DO YOU KNOW… Team USA2 Selected As unbelievable as it may seem, for the first time in many years the Nickell team (Nickell, Katz, Hamman, Mahmood, Meck- stroth, Rodwell) will not represent the U.S. in the up- coming Bermuda Bowl. On May 18th in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Bathurst Team became USA2 by de- feating the Diamond Team (Diamond, Platnick, Greco, Hampson, Moss, Gitelman) by 31 IMPs de- spite a 50 IMP pick up by the Diamond Team on the last 15 boards. All 6 members of the Bathurst team are under 40—Kevin Bathurst, 32; Joe Grue, 29; John Hurd, 31; Justin Lall, 24; Joel Wooldridge, 31; and Dan Zagorin, the old man at 39. On their road to victory, the Bathurst team achieved wins over several of the country's best and most experienced players, includ- ing a victory in Round of 8 eliminating the powerful Nickell Team. Play-by-play results can be seen on Bridge Base Online. USA2 will join the USA1 team (Fleisher, Kamil, Levin, Weinstein, Martel, Stansby) selected last June in Chi- cago. The Bermuda Bowl will be held in the Nether- lands this October and can be viewed in real time on BBO. BOOK OF THE MONTH Double! New Meanings for an Old Bid Mike Lawrence (2002) On his Web page Lawrence notes that this book is a sequel to his book The Complete Book on Takeout Doubles, written seven years earlier. Many of the doubles discussed may not be familiar to the average bridge player—some of which Law- rence refers to as “hot off the assembly line” (e.g., the Thrump double). Other doubles covered are more common place such as support doubles, responsive doubles, and balancing dou- bles. He asks questions in many cases. When do you pull part- ner’s penalty double? What should it mean if you double a splinter bid? The final section of the 199-page book deals with redoubles. Check out this book to better understand and use the various doubles available to you. UNIT 206 CHIT CHAT Volume 2 Issue 6 Monthly Publication of ACBL Unit 206 June 2011 Editor: Sandy Cervantes Assistant Editor: Cheryl Whitfield Staff: Teresa Moore Features Editor: Marcia Lanphear Myra Reneau BRIDGE TIP FOR JUNE When partner leads a small card, the first thing to notice is how many smaller cards are missing. Dorothy Truscott MARK YOUR CALENDAR Wednesday June 8 Marian Riggar has a special surprise for our regular Wednesday game. Come at 11:30 to see what she has in store! There’s no extra charge. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT It’s still too early to provide statistics on our Memorial Day sectional, but I heard numerous positive comments. Many players come for the competitive bridge, but others come for the wonderful hospitality that has become synonymous with a Chattanooga bridge tournament. For this to happen, it takes a team effort and an unselfish commit- ment. would like to thank all who participated by bringing food, making a monetary donation, lending an extra pair of hands or taking on a leadership position. To say that we couldn’t have done it without you is obvious, but you all deserve a pat on the back and our sincere appreciation. Don’t think that your efforts go unnoticed. Perhaps in the heat of the moment when the pressure is on, words of gratitude may be overlooked—but your labors are recognized and appreciat- ed. On behalf of Unit 206, I thank you all. A very special thank you goes to Tournament Chairs Bert and Sue Shramko—their attention to detail, dedication to the event and hours of work need to be acknowledged. They did a terrific job, and all of us appreciate their hard work. An event of this magnitude requires a significant amount of pre-event work. Jody Plummer, our Unit Tournament Coordinator, is a master at working with various entities and personnel to accomplish this feat. We are grateful for her contribution and appreciate her role in ensuring the success of our tournaments. Bill
Transcript
DO YOU KNOW…
Team USA2 Selected As unbelievable as it may seem, for the
first time in many years the Nickell team
(Nickell, Katz, Hamman, Mahmood, Meck-
stroth, Rodwell) will not represent the U.S. in the up-
coming Bermuda Bowl. On May 18th in Las Vegas,
Nevada, the Bathurst Team became USA2 by de-
feating the Diamond Team (Diamond, Platnick,
Greco, Hampson, Moss, Gitelman) by 31 IMPs de-
spite a 50 IMP pick up by the Diamond Team on the
last 15 boards. All 6 members of the Bathurst team
are under 40—Kevin Bathurst, 32; Joe Grue, 29; John
Hurd, 31; Justin Lall, 24; Joel Wooldridge, 31; and Dan
Zagorin, the old man at 39. On their road to victory,
the Bathurst team achieved wins over several of the
country's best and most experienced players, includ-
ing a victory in Round of 8 eliminating the powerful
Nickell Team. Play-by-play results can be seen on
Bridge Base Online.
