News from Pleasant Hill's, The Bridge CenterHere are a couple items from Ron Olswang's Bridge Center: (1) The Wednesday evening game will start at 7:15 pm beginning Wed Aug. 18th, so the Mon., Wed. and Fri. games will all start at the same time; (2) There will be an Instant Matchpoint Game, Thursday, September 16th. Iris Libby starts Newplicate in Lafayette on Sept. 8th, 9amThis Wednesday morning novice (under 20mp) game will begin Sept. 8th. This game combines instruction with weekly tournaments from 9-11 on Wednesday mornings. See details on her flyer. Next Unit Game Sunday, September 19th.This Unit Game will be held at the "The Bridge Center" in Pleasant Hill at 1pm. This is an open stratified game. Learn, Play, and Enjoy on Thursday EveningsDirectors Iris Libby and Grant Robinson are revitalizing the Thursday evening game at The Bridge Center in Pleasant Hill as of Aug. 5th.The game is limited – at least one player of each pair must have less than 200 master points – to appeal to both newer players and mentor/mentoree pairs. Players may join at 6:45 p.m. for a tip-of-the-week lesson, and stay for Q & A with Life Masters after the game. The game is stratified and hand records are provided. The table fee is $6, and to encourage players to try their game, Iris and Grant will take half off your table fee the first time you come. Find your Bridge Partner with BridgePartner499If you would like to subscribe to a Google Group, BridgePartner499, that facilitates partnerships in our unit, click on "Subscribe", below.
Chris Pisarra's Personal BlogChris Pisarra is an excellent and long-time bridge player who writes the unit's monthly Unitscope article for the Contract Forum. While his blog is not the unit's official blog, it includes regular posts about bridge and unit 499's goings on. See pictures from the unit-sponsored Mentor Session on March 6, and his article on the barometer game held at The Bridge Center March 5. You will find a link to Chris's blog on our Bridge Links page. Thanks, Chris! |
Get Forum Newsletter OnlineDid 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. Join the ACBLThe 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 (ma). Phone: 925-943-5851. The director is Larry Miller. His email is oldlw@aol.com and this is his website
For players between 0 - 199 master points. This Thursday Evening game requires that one of the two partners have under 200 master points. It's held at The Bridge Center, 2219 Morello Ave, Pleasant Hill, 925-676-4414, run by Iris Libby and Grant Robinson. 6:45 Lesson, 7pm game time. 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. Lynn Sacco runs the game and is very helpful to newer players. Here is the website.
And finally, there is the Carol Griffin 0 - 299 game on Tuesday afternoons (beginning in Sept.) 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 covers the Diablo Valley in the East Bay of Northern California. It 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 (Diablo Valley of 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 each club. To see them, find "Weekly Results" in the upper left hand corner of 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. We also have a list of games by day the week of the game, Please 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.
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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