of the Fall Nationals - November 2005
Denver was an ideal place for bridge players. 16th Street was off limits for Automobiles making it very safe for walking. There were free Trolley Buses running back an forth every few minutes in front of the hotels and Stopping at every intersection. Very convenient for bridge players as restaurants and shopping areas were on either side of the street. The weather in Denver was ideal during the day with temperature generally Sunny and in the 60's. Evenings were a little different - sometimes in the 30's. The hosts of the tournament were very hospitable and worked very hard to Get the final table count to 10,145 which was about what was expected.
- CHARITY AND GOODWILL COMMITTEES
- This is the time of year when the District Directors name their lifetime Charity and Goodwill appointments for 2006. These people have all made major contributions to their units and bridge communities. Congratulations to all.
My appointments this year were:
CHARITY: Roxana Tom & Janise Saul - Unit 172 - in the San Antonio area. GOODWILL: Bobbi Kauffman & Bert Onstott - Unit 174 - Houston area. - ACBL PRESIDENT 2006
- Harriette Buckman from Chicago and Florida was elected the President for 2006 She will be at the Houston Regional February 6-12th She is particularly interested in meeting with the Bridge Teachers in our Unit and District. Harriette has done almost everything a person can do to help bridge clubs get more members, teach at clubs, and run clubs. Please make an effort to meet her and feel free to ask for advice. She will make a great president. Any teachers interested can e-mail me at danmorse@sbcglobal.net for more information.
- NABC TOURNAMENTS
- Dallas will host the NABC 2006 Spring tournament starting March 30 through April 9. Start making your plans to be there. The local people are working hard to have good tournament.
San Francisco will host the Fall 2012 NABC and Memphis will host the 2012 Spring NABC- BLUE RIBBON PAIRS
- A very rare thing happened when winners of this prestigious event were 20 year old Jenny Ryman from Sweden and 23 year old Gavin Wolpert, the youngest pair ever to win this event. A great cheer went up for this win as their Junior friends from around the world heard the news. Congratulations to Jenny and Gavin.
- AWARDS
- Zia Mahmood was named the ACBL Honorary Member for the Year 2006. Congratulations!
The Senior Swiss Team Trophy will now be the Alan Truscott United States Playing Card - Senior Swiss Trophy- LAWS COMMITTEE
- Three District 16 Members were appointed to the ACBL Law's Commission for 5-year terms:
Mildred Breed, Peggy Sutherlin, and Dan Morse.- FINANCE
- A budget for 2006 was approved. In order to balance the budget fees had to be raised. Dues were not raised but Club fees, STaC sanction fees, Sectional Surcharge's, NABC entry fees were all raised for 2006.
- TOURNAMENTS
- After years of discussion and experimentations with various formulas for our premier team events, a new formula (developed by board member Bill Arlinghaus) was approved. Depending on the number of teams there will be head-on matches, byes, and 4-way matches (with 3 teams surviving) on Day One. Starting on Day Two, all matches will be head-on.
New residency requirements for participation in NAP and GNT evens will go into effect for the 2006-07 events. Anyone who may be affected by the stricter requirements should contact the ACBL for details. (Especially in the super flights).
In scheduling and sanctioning tournaments, a coordinator must now submit his Regional sanction at least three years in advance, his sectional sanctions at least one year in advance. An arbitration board will be established to resolve tournament sanction conflicts.
Effective July 1, 2006, except for charity events and games limited to players with less than 20 masterpoints. The extra fee for non-members and non dues paying life members will be $2.00 per session at Regionals and $1.00 per session at Sectionals.- CLUBS
- The Windows version of ACBLscore that we have long anticipated should be available on the ACBL web site to download in January 2006.
- MEMBERSHIP
- An amnesty program will begin January 1, 2006, and end June 30, 2006. Upon payment of their membership dues/service fees, people whose membership had lapsed shall be credited with all masterpoints which were earned during the lapsed membership period.
- JUNIOR ISSUES
- Check out the new and approved bridgeiscool.com website. It's getting better all the time.
The issue of holding another ACBL World Junior Bridge Camp in the summer of 2007 was deferred until Dallas. A straw poll showed a majority of the Board approved.- APPEALS & CHARGES
- The ACBL Code of Disciplinary Regulations was revised. For those interested, the revised Code should be available on the ACBL website.
- MEMBERSHIP
- Once a month, management will notify each affected unit of all Life Members who have moved out of a unit to an unknown location and unpaid life members who have had no contact with ACBL for 2 years. Unless informed to the contrary each such Life Member will be transferred into a special holding Unit not associated with any of the 25 districts. Once a year a list of the life members who have been so transferred will be sent to the appropriate units.
- WORLD BRIDGE
- International Mind Sports Organization (IMSO) was formed. The four founding members are the World Bridge Federation (WBF), the International Federation of Chess (FIDE), the international GO Federation (IGF), and the World Draughts Federation (FMJD). This group has the support of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). The IMSO is exploring holding a joint World Championship, possibly in 2008.
Going to an NABC is one of the best bridge experiences a player can have. I hope those of you who have not done so will make their vacation plays around the Dallas National and give it a try.
Happy Holidays
Dan