June 2017
NAP Logo
It's June. What does that mean for bridge? The start of the NAP qualifications cycle. Throughout June, July, and August, you will have opportunities to earn club qualifications for the North American Pairs (NAP) -- a grassroots event in three flights that starts at the local level and runs all the way to the national level.

Check with your local club for qualifying game dates and times for club qualifiers. Then you can use those club qualifications to play in a district qualifier in October. Why? If you qualify at the district level, you earn money and a chance to play at the national level. This year, it's even better because the national NAP will happen right here in Philadelphia at the Philly NABC in Spring 2018. Don't miss out! For more info, click on the links for each flight in the Regional events box below. 

District 4 Officers  
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Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Contact your District 4 board members.

PRESIDENT 
Dan Boye 
[email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT 
Meyer Kotkin  
 
SECRETARY 
Bill Bauer 
TREASURER 
Pat Civale
[email protected]  

DISTRICT DIRECTOR 
Joann Glasson 
President's Message
DBoye head shot

As the Memorial Day weekend has just passed, this month's message begins with District 4 expressing our thanks for all who have served or who have family members who have served in the military to preserve the freedom we enjoy.
As the Rochester and Harrisburg Regionals have completed and we head toward the Valley Forge Regional the last week in June, I encourage all players looking to improve your game to participate in the free lessons offered by the various speakers at our Regionals. I have been fortunate to present many ideas, theories, and suggestions to help players improve their game. Hopefully, as a player's ability and knowledge of the game increases, the game of bridge becomes more enjoyable for them. 
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Attendance at tournaments across the Country is decreasing and Tournament chairs and their committees continue to look for ways to make all players' experiences enjoyable. Hospitality is a universal plus at many tournaments. However, introducing new and/or inexperienced players to the various aspects of the game will also enhance the players' tournament experience as their results improve. So take advantage of the opportunity to listen to someone's ideas and experience to learn more about the game we all love. I promise that your interest will be piqued and your scores will increase.
As we head into the summer months, please support the District and our tournaments by attending District Sectionals and Regionals along with your local club games. Summer is a time for social interaction and relaxation. What a great place a bridge table is to enjoy competition, friendship, and relaxation. To paraphrase: "A bad day at the bridge table beats a good day at work." So come out and play; I look forward to seeing many of you at our remaining Regional Tournaments in Valley Forge and Spooky Nook (aka Lancaster). Until then, stay cool at the table and may your run of cards be hot!
From the District Director 
joann glasson
  
philly nabc logo
PHILADELPHIA NABC IN 2018
I am getting EXCITED as preparations are now underway for the first National Bridge Tournament to be held in District 4 since 2012. Mark your calendar - MARCH 8 TO MARCH 18, 2018 are the dates.The tournament will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott at 12th and Market Street in Philadelphia - right next to Reading Terminal. It is great location with literally hundreds of restaurants within walking distance of the Marriott. 
If you have never attended a National Bridge Tournament - here's a chance to do so without getting on an airplane. It's a terrific experience -- players come from all over the world to attend. There are events for players at every level of the game.
The first weekend will offer an instruction to bridge open to all. There will be a free "Learn to Play Bridge in a Day" for those who have never played the game before. In addition there will be special celebrity lectures and an opening party on Friday night after the evening session.
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We have a terrific group of volunteers working to make this an unforgettable NABC. It takes the dedicated efforts of hundreds of District 4 volunteers who give freely of their time to make a great tournament. You can support the District by buying the naming rights to a regionally rated game at the 2018 PHILADELPHIA NABC in March of 2018. The cost of the naming rights range from $150 to $500. The money raised will be dedicated to providing entertainment and food/beverages for the players at the Philadelphia NABC. You can find all the details here.
As the flyer on the D4 website states, it is the perfect gift for friends, family or even a bridge partner! All named events will appear in the full-color "Schedule and Restaurant Guide" included in the Registration Packet received by more than 4,000 players at the Philadelphia NABC. In addition, all named events will appear in the ACBL Daily Bulletin with a personal write-up about the person named in the event and the four-page Philadelphia NABC schedule that will be available at national tournaments. You can also get a gift certificate emailed to you for presentation.
More information, along with the ACBL Welcome Bulletin for new players, is available on the District 4 website here.
Win gold points sitting on your couch!!
 
