When I began my term as President, I defined two key priorities:
With Jean Mazaout as chair for the novice program, we started a free lesson, game and breakfast on Saturday mornings at our Sectionals. Under Al Delio's leadership, the success of this program continued; in February the Saturday morning game attracted 13 tables of beginners. I regret that Al has felt it necessary to resign from the Board due to job demands. I am delighted, however, to announce that Amy Nellissen has agreed to take over his position; Amy has been an active and effective worker with EasyBridge, as well as being of tremendous help to Jean and Al along the way.
Please take a few minutes to read the article in this Newsletter by Amy. It should give you a lesson in how not to act toward newcomers. I personally feel embarrassed that this happened at our Tournament. The future of bridge is in the newcomers.
On the bright side of the coin is the report that our own Jonathan Ohliger and Ryan Humphreys both finished in the top 50 nationwide youth ACBL rankings last year. Since they both started playing in the Caddy Bridge Program in Secaucus at the 2000 Regional Tournament, I think we all feel we had a hand in their success and achievements. A very nice article about Jonathan appeared in the Suburban Times/Village Gazette of Ridgewood.
My sincere appreciation to Marilyn Marion and Betty Price, Tournament Co-Chairs, as well as the many people in the background who supported them, for their outstanding work in making our February Sectional such a success.
There is much bridge to be played in the near future. We have the Grand National Teams event April 13-14, the Bob Johnke Team event April 20, our April Sectional at Guardian Angel April 26-29, and finally the Regional Tournament in Saratoga Springs June 10-16. You will find the particulars on all these events in this newsletter.
I hope to see you all at the tables, whether in the local club or at one of the special events. Wherever and whenever you play, try to encourage the other participants; "Active Ethics" should be the order of the day.
By now most of you have read that the Board of Directors has hired a new CEO. I am proud to say that I was one of the members of the Search Committee that recommended Jay Baum for approval. Jay has spent the past twenty years working with the Conventions and Visitors Bureau in Omaha, Nebraska and has headed the Bureau for the last several years. He is an avid bridge player and bridge administrator. He is anxious to involve youth, to promote bridge in the schools and to develop a viable Marketing Program. I look forward to great strides being made in the next few years under Jay's leadership as the new CEO..
By the time you read this, a new Alert Chart will have gone into effect. There are very few changes. Look in the ACBL Bulletin for a complete explanation and above all don't worry about the changes. They are easy to adjust to and everyone will be patient and understanding.
Be sure to make plans to participate in the District 3 Grand National Teams on April 13th in White Plains at the Memorial United Methodist Church. The semis and the finals will be on Sunday at the Bridge Deck in Scarsdale. All 4 flights will be held at the same time. Look for fliers and detailed information in this issue of your magazine. And of course, don't forget to make plans to spend a gorgeous week with us in Saratoga Springs at the Sheraton in June. Great bridge, great hospitality, great fun and loads of masterpoints! And finally, in August, we expect to see you in Secaucus. You're just around the corner Regional. Make sure you're there! Look forward to seeing you soon and often at all our events.
