Virtual Games in 109

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Unit 109 sponsors games for online play to help us survive this time of social distancing. These games can be found on Bridgebase.com. Join us when you can!

Results of all Bridge Center Games: Live for Clubs  Common Game
Results of all Friendly Bridge Games: Live for Clubs  Common Game
Results of all Tricities Games: Live for Clubs   Common Game

Day Time Type Club Sponsor Contact
Monday 2:15 pm <3500 The Bridge Center Mimi Pustilnik
Tuesday 9:00 am <500 Learning Friendly Bridge Linda MacCleave
Tuesday 12:15 pm <3000 Tricities Susan MacLaughlin
Tuesday 7:00 pm <500 Friendly Bridge Harry Alferink
Wednesday 10:15 am <1500 The Bridge Center Harry Alferink
Wednesday 6:35 pm <300 The Bridge Center Bob MacCleave
Thursday 1:15 pm <1500 The Bridge Center Mimi Pustilnik
Thursday* 6:35 pm Mentor/Mentee Friendly Bridge Chris D’Ambra
Friday 1:15 pm <500 The Bridge Center Linda MacCleave
Sunday 1:15 pm <500 Friendly Bridge Linda MacCleave
Sunday 6:35 pm <200 Friendly Bridge Harry Alferink

*Thursday evening Mentor/Mentee game is invitational. Only Mentors and Mentees may participate.

How to fill out a BBO Convention Card
2020 Online Event Schedule
The Language of Bridge Online

New Game for Learning

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Friendly Bridge is launching a new game just for learning how to play. We are still experimenting with how best to do this, but we will have our 3rd attempt on Tuesday, December 22 at 9:00 am (note the new time moved up from 9:30).

We will be using a combination of BBO and Zoom to talk about hands played almost immediately. You will have an opportunity to see the hand bid and played by the instructor followed by comments and questions by you. You must have less than 500 masterpoints to play in this game.

Next week’s game will have you playing 4 boards in 32 minutes. Then you will have a 30-minute Zoom session to watch the hands being bid and played, followed by questions and answers. You will then go back to BBO to play 6 more hands, a total of 10 hands for the game. You have the option to come back to Zoom when you are finished to discuss anything you would like regarding the 10 hands you played. The game and learning session should last no longer than 2.5 hours. You will receive hand records and analyses of 4 hands via email after the game.

We currently have 62 on the list who want to participate sometimes. Contact Linda MacCleave to be on the list to get the Zoom invitation.

Instructor: Linda MacCleave
Director: Chris D’Ambra

Holiday Game Cancellations

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Wishing you a happy and safe holiday season from all the Richmond area clubs: The Bridge Center, Friendly Bridge, and Colonial Heights.

We will not have games on the following dates: Thursday, December 24, Friday, December 25, Thursday, December 31. However, we do hope to welcome the new year in with a game on Friday, January 1 for the 0-500 group at 1:15, sponsored by the Bridge Center.

Mark Rosenbloom 1952-2020

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A close friend of Mark’s once wrote to him that “he lived life with a warm, caring heart, an open mind, and a sincere interest in the happiness and well being of others.” This sums up well this wonderful man who will no longer be in our lives.

Mark died on November 18, after having suffered a massive stroke on October 17. For weeks we hoped and prayed for his recovery, but this was not to be.

Mark’s mother was a bridge player. He was curious about the game and started accompanying her to the Bridge Center in Richmond as a teenager. He wanted to watch. He watched the greatest players in Richmond at the time play and soaked up the strategy and logic of the game instinctively. He ultimately became one of the finest players in Richmond or anywhere.

He and Steve Shapiro played together when they were young novices. There is still a trophy awarded yearly called the Rosenbloom-Shapiro trophy for players with 0-20 masterpoints.

He was also a good teacher, sometimes showing impatience with partners who could not grasp a concept that seemed so easy to him. Unlike some other players who helped newer players learn, he would not take money from anyone; he would not even let his partner pay for his entry.

Outside of the bridge world, there is nothing that he would not do for anyone. If he knew someone needed help, he was there.

Mark’s friend Martha shared a story that illustrates who he was as a bridge player and a person.

“We were playing in a local tournament and this guy comes to the table that we didn’t know. He hands us this piece of paper with all this weird bidding stuff on it and includes suggested defenses. Mark glances at it and puts it to the side. The bidding starts and they alert every single bid. Mark passes in tempo but I ask for explanations. The guy says to me, ‘Sorry, I assumed you could read.’ Mark’s eyebrows went up. Then he starts bidding and doubling and interfering. They finally end up in a contract of 4 clubs, doubled. Mark leads and the dummy comes down. He studies the dummy, and I can see his mind whirring. I swear I also saw a smile tug at his lips. As I struggled just to follow suit, Mark had a plan.

“He underled aces, held up taking tricks, and even threw his king under the guy’s ace. When the dust settled, the guy was down 3. Afterward, I asked Mark about the king under the ace thing. He explained to me, it was the only way to endplay him. ‘But,’ I asked, ‘doesn’t he always go down three?’ Mark said, ‘Yes, but this was better because there is nothing more annoying than being endplayed.’

Then, with that twinkle in his eye he said ‘Did you really think I would let him get away with saying that to you?’

Mark was a shining star in the Richmond bridge community. He was loved by many, and he will be missed by so many people.