We’re not a young crowd, so although sad, it’s perhaps no surprise that several active players have passed away recently.
You can see their obituaries on our In Memoriam page.
Author: JP Weber
Unit Mentor Game Cancelled
Terry Foster and Heather Erskine, long-term organizers of the monthly Unit Mentor Game are cancelling the game due to low turnout.
Here is the message they sent to their participants:
After going through many game cancellations (due to low game registrations) in the last several months, we have decided to cancel the monthly Unit 431 Mentor Games until further notice. This decision does not affect Mike’s game and he will continue on as normal.
We have enjoyed getting to know and work with you all over the past 8 years and we wish you all the best going forward.
Thanks very much,
Terry and Heather
As they mention, VBC continues its on-line (BBO) mentor game at 12:15 on the fourth Sunday of each month with Mike Ainsley in charge. For more information, contact Mike at meainsley23@gmail.com.
Bridge Bulletin contest – we have a winner!
Last month’s Bridge Bulletin featured two smiling Victoria bridge players. Our little contest asked you to name them.
A total of 616 players received the invitation (also posted on our website), with 300 actually opening the email. Of these, 21 accepted the challenge and sent in their answer.
15 gave the correct answer, which can be found on page 25 of the October Bridge Bulletin. The featured players are Jill Plasteras and Madeleine Tremblay, part of the runners-up in the 0-2500 Mini-Spingold KO Teams.
The winner, drawn randomly from the correct results is Jim Brackenbury. He received Augie Boehm’s book, Masterpiece Deals, A Gallery of Beautiful Card Play.
Halloween at VBC
Participants at Thursday’s VBC game were invited to dress up in their Halloween costumes and several took up the challenge.
The ghostly winners for best costume were Margaret Skinner and Nicole Dupuis, who received a dinner gift card from Victoria Pub Company, valid at any of their four pubs, Bard & Banker, Irish Times, Penny Farthing, Vis-a-Vis.
Victoria team at Worlds in Buenos Aires
Follow the progress of our Victoria players at the World Bridge Championships by clicking here.
As a reminder, Michael Roche and Daniel Lyder are playing in the Open Team event, while Gord McOrmond and Mike Hargreaves are part of a Senior Team.
Some of the games are being shown on VuGraph for free. You can access the schedule by going onto BBO.
Latest Bridge Bulletin
I’m sure most players enjoy the monthly Bridge Bulletin. In fact, I’ve been told that some people who are no longer playing keep up their ACBL membership just for the magazine.
The October issue features something we rarely see – photos of Victoria players. Have a look. Once you’ve found them, click here for a chance to win a bridge-related prize.
There’s also a very funny and relatable article by Susan Morse on surviving a bad slam. And of course, all the usual good stuff.
Photos from a national competition
Over 20 Victoria players attended the Summer NABC in Toronto, held from July 17 to 28.
Here are pictures we received.
List of Unit Life Masters Updated
Our list shows in what year Victoria players (319 of them) became Life Masters. It covers the period between 1962 and 2023 and is updated yearly. You’ll find the full list under Members.
Quick trivia question: When did our current Unit president become a Life Master? Hint: it’s been a while.
You can also look at Masterpoint Milestones (also under Members) to see who’s moved up the Masterpoint ranks, from Junior Master to Grand Life Master. Updated every month!
Highlights from the AGM
Unit 431 held its Annual General Meeting on February 16th 2024, via Zoom.
Two new board members were elected by acclamation for 2-year terms:
- Jill Stainforth as Membership Coordinator. Jill had been serving as interim for the past few months.
- Susan Jobbins as Inventory Coordinator.
The president welcomed both to the board. He also thanked outgoing Inventory Coordinator Madeleine Tremblay for her service.
The list of board members, including photos (for most of them), can be found on the Unit’s website, bridgevictoria.ca, under Governance.
Highlights
- We held 1 regular Sectional Tournament and 2 limited (0-299) sectionals. We will be using both Monterey and Mary Winspear for tournaments this year. Monterey is preferred due to the cost so we will continue to try to locate both seasonal sectionals at that location.
