Happy 100, Abe, it's clear, A bridge player we all revere. You've reached a grand age, Turned another page, May your cards always bring you cheer!
When you see Abe at the tables, be sure to wish him a happy 100th birthday!
2023 District Goodwill Recipients from Unit 539
Two members from the San Diego Unit are the recipients this year of District 22's annual Goodwill Award. For a complete list of past inductees, please refer to this document on the District 22 website. Congratulate them at the table; they deserve it!
The San Diego bridge community lost a big hitter recently; it's Mickey Mantle, really. Roger Doughman may have resided on Friars Road, but he lived for and in, San Diego rooms featuring duplicate bridge. His was a titan to our culture, much in the way Grant Baze, Evan Bailey, and Lena Jelusich had been before their passings.
A number of fellow players have taken the time to contribute their memories.
ACBL Unit 539 has sponsored an initiative to introduce and teach Bridge to beginners in San Diego. As part of this initiative, Unit Board members Sam Madison and Wayne Sottosanti have started a Basic Bridge Course at North University Community Library located at 8820 Judicial Drive. The course comprises 12 two-hour lessons and is held every other Saturday. Sam and Wayne have completed three lessons already, and the course is expected to finish by the first week of December 2023.
There was a great response to the Course ad, and the class has more than 30 registered students. We hope that we will be able to add more education programs in San Diego in the near future. Moreover, we will develop plans to keep the attendees engaged in our bridge community once the course is completed.
Unit 539 raised $18,500 thanks to your contributions!
As the sun sets on The Longest Day, we can't say thank you enough for your generous support of our fundraising efforts. We are so grateful for your generous donation and support for our Bridge Pro Auction fundraiser. With your help, we raised an incredible $18,500 this year. That's $7000 over our goal of $11,000. Your donation helps advance the care, support, and research efforts of the Alzheimer's Association.
We hosted our Longest Day bridge game on Sunday, June 18, at 1:00 at the Soledad Club. Extra masterpoints were awarded, and the Unit matched one dollar from each player's card fees to donate to the cause.
A lineup of local and international bridge stars in our Expert Auction features 18 experts this year! David Abelow, Kitty Cooper, Paul Darin, Ish Delmonte, Mitch Dunitz, Jason Feldman, Lynne Feldman, Wirt Gilliam, Mark Itabashi, Daniel Korbel, Sam Madison, and Rick Roeder were available again to play with the highest bidder. Davis Bennett, Vlad Isporski, John Jones, Marjorie Michelin, Claude Vogel, and Rhoda Walsh were new to this illustrious group this year. At both Unit games in June, local artists Judy Rimer and Phyllis Yates offered their beautiful creations for donation-based purchases.
Thanks to all who contributed this year!
Summer Sectional, August 11-12, 2023
Plan ahead to enjoy the joint San Diego/ La Jolla sectional this summer at the Soledad Club.
Options include:
Single Session Pair Games at 10:30 am and 3:00 pm on Friday and Saturday. Friday offers 3 games—299er, 1499er and Open. Saturday has Stratified Open Pairs.
Two Session Team Games on Saturday at 10:30 am and 3:00 pm. Choices include Bracketed Flight B (no player over 2000 points) or Flight A/X/Y (0 – 3000, 3000 – 5000, over 5000)
Space is limited to 40 tables, so RSVP to guarantee your place. Send an email to lamya.agelidis@gmail.com stating:
Our unit hosts the first and third Sunday unit games at the Soledad Club, and alternate 5th Sundays. Lunch is served at 12:30, followed by bridge at 1 pm. We are thrilled to offer our 699er game, which is preceded by a mini-lesson at 12:30. If you plan on joining us at the 699er game, please contact Bridget at bridgefun1430@gmail.com.
For full results click on the "Calendar and Results" item on the left menu of this page.
New Teaching Library Page
We are thrilled to announce that Maritha Pottenger's teaching articles are now available on our Unit 539 website.
Please click on the "Teaching Library" menu item or link below, to access her abundant library of teaching articles on: Defense, Declarer play, Bidding.
Maritha Pottenger has been a beloved teacher and a very successful player in the San Diego area for many years. She became a Platinum Life Master (10,000 points) last year. When asked why she teaches bridge, she responded:
I love teaching. Teaching really helped my bridge game. I had to clarify principles that were not clear when explaining them to other people; definitely a great way to improve my own bridge logic and inferences.
Bridge is the ideal game- because you can never learn it all. Each hand has something instructional to offer. Each partner offers another point of view. Psychological principles operate at the bridge table as they do throughout life. Bridge is endlessly fascinating and I adore it!
As she was retiring from teaching, she volunteered to share her teaching notes with all. You can review any of the conventions you are considering adding to your repertoire with your partner or just choose to study to improve your defense or play of the hand.
Plan ahead... click on the link below to see the 2023 schedule for online Event Schedule. Please note all events tentative based upon BBO/ACBL IT capabilities and COVID-19 protocol changes
From the musical Bridge Confidential
Book & Lyrics: Joanne Gray, Music: Peter Mansfield
Online Directory Drive
One thing we are certain of is that everybody likes a complete phone and email directory. Our goal is to have one San Diego directory shared by the five units in San Diego County. It is online, since a paper directory is not cost effective unfortunately. With your help, we can get there. Again, we can't publish your contact details without your written approval, so just send an email to info@sandiegobridge.com contact one of your Board members to share any contact changes with us.
To make the best of BridgeResults features we recommend that you register your email address (if you have not done so already). This will allow you to receive notifications by email when the results are published, to have your name highlighted when you look at the results, and many other features.
Enjoy reading about the achievements of your fellow players, and so much more!
Looking for Partners for Unit games?
Our website has a Partnership Desk feature - Just select the Navigation Tab on the left of this page, enter your basic profile, and our partnership chair will start searching for a match! Try it, and let us know what you think!
Alternatively, if you decide last minute that you're looking for a game, just contact Lamya Agelidis, 615-887-1012, our Partnership Chair, who will be happy to get you a partner for Unit Games!
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Plan ahead to enjoy the joint San Diego/ La Jolla sectional this summer at the Soledad Club.)
Unit 539 is publishing the game results on 