The ACBL will be holding a new trial event - The 2017 Summer Online Individual. It is a four-day, four-session BBO robot duplicate event held during the Toronto NABC. The event will occur on Sunday, July 23 through Wednesday, July 26. It is a limited NABC event that will pay up to 48 masterpoints (1/3 gold and 2/3 red).
 
Conditions of Contest:
1.            ACBL membership is required to participate.
  2.           Each session spans one calendar day: start time: 00:00:01, end time: 23:59:59.
  3.           Each session consists of 24 boards.
  4.           A player may start a session at any time from midnight to 11 p.m. Eastern, but must complete the session boards within three hours (or prior to 23:59:59, whichever comes first).
  5.           Usual robot duplicate practices apply. Barometer scoring is disabled.
  6.           No elimination between sessions; full carryover. Players who skip a session are eliminated from the event.
  7.           Pre-registration from July 9-19.
  8.           Card fees $40 ($10/session) during pre-registration. $50 afterwards.
  9.           ACBLscore game file will be generated for ACBL Live, if possible.

District 4 Schedule    

District 4 STaC
August 28 - September 3

October 7

October 7-8

October 28
Lancaster Regional
October 30 - November 5

November 23 - December 3 
It's Time for Valley Forge!

Philadelphia Regional. Valley Forge. King of Prussia. You might use a different name to refer to the District 4 June Regional, but the names all mean the same thing -- a great tournament with terrific events and hospitality. This year, the regional runs from June 26-July 2 at the DoubleTree Hotel in King of Prussia. You still have until June 6 to make reservations at the hotel at the bridge rate. Here are some highlights:

* new knockouts starting every day
* Dupli-Swiss on Thursday and Sunday (hand records!)
* Gold Rush every day
* lots of Golden Mid-flight
* free breakfast every day
* free lunch on Thursday and Sunday
* plenty of free parking
* much, much, more

For more information and the full schedule, check out the website here. The tournament committee is looking forward to another terrific year with YOU being there!
Scents Policy
District 4 has a "Scents Policy." All of its tournaments play under a policy where excessive perfume, cologne, powders, smoke, and body odor are not tolerated. This policy might seem a bit, um, personal, but there's a reason for it. Many of our players have severe allergies to perfume, colognes, and smoke, in particular, and the District does its best to make its events friendly to those -- and all -- players.

Directors are empowered to apply penalties or take action to enforce the policy, but making it work really depends on all of us. Please, be SCENTsitive. Don't wear perfumes, colognes, or scented powders to our tournaments (or keep it to an absolute minimum, if you must). If you have any questions about this policy, feel free to talk with a director or board member for more information. 
News from Around the Units 
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Unit 112: Central New York
DeWitt Henricks 

July 15-16

Unit 112 STaC
August 14-20

Unit 112 Sectional (Cicero)
September 9-10

September 23-24

Unit 112 Sectional (Webster)
October 14-15

Unit 112 Sectional (Endwell)
October 28-29

Unit 112 Sectional (Waterloo)
November 11-12

There is no Unit 112 report this month. Check back in July for updates and information.              
Unit 120: Northeastern Pennsylvania 
Fay Pacchioli

June 2-4

The Longest Day (Honesdale Club)
June 19 and June 21

Architzel Memorial Game
September 24

Unit 120 Sectional
September 29-October 1

Instant Matchpoint Game
October 25

Walter Mitchell, Tournament Chairman, and the Unit 120 Board of  Directors are all getting ready for the Unit Sectional on June 2-4 held at the Quality Inn, 880 Kidder Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA. Silver Points and games for everyone and lots of wonderful treats. Friday will be open pairs  with stratification 0-750, 750-1500 and 1500 plus. Intermediate-novice will be 299er, 199er and 99er. Game times will be morning at 10:00 AM and afternoon at 2:30 PM. Saturday, June 3 will also be Stratified open pairs with stratification 0-300, 300-750 and 750 plus. Intermediate-novice will be the same as Friday. Stratification is subject to change by Director if necessary. Sunday will be a Stratified Swiss Team which will be stratified according to the average master points on the team. 0-500, 500-1000 and 1000 plus. Bill Orth is partnership chairman so If you need a partner or a pair for Sunday, contact Bill at 570-401-4285 or email him at [email protected] .   
Visit our Unit website for information on what is going on in our District at DISTRICT4.INFO.NEPAB.COM
June 19th and June 21st, the  Honesdale Club will again support the Longest Day to raise money for Alzheimers Research. You can come and join the game and play for someone you know who is afflicted with this terrible disease. If you cannot make the game, donations will be sincerely appreciated. Please make your check out to Alzheimers. Last year the Honesdale Club raised over $1200.00 and they were quite proud of that as the first year we were nervous about pledging $300. You can send donations to Fay Pacchioli, 407 Sunset Forest Drive, Hawley, Pa. 18428 or directly to the Alzheimers Assn. or access our team web page with the following: 
Be sure to list the Honesdale Club with your donation so our area gets credit for the amount. It's a very worthy cause.  
NEW LIFE MASTER IN OUR MIDST -Lynn Gonchar made Life Master playing with Ellen Preece in the Gold Rush Pairs at the Sarasota, NY Regional recently coming home with 4.78 Gold to finalize the accomplishment.  
The Harrisburg Regional held at the same time as Sarasota had a great turnout from Unit 120 members and many came home with color points.  

