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Anniston Bridge Association News

July/August 2002

Wanted - Your email address. Send it to donkemp@cableone.net

Biscuit Breakfast 10:00 Saturday July 13th, Game at 10:30

Guaranteed Partners

The club board of directors met in an informal meeting on May 18th. One of the items decisions made was to begin guaranteeing partners to players who come to the game without a partner. The way this works is:

Various club members will volunteer to be available as partners, one for each game. If you would like to volunteer, let Don know. It would not be fair to have just a few people volunteering, so I hope a lot of you will participate. 

The volunteer plays free if he/she plays (other than with his/her regular partner). If the volunteer goes home without playing, then he/she gets a free play at their next club game (or $3.00 off if the game cost is more than $3.00). 

If two or more people show up without a partner, they will be matched up by the club manager or director. If there is an even number of players who show up or no one shows up without a partner, then the volunteer will go home (or kibbitz or direct) and the persons arriving without a partner will play. The intent of this is to encourage better attendance at our games, so you should not feel guilty if you show up without a partner and the volunteer goes home. We very much want you to be there and to play. 
In order to make this work, when you come without a partner you should arrive at the game at least 15 minutes before game time. This will give the director time to match players up and will give you and your partner some time to discuss what systems you will play before the game starts. The club is guaranteeing a partner to any visitor or member who arrives without a partner, and even to any player whose partner does not show up.

The board hopes that you will take advantage of this any time you want to play and don't have a partner. We don’t want anyone who wants to play bridge to sit at home when they could be playing. If your regular partner can’t play, come to the club anyway. It should be an enjoyable experience for you and the person who is volunteering that night, and by coming to the game, you may save the volunteer from having to head home with an unquenched bridge appetite. 

In order for the program to work and be continued, we need volunteers and we need people who take advantage of this offer of guaranteed partners. Without enough of both we will not be able to continue this program.

Special Games

We will have seven sectionally rated games in July and three in August. The week of July 15th will include four International Fund Games, a shuffle and deal game at three of our regular sessions and a game with pre-made hands and analyses at 7:00 on Friday night, July 19th. 

We will also have three North American Pairs qualifying games in July and three in August. These games pay 1/2 red and 1/2 black points. If you wish to play in the Unit qualifying game you must first qualify locally by having at least a 50% game in one of the qualifying sessions.

Wednesday Games Now "Open"

All Wednesday morning games are now Open rather than Intermediate. This means that there are no upper masterpoint restrictions. As long as there are enough tables, the games will be stratified. Open games pay higher masterpoint awards than restricted games. If you like playing in the daytime, come on down!