Joan Gerard, District Director
Edgar Kaplan Reg. NYC Tri-State Regional
December 26th to 30th Sunday B/C Swiss (83)
Wed. Eve. Side Game (70) 2B M. Rimer, Sue Steckler,
3A Sarah Weiner Miyoko Boswell, S.Sonne
Wed.-Thu KO Bt 2 (14) 7B Lee & Jonathan Ohliger
3/4 Susan Green, E.Blunt 8/11B M. Marion, J. Jensen
Thur. Eve. Side Game (57) K. Jeffery. D. McInnis
3A Arnold Federman 8/11B Nick France, Lan Go
Thur. Flt. A/X Swiss (31) Mike & Bar. Smalline
8A Robert Heitzman, Jr. 8/11B J. Michaelis, E. Gilbert,
Thur. Flt. B/C Swiss (30) Neale & Jo Ann Van Delft
1B Lee & Jonathan Ohliger, 5C Ted Wilson, Paul Fagan
Ryan & Bruce Humphreys Sun. Eve. Side Game (31)
Fri. Aft. Side Game (74) 3A Ros Elk, Hans Neuberg
4B Abby Brawer Mon Aft. Side Game (60)
5C James Jensen, R. Meyer 6/8B Bev. Millman, G. Goodman
Fri. Seniors (62) Mon. Comp. KO - Br. 1 (12)
2C William Swartchild III 3 David Daly
Fri. Open Pairs (94) Bracket. 2 (12)
3C Samuel Mazza 3 A. Jakob, V.DeMatolay,
Morning KO (7) P. Paikin, B. Kaufman
2 Lee Ohliger, S. Johnson Bracket 4 (13)
Sat. Seniors (44) 2 Lee & Jonathan Ohliger,
2A Sarah Weiner Sandy Johnson
3A David Weisman Bracket 5 (13)
Sat.-Sun. BAM Tms. (13) 1 Kuniko Kusumoto
7 Robert Heitzman, Jr. Bracket 3 Consolation (7)
Sun. Senior Swiss (29) 3 Anita Lind, Alice Mathes,
3-4A Sarah Weiner D. Andrews, Jaydeb Kundu
5A Ros Elk, Hans Neuberg Mon. Open Pairs (84)
Bob & Betty King, 2/3B Steven Wheeler
2/3B S. Schneider, P. Paiken, Mon. Senior Pairs (56)
Beverly Kaufman 2A C. Davidson, F. Cohen
Sun Open Swiss (73) 4A F. Grunebaum, J. Kuharetz
8/9A Stephen Cooper Sun-Mon. Side Game Series (252)
7/8B Cornel Ferat 5/6 Robin Tuck-Sherman
3C Sandy Johnson
4C Bob Parisi February 8-10 Wood.Sect.
Fri. Aft. Open Pairs (46)
Tri-State Regional 3 Leonard Helfgott
January 15-21, 2002 Sat. Aft. Open Pairs (55)
Tues Eve. Ed.. Pairs (24) 4 Leonard Helfgott
4C Ted Wilson, Paul Fagan Sat. Aft. Sen. Pairs (20)
Bracketed KO 1 Br. 1(5) 1A S. Colton, B.Kaufman
1 Irina Levitina Sat. Eve. Flt. A Pairs (26)
Wed. Aft. Side Game (60) 3 Blair Seidler
5C P. Paikin, B. Kaufman Sat. Eve. Flt. B/C/D Prs (26)
Wed. Senior Pairs (118) 4D Madeleine Herbert
6A M.Jeshion, Fran Cohen Open Swiss (38)
Wed. Eve. Side Game (54) 5A B. & Joy Humphreys
5A Paul Shapiro 4C Bob Parisi
Wed. Stratified OP (70)
3A Fred Paul Long Island Winter Regional
5A Robert Heitzman, Jr. Smithtown February 27 - March 3
3C V. Grossman, K. Jeffery Wed. Open Pairs (56)
Wed. Strat.W.'s Prs (44) 5B Helen Raleigh
3A P. Azouri, L. Mackall Thurs. Open Swiss (36)
Thurs. Aft. Side (67) 2A Janis Rush, F. Paul
4/5A Paul Shapiro 7A Robert Heitzman, Jr.
Thurs. Aft. New.(22) Fri. Open Pairs (62)
5B Felix Arroyo, B. Infeld 3A Fred Paul
Thurs. Senior Pairs (92) 4A Robert Heitzman, Jr.
