Un it 239 Annual Meeting

I hope you went to the annual meeting on April 1^st. Congratulations to Mike and Martina Kelley, who were the overall champs of the game and to all of the Mini McKenney and Ace of Club award winners.

Unit 239 would love to welcome new members! Do you have friends who should be brought to the table? More participation means more fun.

Since the last Pairfare, we have gained some enthusiastic players:
 Vicki Mueller (Elburn,) Sandra Costello (Roscoe,) and Edward Zbacnik (Fox River Grove)

Rank advancements

We can all celebrate with these players who have achieved new levels.

NEW JUNIOR LIFE MASTER: Darryl Einhorn (Cary)

NEW CLUB MASTERS: Seth McClure (St. Charles,) Steven Ruby (Aurora,) and Lai-Ming Ma (Huntley)

NEW SECTIONAL MASTER: Bruce Mackenzie (Huntley)

NEW REGIONAL MASTER: Arlyn Van Dyke (Rochelle)

NEW NABC MASTERS: John Bassett (Geneva) and Susan Seaver (Crystal Lake)

NEW ADVANCED NABC MASTER: Tom Looman (Crystal Lake)

NEW LIFE MASTER: Barbara Nuckles (Machesney Park)

NEW BRONZE LIFE MASTER: Karen Miller (Crystal Lake)

NEW SILVER LIFE MASTER: Lynn Clemmons (Freeport)

NEW SAPPHIRE LIFE MASTER: Helen Anglemire (Rockford) and Platt Hill (St. Charles)

Karen Miller is a Bronze Life Master

I had never really played bridge until moving to Crystal Lake 19 years ago. I wanted to do something that would improve my mind and give me some social contacts besides the babysitting that I was doing for my grandchildren. So,about 12 years ago, I found some social bridge groups and It was the best thing I ever did.

I played social bridge with these groups for several years and then I was encouraged to play duplicate bridge. I had no idea what it was, but I found I was fascinated by duplicate. I took lessons from Ray Parnell and became a better player. Don't ask me how many times I knocked over the bidding boxes when I first started!

I joined the ACBL almost nine years ago because Ray Parnell encouraged me to become a member. Again, I had no idea what it was, but respected Ray so much that I joined.

It is a curious thing; once you get a black point, you are hooked. I say accumulating these points is like cocaine for the bridge players. We just cannot stop.

I owe so much to all my partners and I am truly amazed that I am now a Bronze Life Master. They helped me so much to achieve this ranking. During Covid, I am not sure how I would have survived. It was a lifeline to be able to play online and I am forever grateful for this opportunity.

I now play only at the Crystal Lake Duplicate Game on Wednesday and Friday and occasionally at the Mundelein Game on Monday. I enjoy going to tournaments and meeting more new bridge players. I have made so many magnificent friends and I am so grateful to all of them for enriching my life with their friendships.

Platt Hill is a Sapphire Life Master

Here is my story. In my teenage years my family would visit my grandmother in her cottage in Harbor Springs Michigan. Every evening , after supper, my mother, aunt , uncle and my grandmother would retire to the bridge table and play for the evening. Occasionally, my Grandmother "Neeno", would invite some of her friends over to play bridge in the afternoons. On occasion they were short a player, so Neeno started to teach me bridge. Ace's are 4, Kings are 3 etc. here is how you finesse and so forth. I was very intimidated by these very gracious gray-haired ladies, but they were gentle and kind, so I began to enjoy the game.

In parallel, some of my friends were also learning the game and we began to play teenage bridge at "The Under 21 Club" a small burger joint at the beach where we hung out. Our version of the "Texas Transfer" was exchanging three cards with your partner under the table between your toes! I am not certain this was approved by the ACBL.

In 1968, when I arrived at Denison University in Granville OH, I found there were many students who liked to play bridge in the Student Union. The players were more experienced and some more serious about the game and I was introduced to "Precision" and read my first bridge book, Bridge in the Menagerie by Victor Mollo.

One day, a group of players decided to go to Newark , Ohio to play DUPLICATE bridge. Holy cow, was it scary -- fancy card tables and cards, very serious adults with convention cards (what the heck are those?). I had the "DIRECTOR CALL" on me for a bid out of turn and was sure I would be sent to the Gulag. Undeterred, we would return occasionally when we had time and could afford it.

In my junior year I finally received my first "Master Point" , a small slip of paper awarding me .04 master points, likely a fifth place finish. In my senior year at the Bridge club in Newark, there was a father who showed up with his son to play duplicate bridge; his son's name was Jeff Meckstroth. Coincidentally, a classmate from Denison, Jack Oest, introduced Jeff to his future partner Eric Rodwell. 

I was lucky enough to avoid the Vietnam War by a high lottery number and attended graduate school at the University of Chicago in 1972. There was a large number of international students in attendance, many of whom liked bridge. They were exceptionally bright and although their knowledge of sophisticated conventions was somewhat lacking, their card play and table presence was extraordinary. We played friendly games for fun and once a week in the U of C sanctioned duplicate.

We heard about a regional tournament at the Palmer House up the street in Chicago and decided to play in the Swiss team on Sunday. My partner was from Japan and our teammates from Hong Kong and Turkey. We drew a seeded team first round and won by 42 imps over 7 boards (our teammates made a small slam, doubled and redoubled. We didn't know enough to not redouble!). My partner made a vulnerable game by dropping a stiff king offsides. It was so exciting, but then reality set in and I think we finished with 4 wins. Not bad for a non-flighted Swiss team event with four novices on our team.

Returning to Dundee in 1974, my career began and I started playing duplicate in Elgin, Barrington and Crystal Lake. There were lots of wonderful players and friendly faces. With the help of my many partners, I achieved the rank of Life Master in 1978. Shortly thereafter I married my wonderful wife, Barbara, we started a family and I started a business. This precluded bridge, although I remained an ACBL member and subscriber to Bridge World magazine.

In 2017 (I think) I received a written invitation from our Unit for a free bridge game in St Charles. After discussion with Barbara, I showed up at Norris Center to play on a Monday? night without a partner. I was astounded to find that they only had three tables (in the 1970's, 12 to 14 tables were common) and that most of the games were held during the day. I had lost touch with all of the bridge community over the some 35 years, but was welcomed in by many players, some of whom were gracious enough to agree to play with this newcomer. Julia, Diane, RJ and Alma to name a few.

Favorite Memory: Winning Regional first Overall with Diane Clark in the Crystal Lake Regional

Favorite Hand: Regional Swiss Team against nationally ranked team 1st seat all vulnerable My Hand S void , H A,Q,10.9xxxxxx, D Ax, C9. I passed. LHO opened 1 club, partner 1 Diamond, RHO 1 Spade , me pass, LHO 4 spades, Pass. Pass the LHO started writing the 4S contract in his score card when I bid 5 Hearts (this was before bidding boxes) . He stopped gave me a look and then bid 5 spades and after weighing the risk of them bidding 6S, I bid 6 hearts, LHO Doubled in a voice of thunder. He chose the unfortunate lead of of the spade ace and I made an overtrick. Our teammates "sacrificed in 6 Spades" doubled making. That single hand was enough imps for us to win the match. LHO was most unpleasant to me before we left the table.

Favorite books: Victor Mollo's Bridge in the Menagerie, Clyde Love's Bridge Squeezes Complete, David Bird's Winning Duplicate Bridge , For everyone 25 Conventions You Should Know. and 25 More Conventions

Advice for newcomers: Bridge is for fun, Have fun!! You will make some mistakes, your partner will make some mistakes, let them go and think clearly in the next hand with joy in your heart.