Big Apple Winter Regional Daily Bulletins

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Jin Hu

Full Regional Tournament Schedule (Big Apple Dec 26-30, 2019)
Intermediate / Newcomer Schedule (with Countess Cup information)
Cash Prizes and Hospitality

Daily Bulletins for the Big Apple Winter Regional
Pre-Tournament Bulletin – 12/13/2019
Day 1 Bulletin – 12/26/2019
Day 2 Bulletin – 12/27/2109
Day 3 Bulletin – 12/28/2019
Day 4 Bulletin – 12/29/2019
ACBL Live Full Results

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Sectional in New York City?!

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Lee Lin

As we prepare our carpools and mass transit plans for the Woodbridge Sectional, we can reflect on why silver points are so difficult to obtain for residents of District 24 (that’s anyone in the 5 boroughs of NYC plus all of Long Island). ACBL limits the number of STaC days that allow our favorite clubs to host silver point events (the last one for the year is Dec 20-22, 2019, then after that Feb 7th 2020). Why don’t we have our version of Allendale and Woodbridge?

The good old days

Apparently, GNYBA used to host sectionals at the iconic New Yorker hotel, at 481 8th Avenue (not just tri-club sectionals that sound a lot like STaCs). When did we have our last one? It was certainly prior to my very short time on the NYC bridge scene!

Of course, we did some online digging. In Feb 2011, the unit held a GNYBA Newcomer Sectional just for 0-199ers, and it averaged 30 tables per day. The next year in Feb 2012, the 199er sectional was at the Manhattan Bridge Club. The most recent ACBL hosted retro tournament flyer pops up in 2014.

But how about a full-fledged, not-at-a-club open sectional complete with knockouts, Swiss teams, charity games, and pairs? Possibly October 2007, with a full 70 teams in the A/X and BC Swiss on Sunday, and 270 session tables for just the weekend.

Venue Ideas?

At the GNYBA board meeting today, the members discussed whether it could be feasible to ever host an ACBL sectional. We would invite all of the folks we normally meet in Tarrytown, Poughkeepsie, NJ, and PA to come here instead!

But it starts with finding a venue, and the budget is always going to be tight. A recent Allendale sectional averaged 50 tables per day, with card fees of $14 per session, 4 people a table for 2 sessions each ($14 * 50 * 4 * 2 = $5600). Players could probably tolerate a moderate Manhattan premium, but even at $22 a session, an optimistic scenario is $8800 a day, and that needs to pay for everything (venue, directors, hospitality, signage, etc).

Anyone have ideas??

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Countess Cup Pairs for 99ers

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Lee Lin

During the upcoming Big Apple Winter Regional, there are plenty of prestigious events for the pros. But equally important are games that attract newer players of all skill levels. The grass roots events such as Grand National Teams and North American Pairs cater to advanced and intermediate players. But how about true newcomers with under 100 masterpoints? Come play in the Countess Cup!

The Countess Cup is an all day event held annually during the New York winter regional. Both players in the pair must have under 100 masterpoints, and you play two sessions. Once at 10:30am, then lunch break, then again at 3pm. Winners will obtain red pigmented Masterpoints, signifying a victory at a regionally rated tournament. Last year the winning pair received 2.80 points. They also got a cool trophy!

For new players, this might be the best way to get a taste of 2-session events, meaning your score from the morning carries over to the afternoon. The intention is to reduce some of the luck factor in the game of duplicate bridge. With two sessions, the impact of any single board is lower. It also allows more pairs to face off against each other, reducing the chance of an imbalanced field (you tend to play against different people in the 2nd session). And as we all know, bridge can be very tiring and requires great stamina. Even the best players will see their game degrade after 48 straight boards.

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Grand National Teams 2020

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Katherine

(Edit: 2/19/2020: More information about the format, what to expect, and forming teams posted in postings tagged GNT)
https://gnyba.org/tag/gnt/

With the Fall NABC now behind us, it’s not too early to begin thinking about next year’s nationals. You can officially mark your calendars and start working on your team: the opening rounds of the 2020 Grand National Teams (GNT) event for District 24 have been scheduled!

Winners of each flight go on to represent District 24 (New York City and Long Island) at the ACBL 2020 Summer Nationals in Montreal next July.

See the GNT Event Flyer for details. Opening rounds will take place at 11 AM at Honors Bridge Club, as listed below:

  • Championship Flight:
    Opening Round is Saturday, February 22;
    Semi-Final is Sunday, February 23.
  • Flight A (0-6000 MPs): Opening Round is Sunday, March 1.
  • Flight B (0-2500 MPs): Opening Round is Sunday, February 23.
  • Flight C (Non-LM, less than 500 MPs): Opening Round is Sunday, March 1.

ALERT! In Flights B and C only, the top TWO teams will be eligible to represent District 24 at the Nationals if 8 or more teams participate in the Opening Round.

“But can you show me the money!?” So glad you asked…1st Place in Flights B and C will receive a stipend of $1000 per team.

