September News in Modesto Virtual Club
This was an exciting month for our Unit. We had two new ACBL members: Stacey Elvery of Oakdale and Robert Rasp of Turlock. Also, Raj Modi became a Sectional Master, while Garrard Marsh achieved Regional Master status. Congratulations to both of you on your accomplishments.
Two players who played duplicate for the first time, Sue Henry and Cindy Pylman, won gold for the first time when they placed second on the 23rd, behind 1st place finishers, Jeff Gaudio and Terry Sciabica in the Juniors game on the 23rd.
We had what the ACBL called Star Dust week. This was actually a chance for players to win gold points in their local virtual club. I associated the term Star Dust with the Woody Allen movie, “Star Dust Memories.” In one scene, Woody is on a train that appears to be filled with Ingmar Bergman characters going to a conference on philosophy and death. None of them are smiling. Woody sees another train from his window where the passengers are partying and having a great time. He asks the conductor if he can be on that train. Like Woody, there were many times during Star Dust week when I wished I was on that party train myself. Nevertheless, we had 39 different individuals who won from the amount of .11 to 1.51 gold points during the week. The majority were C players, who obviously need gold points more than any of the other flights.
On Tuesday of Star Dust week, BBO crashed, all data was lost, and BBO restored the system and gave us two more days to make up for the crash the following week. Of course, if you talked to the pairs playing on that fateful Tuesday, everyone was having a 70% game at the time when the system failed. I would have thought there might have been some pairs with a 5% or 10% game to even things out, but apparently that was not the case.
Among the C players that week, Marcia Laird was 1st with 4.90 points, Lorraine Bocks 2nd, with 3.88, and Cissy Hilken of Stockton, 3rd with 3.57. The B players were led by Chris Gray at 6.04 points, 2nd was Judy Remmers with 5.60, and 3rd was Libby Longstreth with 4.08. In A flight, the Maynes were 1st with 4.59, Ray Adams 2nd, with 4.54, and Chris Brown 3rd, with 3.18. As you can see, the B & C players outdid the A’s, with Chris Gray 1st overall, Judy Remmers 2nd, and Marcia Laird, 3rd.
The overalls for the month were: A, Ralph Jungwirth 1st with 13.26, Trelle Uhl 2nd with 11.30, and Chris Brown 3rd, with 7.48. In B, Judy Remmers won the honors at 9.03, Larry Sweet was 2nd at 8.59, and Chris Gray was 3rd at 8.06. The leading C players were Dennis Northern with 7.61, Marcia Laird with 6.10, and Sherrie Barakatt coming in 3rd at 4.18.
Our guests from Stockton did quite well. Cissy Hilken placed 3 times, finishing with an engebretsen on the last day, the 29th, while playing with Lynette Foppiano. She also placed with Stockion player Debbie Greenberg. Cissy and Lynette also had a 2nd degree engebretsen on the 23rd, finishing 2 in all strata. Deb DeZarn and Roger Smith also won one game during Star Dust week, achieving an engebretsen in doing so. Jaime Hamilton and Marcia Eblen also had an engebretsen, finishing 1st among all players in all strata. Jim and Marcia Laird had another engebretsen, finishing 1st in all strata like Jaime and Marcia. Judy Remmers and Joyce Rudesill had an A/B engebretsen, placing 1st in A and B. Larry Sweet and Dennis Norther also duplicated Judy and Joyce’s feat.
The two top scoring games for the month were the 73% game turned in by Bruce Ruskin and Frank Frohman on the 26th and the 70% effort by Libby Longstreth and Chris Gray on the 24th. All in all, it was an exciting month, with a total of 102 tables in play, 38 of them during Star Dust week. I look forward to an exciting October.
Noteworthy Events in August, 2020, Modesto Virtual Club
As I was contemplating writing this month’s noteworthy events, I realized that when I used to do this for the Sunday game, that I always included the high pointer for the month. Well, unfortunately, May and June have been lost to me, but I did discover that the highest percentage game of 75% in July was turned in by Ralph Jungwirth and Mary Sue Moore. Sharon Cole and Garrad Marsh had several nice games in August, but their best was the top score of 71% on August 11.
The junior game was staged twice in August, once on a Monday, then it was moved to 1PM on Wednesdays by popular demand. High game was 64% by Julie Miller and Terry Sciabica on the 26th. Julie was also the high pointer in the August junior game, collecting .64 master points. Julie won both times, coming in first on the 10th with Sharon Jackson the other time with Terry. Joanne Estrada and Patty Heckindorf were second on the 10th, while Raj Modi and his robot were in that position on the 26th.
Congratulations to you all.
We had a total of 98 tables in August, not a bad turnot at all. We set a record for one game with eight full tables on the 22nd. There were no full engrebretsens in August, but Judy Remmers and Connie Arnold had a first in B and a 1st in A, while Jim and Marcia Laird had a 1st in C, 2nd in B, and a 6th in A. Good going you C and B players.
