Thursday Open Game 25 July 2024
We had a very nice 7-1/2 Table Howell movement for our Club Championship game today. It was very nice to welcome Bill Davis to the club and see Bobbie and Sid back again.
Congratulations to Connie/Roger who had a super-human game today. George/Louis are really getting their game together to come in second. There were many other point winners whom I am very proud of.
Next week's lesson is on 1430 Ace ask.
Wednesday 24 July 2024
We had 5.5 tables for our Fun Game today. Suzanne was unavailable due to health issues, so everyone had to endure me as director. It went very smoothy once I got the Table Cards removed and we had guides that matched the Bridge-mates. Thank you all for being very understanding!
Unless otherwise announced at the website, there will be no game next Wednesday, July 31 as I am out of town, Skip will be out of town, and Suzanne's health may still be an issue. Check back here for any updates or announcements. Also, August 7 is also in question as I am unavailable and Skip will still be out of town, so check back here for announcements about that game as well.
Also, please be aware that I will be conducting Advanced Beginners Lessons on Tuesdays at 10:00 starting August 6, In addition there will be another "Bridge Boot Camp" offered at Centennial Hall on August 17 starting at 10:00 A.M. until 4:00 P.M. or until we have discussed 27 boards.
The winners today were Bill B and Jack S with 67.71% and a very respectable 61,98% second place by Cynthia and Marion. 3rd and 4th place were taken by the Bobbie-Sidney and Audrey Carolyn pairs, respectfully. I had a good time today and hope you did, too! Until next time I see you ---Carl
Tuesday 23 July 2024
We had only 3.5 tables today. There will be no bridge lesson or game next Tuesday as Suzanne is having health issues and I will be away. On August 6 we will have our first Advanced Beginner lesson at 10 AM and our regular beginner lesson at 11 AM followed by our Pupil game. You can attend the advanced beginner lesson for a fee of $5 and can stay and listen to the beginner lesson or take a lunch hour and come back and play in the pupil game, but you will need to pay an additional $7 to play in the pupil game. You must attend one of the lessons to play in the pupil game.
Yes there was no game the 19th. I am posting because I forgot to hit Publish button on July 18th, when I sent it to website about 11 in Morning on 18th after Marion Barron brought me my computer!
The results of the July 17th game are going to be here, and on July 18th. I am sorry. i was in the Hospital overnight. they did all tests imaginable to find out why I have had 3 dizzy spells. I am basically healthy. Enlarged heart, could be congenital (my niece has one), and could be stress induced, or medication induced or improper thyroid functioning(I have a bad thyroid), nothing serious. Can be controlled.
OOPS I see we played 9 rounds everyone played everyone else and we played all 27 boards, despite what the dizzy director says below!
Suzanne
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17 July 2024 - We had a fun game with some new couples, but not new people. Partners went on vacation or took a sick day! Lovely hot weather! You director had a dizzy spell (aren't all directors dizzy?) and was late in posting this due to a trip to the ER to find out why she is having dizzy spells so frequently! Actually we all played 24 boards, 27 boards were available. We missed playing one pair.
All of you are winnners! but our top 4 teams were Jack and Suzanne, Paul and Susanne, Dave and Mary Lynn, and Bonnie and Jane! Congratulations to all of you! Opps Sid Labonte played. I was so dizzy, I forgot to update her from Gordon to Sid. Please accept my apology.
suzanne
Thursday Open Game 18 July 2024
We had a nice 7-1/2 Table Howell movement for our NAP game today. We had many new winners. Congratulations to Ron/Herb for first place and Jim/Ed for 2nd place and first in the B & C strats. This was their first time playing as a partnership.
It was also nice to see Claire/Pat Yuni, Claire Morton, John/Barbara & Kathy/Dulce here again this week.
Tuesday 16 July 2024
We had 4 full tables on the scorching weather day. I guess some people were finding ways to stay cool, although the AC in Centennial Hall is adequate for survival. So glad that we have what we have!
We learned about asking for Aces in NT using the Gerber Convention. Next week we will have some random deals to analyze and discuss the play in more detail than usual.
We will reset and start from the beginning with a lesson for new beginners on August 6 at 11:00 AM. As I will be out on the last Tuesday of July, Suzanne will have a review lesson on that day.
Don't forget! We will start the Advanced Beginner classes on August 6 at 10:00 AM!
