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 (CHERI BJERKAN) 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, email Jan Martel 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

Details

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 .

                 

Details

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		 Foot in mouth 
 T6
Embarassed 
 K82
Cry 
 AT7
Cool 
 KQJ92
       
Foot in mouth 
 KJ7532
Embarassed 
 J3
Cry 
 KQ95
Cool 
 A

            N

   W               E

            S
Foot in mouth 
 84
Embarassed 
 T94
Cry 
 J6432
Cool 
 T73
 
  Foot in mouth 
 AQ9
Embarassed 
 AQ765
Cry 
 8
Cool 
8654
   

 

The Bidding
    E

       S
 Gerstman		     W

       N
  Sutherlin
 Pass      1Embarassed      1Foot in mouth       2Cool 
 Pass      3Cool      3Cry      3Embarassed
  4Cry      4Embarassed      Pass       5Cry  
  Pass      5Foot in mouth      Pass      6Cool
  Pass      6Embarassed     Pass         Pass
  Pass      
The Play

West might have been warned by the bidding that he needed to cash the CoolA to avoid being end-played, but he chose the CryK as the opening lead.  Danny Gerstman then played double-dummy to bring home the slam:  he ruffed a Cry at trick 2, crossed to dummy with a trump and ruffed dummy’s last Cry.  He cashed a top Embarassed  to extract West’s last trump and exited with a small Cool.  West was left with a choice of ways to surrender the 12th trick.  The end position was:

     Foot in mouth T6
   Embarassed 8
   Cry ---
   Cool KQJ9		  
   Foot in mouth KJ7532 
   Embarassed  ----
   Cry Q
   Cool ----		      Foot in mouth 84       
   Embarassed T
   Cry J3     
   Cool T3
      Foot in mouth AQ9   
    Embarassed Q
    Cry ---
    Cool 865		  

On a Cry return, Dan would ruff in dummy, discarding a Foot in mouth from hand, cross to the Foot in mouthA, pull the last trump and take the last 4 tricks with dummy’s Cools.  On the actual Foot in mouth 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 

 

Details

A Great Hand Courtesy of Larry Cohen

Larry Cohen sent us this link to an article he wrote about a "great hand" played by Lapt Chan in the Round of 16 of the 2007 USBC. Here are pictures of Lapt and Larry at the USBC, and the hand - can you guess how Lapt made 4Foot in mouth after a trump lead? Click on the link to Larry's site to find out. This diagram of the hand shows Lapt in his "real" seat (North). The hand on Larry's site is rotated to make Lapt South, since all declarers in bridge articles sit South.

 Lapt Chan

Larry Cohen
   
The Hand Lapt Played Against Larry
Board 14
Vul: None
Dealer E

WEST		 NORTH
S  A K Q 9 8
H  A
D  A J 6
C  K T 7 4



EAST
S  J 7 2
H  Q T 4
D  T 5 4 3 2
C  5 2


SOUTH		 S  4 3
H  9 5 3
D  K Q 7
C  A Q J 9 3
  S  T 6 5
H  K J 8 7 6 2
D  9 8
C  8 6
Details
  1. Three USBF Members Elected to ACBL Hall of Fame
  2. 2006 Election
  3. FISU University Games
  4. 2006 USBF President's Report

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