WELCOME

to

UNIT 143

This is a free service for our bridge-playing members. Our web site is an initiative of the board of directors of Unit 143, the American Contract Bridge League of Greater St. Louis, Inc.

Find schedules and locations for our

 

 

FREE bridge lessons for those who have never played.

More than 40,000 people have downloaded this user-friendly & comprehensible program from the ACBL website.     Click here for free download.

St. Louis: things to do besides bridge. 

Come play in our tournaments and enjoy our fine city!

UPCOMING UNIT-SPONSORED TOURNAMENTS:

  • March 27, 2010, 199er Championships
  • May 15-17, 2010, Sectional
  • July 10-11, 2010, St Louis KO Team Championship
  • August  9-15, 2010, August Regional
  • September 25, 2010, 199er Championships
  • October 15-17, 2010, Sectional

Upcoming ACBL Events

  • February 6, 2010 International Fund Game #1
  • February 22, 2010  Senior Pairs
  • June 4-5 World Wide Pairs/ World Bridge Federation
  • July 23, 2010 International Fund Game #2
  • September 16, 2010 Instant Matchpoint Game
  • November 29, ACBL Charity Game #2
 

Unit membership as of February 1  is 1106...

AND

we had 2 new members in January!

    Welcome them when you see them at the table!

Honor Roll: Players who advanced in rank. 

List of those who have advanced in the past month.   

List of all who have advanced in 2009 & 2010.
 
NEW        NEW        NEW        NEW        NEW        NEW        NEW        NEW         NEW        NEW

ACBL Masterpoint Ranks

Effective January 1, 2010

These rules apply to you if you joined the ACBL after January 1, 2010 or let your membership lapse after that date. If you joined prior to January 1, 2010 and have maintained continuous membership, click here to see the rules that apply to you.

Title Masterpoints Earned***
Rookie Fewer than 5
Junior Master 5
Club Master 20
Sectional Master 50 (5 must be silver)
Regional Master 100 (15 silver, 5 red or gold)
NABC Master 200 (with at least 5 gold, 15 red or gold and 25 silver)
Advanced NABC Master 300 (25 gold or platinum, 25 red, gold or platinum, 50 silver, 50 black) THIS IS A NEW RANKING CATEHGOTY CTREATED
Life Master 500 (50 gold or platinum, 50 red, gold or platinum, 75 silver, 75 black)*
Silver Life Master 1000
Gold Life Master 2500
Diamond Life Master 5000
Emerald Life Master 7500
Platinum Life Master 10,000
Grand Life Master 10,000 and see below**

*These requirements do not apply to people who are ACBL members as of December 31, 2009 and maintain continuous membership in the ACBL until they achieve Life Master status. These players will attain Life Master status upon earning 300 points, of which 150 must be pigmented as follows: 25 gold, 25 red or gold, 50 silver and 50  black. A member who had red masterpoints or a fraction thereof prior to Jan. 1, 1969, is required to possess at least 50 red or gold masterpoints in any combination. Any new member or player in an unpaid status for six months or more after Jan. 1, 1999, will be required to earn 50 black points to become a Life Master.

 
 

Kudos to 70% Games!

 

Becky Hubert & En Xie   Occidental    12/23/09     72.69%

 

If you have a really good game, let us know and

we will post it here on the Home Page.
 
 

Thanks got coming out and hope you had a great time!

St. Louis Winter Sectional

Overall Results and recap sheets.

 

Top 10 Master Point Winners

1   31.24 Jack Bryant, Saint Louis MO
2   29.21 Nancy Popkin, Saint Louis MO
3   27.46 Alan Popkin, St Louis MO
4   26.26 Sasanka Ramanadham, Saint Louis MO
5   25.90 Mark Ehret, Saint Louis MO
6   25.90 Lee Hastings, St Louis MO
7   22.80 Roger Lord, Saint Louis MO
8   22.46 Jason Clevenger, Saint Louis MO
9   22.46 Andrew Carver, Edwardsville IL
10 22.46 Linda Lubeck, Troy IL

 

All 429 master point winners

 
 
 

Mark your calendars and grab your favorite partners for

STaC Week

Friday, 1/29 thru Thursday, 2/4

additional game Saturday night

at BridgeHaven 7 p.m., Lee Hastings director

 

Important information for Club Owners/Directors
 
 

Annual St. Louis ABA Tournament

February 12-15

The American Bridge Association will hold their annual 'Grade A' (equivalent of an ACBL Sectional)

at the Best Western Airport Plaza Inn

Flyer with schedule and logistics
 

SALUKI SWISS


Saturday and Sunday, February 20 & 21, 2010

NEW LOCATION
LAKE WILLIAMSON CHRISTIAN CENTER

Womac, IL


All Details, including link to Google maps.

