October 2018 - 8

Letters to the Editor
our local club. We have two players
who used to be superb bridge players. They are now in their 90s and, for
obvious reasons, their skill levels have
atrophied. However, they still must
compete in the A category. In addition,
if I happen to play with one of them, I
have to compete in the A bracket even
though I'm a C player. On the other
end of the spectrum, we have a couple
who has played bridge for many years,
but now that they are retired, they
are starting to play duplicate bridge.
They joined the ACBL only a year or
two ago, but they play at a very high
level and have garnered both silver and
gold points at tournaments. However,
because their total point count is relatively low, they compete as C players.
Neither of these scenarios is equitable.
I think the ACBL should be able to
come up with a method that identifies
the level of a player's recent results,
much like is done in golf. In addition,
silver and gold points should be worth
much more than black points in the
calculation as to where the person is
stratified, even at the club level.
I suspect you have received letters
on this subject in the past, but I have
seen nothing that indicates the ACBL
intends to do something about it.
DAVID HANSON
St. Cloud MN

Customer service

On a recent trip to San Rafael CA to
visit family, my wife and I played and
enjoyed an afternoon session at the
Terra Linda Bridge Club. Two days
later, we wanted to play again, but our
schedule required leaving by 3 p.m.,
which was not likely to work out with
their noon start time. A couple of hours
before game time, I called the director,
Peggy Tatro, who remembered me, and
when I explained our situation, she
agreed that we were unlikely to finish
in time. She then suggested that we

8 Bridge Bulletin October 2018

might drop by a little before the start of
the game, explaining that if there were
a half-table, she would arrange for us
to sit out the last round, which would
work perfectly with our schedule.
We decided to try to play, and when
we showed up, Peggy greeted us and
seated us at a table because she did in
fact have a half-table. Two minutes
later, she came over and moved us
to a newly created table, explaining
that she no longer had a half-table (a
last-minute pair had just arrived), but
that we should play anyway. She then
called one of the club's regular players
(who was not playing that day), and
asked him to come by later so that he
and Peggy could fill in for us in the last
round. Needless to say we were both
grateful and bowled over by how effortlessly she went the extra mile just
to make sure we got to play. When we
mentioned at a few tables what Peggy
had done, the "regulars" were not the
least bit surprised. They told us how
wonderful Peggy was and what a pleasure it was to play in her game. We are
now members of her fan club as well!
STAN STERENBERG
New York NY

Class act

At the Summer NABC in Atlanta,
our District 19 team was playing a
very tight semifinal match against the
District 20 team in the Flight C Grand
National Teams. The event was played
using screens, and my opponent/
screenmate was Roger Thomas of
West Linn OR.
Following a mixup in our bidding in
the third set, the director was called
and told us that the facts were complex
and that it would take a while for the
ruling. About 45 minutes into the final
set, the director came back and gave
us a lengthy explanation as to why the
score was going to be adjusted, erasing
our lead and basically tying the match.

As I was replaying the explanation
from the director in my head, I was
having a hard time refocusing on the
match, and I played the next couple of
boards in a bit of a fog.
Roger asked the rest of the table if
he could take me aside and talk to me
in private. He then said he could tell I
wasn't playing quite the same way, and
offered to let me take a five-minute
break to gather my thoughts and get
back in the game.
I declined his kind offer, but I was
(and still am) amazed by this gentlemanly act. However, Roger wasn't done
yet. Even though we won the match,
Roger took the time to come and find
us the next morning to wish us good
luck in the final.
I wish that everyone could compete
against such classy opponents, and I
sincerely hope to meet Roger again.
MARC FURNÉMONT
Victoria BC

Youth and skill

It is one thing to read the enjoyable
"It's Your Call" by a panel of experts and
feel awed. It is another thing to read the
column from the July issue which featured a panel of twenty-somethings and
high-schoolers (no less!) and feel like
an idiot. What in the world was editor
Sue Munday thinking?
That is a snide way of complimenting your excellent July panel. Another
way is by example: I have taken to
underlining "It's Your Call" comments
and saving the articles simply for the
joy (and enlightenment) of rereading
them. I have never underlined them as
much as I did with July's panel. They
were lucid and very helpful comments
about why to do one thing and not
another. And true to the expert panel,
they did not all agree, and even had
good reasons for doing so. A thousand
thanks to them and you.
BUCKY SYDNOR
Royersford PA
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2018
