The ACBL is proud to announce that the School Bridge League (SBL) has agreed to help sponsor the Youth North American Bridge Championship. We are pleased to have the support of this outstanding organization. To learn more about the SBL, visit their web site at www.schoolbridgeleague.com. Read the press release here.
We are looking for the next King or Queen of Bridge. Are you the one?
The royal title and a $1000 scholarship are presented to an ACBL member who is a graduating high school senior and has been cited for outstanding tournament performances plus recreational, administrative and promotional activities related to bridge. The award is presented by the ACBL Educational Foundation, which administers the scholarships established by Homer Shoop.
If you are a graduating high school senior and an ACBL member who plays and promotes bridge, you may become the 2008 King or Queen of Bridge. The 36th monarch will join some prestigious previous winners who include: Jeff Meckstroth, Bobby Levin, Warren Spector, Steve Weinstein, Martha (Benson) Katz, Regina Barnes and Erin Anderson.
To enter the contest, e-mail your personal information and qualifications, along with the name of your school, the school principal, the school address and phone number to education@acbl.org before May 15.
Eight teams, including defending champion UCLA, have qualified to play in the North American Collegiate Bridge Championship this summer in Las Vegas.
Twenty-six teams played online on Saturday, Feb. 16, to fill the eight slots in the championship. The top two teams in each of four brackets earned the right to play in Las Vegas, starting July 16, during the Summer NABC.
The qualifiers are UCLA 1, California, Cal Tech, Princeton A, Harvard 1, MIT, Michigan 1 and Michigan 2.
The tournament was hosted by Bridge Base Online. The annual event is sponsored by the ACBL and supported by a grant from the ACBL Educational Foundation.
UCLA, with only one holdover from last year's championship squad, dominated play, winning all five matches and scoring 86 out of a possible 100 victory points. Blake Haas of Thousand Oaks CA was on the winning team last summer in Nashville. The UCLA team had locked up a qualifying spot with a round to go.
Other bracket winners were Princeton, California and MIT.
Click here to view the complete rosters.
Winners of Butler NJ Jr. Bridge Tournament
Holding trophies as the winning partners of the first tournament
played by the Richard S. Butler Junior Bridge Club were two 7th graders,
Courtney Byank-Strenstra and Bradley Debonte. Also pictured are bridge
teachers Joann and Tom Prentzel of Bloomingdale, the club/advisor Kevin
Reagan, and teacher Debi Fabian of Sparta.
ACBL Youth NABC
The inaugural Youth North American Bridge Championships will be held in Atlanta July 5-6 2008.
Want to Play Online?
Read this article to find out all of the in's and out's of playing Bridge online. The Bridge Base Online (BBO) site is player-friendly and fun. It has a lot to offer to new players and Juniors. Read More...
The ACBL Board of Governors has approved the creation of North American Bridge Championships for Youth (19 and under) for the next two years. The first event will be held in 2008 in Atlanta over the July 4th weekend in conjunction with the Atlanta Firecracker Sectional. There will be Youth games held beginning Thursday afternoon culminating in a two session National pair event on Saturday and a two session National Team event on Sunday.
We all know that Youth bridge is on the upswing from Hawaii to Florida - Minnesota to Texas. We hope players from all over the country, and the world, will attend this groundbreaking event. Show the world who you are and what you can do!
While you're playing bridge your family can enjoy the sights and sounds of Atlanta. Fourth of July in Atlanta offers everything from foot races to fireworks! Atlanta's premiere 10K the Peachtree Road Race is held on the morning of July 4th. Whitewater, Six Flags, Centennial Park, followed by fireworks at Lenox can provide all day entertainment.
From the High Museum of Art to the Georgia Aquarium to Stone Mountain Park, Atlanta offers something for every member of your family. Come and join us for the Fourth of July Weekend and see what we have to offer!
Please pre-register for this event so that we can make sure to provide ample playing space and hospitality
Next years Youth NABC will be held in Washington DC in conjunction with the Summer NABC.
More information concerning this event can be found at www.YouthNABC.org
UCLA Claims Collegiate Championship
Collegiate Team Champions
(left to right) Jeffrey Schrader, Blake Haas,
Jason Chu and Barry Ko.
In a match that was close throughout, UCLA defeated Stanford to win the Collegiate Team Championship 112 to 91. UCLA was ahead by 10 IMPs at the half, but Stanford narrowed the score to 73 to 71 with one segment to go.
The winners are: Jeffrey Schrader, a sophomore studying mathematics; Blake Haas, a first year PhD student majoring in human genetics; Jason Chu, a first-year graduate student majoring in economics; and Barry Ko, a senior majoring in biochemistry.
The victors almost didn’t make it out of the Internet qualifying where 25 teams competed. They played five-board round robin matches and lost their first two. “Five hands is too short,” said Chu. They rallied, however, and brought their “A” game to Nashville.
The second-place Stanford team is: Eric Mayefsky, a second-year PhD student in economics; Elena Grewal, a first-year PhD student who is studying the economics of education; Jonathan Pines who just graduated and is looking for work; and Belinda Gu who is in a master’s degree program in computer science.
In a battle for third place, Princeton defeated Queen’s.
This is the IMP score by quarter for the championship:
UCLA 22 60 73 112
Stanford 28 50 71 91
You can view the final results here.
