DISTRICT 24 Newsletter                   Alvin Levy, District Director                                                       2009.3
published after each NABC

San Diego Fall NABC

The San Diego site was one of the best, with ocean views from most hotel rooms.  With near perfect weather, many players found time between sessions to stroll along the ocean front, shop at nearby shops and eat at nearby excellent restaurants.  There were many attractions nearby, including the San Diego zoo, the Gaslamp Quarter, Old Town and Balboa Park.  Local served excellent late night snacks and put on great entertainment, including five performances of the delightful bridge musical My fair (Little Old) Lady.  The playing area was spacious and well lit. The table count was above expectations, at 12,927, due in part to under predicting our players’ preference for attractive sites and having Thanksgiving falling on the first Thursday rather than the middle of the tournament.  For the next five years Thanksgiving will fall on the first Thursday of the Fall NABC (Orlando in 2010, Seattle in 2011, San Francisco in 2012, Phoenix in 2013 and Providence in 2014).

Top 20 District 24 players in NABC+ event

Bobby Nail Life Master Open Pairs: Justin Lall, 2nd; Zia Mahmood, 5th; John Hurd, 12th; R. J. Becker, 16th.

Helen Sobel Smith Life Master Women’s Pairs: Susan Picus, Winner; G. Margie Gwozdzinsky, 3rd; Susan Wexler, 7th.

Victor Mitchell Open Board-A-Match Teams: Adam Wildavsky - Michael Polowan, 2nd; Kevin Bathurst, 4th; Sam Lev, 5th; James Cayne, 6th;  Martin Fleisher - Steve Weinstein, 9th; Joe Grue, 11th;  John Hurd, 13th; Bjorn Fallenius, 14th; Alan Sontag, 17th; Richard Schwartz, 19th; Andrew Rosenthal - Aaron Silverstein - Michael Rosenberg, 20/22nd; Valentin Kovachev - Alison Wilson - Margo Sinclair - Kent Mignocchi, 20/22nd.

Marsha May Sternberg Women’s Board-A-Match Teams: Debbie Rosenberg, 2nd.

Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs: Bjorn Fallenius, Winner; John Hurd, 2nd; Debbie Rosenberg - Michael Rosenberg, 6th; Michael Polowan, 15th.

Senior Knockout Teams: Melih Ozdil, Winner; Amos Kaminski, 2nd.

Mini Blue Ribbon Pairs: Riva Akerman - Elliot Sternlicht, 20th.

Reisinger Board-A-Match: Zia Mahmood, Winner; Kevin Bathurst, 3rd; Michael Polowan, 7th; Gail Greenberg - Jeff Hand - Robert Blanchard - Shane Blanchard, 10th.

Ethel Keohane North American Swiss Teams: Justin Lall - Winthrop Allegaert - Judith Bianco, 2nd; Melih Ozdil - Migry Zur Campanile, 3rd; Marius Agica - Kelley Hwang, 4th; Debbie Rosenberg, 7th; G. Margie Gwozdzinsky, 9th; David Maidman - Marin Marinov, 13th.

ACBL State-of-affair

The league’s new headquarters in Horn Lake, Mississippi is expected to be ready in March 2010.  In addition to management and the large staff, the new 30,000 square foot building will house the ACBL Museum, the world’s largest collection of bridge memorabilia, the ACBL Library and the ACBL bridge Hall of Fame.  Visitors will be in awe at the wonder of the exhibitions.

Membership continues to climb, standing at 162,000+, up 3,000 from last year.  Regional and Sectional tournament table count is substantially up from last year.  STaCs continue to grow.  Club table count is up slightly for last year.  Online games have increased 16% from last year, with the total table count at about 10% of face-to-face clubs.

Membership dues are increase from $35 to $37, Life Master service fees from $32 to $34, household dues from $64 to $68, junior dues from $14 to $15, all effective April 1, 2010.  Increases in short game (12-17 boards) sanction table fee are increased from $0.40 to $0.46, effective April 1, 2010.

Board Actions

The so-called “triple masterpoint” special club games will be reviewed at the 2010 spring NABC.  I have addressed my concerns that too many games are allowed (currently every club game can be a special fund game) and too many masterpoints are awarded.  Other ACBL board members are now finding similar concerns in their District.  ACBL Board members, on the other side of the issue, argue that the revenue raised greatly helps supports our Foundations (Charity and Education) and that the players like winning the inflated masterpoints.  A committee to review the effectiveness of these games will present their findings to the board early in 2010.

In the future the election for ACBL president will take place at the Fall board meeting rather than the summer board meeting.

Tournament Director fees, charged to the sponsoring organization, are raised 8%.

Electronic devices are currently not allowed in the playing area in NABC+ events.  In addition, electronic devices cannot be audible or visible in any event at an NABC.

I, along with George Retek, where re-elected to serve another three-year term, representing the ACBL on the WBF Executive Council. 

2009 ACBL Goodwill Committee and Charity Committee Appointments

Congratulations to District 24 recipients.  The lifetime appointments are well deserved.

ACBL Goodwill Committee
Andrew Rosenthal
Bill Begert
Peter Bonfanti
Kathleen McLauclin

ACBL Charity Committee
Jeff Bayone
Lin Fisher