Jane S and Susan S won today with 58.73%. The Cullys were right behind with 57.94% in second place. Congrats!! See you next week! ----Carl
Thursday Open Game 11 July 2024
Sorry to say, but the last 2 rounds did not fully upload due to a glitch in the ACBL software. I updated those rounds. Somehow ACBL score also had many wrong scores for boards 18-33. Also boards from Donna/Peter somehow also got fouled up. I had to go in manually and correct those. Anne also just pointed out that her score on board 30 was manually entered incorrectly by me which also just changed the results again. This completely changed the rankings.
Wow what a great day we had today - 11 full tables! I was really happy to see some new and seldomly seen faces:
Chris Baker/Sharon Kaiser, Joanne Orem, Lesley Ross, John Silva, Anne Aoki/Susanne Arvidson, Dulce Merril/Kathleen Larnard. Congrats to Roslyn/Mary and Sandy/Bob for the first places finishes. Everyone who got 50% or better below qualified to compete in our district NAP finals to get a free paid trip to the nationals. Well done everybody.
The lesson next week will be on 4way transfers which is just adding a little bit to what you already know about transfers after your partner opens 1NT.
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On a Very Hot Wednesday 10 July we had 5 full tables. We played 9 rounds of 3 boards and had a great time with all the usual suspects and everybody played everybody else, since we had only one stationary couple. Several people asked for me to lower the temperature. I got Jack and Bill to bring up the AC unit in the basement, and hopefully Skip can put it in the window on Thursday.
Our winners this week are Rick and Penny followed by Jane and Jan, and Bobbie and Sid tied with Pat and Sherry, all who were flipping up and down in rank! You all played well and we got a respite from the heat outside
See you next week. Hopefully we can get the 4th AC in the window to keep up with the heat!
Suzanne
Tuesday July 9, 2024
We had 5 full tables for our pupil game after our lesson about filling out our convention cards with our basic Standard American system. Next week we will have a lesson about Gerber, how to recognize it and when to use it.
Elizabeth and Jean were our big winners today with 70.14%!! Bill Swett and Susan Scott came in second with a very nice 65+%. See you next week! ---Carl
There will be a special day of "Bridge Boot Camp" offered on August 17. Please email Carl cvwikstrom@gmail.com if you are interested.
Tuesday July 2 2024
We had 5 full tables for our Pupil Game after our lesson on what to expect in a sanctioned ACBL game.
Our big winners today were Melissa and Christopher Again! They are starting to make a habit of this! Second and third included two of our recent members, Bill Zannini and Bill Swett. Bill Z. came in second with Jean Lanham and Bill S. came in third with John Safford.
Next week we will go over how to prepare your convention card for play in a sanctioned game. See you then!--Carl
Thursday 27 June 2024 Open Game
We were very pleased to see Colleen Bakker and Connie Kaplan here on Thursday for the first time. It was also nice to see Ron, Herb, Terry and Gery Connors who we have not seen in a while.
Today we had a full 9 tables for our sectional STaC game which awards silver points. The points below are provisional and may be adjusted after compiling them with other clubs in our section.
There is no game next week in observance of July 4. The following week the lesson will be on 2 over 1.
This is the final result. I fixed the problem. Not much change.
Today we had a VERY Eventful 5 and a half table Howell movement with one hand (18) making 7 NT and another (19) making 7 Spades! Only 2 couples bid I small slam! Maybe its time to revisit those beginning lessons that Dave and Carl taught! The 7 Spade hand should have made only 5 Spades according to the Double dummy. Maybe we need to review some defensive play as well!
It was a hot day with a nice breeze. The Usual suspects showed up and we had a lovely time playing 8 rounds of 3 boards for a total of 24 boards!
You all did well, but Pat and Sherry squeaked out a first place with an unheard of 72.9% , closely followed by Paul and Susanne with a 62.7%, rounded out by Jane and Jan at 54% and the Dickinson team at 48%. There were a whole lot of people in the 42% to 47% range that kept jockeying for position.