- The Seasonal Gathering (formerly Christmas Party) was one of our largest celebrations in many years with 28 tables. Prior to the bridge game, attendees enjoyed a hilariously commented fashion show which saw golfers, boulevardiers and geocachers among others strutting the runway. A good time was had by all participants.
- The unit posted a net profit of about $3000 for 2023, an improvement over the previous year.
- The unit received a $4500 grant from ACBL to help develop bridge in Victoria, to be applied to Duplicate Light.
- We are now using pre-duplicated boards for all sectional games including team games. Pre-duplicated boards are now available for all sectional team games on the island. It was made more convenient to provide these boards by having all unit boards barcoded for the duplicating machine.
- We remember all those bridge friends we lost during the past year: Alan Filmer, Nancy Allan, Mary Szarka, Emma Abrams, Sue Foley, Nigel Williamson, and Michael Scott-Kerr. Obituaries can be found on our In Memoriam page (under Members).
- The results of the 2023 Unit races (Mini McKenney and Ace of Clubs) for all masterpoint categories can be found under Members on our website. Click here for direct access.
Attendance
An announcement was sent on January 21st via ACBL’s email service (Pianola) to all 406 members with valid emails . 73% (297) opened the email and presumably read it. A reminder, which included the link for the Zoom meeting was sent to the same group on February 13th. 266 people opened the email.
Only ten people actually showed up for the AGM. We reached quorum (20), after phoning around for volunteers.
It’s disappointing that less than 4% of Unit members feel sufficiently motivated to attend the AGM. Perhaps the they are put off by the format (Zoom) which is unfamiliar to many. The board will be trying to bring back an in-person AGM next year. As with previous live AGMs it will include a bridge game, as well as free pizza.
Member directory updated!
We have updated our online member directory. In addition to 400 Unit 431 members, the directory contains another 160 Victoria area duplicate bridge players who have asked to be included.
Each player entry includes their name, phone number, email address and BBO handle when available.
The directory is available to registered users who can gain access after going to the website, bridgevictoria.ca and then logging in. If you need instructions on the login procedure, click here.
If you’re not yet registered and wish to do so, click on this link.
New masterpoint achievements in November
Our Masterpoint Milestones page is updated monthly with the names of Unit 431 members who attain new levels in the rankings.
November awardees include a new Sapphire Life Master as well as two Silver Life Masters.
Find out who they are by clicking here.
Our website is moving to a new home!
Our website has been experiencing issues over the past few months, including slow page loading, and occasional outages.
To address these problems, we are moving to a new, hopefully more reliable host. We expect the migration to be completed by Friday, November 10. As with any move, temporary glitches can be expected.
If you notice anything not working as it should, please let me know by emailing me at webmaster@bridgevictoria.ca. You can also use the “Contact Us” button found on the right side of every page of the website.
Thanks for you help,
JP Weber
Webmaster, Unit 431
Embrace ACBL’s new convention card!
ACBL’s new convention card was introduced over a year ago, in the March 2022 Bridge Bulletin.
It’s actually much better than the previous one and takes into account the recent changes in alert and announcement procedures.
However, most of us, myself included, haven’t started using it yet.
Why is that? I can think of a couple of reasons:
- At our age, we’re set in our ways and change is hard.
- Clubs and tournaments haven’t exactly been promoting its use, in fact they still have a large stock of the old ones to get rid of.
So why adopt it?
- You’ll need to do it eventually. ACBL is aware that it could take several months for the existing cards in circulation to be replaced with the new one and has stated that “During the transition, either card will be acceptable.” No word yet on when the transition period will end.
- It will be a good opportunity to go over your conventions with your favourite partners, and review the new alert/announcement procedures. (e.g. transfers should now be announced by naming the suit transferred to – for instance, after 1NT, 2D, opener should say “Hearts”, no less, no more).
If you can’t easily find a paper copy, just download it from ACBL and print it.
To help you understand the new CC, ACBL published a series of explanatory articles in the BB over the last year. Local player Esther Wiebe has taken it upon herself to collate all of them within the pdf document below (which you can read and also download by clicking on 
) in the title bar, below.
Unit receives a grant from ACBL for Duplicate Light!
