Masterpoint Milestones have been updated as of September 1.
This month’s awardees include new gold, silver and bronze lifemasters!
What’s New
Latest news in Unit 431
Fall Sectional cancelled!
The Unit 431 Board has regretfully decided to cancel this year’s Fall Sectional due to the worsening Covid situation.
The cancelled tournament was originally scheduled for October 16-17 at Mary Winspear in Sidney.
Also note that the resumption of face-to-face bridge at Monterey Bridge Club, initially planned for September 11, has been postponed until November 2.
It is likely that other tournaments will be postponed or cancelled. Check the website regularly for updates.
We have a winner for the August It’s Your Call, Victoria!
Congratulations to Shelley Burnham who scored a perfect 500 in the August quiz. She receives a free game at VICTORIA CLUBS on BBO.
Find the complete list of participants and scores under IYC Monthly Results in the It’s Your Call section at the top of the page. For quicker access, follow this link. You can also see comments from participants and even add your own!
And to see who’s ahead in the hotly contested race for top annual player, check out the Leaderboard.
To play in the September 2021 quiz, either click here, or hover your mouse over It’s Your Call (at top of page) to see a pull-down menu of choices.
Try our directory quiz and win a prize!
Our unit member directory is now exclusively online, and with over 700 entries, it’s a great resource to find other local players.
If you’re not sure how to use the directory, our short quiz will help you get comfortable with it. The top three winners will each receive a free play valid on BBO.
The directory is private and accessible only by registered Victoria players, all of whom received a personal username and password last April. You can also use your email instead of your username. If you have forgotten your password (no worries, it happens!), simply request a new one from the login screen. And if you need help, just click on the “Contact Us” button on the right of the page.
How to play the quiz
- Click on “Log In” in the top menu (on the right)
- Enter your username (or email) and password
- You are now on the directory page. The quiz is on the right side of the page.
- Fill in the answers. There is no need for tedious counting, but be sure to use the “sort” and “search” features of the directory to quickly find what you’re looking for.
- The deadline for submissions is Monday, September 6, 2021 at 9 pm.
You might find it easier to do this on a large screen (computer) rather than a phone, but it will work on any device. Feel free to try again if you didn’t like your first answers. Only the last set of results you submit will be considered.
Public service announcement
You are probably aware that there will be a federal election on September 20.
As with preceding ones, Elections Canada is looking to hire poll workers. This could be of interest to bridge players as they have the necessary competences, which include:
• Basic literacy skills (reading, writing and comprehension)
• Basic interpersonal skills, including the ability to exercise impartiality and to deal with people who may be impatient
• Ability to serve electors with disabilities
• Ability to perform repetitive tasks
• Basic analytical skills
• Good attention to detail
• Ability to follow directions and adhere to standards and safety measures
• Ability to learn quickly
• Ability to work long days (at least 13 hours)
For more information, go to Election Canada’s website
ACBL cancels Sectionals and Regionals for August
Today the ACBL informed units and districts that all August face-to-face tournaments have been cancelled due to the risk posed by the coronavirus Delta variant.
If you were planning on attending a face-to-face tournament in August, please click here to read the entire announcement.
It’s Your Call July results are in!
Participation rebounded from last month’s nadir with forty-two players submitting results for the July quiz.
Sheldon Spier won with an impressive score: 470 out of a possible 500. He receives a free game at VICTORIA CLUBS on BBO.
Find the complete list of participants and scores under IYC Monthly Results in the It’s Your Call section at the top of the page. For quicker access, follow this link. You can also see comments from participants and even add your own!
And to see who’s ahead in the hotly contested race for top annual player, check out the Leaderboard.
To play in the August 2021 quiz, either click here, or hover your mouse over It’s Your Call (at top of page) to see a pull-down menu of choices.
Unit 431’s Fall Sectional : an evolving situation
With the resumption of face-to-face bridge, we were contemplating holding our Unit’s Fall Sectional around mid-September. Unfortunately no suitable venue was available at that time.
Our Tournament Coordinator is working diligently to secure a sanction number from ACBL for mid-October.