WARNING INAPPROPRIATE INFORMATION: The rule book says " Calls and plays should be made without any undue emphasis, mannerisms or inflections and without undue hesitation or haste . . . no extraneous remarks or gestures." Penalties can be assessed based on inappropriate behavior. If there is a problem with scoring please call the director and do not discuss it in front of other players. We have to stop being so relaxed and sloppy! Speaking of sloppy I had a little visitor who helped me put things away. Apparently with all the help I lost one final score. So I have 7 full rounds and 20 boards from round 8. However, the 8th round had one very late play. I thought all the scores were in and my "helper", Mia (a little 4 year old) was talking my ear off asking why this and why that. So I left early without checking that the last pair had put their scores in. As a result I put an average for both teams. That board was passed 2 of the 4 times I have results for. Now it has 2 passes, one average and two nearly identical scores for 2 other pairs (see board 14)
Another issue: PLEASE ensure that you are playing in the Correct direction. Look at the bridge mate. Look at the place mat! Call the director if you do not understand it. Several times we have had people confused as to whether they are NS or EW. PLEASE Ask
Suzanne
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Tuesday 25 June 2024
We finished up the "prepared" lessons today and will begin starting lessons for total beginners on August 6th. Please tell any of your friends that, starting August 6th, these lessons will be for students who no nothing about bridge. but want to learn. Between now and then we will go over what you need to know to leave the beginning pupil nest and go out into other bridge clubs and tournaments. We will talk about the convention card next week, as well as some recommendations on deportment during play. In addition, we will discuss randomly dealt hands (all students will have the same hands) each July lesson.
A reminder that we will begin Advanced beginners classes on August 6th at 10:00. There will be a fee of $5 for these lessons. If you want to stay and play in the pupil game there will an additional fee of $7.
We had 5.5 tables in out pupil game today and we were very grateful for the AC as it wasn't as hot as last week, but it was still quite warm. Christopher and Melissa were the big winners with 60.42%! The Kingsburys were right behind with a very nice 59.38. --See you next week!, Carl
20 June 2024 Open Game
Wow we played an 8-1/2 table Howell movement today. That is the most pairs we have had in a long time. Take a look at Board 2! You do not see that kind of distribution very often. Helen even used the Law of Total Tricks to sacrifice at 6C.
Congratulations to Claire/Carol for first place, Donna/Peter for first in the B strat and John/Ed for first place in the C strat. The lesson next week is about when to break the rules when playing the hand.
A Very Hot Wednesday 19 June (Juneteenth) 2024 with traffic that made us all late! - We had a nice 6 full table Howell movement with 24 boards, 3 boards a round with all the normal people! It was a hot day and I provided grapes which were left over and will be finished by the Thursday group. You all played well despite the heat. The change in positions was like watching a horse race. The final pair in first place is Sid and Bobbie, then Jack and Bill, Susanne and Paul, followed closely by Pat and her partner. Once again we had a tie for 2/3 position! The final grouping had the top 4 pair separated by l.1 pts or LESS than 1%!
PLEASE remember to put your scores in and check them. There are several people who do not record their scores so one board (15) I had to put a No Play because neither pair registered board 15 on any of the 4 score sheets.
Remember that tomorrow June 20th there will be an open house with a cash bar from 6 to 8 pm to celebrate the opening of the new ballroom/theatre!
See you next week, Suzanne
Tuesday 18 June 2024
We had 5 tables in our pupil game and a lesson about asking about the Queen of trump using Roman Key Card 1430. I applaud all of you for continuing to tackle this complicated but useful system for slam bidding. We will continue to asking for kings next week. I plan to use the entire month of July for review and strengthening understanding of concepts already covered, so please let me know if you have any requests next week.
We had a return from a long absence from bridge by Kay Roelke, brought in as a ringer by Elizabeth Brugger. She proceeded to win the day with Elizabeth with a whopping 70.83%! Bob E. and Guil S. came in second with a very good 63.89 % and the Cullys got 3rd with a very nice 60.42%.
Hopefully, the heat wave will be gone by the time we meet again next week. See you then! --Carl
13 June 2024 North American Pair Sectional Game
On the first really hot day of the season we played 9 rounds of 3 boards with 5 Tables in a Howell Movement. We were greeted with a wonderful surprise blueberry treat from Nancy Pierce! Thank you Nancy! Not surprisingly Brent and Darryl came in first! followed by Susan and Nancy H. This was a NAP sectional game and both Red and Black points were awarded. An old friend, Helen Campobasso, showed up and made it an even 5 Tables. You all did very well.
Next week intermediate lessons will start again and Skip will be your director. Remember that Carl is teaching an advanced beginner's lesson every Tuesday at 11 am! Also next Thursday there is an open-house celebration for the opening of the Upstairs ballroom/theatre. June 20, 6 to 8 pm. Cash bar with catered appetizers!
