Palo Alto Bridge

San Mateo NLM Sectional
2022-10-29 - 2022-10-30 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
San Jose Unit 498 Non-Life Master Sectional held at our Bridge Center.
Information

0-499 F2F Halloween Game Special
2022-10-31 09:30 - 14:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
We are excited to announce a 0-499er masterpoint spooktacular to be held on Halloween, Monday, October 31, 2022, at the Palo Alto Bridge Center:

9:30 AM Lynn Yokel 4 Hands Bridge Lecture
10:30 AM 0-499er game at $4.99/player (18 hands)
10:30 AM Open game at regular price (24 hands)
Wear a Halloween costume – prizes awarded for best costumes!

0-499 players – if you haven’t played bridge face-to-face in a while at the Bridge Center, here is an opportunity to do so in a special stratified, 0-499er limited section at a $4.99/player price.
Also, playing in the October 31 game will be a great warm-up for the Palo Alto Unit’s October 14-16 Sectional, with 100% silver points being awarded.
We strongly encourage you to arrive early to hear Lynn Yokel’s legendary “4 Hands” bridge lecture at 9:30 AM. Lynn will review four bridge hands, with learnings to be had on bidding, declarer play, and defense. Lynn is an outstanding teacher, and this is an opportunity to improve your bridge skills.
Lynn is an ACBL Associate National Tournament Director who is well-known to Bay Area bridge players, having directed many Regional and Sectional tournaments in the area (including the 2022 Firecracker) as well as nationally. Lynn is a Diamond Life Master, a long-time bridge club director, and teacher. She received the ACBL’s Jean Molnar Award for excellence in customer service and directing.
Bridge Center games require pre-registration at www.signup123.com/unit503bridge Also, included at that website is a feature allowing one to use the reservation system to find a partner. (The instructions for doing that are on each reservation page.)
COVID Requirements: Players must be fully vaccinated, including booster shots if eligible for them.
There is no mask requirement at the Bridge Center, unless a player at a table requests that they be worn there, so some players wear them and some don’t. We’re also serving coffee, tea, pizza, fresh fruit, various cheeses, breads, pastries, nuts, and other fun munchies, with new snacks each week.
We look forward to seeing you and sharing a Halloween fun time at the Bridge Center (432 Stierlin Road, Mountain View).

Super Silver Doubleheader Sectional
2022-11-04 - 2022-11-06 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Enjoy Face-to-Face Bridge and win lots of silver points at our Open sectional on November 6-8. Information and Signup

Holiday Party and Charity Game
2022-12-11 13:00 - 17:00 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Celebrate the holidays with us at our Bridge Center for a charity game with extra master points. The game is free and starts at 1pm. We will have light snacks during the game followed by cake, a toast, presentation of awards, and a raffle.
In lieu of game fees we are collecting donations for Community Services Agency (CSA) and Second Harvest.
RSVP until December 7th to join in the fun. Reservations are required.
More information and signup to come.

Board of Directors Meeting
2023-01-11 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-02-08 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-03-08 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-04-12 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-05-10 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-06-14 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-07-12 16:00 - 17:30, 2023-08-09 16:00 - 17:30 and 2 more dates | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Held on the second Wednesday of every month. Meetings are via Zoom. Please see our Event Calendar for possible changes.
Members are welcome to attend. Please contact the board if you would like a subject added to the Agenda.
Please see our Governance page for information about the board, the agenda for this meeting and the agenda and minutes of past meetings.

Celebrity Bridge Seminar with Gavin Wolpert
2023-01-28 09:30 - 11:00, 2023-02-04 09:30 - 11:00 | Online Webinar, Link to be provided to registrants
“Reverses, Jump Shifts + Common Questions” Saturday, January 28, 9:30-11am

The first part of this two-part series will be about defining reverses and discussing the fundamental differences between strong jump shifts and reverses. We will also answer common questions like ‘Are reverses on in competition? Do reverses in 2/1 show extras? How forcing are reverses?’ There are so many common mistakes made related to reverses. We will go through tons of bidding examples and iron out lots of these issues. Intermediate and Above

“Continuing after Reverses” Saturday, February 4, 9:30-11am
The second part of the series will deal with the major problem with reverse auctions in that opener only promises 17 and responder only 6. This means we are not necessarily going to game. On the other hand, responder is unlimited and may have an opening hand that wants to look for slam. This well-known problem has been solved with a modern method of having a “slow down” bid. This class will go through the modern standard method for how responder can slow down reverse auctions by using the cheaper of 2NT and the 4th suit. We will go through responder’s responsibilities and how opener should react. Advanced Intermediate and Above
Information and registration

San Mateo Unit 498 Sectional
2023-02-25 - 2023-02-26 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Unit 498 will be holding a sectional at our Bridge Center. Unit 498 website.

Non-Life Master Face-to-Face Sectional
2023-03-17 10:30 - 14:00 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
The Palo Alto Unit is pleased to announce a one-day, one session Non-Life Master Sectional tournament to be held at our Bridge Center.

