T

Here, in their own words, is the story of Sally and John Newton.

There are probably some reading this who remember Culbertson and two and a half points required to open the bidding!! That’s how bridge started for Sally Haire Newton in the 1940s in Newport, VT. She was guided by her father Dave Haire, who, in the 1960s

Also started Abe and Jean Brown on there bridge Odyssey.

There was bridge on the fringe in college in North Carolina and later at the Thalian Club in Richford, VT, where Sally taught high school English. Upon transferring to BFA in St. Albans, Sally first attempted serious bridge in the late 1950s at the St. Albans duplicate game (which is still running with Patty Earle still playing). Sally’s first partner was Ronald Newton, a newcomer to St. Albans. They won their first game, married eight months later and started a sequence of transfers around the country by Burroughs Corp. Eight states and three children later (Norman, St. Albans, Nora, Spokane, John, Detroit), they ended in Virginia where the family lived for 22 years. In all those states, there was always a duplicate game.

Good times often change! Ronald became ill and bridge ceased.

In 1990, Sally and son John came to Montgomery, Vermont, to occupy her parent’s 150 year old house, badly in need of repair, which accounted for John’s presence. Once again small social bridge games appeared. The people were great. The bridge wasn’t

Then a small miracle occurred. John started playing bridge on the internet. All those summer vacations under his grandfather’s tutelage paid off. One day in 2004, he suggested playing in a real game with live people. They went to a St. Albans duplicate game and eventually to Burlington.

They joined the ACBL in June 2005 and travel to duplicate games whenever their busy lives permit. Sally does volunteer work for her garden club, the local historical society and her church. John is a para-educator at Montgomery Elementary School where he teaches math to special children. John’s 10 year old son, David, also attends that school. John coaches basketball and baseball. Sally and John travel 60 miles to play in Burlington. On Saturdays, they travel 60 miles to Lyndonville to play in Sheila Long’s game. They have had some memorable wins and are HOOKED. John’s grandfather would be so proud to have passed on his love of the game to two generations.

Times Argus Bridge Column

We all know that the game we love has lost some of its popularity with the general population and that the bridge playing population is aging. From time to time newspapers discontinue their bridge column, something unthinkable not too long ago.

The Times Argus – the Montpelier/Barre newspaper did just that at the end of May. I am happy to report that the bridge column returned after just a one week hiatus.

Many devotees of the game called to complain and to encourage reinstatement. Frank Hacker actually spoke to the editor who made the decision. She said she was surprised by the response. The bridge column has survived, at least for the time being.

ON THE WAY UP

Congratulations to the following Vermonters who have reached higher ranks in the ACBL masterpoint hierarchy

Junior Master: John Bennett Margaret Fariss

Lucille Leary Marc Monheimer

Club Master: Mark Adair Donald Bly

Betty Faulkner Kay Fay

Michael Furlong Nancy Furlong

Ping Gee Karen Kristiansen

Patricia Merrill

Sectional Master: Richard Ross

Regional Master: Kathleen Berger Bertrand Nadeau

Life Master: Jon Stokes Alan Wertheimer

Bronze Life Master: Jon Stokes (achieved 2 new ranks at the same time)

Gold Life Master: Kathleen Farrell

Tiernan Trophy Race

Every year the Vermont Bridge Association awards the Tiernan trophy to the VBA player who wins the most master points in the 4 Vermont Sectional tournaments. Here are the top 10 after 2 tournaments. My apologies to anyone I may have inadvertently omitted.

Please inform the editor about errors or omissions.

1. Jerry DiVincenzo 22.96 7. Mike Farrell 17.13

2/3. Sally Newton 21.08 8/9. Lynn Carew 15.67

2/3. John Newton 21.08 8/9. Pat Nestork 15.67

4. Kathy Farrell 19.26 10/11. June Dorion 15.29

5/6. Phil Sharpsteen 18.15 10/11. Wayne Hersey 15.29

5/6. Frank Hacker 18.15

Scott Aborn Trophy Race

Every year the Vermont Bridge Association awards the Tiernan trophy to the VBA player who begins the year as a non-life master and wins the most master points in the 4 Vermont Sectional tournaments. Here is a list of those who have accumulated more than 5 points after 2 tournaments. My apologies to anyone I may have inadvertently omitted.

Please inform the editor about errors or omissions.