“I don’t do Canada.” May we point out that July is the perfect time to visit Montreal? But if you can’t make it… just play for the points!


The fine print: To participate you must be a member of District 24 as of June 1, 2019. A “team” consists of four to six players. Please check gnyba.org for the full Conditions of Contest.


Any other questions? Contact GNT Coordinator Amy Rhodes at amrhodes913@gmail.com.

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Pilgrimage to Woodbridge Sectional

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Lee Lin

As Fall 2019 NABC winds down with many excellent GNYBA member results, we set our eyes on the Woodbridge sectional next weekend, Dec 13-15 2019. Just like the Allendale sectionals, our neighboring Unit 140 is the host, but you’ll find New York regulars there. In fact, for months I mistakenly thought some silver-seeking NYC locals were from New Jersey, because Woodbridge and Allendale were the only times I saw them.

For some reason every time I Google for Woodbridge sectional or Allendale sectional, I get a link from 2 years ago and never the upcoming one. So here we go, the tournament flyer for the Woodbridge Dec 2019 sectional.

Rounders: “On the weekends you can’t get a game in the city, because all the New York rounders are taking care of the tourists.”
(disclaimer: Unit 140 and New Jersey is actually home to many world class players and NABC title holders, and you can most certainly get a game at your normal NYC club)

Woodbridge vs Allendale?

Most of us probably consider Woodbridge and Allendale interchangeable – but there are key differences. Allendale is the one where you can find a strip mall walking distance, complete with Blimpie’s sandwiches, a supermarket with a hot food section, and a generic Chinese restaurant with western favorites such as General Tso’s and Beef with Broccoli.

Woodbridge is the other one, with no obvious food establishments walking distance. You can drive to a 7-11 or Starbucks, but the venue always sells pizza and salads at very reasonable prices ($2 a slice?). There is also coffee, tea, and snacks all day long, but it is hidden away in a secret corner of the room (which keeps the coffee hot, I never even found it my first 2 sessions there).

Sunday has the biggest scheduling differences, for those who enjoy team games. Allendale is the sectional that starts later on Sunday, at 12:30pm. Woodbridge starts bright and early, with game time 10:30am. It is also bracketed teams, so they offer breakfast at 9:30am, hoping to reduce the usual 10:28am rush to buy entries (it makes the directors lives a lot more hectic).

Saturday afternoon offers IMP scoring for those playing A/X Open Pairs, but has an afternoon BCD pairs for those 0-3000 and remains matchpoints. There are 299er games both morning and aftenroon, each offering trophies and masterpoints for the winners.

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Cash Prizes for Big Apple Winter Regional

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Lee Lin

GNYBA is happy to announce the daily cash prizes and door prizes for the upcoming NYC Regional tournament, hosted at the Midtown Hilton Hotel (53rd street and 6th Avenue).

(Edit: the Mid-Flight on 12/26 and 12/29 is now 0-3000 instead of 0-2000)

Remember, 12/26 and 12/29 are special “Mid Flight” days for those with 0-3000 masterpoints (no player on the team or pair can have over 3000 points). The cutoff for Mid-Flight is the usual 0-3000, not the earlier reported lower amount for this tournament and should be a perfect stepping stone for those graduating out of Gold Rush. To sweeten the pot even more, cash prizes are offered to the Mid-Flight event winners on both days!

Friday, 12/27 is a Gold Rush day, with $100 given to the winning pair.

Saturday Dec 12/28 gives any pair playing in the Stratified Open Pairs a chance to win $50, by winning top of their stratification (A is unlimited, B is 0-3000, C is 0-1500). What if the same pair happens to win, say, overall B and C, or a C-pair wins the entire thing? It is customary and sporting to still cap the win at $50 per pair, so any remaining $50 prize goes to the next eligible pair of the lower strats.

Monday gives a cash prize to those playing Bracketed Round Robin, but only to the winners of the LOWEST bracket. Remember, the directors will always let you play in the top bracket by choice, but you may not opt to play down – they use the masterpoint total of your team.

Do you receive a check or 1099? Nope! In the past, David Moss tracks you down and counts out cash, but requires that you pose for a photo, such as the one below.

Winners of the Spring 2019 Regional Bracket 4 Swiss Teams cash prize.
Betty Mintz, Stanley Tuhrim (wearing AvenueQ shirts), Tim Archdeacon and Lee Lin.

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In A New York Mid-Flight

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Lee Lin

We are 21 days away from the Big Apple Winter Regional. Both the winter and Spring NYC regional tournaments are special – we have our own premium events that attract star players from across the country and world (and especially star players in NYC). It’s also the last chance for many racing for the GNYBA Player of the Year award.

Our Regional also offers the usual 2-session events that everyone else has, except the Midtown Hilton venue on 53rd street and 6th Ave is walking distance from some of the most iconic city landmarks. Times Square, Central Park, Rockefeller Center are all just minutes away, and you don’t even need to hop into an Uber or subway.

