I miss everything about being at bridge!  We may get to play the game on line, but I miss seeing people to hear their stories and learn how they are.  When we are at clubs and our bridge friends get sick or need support, we know what is going on.  We can send (or receive) cards or calls.  I miss the food at bridge; I miss standing by the food table talking to people I might not get to visit with at a table. I miss a reason to get dressed up and drive to a game.  I miss tournaments and special games.

Everything gets cancelled because we really should not be together until we are vaccinated.  No Turkey tournament in November. No Snow Flake tournament in January; even the March tournament is cancelled. Our festive annual meeting, usually in April, has to be pushed back to the fall.

Please take notice of the online games in Unit 239 shown at the end of this newsletter!

Let’s use our bridge directories and call a friend!  It is February, so send a valentine! Thinking of you!
 

Unit 239 is happy to welcome three new members:
   Marianne Miller (Algonquin,) Janet Malmberg (Rockford,) and David Fernandes (East Dundee)

Congratulations to Unit members who have attained new ranks: 

Even though we do not see each other, we find our games on line. We can celebrate with these players who have achieved new levels.

NEW JUNIOR LIFE MASTERS: Stephen Foust (Batavia,) Chris Sergel (Crystal Lake,) and Jim Gramm (Cary)

NEW CLUB MASTER: Bruce Mackenzie (Huntley)

NEW SECTIONAL MASTERS: Barbara Hermes (Dixon,) Shirley Skinner (Crystal Lake,) and Joseph Capone (Rockford)

NEW REGIONAL MASTERS: Dr. Ian Goldberg (Belvidere) and Michael Moore (Belvidere)

NEW NABC MASTERS: Tom Drouin (Glen Ellyn,) Amy Goldberg (Belvidere,) and Jon Clemmons (Freeport)

New LIFE MASTER: Kyle Larson (Rockford)

NEW BRONZE LIFE MASTERS: Virginia Fulton (Oswego) and Mary Jane Schindler (Rockford)

NEW SILVER LIFE MASTER: Linda Brubaker (Geneva)

NEW RUBY LIFE MASTERS: Richard Frier (Crystal Lake) and Patricia Leatherwood (Aurora)

Kyle Larson is a Life Master 

My mother taught me to play bridge in the 60's. I grew up with four brothers and as soon as we could count to 13 and sit at a table for more than 15 minutes, we were introduced to Goren and bridge. (At that time, those two words were synonymous.) I remember many Sunday afternoons where we had two tables going in the living room. It could be challenging at times, skirmishes often occurred between my brothers if one successfully finessed and then had the audacity to smirk. So my initial introduction to this game was very competitive. Who knew the Larson clan would make bridge a contact sport?

My mom, Phyllis Larson, who recently passed at the age of 95, taught me the most important thing about bridge. Trust me, it was not bridge basics, it was not conventions, it was not the play of the hand . . . for even though she was in at least 7 bridge clubs, she was not a "great" player. But boy, did she love this game. That is what she taught me: The love of the game!

In 1987, I found the Rockford Bridge Center; and my husband and I joined ACBL and played a couple of months. With our "kitchen bridge", we won some tri-state rookie tournament and went to the nationals. What an experience. One night we were standing at the partnership desk, looking to play in a Swiss Team event. Many pairs (very politely) walked quickly away when they heard we had 3 masterpoints. But 5 minutes before game time. a senior well-pointed pair said, "What the heck, lets have fun", and played with us. I'd like to embellish and say we won, but no, we finished in the middle . . . but we did have fun!

Then working full time and raising 3 children became the focus. Duplicate competitive bridge was not only put on the back burner, heck, it was packed up in a box and left to collect dust in a basement corner. Retirement, adult children, downsizing, and voila! . . . I rediscovered this hidden treasure 3 years ago. As I climb this ladder of multi-colored masterpoints, I am grateful for all partners, teachers, directors and clubs who have taken their time to be with me on this journey. It is not a journey for the timid, and it is not a journey one can do alone.

So, there are three items for which I will be eternally grateful:

      1) Play for the love of the game!
      2) Play to have fun!
      3)  So glad I played briefly in 1987 ,.. got grandfathered in.

Take care, stay safe, God Bless and Sweet Dreams,     -- Kyle

Patricia Leatherwood reacted to becoming a Ruby Life MasterI

I am a planner by nature, always organizing my days and of course planning how I would achieve my next rank in bridge, Ruby Life Master. I needed roughly 100 more points and figured with a combination of playing the weekly games at the Yorkville Duplicate Bridge Club on Mondays  and the Aurora Duplicators on Wednesdays and BBO at various times, I would be on track to get the points by the end of 2020.