1/2. Sally Newton 21.08 4/5. Rhoda Chickering 7.75

1/2. John Newton 21.08 6/7. Sheila Long 5.73

3. C. Kirk Osterland 7.88 6/7. Karen Kristiansen 5.73

4/5. Sandy Desilets 7.75 8. John Conova 5.56

9. Tom Osmer 5.35

MY FIRST BRIDGE TOURNAMENT

by Dave Shaw

It was 1967. I was stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson. At the time, there was a big bridge club that offered games every afternoon and evening except Sunday evening. I had asked the club manager, Virginia Clements, to suggest someone who might take me on as a partner and help me become a better player. Martine Turner overheard our conversation and volunteered to help. We played a lot and, late in the year, there was a sectional an hour outside of Tucson.

Even though I had a great partner, I was very nervous. And it took half the first session before I relaxed. But, after that, it was clear sailing. We didn’t win anything, but my first tournament was behind me.

I wanted to share that experience with our 100 or so newer players and an additional 200 or so players with fewer than 299 points, each of whom is eligible for the Intermediate/Novice programs that will run continuously at the Regional Tournament to be held at the Burlington Sheraton November 8^th to 12^th. This can be your first tournament experience and, while I know you’ll be nervous, the I/N environment is so nurturing, I know you’ll get through it with relative ease.

So, please mark your calendars so as to take advantage of the Intermediate/Novice opportunity. For more information, please contact Mike Farrell or Phil Sharpsteen.

MORE IS BETTER!

by Phil Sharpsteen, VBA President

This article is addressed to the Vermont club player who supports his or her local club by playing fairly often with a few regular partners but who is otherwise not involved in club improvement. You are an extremely valuable asset to bridge in Vermont and to your club and I hope you find reward and enjoyment each time you play! To explain the title of this article, I am sure all would agree that larger club games are even more enjoyable to those who play!

What I am asking each of you to consider is making a small effort to improve attendance at your club. Let me list a few ideas to get the process started. I would love to hear in a future issue of Table Talk of some success stories from our local clubs!

1) One game per month, ask a friend or inactive member to play with you (you can ask that your regular partner that night do the same). Arrive early to acquaint the friend with the bidding box and convention card to help make their experience more enjoyable.

2) Help the club organize a non-member night when all players bring a non-member to the game. The non-members could play for free or get a chit for a 2^nd game at the club to encourage them to return. Have interesting refreshments, use nametags and advertise in your local weekly newspaper.

3) Run a hi/low swiss game when you have a 5^th game in a month (players won’t have regular partners booked for the 4 times this occurs each year).

4) Invite rubber bridge players to come and play rubber bridge on game night for your normal card fee. Have someone available to answer their questions as they play – sort of a free teacher!

Above all, make sure you greet newcomers to your club and make them feel at home. A good guideline: treat them as if you had invited them to your home for a bridge party. You can even have an announced rule (in fun!) after introductions:

‘Don’t double the first time guests!’

20^th WORLDWIDE BRIDGE CONTEST

The 20^th worldwide bridge contest took place as two single session events on Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3. Each event had thousands of competitors around the world, all competing within a time period of approximately 36 hours. The early standings consisted primarily of results from Japan. American players were among the latest to compete and their results came in almost at the end. The Apollo club of Montpelier held one of the two sessions during their customary Friday session and the Burlington Bridge Academy held a special session on Saturday afternoon.

Competition was essentially local and master points were awarded on the basis of the local results. All competitors also received international rankings based on results match pointed across the entire international field. The order of listing in the results below is based on the local rankings, but as you will readily see, the international rankings don’t follow the local rankings. In particular, North-South competitors in Burlington tended to fare much worse in the international rankings than in the local rankings and East-West competitors fared much better. I have listed the top 8 finishers at each playing site. The international results are almost complete, but some clubs have not reported yet. Special congratulations go to Jerry DiVincenzo and Mike Farrell who had a huge game at the Burlington Bridge Academy and currently rank 13^th over all in the Saturday game.