7B Ruth Bodden 5B Roger Nortman
Thurs. Eve. Side (66) Sat. Sen. Pairs (42)
5C K. Jeffery, D. McInnis 2A Fred Paul
6/8C P. Paikin, B. Kaufman 6A Janis Rush
Thurs. Open Swiss (54) Sun. Flt. A/X Swiss(30)
2A Robert Heitzman 2/3A B. Humphreys, Nick France
5A Fred Paul Sun. Flt. B/C Swiss (67)
7A Irina Levitina 3B Stephen Cooper
4B A. Jakob, H. Wallach, 8/10B Annabella Nelken
V. DeMatoly, H. Horowitz 8/10B Steven Wheeler
Fri. Comp. KO - Br 3 (12) 5C B. Parisi, F. Horowitz
3 Kuniko Kusumoto Sun. Senior Swiss (14)
Fri. Aft. Side Game (96) 1B Sheldon Schneider
5C Ari Eisenberg Harold Bernstein
Fri. Eve. Side Game (48)
3A A.Eisenberg, N. France
5B M.Wolfson, D. Herold
Fri. Open Pairs (132)
9A Ros Elk, Len Helfgott
4C H. Wallach, S.Sundheimer H. Wallach,
6C Sue Steckler, M.Reimer
Sat. Aft. Newcomer (23)
4A L. & Wanda Finch
5A B. Infeld, Felix Arroyo
Sat. Aft. Side Game (68)
3A A. Federman, L. Silver
Sat. Strat. B/C Pairs (72)
6/7C Madeleine Herbert
Sat. Eve. Side Game (26)
1A C.Angel, Jesse Reisman
5A A.Federman, L. Silver
4B J. Nemoy, L. Pollinger
Fri-Sat Side Game Series (358)
5/6 A. Federman, L. Silver
7 Ari Eisenberg
Sun. Aft. Side Game (42)
1A Robin Tuch-Sherman
Sun. A/X Swiss (51)
12A J. Reisman, C. Angel
18/19 Joy, Bruce & Burrell Humphreys
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NORTH
S 10 7 3
H K Q 10 4
D 6 4 3
C Q J 7
WEST EAST
S Q J S 8 6 4
H J 6 H 8 3 2
D A Q J 9 7 5 2 D K 10 8
C K 5 C A 10 9 2
SOUTH
S A K 9 5 2
H A 9 7 5
D VOID
C 8 6 4 3
DEALER: SOUTH - BOTH VUL.A shorter but strong trump holding in dummy characterizes most dummy reversals. Declarer ruffs dummy's losers in hand and winds up in dummy to draw trumps. This hand is an unlikely candidate because of weak trumps in dummy and opponents hold two trumps higher that the highest in dummy.
West led the Ace of diamonds and I ruffed. I considered playing A K of spades and running hearts but sooner or later clubs had to be played. The opponents could pull a third round of trump, force my last trump with a diamond, and when in with the second club, cash however many diamonds they had left. This line of play could yield a maximum of eight tricks.
I decided to try for a club trick before everyone figured out what was going on. West won and led another diamond which I ruffed and led another club. East won and could have given West a ruff but that would only save them one trick. Instead she persisted with a third diamond, which I ruffed with the 9. Now it was time to play trump. Given the expected 3-2 break, the best the opposition could do was score its' high trump and I could ruff my fourth club in dummy.
Naturally I was elated when the A K of spades dropped the Q J. It was now a simple matter to get to dummy with a heart and draw the last trump with dummy's 10 of spades. Making 5 losing only two-club tricks.
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Disaster - Disaster Frank Grunebaum
Regional at Rye
After the first round I received a note marked "urgent-call home". My concentration evaporated as the following hand will attest.
NORTH
S X X X X
H A X
D A K J 10 XXX
C
WEST EAST
S A X S K J X
H Q 9 8 5 H K J 10 X
D X X X D Q
C A K XX C J X X X X
SOUTH
S Q 10 X X
H X X X
D X X
C Q X X X
The Bidding:
W N E S
1 Club Double Redouble Pass
1 Heart Double 3 Hearts 3 Spades
Pass 4 Diamonds Pass 4 Spades
Double Pass Pass Pass
Opening Lead: Club Ace
NORTH
S X X
H X
D A K J 10 XXX
C
WEST EAST
S X S K J
H Q XX H K J X
D X X X D Q
C K XX C J X X X
SOUTH
S Q 10 X
H X X
D X X
C Q X X
The spades produced my Jack which destroyed the defense. We ended with 2 spades and 1 Heart trick. Had I played the King, a heart or club return would doom the contract. Disaster!
