2013 Unit Reports in the Contract Bridge Forum

Each month the La Jolla unit contributes to the What’s New in District 22 section of the D22 edition of The Contract Bridge Forum, the newspaper members receive. Gathered below are the reports for 2013. The month refers to the publication month but the newspaper is delivered slightly before the publication month, reports are submitted a couple of weeks in advance, and the reports cover the preceding weeks.


December 2013

by SkipBid

Our November 13 game was won by Ron and Mary Huffaker. Flight B winners were Freda Anderson and Virginia Herrick, with Flight C taken by Matthew Kidd and Trisha Lane.

We have two big events coming up the next two months. On Sunday December 8 the La Jolla Unit will host its annual Holiday Party. This year it will be held right at the Soledad Club, with a terrific menu catered by local restaurant Cafe Athena. Brunch will be at 11:30 with bridge at 1. Call Cass Donovan at (858)-270-2386 for reservations and details.

And on January 11 and 12 there will be a 0-750 NLM Sectional, again at the Soledad Club, offering silver points. See flyer in this issue for games and times. Note: the Sunday Unit open game will be held concurrently.

The following unit members have achieved advancements in rank: New Junior Masters—Abraham and Marilyn Arkinzadeh, Marilyn Patterson, and Patrick Staley; New Club Masters—Elizabeth Granby, Gary Greenberg, Victoria Mogilner, and John Murphy; New Sectional Masters—Sydney Selati and Grant Williams; and New Diamond Master (5000 mps!)—Ann Labe. Congratulations to all, and mention this column for a free play in December or January!

November 2013

by SkipBid

Two big events are coming up for the La Jolla and Beach Unit.

On December 8 we're having our annual Holiday Party. This time it will be catered right at the Soledad Club by Cafe Athena, with an incredible menu that you won’t want to miss.

Then on January 11 and 12 we’ll be having another NLM/750 sectional, offering great hospitality and lots of silver points. (The NLM events on the 12th will run concurrently with our regular unit game.)

The winners in our September 8 game were Maribel Corredor and Maritha Pottenger in Flight A, followed by Carol Brager and Sue Kane in Flight B and Morton and Eileen Heinrich in Flight C.

On September 22 Debbie Gailfus and Rick Norton were the Flight A winners, with Elaine Chan and Mike Mizen taking Flight B and Barry and Emily Berkov Flight C.

The following unit members have achieved advancements in rank: new Junior Masters—Irene Cooper and Roger Patterson; new Club Masters—Merrel Olesen and Marcia Robinson; new Sectional Master—Leroy Wisper; and (trumpets playing!) Bette Cornelius is our new Diamond Master!

October 2013

by SkipBid

At our August 11 game Bernard Figueiredo and Dorinda Lindvall were the victors in Flights A and B, with Barbara Blake and Joyce Bailey winning Flight C. And on August 25 Eileen and Morton Heinrich swept our 19-table unit game in all three Flights: A, B, and C! The following unit members have achieved advancements in rank: new Junior Master, Kermit Taylor; new Sectional Masters, Nancy Lemery and Bridget Poizner; new Regional Master, Susan Koshkarian; and new Bronze Life Masters Elayne H. Henke, Eve Lonack and Mike Munson.

Congratulations to all, and please refer to this article for a free play in October or November.

September 2013

by SkipBid

Our July 14 unit game was won by Brenda Carter and Manooch Bahmanian in Flights A and B, and Barry and Emily Berkov winning Flight C. On July 28 Matthew Kidd and Paul Alesu had a big victory, taking Flights A, B, and C, and winning our annual Bill Logan Trophy game, named for our director or many years.

In addition to our Sunday unit games, the Soledad Club is also the venue for two weekly ACBL-sanctioned games hosted by Maritha Pottenger and Marc Matz on Monday afternoon (12:30 p.m., often 20 tables) and Thursday evening (7:00 p.m., always fabulous desserts.) In July, the quarterly club championship game on Monday was won by Marianne Klayman and Robert Englekirk. In the Thursday games there were two North American Pairs qualifiers: Elaine Chan and Robert Shapley tying with Steve Rattner and John Evans on July 11, and Bruce Sherman and John Boackle winning on July 18.

This month has seen the following unit members advance in their ACBL rank: new Junior Masters Carol Butler and Elizabeth Granby; new Club Masters Mona Deutsch, Mimi McKnight, and Joseph Zechman; new Regional Master Sally Hall; new NABC Master Peter Clark; and our very own board member Charlotte Blum is now a Gold Life Master. Congratulations to all, and please refer to this column for a free play during September or October!

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Billie Greene, a former board member and always gracious player in the San Diego bridge world.

August 2013

by SkipBid

Our June 9 game was election day for our unit, as well as our Weiss Trophy game. We welcome and congratulate Charlotte Blum and Jill Seagren as our new board members, with Randy Fadem and Ron Ignelzi returning for another term.

Also on June 9, Rex and Sheila Latus were winners of Flight A and our Weiss Trophy, the trophy with the longest continuous history of winners in San Diego! Flight B was taken by Bruce Sherman and Larry Sherman, with Flight C going to Barry and Emily Berkov.

On June 23 Mary and Ron Huffaker were first overall with a 69.71%. Avram and Susan Ninyo won Flight B, And Eileen and Morton Heinrich took Flight C.

On June 30 Lena Jelusich and Alice Lane won our open game, with Manooch and Bep Bahmanian first in Flight B and Avram and Susan Ninyo taking Flight C. Meanwhile, Barbara Blake and Joyce Bailey tied with Ron Ignelzi and Trevot Coolidge as victors in our 0-750 game.

The following unit members have achieved advancements in rank: new Club Master Mary Lowe; New Sectional Masters Colleen Howard and Batia Kvashny and new Bronze Life Master Matthew Kidd. Congratulations and refer to this column for a free play in July or August!

July 2013

by SkipBid

Our unit game on May 12 was won by Maritha Pottenger and Ken Monzingo in Flight A, with Jeremy Fields and Matthew Kidd taking Flights B and C.

Led by Randy Fadem, La Jolla/Beach has just completed its fifth year of bridge teaching at La Jolla High. With lessons running from Monday May 13th through June 4th, the host teachers were once again Greg Kinsel, Jessica Wills and one new teacher, Melanie Menders. Randy was aided by host of unit volunteers, including Freda Anderson, Charlotte Blum, Ginger Calvert, Don Davidson, Val Frager, Ron Ignelzi, Jackie Ives, Matthew Kidd, Mary Lowe, Barbara Naschold, Cheryl Rodzach, Linda Rutgard, Jill Seagren, Stephen Seagren, Larry Sherman, and Rick Simpson. It was hard to tell who were more excited, the students or the adults who were helping!

Our Memorial Day sectional, held at Adventures in Bridge May 25-27, was our largest sectional ever, 287 total tables in 3 days, beating our four-day 2009 record by 3.5 tables! 431 ACBL players attended, 337 taking home masterpoints, with 1093.87 total masterpoints awarded. Suresh Mahajan was the overall masterpoint winner, earning 17.88 MP. Most of you were from local units: La Jolla (77), San Diego (173), Coronado Chula-Vista (29), North San Diego (41), and North Inland (24). But some came from further: Dana Harbour (22), Saddleback (6), the greater Los Angeles region (10), Palm Springs (8), Inland Valley (2), and Inland Empire (2).

Arleen Harvey was the Director-in-Charge. She was assisted by Scott Campbell, Brandon Sheumaker (Saturday only) and Marc Matz (Saturday and Monday). They all did a very professional job. Many people contributed to our fantastic sectional. But above all we want to give a big round of thanks to Allison Ogul, our regular unit caddy.

The following unit members have achieved new ACBL ranks: new junior master–Lolitia Bache, Linda Humphreys, Barbara Klein, Sharon Mack, and Diane I McMahan; and new club master Raymond Hilbert. Congratulations and please refer to this article to get your free play in June or July!

June 2013

by SkipBid

Our April 14 game was won by Mary and Ron Huffaker (Flight A) and Jill and Stephen Seagren (Flights B and C). On April 28, Jill and Stephen won Flight B/C again, with Debbie and Alan Gailfus capturing the first overall honors in flight A.

The following unit members achieved promotion in their ACBL rank: New Junior Masters–Dolores M Boily and Mary Anne Curray; new Club Masters–Sylvia A Bode and Susan Koshkarian; new Regional Masters–Richard Gabriel and Ann Manaster; and new NABC Masters Toby Burke, Dale Phillips, and Mary Ann Scher. Congratulations! And just mention this article for a free play in May or June.

Our unit’s traditional bridge liaison with the students of La Jolla High School is starting right now. Randy Fadem has four classes lined up with math students eager to learn the fundamentals of our great game. Please send Randy (muranowska@yahoo.com) or Matthew Kidd (webmaster@lajollabridge.com) an email if you can help out, even if it's just for one period. The more adult bridge players answering questions in the classroom, the merrier! Bill Grant (wbgran@yahoo.com) and Alan Rowen are also working with students at Chula Vista High School and welcome your assistance.

Just around the corner is La Jolla’s traditional Memorial Day Sectional, this year at Adventures in Bridge. Get your partners lined up, and make sure you remember it’s Saturday, Sunday and Monday (not Friday!)—May 25-27.

May 2013

by SkipBid

Our March 10th winners were Roger Doughman and Suzanne Lebendig in Flight A, with Jeremy Fields and Matthew Kidd tying with Ben Domurat and George Humphrey in Flight B. Flight C was taken by Jim Johnsen and Lamya Agelidis. Our March 24 game was won by David Oakley and Greg Chaffee (Flight A), followed by Andy and Pat Loh in Flight B, with Avram and Susan Ninyo in Flight C.

The following unit members have achieved new ACBL ranks: New Junior Masters—Judith Feinberg, Helen Slevin, and Barbara Williams; New Club Masters—Nick Alic, Val Frager, George Humphreys and Judi Swift; New Sectional Master—Judy Elsberry; and New Regional Master Sandy Dinnsen. Congratulations to all and please claim your free unit game in April or May!

It’s not too early to find your partners for our Memorial Day Sectional, to be held this year at Adventures in Bridge, May 25-27. For a change, that’s Saturday through Monday instead of the usual Friday to Monday. See our flyer in this issue of the forum.

April 2013

by SkipBid

Our 0-750 flight is going strong, and our February 10th winners were Dennis Schraeder and Jim Wood (Flt A), James and Lourdes deMaine (Flt B), and Debbie Hedenberg and Merrel Olesen (Flt C). The $5 promotional rate for this game is good through the end of April, so please come and try it out—we think you’ll like it. We are adding an “Ask the Expert” session at the end of the game. Stick around until the open game finishes for a 10-15 minutes of Q&A. (So far Barbara Norman, Chuck Wilson, Maritha Pottenger, Bill Grant, and Suzanne Lebendig and Roger Doughman have volunteered their services.)

In the open game on February 10th the winners were Barbara Norman and Chuck Wilson (Flt A + B), with Matthew Kidd and Patricia Lane taking Flight C.

Our February 24th winners were Ron and Mary Huffaker (Flt A), Alice Lane and Dorinda Lindvall (Flt B), and Bruce and Barbara Hanson (Flt C). The unit would like to thank Roy Green for collecting money and Jon Wright for helping to balance the field during our temporary director shortage in this game.

The following unit members have upgraded their ACBL rank. New Junior Master: Nat Cordova; new Club Master: Isabella Wolf; and new Regional Master Hilary Jacobson. Congratulations! (and just refer to this article for a free play in April or May…)

March 2013

by SkipBid

The La Jolla Unit is now sponsoring two games on each of our Sundays–a 0-750 pairs alongside our traditional Open Game. On January 27, the open winners were David Oakley and David Walters (Flt A), Yoko Jordan and Samuel Jordan (Flt B), and Ursula Kantor and Lynne Anderson (Flt C). In the 0-750 game the first-place winners were Dean Altschuler and Valerie McWhorter followed by Harold Simon and R Hilbert (2nd place), and Merrel Olesen and Debbie Hedenberg (3rd place).

On January 13, the Open Pairs winners were Suzanne Lebendig and Roger Doughman (Flt A), John Lagodimos and Kathie Angione (Flt B), and Elaine Chan and Michael Mezin (Flt C). The 0-750 game was won by Hilary Jacobson and Sandy Dinnsen (1st), and Ying Lin Gu and Herman Lin (2nd).

