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Unit 499 Home Page

Upcoming Unit Games

Unit 499 Sectionals

Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC)

Mentoring Program

Unit 499 started a Mentoring Program this week (6/22/09), designed to pair up an experienced player with a player requesting mentoring. See the details on the Mentoring Program page. The plan for this was approved in May and Grant Robinson is now setting it it motion. Please give it your consideration.

The Next Unit Game is Sunday July 15th

The next Unit game will be a split Unit Game, Suday Evening, July 15th with one game at Brentwood and the other in Pleasant Hill at The Bridge Center. A single-location Sunday Unit game will be held at Rossmoor, June 19th, with a board meeting starting at 11:15am (also at Rossmoor).

Get Forum Newsletter Online

Did you know District 21 puts their monthly newsletter, the "Contract Bridge Forum" on-line? See the current issue and back issues at their Western Conference web Site. It's also in living color.

July 2009

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
      1 2 3 4
August, 2009            
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
 

Club Champ
TBC Mon-Eve

 

NAOP Qualifying
TBC Wed-Mrn

Club Champ
TBC Wed-Eve

Club Champ
TBC Thu-Eve

Club Champ
TBC Fri-Eve

Club Champ
TBC Sat-Eve

12 13 14 15 16 17 18
 
 
  Unit Game TBC, Brentwood Wed-Eve
 
   
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Unit Game Rossmoor
Sun-Aft
   

NAOP Qualifying
TBC Wed-Mrn

Unit Game Danville, Orinda,
TBC,
Thu-Mrn
   
26 27 28 29 30 31  
     
Note: TBC=The Bridge Center, Pleasant Hill
    August, 2009

299'r section added to TBC Monday Morning Game

Ron Olswang announces that a 299'r section has been added to their very successful Monday morning game as of Monday March 23, 2009. This will be a completely separate section, not a 299'r strat in the open game. The 299'r game starts at 10am. See game results at The Bridge Center's web site.

Join the ACBL

The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) keeps track of masterpoints (MP) when you win or place at bridge clubs or tournaments. ACBL sends an MP report embedded in the excellent publication, the "Bridge Bulletin" to every member, every month. They actually print your personal masterpoint total, and what you won the previous month. You can also look up your personal masterpoint history online and compare yourself to your peers in Mini-McKenney contests. You need to know what unit you're in (499 - Diablo Valley). This is just one benefit of joining the ACBL. Almost everyone in the U.S. who plays duplicate is a member of the ACBL. Tournaments will charge as much as $2 more if tournament entrants don't belong to the ACBL. Check out the ACBL Login page to review your masterpoint totals or click on " Join" from the ACBL home page to find out more.

Intermediate Newcomer (I/N) News

Free Learn to Play Bridge software is available from the ACBL web site.

We have a number of games in our unit that have upper limits on master points. Common limits are 49r, 99r and 199r, meaning that no one can play in the game that has more than 49, 99 or 199 master points respectively. The available games and their master point limits are listed on our competition page. There are also links on that page where you can find your YTD master points and where you rank in the unit.

For players between 0 - 49 master points, there is a game every Thursday afternoon from 1pm to 4pm at the Orinda Community Center, 26 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA Tel (925) 254 2445. Everyone is allowed 2 questions per session on difficult bidding or play issues. No need for a partner. And there is always a warm welcome to newcomers. Director Carol Griffin also offers a 0-199 mp section at the same game. See more on her web site.

There is a 199r (0 - 199 master points or less per contestant) ACBL duplicate bridge game every Wednesday morning, at the Walnut Creek Senior Center, 1375 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, 94596 (map). Phone: 925-943-5851. The director is Larry Miller. His email is oldlw@aol.com and this is his website

For players between 0 - 299 master points, There is a Thursday evening game at The Bridge Center, 2219 Morello Ave, Pleasant Hill, 925-676-4414. 6:45-9:30 pm. See their web site.

There is a 0-299 game every Tuesday Morning at 9am The Bridge Center, 2219 Morello Ave, Pleasant Hill, 925-676-4414. Marvin Suchman (email marvim019@sbcglobal.net) runs the game and is very helpful to newer players. Here is the website.

And lastly, there is the Carol Griffin 0 - 299 game on Thursday afternoons at the Orinda Community Center supported by her. web site.

There are a number of Bridge Lesson programs in our unit. Please check our Bridge Learning web page to contact the teacher you're interested in.

Bridge in our Unit

Unit 499 belongs to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). Its mission is to promote the game of Bridge. We have small business owners and Bridge teachers that conduct weekly duplicate games and teach Bridge. Almost all of our tournaments use a style of Bridge called "Duplicate" where the same hands are played by multiple contestants and the results compared to determine winners. This means success is due to skill rather than receiving good cards. Rubber bridge players are encouraged to attend a weekly duplicate game and see how enjoyable it is. One interesting thing about duplicate tournament bridge is that (if you choose to) you can play against the best players in the world in big tournaments. You may also want to join the ACBL for a nominal annual fee and have the time of your life.

Units, Districts, Western Conference, ACBL

The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) uses a bridge volunteer organization to promote Bridge. It divided North America into "Districts" and "Units". We are in District 21 (Northern California) and Unit 499 (Contra Costa County) with a Board of Directors. There is also an association of Districts 17, 21 and 22 called the Western Conference that combine forces to produce the monthly Forum newsletter, mailed to all ACBL members in these districts. The ACBL mails an excellent monthly publication to all its members.

Results are Uploaded for all Games

A service provided by our unit is online duplicate bridge game results created by our each. To see them, find "Weekly Results" on our Home page, then select the City, game and date of the game. Another way is to go to the competition web page where all games in the unit are displayed, and click on a game and date. Just allow a few hours for the games to be uploaded The directors create the game reports and then volunteers upload the reports to the web site, usually in the evening.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have questions about Rubber Bridge, Intermediate/Novice Games, Weekly Duplicate Games or ACBL Tournaments? We have answers for you on our FAQ page.

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