Watch this space for further developments (bridgevictoria.ca/posts).
We have a new Life Master!
At the beginning of each month, ACBL sends us the list of new masterpoint rank holders for the previous month.
To find out who our new life master is, go to the Masterpoint Milestones page, located under “Members” in the top menu of Unit 431’s website, bridgevictoria.ca. You will also see what other players are climbing up the masterpoint ranks.
Should you have any questions or comments regarding Masterpoint Milestones or other aspects of our website, please click on the “Contact Us” button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
Results for the June It’s Your Call, Victoria!
Our little quiz reached a participation nadir with only 28 players submitting results for June. Not surprising, perhaps, with the longer days and nice weather we’re currently enjoying.
Congratulations to Cliff Kindree who won with an impressive 460 out of a possible 500. He receives a free game at VICTORIA CLUBS on BBO.
Find the complete list of participants and scores under IYC Monthly Results in the It’s Your Call section at the top of the page. For quicker access, follow this link. You can also see comments from participants and even add your own!
And to see who’s ahead in the hotly contested race for top annual player, check out the Leaderboard.
To play in the July 2021 quiz, either click here, or hover your mouse over It’s Your Call (at top of page) to see a pull-down menu of choices.
Masterpoint Milestones updated!
At the start of each month, ACBL sends us the list of new masterpoint rank holders for the previous month.
Our updated roster includes a new Bronze Life Master and a new Life Master. For the full picture, go to the Masterpoint Milestones page, located under “Members” in the top menu of Unit 431’s website, bridgevictoria.ca.
Should you have any questions or comments regarding Masterpoint Milestones or other aspects of our website, please click on the “Contact Us” button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
Very limited time offer!
Here’s a cute movie about today’s up and coming bridge players. Follow this team of American junior bridge enthusiasts in their journey to the world championships.
It’s available to stream until May 30 at 9PM PDT
Online Youth Bridge Summer Camp
If you have kids or grandkids who are looking for a fun summer activity,
have a look at this:
The links within the image don’t work but you can access the facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/B4Youth/
And you can contact the organizers here: camp@b4youth.org
Finding the online directory and other tips
Our website, www.bridgevictoria.ca, is dedicated to providing useful and timely information to Victoria bridge players. Here are four tips to help you make the most use of it.
1) Online directory
The online directory is private and accessible only by registered Victoria players. Last month, I sent all of you a username and password to allow access. You can also use your email in lieu of your username.
Once you’re on the website, you can reach the directory by clicking on the “Log in” item in the top menu. As soon as you’re logged in, you will be taken to the directory.
If you have forgotten your password, you can request a new one.
2) Getting the latest news automatically
The website consists of pages and posts. Pages contain relatively permanent information, such as the list of board members, games on BBO, Masterpoint Milestones, etc. They are updated regularly, but unless you go onto them, you won’t know.
This is where posts come in. Posts are short announcements, found under “What’s New”. They will inform you of new developments such as new events or updates to pages. If you don’t want to miss any, you can choose to receive them by email by clicking on the Subscribe button, at the bottom of each page. Currently, 95 Victoria players have subscribed to this service.
Posts have a publication date, author and other info in the header, as in this example:
Notice the publication date (April 22, 2021), the post author and categories (in blue). If you’re logged in, you can add a comment, by clicking on the speech bubble (
) which currently shows no (0) comments for this post.
3) Finding anything on the website
There is a Search box on every page. Just type in a relevant word or short phrase. For example, “Christmas” to look at pictures of past Christmas parties.
4) Asking for help
If you need any help using the website, just click on a “Contact Us” button. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
A new Bridge Buzz is now available for download!
Our Communications Coordinator, Madeleine Tremblay, has put pen to paper (literally – she writes with a fountain pen) and produced a stunning new edition of the Bridge Buzz, which as you all know is our Unit’s newsletter.
You may remember the olden days when copies of the BB were available at clubs. Given the current situation, that’s no longer possible so you will need to download it from our website. Just head to the Bridge Buzz page to do so. It’s where you’d expect to find it, under Members. However, for your convenience, here’s a direct link to the Bridge Buzz page.