Suzanne
P.S. I had to update file since for a NAP sectional ACBL sets the Strata not the director. Therefore we have no couples who have qualified as Stratum A
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12 June 2024 - Wednesday fun game!
Congratulations to Sid and Bobbi for coming in first today followed closely by Cynthia and Marion, then Jack and bill, and Susanne and paul ! All of you are actually winners! We had a 5 table 27 hand Howell movement. For some reason the bridge file was mislabeled but I finally found it.
Here are the results! thank you for coming on such a beautiful (except for thunderstorms0
remember June 20th there is an open house for the upstairs area! All are welcome. cash bar.
Suzanne
11 June 2024 Pupil Fun game! We had 5 full tables and played a Howell movement for 18 boards. Bill Zannini from the past showed up and Ann Yenchick also made an appearance! You are all winners! Remember you played the exact same hands that the sanctioned game played on Thursday 6th June so if you want to see what contracts the more experienced players played Please look. The overall scores showed Elizabeth and Jean came in first followed by MJ and John, Melissa and Chris and John and Joan. Several of you opened 2NT and your partners passed and you made 5 NT. look and see if the more advanced players did any better!
Thank you for coming.
Suzanne
6 June 2024 Open Game
Today was our first NAP game of the year. Anyone who has a "Q" next to their name below has Qualified to compete in the National American Pairs tournament. The top 4 qualifiers get paid to go to the tournament! The stratification for the NAP is preset with C<500 and B<2500.
Congratulations to Sue & Judy who took the top spot playing together today for the first time. Several other C strat players got points including Nancy/Mary Ellen, Darrell/Brent, George/Louise and Linda/Nancy. I am very happy to see another full 8 tables.
There will be no lesson next week since I will be at the Nashua tournament and this game will be directed by Suzanne.
I just corrected the results below for boards 3 and 18 which were entered in error on the bridgemates:
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Wednesday 5 June 2024 - a beautiful sunny day until 4:30. We had 4.5 tables and played 9 rounds of 3 boards with a sitout. Today was a first! We had 3 pairs tie for the top position! You all are winners.
I hope you all got home safely. I looked outside saw the dark cloud and as soon as I put everything away I headed out the door to go home. I got to about a mile from Target in the beginning of the storm. Somehow made it to Target. Sat in the car in the parking lot for 1 hour writing this blog. I thought the wind would blow the car over. The hail was nickel sized (not Joan Nickel but close!) I thought I would go deaf and thank heavens the windshield did not break. After 45 min, went into Target and hung out for 1/2 hour. The parking lot was about 7 inches deep in water. Drove home carefully only to find a soggy chipmunk and a soggy squirel caught in my Havahart trap. took them out to a new home at the wildlife refuge!
got home about 6:30.
Remember Centennial Hall will have a Grand opening for the upstairs room June 20th. Free appetizers and a catered cash bar! from 6 to 8 pm. Everybody is welcome.
Suzanne
Tuesday 4 June 2024
We had 5.5 tables for our pupil game and our first lesson on slam bidding. Next week, Suzanne will run a review of previous lessons. This week we had a big winner today with 72.52%!! Congrats Melissa and Christopher! Wynne and Betty came in second with a very good 67%. I am playing in a tournament next week. Wish me luck! --Carl
Thursday Open Game 30 May 2024
Today we had 8 full tables for our high mp Grass Roots Fund game. We were happy to welcome Ed Winslow into our club today. Ace of Club medals were given to Darrell, Brent and myself for the most club points earned in 2023 in our stratifications. Congratulations to Connie/Roger for 1st place in A/B and to Linda/Nancy for 1st place in the C strat.
Next week's lesson will be on defensive signals.
Monday 2 June Update to Wednesday 29 May 2014 - we had a fun game with 5 full tables. Each partnership played 9 rounds of 3 boards in a Howell movement. We would like to welcome an old friend Ann Richard who was unlucky and got me for a partner! She plays very well! Unfortunately sometime during round 5 one bridgemates was made unfunctional. It lost names and I put players's identification numbers back into the bridgemate. Please if you have problems with a Bridgemate call the director over rather than try and solve it yourself! Since I was playing I did not realize that the whole system had reset itself. I displayed the results for the game at the end of 4 of the 9 rounds. I have data for most of the 5th round and I have my data for me and my partner. I cannot publish what people did for all 27 hands for all 10 partnerships. sorry for the inconvenience. I will publish the hands with some contracts. Its pretty obvious this is not the correct overall scores. This is not a valid score. This is with another 22 scores added. See how easily it changes!
