AGM
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022

The AGM will be held Face-to-Face for the first time since 2019 and in our new Club.  Please join us for refreshments at 5:30pm, followed by the meeting starting at 6:15pm and a friendly (ACBL Club Championship rated) bridge game at 7:00pm (no game fee for MObridge Members).  If you can’t make the meeting, please submit a proxy, so that a quorum can be achieved.  You can complete your proxy by Clicking Here and clicking "Submit" when compete, or you can complete the form at the Club and hand it in to any Director.

May 22^nd, 2022

MObridge Board Update

Your Board of Directors held a meeting on May 17^th, with many topics to discuss in this evolving Covid environment.  We are pleased to update you on several important issues.

On March 14^th we opened for Face to Face (F2F) play with a masking policy reflecting the relaxing of health concerns in Ontario.  It quickly became apparent that the latest wave of cases was growing to an alarming level.  We reacted by tightening our protocol to require full masking at all times while in the Club.  Recently, the incidence of new cases has reduced to a much lower level.  Accordingly, we are returning to the original protocol:

• All players at the Club must have dual vaccination.  A booster shot is recommended but not required.
• Effective May 23, wearing of masks will become optional, as follows:  When arriving at a table where players are masked, everyone should, as a courtesy don masks to help protect those who are concerned about the continuing risk.  All players should carry a mask and comply when asked.

Your Board will continue to monitor the situation and adjust the policy as conditions warrant.

The date of the 2022 Annual General Meeting has been changed to June 22^nd, to avoid a conflict with our successful Tuesday night virtual game.  The AGM will be held Face-to-Face for the first time since 2019 and in our new Club.  Please join us for refreshments at 5:30pm, followed by the meeting starting at 6:15pm and a friendly (ACBL Club Championship rated) bridge game at 7:00pm (no game fee for MObridge Members).  If you can’t make the meeting, please submit a proxy, so that a quorum can be achieved. 

The Board is nominating a strong slate of new members to replace four departing Directors;

• Lee Stem returns to the Board after 5 years.  He was an original Board Member and has agreed to take on the Presidential role.  He has a strong background Business Strategy, and is also familiar with our computing needs and systems from his first cycle on the board.
• Nancy Strachan brings years of experience, both as a player and administrator.  She is currently working with the ACBL on tournament directing/management and has a strong history with MObridge as lead director and original member.
• Ted Suski will be familiar to most members as a newer player who has progressed very quickly in partnership with his son Zack (our co-webmaster).  Ted has recently retired and excited to come on board.

Members will be asked to ratify this recommendation at the AGM.  As always, member nominations can be made prior to or from the floor at the meeting.

The background of the Nominees, Financial Reports, the Annual Report (available June 15) and Proxy Form (including instructions) are on the web-site – “Members Only” tab / “AGM 2022” sub-tab.

As one more step back to our pre-Covid normality, we will have refreshments available at our games shortly.  A bottled water dispenser has been available for your use since we opened.  We will be adding complementary coffee/tea and providing a limited variety of soft drinks (for $1.00 honour system).  We do not yet have a dishwasher in the new Club, so please bring your own container, or use the disposable cups provided.

In March, after much research, we launched an ambitious schedule of games for both Face-to-Face (F2F) and on-line play.  It provided the opportunity for every member to play every day F2F or virtually.  Open games were linked to limited offerings to enhance the master point awards and reduce the sit-out frequency.  But it is now clear that much of our membership was not ready to return to in-person play.  The size of many F2F games has not been sufficient to cover our variable costs.  Furthermore, the summer months are traditionally less busy for our Club as members take family vacations and enjoy outdoor sports.  We are therefore reviewing the schedule and will soon be announcing a more compact F2F offering, while maintaining our complementary virtual BBO games.  We will also be monitoring the member response and assess the need to add or adjust games as we enter the busier Fall time frame.

The F2F game fees have been set at $5 since we re-opened.   We could offer this discount while we were enjoying a rent-free 3 months.  However, that period is now over, and we must regrettably announce a return to the pre-Covid scale, as shown on the website.  Member game fees - $8, or a 10-play card for $75.  Non-member game fees - $10 (no 10-play discount card available).  For special games, a $1 extra fee will apply - to cover the incremental ACBL fee.  There are no changes to the virtual fees.

Your Board

Until further notice ... 

   All F2F Games:

• All are Club Championship Games -- No Extra $$ -- Extra MPs.
• DOUBLE Vaccination is required.

Week of May 23rd ...

• All F2F Games are running as Club Championship Games -- No Extra $$ -- Extra MPs!!

Week of May 30th ...

• Swiss Team on BBO - June 1st -- 7:00pm start -- All info below.
• All F2F Games are running as Club Championship Games -- No Extra $$ -- Extra MPs!!!
• Revisions to our Games -- as per Blast earlier this week!

♥  ♠  ♦  ♣  We hope to see you at the tables. ♣  ♦  ♠  ♥ 

   Our NEXT Swiss Team Game @ Virtual MObridge is Wed., June 1st @ 7:00 pm   

Director:  Martin Hunter -- martinhunter@rogers.com

For OPEN, please let us know that you are coming by dropping Martin an e-mail.

                For RESTRICTED MP Swiss, please e-mail Martin with your team names, along with the # of MPs of the                person with the highest total.

