Notice of 2014 USBF Board Election
ATTENTION ALL USBF MEMBERS
This Fall the USBF will conduct an election to fill 2 seats on its Board of Directors. The seats are for a three-year term commencing January 1, 2015.
USBF Board members must be currently active USBF members, having paid the 2014 annual active or resident member dues of $50.
The USBF Nominating Committee will meet soon to nominate candidates for the two positions.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THE USBF BOARD OF DIRECTORS, PLEASE EMAIL THE CHAIR OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) WITH YOUR NAME AND A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF WHY YOU WANT TO SERVE ON THE BOARD BY AUGUST 6TH.
In addition to those candidates nominated by the nominating committee, candidates may be nominated by petition. Twenty-five or more Active of Resident Members of USBF may nominate an Active or Resident Member for a Board position. To file a petition nominating a candidate, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the name of the candidate and the names and email addresses of the people making the nomination on or before October 3, 2014. If there are no petition candidates, the candidates nominated by the Nominating Committee will either be elected without the need for an election (if there are only two nominees), or will be the entire slate of nominees for the election.
See the election timeline for when things happen. Download the Election Procedures for more complete information about the election
PAUL SOLOWAY - 1941-2007 - WE WILL MISS YOU
"It is important to remember his deeds, for in the future, those who were not privileged to know him will doubt such a man ever existed." Reportedly said by Einstein about Gandhi.
We have set up a message board where our members can post their recollections of Paul . It can be read by non-members as well, but they cannot post messages. Here's an article you might enjoy reading .
Dan Gerstman's Slam from the Semi-Finals
With two boards to play in the Kasle vs. Assemi semi-final match on July 4th, Kasle led by 17 IMPs. Over 20 IMPs changed hands on those last two boards, but all of them went to the Kasle team, and on both boards, Dan Gerstman was the star for Kasle. Here's board 29, on which the Vugraph commentators at first predicted that Assemi would win 13 IMPs for staying out of a "hopeless" slam, but Dan proved them wrong by making it.
Declarer
The Hand
(hands rotated because South is always declarer)
| Board 29 Vul: Both Dealer:E |
T6 
K82 
AT7 
KQJ92 |
||
KJ7532
J3
KQ95
A |
N W E S |
84
T94
J6432
T73 |
|
AQ9
AQ765
8
8654 |
The Bidding
| E |
S Gerstman |
W |
N Sutherlin |
| Pass | 1 |
1 |
2 |
| Pass | 3 |
3 |
3 |
| 4 |
4 |
Pass | 5 |
| Pass | 5 |
Pass | 6 |
| Pass | 6 |
Pass | Pass |
| Pass |
The Play
West might have been warned by the bidding that he needed to cash the A to avoid being end-played, but he chose the K as the opening lead. Danny Gerstman then played double-dummy to bring home the slam: he ruffed a at trick 2, crossed to dummy with a trump and ruffed dummy’s last . He cashed a top to extract West’s last trump and exited with a small . West was left with a choice of ways to surrender the 12th trick. The end position was:
| T6 8 --- KQJ9 |
||
| KJ7532 ---- Q ---- |
84 T J3 T3 |
|
| AQ9 Q --- 865 |
On a return, Dan would ruff in dummy, discarding a from hand, cross to the A, pull the last trump and take the last 4 tricks with dummy’s s. On the actual return, he won the Q, pulled the last trump and claimed. This resulted in a well-earned 13-IMP pick-up.
Write-up by Jim "Flash" Gordon