DISTRICT 17 BRIDGE BUZZ
MAY 2020
The May issue of the D17 BUZZ focuses on the versatility of our bridge community during these unprecedented times. I hope you find the stories uplifting and informative.
Cindy Shoemaker, editor, D17 BUZZ
LEARNING BRIDGE AT SEA DURING COVID-19
BY LAURIE BOCK - UNIT 361 - COLORADO
My husband Ed and I left January 4, 2020 for a five-month world cruise which did not go as planned. About six weeks in, the virus reared its ugly head in the Asian waters and our planned travel to Singapore and Hong Kong was eliminated. Off Cape Town, South Africa, we headed for Sri Lanka and India, but those destinations were also canceled. With everyone (passengers & crew) healthy onboard, we spent another two weeks floating around the Indian Ocean and ended up in Perth, Australia where we (passengers) were allowed to disembark on March 18, go into quarantine, and then fly directly to the US with no travel in Australia. We also quarantined for two weeks upon our arrival in Denver and were finally comfortable to return to our house and family on April 4.
The good news for this re-imagined world cruise was that we had the most incredible bridge instructor on board and more days at sea meant more lessons! 
AN INVITATION KEPT ME IN THE GAME
BY JIM - UNIT 356 - TUCSON, AZ
I started playing bridge in college in the fall of 1969. One guy taught our group of a dozen or so and we loved playing bridge together, especially during finals week. We played a lot of bridge just about every day until I graduated in June of 1971. For years, I didn’t play much until 1998. 
I resumed playing non-sanctioned duplicate bridge when I moved to Arizona about four years ago. My bridge partner and I “graduated” to sanctioned bridge about one and half years ago. After Northwest Tucson Bridge Club opened, we now play there exclusively. 
I consider myself an intermediate level player and I’ve accumulated 22 masterpoints so far. Although it can be frustrating, I consider bridge to be the ultimate card game.

Shortly after the COVID-19 shut down, I received an email from the Northwest Tucson Bridge Club inviting me to play in its virtual club game held on Bridge Base Online .  
YOU CAN DO THIS!
BY REGINA DOORN - UNIT 381 - LOS ALAMOS, NM
Pictured above: Regina playing bridge on BBO while sheltering in place.
To all you newbies out there: if I can reach Club Master status, you can too! 
After I retired, I started to play bridge weekly at our local senior center and really enjoyed the mental and social interaction. About a year ago, I decided to try Bridge Base Online to get more practice playing hands.  
I was intrigued by the thought of duplicate and finally entered a NABC “robot” duplicate tournament. Much to my surprise, I earned a fraction of a masterpoint! However, I was still too scared to play duplicate with real people. One day last summer, I was asked to fill in as a partner for a friend who played both social and duplicate bridge. He taught me a couple of conventions and I was hooked! 
FULL SPEED AHEAD
BY DONNA HOFER - UNIT 351 - MESA, AZ
I have been a duplicate bridge player for the last 9½ years. I have a great love for the game and I have worked hard to improve my game through classes, study and mentors. I also enjoy mentoring newer novice players and I try to share my passion for the game. Before the pandemic, I played at least three times a week at my local club, Sun Lakes Duplicate Bridge Club , AZ and other clubs in the area. I also played online on OKbridge about once a week. 

Even though I am sheltering in place due to COVID-19, I have not let my bridge game go idle. I now play not only on OKbridge , but I have discovered  Bridge Base Online and I am enjoying all the games this website has to offer. I have played in pair games, speedball games, Support Your Club games and local club online games where master points can be earned. On BBO, you can even play in casual or practice games just for fun. 
DIRECTING IN A VIRTUAL WORLD
BY FELIX MOORE - UNIT 374 - ALBUQUERQUE
When Duke City Bridge Club shut down March 13, I don’t think any of us realized that we would be closed for as long as it now seems we will be. As cities and states plan to reopen, gatherings will be limited and social distancing demanded. At clubs such as ours, social distancing is impossible and a limit of 10 persons is not conducive to a great game!
I feel that online play is here for a while and I was very excited when I was invited to join Virtual ACBL. As one of the larger clubs in the country, we held our first game on March 30. To prepare, I went through one of the steepest learning curves I have ever experienced. I must give a shout out to ACBL National Director, Rick Beye, whose expertise quickly brought me on board and introduced me to the language of online bridge.
I have a slightly different approach than many of the larger clubs as I am happy to keep my games relatively small and mainly confined to members of our club. That way almost everybody knows each other and has a chance to chat with their opponents. Some of the larger clubs have pooled with many other clubs some of which are geographically distant. Wide-ranging pooling increases club revenue, but can eliminate a “clubby” atmosphere. The only pooling arrangement we have is with the members of Los Alamos DBC .
