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.

Calling all players!

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.

Participating clubs in Victoria include:

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:

• Ruby Life Master (1500 MPs) – at least 300 silver, red gold, or platinum points.
• Sapphire Life Master (3500 MPs) – at least 700 silver, red, gold or platinum, of which at least 350 must be gold or platinum.

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.

New members…

• Vicky Barkley
• Lorne J Bulmer
• Judy A Gage
• Sherrie L Haines

…and transferees from other units

• Judy Gislason
• Roberta R Ireland
• Lynne Upton

Several items have been updated on November 6:

• New Members (see post titled Welcome New Members)
• 2016 Bridge Events Calendar (under Tournaments and Events menu)
• Masterpoint Milestones (under Members menu)
• Masterpoint Statistics for November (see titled post)

The number of Unit members reached the 500 mark earlier this year. Since then,
there has been a steady progression to the current count of 533.

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.

New members…

• Lorraine G Couzens

…and transferees from other units

• Gayle Paterson
• Shirley C Rainey
• Helen Schmidt
• Elizabeth Thacker

Please note that all D-light games will now be held at Lakehill on the second and fourth Friday of each month.

 D-light — a new game to introduce bridge players to duplicate

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. The games are held every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month at Capital City Bridge Club at the Lakehill Lawn Bowling clubhouse at 9:00 am.

The cost per person is $5 and there will be a director there introducing participants to the way duplicate works while they play 15 or more hands. These will NOT be bridge mentoring sessions — they will just allow newcomers to duplicate to ease in. Ideally people will arrive in pairs but for information about finding a partner, please call the club directors.

The club is located at Lakehill Lawn Bowling Club, 3930 LaSalle Street, Saanich. Parking is at the top of Prestwood Drive.

Club website: Capital City Bridge Club (www.capitalcitybridgeclub.com), Director: Ewa Zwicky, phone: 250-388-7000