Suzanne
Here are the boards. I am going to call ACBL to find out what I can do. If I had the score sheets from one partner from each partnership, I could recreate the game, but this is not a sanctioned ACBL game. I do not feel it is worth my time when we all had a good time and enjoyed each other's company. I can put up the boards. and I will do that. I could put up the contracts with only 4 rounds. I could add most of the 4th round. I will post the hands, Call ACBL for their guidance. At the end of round 4, Jan Poulin and Jane were coming in first.Suzanne
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Tuesday 28 May 2024
We had 5.5 tables in our Pupil Game after our lesson on responses to a 2 club open. The WINNERS were Jane Greenslit and Connie Kaplan with a whopping 66%! Well Done! Colette and Suzanne came in second with a very nice 58 %. I had a great time as always and hope you did, too! See you next week! ---Carl
Sunday 26 May 2024
We had 4 tables yesterday in our "Boot Camp". We got a late start because I forgot how to open a door, but we still managed to play and discuss over 20 boards. Thanks to all that came. Maybe we will try another of these in a few months.
Here is my commentary on the boards. I apologize for not being able to align the auction commentary on the post, but I tried several fixes that didn't fix it. Maybe I just need to turn a handle, but I can't find the handle. So just realize the the phrases at the end of the commentary have to do with the bidding. See you on Tuesday. ---Carl
Friday 24 May 2024
A reminder that the second "Boot Camp" will take place tomorrow at Centennial Hall. We will play and discuss up to 27 boards or as many as we can complete from 10:00 A.M. until 4:00 PM. There will be 5 tables available and we are expecting at least 4 tables. I have 5 sets of boards prepared and should be able to provide for any that decide to come, even if they didn't sign up. I got good comments from the attendees of the one on May 11 and expect that this one will be vary similar. The exercise is being provided at the request of students in the Tuesday beginner game, so I will be providing mentoring as requested from the attendees; however, the topics that will be discussed will encompass items outside of the usual beginner class, so more experienced players, as we discovered at the last installment, could also learn a few things and strengthen their games. So, all are welcome to attend, and I look forward to seeing you there at 10:00 AM on Saturday, ----Carl
Wednesday 22 May 2024 Fun Bridge - A scorching day outside. Thank those from Tuesday who helped put in 2 of our air conditioners. We had 2 "old" friends drop by and play bridge with us - Muriel Mahoney ( the 8th member of North Hampton bridge club!) and Dolores Chase! Welcome back! We had 5 full tables and played a Howell Movement with 3 boards around for 9 rounds and 27 boards! A long day. You all are winners, but the couple who took top prize, an afternoon with the rest of us was Susanne and Paul! In second place were Hildy and Anne at the top of a crowded field! The Pianist finally showed up at 6:30 PM. A little late to provide us with a concert!
I hope you all had fun! and please come back and play again~
Suzanne
Tuesday 21 May 2024 Pupil Game
We had 7 full tables for our pupil game after our Strong 2 Club open lesson. Jane and Susan were the winners with almost 66%! Well done again! Wynne and Betty were second and our New Student (WELCOME!) Connie and John were 3rd. It was a really fun day even though it was a hot one! This Saturday we will have our second "Boot Camp" starting at 10:00 AM and going to 4:00 PM. Next week we will continue lessons on opening 2 clubs. See you then! (or Saturday) -- Carl
Wednesday 15 May 2024 We had a 5 table Howell movement where each team played 9 rounds of 3 boards. You are all winners! Not suprisingly Marion and Cynthia were the first place winners, who bid and made 6NT on one hand and the very next hand bid 4 and made 6. We had 3 people show up from their winter habitat. Welcome back Audry, Carolyn and Paul! It was a long day because we did not start on time. I had to drive back to Maine and retrieve my computer on the back step! The cards were not forgiving with quite a few 1 and 2 bids. Thank you all for showing up and helping set up!
Suzanne
Tuesday 14 May 2024
We had 6 full tables in our pupil game on this beautiful Spring day that felt a bit like Summer. Jane and Susan came in first with a very nice 68%! Suzanne and Harriet came in a respectable second with Harriet's first play in many months. Well done all!