STAYING CONNECTED IN STEAMBOAT
BY SHARON SMITH - UNIT 364 - COLORADO
Steamboat Bridge has become one of hundreds of clubs to host virtual sanctioned ACBL games on the BBO Virtual Clubs platform. Our first six virtual games averaged 9 tables. Our historical annual average is 5.5 tables. We have seasonal residents that spend the fall and spring elsewhere. Our winter average is closer to seven tables per game and our summer average is closer to 10 tables per game. The virtual game has included all our players that are quarantined across the nation. It has been great fun to see all our friends at the table and during the off season. We have pooled with two other smaller clubs in our unit and we are enjoying having them at the table. We usually only see them at tournaments.
The Silvana Morici and the Sagamore Bridge Club onboard training has been excellent. The director roundtable has been invaluable. It has also been fabulous to connect with other directors throughout the United States. We are in rural Northwest Colorado and rarely interacte with other clubs. Now directors from all over Colorado are collaborating, cross training and staying in touch.
Two years ago, Steamboat hosted Learn Bridge in a Day or LBIAD. We filled 18 tables. For years, Steamboat has had social games twice a week at the community center and lessons on Tuesdays. Many of the LBIAD players continued to play social games and some took follow up lessons offered through Colorado Mountain College . With the current COVID-19 health concerns, we are looking for ways to reach our social bridge players.
THE CHALLENGES OF THE NEW NORMAL
BY SUZETTE WYNN - UNIT 354 - ARIZONA
Bridge On Shea , like all businesses at this time, is trying to find a NEW NORMAL. What we’ve discovered is the NEW encompasses everything we do. The NORMAL is anything but! It changes not daily, but hourly and has not yet been defined. 
Our goal was twofold. How do we help our players continue to play the game we all love and how do we mitigate loss due to closure? It was a no-brainer to open our game online even knowing the learning curve for our directors and players would be great. 
Our team stepped right up, got trained and we were quickly up and running. 
Next, we recorded short videos instructing players on how to navigate BBO and how to find our game and posted all to our website - https://www.bridgewebs.com/bridgeonshea The questions came in like an avalanche. Everyone fielded questions while our main director dealt with getting everyone approved and online. 
DON'T LET TECHNOLOGY KEEP
YOU OUT OF THE GAME
BY KANDI OSBORNE - UNIT 354 - ARIZONA
While staying safe at home, we find ourselves trying to fill the void left by the absence of our 3.5 hour bridge games.
Enter Bridge Base Online . Although virtual bridge will never replace the social aspects of face-to-face bridge, virtual bridge is alluring. Now that local clubs are holding online membership games, you can actually “visit” via chat while at the computer monitor/bridge table. And where can you play bridge in your pajamas at 7 am or 7 pm up to five times per day?
Playing online takes some getting used to. My first few games were filled with missteps and overwhelm, but I quickly learned to appreciate that you can’t revoke, lead out of turn, bid out of turn or make an insufficient bid. 
 I encourage you to give online bridge a try. If your club has a virtual game, you can join them. If not, you can play in the ACBL Support Your Club games. Either way, you can earn masterpoints and stay connected.
Feeling technically challenged? Don’t worry. I’d say at least 50 percent of your bridge friends are in the same boat. However, you can learn everything you need to know through tutorials or a word document that takes you step by step from getting online to finding your results. To access these documents, please go to the In Tempo Bridge Club website, www.intempobridge.com   
If you need further assistance, I’m sure your local club directors and/or managers will be happy to help. I am more than happy to help as well. I’ve spent the last month walking players through the process via phone or ZOOM meetings with no failures. Email Kandi@intempobridge.com and we’ll get you playing. 
No matter where you play, you are welcome to join us at In Tempo Bridge Club 's “After the Fact” ZOOM meetings held every morning at 8 am where we will answer your questions about your previous day’s hands. You can find that link on the In Tempo website
Hope to “see” you at the tables!
TAKING LESSONS ONLINE
BY DENNIS DAWSON - UNIT 383 - SANTA FE
I’m taking all my teaching online in response to COVID-19. I offer three different formats.
Playing lessons.  I play with the student against opponents playing the same system. This is social as we all knew each other, and the student can also learn from the problems the opponents have. Each lesson is from one to two hours, depending on the student’s budget.
We go over the hands after the lesson. The student creates a document in Word using snapshots of the problem hands. I then comment on the hand, using notes I took during the play. I can also replay the hand card-by-card using BBO. This goes back and forth until all their questions are answered, and often involves conversations by phone. 
Play group s are essentially supervised play for four people. The hands are dealt randomly on BBO. Each player can see only their own hand, but I can see them all. We are all on a conference call while playing. Play proceeds until I have a question. A common one is to ask the table what they think the last bid means. After we play the hand, all four hands are shown, and I discuss the declarer's plan and the defense. Players ask questions until no question is left unanswered. Everyone benefits from this - you can learn from the mistakes of others without having to make them all yourself! There is almost always something interesting in the bidding, and quite often in the play. If the play is routine, I can just stop the hand and go on to the next deal. We play anywhere from seven to 10 hands an hour, depending on how interesting the hands are and how many questions the group asks. People like having their questions answered as they come up.