We will attempt to run 2 separate Flights, but with stratification players will have a better chance to win Master Points.

Note that you still have to register on BBO at least 10 minutes before game start time.

Talk to your friends ... Get your teams lined up!!!

martinhunter@rogers.com.

Either way, please have your pre-registration to Martin by Wednesday morning of game day.

If you are a pair, looking for teammates, you can email Martin, who will try to connect you with teammates.

There is also the Partnership Desk.

CLICK HERE for SWISS TEAMS Registration Instruction on BBO

NOTE that the SWISS results posted to our HOME PAGE have not yet been perfected.

The TRUE results are those you receive from LIVE.

Until futher notice, all of our F2F games (outside of "other" special event games) are Club Championship Games (Extra MPs) with "Upgraded" Club Championship Games inserted here and there.

So get your boots on and come on out to play F2F.

Linked Games: Open games get credit for limited games that start within 30 minutes. For example, if we have a 299 MP game with 12 tables and an Open game with 8 tables the Open game will be awarded MPs based on a (8+12) 20 table game. More tables equals more potential points! 

Parallel Games: No extra credit ... these games simply run at the same time.

Do not buy BBO Bucks on an app as there will be a 30% premium charged. Buy BBO Bucks directly from the BBO website.

       THE HOST PROGRAM IS BACK!!!       

The HOST Program for F2F Games is Back - Guaranteed Partners

Members' Rank Achievements for April, 2022

Our Honour Roll for April, 2022

This is a listing of players who played in MObridge Virtual Games @ 70+%

 BARRY CRANE Top 500 Master Point Race for 2021

We have 10 Members on this list:

Mel Norton (#5)              Andy Firko (#75)                            

Gary Westfall (#87)          Roman Klein (#290)

Steven Mehta (#293)                                Wendy Dooley (#328)    

Iain MacDonald (#350)                Doug Andrews (#415)

 Sum Tang (#474)             Bob Panchuk (#476)        

      MObridge Educational Resources      

 All Lessons & Seminars are on-going and can be booked at any time 

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ 

          Lessons & Seminars with Pam Husband          

*** NEW *** Cuebid Raises: In Support of Your Partner's Suit Click Here. *** NEW ***

Introductory Bridge: For the New to Bridge Player Click Here. 

Refresh Your Basic Bidding Skills  Click Here.

The Play of the Hand: Improve Your Declarer Play  Click Here.

Defense: How to Defeat the Opponent's Contract  Click Here.

Takeout Doubles and Responses  Click Here.

Overcalls and Bids by the Advancer  Click Here.

 Bergen Raises: Showing Support After Partner's Major Suit Opener Click Here. 

Using Stayman or Jacoby Transfers After Partner's NT Opener Click Here. 

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ 

       Seminars with Danielle Gosselin       

 After Stayman and Transfers  Click here.

 Re-bids  Click here.

 Slam Bidding  Click here.

 Make A Plan (Part I)  Click here.

 Make A Plan (Part II)  Click here. 

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ 

You can also check out the details under the MObridge Educational Resources menu tab.

  ... John Rayner    www.johnraynerbridge.com 

 Visit John's site for updates on Seminars/Lessons.  

  ... Steve Overholt    www.etobicokebridge.com 

 Visit Steve's site for weekly lessons, coaching tables and lesson videos.  Also a very extensive collection of Steve's own   bridge articles (including quizzes with answers), with most for newer bridge players, which would be great for our learners.

  ... Barbara Seagram

 Go to the Barbara Seagram tab under External Educational Resources for all info.  Click Here.

  ... Marty Bergen

 Do not forget about Marty’s Interactive Online Lessons - he is not just about Bergen Raises!   Go to the Marty Bergen tab under External   Educational Resources for all info. 

Thanks for the thoughtful gifts for our new location!

On BBO ... we ask that you ALWAYS:

• Be back at Registration Desk 5 minutes pre-game time.  Click on "something / anything" to verify that you are still logged in.  You may appear to be but if you have had no activity on BBO Site for 20 mins. or so, you may not be logged in.
• Remember that Slow Play affects everyone in the game.
• Remember that once you hit the 3 min. mark, any unstarted boards will be taken away and averages assigned.
• Remember to self-alert/announce your bids - giving a FULL explanation.
  • Pls. type your explanation of your bid on the line provided, before clicking on your bid.
• Use the 3 Bar option to call/speak to the Director.

AND please check that your CC is an actual CC, not Table Text.

As always, we thank you for your cooperation.

   MObridge member Yana Headford wasn't letting grass grow under her feet during COVID.  Not only did she turn 100 during 2021, but she also wrote a book!  Is Bridge involved?  Who knows!  It's a mystery!!  Congratulations Yana!!

Contact information: yheadford@rogers.com OR https://yanaheadford.wordpress.com

MObridge member Brian Gray has also written a few books, which were in the works before COVID.  Congratulations Brian!!

Contact information:  brianrgray@rogers.com OR http://bridgebeginnermentor.ca

       To all our Volunteers -- Past, Present & Future       

  We want you to know that you are appreciated. 

Volunteers are special & add value to everything they touch.

   Thanks for all you do and have done! 

Thank you for your time & expertise and for your amazing generosity & dedication.

Where would we be without you!

  ♥        ♥        ♥        ♥