Unit 223 Board Meeting

The Board for District 223 held a meeting on Wednesday, March 23 via Zoom. It was the first meeting held since the pandemic so there were several items to be covered. Members present were Paul Hartke - President, Pam Ames - Vice-President, Kadie Davis, Bob Cundall, Tom Wynn, Maxine Wynn, Joyce Clark, Janet Jones, Jay Coleman, Donna Swick, and Joanne Vollmer, Secretary.

Tom Wynn recently announced his retirement as Treasurer. The Board of Directors thanked Tom for his many years of service to the Unit. Donna Swick volunteered to take over the job of Treasurer.

The Goodwill Award was presented to Donna Swick in recognition and appreciation of her extensive work in creating attendance and monetary spreadsheets for the Central Illinois/Southern Illinois Virtual Bridge Consortium.

The Effingham Sectional Tournament has been cancelled for this year.

Joan Musgrave has resigned from the Board because of health reasons. We appreciate her work on the Board of Directors in past years. Donna Swick will represent Area 3 on the Board, and there are two possibilities to represent Area 4.

The Ace of Clubs Award Certificates will be mailed to clubs for distribution to the winners.

The Board made the decision to hold the Effingham Crossroads Regional, September 20-25, 2022. Paul is checking on the availability of tourism dollars from the city of Effingham. The table fees will remain at $14.00 per session. Several incentives were discussed to improve the attendance. There will definitely be a Hospitality Room and Pam is checking on the possibility of sending out two email blasts to ACBL members.

The new officers for the coming year will be: Pam Ames, President; Kadie Davis, Vice-President; Janet Jones, 2nd Vice-President; Donna Swick, Treasurer, and Joanne Vollmer, Secretary.

As the HR person for the Carlinville Youth Camp, Kadie is looking for a camp nurse and counselors for this summer’s camp, which is July 5-10.

The next meeting will be held on the Saturday at the Effingham Regional Tournament.
  

 HATS OFF to Unit 223 players who have reached bridge milestones !

Sectional Master: Charles Wiese, Creal Springs

Regional Master: Thomas O'Hara, Fairview Heights

Bronze Life Master: Gordon Plumb

Upcoming Events 

♦ Royal Sectional-at-Clubs -- Monday, April 18 through Sunday, April 24
   Gold, Red and Silver Points available to club players!! Face-to-face clubs only

♦ The GREAT Sizzlin’ Summer Illinois Regional -- Saturday, June 4 through Friday, June 10
   Holiday Inn, Crystal Lake IL

♦ Edwardsville Sectional -- Thursday, June 23 through Saturday June 25. See the schedule below.

♦ Youth Bridge Camp -- Tuesday July 5 through Sunday, July 10
   Lake Williamson, Carlinville IL

♦ Effingham Crossroads Regional -- Tuesday, September 20 through Sunday September 25
   Holiday Inn, Effingham

NELSON / PIEK SECTIONAL

Immanuel United Methodist Church
800 N. Main -- Edwardsville IL

♦ Thursday, June 23 -- 10:00 am & 3:00 pm
Single-session Stratified Pairs
Single-session 299er Pairs (if attendance warrants)

♦ Friday, June 24 – 1:00 & 6:30 pm
Single-session Stratified Pairs
Single-session 299er Pairs (if attendance warrants)

♦ Saturday, June 25 – 10:00 am playthrough with lunch
Stratified Swiss Teams

Pre-registration preferred (10 + Tables per session required). Pre-registered players will be entered in a drawing for a one-session freeplay.

Strats for all sessions:  0-750; 750-2000; 2000+
299er: 0-100; 100-200; 200-300

Entry fees: $13 per player per session
      Saturday Swiss Teams:  $120/team, Includes lunch.

   Players with 0-5 masterpoints play free in 299er Games.

Chairman: Gail Dare   geb888@yahoo.com   618 623-8886

KNOWING WHAT TO DO

One of the hardest parts of bridge is the defense. I recently took a class from Eunice Patton and she sent this handout for Simplifying Defense:

1. Know the Opening Lead Guidelines
    a. Lead partner’s suit
    b. Consider the card to lead based on the auction

2. Use signals
    a. Primary Signals:Attitude, Count, Suit Preference
    b. Defensive Carding

3. Use the Defenders’ Plan:  Defenders need to plan just like the declarer must plan.
    a. Assess the Situation
    b. Browse Defenders’ Checklist
          Promotion
          Length
          Defensive Finesse
          Trumping Declarer’s Winners
    c. Determine the best order to play the cards. Consider:
          The opening lead
          Signals
          Entries
          Preventing declarer from taking tricks

4.  Defensive Maxims:
    a.  Second hand low
    b.  Third hand only as high as necessary
    c.  Keep an entry once the suit is established
    d.  Take losses early
    e.  High card from the short side first

5. Prevent Declarer from Taking Tricks
    a.  Hold up play
    b.  Keeping the same length as dummy and declarer in a suit declarer is trying to establish