Arlene Andrews                                    25.01                                    

Joan Benedict                                        5.16

Gene Waltz                                            25.01                                                 Dolores Delin                                         3.93

Bill Burns                                               22.95                                    

Bob Reed                                                2.42

JoAnn Mauger                                       13.35                                    

Fran Hoffher                                          .97

Jean Olcese                                            10.47                                                Joann Freeman                                      .97                                                 

Gwen Ritter                                            6.42                                    

William & Anne Menche                        .73

Walt Mitchell                                          7.63                                                 Karen & David Wessell                          .61

Beth Travis                                             5.18                                    

Jane Bovard & Beverly Bright               .54


THE ARCHITZEL MEMORIAL UNIT GAME AT BEACH LAKE IS SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 24th.
NEW ACHIEVEMENTS -  
SECTIONAL MASTER - Marla McNabb
ADVANCED NABC MASTER - Gretchen Jack
BRONZE LIFE MASTER - Martha O'Connor
SILVER LIFE MASTER - Irv Lebowitz
Miss Peggy O'Keeffe has recently undergone open heart surgery and is recuperating at home. Her address is 2007 Adams Avenue, Dunmore, PA 18509.     
Walter Brenholts has been absent from bridge for a while due to a fall and is recuperating at Highland Park Senior Living, 874 Scheechter Drive, Wilkes Barre Township, PA 18702
CLUB MANAGERS & DIRECTORS - Keep me posted on your club news and player news if you want to see it posted in the 4Spot.
Unit 121: Berks Montgomery 
Brian C Snyder 
484-838-0977

Unit 121 I/N Sectional
 September 22
Unit 121 I/N Sectional
December 15 
A Memorial Day Unit Game was held on Tuesday May 23 at Sacred Heart Villa. Sue Wessner and Albert Bingaman won first overall with 65.23%.
The following players have advanced to their next masterpoint rank:
Sara Gainey - NABC Master
Dorothy McCormick - Ruby Life Master
A new series of lesson for BEGINNER bridge players will begin on Monday June 12 at Wyomissing Public Library. Contact Sue Wessner if interested or if you have any questions:  [email protected]  (610) 972 - 5327.
Sue Wessner is planning a bus trip to Atlantic City from Wednesday September 6 through Friday September 8. The trip includes two sanctioned bridge games on Thursday. Contact Sue Wessner for more information:   [email protected]   (610) 972 - 5327.
Unit 133: Lehigh Valley 
Dave Kresge 

Unit 133 Sectional
October 20-22
 
The unit had a very successful sectional at the end of April. Top point
winners were Miriam Harris-Botzum, Dave Kresge, Karen Yellin, Stan Yellin, and Walter Bell. The Fall sectional will be October 20th through October 22nd.

The next unit game will be Saturday June 11th  at the Active Life Center. This will be an extended team knockout game. Usually on the 11th there will be a round robin team game with 4 or 8 teams surviving and then head to head matches from thereon. In the past this has been one of the unit's most popular events and we are trying to revive this long-standing traditional game. Form a team and plan to play on the 11th.

The next unit game after that is Sunday July  23rd at 1:00 PM at the Temple in Bethlehem. It is a open pairs and NLM game.

The Saturday morning game has started up again at the Active Center, please come out and support this game.

The Tuesday game in Easton and the Wednesday game in Bethlehem now start at 11:00 AM - this requested change has been very well received since it has reduced travel time after the game.

The Thursday night game at Bethlehem starts at 6:45 PM. Please come
out and support this game. 