The international rankings listed below are based on 5,302 pairs on Friday and 4,711 pairs on Saturday

Friday Results

Local Rank Name Int’l Rank Int’l Points

1 Judie - Fred Donald 118 108,553

2 Pat Nestork – Lynn Carew 242 104,722

3 Bryant Jones – Pat Hoffmann 1,703 90,051

4 Mike Farrell – Jerry DiVincenzo 1,604 90,642

5 Tom Smith – Frank Hacker 1,205 93,598

6 Ellie Hanlon – Mary Savko 1,467 91,595

7 Guy Smythe – Al Ceppetelli 1,224 93,440

8 Kathy Farrell – Patty DiVincenzo 2,034 88,086

Saturday Results

Local Rank Name Int’l Rank Int’l Points

1 Mike Farrell – Jerry DiVincenzo 13 101,035

2 Sally Newton – John Newton 799 83,294

3 Phil Sharpsteen – Frank Hacker 288 89,207

4 Patty DiVincenzo – Kathy Farrell 1,960 75,322

5 Constance & Jean-Guy Beliveau 1,649 77,092

6 Judie Donald – Fred Donald 2,583 71,755

7 Mary Savko – Ellie Hanlon 2,627 71,543

8 Ed Schirmer – Frank Reed 952 81,974

20^th WORLDWIDE BRIDGE CONTEST

An Interesting Hand

Board 10 of the Friday competition offered East-West an opportunity for a big score, but only if they had the guts to go for the gusto.

(both vul – dealer East)

North

932

J1072

Q94

West AK10 East

KQJ86 A54

4 A95

AKJ1082 73

2 South J9753

107

KQ863

Q864

The Auction was East South West North

Pass Pass 1 S Pass

2 S Pass 3 D Pass

4 S Pass 4 NT Pass

5 H Pass 6 S All Pass

This hand has many crossroads, or decision points, starting with which suit to open. West, the hero on this hand, was Tom Smith, who played the hand in Montpelier. Tom chose 1 spade. After partner’s single raise, Tom decided to be aggressive. If partner had signed off in 3 spades, Tom would have contented himself with just 4 spades. Partner’s 4 spade bid showed a good 2 Spade raise, so Tom decided to take a chance with 4NT. This could have worked out badly, especially if partner had no aces, but, as they say, “no guts, no glory.”

The play also required a little bit of care. Tom lost the first club trick and trumped the second club in hand. Tom then cashed the AK of diamonds and ruffed a third diamond in dummy with the spade ace. This set up diamonds and all that remained was to draw trumps and claim. The bidding was aggressive and the final contract required splits in both spades and diamonds. There was a great deal of risk involved, but the reward was great – 7.5 matchpoints out of 8 at the local level and 4561 match points out of 4738 in the international scoring.

HAVE YOU DISCUSSED?

by Phil Sharpsteen

Have you and your favorite partner(s) discussed the meaning of every possible bid in every auction? (e.g. partner opens a 15-17 1NT – assign a meaning to every bid from 2C to 7NT?! I certainly hope you haven’t – you may have the recall memory but you don’t have enough time!

It does pay dividends in good results, however, to agree on methods in auctions that occur fairly frequently. It is most satisfying to have the bidding agreements needed to achieve a good result. In this article I want to discuss a fairly common situation.

Your partner opens 1NT and you begin with a Jacoby transfer of 2D or 2H or a Stayman bid of 2C, which is doubled by your left hand opponent. This type of double has a fairly high frequency, because you are bidding a suit you usually don’t have (a conventional call). It is quite likely your opponent has a suit good enough to double at the 2 level. This double is to indicate a lead to partner who will almost always end up on lead in these types of auctions.

Let’s start with a specific auction: 1NT / pass / 2D / double. The double has changed the requirement to accept the transfer. The opening bidder should pass with only 2 hearts and bid 2 hearts with at least 3-card support. If you are accustomed to super accept (that is jump to 3 hearts) with 4 hearts, you may still do this (the double has not used up any bidding room and you may ignore it). Don’t be afraid to pass with only 2 hearts – with a holding of 6+ hearts, partner can always retransfer by bidding 3D! One other treatment I like after the double is for either partner to redouble holding 5 cards in the doubled suit (in this case diamonds). Partner of the redoubler can then decide whether to play 2D redoubled, retransfer or accept the transfer to play in hearts or to bid to the appropriate NT level. An interesting hand from a recent regional illustrates this treatment in action!

