Greater St. Louis Bridge News

Amnesia Double: When you make a lead directing double, forgetting you are going to be on the opening lead.

 April Fool!   A sense of humor is crucial. If you try to fail, and succeed ... which have you done?

Unit 143 Board of Directors re-organized

    Bob Janis, Unit Treasurer, died on February 18. The Board has made the following changes:

    The new Treasurer of the Board of Directors will be Jeff Kopolow (left photo).

    Jane Ettelson (right), who with prior service on the Board for a number of years, has agreed to return to fill the remainder of Bob Janis’ term.
 

Spring NABC results are in.

Tom Oppenheimer and Milt Zlatic placed 17th in the North American Pairs (Flt A). The North American Pairs is a yearly national championship, for which pairs compete at the club, unit and district levels in order to qualify to play in the restricted National Championship. Unlike many other events where you merely have to show up and pay your entry fee, this prestigious event is restricted to the top three winners in each of 25 ACBL Districts. Congratulations, gentlemen!  Also among the winners in the 10-day tournament were 59 players of Unit 143; Tom Kniest won the most masterpoints in the Unit.

199er Championship Tournament

The 199er tournament on March 26, 2011 offered two single session events, open to any player with less than 200 ACBL masterpoints. There were 40.5 tables in the afternoon, even with the forecast of snow. Mike Murphy and Suzi Shoonmaker won first overall A&B; Barbara Brown and Crystal Beuerlein won first overall in C.

We actually had 9.5 tables who came out in the terrible weather for the evening session, being true bridge diehards. The evening overall winners in A,B,&C were Linda Litton and Marilyn Simmons from Columbia and Fulton MO. This was a nice win for them as they faced a two-hour drive home in the tough weather.

Jane Ettelson and Lee Hastings, tourney co-chairpersons, praised their colleagues for their invaluable help. Said Jane: “Lee and I appreciated the hard work of the volunteers, Jackie Baker, Bill Bunn, and Carl Clyne -- as well as the directors, Donna Coker (left photo) and Mark Ehret (right), who made the tournament run smoothly. The catering by Sandy Springer was a huge success with many positive comments.
 

In pursuit of silver and glory

The Winter StaC Week in District 8 provided lots of fun. Many Unit 143 players placed in the district-level overall awards. Of special note are the three pairs who posted 70+% games: Carol Hamilton and Norman Athy, Sheldon Margulis & Sue Perez, and Kenny Bland & Rod Beery. Below are those players who were FIRST in the District.

Advances in rank

Unit 143 now has 1151 members: about 53% below 100 masterpoints, 17% above 100 MPs but not yet Life Masters, 25% Life Masters who are not yet gold LM, and 4% gold LM or above. Well-deserved congratulations go to the following players who have advanced in rank, as of April 1, 2011.

Upcoming tournaments

May 13-15, 2011:  Spring Sectional, Blanchette Park (St Charles)  

August 8-14, 2011:  Gateway to the West Regional, Renaissance Hotel (next to airport)

September 24, 2011:  199er Championship Tournament, Maryland Heights

Oct 14-16, 2011: Fall Sectional, Blanchette Park (St Charles