That was my goal. And then the pandemic struck. Bummer. Playing bridge became less important with all of the thousands of people being impacted through loss of jobs, loss of wealth and of course loss of life. But the other loss was loss of companionship and loss of socialization and just plain boredom. I was wrong, playing bridge was not unimportant. Even for me -- someone active in line dancing, bowling, teaching kids preparing for their first communion at church and teaching adults to speak English and of course playing bridge -- my life had turned upside down it seemed. Bridge was something that gave me something to look forward to and playing bridge online at BBO gave me some sense of normalcy.

Just as I had turned to BBO though, so had millions of people all over the world and fortunately BBO realized that and increased the maximum limits for the games. It was often not enough to handle to demand and I was frequently unable to snare one of the coveted seats in the ACBL tournament games. Trying to get in became a challenge in and of itself, one for which I rejoiced when I managed a seat and scored a few master points. It was all coming together, I had many fine BBO partners from all over the world and I was winning, a lot! 

Turns out playing so much online improved my chances of making Ruby Life Master even sooner than I had planned. I was down to only needing about .45 master points and I decided to play one of the Robot Tournaments on BBO. That was enough!  Who would have thought that a robot would take me across the finish line?

(Editor's note: I asked Patricia to also respond to these questions,)

How long did have you been playing duplicate and what are the time frames between each rank (from life, to bronze, to silver, to ruby)?
    Patricia: I have been playing duplicate since 2004 off and on but more regularly since 2006.  My rank advancements were about every three years.

How often do you play in a sanctioned game and what club do you consider home?
   Patricia: I played in Yorkville Bridge club and in the Aurora Duplicates Bridge clubs.  I consider these my home clubs. I played once a week at each of these clubs until Covid19 hit, then BBO was my only option.

What advice might you have for a new player?
   Patricia: My advice is to always remember that bridge is a team game and your partner is your teammate. Treasure them and don't be mean to them, they are on your side because it is also their side. Most of all, bridge is a game and if it isn't fun, find some other sport.

Do you have a “funny” bridge story to share?
   Patricia: I had the pleasure of playing in bridge clubs in Cairo, Egypt when I worked overseas. It is by invitation only and a friend invited me, what an experience. Of course the points earned don't count here because it is the World Bridge Federation, not the ACBL. I was playing with a local partner against some young men (20ish). They got so excited about the hands that they looked at the next board's hands, all four of the hands, theirs and ours!  I called the director and they were of course penalized, but I couldn't believe it. Easiest round I ever won!

At which bridge event did you earn the points for Ruby Life Master status?
   Patricia: Since the clubs are closed due to covid19, I played on a Robot tournament on BBO. I couldn't believe that it was a bot that took me over the finish line.

What is it about duplicate bridge that keeps you involved?
   Patricia: I love playing bridge because it keeps my mind active. I feel that golf, line dancing, bowling and the gym (when it was open) keep my body fit, but bridge is like a workout for my brain!

I look forward to playing with you on Bridge Base!

♣ Rockford Club games

The Rockford club games welcome other Unit 239 players; you just need to contact the director a half hour before game time so you can be added.  Directors are indicated (initials) for each game; phone numbers follow.

Monday - 10:30 (499ers) WE

Monday - 2:00 (open) WE

Tuesdays - 2:00 (99ers) DM

Tuesdays - 7:00 (open) WE

Wednesdays - 2:30 (open) WE

Thursdays - 10:00 (299ers) BM

Fridays - 2:00 (open) WE

Saturdays - 2:00 (open) DM

There is also a Zoom mini-lesson before the Tuesday 99er Game at  1pm
    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81034379565

There is also a Zoom mini-lesson before the Thursday 299er Game at 9 am
   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88472769263

We have Zoom postmortems after the Tuesday afternoon game & the Saturday afternoon game  
    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81034379565

   WE - Will Engel - 815-877-8386
   DM – Don Malone - 608-479-0418
   BM – Burt Moore – 815-871-4518

If you would like to be in their weekly email group, contact Don Malone.

♣ The St. Charles Illinois Collective

   Open games:
   Tuesdays, at 10:30
   Wednesdays at 6:30
   Fridays at 10:30
   Sundays at 6:30

♣  Crystal Lake games

Mondays at 9:45 (open)
Tuesdays at 9:45 (499ers)
Wednesdays at 9:45 (open)
Thursdays at 9:45 (499ers)
Friday at 9:45 (open)
Saturdays at 9:45 (open)