Unit 141: Philadelphia 
Joan Warren

 
Bala Sectional
October 13-15
 
Bala Sectional
November 10-12
 
Unit 141 STaC
December 4-10

The Annual Meeting and Sonny Jaspan Game was held Sat. May 20 at Raffles. Kudos to winners Rich Rothwarf and Marilyn Reedinger. Well done, Rich and Marilyn. 
 
Please join Unit 141 members as they wish Leon Finkel a very happy 100th birthday. Leon turned 100 this spring and can be seen most days at the bridge table. A happy and healthy year ahead, Leon, and congratulations. 
 
Congratulations to those who achieved new designation levels this past month. 

New Life Master  
Ellen Preece
Milind Vaze 

Silver Life Master 
Patricia Andrews

Unit 168: Central Pennsylvania 
Jeanne Gehret  

May 13
 
May 26-28
 
August 6
 
Unit 168 Sectional
October 13-15
 
Unit 168 STaC
November 13-19
 
REMINDER:
The CHAMBERSBURG SECTIONAL h as been CANCELLED
(previously scheduled for June 9-11)
 
UNIT 168 CLUB NEWS :
From Harrisburg:
  • Saturday, June 3: Worldwide Pairs @noon (lunch @ 11:30)
  • Friday, June 9: Dinner Game @ 5:00; Reservations required
  • Sunday, June 11: Monthly birthday game (lunch 12:30; game 1:00)
  • Tuesday, June 13: Judy Groenenboom Memorial Game (lunch @11:30; game @ 12:15) NO ENTRY FEE, but please consider making a contribution to the mortgage reduction fund in Judy's honor. Reservations requested
  • Wednesday, June 14: Wine & Cheese Game @ 6:30
  • Wednesday, June 28: Swiss Team game (dinner 5:45; game 6:30) (register by emailing [email protected] 
  • Check out our website for NAP qualifying games occurring throughout the month www.bridgewebs.com/harrisburg 
 
From Lancaster:
  • Week of June 12: All 5 daily games will be North American Pairs qualifying games.  Extra points!  Players can qualify in A, B or C strata.
  • June 21: Be a part of "The Longest Day"ACBL-wide charity game to benefit the National Alzheimer's Association.  
    •  Your entry is a contribution (additional contributions also accepted)
    •  !!!NEW!!! - Party Bridge at Maple Grove!!!  Encourage your friends who play party bridge to participate in raising money for the Alzheimer's Association.  We're offering a party bridge section where they can play for an hour, for two, or even more!  We'll have the welcome mat out!
 
CONGRATULATIONS to the following Unit 168 members on their new master point rank achievements:
            Club Master:                    Jim Ross, Paul Sekula,Mark Straub, Nancy Straub
            Sectional Master:            Peggy Olson
            Regional Master:            Douglas Fischer
            Advanced NABC Master:            John Nimitz
            Life Master:                     Carrie Singer
            Bronze Life Master:         Michele Martin
            Silver Life Master:           Bridget Whitley
            Gold Life Master:            Rosalind Braunstein
 
WACKY HANDS & GADGETS - by Dave Bort
In a matchpoint club game the other evening, with no one vulnerable and partner the dealer, I fanned the following hand:
6     AK64     AKQT52     A3
 
Imagine my surprise and delight when... (wait for it!)... partner opened 1H! From that auspicious beginning, the bidding proceeded as below (with the opponents passing throughout, and with Alerts marked by asterisks). Partner's hand was:
AKQ5     QJ982     9     J95
 
West             East
1H               2N*(1)
3D*(2)        4N (3)
5C (4)          5D (5)
5S (6)           7H!(7)
Notes:
(1) Jacoby 2N, 13+ playing points (unlimited), with 4 Hearts
(2) Diamond singleton or void
(3) 1430 for Hearts
(4) 1 or 4 keycards in Hearts
(5) Queen-Ask
(6) Yes, I have the Queen, and also the Spade King
(7) I should be able to ruff a Diamond and run Diamonds, throwing any losers in partner's hand, and since it's a club game, bidding 7H should be good enough. I'm not going to take the risk of 7NT not making, for the little additional benefit it could provide.
 
OK, I lied, I didn't actually bid 2N. I actually jumped directly to 4N after partner's opening, because I wanted to avoid the risk of an opponent's lead-directing double of her potential singleton, and I knew she would take it for 1430. But, we did actually bid and make 7H (she played it well!), on the natural lead of the Club King (although no lead can defeat the contract). I also thought partner would be able to handle the Queen-Ask, so we were able to explore for the grand. The moral? Have solid partnership agreements and trust your partner to play them. Otherwise, I would have had to bail in 6H (with partner making 7).
 
