April 2024

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Contact your District 4 board members.

PRESIDENT 

Betsy Cutler

betsy2955@gmail.com

VICE PRESIDENT 

Ala Hamilton-Day

alabridge@gmail.com

SECRETARY 

Bill Bauer 

william.baueriii@verizon.net

TREASURER

Pat Civale 

pat@csa-accounting.com 

REGIONAL DIRECTOR 

Joann Glasson 

joannglasson@msn.com 

Spring has Sprung

The grass is riz

I wonder where

The flowers is?

This little ditty always comes to my mind when I start seeing the daffodils and forsythia blooming and know the warm weather is just around the corner. I am not a winter person, so it is a huge mood brightener for me.

The other thing that makes me happy is playing at NABCs, which I recently did in Louisville. My partner and I drove out and decided we would play in as many NABC events as possible and hoped to make it to day two in all of them. His philosophy: Why go to a National tournament and play in regional events?  Bob and I signed up for the Senior Mixed Pairs as our first foray into the world of nationally rated events. I was totally shocked to get platinum points in rounds one and two and Q-ing for day two, eighth place overall! To say I was on cloud nine is a complete understatement! Then, after round three we found ourselves sitting in sixth place overall. I am sure you can guess what happened in round four – yes we tanked and fell out of the overalls, but in my mind it was a huge win! If this type of experience does not rejuvenate your love of this game, nothing will.

The District 4 finals of the Grand National Teams were held over two weekends at the beginning of March. Congrats to the winners in all categories:

Championship Flight - Andy Kauffman, John Dickenson, Michael Shuster, Kevin Fay

Flight A - Mark Henderson, Bernard Rehberg, Paul Amer, Jeff Ruben

Flight B - Jerry Jia, Huiyao Liu, Barry Dehlin, Matt Sherman

Flight C - Robert Davenport Jr, Jane Detra Davenport, Kurt Meyer, Richard McMullin

We wish them all the best of luck in Toronto this summer!  

The next big event on the District Calendar is the Rehoboth Regional starting April 29 and running through May 3 with a new online component on Saturday, May 4. This is one of my favorite tournaments because of its laid-back atmosphere and wonderful beach location! It is a great time to head to the beach before the crowds descend and eat at some wonderful restaurants. The two-session online games will start at 10am and 2:15pm May 4 and be open only to members of District 4.  There will be Gold Rush and Mid-Flight Pairs only.

D4's monthly online games continue to be well attended and will be awarding ¼ gold and ¾ black points on April 24 at the 7 pm game.  If you marked the dates for these games in your calendar earlier this year there have been a few changes, so please visit the District 4 website for the most recent information.

I look forward to seeing all of you soon at the tables!  Happy Spring!

Betsy

betsy2955@gmail.com

From the Regional Director 

Masterpoints and Bridge Clubs

A lot of questions have arisen lately, and I would like to clarify the relationship between BBO and the ACBL. The online games on BBO, called "ACBL" games, are not run by the ACBL. They are run by BBO. BBO is an independent bridge club, just like other virtual bridge clubs. BBO uses their own game directors and makes all the rules for their bridge club.

BBO recently decided to reinstitute eighteen-board games that had been suspended for a short period of time. Eighteen boards are required by the ACBL to award the winners full masterpoints. The ACBL has no control over the number of boards played in BBO games or other club games.



Most other virtual bridge clubs on BBO play eighteen boards and pay full masterpoint awards. To reach the schedule of online virtual clubs – go to BBO and click on “Virtual Clubs” and then click on “ACBL-North America” and you will see a list of available games for you to play in that begin play in the next two hours. All visitor restrictions have been lifted and there are many choices of games available for every masterpoint level.

The largest masterpoint awards available to you are at your local face-to-face club, where you receive full masterpoint awards for playing eighteen boards and additional proportional awards for every board played over eighteen boards.    

Support your local club – it’s good for you and good for bridge!!

The North American Bridge Championships were held last week in Louisville, Kentucky. The tournament was very successful and exceeded table estimates. Below is a list of Region 3 (District 3 and District 4) players who finished in the overalls in national events.

Baldwin North American Pairs – Flight A:  1 – Alex Allen and Abe Pineles

Robot Individual Pairs:  1 – Jiang Gu

Senior Mixed Pairs:  2 – Nancy Molesworth and Ron Gerard; 7 – Ethan Stein and Susan Duval; 16 – Bob and Joann Glasson; 20 – Laura Brill; 26 – Martin de Bruin and Betty Scull   

Lebhar IMP Pairs: 22 – Richard Oshlag; 28 – Abe Pineles and Alex Allen; 47 – Barry Spector

Leventritt Silver Ribbon Pairs:  19 – Bob and Joann Glasson; 24 – Martin de Bruin and Betty Scull; 37 – Kenneth Chatzinoff and Douglas Dye; 39 – Richard Oshlag

Rockwell Mixed Pairs:  35 – Richard Oshlag; 36 – Don Chillrud; 46 – Laura Brill; 51 – Joan Brody