Three miles south of Carlinville, IL on IL-4;

Driving time from St. Louis is about 80 minutes.

All proceeds from the Saluki Swiss will support the five-day residential
Youth Bridge Camp, July 3-8, 2010 at Lake Williamson

Advance Registration with payment IS REQUIRED for this tournament,

IF you are staying at the Center. 

See details on "The Package".

Early bird rate payment due to Chris Shaw by 02/15/10. 

Entry fees for walk-ups include meals, as the nearest restaurant is several miles away;

and the food at the Center is great.

 

 

Kentucky Dam Village Sectional

March 5-7

KY Dam Village State Park

Convention Center on Highway 641

I-24, exit 27

Flyer with schedule and complete details

Springfield, MO Sectional

March 5-7

Clarion Hotel

3333 S. Glenstone Ave.

Springfield, MO

Flyer with schedule and complete details.

Effingham, IL Sectional

April 23-25

HENDELMEYER PARK
1906 S. Fourth - Effingham. Illinois
Exit 159 on Routes 57 and 70

Flyer with schedule and complete details.
 

MONTHLY UNIT GAMES

"8 Is Enough" Swiss Team -- 1st Sunday of the Month

Next game: February 14, 2010 at 5 pm

[Feb. 7 is Super Bowl.]

[replaces the IMP Pairs Unit game in February only]

Regular schedule resumes in March (March 7, 5 pm) 

American Legion Hall, Creve Coeur (map)

 

IMP Pairs -- " Second Sundays at Six!" - 2nd Sunday of the Month

Next game: March 14, 2010 at 6 pm. 

February 14, 2010 game CANCELLED. 

[A game will be held on that date, but it will be "8 Is Enough" Swiss Team Unit game]

American Legion Hall, Creve Coeur (map)
 
 

December 2009 issue of the District 8 Advocate newsletter is available.:

In this issue:
   Solvers Forum -- Kent Filer, moderator, with guest panelist Richard Pavlicek
   District 8 North American Pair winners
   District 8's Top 100 masterpoint holders
   Fall Sectional-at-Clubs winners
   Newest bridge books and gifts
   Bridge with Larry Cohen -- Notrump interference
   Schedule for the Champaign IL Regional (May 25-31, 2010)
   News, sectional ads and winners from Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky

Please send your comments and suggestions to the editor at dist8adv@comcast.net

For more news and bridge features of general interest, visit District 8 Online:  http://district8acbl.com .

Board Elects Unit Officers for 2009-2010

Congratulations to our new Unit Officers!

their term runs until the November 2010 Board Meeting

President Suzi Shymanski-Moore
Vice President Steve Zenk
Secretary Jane Ettelson
Treasurer Bob Janis

complete Board of Directors

and their duties

St. Louis does well...

NAP District 8 Finals

Full results with photos, hand records and recap sheets.

Congratulations to

  • Jack Bryant and Rod Van Wyk, who won first place
  • En Xie and Jacqueline Sincoff, who placed second, and
  • Richard Riezman and Roger Lord, who placed third in Flight A!

AND to

  • Martha Hanley and Elizabeth Meteer who won first place
  • Ralph Britton and William Maack, who placed third in Flight C.

In Memoriam  (Link to Unit members passing away this calendar year.)

Loretta "Rette" Ponzar  d. November, 22, 2009; our sympathy to her husband Tony.

 

     Beginning this month, we will publish names of Unit members who pass away from us and link to an obituary published for two weeks in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.  Please send us any names or omissions.

 

 

 

The 2010 Unit 143 Membership Directory

will be distributed at the upcoming January Sectional!

Pick up your personal copy there.

See Bill Bunn for additional copes @ $1 each.

Thanks to all our sponsors who bought ads!

If you phone number or address is incorrect, we are sorry.
You must keep your personal data up to date with ACBL Memphis.

Use this ACBL link to contact them.

Our data is updated each month on the Unit 143 Directory on this website.

 

Also, at any time you can print out your own copy (and one for a friend!),

by going to the online version and using your browser's print function.

Online version of current Membership Directory

is updated each month for the most up-to-date listings.

print your version

 

Online version of 2010 Date Book.

 

Eternal thanks to Mary Hruby for her last work compiling the Datebook for our Unit!

and

Ongoing thanks to Milt Zlatic for posting the Membership directory each month!