First Time Students Love Bridge
Jim Durr, ACBL Bridge Teacher has been teaching bridge to 6th graders at Madill Elementary in Ogdensburg, New York. The program began in late fall of 2006. The final tournament was held June 11, 2007. First place winner was Katie Ellard with Victoria Meashaw a close second. Mr. Durr plans on teaching next year's 6th graders. He will also start a beginning bridge program at the local Boys and Girls Club. Students are eager and enthusiastic and insist on playing during the last week of school (June 18-22).
Front row: Laura Wood, Michelle VanGordon, Katie Ellard (tournament winner), Samantha Ellard, Victoria Meashaw (2nd place), Alex Wood; Back row: Brianna Barley, Taylor Lalonde
First Youth Invitation Pairs in Hawaii
The First Youth Invitational Pairs was played along with the Unit 470 Sectional on May 26. It was between Moanalua Middle Scholl and the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii at Washington Middle School. Winners are: First place tie between two teams - Moanalua: Brandon Bonifacio, Frankie Sablan & Ivan Santos of Moanalua; Jared Dunn & Kris Kenny of Boys & Girls. Second place went to Darleen Cardenas-Tseu & Angelina L Flores of Boys & Girls. Third place went to Keri Ann Nagaishi & Kristy Nakamoto of Moanalua. Attached is a picture of the teams(with two players missing) and the teachers (Busaba Williams & Luke Han).
King of Bridge
Andrew Dubay of Voorheesville NY has been named the 2007 King of Bridge. Andrew was an outstanding candidate for the award. He is a Bronze LM, a member of the Junior Corp and a member of his unit's Board of Directors. Andrew has worked to bring other young players into the game. He has already contacted future freshmen at Reed College about starting a bridge club there in the fall and organizing a team to play in the college team championships.
JUNIORSBBO
Have you discovered that Bridge Base Online (BBO) has a terrific program known as JuniorsBBO?
The aim of the program is for juniors to improve their games with the help of mentors, so that juniors, 26 years and younger, can learn the basics of good bridge and polite table etiquette. Thanks to the late Raija Reisig and Paula Mittleman (reddevyl) for getting this program started several years ago.
JuniorsBBO hosts tournaments every Tuesday at 2PM EDT with hand analysis after the tournament. Before the tournament, Valerie Westheimer (vdoubleu) opens a chat table, so they can pair up the juniors who do not have partners. Many gold star players give much of their time to help the juniors.
Rich Reisig (Reisig) runs the hand analysis segment with Valerie and Hedy Grey (HedyG). On Wednesdays at 11AM-EDT, there is a teaching table where the juniors get to play with experts. Each junior plays two boards on a first come, first serve basis. The bidding and play of the hand is discussed by all, and the juniors get to have their questions answered. For the teaching table, Valerie, Rich and Joe Stokes (Jstokes) are usually permanent experts and several other world class players join to play with the juniors, who are encouraged to join the club and play as often as possible. They have members from the age of 12, and any junior, no matter what level of play, is encouraged to join.
JuniorsBBO is always looking for more mentors to play with the juniors. To join the club, go to private clubs on BBO and the ninth listing is BBOJuniors Bridge Club. Leave a message there for Paula or for more information e-mail Paula at reddevyl@comcast.net.
Why not get your friends and join this program today. Sounds like lots of summer fun is available on BBO!
Georgia Youth Pairs Win!
Two of the best and most experienced youth pairs in Georgia teamed together to win the Georgia State ChampionshipYouth Open Teams bridge championship at the Atlanta sectional in Roswell on March 3, 2007. Read more...
And you thought your kid was smart
So begins a story in the Washington Post about ACBL junior member David Banh, who graduated from the University of Virginia in one year. Read David’s story.
Second First for Juniors
USA retained the World Junior Team Championship, winning its final against Italy at the 11th World Youth Bridge Championships in Thailand. Congratulations to team members Joshua Donn, Jason Feldman, Ari Greenberg, Joe Grue, John Kranyak and Justin Lall. Greenberg, Grue, Kranyak and Lall were on the winning team last year. Read more from blogger Mike Develin.
What I Did Over the Summer
A few back-to-school essays will meet with disbelief when they begin, “I had lunch with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.” Bridge students from Atlanta to Omaha shared laughs over burgers and fries with the two richest men in the world – both in wealth and heart – at the Nebraska Regional. Read the news coverage. View Fox TV video.
Bridge Makes You Smarter
The evidence is in from a three-year study of bridge students and test scores in schools. This is great information to use to encourage bridge programs. Read the results.
Wolverines Trump Tigers
The University of Michigan prevailed over Princeton by a margin equivalent to a single basket at the 2006 Collegiate Bridge Championship, winning 56-54. Read more...
Bridge to Bridge
When is bridge not bridge? When it's aBRIDGEd. That's the name of a new game designed to bring back bridge night. Read about it on Page 4 of the July 19 Daily Bulletin. Visit Out of the Box Games.
Se habla español
Bridgear.com features lessons, services, news and more in Spanish. The
site includes a section for junior players and even a description of the Standard
American Yellow Card used throughout the world to simplify partnership bidding
in online play.
College Bridge Clubs
Visit more than a dozen college
bridge clubs sites from Austin College
to Yale University.