Kay Platinum Pairs:  8 – Yinghao Liu; 26 – Xiaowen Li

0 – 2,500 Swiss Teams:  6 – Steven Siegel and Larry Gordon



Silodor Open Pairs:  11 – Jiang Gu; 14 – Richard Oshlag; 26 – Ron Gerard; 62 – Jill Marshall and Robert Rebelein

Smith Women’s Pairs:  3 – Nancy Molesworth; 12 – Maureen McLaughlin; 16 – Lisa Mita and Susan Morse

0 – 2,500 Pairs:  11 – Steven Siegel and Larry Gordon; 13 – Daniel Droz and Barbara Droz

Jacoby Open Swiss:  6 – Alex Perlin, Jiang Gu; 14 – Connie Goldberg

NABC+ Women’s Swiss Teams:  4 – Maureen McLaughlin; 5 – Xiaowen Li

Golder North American Pairs – Flight B:  8 – Lawrence Kidder, Gene Marks; 20 – Sean Casey, Jason Tokuda



President’s Cup North American Pairs – Flight C:  15 – Ryan Lock, Elisa Lock

Contact me with any questions or comments at joannglasson@msn.com

Joann

Regionals

Rehoboth, DE

April 29-May 3

King of Prussia, PA

June 24-30

Rochester, NY

August 5-10

Sectionals

Cherry Hill, NJ

April 12-14

Rochester, NY

April 13-14

Allentown, PA

April 26-27

D4 STaC

May 6-12

Allentown, PA NLM

May 12

Boalsburg, PA

May 31-June 2

Rochester, NY I/N

June 14-15

Camp Hill, PA I/N

July 5

Rochester, NY

July 6-7

D4/Unit 135 STaC

July 8-14

For the complete 2024 D4 calendar, click here.

The 4Spot features fantastic contributors on a regular rotation:

February, May, August, November:

For Novices Only

Larry's Learning Center

Moderator: Nick Straguzzi

The Bridge Gods sure fooled with our solvers this time! Read all about it here.

Visit the MSC website to read next month's problem and submit your answers online here.

The Rochester Spring Sectional Tournament will be held on April 13-14.  The Saturday session will feature a lesson by Roger Woodin at 9:15. Pairs events will be held on Saturday and Swiss Teams on Sunday. The Unit’s Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday. Please plan to attend!

Unit 112 Congratulates its Advancing Players:

Club Masters

Jeffrey Bowen

John Goldman

Xuanyu Li

Gerald Steenberge

Sectional Masters

Martha King

Marcie Robinson

Regional Masters

Clover Drinkwater

Mark Kinnan

NABC Masters

Toni Conaway

Paul Tick

Silver Life Master

Brion Keller

Ruby Life Master

Mary Jo Whitehead

Gold Life Master

Roy Caldwell

Unit 120: Northeastern Pennsylvania 

Doreese Torrey

doreeset@gmail.com

Hello, Unit 120!!  Happy Spring!!

ALERT!!  SAVE THE DATE

June 2, 2024 Unit 120 will be hosting a Unit party at the Appletree Terrace in Dallas, PA. More details will be forthcoming. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending.

The surreal midday darkness of a total eclipse will pass over the United States on April 8, 2024. This phenomenon won't occur again for at least two decades. Of all the celestial sights, none can compare to a total eclipse when the sun, moon and earth align and a narrow stretch of land is thrown into the moon's shadow. If you're planning on watching the eclipse, please plan ahead. You'll need special glasses if you plan on observing for a while. If you only plan to watch for a few minutes while the moon blocks the sun, however, you can without eye protection.

The eclipse will begin in Texas at 1:27 pm CDT and end in Maine at 3:35 pm EDT, so be aware the exact time of the eclipse varies. Experts post that Erie PA will be experiencing the eclipse between 3:16 and 3:30 pm EDT.

It is believed that solar eclipses tend to create new beginnings, fresh starts and bright opportunities. So, let's get out and play bridge and take advantage of the good vibes.

See you all at the virtual/face to face bridge tables.

Unit 121: Berks Montgomery 

www.unit121bridge.com

Bill Buskirk

Buskirk944@msn.com

Congratulations to the following Unit 121 members who won Mini-McKenney awards for Masterpoints earned in 2023:

New Rank Advancements - Congratulations!

Junior Masters

Ann Padgen

Eyre Price

Sectional Master 

Steve Berman

Advanced NABC Master 

Scott Zager

Congratulations to Unit 133 players who finished 1st in theAce of Clubs and Mini McKinney unit races!

