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In This Issue
Toronto
National Win
A Knockout!
Solomon Teams
Table Tips
Club News
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Upcoming Events
NAP Qualifying Games
July-August
York Sectional (NLM-500)
August 14
Valley Forge Regional
August 22-28
(Note: New location)
Mount Holly Sectional (at Westhampton)
September 9-11
9th Annual Charity Game: Lupus Foundation of America
September 26
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 Things Heat Up in Toronto
As temperatures in Toronto hit 38º (that's Celsius here in Canada, or over 100 degrees Fahrenheit), the bridge was heating up too.
GNTs
The first event at Nationals is the GNTs. Each of the 25 ACBL districts sends a team in four flights--Open, A, B, and C. The event begins with a two-session Swiss teams round robin to qualify 16 teams for the knockout phase. Unfortunately, District 4 did not have great results this year. Neither the Open (Cohen) nor C flight (Orth) teams advanced to the knockout phase. The A flight team (Krantz) advanced, but lost their first head-to-head match. District 4 elected not to send a team in flight B.
Life Master Pairs
The next big event at summer Nationals is the Life Master Pairs. It is played in three flights. The von Zedwitz LM pairs is unlimited, the Bruce LM Pairs is limited to players with fewer than 5000 masterpoints, and the Young LM Pairs is limited to players with fewer than 1500 masterpoints.
The von Zedwitz attracts a remarkably competitive field of world class players. Just qualifying to the second day of play is an accomplishment for any pair. Two Unit 141 players made it to the final day of play in the von Zedwitz. Eric Greco of Wynnewood, PA and his partner Geoff Hampson finished 7th. Danny Sprung of Philadelphia and his partner Louk Verhees finished 39th. In the Bruce, Brad Barry (Phoenixville, PA) and David Amsterdam (Wayne, PA) finished 20th. In the Young, David Venetianer of Chadds Ford, PA played with Richard Franklin and earned the impressive 5th spot.
Collegiate Tournament
The University of Pennsylvania team successfully defended its 2010 college title by defeating a tough University of North Carolina team. Penn trailed 49-22 at the half but rallied to win the match by a single imp (65-64)!
Wernher Open Pairs
The Wernher Open Pairs, a two-day, four-session NABC+ event, finished on Wednesday and we are delighted to report that our Unit 141 Tournament Chairman Meyer Kotkin of Cherry Hill and Howie Cohen of Philadelphia won it! (See complete story below.) Joann Sprung, also of Philadelphia, and her partner Cindy Bernstein finished 7th. As the last qualifiers, Sprung and Bernstein had a stellar second session to vault to this high finish. Danny Sprung (Philadelphia) and his partner David Grainger finished 43rd. David Venetianer, playing again with Richard Franklin, finished 49th.
Mixed BAM
The Mixed BAM is a team game of male-female pairs playing at board-a-match. This year, players from Unit 141 had a great showing in this competitive event. JoAnn and Danny Sprung's team finished 6th, Elaine Landow and Craig Robinson of Lansdale, PA and their teammates finished 11th. The team that included Jill Fisch and John Gassenheimer of Wynnewood, PA finished 15th.
NABC+ Fast Pairs
In the Fast Pairs event, players have only 5 minutes to bid and play each board; they incur penalties for every time infraction. Several Unit 141 players met this challenge and raced to the finish. Ken Cohen of Philadelphia and his partner H. Hunt finished 7th. Corey Krantz, of Drexel Hill, PA and Howie Cohen earned the 28th spot.
Other Successes
Nationals provide the chance to play a huge array of side games, open pairs, knockouts, Swiss Teams, and BAMs. The many Unit 141 players who traveled to Toronto had many successes in these events. You can see all the results, as well as articles, hands, news, and more in the online bulletins published by the ACBL: daily tournament bulletins available here.
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Kotkin-Cohen Triumph in Wernher Open Pairs
 Meyer Kotkin of Cherry Hill, NJ and Howie Cohen of Philadelphia teamed up to win the four session NABC+ Wernher Open Pairs.