Live classes online at an intermediate level are my next goal by early May. For more information please email me at dennis@bridgevacations.com
DISTRICT 17 REGIONALS
THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS
BY WAYNE ECKERLING - UNIT 361 - DENVER
The Unit 361 Board of Directors reluctantly canceled the 2020 Denver Rocky Mountain Regional (formerly scheduled for May 19-25, 2020). The most important consideration for the Board was the health and well being of our bridge players. In addition, Colorado Governor Polis’ stay-at-home order is in place until at least April 26. To postpone a decision until after this date would have made tournament and travel planning a challenge. Even after the stay-at-home order is lifted, we are all learning that life is going to return to normal very slowly. 
This year, we were excited about a number of changes to improve the tournament including expanded hospitality, a bigger-than-ever pro-am event, and knockouts beginning every other day starting on Tuesday. 

A silver lining is that we will run our Pro/Am virtually through BBO Tuesday, May 19 at 1 pm MDT.

A great deal of work has already gone into the planning. Since there won’t be an opportunity to recognize them at the event, I want to thank Rita Simas, hospitality chair, and all of the other board members for the hours they spent to make this year’s tournament the best ever: Rick Gardner, Rob Vetter, Carol Gumpert, Donna Givner, Ed Yosses, Bob Stansbury, Vard Nelson, and Julie Clark. Three other individuals also contributed many hours to planning this year’s Pro-Am event : Shelbie Bastiaans, Sheryl Siegel, and Jennifer O’Neill.
For most of us, Denver's Rocky Mountain Regional is the perfect way to start the summer. We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2021 tournament May 25-31. 
THE PHOENIX DESERT EMPIRE REGIONAL
AUGUST 10-16, 2020
SCOTTSDALE, AZ
The Phoenix Desert Empire Regional will be held at the beautiful Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale, AZ August 10-16, 2020. 
 With convenient start times of 10 am, 3 pm and 7:30 pm, The Phoenix Desert Empire Regional boasts a varied playing schedule that includes: several KOs, four days of bracketed teams, five days of stratified open pairs and gold rush pairs, six days of 299'er pairs where ACBL members with less than 10 points play for free. There is a game for everyone! Only Monday evening games begin at 7 pm.
Free lectures by top experts will be held Tuesday through Saturday. 
Great giveaways, registration gifts and more, including discount food coupons. 
Talking Stick is a four-diamond resort and is a cultural and entertainment destination.
Plan a few extra days in Scottsdale to shop or to visit the Desert Botanical Garden s or the OdySea Aquarium all just minutes from the resort.
2016 ROOM RATES IN 2020!
Book your rooms before July 24 to receive room rates of only $99/night. Use booking code 17681 or “Desert Empire Regional.”
Phone 480-270-5555 or toll free 866-877-9897. No daily resort fees. Free WiFi and complimentary self- and valet parking daily.
THE TAOS REGIONAL
September 28 - October 4, 2020
Sagebrush Inn and Suites
Taos, NM
LAS VEGAS REGIONAL
November 9 - 15, 2020
The Plaza Hotel -- Downtown Las Vegas, NV
DISTRICT 17 SECTIONALS
MAY
01-03 Longmont (Boulder) CO CANCELED
01-03 Santa Fe NM CANCELED
JUNE
05-07 Albuquerque NM CANCELED
12-14 Durango CO CANCELED
26-28 Windsor CO CANCELED
The Western Conference
SPRING FLING STAC XXI
MAY 4-10, 2020
HAS BEEN CANCELED
D17 has $5,000 in grants available in 2020. Any D17 unit who has not hosted a regional in the past three years is eligible. The maximum funding award to any unit is $1,000 per year.
D17 GRANTS FUEL
UNIT INITIATIVES
Grants can be used to meet a multitude of needs. In addition to unit-sponsored beginning bridge education and membership building initiatives, funds have been allocated for technology and facility upgrades.
For questions regarding D17 grants, contact Steve Nordberg, D17 grant chairperson: texminn@sbcglobal.net
UPCOMING D17 ELECTIONS
BY BILL PHILLIPS, ELECTION SECREATRY
Elections of District 17 Board Representatives will be held this summer for representatives from Mesa; South New Mexico at large / El Paso; and Colorado at large / Wyoming. The following District 17 Board positions are being elected:
Mesa, Arizona: Unit 351
Southern New Mexico at large / El Paso: Units 159, 376, 380, 388 
Colorado at large / Wyoming: Units 359, 360, 363, 364, 421, 422.
Candidates must be members of District 17 in good standing and not under probation by or suspension from ACBL.
No Board member shall be employed by ACBL nor receive more than $5,000 per calendar year for any contract or assignment from ACBL. Candidates nominate themselves by sending notice of candidacy via email or US mail to (1) the district election secretary and (2) the candidate’s unit president. The unit president will notify the unit’s board of directors of nominations.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 29, 2020.
Voting will take place in June and July 2020. The voters are the members of the unit boards of directors.
Send your self-nomination via email to: spheres0000@gmail.com
If you prefer you may send your self-nomination via US mail to:
Bill Phillips
2928 N. Boldt Drive
Flagstaff, AZ 86001