ACBL Unit 431, District 19, Victoria BC
The next Rookie game for players with fewer than 100 Master Points will be held on Sunday May 22 at the Victoria Bridge Centre in Esquimalt.
The cost is $2.00 for ACBL members and $8.00 for non-members.
Come alone or with a partner. Free treats and coffee or tea.
For information, please contact Leslie Wood by email or phone: (250) 727-6762
Full details can also be found in the May 2016 Rookie Game Flyer.
The Spring Sectional was a huge success thanks in large part to the enthusiasm and dedication of tournament Chair Jill Stainforth. Here, in her own words, is a recap of the event:
The sun was shining for our Sectional in Sidney, held April 1, 2, and 3 at the very comfortable Mary Winspear Centre. Attendance was huge on Friday with 17.5 tables in the Newcomer/199er Pairs event alone.
Players came from Alberta, Washington, Oregon, mainland BC and the Island.
At the end of three days of play, Victoria’s Duncan Smith was the overall individual winner with 39.73 MPs.
The Friday afternoon Open Pairs game (48 tables) was won by Debbie Mineault and Duncan Smith. Linda Edgell and Johanna Rusnak won the Newcomer/199er game (17.5 tables).
On Friday evening, Sandra and Doug Fraser won the Charity Open Pairs (44 tables) while Daina Eby and Dianne Clark won the Newcomer/199er game (6.5 tables).
Winners of the two-session Open Pairs event (38 tables) on Saturday were Axie and Craig Millar. The Saturday afternoon Newcomer/199er game (13 tables) was won by Dianne Clark and Daina Eby while the Side game went to John Massman and Galen Hesson.
Saturday evening, Marylynn Ghitter and Al Stacey won the Side game and Dianne Clark and Daina Eby won the Newcomer/199er game (again !).
Sunday’s Open Swiss Teams event (52 tables) was won by Victoria’s Rita Beny, Delma Murray, Bob Cheeseman and Jon Gage.
Both single-session 299er Swiss Team sessions on Sunday were won by the Sidney and North Saanich team of Edwina Bauer, Viv Harding, Madeleine Tremblay and Brenda Wilson.
The table count over the three days was a startling 341.5 and 329 players went home with silver in their pockets. Better still, players seemed very happy with the bridge, the venue and the great offering of baked treats.
Our Sectionals will continue to be held at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney and we hope to see many returnees and new players at the Fall Sectional on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 8-10, 2016.
Pictures from the tournament can be found on our Photo Gallery
Results for this weekend’s Spring Sectional will be available on ACBL Live. This means you can get notification of your results on your device (phone, tablet, computer) soon after the game is completed.
To ensure you do receive them, you need to subscribe to ACBL Live (free). You only have to do it once to automatically receive notification of results whenever you participate in an ACBL-sanctioned tournament.
Here’s how to set up instant notification of your results via email or text message:
If you prefer not to subscribe, you can still access results from tournaments by going to the ACBL Live website.
Unit 431’s Spring Sectional will be held April 1-3, 2016 at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. For detailed information, you can access our tournament flyer here: 2016 Spring Sectional Flyer.
For information on other upcoming tournaments of interest to Victoria players, check out our Interactive Calendar.
The Unit’s Spring Sectional will be held at Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, April 1-3 (Friday to Sunday).
Volunteers are needed to help run the event smoothly. If you would like to assist by donating some of your time, here is what we need:
[table “5” not found /]If you’re willing to contribute, please email Jill Stainforth (jstainforth@yahoo.ca) with your preferences.
The March 2016 issue of the Bridge Buzz is now posted on the website.
If you participated in the February 2016 Canada-Wide STaC and want to know where you stand, please note that Nicole Dupuis has kindly posted the names and scores of all Victoria area winners on Monterey Bridge Club’s website.
Our popular D-light (“duplicate light”) games are now held weekly on Friday morning at Capital City Bridge Club. If you have friends who might like to try duplicate without having to jump in at the deep end, bring them to our new D-light sessions. All are welcome who have some knowledge of bridge and who want to find out how duplicate works. One member of each pair must have fewer than 5 Master Points. For more details, please go to our D-light page.
The 2016 edition of the Ace of Hearts Tournament for players with fewer than 200 masterpoints was held on February 20.
