June 2007 - 9

The American Contract
Bridge League

From
the CEO

President
Sharon Fairchild
Chair, Board
of Directors
Harriette Buckman
Chief Executive Officer
Jay A. Baum
ACBL Counsel
Peter Rank
Chair, Board
of Governors
Linda Mamula
Board of Directors
District 1 * George Retek
District 2 * Jonathan Steinberg
District 3 * Joan Levy Gerard
District 4 * Craig Robinson
District 5 * Sharon Fairchild
District 6 * Nadine K. Wood
District 7 * Bruce Reeve
District 8 * Georgia Heth
District 9 * Shirley Seals
District 10 * Bill Cook Jr.
District 11 * Jim Reiman
District 12 * William Arlinghaus
District 13 * Harriette Buckman
District 14 * Sue Himel
District 15 * Phyllis Harlan
District 16 * Dan E. Morse
District 17 * Jerry Fleming
District 18 * Richard G. Anderson
District 19 * Donald Mamula
District 20 * Jeffrey Taylor
District 21 * Roger L. Smith
District 22 * Jim Kirkham
District 23 * Rand Pinsky
District 24 * Alvin Levy
District 25 * Richard De Martino
To contact your district director,
address your e-mail to
district"*"director@acbl.org
(Enter the district number
where you see "*".)

June 2007

About 430 miles east of Memphis, the small town of Gatlinburg TN has been
coming up very big in recent years. You can read all about the record attendance at the Gatlinburg Regional on page 37 in this issue.
Congratulations to the Mid-Atlantic Bridge Conference and tournament
Co-Chairs Marlene Wass and Judy Nolan. What they have done in Gatlinburg
is truly amazing. I can hardly wait for next year. A seven-day total of 11,000
tables seems within their grasp.
The big numbers from Gatlinburg are in line with a trend we are pleased to
note.
Last year, for example, was the second-best year all-time for tournament
attendance, with a total of 455,379 tables. For those who may not be familiar
with how we quantify tournament attendance, a "table" is four people playing a
session of bridge.
The count includes sectionals, Sectional Tournaments at Clubs (STaCs),
regionals and NABCs. The previous high in table count was in 2004 (463,409),
aided by attendance at three NABCs (Reno, New York City and Orlando) that
always draw well.
The fact is, ACBL membership is up, as is participation in our tournaments
and at clubs, where we expect to record more than 2.5 million tables of play
this year. As of March, we have 999 more members than we did a year ago.
Among the tournaments that have reported so far this year, the numbers are encouraging, especially for regionals. We are averaging 1494.1 tables per regional
in 2007, compared to 1446.4 last year and 1384.4 in 2005.
The reason? More and more players are discovering how much fun they can
have at our tournaments, and you can give credit for that to the people who put
them on. As you probably know, most of our tournaments are driven by the efforts of volunteers, who work so hard to see that we all have a good time.
If you haven't attended a tournament in your area, I urge you to try it. Most
have games for newer players to help you get started. If you are a regular
already, consider getting involved as a volunteer. Also, I bet you know some
bridge players who have not tried duplicate. If each of us could recruit just one
new player, think of the gains we could make in our membership numbers. More
players mean bigger tournaments, more fun and a brighter future for our game.

Nashville NABC

On the subject of tournaments, it's not too late to make your plans for the
2007 Summer NABC in Nashville. Once known mostly as the home of the
Grand Old Opry, Nashville is now Tennessee's most populous metropolitan area
and is home to a number of tourist attractions.

Al Roth

I am sad to learn of the death of Al Roth, a revered member of the ACBL
Bridge Hall of Fame and one of the giants of the
game (see page 19). His contributions to bidding
theory are legendary, and his passing is a loss
for our game.
Jay Baum, CEO
9

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2007