USA2 will join the USA1 team (Fleisher, Kamil, Levin,
Weinstein, Martel, Stansby) selected last June in Chi-
cago. The Bermuda Bowl will be held in the Nether-
lands this October and can be viewed in real time
on BBO.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
Double! New Meanings for an Old Bid Mike Lawrence (2002)
On his Web page Lawrence notes that this book is a sequel to
his book The Complete Book on Takeout Doubles, written
seven years earlier. Many of the doubles discussed may not be
familiar to the average bridge player—some of which Law-
rence refers to as “hot off the assembly line” (e.g., the Thrump
double). Other doubles covered are more common place such
as support doubles, responsive doubles, and balancing dou-
bles. He asks questions in many cases. When do you pull part-
ner’s penalty double? What should it mean if you double a
splinter bid? The final section of the 199-page book deals
with redoubles. Check out this book to better understand and
use the various doubles available to you.
UNIT 206 CHIT CHAT Volume 2 Issue 6 Monthly Publication of ACBL Unit 206 June 2011
Editor: Sandy Cervantes
Assistant Editor: Cheryl Whitfield Staff: Teresa Moore
Features Editor: Marcia Lanphear Myra Reneau
BRIDGE TIP FOR JUNE
When partner leads a small card, the first thing to notice is how many smaller cards are missing.
Dorothy Truscott
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Wednesday June 8
Marian Riggar has a special surprise for our
regular Wednesday game. Come at 11:30 to
see what she has in store! There’s no extra
charge.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
It’s still too early to provide statistics on our Memorial Day sectional, but I heard numerous positive comments. Many players come for the competitive bridge, but others come for the wonderful hospitality that has become synonymous with a Chattanooga bridge tournament.
For this to happen, it takes a team effort and an unselfish commit-ment. would like to thank all who participated by bringing food, making a monetary donation, lending an extra pair of hands or taking on a leadership position. To say that we couldn’t have done it without you is obvious, but you all deserve a pat on the back and our sincere appreciation. Don’t think that your efforts go unnoticed. Perhaps in the heat of the moment when the pressure is on, words of gratitude may be overlooked—but your labors are recognized and appreciat-ed. On behalf of Unit 206, I thank you all.
A very special thank you goes to Tournament Chairs Bert and Sue Shramko—their attention to detail, dedication to the event and hours of work need to be acknowledged. They did a terrific job, and all of us appreciate their hard work.
An event of this magnitude requires a significant amount of pre-event work. Jody Plummer, our Unit Tournament Coordinator, is a master at working with various entities and personnel to accomplish this feat. We are grateful for her contribution and appreciate her role in
ensuring the success of our tournaments.
Bill
JUNE SPOTLIGHT ROBERT RYMER
When I asked Robert Rymer if he'd agree to be profiled for
our newsletter, I knew he'd be a very interesting subject, but I
did not know he'd be so rich in Cleveland bridge club lore.
Robert says,
"For me, bridge is almost a legacy. The ACBL was founded in 1937, and shortly thereafter my mother, Mimi, was one of the women who started Cleveland’s oldest weekly bridge club, along with the mothers of two other Cleveland club members, Anne McReynolds and Maryl Elliott. All three of us have inherited our mothers' chairs in the group, which has been playing every Monday for six decades.
"My father, Bobby, also a card-player, was secretary and treasurer at Magic Chef all his life. We used to take month-long vacations just to play bridge—mother and dad, my sister, Malinda, and me—everywhere from Parksville Lake to the Bahamas and Mexico. My brother Hoyle stayed home to tend to his job as president of Magic Chef.
"Mimi was a skilled player and patient in trying to teach the game to my partner (now of 33-plus years), John Teets. But he most remembers her strong table presence: ‘When I was learning as her partner, I figured out that when she got a certain gleam in her eye, the only thing to do was plant my heels in the stirrups, hold the reins tight and hang on for the ride,’ he says.
"My own life has been an interesting ride, too: lettering in sports, serving in the military at Fort Sill, running a bank branch, selling soup tureens to Chicago socialites and designing the carpet for the entire United Airlines terminal at O'Hare Airport. It all started at Speck Hospital in Cleveland sometime in the last century. After that, it was Cleveland city schools before high school at Tennessee Military Institute, where I excelled in sports— All-Mid-South recognition in football, as a tackle, and in wrestling, if you can imagine that. For college, such as it was, I graduated from Rollins in Winter Park, Florida, majoring in business.