(nobody vul)

Partner (Dealer)

Q652

Q75

AKQ7

J83 K1097

95 Q873

AK106 9

J1086 9543

KJ1062

J8432

The auction proceeded: 1NT pass 2D (transfer) Double (shows diamonds)

Pass (2 hearts only) pass (help!) redouble (5 diamonds) pass

Pass (we have 8 diamonds?!!) pass

The final pass is more or less obligatory. East-West may not be too happy, but they have no place to go (any EW contract will be doubled for a large minus). They may as well hope for the best against 2 diamonds.

We got a top board for 2D redoubled (+960!), since 10 tricks are fairly routine on any line of play. Without the double, the probable auction would be: 1NT pass 2D pass 2H pass 3D pass 3NT all pass. Without a spade lead there would be a battle over the ninth trick. If we had bid to 3NT after the double, a diamond lead followed by a shift to the spade J (attacking dummy’s side entry) would have defeated 3NT with 2 diamonds, 1 heart and 2 or 3 spades, depending how well player holding K1097 manages proper unblocking. Moral of the story – if you don’t have the tools to punish aggressive lead directing doubles, the opponents are gaining more often than they are entitled to!

The same treatment can be used after a double of a 2C Stayman call. The opening NT bidder should still bid the appropriate major as requested (ignore the double – don’t allow the opponents to mess up your constructive auctions!) However, it is no longer required to bid 2D with no 4 or 5 card major. You could agree to play the following:

2D: no 4/5 card major but 5 diamonds

pass: no 4/5 card major – implies 4 clubs most of the time

(a 3-3-4-3 pattern would be the only exception)

redouble: no 4/5 card major and 5 clubs!

As you can see, an opponents double gives you a way to convey useful information to partner – IF you have discussed!

THREE CHEERS FOR EDSEL

Edsel Hughes of Montpelier is a veteran Vermont Bridge player, so veteran in fact, that he was making bridge news in 1962. Edsel submitted a hand to Alfred Sheinwold, that Mr. Sheinwold used in his Sheinwold on Bridge newspaper column. Sheinwold credits Edsel with providing an ingenious solution. Let’s see if you would do as well. Here is the hand

(East-West vul – dealer South)

North

984

K764

West Q873 East

Q532 6

QJ10732 A9854

8 QJ109

94 South 1062

AKJ107

void

A532

AKJ5

The bidding: South West North East

1 S Pass 1 NT Pass

3 C Pass 3 S Pass

4 D Pass 4 S All Pass

Nowadays, East-West would probably be in the bidding, but life was different back in 1962.

West led the queen of hearts which declarer ruffed in hand. Declarer cashed the ace of spades and crossed to dummy with the king of diamonds. Declarer led a spade from dummy, intending to finesse for the spade queen. East discarded a heart and, to quote Sheinwold, “South started to perspire.” He finally played the 10 of spades and West won the queen.

West led another heart to the king and ace. South saw that, if he ruffed, he would have fewer trumps than West. South discarded a diamond to keep control of the hand.

East, now on lead, led a diamond and West ruffed declarer’s ace. That was declarer’s third loser and he still had a diamond to lose – down 1.

OK, kemo sabes, what is the solution? Could South have avoided this mess? Edsel provided the solution, acknowledged by Sheinwold in his 1962 column. Declarer can keep control by letting the defense hold the first two heart tricks. If the defense leads yet a third heart, declarer can ruff with one of dummy’s trumps. If declarer discards two diamonds at tricks one and two, he can keep control, give up one trump trick and take the rest.

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED

Note: All information given below is readily available on the ACBL web site (acbl.org)

1. How many members does the ACBL have? (about 156,000)

2. Who has the most masterpoints? (Paul Soloway of WA has 63,246 as of May 6)

(He is followed by Mike Passell of NV with 56,362 and Jeff Meckstroth of FL with 53,963)

3. How many players have more than 10,000 points? (359)

4. How many points does it take to make the ACBL top 100? (16,103)

(By the way #100 is Shome Mukherjee of MA – he attended our recent Killington Sectional)

5. Who is the top player in New England (Lloyd Arvedon of MA with 17,772)

(He also attended our recent Killington Sectional)

6. Who leads the Vermont point parade? (Ellie Hanlon of Barre, VT, ranks 387 in the ACBL and has 9,673 points – Ellie resides in Florida for about 7 months of the year)

7. Where do you stand in the ACBL master point hierarchy? The following info should help

Number of Points Players with More

100 91,220

200 77,589

500 46,060

1,000 23,035

2,000 8,185

3,000 4,028

4,000 2,395

5,000 1,534

10,000 359

As you can see, about 200 points would put you just about at the ACBL median.