Enjoy! And Madeleine will surely appreciate your feedback, which you can send her at communications@bridgevictoria.ca
Claim early, claim often!
A couple of weeks ago, I posted some etiquette suggestions specifically for online playing. Several of them addressed slow play, aka the bane of BBO. (see for example the October 2020 editorial in ACBL’s Bridge Bulletin). Scroll down the right sidebar to read them.
Left unmentioned was a very important aspect of online play: claiming in a timely fashion, as soon as the conclusion of the deal is obvious. This is not only courteous for your opponents and partner, it shows you actually know what you’re doing. Opps can also concede under the same circumstances but they often cannot be sure that their partner does not hold a winning card, so it’s usually up to declarer to make the call.
The title of this post is actually taken from an article by District 18’s Advocate in which he argues the case convincingly.
Here are a couple of his tips for online players:
- Playing online, saving time is very important, so always claim or concede as early as possible. Your cyber opponents and your partner expect you to click the “Claim” button as soon as you know the likely result, even in cases where there may be a chance for an overtrick.
- If you’re playing against beginners or known skeptics, it may save time to actually play out a few extra tricks before you make your “obvious” claim. Choose a point where the end position will be clear and simple and, best, all the trumps have been drawn.
- Don’t insult your opponents’ intelligence by running an Idiot Squeeze, where you have an obvious-to-everyone loser, but you play out all 13 tricks in the hope that the defenders will make a bonehead discard or, even less sportsmanlike, that one will revoke. Accept that they aren’t going to pitch their ace and just concede the trick. You may need the time for a tougher problem on the next board.
- Never play out all the tricks when you know you have the rest. This is actually a violation of bridge proprieties. According to Law 74, a player should refrain from “prolonging play unnecessarily (as in playing on although he knows that all the tricks are surely his) for the purpose of disconcerting an opponent”.
It’s Your Call April Results
Forty players submitted results for April. Congratulations to Michael Cockerell who won with a near-perfect 490 out of a possible 500. He receives a free game at VICTORIA CLUBS on BBO.
Find the complete list of participants and scores under IYC Monthly Results in the It’s Your Call section at the top of the page. For quicker access, follow this link. You can also see comments from participants and even add your own!
And to see who’s ahead in the hotly contested race for top annual player, check out the Leaderboard.
To play in the May 2021 quiz, either click here, or hover your mouse over It’s Your Call (at top of page) to see a pull-down menu of choices.
Upcoming ACBL online events
Detailed information can be found on ACBL’s website.
Charity game a great success!
We were all saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Matthew (Mutt) Kaiser, Debbie Wastle’s son, on Monday March 29th. The pandemic deprived us of many of our traditional markers of milestones and we have all experienced some degree of isolation. So when Roy Stefaniec proposed a memorial game in Mutt’s honour, it gave us a way to show love and convey support to a valued member of our community and a good friend.
An impressive forty pairs signed up on BBO friday evening, April 9th, divided into two sections of ten virtual tables. Kinga and Burt Voorhees were the overall winners with a remarkable score of 68.08%. Only four pairs found the slam in NT at board 18, a grand way to close this friendly competition…unless, like me, you found yourself helplessly defending against it.
Together, we raised US $400 (CA $500 equivalent) for the Calgary Food Bank, the charity chosen by Debbie and her family. The Calgary Food Bank serves families, individuals and organizations since 1982. In its last fiscal year, it distributed close to 100,000 food hampers. Like most food banks, it relies solely on the support of the community. A very worthy cause indeed.
Special thanks to Roy and Island Bridge Club for providing us with an opportunity to be together in this difficult time.
Charity game this Friday
Deb Wastle’s son Matthew (Mutt) passed away suddenly on Monday morning, March 29 in Calgary. An online charity game, hosted by Island Bridge Club is being held on Friday at 7 pm in his memory.
To participate, log onto BBO and go to Virtual Clubs. Select ACBL North America, then Victoria Clubs. Proceeds will go to the Calgary Food Bank. You will have the opportunity to make an additional donation.