The second disaster - the note was incorrectly marked urgent. My wife called to notify me that the splendid lunch prepared for me was still in the house. I grabbed the wrong bag. I took the garbage instead!
After the hand I had a hunch
My partner would bury me in my lunch.
AQJX
XXX
Anybody who already has the answer is wrong! There are a number of considerations that go into deciding how to play a particular suit, but the most basic question one needs to ask is, "How many tricks do I need in this suit?" and I haven't told you yet. The answer is different depending upon whether you need 3 or 4 tricks in the suit.
If you need 4 tricks in the suit, your only hope is to find west with KXX, so you must finesse twice. However, if you only need three tricks in the suit, you improve your chances slightly by playing the Ace on the first round, returning to your hand and leading toward the QJX. If the Queen holds, return to your hand and repeat. This approach caters to the possibility of a singleton King with east.
The same principle applies in the case where you have AQJX opposite XXXX. If you need 4 tricks, your best bet is to finesse against the King. However, if you need only three tricks, you can increase your odds by cashing the Ace first. And how much are you bettering your odds? Not by a lot, 1.21% when you hold seven cards in the suit, 2.83% when you hold eight cards. But over time making the technically correct play.
Now, obviously there is a trade-off involved in playing this way. By increasing your odds of taking three tricks, you are giving up the possibility of taking four tricks. Whether that is a worthwhile tradeoff depends on a number of factors, but that gets us back to the original question: How many tricks do you need? In the example we started with, if you need only three tricks to bring home the slam, you don't care about overtricks. Just making the contract is enough, so give yourself the maximum chance of success.
The context of the problem was a team game, where the emphasis is on making your contract, but safety plays have their use in matchpoint play as well. Using the same example we started with, if you and your partner have stretched to bid a slam and you expect that few of the other pairs will be in the slam, then just making you contract will give you most, and perhaps all, of the matchpoints.
We have taken a suit combination and asked you how, in the abstract, it should be played. However, there are many considerations, which can affect your approach. Don't forget all of the other things you've learned over the years about how to play a hand. Here are some of the factors to consider when deciding how to play a suit:
I'll leave you with one other situation, which involves visualizing possible layouts of the cards. You're on lead in a Spade contract, trumps are out, and these are the last four cards:
S 5
C J42
S 6
C A53
