are, it gives the to set the record for the Fall NABC. Las Vegas al- 1, Ireland 1, Israel 1. kids something to do to keep them occupied and they ready holds the records for both the Spring and the It was quite a surprise to see no one from Japan Summer championships. since there are more than 30 Japanese playing at this Continued on page 5 tournament. Page 2 Daily Bulletin SPECIAL EVENTS How an expert Piotr Gawrysfigures and Jacek the Pszczola hand won the four-ses- 12:15 p.m. Intermediate/NewcomerThursday, Speakers November Program: Jim 22, Priebe, 2001 Thinking on Defense. Pavilion 9. sion Life Master Open Pairs that ended Monday Priebe, Mississauga ON, is now retired and devotes his time to writing, playing golf and evening. It was the first NABC victory for each, al- together with Joan, his wife of 45 years, playing as much bridge as possible. 7:15 p.m. Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Bruce Reeve, Conan, the Convention Destroyer. though they have multiple wins in high-level interna- Pavilion 9. Reeve, Raleigh NC, is District 7’s representative to the ACBL Board of Directors. tional events. He is a Diamond Life Master and an ACBL Accredited Teacher. Here are the Poles in action on Board 1 of the first final session: Dlr: North « K Q J 4 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Easybridge!Friday, accreditation November with Easybridge! creator23, 2001 Edith McMullin, Easybridge! Field Vul: None ª A Q J 3 Coordinator Marti Ronemus and the Easybridge! staff. Conference Rooms 4 and 5. (Stage A 9 8 5 2 in the morning, lunch break, Stage B in the afternoon.) Accreditation is free. $20 covers © ¨ 6 course materials. 6 2 A 9 8 3 10:00 a.m. - Noon MiniBridge Seminar, Conference Room 14. Teachers: learn about this handy tool as a « « 9 8 7 K 10 6 4 2 precursor to your regular lesson programs. It’s especially great for students who are new to cards. ª ª 10:00 a.m. - Noon Recorder Seminar, Executive Boardroom. Designed for recorders at all levels and with any © K Q J © A 4 amount of experience, this free seminar will be conducted by ACBL Recorder Richard Colker. ¨ K Q 10 5 3 ¨ 4 2 12:15 p.m. Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Edith McMullin, Leads vs. Suit Contracts. Pavilion 9. « 10 7 5 McMullin, Silver Spring MD, is the creator of Easybridge! and the ACBL I/N program. ª 5 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Goodwill Reception, Pavilions 3 and 4. (Open to Goodwill Committee members only.) © 10 7 6 3 7:15 p.m. Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Alan LeBendig, The Balancing Act. Pavilion 9. ¨ A J 9 8 7 LeBendig, Los Angeles, is the District 23 representative to the ACBL Board of Directors. He West North East South is an ACBL Grand Life Master and the co-owner of Barrington Bridge Club. Pszczola Gawrys 1© 1ª 3© (1) 3 All Pass 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. Easybridge!Saturday, presenters’ breakfast November and meeting 24,with Easybridge! 2001 creator Edith McMullin and ª the Easybridge! staff. Conference Rooms 4 and 5. (1) Preemptive raise. 9:00 a.m. - Noon Bridge Cruises and Teachers. Conference Room 12. Peg Cundiff, popular host of many South led the ©6 (third- and fifth-best leads). De- bridge cruises, will present a program for persons who want to learn how to be a successful clarer, Gawrys, paused to consider the inferences avail- teacher/ game director on a cruise ship. The fee is $25 at the door. Participants will receive a able from the auction and the opening lead. certificate. The ©6 looked very much like third-best, suggesting 9:30 a.m. - Noon Board of Governors meeting. Pavilions 3 and 4. that South had led from a four-card suit. Since South made 10:30 a.m. - Noon International Team Trials Commission meeting. Conference Room 11. a preemptive raise in diamonds, North was more likely to 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Easybridge! accreditation with Easybridge! creator Edith McMullin, Easybridge! Field hold length in the majors (South didn’t bid 1« or make a Coordinator Marti Ronemus and the Easybridge! staff. Conference Rooms 4 and 5. (Stage A negative double). With diamonds likely 4–4, North was first, followed by a break and Stage B.) Accreditation is free. $20 covers course materials. marked for club shortness. If the diamond trick were won 12: 15 p.m. Intermediate/Newcomer Speakers Program: Larry Cohen, The Real Deal. Pavilion 9. Cohen, in dummy in order to play a trump toward the closed hand, Boca Raton FL, is an ACBL Grand Life Master, regular columnist for The Bridge Bulletin and the author of To Bid or Not to Bid: The Law of Total Tricks.