Vancouver Bridge Centre

Address: 2776 East Broadway, Vancouver

Club Contact: Ken Lochang, 604/255-2564 (club telephone), e-mail, website, results

Regular Weekly Games:

Monday at 7:15pm - Pairs, 0-1000 MP (with pre-game lesson) Director: Brad Bart
Tuesday at 10:00am - Open pairs Director: Cathy Miller
Tuesday at 7:30pm - Open pairs (Burnaby Bridge Club)
Wednesday at 10:30am - Pairs, 0-1500 MP Director: Cathy Miller
Wednesday at 7:00pm - "Wednesday Night Quickie" varying format (usually pairs), $1 off regular gamefee for 18-21 boards, Director: Bruce McIntyre
Thursday at 7:00pm - Novice pairs (0-50 MPs) Director: June Pocock
Thursday at 7:30pm - Open pairs (E.C. Bridge Club)
Friday at 10:30am - Open pairs Director: Cathy Miller
Friday at 7:30pm - Open (unstratified) pairs: Bruce McIntyre
Saturday at 7:30pm - Monthly Unit Game (schedule) Director: Bruce McIntyre
Sunday at 1:00 - Open pairs Director: Mark Eddy
Occasional special events on other days and times

Contact McBruce with more or updated information to add to this page and the calendar below.

(from the VBC Web Site)

From Ken: [2007-06-27]

GOOD NEWS!

There is going to be a 16th Anniversary Bash after all!

Some of you have probably already heard that I am staying on and have negotiated a new lease for a further four years.

It’s not a bargain, but under the present market conditions it’s very much a “do-able” lease. The main features are that in a roundabout way, there won’t be a real rental rate increase; the lease also allows for early termination with only four months’ notice. This lets me continue to look for a smaller space either in the existing building or elsewhere. (If any of you know of a suitable site, do please contact me.)

The new arrangement buys time to explore alternate structures of operating the club, with a view to enabling other people to take it over more readily. Commitment to a long-term lease has proven to be a huge stumbling block for that purpose. The short notice period also means that should attendance at the club falter and I cannot meet the rent expense, four months’ notice is much more palatable than being liable for rent to the end of the term.

I want to thank everyone who has been very loyal and supportive throughout these endeavours to keep the club going. Without your encouragement I’m not sure I’d be signing this new lease.

So now we can concentrate on the essential task of expanding the new players’ program. Priority one is to start a day time beginners’ game. The club sorely lacks an entry point for these players. The Wednesday am game that was once our entry-level game has now developed into more or less an open game. The hope is to repeat the history and success of that game with a new group of players. The Thursday night 49er game has introduced many new players to the club who eventually wander into other games and other clubs and provide a new energy to those games as their skill and comfort level increases. But we need a daytime entry-level game.

For now let’s begin by celebrating. I hope to see many of you at our anniversary bash on Sunday July 15.

The District 19 Finals of the Grand National Teams were held at the Vancouver Bridge Centre on April 21 and 22, with 28 teams participating in four flights. Winners in each flight have the opportunity to represent District 19 in the National Final of the GNT at the Summer North American Bridge Championships in Nashville TN, July 19-29, 2007.  Each team that plays in the National Final receives US$1400 from the District to offset their traveling expenses.

In the masterpoints-unlimited championship flight, six teams competed.  The winners were the Seattle-based team of Tony Kasday, Henry Lortz, Steve Beatty, Paul Soloway and Wayne Ohlrich.  They defeated locals Brad Bart, Joel Martineau, Larry Pocock and Mike Dimich by 2 IMPs in the final match.

In Flight A (under 5000 MP), five teams competed.  The winners were cross-border team Phil Hernandez, Mike Wilson, Dave Grubbs, Howard Epley and Steven Handley.  They defeated locals Don Sache, Sheila Sache, Doug Hansford and Peter Morse by 10 IMPs in the final match.

In Flight B (under 2000 MP), fourteen teams competed.  The winners were the BC interior team of Judy Harris, Clark Glanville, Jane Fyfe and Ping Ding.  They defeated the Bellevue team of Chris Moore, Jen Chalfan, Drew Hoskins and Jeff Ford in the final match.

In Flight C (under 500 MP and non-Life Master; as of September 1 last year when club qualifying began), three teams competed.  The winners were locals Long Xie, Roy Li, Brian Liu, David Hu and Kai Zhou.  They defeated the Seattle-based team of Brian Zaugg, Howard Liu, Liliana Diaconescu and Yong Cao in the final match.

Congratulations to all teams and good luck in Nashville!

The Canadian Bridge Federation's Spring 2007 Rookie-Master Game was held at clubs across Canada on April 23.  The Vancouver Bridge Centre had 30 pairs of rookies and masters on a night when many stayed home to watch the Canucks play Game 7 of their first-round NHL playoff series.  The winner at the VBC game (results: Section A Section C) were Loring Windblad and Marilyn Knipp (photo, right) with 65.91%! They won four and a half masterpoints for the big 30-table win!

Hand analyses for the game were prepared by Bruce McIntyre.  Limited space and a doubling of the border whitespace by the print shop made these analyses a bit difficult to read, but here is a pdf version that you can enlarge on your screen to comfortable viewing size.  (We're still working on boards 31-36 and should have comments on them in a few days...)

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