So, what do you do? Claim a trump trick and a Club trick and concede the other two? No, no, no! What happens when one of the opponents has KX, QX or KQ? You must play the ace of clubs and then duck a club. If the opponent with doubleton honor wins, he must give you a ruff and sluff. If his partner can overtake, the jack sets up. When one of the opponents holds honor doubleton, the only way the opponents can take two tricks is if West holds KX or QX and drops the honor under the ace! Your author did not find this play.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR LIFE MASTER OF YEAR DANIEL WOLF STEFANO COPPOLA JR. MASTER OF YEAR BRONZE LIFE MASTER EDSON WILEY LISA INSOLERA CLUB MASTER OF YEAR SILVER LIFE MASTER BEVERLY KAUFMAN JOAN HAUSSMANN REGIONAL MASTER OF YEAR GOLD LIFE MASTER STUART TARKAN CHERYL L. ANGEL NABC MASTER OF YEAR DIAMOND LIFE MASTER MICHAEL GELLAR ROSALIND R. ELKtop of page
New Members through December
Mike Acampora Hatim Hyderally Ronald Schucker
Labert Benson Randi Konner Elizabeth Sinn
Minnie Benson Susan Koster Peter Stoyanov
Marisa Byer Thomas Miller Jack Stutz
Judy Coopelman Joan Murray James Sundstrom
Honey Gantner Drora Ovadenko Mel Vreeland
Diane Giallombardo Sheldon Ratner Diana Wakely
Gale Mirro Anne Rossetti Mary Zaske
Maurette Hunter Elizabeth Ryan
TRANSFERS IN: Total Members:
Albert Burgess December, 2001 1234
Raymond Persaud
Sylvia Schnoll
New Life Masters Bronze Life Masters Silver Life Masters
Bruce Humphreys James Michaelis Nicholas France
Miriam Sedell Ursula Pardo Leona Schiller
Sally Sonne
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NORTH
S 6
WEST H KJ108 EAST
S KQ10752 D A9743 S J
H 6532 C J83 H 7
D 86 D KQJ102
C K SOUTH C Q107542
S A9843
H AQ94
D 5
C A96
Dealer: South Vulnerable: None
Opening lead: Three of hearts
Bidding
SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST
1 spade pass 2 diamonds pass
2 hearts pass 4 hearts all pass
West gets the defense off to the best start with a trump lead. If declarer plays another round of trump -- stopping only when he discovers the 4-1 break -- he is now limited to nine tricks, two top trumps, the three side suit aces, two spade ruffs in dummy and two diamond ruffs in hand.
Noting the singleton spade in dummy and diamond in hand, declarer should see that this hand lends itself perfectly to a crossruff. Best technique is to win the first trick, IMMEDIATELY CASH THE ACE OF CLUBS, then cash the ace of spades, ace of diamonds, and crossruff spades and diamonds, for a total of ten tricks, one top trump, the three side suit aces, three spade ruffs in dummy, and three diamond ruffs in hand.
Give West high marks for an effective opening trump lead; trump leads by defenders are indicated anytime you suspect declarer will need to make tricks by ruffing; in this case, having heard the opening spade bid -- promising a five card suit -- and noting the strength of his own spade holding, West quite logically concluded declarer would need to ruff spades in dummy. Without the opening trump lead, declarer would have made eleven tricks by cashing the three side suit aces and crossruffing the entire hand, thus making all eight trumps separately.
Is it clear why declarer should cash the ace of clubs before beginning the crossruff? If not, consider in the hand above what west is likely to discard on the third round of diamonds, should declarer decide to crossruff first, intending to cash his club ace later.
MORAL: Do not draw trumps on hands that lend themselves well to a crossruff.