8. How many master points does the ACBL give out at a typical tournament? (This, of course, depends on the tournament. The info below should be of interest. Burlington is the VBA’s smallest sectional tournament. Killington is one of our larger tournaments. Cromwell is a typical New England Regional. Hilton Head, SC, is a much larger regional. Gatlinburg is the largest regional in the country. Dallas is the most recent National Tournament.)

Tournament Points Awarded Number of Point Winners

2006 Burlington Sectional 297 82

2006 Killington Sectional 621 163

2006 Cromwell Regional 6,252 897

2006 Hilton Head Regional 22,894 1,523

2006 Gatlinburg Regional 72,502 3,819

2006 Dallas Nationals 78,598 4,065

9. How many ACBL members won 300 or more master points in 2005? (believe it or not, 1215)

There have been two VBA sectional tournaments since the last Table Talk issue. Here are the results of those tournaments.

SUGAR TIME SECTIONAL

BURLINGTON

April 7 – 9, 2006

Friday Afternoon Open Pairs

MPs A B C Score

3.67 1 1 1 John Newton – Sally Newton 67.66%

2.87 2 2 Gary Feingold – Kotze Toshev 67.63%

2.06 3 June Dorion – Wayne Hersey 61.65%

1.55 4 3 Jay Friedenson – Stanley Rosenthal 58.72%

1.28 5 David Shaw – Jackie Kimel 58.38%

.92 6 Gerald DiVincenzo – Michael Farrell 56.81%

1.14 4 Thomas Osmer – Bryant Jones 52.04%

.80 5 Julianna McAllister – George Cantin 51.27%

1.22 2 Thomas Cronin – Lorraine Streeter 51.08%

.91 3 William Cloutier – Richard Ross 48.03%

.68 4 Barbara Romanoff – Margie Berger 45.88%

Friday Evening Open Pairs

MPs A B C Score

3.83 1 Gerald DiVincenzo – Michael Farrell 67.42%

2.87 2 Lynn Carew – Pat Nestork 66.48%

2.15 3 David Shaw – Jackie Kimel 59.85%

2.68 4 1 1 John Newton – Sally Newton 58.90%

1.21 5 Phil Sharpsteen – Frank Hacker 58.52%

.91 6 June Dorion – Wayne Hersey 57.01%

2.01 2 2 Gloria Singer – Renee Sahyoun 54.73%

1.51 3 3 Thomas Cronin – Lorraine Streeter 52.27%

1.13 4 Gerow Carlson – Mary Azarian 51.70%

.85 5 4 Barbara MacDonald – Betty Stanley 51.33%

.68 5 William Beadle – Patricia Merrill 51.14%

Saturday Afternoon Open Pairs

MPs A B C Score

4.33 1 Phil Sharpsteen – Frank Hacker 63.62%

3.25 2 1 1 Suzanne Perreault – Robert Guerard 62.50%

2.44 3 2 Kotze Toshev – Gary Feingold 60.74%

1.83 4 3 2 Mary Ellen McMahon – Catherine Earle 60.58%

1.37 5 4 Bryant Jones – Thomas Osmer 58.81%

1.09 6 Babette Rogers – Michael Rogers 58.65%

.97 5 Mary Azarian – Gerow Carlson 56.25%

.76 6 Jay Friedenson – Stanley Rosenthal 54.65%

1.16 3 C Kirk Osterland – John Conova 51.92%

.87 4 William Cloutier – Richard Ross 51.28%

.65 5 John Newton – Sally Newton 48.72%

Saturday Evening Open Pairs

MPs A B C Score

4.00 1 1 1 John Newton – Sally Newton 65.96%

3.00 2 Patricia DiVincenzo – Kathleen Farrell 63.75%

2.25 3 2 Constance Beliveau – Jean-Guy Beliveau 61.92%