<span style=”font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000080;”>As reported in the July ACBL Bulletin, Unit 431, (Victoria/Gulf Islands) was granted $3500 to subsidize player entry fees for an already successful pilot project aimed at bringing aspiring duplicate players to play at clubs games. Called “Duplicate Light,” the program allows new players to practise duplicate in a relaxed environment before moving to the regular game.</span>
<span style=”font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000080;”>For more information, head to our <a style=”color: #000080;” href=”/tournaments-and-events/duplicate-light/”><u>Duplicate Light page</u></a>.</span>
Compete in bridge at BC’s 55+ Games!
Abbotsford 2023 55+ BC Games
August 22-26, 2023
Duplicate bridge in the 55+ BC Games is a three day pairs competition with ACBL silver points awarded.
Stratification is 0-300, 300-1000, 1000+ master points.
If you wish to compete, you must register by June 15th.
Interested? Find complete information and registration instructions on the 55+ BC Games website.
Finding your way around the website
Unit 431’s website, bridgevictoria.ca, is dedicated to bringing timely and relevant information to bridge players in the Victoria area.
The site has grown over the years, so we have added a few tools to help you quickly find what you’re looking for.
The top menu shows the main sections of the website. Hovering over a section will open a dropdown menu with further choices.
If you’re looking for a specific item, the quickest way is to type a word or two in the Search box on the right.
The Unit Directory is found in the Members section. It’s a quick and convenient way to find a local player’s phone number or email. To use it, you need to log in (last item in the top menu).
Have any questions or concerns? Click on the blue “Contact Us” button at the right to let us know.
Grand Life Master Day at Monterey
The day that Sandra Fraser attained the rank of Grand Life Master (GLM) there were 3 other GLMs playing at the Monterey Bridge Club in Victoria, BC to help her celebrate. All are Canadian Champions!
Sandra Fraser:
- Won a North American Bridge Championship title and is a 5 time 2nd place winner
- Won the 2019 Canadian Mixed Team Championship (CMTC) along with husband Doug Fraser, Jim & Constance McAvoy, and Rhonda Foster & Gerry McCully, all from Victoria, BC
- Represented Canada with the above team at the World Mixed Team Championships in China, September 2019
Victoria’s bridge scene is vibrant. The two local bridge clubs running ACBL games are popular. The Monterey Bridge Club, under the direction of Nicole Dupuis, is flourishing post-pandemic with between 16 – 23 tables twice a week.
Greater Victoria has a population of 400,000 and now boasts 7 Grand Life Masters!
These include Doug Fraser, Rhonda Foster, Gerry McCully, Duncan H. Smith, Michael J. Roche, James McAvoy (Aug 2022), and Sandra Fraser (Feb 2023).
Congratulations, Sandra and Jim, Victoria’s newest Grand Life Masters!
By Catherine Mustafa
Originally published in the ACBL Bulletin, May 2023
Reproduced here by permission of the author
Great turnout for the Ace of Hearts!
The Ace of Hearts Sectional Tournament for players with fewer than 300 points was held on Saturday February 25.
This was a 2-session tournament. Participation was excellent with 11 tables in the morning and 12 in the afternoon.
The overall morning winners were Natalie Stevens and Susan DeGryp who both garnered 2.17 Silver Masterpoints.
Anne Callon and Sophie Watts won the afternoon with 2.27 Silvers.
Playing consistently in both morning and afternoon games, John Heck and Shiela Wansbrough came away with the biggest haul of 2.76 Silvers.
Detailed tournament results: morning / afternoon.
Congrats to Ruth Cain (chair), Ernie Tradewell (director) and an assortment of dedicated volunteers for putting on this great event!
Duncan Sectional, March 16-18
The Duncan Sectional will be held March 16-18 2023 (Thursday through Saturday) at Eagles Hall, 2965 Boys Rd, Duncan (south end, just before the bridges). The tournament flyer is shown below.
To help our members get there we could set up some carpooling. However, we do need to know ahead of time if you are interested in either getting a ride or sharing your car with other players.
Please email our tournament coordinator, Ruth Davies at tournaments@bridgevictoria.ca if you are requesting or offering transportation.
Ace of Hearts Sectional – February 25
If you currently hold fewer than 300 master points and want a chance to get some silver, our Ace of Hearts Sectional Tournament is just the ticket. All the information you need is in the flyer below: