Table Talk

Remember the blue publication that arrived in your mailbox, a few years ago? With the advent of our web site, we no longer publish Table Talk. More information about the La Jolla & Beach Unit 526 can be found on the website than we could ever include in a one page newsletter, like Table Talk.

Card fees increasing to $8

The board voted unanimously to raise the card fees to $8 effective August 1, 2010. No one enjoys paying more but we are still one of the cheaper (and more competitive) games in town. The sanctioned games at the Soledad Club have been $8 for at least two years. Recently, Adventures in Bridge increased their card fees to $9. Some games in North County are $10. Curious where you card fees go? Read Budgeting 101.

Esplanade Club's first birthday

The Esplanade Club in Solana Beach celebrated its first year in business on June 26, 2010. Congratulations to Donna Wood and Paul Foster.

2010 Election results

By voice assent at the June 13th Annual Meeting and Election game, Cass Donovan, Bill Grant, Matthew Kidd, Dorinda Lindvall, Gary Mollenkopf were elected to the board for the 2010-2012 term. Please welcome Gary Mollenkopf who is new to the board. Bill Grant and Matthew Kidd were reelected. Cass Donovan had been serving on the board by appointment due to the resignation of Diana Marquardt year (appointments end at the next election). Dorinda Lindvall had served previously on the board from 2004-2007.

Steve Johnson and Manoochehr Bahmanian are stepping down. However, Steve will continue to write the unit news for the Contract Bridge Forum. Thanks Steve!

Technological Advancement

Our January 2010 sectional had Bridgemate machines for electronic scoring. This was the first time I had seen them used at a sectional but the director in charge (DIC) provided them for a small fee and informed me that they had been standard in southern California tournaments for about six months. The 2009 San Diego NABC featured both Bridgemate and BridgePad machines for scoring in what I presume was a trial prior to standardizing on one or the other. Both seem to work well from a player’s perspective though Bridgemate might be a little more with it — the BridgePad website still has a logo that states, “BRIDGEPAD Scores BIG at the NACB” as though they weren’t very familiar with our tournaments. This misspelling persists several months after I informed them about it.

Now local clubs are adopting the technology. The co-located Redwood Bridge Club and San Diego Bridge Academy recently purchased shared Bridgemates. The June 2010 Contract Bridge Forum unit news reports that the North County Bridge Center in Escondido recently purchased both Bridgemates and a PlayerBridgeDealer 4 card dealing machine. This dealing machine is state of the art at 6 seconds per board and does not require barcoded cards. I asked for a quote back in January 2009 and it came to slightly more than $4000. Thus for the unit games we are still better off paying Adventures in Bridge to deal our hands. But large clubs should definitely consider purchasing one.

High school teaching

The La Jolla unit taught bridge to La Jolla High students in May for the second year. This year’s effort was led by board member Randy Fadem with much help from the greater San Diego bridge community. Read the full story or view the pictures. In parallel Bill Grant taught bridge at Chula Vista High, his tenth year doing so. Bill and Randy were featured in a cover article of the May 29th issue of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Bridge Guys and Dolls promotional pictures

View promotional pictures for the performance of Joel Hoersch’s Bridge Guys and Dolls, which had two performances at the 2010 San Diego regional. Many cast members from the performance of My Fair (LOL) Lady at the fall 2009 NABC returned for Bridge Guys and Dolls.

Put some faces on the ACBL movers and shakers.

Lena Jelusich reaches 10,000 masterpoints

Lena Jelusich crossed 10,000 masterpoints in April. That is quite a lot.

Elaine Chan wins the 2009 National Ace of Clubs

The 2009 Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs results are final. See the listing of La Jolla unit winners. Elaine Chan has won the National Ace of Clubs in her bracket (200-300) by over 30 MP, avenging last year’s loss of first place by only 2.89 MP. She is also second in the Mini-McKenney race, ~40 MP behind Lenore Cavallero of Hillsborough, CA.

The April 2010 Bridge Bulletin quotes Elaine as saying, “I wasn’t to trying win. I’m just one of those goofs who loves to play.” But Elaine says this quote is misleading. She meant that she wasn’t try to win the Ace of Clubs or Mini-McKenney award but is certainly interested in winning at bridge.

Club News

The San Diego Bridge Academy put up a website in January. They are located in the same facility as the Redwood Club but are a separate organization. The club has evening games on Tuesdays and Saturdays and afternoon game on Thursday. A lesson precedes the Tuesday game.

Did you know the Scripps Ranch bridge club has been hiding in plain site for over a year? Matthew Belau says the stealth is deliberate. They are not listed on the ACBL's website because they don’t want to get too big, having only a 12-table capacity, already hitting 11 tables on some Mondays.

Bridge Parties of Yesterday

Take a trip down memory lane. David and Pauline Oakley have provided the unit pictures of their bridge parties from 1972 and 1973. See how many people you remember! Have pictures of your own? E-mail the webmaster.

Masterpoint Reform

As a lead up to the January sectional, I wrote a couple of articles about the ACBL reward system (Masterpoints or Glory, Against 499er, 799er, 999er Events). Since then I found Robert Frick’s masterpoint reform website that covers the matter in detail. Mathematically inclined visitors may wish to head directly to the page titled A Formula for Masterpoints. If you care about this issue, bear in that we have a new president, Rich DeMartino, at the ACBL. Now is a good time to speak up.

Robleigh Lindvall Memorial

Robleigh Lindvall passed away December 14, 2009 after a long illness. He served on the La Jolla board for several years and often did hospitality for our big parties. Many remember the flowers he frequently brought to the club. A memorial was held on January 24, 2010 at 11:30 am before the unit game. Read the memories.

Also, Joanie Vanderslice passed away in the middle of December after a long illness. She had been a very active player and a bridge teacher.

January 2010 Sectional

Attendance was a disappointing 152 tables but those who did show up had a great time and ate very well. Those who watched football missed out. Nate McCay was the overall masterpoint winner, earning 13.50 MP. View the full results and some of the recipes.

2009 Holiday Party

The Holiday Party was held at the Beach and Tennis Club at 2000 Spindrift Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 (map).

Unit member David Oakley has reviewed Fred Parker’s Win at Duplicate Bridge.

A Star is Born at the Nationals

The La Jolla Unit’s very own Nate McCay was the male lead in the production of Peter Rank’s musical My Fair (Little Old) Lady at the Fall 2009 Nationals held in San Diego. View the pictures. Bill Grant played a Very Vocal Bridge Player. Several members of the San Diego unit also appeared on stage. The show ran five nights during the first half of the Nationals.

Other unit members were also involved in the Nationals. Alice Leicht was the volunteers chairman. Suzanne LeBendig was responsible for pre-tournament hospitality. Debbie Gailfus was the ACBL concierge. Diana Marquardt was seen helping at the registration desk.

Congratulations to Ron Huffaker who won the Mini Blue Ribbon (0-5000 MP) with his brother Harold. That victory was worth 60 masterpoints! Ron and Mary belong to the San Diego Unit but they are regulars in both our unit games and the Soledad Thursday evening game. Lynne O’Neill and Pat Chapman were 9th in the same event. Susan and Avram Ninyo won a 45 table A/X side game. Paul and Harriett Finger won a Bracket 4 KO. Maybe there is some hope for couples who play bridge.

Big overall masterpoint winners in the unit include Steven Johnson, Charlotte Blum, and Bill Grant. David Oakley has compiled a full list for San Diego county players.

Halloween Potluck

The Halloween Potluck costume winner was Diana Marquardt as the Queen of Hearts. George Soules as a Celebrity Chef and June & Otto Newman together as Bridge and Disciplined Partner were tied for second place.

Everyone contributed many wonderful hot and cold dishes, dessert and a bountiful day was had. George Soules' tasty hot chile casserole with tortillas was noteworthy. The decorations provided by Gail Dunham were beautiful and very festive.

Ed Layton Memorial

Ed Layton, long time unit member, board member, and bridge teacher, passed away peacefully at his home, September 17, 2009. A celebration of his life was held September 27th before the unit game. Full story.

2009 Election Results

By voice assent at the June 14th Annual Meeting and Election game, Janet Ansfield, Randy Fadem, BJ Petersen, and Robert Walters were elected to the board for the 2009-2011 term. Ron Ignelzi was reelected. They will be joining Manoochehr Bahmanian, Bill Grant, Steve Johnson, Matthew Kidd, and Diana Marquardt whose terms finish in 2010.

Janet Ansfield is returning to the board. BJ Peterson is a long time La Jolla resident and player. Bob Walters recently transferred into our unit, but he has been a regular in the Thursday evening Soledad game for several years and has played in many unit games. Randy Fadem arrived from Boston last November where he had previously served on a unit board.

David Oakley and David Walters won the Eric Weiss trophy, an annual award for the election game.

La Jolla Unit teaches bridge at La Jolla High

In May 2009, Bill Grant, David Oakley, Matthew Kidd, and Bob Walters taught bridge to two classes of seniors at La Jolla High during the “downtime” between AP exams and graduation. Full story.

Mark Freundel Memorial

Mark Freundel passed away March 16, 2009. Various memories. A memorial was held 2-4 pm, June 14 at Adventures in Bridge.

Elaine Chan nearly wins the 2008 National Ace of Clubs

The 2008 Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs results are final. See the listing of La Jolla unit winners. Elaine Chan just missed winning the National Ace of Clubs race in her bracket (5-20) with 140.30 MP, 2.89 MP behind the leader. She claims this is because she spent time with her kids over the holidays but that’s no excuse because they both play bridge!

New Faces at the Newcomer Game

There were about ten new faces at our Newcomers Game on January 25, 2009. Welcome all!

Regina Hickey and the Bridge Legends

Regina Hickey has sent the La Jolla Unit pictures of her with Charles Goren and Billy Eisenberg.

Dayou Zhou Interview

Read Dayou Zhou’s interview with the La Jolla Unit in 2007 after being congratulated for winning the National 100-200 MP Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs masterpoint races with totals exceeding the leaders for all categories within the La Jolla Unit 2006 Masterpoint Races!

Frank Sweeney Tribute

We do not normally publish information about members who have passed away. However some of our former members made significant contributions to our Unit and to bridge in Southern California. This letter from Helen Sweeney to Rob Lindvall is such a nice tribute to Frank that there is no more to add.