The high pointer of the month was Chris Brown, an A player with 13.60 master points. He was followed by Bruce Rusin, with 9.50 points, and Ralph Jungwirth with 8.60. In B, Sharon Cole won the monthly honors with 8.46, with Judy Remmers second with 5.97, and Larry Sweet third with 5.85.
In C, Garrad Marsh was 1st with 6.97 points. Garrad played solely with Sharon Cole, and by the way, if you look at the numbers, he would have been second in B. Second in C was Jaime Hamilton, an up and coming player, with 5.45. Dennis Northern was third with 5.08. It was a good month for all players in all strata.
So, as you can see, August was an exciting month for our virtual club, and we can only hope that September will be just as exciting or even more so. Best wishes, Ray
Modesto Virtual Club, July Report by Ray Adams
July was a busy month for the Modesto Virtual Club. We added 10 new ACBL members to our unit. Three were from Modesto – Julie Coffman, Julie Miller, and Barbara Ruddy – while the other seven were Oakdale ladies, most likely students of our longtime Sunday Invitational Game player, Marcia Eblen. These newcomers are Stacey Elving, Joanne Estrada, Patricia Heckendorf, Alice Holloway, Sharon Jackson, Judy Lehr, and Jolene O’Neil. We certainly hope to see these new players in our limited online games and maybe in our open games soon.
Two players from our Unit achieved an advance in rank. Sherrie Barakatt and Lorraine Bocks both became Advanced NABC masters in June. Congratulations to you both. In other Unit news, Jackie and Roland Wilson moved to Utah, but have since joined us online and have even placed first in one event. Also returning to our club (at least the online club) after a long absence, was Pam Harmeson, who also came in first in a game.
July saw 85 tables in play for our regular games, plus 35 more for Silver Week. The two Silver Point games in August drew an additional 14 tables. July leaders in the A group were 1st, Ray Adams, 2nd Mary Sue Moore, who played with three different partners, and 3rd, Ralph Jungwirth, who also played with multiple partners. Chris Gray, who has moved to Southern California was top B player, followed by Sharon Cole in second, and Larry Sweet, third. Sherrie Barakatt led all C players, followed by Dennis Northern, and third, Garrald Marsh. Nice playing, bridge buffs.
Silver Week leaders for all games (both July and August) were: A, Ray Adams, Chris Brown, and the Maynes. Larry Sweet topped B, closely followed by Chris Gray, and 3rd Sharon Cole. The front runners in C were Dennis Northern, Sherrie Barakatt, and Garrald Marsh. Good going, all you silver seekers.
On the 16th, Judy Remmers and Connie Arnold had a B level engebretsen, finishing 1st in A, and also 1st in B. Judy repeated this performance on the 21st while playing with Jeanne Russo, again coming in 1st in A and first in B. Jeff Gaudio and Terry Sciabica had an ascending engebretsen on the 16th, placing 1st in C, 2nd in B, and 3rd in A. Sharon and Garrald had a B level engebretsen on the 23rd, coming in 1st in both A & B. Jeff Gaudio and Terry had a 1-3-6 engebretsen on the same day. Marcia Eblen and Jaime Hamilton had 1 + 1 = 2, engebretsen on the 25th, finishing 1st in C, 1st in B, and 2nd in A. Jeff Gaudio and Terry Sciabica wer 2nd in C, 2nd in B, and 3rd in A, also on the 25th. Alan Beban and Raj Modi had a 1st in C, 1st in B, and a 4th in A in their section. If I had to give this an engebretsen name, I suppose it would be a 1 +1 squared. Well done, all of you.
Well, everything from July points to a great deal of success for our Unit-owned club. I certainly hope this continues in the future. Best wishes, Ray Adams
May and June Results at the Modesto Virtual Club By Ray Adams
May was the very first month for the Modesto Virtual Club, which started operations on May 17. There are three very competent directors: Libby Longstreth, Barbara Page, and Lee Maddocks. It was a very busy month with a total of 65 tables participating. This was due in large respect to the Silver Point week, where the club had at least one game a day offering a chance to players of all Strata to win valuable Silver Points. More C players participated than are normally seen playing during the week. I personally was happy to see such an enthusiastic turnout.
The A players of the month were 1) Ray Adams 2) Ralph Jungwirth and 3) Bruce Ruskin.
The top B players were: 1) Barbara Page 2) Vickie MacClyment, who barely beat 3) Sharon Cole, who just nudged 4) Chris Gray.
The leading C players were 1) Sherrie Barakatt 2) Gerald Marsh 3) Dennis Northern who only beat 4) Marcia Eblen by a nose (.02 Master Points).