18 pairs, divided into two section, participated in the single session morning game. The afternoon Swiss Teams game attracted eleven teams. Detailed results for all games can be found on our Tournament Results page. Photos from the tournament are in the Photo Gallery.
The newly updated Victoria bridge brochure is available on our Clubs page. It contains a complete list of Victoria ACBL sanctioned clubs, a weekly schedule of duplicate games, tournaments and more.
This is your chance to earn valuable silver points while playing in the comfort of your own club (or you can be bold and visit another Victoria club).
Next week (Feb 15-21), Sectional Tournaments at Clubs will be held around the country, giving you a chance to compete against other Canadian players. Section results are determined by comparing the results of play at individual clubs. Overall pair game awards are determined by comparing the results of all games conducted at a particular session just as if all of the games were played at one site.
Capital City Bridge Club: Wednesday evening (Feb 17), Thursday afternoon (Feb 18) and Friday morning (19).
Island Bridge Club: Monday afternoon (Feb 15), Wednesday morning (Feb 17) and Thursday afternoon (Feb 18).
Monterey Bridge Club: Tuesday afternoon (Feb 16) and Saturday afternoon (Feb 20).
For more information on individual clubs, please go to our Clubs page.
Unit 431 now counts a third Diamond Life Master among its ranks. Congratulations to Sindy Patterson on achieving this distinction which puts her in the top 2% of ACBL’s 170 000 menbers.
We also have new Gold and Silver Life Master this month. Read all about it on our Masterpoint Milestones page.
For a bar chart of distribution of members within the different masterpoint categories, go to Masterpoint Statistics.
Unit 431’s Annual General Meeting will be held on February 28 at Victoria Bridge Centre, starting at 12:45 pm. An election will be held to fill vacant positions Board of Directors. All Unit members in good standing are eligible to vote.
An Individual Movement (no partner required) duplicate bridge game will follow the AGM. Free pizza and pop will be served at the conclusion of the game.
For more details, please consult the AGM 2016 Flyer.
If you’re currently holding fewer than 200 Master Points, here’s your chance to pick up some valuable silver points.
The Ace of Hearts will be held on February 20 at St Aidan’s Church, starting at 9 am. For more details please take a look at the Ace of Hearts 2016 flyer. You can also navigate to our Tournaments and Events page for information on this and other tournaments of interest to Victoria area players.
If you’re wondering where to find a club game in Victoria, look no further. Our Consolidated Club Calendar will show you all available ACBL-sanctioned regular club games. Note that entries are colour-coded for each club. By default, the calendar displays the current month. For more details, click on “Week” or “Agenda”.
For schedules of tournaments (local, sectional, regional) of interest to Victoria players, please head to the Tournaments and Events page.
ACBL continues to tweak the Masterpoint rank categories. It has recently addressed the huge points gap between Silver (1000 MPs) and Gold (2500 MPs) as well as between Gold and Diamond (5000 MPs) . Two new categories have been added:
As a consequence, 32 Victoria area players are now Ruby Life Masters, and 9 are Sapphire Life Masters. Details can be found on our Masterpoint Milestones page.
Whether you’re just starting out in duplicate bridge or want to tackle more advanced techniques, there’s a bridge teacher for you in the Victoria area.
A list of 14 bridge teachers with their area of specialization can be found on our Bridge Teachers in Victoria page.
Leslie Wood has just published the latest edition (December 2015) of the Bridge Buzz. You can download a pdf copy here.
Unit 431’s Christmas Party was held at Monterey Recreation Centre Saturday December 5 and was as usual well attended. Ele Gibson, President of the Unit, emceed the event, welcoming players, distributing awards and ensuring orderly behaviour at the banquet.
There were 32.5 tables divided into two sections at the game. Kirk Homis & Virginia Youens were the overall winners with an impressive 70.25% score. Complete results are posted on both the VBC and Monterey websites.
Pictures from the event can be found in our photo gallery.
The number of Unit members reached a peak of 533 last month. A net loss of 2 members brings the current total to 531, a statistically insignificant difference.
Note: ACBL members who joined before January 2010 need only 300 points to become Life Master. Members who joined subsequently require 500. They become “Advanced NABC Master” upon reaching 300. The “Bronze Life Master” status is only applicable to those in the first category. Of course, any rank also has requirements for pigmented points. Full information is available on the ACBL site.