Ace of Clubs

0-5 Masterpoints - Martha Phelps

5-20 Masterpoints - Dorothy Cockrell 

20-50 Masterpoints - Steve Berman

50-100 Masterpoints - John Turoczi 

100-200 Masterpoints - Nancy Trawin 

200-300 Masterpoints - James Buzby 

300-500 Masterpoints - Grace Sutherland 

500-1000 Masterpoints - Lee Stanley 

1000-1500 Masterpoints - Naim Rizk 

1500-2500 Masterpoints - Ed Spitzer 

2500-3500 Masterpoints - Karen Yellin 

3500-5000 Masterpoints - Stan Yellin

Over 10,000-Masterpoints- Deepak Khanna 

Mini McKinney

0-5 Masterpoints - Frank Haig 

5-20 Masterpoints - Dorothy Cockrell 

20-50 Masterpoints - Steve Berman

50-100 Masterpoints - John Turoczi 

100-200 Masterpoints - Nancy Trawin 

200-300 Masterpoints - Dave Willgruber 

300-500 Masterpoints - Grace Sutherland 

500-1000 Masterpoints - Lee Stanley 

1000-1500 Masterpoints - Mike Kohler 

1500-2500 Masterpoints - Betsy Cutler 

2500-3500 Masterpoints - Jane Havighurst 

3500-5000 Masterpoints - Paul Irvineqq 

5000-7500 Masterpoints - Dave Kresge 

Over 10,00 Masterpoints - Deepak Khanna 

Virtual Ace of Clubs

20-50 Masterpocints - Steve Berman and Vivian Kane 

50-100 Masterpoints - Irv Kistler

100-200 Masterpoints - Sunny Kline

200-300 Masterpoints - Lynda Thaler 

300-500 Masterpoints - Grace Sutherland

500-1000 Masterpoints - Lee Stanley

1000-1500 Masterpoints - Mike Kohler

1500-2500 Masterpoints - Betsy Cutler

2500-3500 Masterpoints - Jane Havighurst

3500-5000 Masterpoints - Paul Irvine 

Unit 133 Spring Sectional April 26 - April 27

Please join us for our Spring Sectional in Allentown at Lehigh Valley Active Life for an opportunity to earn Silver Masterpoints. Enjoy a pleasant atmosphere, friendly people, a delicious bagged lunch, and a stimulating game of bridge. 

Schedule: 

Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27

10am and 2:15pm - Stratified Open Pairs and 0-750 Stratified Pairs Games may be combined due to attendance.

Location:

Lehigh Valley Active Life

1633 West Elm Street

Allentown PA 18102

Fee: $12 per player per session.

Please register at the door using a credit card.

For Questions or to reserve lunch for $10,

please contact Tournament Chairperson, Lois Fuini at

lafuini@yahoo.com or send your lunch choice and a $10 check payable to LVBA to Lois Fuini, 3944 Shirley Drive, Schnecksville PA.18078. Due to a lack of nearby restaurants and limited time between sessions, we suggest you buy or bring a lunch. 



Please come and help us make this tournament a success! 

Don’t forget Unit 141 is holding our April Sectional at Game Friendzy in Cherry Hill NJ! Dates are April 12-14 and our hostess with the mostest will be Bernadette Hennessy May. I will be giving a free lesson on Friday before the game and Lisa Mita will give a free lesson on Saturday before the game, so plan to arrive early.

A warm welcome to our newest PCBA members!  

Tom Aberant

Glenn Boekell

Erna D'Achillo

Pascale Davidson

Abigail Duffine

Russell Etherington

Sharon Heuisler

William Judkins

John Knight

Joanne Linevsky

Diane Rigotti

Rona Rosen

Karen Schulze

Congratulations to our members who achieved a new rank!

Junior Masters

Diane Kroll

Karen Maglaty

Matthew McAlpin

Elyse Moorhead

Karen F Schmidt

Marie Shinn

John Shulman

Mark Stout

Club Masters

Paul S Baron

Rohit Desai

Laura Di Virgilio

Carol Jameson

Tykie Knight

Ray B Lefton

Richard E O Brien

Virginia C Pappas

Sectional Masters

Leah De Paul

Susan Freiberg

Tim M Headley

Joe Hirt

Donald S Mackenzie

Eileen Maginnis

Regional Masters

Jane M Bonenberger

Irv Braunstein

David H Heron Jr

Sara Sheiman

NABC Masters

Sandy Harrison

Stephen R McReynolds

Paul M Van Vreede

Advanced NABC Master

Barbara M Daly

Life Masters

Susan Packer

Sherry L Scena

Marc Topaz

Bronze Life Masters

Alan R Kraus

Susan Packer

Sherry L Scena

Ruby Life Master

Sara-Lee Roseman

Gold Life Master

Sylvia Glassman

Unit 168: Central Pennsylvania 

Ben Hawn 

bwhawn@bellsouth.net

Unit 190: Delaware 

www.unit190.org

Paula Varrassi

pvarrassi@gmail.com

Read the April issue of the Dummy for Unit 190 news here.

Link to the unit website

Unit 217: Susquehanna 

Jim McKeown

jcm751@comcast.net

Congratulations to our 2023 Unit 217 Ace of Clubs, Mini McKenney and On-Line winners.  Online points are not included in the totals for Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs. 

Please join us for our next Sectional, May 31 - June 2, 2024 at the at the Boalsburg Fire Co, 113 Pine Street, Boalsburg, PA when we will recognize these award winners (and play a little bridge).

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4Spot | April 2024 | Editor: Susan Morse