ACBL Director's Report
ACBL Director's ReportHoliday Greetings to all. I always joke that bridge work doesn’t exist for me between Thanksgiving and New Year’s and that almost came true. I forgot to write my column until December 5.
The most interesting thing to tell you about is the change in CEOs. Jay Baum stepped down as CEO in November and Robert Hartman took up the mantle. I wish Jay the best in his retirement next year and hope that Bob does as well as he did. I enjoyed getting to know Robert and his partner in Seattle and have high hopes for the future
Tournaments are fine, membership is holding steady and we think income will exceed expenses by about $250,000 more than budgeted this year. We plan to operate at a loss of about $118,000 next year due to some non-recurring expenses. The only fee going up next year is the charge for tournament directors, which goes up approximately 4 percent but still does not meet their actual cost to the ACBL.
Sharon Anderson was elected President of the ACBL for next year. Sharon has a lot of experience in transitions of power and easing the process for boards of directors back from the days when she got paid for all the work she does, and I think she is a perfect choice for next year. I believe it was this specialized experience and training that allowed her to win the election over Bill Arlinghaus, another very hardworking member of the board.
Bruce Blakely and I were elected to the two vacant positions as representatives to the World Bridge Federation. I was very happy to be re-elected.
Gregory Johnson, the bridge-playing astronaut, was elected honorary member of the year. He has frequently gone out of his way to promote bridge, speaking at junior receptions, doing news conferences, and even taking a playing card into space with him. This was a wonderful choice.
The Board of Governors asked us to reconsider the decision made in Toronto wherein the board failed to pass a motion eliminating entry fees at the National finals of the GNTs. I was a co-sponsor of that motion and voted for it the first time, but I did not do so in the reconsideration vote. I have been part of email discussions with other GNT and NAP coordinators for the last four months (I was unable to attend their meeting in Seattle when they switched the date from November 26 to November 29) and I am no longer convinced this is the best way to encourage attendance at the GNTs. I at least wanted to hear what came out of the Seattle meeting before deciding which programs to finance.
We spent over two hours (nothing compared to the time spent developing the formula) in full board discussions about the change to "Strength of Field" for determining masterpoint awards for pair events, then decided to defer the matter to the next board meeting. If any of you know about this issue and have an opinion, I would really like to hear from you before the next meeting. I have talked to Rick Beye and Chris Patrias about it, and none of us have strong opinions about it yet.
Changes were made to the requirements to attain rankings after Life Master. These changes only apply to people who made Life Master after 1989, and no one will lose their current ranking because of these changes. In fact, you get grandfathered in under the old requirements for your next rank change before the new rules apply. Requirements for certain pigmented points have been added to the total point requirement.
I probably should have led with this one: Online masterpoints count fully for rank advancements, effective January 1, 2012. The one-third restriction has been removed.
A motion was passed limiting the Grand Life Master rank to members who have not been expelled or suspended for more than 120 days. I voted against this motion, not because I am a bleeding heart liberal, but because I didn’t think it went far enough. I thought the ban should be absolute. The motion passed contains a method for reconsideration after a rehabilitative period.
The alert chart was amended to remove the requirement to alert a cheapest club bid over a natural notrump opener or overcall when it asks for a 4-card or longer major suit. Rebids by the notrump bidder which are different from standard (Puppet Stayman, for example) remain alertable. Also, an opening 1C bid with a 4-4-3-2 pattern (4-4 in the majors and two clubs) is now considered a natural opener. The effect of this is to deny the use of defenses available over artificial one club openers.
Several new NABC sites were selected: Honolulu in fall 2018, Tampa in fall 2020, Toronto in summer 2017 and Kansas City in spring 2017.
As always, please check the minutes online for full details of the meeting. Highlights will also appear in the Bulletin.
Please start forming your teams for the Grand Nationals next year. I want to give everyone fair warning that the date is slightly earlier next year – it is the last weekend in April. We will switch back to our normal dates in 2013. Our new site was already booked for our traditional weekend in 2012, but we are booked for 2013 and on.
And for those of you who play every year in the GNTs, please talk to the Flight C players you know about the event. Our District really has good attendance in every flight but Flight C. It is my theory they weren’t playing back when we had to go through qualifying in the clubs and so are just not familiar with the event and how much fun it is. So please tell them!
Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. I will see you at the tables next year.
If you have questions or suggestions about ACBL Board actions or other bridge matters, please contact me at gkheth@hotmail.com or 917 S. Main St., Morton IL 61550-2419.