In another matchpoint club game the other afternoon, with both vulnerable and partner the dealer, I opened the following hand:
K98     AQ8     KJ9     QJ53
 
Partner started the bidding with 1S, which made me happy. Her hand was:
AQJT4     Void     AQ7     AKT86
 
So, the bidding proceeded (with the opponents passing throughout):
South             North
1S                 2C(1)
3D(2)            3S(3)
4N(4)            5H(5)
6S(6)             PASS(7)
 
Notes:
(1) 2/1 game force (where "game force" means forcing to 3N or 4 of a major)
(2) Undiscussed!
(3) Setting suit
(4) 1430 for Spades
(5) 2 keycards in Spades, without the Spade Queen
(6) Let's play here
(7) Whatever you say, partner
 
Unfortunately, making 7 (actually, makes 8, but the scoring of such hands is strangely limited). So, what went wrong? Why didn't we find our cold grand slam (and then some)? How much easier it would have been if partner had simply "gone slow" in the auction, as follows:
South             North
1S                 2C(1)
3C(2)            3S(3)
4C(4)            4H(5)
4N(6)            5H(7)
5N(8)            6D(9)
7N(10)
 
Notes:
(1) 2/1 game force
(2) Ooh, I've got Clubs, too!
(3) That's nice, but we should probably play the major
(4) OK, I've got the Club Ace
(5) And I've got the Heart Ace
(6) 1430 in Spades
(7) 2 keycards in Spades, without the Spade Queen
(8) We've got all the keycards, partner! What about your outside Kings?
(9) I've got the King of Diamonds (playing Specific Kings) or 1 outside King (playing number of Kings) - same bid, either way
(10) I can't believe you bid 2C, game-force, without the Club Queen, partner, so you must have it, and you probably have the Jack, too, so we should have 13 tricks (at least). I'm going for it!
 
There's no need to jump in a 100% game-forcing auction; it just uses up precious bidding space. Also, hearing that our partnership had all the keycards, bidding 5N to ask for Kings should be automatic - given that you're already going to bid slam (we've got all the keycards!), it costs nothing. So, the moral of this story is: don't just barge into the nearest contract, or the one you think will probably make, and be good enough for a club game - actually think, and explore for the best possible contract. You'll be glad you did... and so will partner!
  
Unit 190: Delaware 
Ala Hamilton-Day 
Lewes Sectional
July 27-29

Unit 190 Sectional
September 15-17

Unit 190 Dave Treadwell Sectional
December 26-31
 
It's Coming!
 The Lewes Sectional - July 27th - 29th
 

PLAYER ADVANCEMENTS

JUNIOR MASTER :   Nancy Hall
CLUB LIFE MASTER :   Dorothea Lavigne, Eleanor S. Maroney, and Deborah G. Schenkel
SECTIONAL LIFE MASTER :   E. Donald Shackelford
REGIONAL LIFE MASTER :  Roslyn A. Berkowitz
NABC MASTER : Peggy Covatta
ADVANCED NABC MASTER :  Thomas N. Tully and Teresa Young
SILVER LIFE MASTER :   J. Bruce Gwaltney and Christine C. Sullivan
 
NOBODY KNOWS THE DOUBLES I'VE SEEN . . .
 
DELAWARE SPRING SECTIONAL
May 19 - May 21
DSBA Masterpoint Leaders

1.  17.23  Jeff Ruben
2.  16.12  Randall Berseth
3.  15.12  Jess Stuart
4.  14.91  Rick Rowland
5.  14.51  Mark Henderson
6.  11.25  Richard Popper
7.   9.20  Barbara R. Rhoades
8.   7.55  Melody Henderson
9.   7.02  Kurt Engleman
10. 6.19  Robert Taylor
11. 6.19  Anne Taylor
12. 5.58  David Venetianer

Our sad news is that Carl Williams, a proud US veteran and former DSBA President, passed away on April 24th . His favorite partner was his wife, Trina, who has also served as DSBA President and Board member. An event will be named in his honor at the upcoming Lewes Sectional scheduled for July 27 through  29 .

Unit 217: Susquehanna  
Jim McKeown
State College Summer Sectional
June 1-3

Unit 217 Sectional
October 6-8
 
There is no Unit 217 report this month. Check back in July for updates and information.  
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4Spot | June 2017 | Editor: Allison Brandt | [email protected]
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