May 2002 Column

San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. Unit

Fun is ahead at 498's Unit games: May 5th and June 9th. Hors d’oeuvres and conversation at 5:15, Dinner at 5:30 and stratified pairs at 6:15 PM. Unit games are held the second Sunday of each month except when we sponsor a sectional. NB: Our May game is moved up a week to avoid conflict with Mothers’ Day.

Let’s start with a hearty welcome to our new members: Michael Bodell, Patricia Hughes, Matthew Kaufman, Arlie Lamb, Sally Mason, Charles and Joanne Neubauer, Constance Ridder, Linus Upson and Marcia Wadell. We look forward to meeting you at the Bayside Bridge Club tables.

Also, welcome back to some members we haven’t seen for a while. Vera Bass has returned after hip replacement surgery, hip and svelte and is, again, competing at a high level. Gert Philippi is back from an extended visit to family in Chile. Since returning, he’s splitting time between Free Cell and bridge. Phil and Lenore Karp spent a month in the Palm Desert area but weren’t divorced from their bridge life. They played at four senior citizen sites. Each attracts 30 to 40 tables per session during February and March. In April it’s down to two tables per session. Now we’ll learn what tricks Phil and Lenore have added to their repertoires. 498ers and other frequent players at the Bayside Bridge Club performed well in the San Mateo Winter Sectional. The biggest winner was Xiaodong Zhang with 17.50 master points, followed closely by Steven Kirshenbaum, Steve Kanzee, Everett Boyer and Rich Pavlicek, Jr. Scoring between three and six MPs were Sara Rae Miller, Kris Tejwani (Kris is our newest Life Master.), Betsey Schneider, Randy and Yatindra Sahee, Muriel Richens, Bud Kalafian, Norman Kalman, Erika Stein, Rajeev Gupta and Maria Ramirez. Marie and Ed Burns put up a valiant fight for the Art Weinstein Memorial Trophy for 99'er pairs but were edged out of first place by interlopers from the East Bay.

Also scoring more than two master points at our sectional were Brian Reis, Nancy Pappas, Dipak Patel, Margaret Connor, Marie Guttas, Clifford Colvin, Greg House, Ted Richmond and Mie Thiemmedh. Others who scored were John Green, Joan Shaffer, Don Little, Louly Geer, Bernice Russell, Jane Lane, Ralph Levin, Kate Talbot, Gisela and Herb Block and Mary Bates.

498er scoring at the Nationals in Houston was led by Fred Chasalow’s 33.25 MPs. Others who did well were Hamish Bennett, Pat Galligan, Nancy Chapman, Ted and Sandra Cohen, Jennifer and Philip Kuhn, Claude Hughes, Dipak Patel and Robert Ipswitch.

Members have nominated Jerry Edelstein and Steve Jones as finalists in the Most Beautiful Legs contest. Nominations are open for one more month and remember, we are gender neutral. We accept female nominees. The ACBL-Wide Senior Pair event was held Monday afternoon, 2/25/02. Overall winners in A were Bella Berkovitch and Miyuki Oka with a 64.58 % game and 3.07 MPs, followed by Carol Gonella and Daisy Straus. First overall in B were Bud Kalafian and Ruth Tuckman. Second in B were Celia Chu and Mie Thiemmedh. If there are additional MPs for national rankings, I’ll advise in a future column.

Our March Club Championship drew 105 tables of competitors. 128 players shared 196 MPs in the week long contest. Ted Richmond’s 5.55 MPs topped Fred Schiro’s 4.67 for 1st place. Other winners of more than 3 MPs were Antoni Baranski, Lex Murdoch, Roger Herz, Victor Szteinbaum, Paul Levine, Sal Ignoffo, Bob Rose, Sam Namer, Arlie Lamb, Daisy Straus and Carla Van Zuiden.

—Paul Levine pblevine@juno.com, Fax: (650) 593-2572