1.69 4 3 Paul Reardon – Jacqueline Reardon 58.21%

2.00 5 Gerald DiVincenzo – Michael Farrell 56.61%

1.09 6 Wayne Hersey – June Dorion 56.16%

1.38 4 2 John Canova – C Kirk Osterland 53.40%

1.34 5 Gerow Carlson – Mary Azarian 53.06%

.94 6 Thomas Osmer – Bryant Jones 52.96%

1.04 3 Zander Ponzo – Hans Himelein 52.26%

.87 4 William Cloutier – Richard Ross 50.92%

.61 5 Julianna McAllister – Helen Lewis 50.58%

Sunday Swiss Teams

MPs A B C Score

6.25 1 Patricia DiVincenzo – Gerald DiVincenzo

Michael Farrell – Kathleen Farrell 90

4.69 2 1 Jay Friedenson – Gary Feingold

Stanley Rosenthal – Kotze Toshev 89

3.52 3 Frank Hacker – Rudolph Polli

Phil Sharpsteen – Edsel Hughes 84

2.64 4 Paul Reardon – Mary Tierney

Lynn Carew – Patricia Nestork 83

1.98 5 Jesse Stalker – Carlos Galvan

Carol Kitchel – Marcia Wilkins 71

3.02 2 Bryant Jones – Barbara Fitzgerald

C Kirk Osterland – John Conova 67

2.26 3 Mark Adair – Vivienne Adair

Pearl McGrath – Theresa Ingram 60

2.44 4/5 1 William Beadle – Patricia Merrill

Karen Kristiansen – Sheila Long 55

1.49 4/5 Jean-Guy Beliveau – Constance Beliveau

Elizabeth Clewley – D. Sharpe 55

1.83 2 Sally Newton – John Newton

Arthur Aiken – Lind Aiken 43

VERMONT SPRING SECTIONAL

KILLINGTON

May 19 – 21, 2006

Friday Afternoon Open Pairs

MPs A B C Score

5.83 1 Pat Nestork – Lynn Carew 64.58%

4.37 2 June Dorion – Wayne Hersey 63.66%

3.28 3 Thomas Ferguson – Hana Lushkov 59.72%

2.46 4 Phil Sharpsteen – Frank Hacker 59.03%

2.00 5 Jackie Kimel – David Shaw 57.05%

3.75 6 1 Beverly Balch – Mary Anne Pickett 56.41%

2.81 2 1 Barbara Parks – Berne Kouba 56.02%

2.11 3 2 Rhoda Chickering – Sandy Desilets 55.93%

1.39 4/5 3 Sally Newton – John Newton 54.40%

1.39 4/5 Arlene Duboff – Linda Tedeschi 54.40%

.85 6/8 Lois Tuohey – Linda Tedeschi 54.33%

.88 6/8 4/5 Thomas Cronin – Lorraine Streeter 54.33%

.94 6/8 4/5 Lawrence Rawls – Elizabeth von Riesenfelder 54.33%

.75 6/7 Penelope Daly – Joan Brown 53.24%

.75 6/7 Lois Grant – Douglas Grant 53.24%

Friday Evening Open Pairs

MPs A B C Score

5.83 1 Kathleen Farrell – Gerald DiVincenzo 66.36%

4.37 2 Gary Spongberg – Lucy Spongberg 63.89%

3.28 3 Joyce Pearson – Bob Gorsey 62.27%

2.46 4 Lynn Carew – Pat Nestork 60.59%

1.84 5 Donald Foote – Judy Maravolo-Foote 59.95%

1.75 6 Judy Dubay – Harry Kaufmann 58.49%

3.08 1 Linda Bouyea – Paul Reardon 55.19%

2.31 2 Constance Beliveau – Jean-Guy Beliveau 53.73%

1.73 3 Arlene Duboff – Linda Tedeschi 53.70%

1.73 4 1 Sally Newton – John Newton 53.24%

.97 5 Ruth Anderson – Mary Frederick 53.01%

.73 6 Jesse Chikalla – Irene Fleming 52.31%

1.30 2 Thomas Cronin – Lorraine Streeter 50.99%

.97 3 Sandy Desilets – Rhoda Chickering 50.69%

.73 4 Judith Ward – Linda Baker 50.19%

Friday Evening 299er Pairs

MPs Score

1.24 1/2 Jennifer Feltes – Karen Haines 57.64%