COROLLARY: If the whole hand is to be crossruffed, cash side suit winners BEFORE beginning the crossruff.
RANK NAME POINTS GAIN PCT
'01 '00 '99 '01 '00 '00-'01
1 1 1 Kerri Sanborn 19133 18544 588.64 3.2
2 3 3 Rosalind Elk 7362 7005 357.83 5.1
3 2 2 Mark Cohen 7133 7123 10.37 0.1
4 4 4 Leonard Karp 6773 6690 82.15 1.2
5 5 5 Stasha Cohen 6223 6210 13.81 0.2
6 8 8 Sam Aldenderfer 4729 4509 219.83 4.9
7 7 7 Paul Silver 4677 4527 150.40 3.3
8 6 6 Lenore Server 4645 4577 67.81 1.5
9 9 9 Jean Elkin 4642 4463 178.76 4.0
10 10 10 Florence Silver 4396 4310 85.60 2.0
11 11 11 Tod Thorgersen 4356 4225 131.70 3.1
12 12 12 Eva Scatassa 4139 4026 113.35 2.8
13 13 13 Robert Garofalo 4050 3938 112.19 2.8
14 14 14 Joseph Adamo 3999 3895 103.75 2.7
15 17 22 Irina Levitina 3861 3235 625.82 19.3
16 15 15 Rena Harris 3576 3420 155.63 4.5
17 16 16 Julian Katz 3386 3268 118.35 3.6
18 22 26 Cheryl Angel 3350 2885 465.14 16.1
19 18 18 Jules Shapiro 3272 3102 170.34 5.5
20 19 19 Rosemarie Whitmore 3195 3077 117.41 3.8
21 21 20 Sandy Burns 3145 3044 101.29 3.3
22 20 17 Irene Poonarian 3142 3059 83.48 2.7
23 23 27 Sarah Wiener 3114 2876 238.31 8.3
24 25 23 Charles Friedman 3051 2823 227.60 8.1
25 26 31 Fred Paul 3031 2699 331.37 12.3
26 30 33 Jesse Reisman 2996 2631 364.40 13.8
27 24 21 Sheldon Berger 2985 2862 123.03 4.3
28 29 28 Burrell Humphreys 2862 2647 214.67 8.1
29 33 38 Robert Heitzman Jr 2755 2439 315.75 12.9
30 27 24 Joyce Landau 2708 2676 32.19 1.2
31 28 25 Kurt Zendig 2693 2661 31.67 1.2
32 31 32 Andrew Lohan 2682 2525 157.22 6.2
33 32 35 Sandra Weil 2586 2466 119.19 4.8
34 34 30 Art Sternberg 2475 2436 38.84 1.6
35 35 29 Edward Landau 2472 2427 44.37 1.8
36 36 34 Carol Cohen 2465 2407 58.21 2.4
37 37 37 Fred Weidmann 2451 2357 94.49 4.0
38 38 36 Neil Nathanson 2414 2322 91.70 3.9
39 40 42 Elizabeth King 2325 2173 151.85 7.0
40 43 45 Franklin Grunebaum 2246 2068 178.61 8.6
41 39 39 Enid Steinmark 2234 2191 43.09 2.0
42 41 Joseph Portale 2205 2121 83.83 4.0
43 45 46 Elaine Berger 2167 2043 124.16 6.1
44 46 49 Frances Cohen 2117 2028 89.14 4.4
45 42 40 Harvey Mandel 2086 2079 6.99 0.3
46 44 41 M Berger 2051 2049 2.20 0.1
47 52 56 Richard Rosner 2038 1883 155.56 8.3
48 57 62 Arnold Federman 2016 1832 184.07 10.0
49 56 55 William Alexander 2002 1850 152.43 8.2
50 49 54 Charlotte Davidson 1993 1910 83.18 4.4
51 50 52 David Daly 1993 1904 88.78 4.7
52 47 44 Robert Heitner 1987 1987 0.00 0.0
53 53 Kurt Lang 1958 1877 80.76 4.3
54 62 57 Joan Haussmann 1953 1718 235.15 13.7
55 58 65 John Kuharetz 1953 1827 125.99 6.9
56 54 51 Arleene Roth 1909 1868 41.41 2.2
57 51 47 Wayne Carr 1904 1904 0.00 0.0
58 55 50 Thomas Abbott 1854 1854 0.00 0.0
59 73 Marty Bock 1834 1659 175.03 10.5
60 61 70 Gerald Goodman 1832 1740 92.00 5.3
61 78 92 Roger Nortman 1819 1616 202.41 12.5
62 59 59 Rena Pigula 1815 1766 48.63 2.8
63 67 71 Joy Humphreys 1806 1700 106.19 6.2
64 77 90 Barbara Rahuba 1793 1619 174.13 10.8
65 72 77 Barbara Deutsch 1791 1660 130.86 7.9
66 64 72 Tina Gordon 1790 1702 87.35 5.1
67 60 58 James Wolff 1781 1742 38.59 2.2
68 John Hogan Jr 1770
69 74 79 Rhoda Paul 1752 1657 95.22 5.7
70 63 60 Anita Andrews 1751 1709 41.96 2.5
71 87 110 Arnold Bergen 1749 1551 197.21 12.7
72 76 86 Faith Eckberg 1743 1632 110.62 6.8
73 71 74 David Herold 1737 1663 73.70 4.4
