Richmond Bridge Association

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April 17, 2014
Welcome to the Official Site for the Richmond Bridge Association, Unit 109, part of District 6 of the American Contract Bridge League! Here you will find information on duplicate bridge in central Virginia.

Where is Unit 109?

May Dinner and Election: May 14

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Unit 109 will hold its annual meeting at The Place at Innsbrook (4036 Cox Road # C, Glen Allen, VA 23060) on Wednesday, May 14. A buffet will be served from 5:45 to 6:30. The cost is $15 per person. Checks should be made payable to the RBA and mailed to Becky Duty at 8904 Norwick Circle, Henrico, VA 23229 or placed in the envelope attached to the RBA bulletin board at the Bridge Center by May 4, 2014.

We will be electing a new board during the business meeting that follows the dinner.  The nominating committee has submitted the following slate for Officers and Directors for the term of 2014-2016:

President                  Harry Gellis
V. President               Barry Fratkin
Secretary                   Becky Duty
Treasurer                   Paul Anderson

Board of Directors  (4 elected and 4 appointed by the new President)

Pat McDermott
Paul McGowan
Linda MacCleave
Francis Terminella

Ordinarily, the election is a formality at the annual meeting and the board is approved by acclamation. However, George Lewis has also been nominated to the position of President by the membership and is willing to serve.  The pertinent portion of the bylaws is:

“If elections of Officers and Directors are contested:

  • Each qualified member present at the annual meeting shall be entitled to one vote for each Officer and elected Director. (no more than eight check marks per ballot)
  • All ballots, prepared in advance with all names printed, will be filled out in secret and collected.
  • Each candidate is entitled to have a representative at the counting of the votes.
  • The individuals receiving the most votes will be elected.
  • Every member in good standing may vote at the annual membership meeting/election, or may vote by absentee ballot, providing that the requirements for voting by absentee ballot, as outlined by the Board of Directors, have been met.

The Board of Directors has established the following requirements for voting by absentee ballot:

  1. Absentee voting will not be anonymous.
  2. The RBA will mail an invitation to the May Dinner to each member separately by April 10. The mailing will include a ballot with the name and ACBL number of the member. Members who will not be attending the meeting may choose to mail the ballot to Becky Duty (at 8904 Norwick Circle, Henrico, VA 23229) postmarked no later than May 4.
  3. Members will also be able to vote online.  Online votes, which will include fields for member names and ACBL number, will be emailed to Becky Duty no later than May 4.
  4. Becky will bring these ballots to the May meeting.
  5. Jim Creech or his designee will be given a list of the names of the people who have already voted. If anyone on that list is present at the meeting, he will inform Becky and the absentee ballot will be discarded. The member will vote at the meeting instead.
  6. 6. All ballots will be counted that evening. Each candidate is entitled to have a representative at the counting of the votes.

I hope to see you all at the meeting.

Ed Kinlaw
RBA President

Vote online if you will not attend the meeting.

Learn to Play Bridge Software

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The ACBL would like to invite you to be the first to use the new Learn to Play Bridge web application software. Currently, the lessons are designed for beginner and intermediate players. New content is being added often. This interactive way to learn bridge gives you a chance to practice and enhance your skills between lessons. You can also bring hands for discussion in your bridge class.

Students can access, register and play for free at: http://learn.acbl.org.

Club Managers and Teachers can register at: http://learn.acbl.org/teacher/register

Notrump or a Five Card Major?

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Sent by Judy Haney:

I promised to give the 3 tests to use to decide to open 1NT with a 5 card major

This excerpt is from Max Hardy’s book, STANDARD BRIDGE BIDDING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. It starts out by talking about opening balanced hands, which he defines as having no void or singleton.
Under the subtitle ‘Notrump? or a five card major?

Sometimes opener’s balanced hand will have a 5332 pattern. When the five card suit is a minor suit opener has no decision to make, and with a hand of the right strength (14-16 HCP plus one point for the five card suit) opener easily bids one notrump. When the five card suit is a major suit, opener must decide whether to open in notrump or by bidding the major. Three factors determine the choice.

  1. If openor is to bid one notrump, the hand should hold three cards in the other major. The reason for this is simple. If opener has only two cards in the other major suit and opens one notrump there is the risk that responder might transfer to that other major and then pass. If responder does this and also has three cards in opener’s major, the contract will be in the two-five major fit rather than the five-three, and will probably take fewer tricks. This is opener’s first test.
  2. If opener has a bad doubleton, the hand will be more oriented to suit play and less to playing in notrump.  Opener should have at least a jack in the doubleton suit in order to conceal the major suit in favor of an opening bid in notrump. This is opener’s second test.
  3. Hands that are ‘toppish’ — mostly aces and kings–play better in suits. Hands that are ‘texturish’ — mostly kings and queens–play better in notrump. This is opener’s third test.

So, if opener has three cards in the other major, no empty doubleton, and a hand that is mostly texture, it is best to conceal the fact that the hand includes a five card major suit and open by bidding one notrump. If the hand fails any of these three test, the opening bid should be in the major suit.

P.S.  This book by Max Hardy is what I am using in addition to the ‘green book’ to teach from in my Tuesday evening beginners’ class at the Dorothy Hart Community Center. There will be a follow-up class in June/July for intermediates.

Gatlinburg Regional April 21-27

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THE RITES OF SPRING HAVE TO INCLUDE A TRIP TO THE SMOKY’S AND BRIDGE @ AMERICA’S FAVORITE REGIONAL WHERE 4000 PLAYERS GATHER EVERY YEAR TO TEST THEIR BRIDGE SKILLS

 What has players coming back year after year to Gatlinburg?

 BECAUSE  THEY WANT:

  •  TO PLAY AGAINST THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD IN THEIR MASTER POINT BRACKET!
  • THE MAXIMUM OPPORTUNITIES TO EARN MASTER POINTS, ESPECIALLY GOLD!
  • TO EXPERIENCE THE WIDEST VARIETY OF BRIDGE GAMES!
  • TO COMPETE IN KO’S WITH COMPARABLE OPPONENTS!
  • TO PLAY FROM MORNING TO MORNING!
  • TO PLAY IN AN ARENA WITH THE VERY BEST PLAYING CONDITIONS!
  • TO EXPERIENCE INCOMPARABLE SMOKY MOUNTAIN HOSPITALITY

 IN GATLINBURG YOU CAN ALSO ENJOY:

  •  OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOP WHEN NOT PLAYING!
  • HOTELS/MOTELS WITH EXCELLENT COST/VALUE FORMULAS!
  • A MULTITUDE OF RESTAURANTS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF THE CONVENTION CENTER!
  • TOURING OPPORUNITIES AT THE MOST VISITED NATIONAL PARK!

Click HERE for the tournament flyer

 JULIA OR PETE MISSLIN (Co-Chairs)
423-884-3550
jupe60@tds.net
pmisslin@tds.net