1.24 1/2 Deborah Crisfield – Jane Grewcock 57.64%

.69 3/4 Margaret Fariss – David Sirak 52.78%

.69 3/4 Jan Gisholt – Kenneth Cestone 52.78%

Saturday Afternoon Open Pairs

MPs A B C Score

7.50 1 Fred Donald, Jr. – Rudolph Polli 66.51%

5.63 2 Kelsey Nickerson – Lloyd Arvedon 65.97%

4.22 3 Wayne Hersey – June Dorion 65.55%

4.55 4 1 1 Gavin Landry – James Morrison 61.57%

3.41 5 2 Paul Cohen – Andy Avery 61.38%

2.56 6 3 Arlene Duboff – Linda Tedeschi 60.26%

1.92 4 Judie Muggia – Reid Fleming 59.03%

1.44 5 Alden Edwards - Jean-Guy Beliveau 56.09%

2.03 6 2 Sally Newton – John Newton 55.56%

1.52 3 Berne Kouba – Barbara Parks 54.40%

1.14 4 Louise Landry – Harry Landry 53.85%

.86 5 Jean Drake – David Sirak 52.08%

.80 6 Edward Buttolph – Harold Smith 51.62%

Saturday Evening B/C/D Pairs

MPs B C D Score

4.02 1 Beverly Balch – Mary Anne Pickett 67.59%

3.02 2 1 Rose Gove – Edward Gove 60.65%

2.26 3 2 1 Lawrence Rawls – Elizabeth vonRiesenfelder 60.42%

1.70 4 Jessie Chikalla – Irene Fleming 57.87%

1.27 5 Stanley Kaplan – Natalie Kaplan 57.64%

1.44 6 3 2 Barbara Parks – Berne Kouba 57.41%

1.08 4 3 James Morrison – Gavin Landry 56.02%

.94 5 Carolyn Combi – Bonnie Taylor 55.56%

.81 6 4 Sally Newton – John Newton 54.17%

.71 5/6 Rhoda Chickering – Sandy Desilets 53.94%

.67 5/6 Ruth Connally – Gordon Johnson 53.94%

Saturday Evening Flight A Pairs

MPs Score

6.83 1 William Fischner – Michael Rogers 60.50%

5.12 2 Lloyd Arvedon – Kelsey Nickerson 59.38%

3.84 3 James Chase – Stanley Rosenthal 57.40%

2.88 4 Ellie Hanlon – Mary Savko 55.82%

2.16 5 Judy Dubay – Harry Kaufmann 55.66%

1.62 6 Michael Farrell – Gerald DiVincenzo 53.92%

Sunday Swiss Teams

MPs A B C Score

10.25 1 Lloyd Arvedon – Kelsey Nickerson

Shome Mukherjee – William Hunter 108

7.69 2 Pierce Smith – Stewart MacKeigan

Robert Donald – Diane Burger 104

5.77 3 1 Reid Fleming – Rich Stevens

Albert Muggia – R. Muggia 103

4.32 4 Bob Gorsey – Joyce Pearson

David Shaw – Jackie Kimel 102

3.24 5 Mary Savko – Elie Hanlon

Paul Cohen – Andy Avery 99

2.43 6 Frank Hacker – Phil Sharpsteen

Rudolph Polli – Fred Donald Jr. 93

3.62 2 Jay Friedenson – Gary Feingold

Stanley Rosenthal – James Chase 88

3.09 3 1 Richard Gazley – Martha Gazley

Sandy Desilets – Rhoda Chickering 83

2.32 4 2 C Kirk Osterland – Elizabeth von Riesenfelder

Linda Baker – Judith Ward 82

1.74 5 3 Nancy Anderson – Denise Olson

Claire Gardner – Peachey Wojcik 78

1.30 4 Berne Kouba – Barbara Parks

Judy Dobert – Joan Dobert 64

Sunday 299er Swiss Teams

MPs Score

1.51 1 Sheila Long – Karen Kristiansen

Sally Newton – John Newton 51

1.13 2 Margaret Farriss – Susan Ransom

David Sirak – Raymond Lopes 46

VERMONT ON THE TOURNAMENT TRAIL

As usual, Vermonters have done well at out of state tournaments. Congratulations to the following Vermonters for outstanding performances (over 20 points).

