As September sunsets, and October dawns, we have sensational champions, Silver Sectionals, spooky special games, SiVY, a spectacular STaC and some other stuff to share.
Last month we learned we were in the presence of Royalty. This month I am excited to share that we are also in the presence of World Champions!! The World Bridge Team Championships were held in Marrakech, Morocco, from Aug 18 to Sept 2. After 2 grueling weeks of 3 matches per day, in the finals, the USA team beat the French team, to win the Gold Medal at the Mixed Team World Championship. Debbie Rosenberg, a member of Unit 503, and a multi-time World Championship winner, was on this team representing the USA.
She played with her husband, Michael Rosenberg, himself a multi-time world champion, a member of the Bridge Hall of Fame and a regular player at Unit 503. Earlier this year Debbie and Michael won the European Mixed Pairs Championship, which is another huge win. Amber Lin was also on the World Championship team. She is a member of Unit 498 but regular plays at the Palo Alto Bridge Center (PABC). See more about Amber and the re-invigoration of SiVY below.
Unit 503 September ended with back-to-back celebrity lectures from Adam Parrish on improving your defense. Both lectures were valuable and, as always, I want to thank Kathy Wheeler for her outstanding efforts in running this program that is valuable on three levels: it builds community, it makes each of us better players and it contributes to our financial success.
October’s first big event is this Friday to Sunday, October 6th to 8th. The Unit is hosting an Open and Non-Life-Master Sectional. Separate sections will be held for NLM players each day and Sunday will feature Swiss Teams. 77% who participated in our last four sectionals earned silver masterpoints. We have a virtual partnership desk and all the details and schedule can be found at the PABC site. We will also be holding a sectional December 1st – 3rd.
Spooky costumes will abound at our annual Halloween game, October 31st. Prizes for the best costumes, free candy and more. Not to mention a great game which featured over 25 tables last year. Pick-out your costume now…
The Western Conference to which we belong will be holding a Royal STaC from December 4th to 10th. All games will offer the opportunity to win 25% Gold, Red, Silver and Black points.
The last game of the Royal STaC week will be held at our Holiday Party December 10th. Mark your calendars now for this afternoon charitable game and party. There will be food, awards, a charitable game and a prize drawing. More details to follow via email. Thank you to Stephanie Youngquist for organizing our holiday gathering.
One other note on coming events. World Champion Amber Lin is re-launching SiVy and introducing a SiVY winter bridge camp for young bridge players. The dates of the camp will be December 26 – 29th. I have ZERO details as of now, but there will be more details in upcoming emails and next month’s newletter.
On behalf of the Unit 503 membership, I would like to congratulate all Unit 503 members who achieved a new ACBL Rank in September:
Junior Masters: Ronald Morris, Kathryn Riley
Club Masters: John Affaki, Cynthia Amelon, Steve Cheng, Cree Edwards
Sectional Master: Steve Derby
Regional Masters: Max Krawcyzk, Susan Pretel
NABC Masters: Yakov, Feldman, Ralph Griffin, Kathy Lee, Ginny Strock
Advanced NABC Master: Shankar Iyer
Life Master: David Leaver
Bronze Life Masters: Agnes Lee, Stella Wan
Silver Life Master: Carl Baeurlen
Ruby Life Master: Yuri Yatskar
Gold Life Masters: Don-Min Tsou, Bo Han Zhu
I have the sad responsibility of reporting the passing of Unit 503 member Linda Kenigsberg. Linda frequently played at the PABC before the pandemic. In 2017, partnering with Joanne Cornbleet, Linda won the Art Weinstein trophy in the unit 498 sectional tournament (best newcomers). May her memory be a blessing to her family and all who knew her.
If you have questions, comments or concerns, I can be reached at merenbach@yahoo.com.
See you at the tables –
David
P.S. If you know someone who is not a member of Unit 503, but who plays often at the PABC and would enjoy this newsletter please feel free to forward it.
P.P.S. You can also find us of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PABC503