I think most veterans of the Sunday Invitational Game at the old studio remember Imogene and John Engebretsen. They were the first to win all three strata – A, B, and C – in a game. Thus, this particular feat became known as an engebretsen. Although Imogene and John are no longer with us, their name lives on in memory of this fine achievement. There were two engebretsens this May, with Jeff Gaudio and Terry Sciabata having a section engebretsen on the 17th, finishing 1, 1, and 1 in Section One, and 2, 1, and 1 overall. On the 28th, this pair had a second degree engebretsen, finishing 2, 2, and 1st in C. Also, Debbie DeZarn, a C player, did finish 1st playing with an A partner, and Gerald Marsh, another C player also won an event competing with a B player.
There were no Silver Point games in June, and possibly because of this, attendance dropped to 60 tables, although the bridge was just as exciting.
John and Pamela Mayne were A players of the month, barely edging out Ray Adams. Third was Chris Brown, turning in good results with several partners.
Among the B players, the leader was Vicky MacClyment, who barely sneaked by Larry Sweet in second place, while Mary Sue Moore was in third, and Chris Gray in fourth.
In C flight, Dennis Northern took the honors, with Sherrie Barakatt close behind in second place and Lorraine Bocks in third.
Jeff and Terry had a progressive engebretsen in June, finishing third in A, second in B, and first in C on the 13th. Keep it up you two, you give C players something to shoot for.
The competition is already hot this July. Please make an effort to get on your computer and join us on Bridge Base Online. You should have a lot of fun.
I will end this short article with a bridge story on defense. Our opponents bid up to 6NT and I was on lead. Looking at nothing better, I led the ace of hearts. There were two small hearts in dummy and my partner, Sherrie Barakatt, signaled with the ten. I continued with a heart to her king and since declarer had started with queen doubleton, we eventually took five heart tricks for down four. Since this was the last hand of a speedball match, I kibitzed at another table where the contract was also 6NT. The bridge buff on lead also led the ace of hearts. His partner signaled with the DEUCE! The opening leader thought about this and switched. Declarer soon claimed 6NT. If I learned nothing else from this, it was : trust your partner’s signals and if you like your partner’s lead, please let him or her know, even it the best you can do is the three from K32. If partner is paying attention, he or she will notice.
Well, shortly after August 1, I will discuss the July winners. Let’s make this month one to remember. All my best to all of you.
The Halfway Point
By Ray Adams 7-8-20
Hi fellow bridge buffs! This has been an interesting year for Unit 529. Things year started out normally, with regular games on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with limited games and the Unit Game on Sundays. Then the Corona virus hit this country. First, our Sectional was canceled, then our club was closed. This led many bridge buffs to take up online bridge at BBO, and it was not long before our unit opened a virtual club online with games on the four days mentioned above.
The next we knew, the unit bought the club from the Mastenbroeks and all the money that our virtual club earns online now goes to the unit. Eventually, when we get the clearance from the state and federal governments, we will open a new club at a location to be determined. This is exciting news for local bridge players, indeed. I look forward to seeing all of you online until we get a new club when I hope to see all of you face to face again.
June 30 marked the end of the first half of 2020, and the ACBL sent out the leaders in the local Ace of Clubs and Mini McKenney races.
Modesto player Sandra Dieker tied with Daniel Bocks of LeGrand for first in both races in the 0 to 5 category.
Suzanne Sachs of Twain Harte was the leader in both competitions in the 5 to 20 level.
Terry Sciabica headed the field in the 20 to 50 Ace of Clubs and Mini McKenney.
Gerald Marsh led the group in the 50 to 100 competition in both categories.
Marna Ferreira of Sonora was the top point winner in the 100 to 200 category, while Sharon and Neil Von Tersch of Oakdale were out ahead in the Mini McKenney race.
Sherrie Barakatt led the field in the 200 to 300 field, while Lorraine Bocks had that honor in the Mini McKenney competition. I have a feeling both these ladies will not remain in this category for long, as I have played both with and against both of them, and they are tough competitors.
Karen Davis of Sonora led the 300 to 500 Ace of Clubs competition, while Mike Saeler had that honor in the Mini McKenney.
In the 500 to 1000 area, David Jenkins of Sonora led, while Pat Gallo of Livingston headed the Mini McKenney race.
Gary Smith headed both competitions in the Silver Life Master rankings.
Frank Frohman led the Ace of Clubs in the 1500 to 2500 category, while John Mayne was first in the Mini McKenney race.
The top point earner in the Gold Life Master area was Lee Maddocks, who usually runs the online Sunday game at our virtual club.
Ralph Jungwirth grabbed the most points in the 3500 to 5000 race. I remember it was not that long ago that we had a party for Ralph at the old club to celebrate his achievement of reaching this level.
And the top Master Point holder in our unit, Chris Brown, led in both races in his field: the 5000 to 7500 category.
Look for a lot more excitement in the second half of 2020, except in the last category, where Chris is the only unit member to have reached that height.
I look forward to seeing you all online and hopefully in the near future back at the tables in our new club, earning more and more Master Points.