Next week we will leave takeout doubles for a while, although they will likely show up in a review. I was very happy to see many players able to use the takeout double during the game as well as appropriate use of weak twos! I think we are all improving. ---See you next week to start on 2 club opens and responses.
---Carl
Sunday 12 May 2024
Happy Mothers Day! We had a long, but fun day discussing 24 boards yesterday! Three full tables were there and we discussed each board after bid and play. I hope all of you that were there enjoyed it as much as I did. I am posting my comments on the boards for all 27 boards that I had prepared. Some of you may have left before I got these handed out, and I will have a hard copy available on Tuesday for you. --Carl
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Thursday Open Game 9 May 2024
We had a fun 6 table full Howell movement today. Congratulations to Donna/Peter, Lisa/Susan and Darrell/Brent for the top spots in the A, B and C strats. Everybody should look at Board 7. Betty ended up bidding and playing 7D even though she only had 4 points! Way to go Betty!
Wednesday 8 May 2024 On this very rainy day we had a 5 and a half table 8 round Howell movement where all players played at least 21 boards. All of you are winners, but first place was squeaked out by Pat and Sherry! Dave and Zelda came in 3nd, ant Bill and Jack tied Jim and Herb, a new partnership, for 3rd Place! Congratulations to you all! This is a bit more exciting than golf but not much - watching the players inch up (or on the other hand down). One of our old timers showed up again, Susanne. We had two players who never met each other before and formed a partnership, and did well. They were both taught by a fabulous teacher, Dave Pepple, who we all miss a lot! This was a very close grouping from almost 50% to 53% by 6 teams, who battled it out right up to the last hand!
Hope you all had a good time.
Your assistant Director,
Suzanne
Tuesday 07 May 2024
We had more lessons on making and responding to takeout doubles as well as a review on responding to weak twos. There were 5 full tables in our Pupil game. We played a movement of 9 rounds, two boards per round so that more people played against each other and the boards were played by more pairs.
The winners today were Mary Lynn and Claire with 58.33%. There was a tie for second between Christopher-Melissa and Wynne-Betty with 56.25%
I will see some of you on Saturday for our day-long exercise starting at 10:00 A.M. The rest of you will be here next week, right? I plan to continue working on takeout double responses. --Carl
Thursday Open Game 2 May 2024
I was very happy to see some new faces today. Welcome to Ann and Pat!
We had a full 7 table Howell movement today for our Club Championship game. The honors go to Pam/Larry followed by Linda/John for the B strat and Pat/Gordon as winners of the C strat.
I start a series of basic defense lessons next week at 11:00.
Wednesday MAY day! We all danced around the May pole much to the annoyance of Peter the Centennial Hall manager and the 2 painters! Bobbi and Sid started in first place and nothing and no one could knock them out. However, the board they played late (board 21) which they managed to PASS out, caused a seismic disruption in Place 4 and 5 Jack/Jim and Claire/MaryLynn. Only the bridge gods know how that happened! In second place were Jane and Jan, followed closely by Dave and Zelda. You all played very well!
We all had a great time, playing duplicate a Howell Movement with 27 boards and 5 and a half tables with a sitout, which means most of us played only 27 boards. Next week we have a single player who sure would like to find a partner to play with, so bring a friend!.
Your assistant director,
Suzanne
Tuesday 30 April 2024
We had a lesson about takeout doubles and negative doubles today and had 5.5 tables for our pupil game. We will have another lesson on takeout doubles next week.
The winners today were Martha and Jean with a whopping 72.49% !!!. Second place went to Claire and Mary Lynn with and astounding 69.42%, score that would garner a win on most weeks!
We will keep the format of the lessons, but we will go back and review at least one topic every week. I have been made aware that I am dumping too much information on you at one time. Part of the reason for that is that the places I went to college gave education in such a way that it was like trying to get a drink from a firehose. I will try to slow it down to a garden hose. See you next week! ---Carl
Saturday 27 April 2024-- Updated Monday 29 April
Special Lessons Days May 11 2024, May 25, 2024
By popular request, I am hosting two days of just "lessons". I am putting the quotes around lessons, because they will not be set to any particular topic. We will all play the same boards, one at a time, with discussion led by me between each board. The expectation is that 85% of topics that we might cover in a prepared lesson will come up, and this approach takes much less preparation time by me as I do not need to design hands for a specific topic, which saves me time and keeps your cost down.