And the month saw the following achievements in rank by our members: new Junior Masters–Nick Alic and Raymond Hilbert; new Club Masters–Grant Williams and Susan Wolf; and new Sectional Masters–Irene Sowle and Scott Van Hoften. Congratulations, and remember to use your free play in February or March! (Just mention this article.)

Final big news: this year's traditional Memorial Day sectional will be held at Adventures in Bridge, and we're trying something untraditional: the sectional will be held May 25 to May 27 on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday instead of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Mark your calendars accordingly…

February 2013

by SkipBid

Our third annual Holiday Party held December 9th at the La Jolla Country Club had the usual wonderful food, company and bridge in a fabulous setting. 24 tables were in attendance, and the winners were Lynne O’Neill and Bill Grant (Flt A), Barbara Blake and Joyce Bailey (Flt B), and Judy Hunter and Marc Matz (Flt C). Special thanks to board members Janet Ansfield and Cass Donovan for arranging this big success and making sure a good time was had by all.

Speaking of success, several unit members/unit game players found their names in lights at the Palm Springs Regional held December 10–16. Kathy Moyer, who directs at the Soledad Tuesday afternoon game, and her partner Nancy Lowrey managed to win the well-attended Gold Rush Pairs two days in a row (Tue and Wed)! Other pair game winners were Maritha Pottenger and Kit Humphrey (from Berkeley, CA) in the Sunday Fast Pairs, Steve Johnson and Pat Thomas (from Salinas, CA) in Saturday open pairs, and Ron Kay and Bill Grant in the Friday Open Pairs. In team games, our own director Paul Darin won his Indian Wells knockout event and also placed second in the A/X Swiss. Kevin Chaisson and Philippe Lamoise won their Bracket 6 KO and placed second in two others. Meanwhile, Mac Busby, Rebecca Rogers and Alan and Debbie Gailfus took top honors in their extremely competitive Bracket 1 event. Congratulations to all.

Back at home, the December 23d unit game was won by David Abelow and Diana Marquardt (Flt A) and Kevin Chaisson and Philippe Lamoise (Flts B and C).

And finally, more congratulations are due to the following unit members who have moved up in their ACBL masterpoint rank: New Junior Masters--Grace Johnson, Mary Lowe, Julia Smith, Thomas Smith, and Mark Wilf; New Club Masters—Yael Aires and Batia Kvashny; New Sectional Master—Joyce Blumberg; New NABC Master—Jim Wood. Good job, all! (And please refer to this column for a free play during January or February.)

January 2013

by SkipBid

On November 11, our first ever Non-Life Master Teams Sectional event was a big success. Silver point winners of the morning Knock-Outs were Sandy Dinnsen, Judy Hunter, Rhonda Langley, and Harold Simon. The afternoon Swiss was won by Judy Elsberry, Debbie Hedenberg, Ann Manaster, and Merrel Olesen, with second place going to Diana Fritz-Maes, Wendi and Bob Friedman, and Lyn Lazzaro. Congratulations to all and a big thank-you to our directors Paul Darin and Marc Matz. Stay tuned for more of these events in the future!

Also on November 11 our usual Open Stratified Pairs was augmented with leftover pizza from the concurrent sectional, and was won by Dave Abelow and Diana Marquardt in Flight A, with Elaine Chan and Michael Mezin double winners in Flights B and C. Our November 25th winners were Roger Doughman and Suzanne Lebendig (Flt A), Alan and Ray Rowen (Flt B), and Eileen and Morton Heinrich (Flt C).

Finally, the Unit is proud to announce the following achievements in rank by our members: NEW JUNIOR MASTERS Gary Greenberg and Victoria Mogilner; NEW CLUB MASTERS Renee Gild, Glenda Ginsburg, Susan Koshkarian, Nancy Lemery, and Bridget Poizner; NEW REGIONAL MASTER Peter Clark; NEW BRONZE LIFE MASTERS Mary Vefik; and NEW DIAMOND LIFE MASTER Bill Grant. Congratulations and don't forget to mention this article for a free play in December or January!