(Edit: the Mid-Flight on 12/26 and 12/29 is now 0-3000 instead of 0-2000. An earlier version pointed out the uniqueness of our 0-2000 limits)

12/26 and 12/29 Special Mid-Flight Days for 0-3000

Thursday and Sunday are special for those who enjoy choosing precisely the difficulty of their field. Thursday 12/26 offer four tiers of pairs competition – the Open tier (unlimited), the Mid-Flight tier (0-3000), the Gold Rush (0-750), and Newcomer (0-100). Sunday 12/29 has A/X teams, Mid-Flight Teams (0-3000), and Gold Rush Teams.

The infamous runaway from New York Minute, filmed a block away from the Hilton host hotel

New York Minute vs New York Mid-Flight

A New York Minute is supposed to be the time it takes before someone waiting gets very impatient – and it tends to be a lot shorter than a minute.

So why is the New York middle tier capped at 2000? Good question. In fact, an earlier version of our brochure mentioned the 0-2000 peculiarity and for consistently, GNYBA have moved to 0-3000.

Maybe Greater New York decided our masterpoints are “heavier”, because if you can beat the field here, you can beat it anywhere. Therefore, our 2000 players are just as good as 3000 players elsewhere!

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Team Rosenthal Advances to Soloway Semi Finals!

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Lee Lin

(Edit: Rosenthal advanced to semi finals! Congrats)

Our coverage of the San Francisco NABC is still on-going, with quite a few other solid finishes for Greater New York members. David Yoon, Lorraine Cable, Barry Rigal, and Peter Bonfanti took 6th place in the 0-10000 Swiss teams. Siqing Yu and Giorgia Botta ended the first day of the Mini-Blue Ribbon near the top of the Day 1 qualifiers. Many pairs will move on to Day 2 of the NABC+ Blue Ribbon Pairs.

The Soloway Knockout Teams is a new event this year, which required two full days of Swiss to qualify 32 teams into 5 rounds of knockouts. Yesterday, the team of Andrew Rosenthal, Aaron Silverstein, Chris Willenken, Jan Jasma, Boye Brogeland, and Christian Bakke defeated #2 seeded team Lavazza in the Round of 16.

As we write this, team Rosenthal is in a very close match in the quarterfinals. The first 30 boards ended with Rosenthal slightly ahead 78 – 72. With one board to go, the 3rd “segment” of 15 boards will likely reverse the narrow lead by 10 IMPs to 91 – 95. Still, trailing by 4 IMPs is a very close match. Even though it is midnight in NYC, you can join in live on BBO Vugraphs to sweat out the last 2 hours.

In the last segment, the last 2 boards are fascinating swings: -12 imps with 5D making and 6D down one other table. But then making up for it on the final board: main table used all of the latest gadgets: strong club interference, kickback keycard, 4NT swapped as a control bid, ultimately finding a good slam. Other table in 3NT down 1. The final score 146 – 119 Rosenthal wins!

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What is the Dec 12 Biggest Online Bridge Tournament?

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Lee Lin

I logged into BBO today and saw a notice about “The Biggest Online Bridge Tournament.” I’m obviously a huge fan of both BBO and online bridge. Unfortunately, after a good 15 minutes of searching and Googling, I have no idea what this event is all about or how to register. That’s concerning and frustrating given that there are supposedly only 10 days left until the event, and many players are in the middle of SF NABC as we speak!

The Biggest, Most Mysterious, Online Bridge Tournament??

Somehow both FunBridge and BBO are both involved? The format is “20 boards, Matchpoints.” There will be prizes – diamonds if you are on FunBridge, and BB$ if you are playing from BBO. But surely they need to provide more information! How about…

  • What time on December 12th does the event begin??
  • Is it a robot tournament, or do I need a partner?
  • Does everyone get the same boards?
  • How does someone register for this biggest event?
  • Do we play at the same time or is it play whenever?
  • Is it stratified? (for any sort of point award system?)
  • Will it be cross platform across BBO and FunBridge?
  • Can someone enter on both BBO and FunBridge?

Unfortunately, I do not know the answers to any of these questions. Perhaps someone could clarify for us all?

Finally, after 20 minutes, I figured out how to register, and it requires menus I have never touched in prior hundreds of hours using BBO. From the Home Screen, click on “Competitive”. Then “All Tournaments”.

Here is the BBO alert that first caught my eye. I even tried Selecting other languages to see if there is more info – no luck.

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Congrats Max and Radu – Nail Life Master Open Pairs Champions

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Lee Lin

Fall NABC is off to an excellent start for Greater New York. Congrats Iulian Rotaru and Radu Nistor for a commanding victory in the Nail Life Master Open Pairs! After 4 sessions, they finished a full 2 boards ahead of the pack. Also, Alex Perlin and Igor Savchenko took second place (which goes to show playing well against robots sometimes carries over to playing against humans).

New York saw several other deep-in-the-platinum finishes. David Moss and Kevin Rosenberg finished in 9th place. Stephannie Culbertson and John Fout took 13th. Peter Trenka and Sam Amer won exactly 20.00 platinum points for 20th place. Leonardo Fruscoloni with partner Claire Alpert placed 31st.

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