Meyer was scheduled to play with his son Ethan, but found himself without a partner on game day. Meyer and Howie, who have played together before but only about "once a decade," were happy to find each other available. They combined their considerable bridge skills to move up from 90th of 130 qualifying places to the top spot.
Meyer attributed their win to sound defense and accurate partscore bidding. "We doubled many contracts today, some of the made but overall we came out ahead. For example, we defended one diamond doubled for plus 500 and a very good score."
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Friends Reunite for Toronto Knockout Win
 So what do you do when you barely miss qualifying for the von Zedwitz Life Master Pairs and find yourself at loose ends for the next two days? For Rich Rothwarf of Philadelphia, the next best plan is to ask World Champion John Diamond to play in a knockout and win it.
Rothwarf and Diamond, who have been friends since their days working together in Philadelphia and have played as bridge partners countless times over the years, joined forces for a regional knockout. Rothwarf played with his von Zedwitz partner, recently retired ACBL Bulletin editor Dave Smith. Diamond played with his now regular partner Brian Platnick, who, like Diamond, was a member of the 2010 Rosenblum and Spingold Championship teams.
It's wonderful that they did. Playing in the top bracket of eleven, the team advanced to the finals. There they met the team captained by Bob Etter, a former pro football player, and his all-Canadian teammates. At the halfway point, Rothwarf's team trailed 13-4 in a tight and low-scoring match. In the second half, steady play earned them a final score of 36-31 and a well-deserved victory. That success meant 58 gold points to the winners and a shared victory for a pair of old friends.
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Rabinowitz Makes It Five In a Row
This year's Solomon Teams finished with a exciting match viewed by hundreds of spectators on the Bridge Base Online Vugraph. The Rabinowitz Team (Marty Rabinowitz, Rick Rowland, Howie Cohen, Corey Krantz, Lewis Pietri) won the Flight A final. The Korth team (Art Korth, Meyer Kotkin, Ethan Kotkin, Daisy Goecker, Jane Segal, John Marks) came in second. This win for Rabinowitz makes five flight A wins in a row. |
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Table Tips: Bidding in Tempo
 An issue at the table that can cause confusion and unpleasantness between opponents is "tempo." Players know that they should play in tempo--that is, that they should bid at the same, even pace each time (unless they have been halted by a Stop card). They also know, however, that bridge is a thinking game and some hands need time to figure out what to do. They want to know why some people call for the director every time a player hesitates over a bid.
Have you ever wondered: Can I take extra time to bid? When does slow bidding become a problem? What is the right way to play in tempo? Here's the short answer:
· It is ok to think and then pass.
· It is not always ok, however, for your partner to bid on after you take an unusual amount of time to pass.
When your partner takes extra time to pass, it is your responsibility to do the right thing. When you have a borderline hand, the right thing is to also pass. If your partner thinks a lot before passing, it suggests that he or she has something going--extra values or unusual shape or something else. You can't take advantage of that information and must pass unless bidding on is absolutely 100% obvious. Taking advantage of partner's slow pass would be unfair and will likely result in a director call from your opponents.
The great Larry Cohen summarizes the situation best: "It is simply UNETHICAL to take advantage of your partner's tempo."
If you think that you have been the victim of a break in tempo, you are entitled to call the director. Do be gentle with new players, however, who might not yet understand this complicated issue and kindly call for the director.
Readers who are interested in reading more about tempo can link to www.larryco.com.
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 Club News The Philadelphian Bridge Club will host a Unit Championship game on Friday, August 5 and an NAP qualifying game on Thursday, August 11. Reservations for both events are recommended. Contact the club manager Linda DiLuco (bridge2401@gmail.com; 215-763-8610) for more information or reservations. Remember that NAP Qualifying games are being held throughout August, but each club determines its own schedule, so please check with your club manager. Local clubs are encouraged to send announcements, schedules, updates, and special games for placement in this newsletter. |
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