As per the requests, this will be a marathon "Boot Camp." We will start at 10 A.M. and end at 4:00 P.M. or after 27 boards, whichever comes first. I will provide an printed, annotated hand record at the end of the class.
There will be a short break for lunch and a bathroom break. The cost is $10/person
These will happen at Centennial Hall on May 11th and May 25th. As of right now (Monday, the 29th), we have two spots available on the 11th and one spot available on the 25th for 3 full tables. If we get a few more than that, we can rotate up to three kibitzers on each day, and there will still be value in the lessons. There will be a fresh set of boards for the 25th, so you can attend both days without just a rerun of the 11th on the 25th.
If you are interested, and have not already done so, please email me: cvwikstrom@gmail.com
Thanks and see you there! ---Carl Wikstrom
Thursday 25 April 2024
We had seven full tables in today's Stardust game and there was 25% GOLD awarded along with the well-earned Black MPs. Congratulations to Nancy and Sandy for getting first place and 1.52 Black and 0.51 GOLD Masterpoints. Linda and John got second place and 1.07 Black and 0.36 GOLD. I am glad we had four other pairs with GOLD.
It was a beautiful day in New Hampshire and thank you all for spending it with me. Skip should be back next week for another fun day! I look forward to hearing all about his trip to Portugal.
Wednesday 24 April 2024 - Fun Game
Today we played a 5 and a half table Howell movement, where each pair played all the other pairs. We all played 24 boards. It was a tight race with Sayer and Sulger inching out the pair in Second Place, Hennebury and Dickenson. You all did a super job, with Jim Even attempting a 6 Diamond slam@ Kudos to Jim! Everybody had a fun time and did a terrific job on this overcast late April day.
Your assistant director,
Suzanne
Tuesday 23 April 2024
We had 6 tables for our pupil game after our special review of pre-emptive bids and responses. Congratulations to Sue and Martha for first place with 61.97% and Jean and Mary Lynn were right on their heels with a very good second place finish of 61.61%!
We are looking into having a separate day of just lessons and no competitive play and a sign-up sheet was circulated. Right now it looks like our first session will be on a Saturday in May, either the 11 or the 25 at Centennial hall. If you didn't get your name on the list, please email me at cvwikstrom@gmail.com if you are interested.
We will get back to the scheduled lessons next week. See you then!!
Thursday Open Game 18 April 2024
It was nice to see a few new faces here today. Congratulations once again to Donna/Peter who continue to perform great even though they are in the C strat. Susan & Barbara came in first in the B strat and Suzanne & Simone took the honors in the C strat.
Carl will be the director next week while I am away. He will be giving a lesson on Mexican 2D which is probably new to most of you. I plan to give a lesson on lebensohl followed by basic defense lessons. We will continue to have ACBL charity games during April which award more points;
Wednesday 17 April 2024 Bridge FUN day & it was Sunny out
Today we had a full 6 table Howell movement where all but 3 couples got to play each other. The First place goes to Dave and Zelda! Well done! Next Penny and Rick, then Hildy and Margie and Mary Lynn and Claire We had a complaint that there were too many slam and 2 Club hands? So we need to learn cue bidding? You all did very well despite me hurrying you along. I don't know if its better to hurry all of you along or tell someone to go home and then have a long sit out.
Please when you sit down LOOK to see that you are in the correct direction. We had a couple of hands that were NO PLAYS because the wrong people played them and it was not fair to their opponents or frankly the others in the group.
I hope you had a good time! See you next week!
Your assistant director,
Suzanne
Tuesday 16 April 2024
We had a bit lower attendance than usual today with 5 full tables in our pupil game and 1 student that was at the lesson only. Due to all of the questions about pre-emptive bids, we will review weak 2's and 3's and responding to them next week.
Our big winners today were Mary Lynn and Claire with 73.15 %!! Second place went to Wynne and Betty with a very good 66.18%. We will see you next week!
Thursday Open Game 11 April 2023Gol
We had a nice 6-1/2 table game with some very strange hands. We celebrated Carl's Gold Life Master rank with a cake since he just earned 2500 mps.
Paul & Maureen took the honors, followed closely by Nancy & Mary Ellen and Roger & Connie. I was also very happy to see Yuni & Barbara earn 1.05 mps!
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