"After the Army Reserves, my career started at the old Cleveland National Bank where I managed the Village Branch for five years. Then the big city beckoned, and I moved to Chicago, meeting John, who was a newspaperman. I operated a gift store on the Gold Coast for 10 years. When the building came down so Bloomingdale's could go up, I joined a Merchandise Mart showroom run by my best client and sold custom carpet made in Dalton, Georgia, for another decade. "It was a job that gave me plenty of time for travel—something I've enjoyed since Mimi and Bobby first took the family around the world when I was in high school. John and I once figured that we'd been on more than 40 airlines, and we've covered a lot of ground—crossing Andean lakes, steaming up the Nile, touring Coco Chanel's Paris apartment, celebrating Halloween in Transylvania, staying with friends in an open-walled house perched over rice paddies in Bali. Probably the most fun has been arriving in a country—almost any country—picking up a car and letting the road take us anywhere it goes.
"When John and I both retired in 1994, we moved back to Tennessee and settled in at Holly Hill, which gave us plenty of work bringing a big, old home and its gardens back into shape. Growing and arranging flowers has been an interest since an early age—and maybe also a bit of a legacy, since my Aunt Grace was on a team that decorated the White House one Christmas—so the gardens were a joy. One year, we started, grew and set out more than 4,000 annuals, but we now consider that a lesson learned.
“Incidentally, the house, which Sir Eric Bowater built when his paper plant went up in the Fifties, also has a bridge connection. Mimi came to Holly Hill to play when Virginia Sutton, the second owner, was a member of the Monday bridge group. In any event, the place has given us a great setting to support local charities dear to our heart: the Cleveland Public Library, Nancy's House, and the Museum Center. It has kept us busy.
"Still, knowing how much I like to play, friends took me to the regional tournament in Gatlinburg, where the bridge bug bit hard. We had a team of four who decided they wanted to get their Life Master's ratings—Carolyn Williams, Harry Trewhitt, Joe Stuart and me—so we played anywhere in the South there were points to be had.
"We've been with the Cleveland Bridge Club from the day it opened, and I've loved seeing the club grow and the level of play improve with every passing year. It's a friendly, convivial, down-to-earth group—a real pleasure.
"In the last few years, John and I have been spending our winters in Key West's Old Town, at the 1880's cottage we rebuilt. There, I'm an active member in the Southernmost Bridge Club, which is also a great club to visit and play in."
One of Robert's many friends in Key West, Edy Moritz, wanted to say that Robert and John's home there has been exquisitely renovated and they generously share it and host lavish parties. She continues, "At the bridge club, everyone loves Ro—no one can resist smiling at the loud peals of laughter that constantly are heard at his table...even I can't keep from smiling when I yell for quiet. Several players have told me that Ro seems to be the most jovial and good-natured person they know." See another photo of Robert dressed in full cadet regalia on page 4.
UNIT 206 NEWS
July 23-29-2012 River City Regional Bridge Tournament
In a little over a year, the Chattanooga Bridge Center again will host a Mid-Atlantic Bridge Conference
regional tournament. This time the tournament will be held at the Chattanoogan, and work is already
being carried out in preparation for the event. One of the first things tournament chairs Jody Plummer
and Cheryl Whitfield have been working on is advertising. Buttons with the tournament logo promi-
nently displayed on them are being distributed for members to wear at out-of-town bridge games and
tournaments. Jody and Cheryl encourage members to keep up with their buttons as they can be reused
for the 2016 tournament. For those members who may not have seen the buttons, the image below
shows what they look like:
The blue background reflects the water theme, and the
tournament events are being named after various local
water-related attractions as a way of encouraging our visi-
tors to get out and see the things available in our commu-
nity.
Mid-Atlantic personnel will be taking a banner advertising
the tournament to other bridge tournaments during the
next year. Myra Reneau took the picture that will be
used on this banner as well as large posters, one of which
will be on display at the Bridge Center for members to
see. We can be grateful that we have such a talented pho-
tographer in our midst.
Make plans now to help and to attend our next regional tournament!
HIGH GAMES FOR MAY
Chattanooga
Open Ron Smith/Linda Smith 70.26%
NLM Fran Kiefer/David Brown 68.33%
Cleveland J. Herrmann/M. Lanphear 75.30%
Fairyland David McKenzie/Cotty Kale 68.89%
The glory of children
are their fathers.
Proverbs 17:6
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY
That Handsome Cadet Robert Rymer
UPCOMING SPECIAL GAMES
Be sure to check the board by the
front door, as well as the special
events board, for additional information on spe-
cial games:
June 13-19 - All games NAP Qualifiers June 20-26 - Charity Week June 26 - Sunday Party - Details to follow. ♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠♦♣♥♠
MULTIPLICITY OF REWARDS
“Bridge is simultaneously fascinating and fun. In pursuit of winning, you meet the elusive-ness of perfection and the perverseness of chance. In preparation, you have the oppor-tunity to develop and refine your system as linguistic science.”
