November 2022 - 8

IN Box
Brut, put on nice clothes and go to the
bridge club. Then, volunteer to set up
some tables and bidding boxes, make
a pot of coffee, bring some danishes
and donuts and talk with members.
Live! You will be a longtime dead.
One of my biggest thrills in playing
bridge came in defeat. Our team lost
by 2 IMPs to the " Meckwell " team in
a compact Swiss in the 2008 Manatee
Regional in Sarasota. There may
not be any Meckwells at your club,
but I'm sure there are several players
you would like to beat. Make a finesse,
win a board, have a 60% game
and garner a few black points. Live!
JIM SOMMA
Kittery ME
On a lighter note
Dlr: North  9 8 3
Vul: E-W k -
l K 10 9 7 4 3
' K 10 4 2
 A J 2
k A 10 9 7 4 2
l A 6 5 2
' -
 K Q 10 6
k Q J 8 6 3
l Q J 8
' 8
 7 5 4
k K 5
l -
' A Q J 9 7 6 5 3
I was South on this deal from a
local game. My right-hand opponent
(East) opened 2l, Flannery. I jumped
to 5', LHO bid 5k, partner bid 6',
and RHO tried 6k. I persisted with
7', doubled by West.
Fearing a ruff in one or both of
partner's majors, lefty led the lA
which I ruffed, pulled one round of
trump and set up the diamond suit for
three spade pitches. Making seven
missing three aces!
CARL GUELI
Great Neck NY
Small world
Although nothing beats F2F play
at one's nearby club with the local
bridge " regulars, " there are some
unique opportunities that web-based
games offer.
While standing at my desk (another
benefit of home play: standing!), I
played in a recent BBO six-hand Automate
Fun morning game with and
against players from Germany, Turkey,
Italy, France, Argentina, Netherlands,
India, England, Spain and
some obscure place called ROBOT.
And despite our multinational
backgrounds, we amazingly all spoke
the same (bridge) language!
MARK MEICHES
Dallas TX
Challenge offered
The Evansville Duplicate Bridge
Club has always " punched above its
weight. " Located in the 164th largest
metropolitan area in the U.S. but
finishing 10th in fundraising for the
fight against Alzheimer's is a tribute
to Candy and Phil Roscoe, the cochairs
of the fundraising committee,
and all of their happy volunteers.
Next year, I'm confident that they'll
raise even more money. But here's a
challenge for those clubs bigger than
ours to do much better next year and
knock us out of the top 10!
RAY ANDERSEN
Newburgh IN
Well done, Marty
Congratulations to Marty Bergen
on being inducted into the Hall of
Fame.
Twenty years ago, I started the
Monday Bridge Boys: eight 70-yearolds
with no masterpoints who wanted
to improve their bridge, learn the
duplicate format and eventually play
at the local clubs. I bought the boards
and cards. We met for lunch, solved
8 | Bridge Bulletin | November 2022
Letters to the editor are welcome
by regular mail and email. Brevity is
considered a virtue, as is subject matter
with relevance to a majority of ACBL
members. Unsigned letters are not
considered for publication, so please
include your name and hometown. Letters
may be edited. All letters will receive a
response. Send emails to editor@acbl.org.
the world's problems and played
bridge at a golf club glad to see us on a
Monday. I used Bridge Bulletin articles
by Marty Bergen most of the time
to improve our bridge.
We were so bad, when we moved
the boards we mistakenly played the
same hand twice - the second time,
worse!
The group grew to 26 guys. The majority
became ACBL members. Most
bought the book " Points, Schmoints, "
one became a director, two won the
Ace of Clubs award, two pairs won a
regional STaC 999er event and one
guy toured national tournaments
with three ladies who were his age
peers. Many have passed away by
now with smiles on their faces.
You enriched our lives, Marty!
Thank you so much.
PAUL ZATULOVE
Phoenix AZ
Sunrise, sunset
The ACBL put " new " rank requirements
into effect Jan. 1, 2010. That
was almost 13 years ago. It is time to
sunset the old requirements. Grandfathering
the new requirements
initially made sense and was fair.
However, all grandfathering should
have a sunset provision. At this stage,
allowing players to get awards on the
old rules is unfair to newer players,
and it distorts the awards that are
being given.
SUE MURPHY
New York NY
November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022