The tournament is a stratified, match point event and will award 80% silver and 20% black master points.
Join us on St. Patrick’s Day for a fun time of bridge and win silver master points. And remember to wear green!
For planning purposes, we ask that players sign-up.
The tournament chairperson is Marc Cervellino, who may be contacted at marc.cervellino@hotmail.com.

Unit 503 Super Silver Open/Non-Life Master Sectional
2023-03-31 - 2023-04-02 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
We will be holding our Super Silver Open/Non-Life Sectional Friday, March 31 – April 2, 2023 at our Bridge Center.
100% Silver Points awarded for all games.
Pairs games for players at all levels, including 0-20 newcomer games!
Bracketed Swiss team games.
And more.
Information and Signup
Space is limited and signup is recommended to guarantee a space so sign up early!

District 21 GNT
2023-04-15 - 2023-04-16 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
See District 21 Calendar for more information.

Celebrity Bridge Seminar with Barbara Seagram
2023-04-22 09:30 - 11:30 | Online Webinar, Link to be provided to registrants
CLUES – Be a Smart Detective
Webinar
Follow the clues. Be a smart detective!
Improve Your Declarer Play by leaps and bounds by paying attention to the inferences provided by opponents’ leads.
You will be making those tough contracts with overtricks!

Barbara Seagram has an impressive bridge background. In addition to her numerous seminars she owns the School of Bridge in Toronto, has receiving numerous bridge awards, is co-founder of the Zero Tolerance policy and is perhaps best known for her book “25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know”.
She is a Sapphire Life Master.
Information & Registration

Santa Clara Valley Spring Sectional
2023-04-29 - 2023-04-30 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
You are invited to play in Unit 507’s Spring Sectional Tournament. Please see the attached flyer for game schedule and other pertinent details. There is no pre-registration for this event. Participation has been increasing at other tournaments, so we recommend that you arrive early.
2023 Spring Sectional Flyer
We will not serve lunch between sessions, but there are several restaurants and places that sell food within a short walk of the Bridge Center.
Covid protocols will follow ACBL guidelines in effect on the dates of play. ACBL protocols can be found at https://www.acbl.org/covid-protocols/. We recommend checking this page on or immediately before the first day you plan to play.
We look forward to seeing you at the tournament!

Palo Alto Non-Life Master Sectional
2023-06-16 10:30 - 14:00 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Palo Alto Bridge Center
432 Stierlin Road, Mountain View, CA
One-session stratified match point event which will award 100% silver master points.
Join us for a fun time of bridge and win silver points.
Information and Signup

Celebrity Bridge Seminar with Michael Berkowitz
2023-06-24 09:30 - 11:30 | Online Webinar, Link to be provided to registrants
Slam Bidding with Big Distributional Values
Webinar
Michael Berkowitz is a young bridge professional, son of David Berkowitz, a bridge legend. Michael works with Larry Cohen giving webinars and other forms of instruction. He also has a column in the ACBL Bridge magazine. Michael has a delightful sense of humor as well as insightful instruction.

As a teacher, he models his instruction style after his mother, and takes his humor from his father. The combination has allowed him to teach all levels and pass his love of the game to others.
In addition to directing and teaching, Michael edits for several bridge publications. Larry Cohen recognized Michael’s natural teaching abilities (very similar to his own style) and has added him as a member of the “Bridge with Larry Cohen” travel and teaching team.
Information & Registration

Firecracker Open/NLM Super Sectional
2023-07-05 - 2023-07-09 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Make your plans to attend this year’s Firecracker which will be held again at our Bridge Center and the adjacent IFES Hall.
Detailed event description will be provided prior to the event.

Happy 90th Birthday Ed Barlow!
2023-07-10 10:30 - 14:00 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Please help make Ed Barlow’s 90th Birthday special. Join us for a celebration at the PABC 10:30am game.

Ed, who is a Grand Life Master, has 17,000 masterpoints and 2nd place finishes in the Grand National Teams, Mitchell Board-a-Match, and won the Truscott Senior Swiss Teams!

Let’s have a big turn out to the game to show Ed how much we appreciate his huge support of the Unit through the years, his generosity in giving advice, and his sense of humor. Whether you can make it or not, sign this ecard, add a photo, share favorite memory.

San Mateo County Summer Sectional
2023-08-12 - 2023-08-13 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
At our Bridge Center. Schedule

All Western Championships
2023-08-29 - 2023-09-04 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. Flyer
No games at the Bridge Center during the tournament.

Palo Alto Open + Non-Life Master Sectional
2023-10-06 - 2023-10-08 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Friday, Saturday and Sunday October 6, 7 and 8, 2023
Palo Alto Bridge Center
432 Stierlin Road, Mountain View, CA

All games award 100% Silver Points
77% of players won points at the last 4 Palo Alto Tournaments
Three days of stratified pairs games for players of all levels
Bracketed Swiss Team games on Sunday
Separate Non-Life Master sections

Information and registration (optional):

Unit 507 Fall Sectional
2023-11-03 - 2023-11-05 | Bridge Center, 432A Stierlin Rd, Mountain View, CA, 94043, United States
Silicon Valley Unit 503’s Fall Sectional will be held at our Bridge Center.
Flyer