Dallas Nationals: Sandra Hammer 65.19 James Gordon 47.55

Courtney Nelson 47.46 Andy Avery 42.71

Gatlinburg Regional: Phil Sharpsteen 88.71 Frank Hacker 88.71

Patricia DiVincenzo 86.56 Kathleen Farrell 86.56

Wayne Hersey 35.65 Penny Lane 34.39

Jay Friedenson 34.36 Ruth Stokes 32.90

David Shaw 30.60 Jean Tout 22.12

Doug Clark 22.12 Jon Stokes 19.75

COMING ATTRACTIONS

July 14-16 Vermont Summer Sectional (see flyer at the end of this issue)

July 13-23 ACBL summer nationals – Hyatt Regency – Chicago

(Some place to go AFTER the Vermont Sectional)

August 5 Marilyn Hacker Memorial Pairs – Burlington Bridge Academy - a 2 session game with Bove’s lasagna dinner. The game starts at 10:30 AM with a continental breakfast at 10 AM. The cost is $25 per person. To reserve a spot, call Jackie Kimel (802)864-4321 or Mike Farrell (802) 658-0144. You may also sign up in person at the Burlington Bridge Academy

August 13 Unit wide game – Woodstock Country Club – 2 single session games with a turkey buffet – first session at 10:30 AM, second session at 3:00 PM The cost is $30 per person for both sessions of bridge and dinner. The cost for each session of bridge is $7.50. To reserve your spot, call Jesse Stalker (603)298-8913.

October 8 Vermont Bridge Association annual meeting, combined with the 2 session, President’s Cup Pairs – Burlington Bridge Academy – two sessions of bridge with turkey dinner. The game starts at 10:30 AM with a continental breakfast at 10 AM. The cost will be $12.50 for 2 sessions of bridge and dinner. The Vermont Bridge Association is subsidizing the remainder of the cost to encourage attendance at the annual meeting

October 27-29 Vermont Fall Sectional at the Cortina Inn and Resort, Killington, VT

November 8-12 Ed Gould Masters Regional – Sheraton Hotel, Burlington, VT

This regional tournament is the first open regional tournament held in VT in about 25 years. The Vermont unit is a very small part of the New England District. The largest units are Eastern Mass and Connecticut. They consider Vermont at or perhaps beyond the outer reaches of civilization. We all must work hard to assure the success of this tournament. Dave Shaw is the tournament chairman.

VERMONT SUMMER SECTIONAL

Cortina Inn and Resort

Killington, Vermont

July 14 to 16, 2006 Sanction # S0607034

Schedule of events:

Friday July 14^th

2:00PM Open Pairs, Stratified

Newcomer Pairs, Stratified

8:00PM Open Pairs, Stratified

Newcomer Pairs, Stratified

Saturday July 15^th

1:00PM Open Pairs, Stratified

Newcomer Paris, Stratified

7:00PM Open Pairs, Stratiflighted

A (separate event) = 0 to 72000

B = 500 to 1500

C = 200 to 500

D = 0 to 200

Sunday July 16^th

10:30AM 1^st session Open Swiss Teams, Stratified

0 to 300 Swiss Teams (1 session only)

@3:00PM 2^nd session Open Swiss Teams, Stratified

Open Stratifications: A above 1500, B 500 to 1500, C 0 to 500

Newcomer Stratifications: A 100 to 300, B 50 to 100, C 0 to 50 (Strats may be adjusted)

Price per session: $8 - $1 additional for Non-ACBL members

Vermont State Law - No smoking in public buildings and or the playing area

Director (&MC): Dave Marshall

Partnerships and information: Dave Shaw (800) 639-8000 davida.shaw@agedwards.com

Hospitality: The VBA is pleased to offer free refreshments after the Friday and Saturday evening sessions and at 10:00AM before the Swiss Teams begin on Sunday at 10:30.

Accommodations for the tournament at the Cortina Inn

1 person 2 persons

Superior room $149 $149

Queen deluxe $159 $159

King deluxe $169 $169

Package includes 2 nights stay with 2 breakfast buffets per person and a $10 per person food voucher towards dinner in Zola’s Grille. 9% Vermont rooms and meals tax is not included in above rates. Check-in time 3PM, checkout time 11AM.

Reservations: 1-800 451-6108 or 802-773-3331. email: cortina1@aol.com.

Fax: 802- 775-6948.

Table Talk

A publication of the Vermont Bridge Association

Frank A. Hacker, Editor

310 Tremont St.

Barre, VT 05641

The Vermont Bridge Association, Unit 175 of the American Contract Bridge League

publishes Table Talk quarterly. If you are an ACBL and Unit 175 (Vermont) member

And have not received a copy of Table Talk, please notify the editor. Contributors’ articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the VBA.