Other Tournaments

  • PLAN AHEAD: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in the World Bridge Series Championships.  October 1 - 10, in Philadelphia, PA.  There will also be an ACBL Regional held concurrently. Click for more information.
 

Local Club Game Events

  • Pot Luck dates on Saturday.  Same schedule as always: 5:30 pm set up, 6:00 pm dinner, 7:00pm bridge. Please call Barbara for partner at 314-374-6027 (cell) or 314-822-9454 (home).
February 27, 2010
  • Bridgehaven is adding some Saturday night games. The schedule is as follows:
  • February 13  7 PM game   Let's have a Valentine Party
  • Next Swiss Team at Bridgehaven is Sunday, February 28, 2009; play begins at 6 pm.  THIS IS A PERMANENT CHANGE TO THE 4TH SUNDAY (no longer the 3rd Sunday).  Please call Barbara for partners and/or team mates at 314-374-6027, cell or 314-822-9454, home.
 
 

IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS...

 

  • ACBL Bridge Bites: Lessons in Bridge.  A weekly feature from the ACBL, so save this link and check back regularly.  Article #30 now published - Count Signals - geared toward the beginner/newcomer bridge player.  The first article, titled Elementary, begins, "Crime in London appeared to be taking a vacation, and Sherlock found himself on opening lead at the Baker Street Bridge Club"...

 

  • Karen Walker's Bridge Library.    Here's a link to a superb reference how-to library for Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced.   The short article on "Count, Count, Count"  shows our own Ask the Expert Tom Kniest in action.  Click here to see how paying attention and drawing the correct inferences bring home a 22-point game.

 

 

  • Suit Play....  Link to freeware featuring suit play interactive combos. It optimizes declarer play of suit combinations against optimal defense with the probability of success of various lines of play. It analyzes (almost) any chosen suit combination. Moreover, with SuitPlay you can do a special analysis for matchpoints or imp-scoring.

 

ARE YOU INTERESTED?

  • The District 8 Board of Directors is looking for two or more Unit members who have a sincere interest in teaching bridge to middle school students.  There will be a 3-hour seminar on the how's and why's of starting such a program at the 2010 St. Louis Regional. Chris Shaw, District 8 education coordinator and his wife Mary Beth, have done an outstanding job in their home area.  It is not easy to start such a program and would take someone truly dedicated, but it's a workable plan and very rewarding.  If you have ideas or are interested, please contact Suzi Shymanski-Moore.
  • General news about players and bridge stuff, including December Advocate and the September 199er Championship winners.

  • New Web Site for Youth Bridge Players

    ACBL's new youth web site is up and running! Check it out at www.Youth4Bridge.org !

 

HELP NEEDED...

Help Unit 143 $ave Expen$e$

In an effort to reduce mailing expenses, the Unit would like to begin e-mail notification for Sectionals, Regionals, and other Special Events. 

E-mail notification will be optional, but we do encourage you to use it.  If you do NOT elect to use e-mail notification, you will continue to receive notification via US mail for those events using US mail for notification.

If you would like to receive Unit 143 event announcements via e-mail, please email Bill Bunn, with the following information:

  • your name
  • your street address
  • your ACBL number
  • your e-mail address
    THANK YOU.
 

    

     
   

Honor Roll --Advances in rank for Unit 143 Members

updated 2-01-10.  

Kudos to 

*** NEW JUNIOR MASTERS ***


Michael Monaldi

Jane Wolfe


*** NEW CLUB MASTER ***

Jan Greenberg

Dan Hass

John Millham

Karen Pahuski

 

*** NEW SECTIONAL MASTERS ***


Cheryl Prante

Ulrike Schlafly


*** NEW REGIONAL MASTER ***

Charles Bretzke

Marvin Meinz

Judy Pass

Robert Rohne

Richard Welc

 

*** NEW NABC MASTERS ***

none

 

*** NEW ADVANCED NABC MASTERS***

new category in 2010... not as yet!

 

***** NEW LIFE MASTERS *****


Helene Siegfried

Barbara Stewart

 

*** NEW BRONZE LIFE MASTER ***

Lois Kanefield

Ruth Naber

*** NEW SILVER LIFE MASTER ***

George Bogacki

 

*** NEW GOLD LIFE MASTER ***

none

 
   
 
The above is merely a "quick reference" guide. 
Please click on the list at the left for a complete inventory.
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Page last modified Tuesday, 02-Feb-2010 21:54:03 CST
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