74 65 63 Alice Miller 1728 1702 26.13 1.5
75 69 68 Werner Hausmann 1725 1683 41.52 2.5
76 66 61 Margaret Leise 1709 1700 8.38 0.5
77 Allen Spielholz 1707
78 81 89 Blair Seidler 1704 1590 113.76 7.2
79 75 73 Harold Bernstein 1698 1644 53.75 3.3
80 70 75 Steven Ehrenworth 1697 1682 14.94 0.9
81 68 64 David Kuenzler 1692 1692 0.00 0.0
82 85 97 Micki Lassiter 1685 1571 114.16 7.3
83 82 81 Ruth Bernstein 1653 1587 66.25 4.2
84 111 106 Alan Osofsky 1652 1387 265.19 19.1
85 93 113 Harris Schenker 1649 1513 135.83 9.0
86 84 84 Irene Schwartz 1643 1579 64.44 4.1
87 88 96 Geoffrey Manis 1628 1543 84.60 5.5
88 80 80 Faye Bloch 1622 1600 22.36 1.4
89 79 78 Carole Wardell 1607 1603 3.62 0.2
90 104 114 Leonard Helfgott 1589 1425 163.68 11.5
91 89 87 Gruna Selby 1585 1541 43.36 2.8
92 99 Dan Goldstein 1583 1460 122.46 8.4
93 101 108 Phyllis Camp 1579 1439 140.07 9.7
94 94 98 Steven Wheeler 1577 1494 83.34 5.6
95 91 82 Gloria Swanson 1571 1536 34.59 2.3
96 92 83 Norman Swanson 1568 1533 34.59 2.3
97 97 111 Natalie Cohen 1566 1463 103.18 7.1
98 100 103 Glenda Calkins 1557 1452 105.53 7.3
99 98 93 Alan Messer 1532 1461 70.28 4.8
100 102 107 Veronica De Matolay 1524 1432 92.17 6.4
Needed To Make Top 100
2000 1452
2001 1525
Winners 250 or More PointsGAIN NAME 626 Irina Levitina 589 Kerri Sanborn 465 Cheryl Angel 364 Jesse Reisman 358 Rosalind Elk 331 Fred Paul 316 Robert Heitzman Jr 265 Alan Osofsky | Percentage Increase of 12 or MorePCT NAME 19.3 Irina Levitina 19.1 Alan Osofsky 16.1 Cheryl Angel 13.8 Jesse Reisman 13.7 Joan Haussmann 12.9 Robert Heitzman Jr 12.7 Arnold Bergen 12.5 Roger Nortman |
Imagine.. You go the tournament and while you're trying to figure out where to pay, you strike up a conversation with a couple of friendly looking players. One is a Bridge Professional hired by the other player for the day. You've never heard of such a thing before. How exotic.
Now imagine...When you tell these guys that you are about to play in Your First Tournament, one of them asks you not to. He tells you that when novices come into the game they mess up his results. You really didn't belong there.
Can you imagine? Well, two of my bridge students don't need to imagine. This actually happened to them at the Allendale, NJ sectional. They were planning to play in the 199er Pairs, but felt so intimidated by these "experts" that they left.
That these so-called Experts would demonstrate this attitude to novices disgusts me. I'm glad that I don't know the names of the two players. They could even be friends of mine.
The next time you get "fixed" by a new player, you should smile and congratulate them on their fine bid or play and offer to get them another cup of coffee. You think to yourself, "I'm glad that there are still some people trying to learn this game." Why not go out of your way to encourage every new player that you meet? Instead of looking irritated and pointing across the room, how about walking an unfamiliar player over to the entry table, or helping him find his assigned seat? Treating new players as if they don't belong won't improve your game or theirs.
This incident left me disappointed for my students, disappointed with my fellow players, and disappointed for bridge.