John Lai of Vancouver BC and Morris Chen of Surrey BC, representing District 19, 
won the Golder North American Pairs, Flight B with an impressive score of 63.94%.
Read the full story on the NAOBC Daily Bulletin.
Tournaments
Posts pertaining to tournaments
Face-to-face bridge: an update from ACBL D19 director Tim White
Tim White, ACBL D19 Director, has sent us a letter detailing ACBL’s plans for a reopening of face-to-face bridge. This is a must-read document for tournament organizers, Unit boards, club owners and players who want an update on the current situation.
Click here to access Tim’s letter.
For more information, you can reach Tim at [email protected]
D19 Regionals cancelled until fall 2021
The following District 19 Regional Tournaments have been cancelled for 2021: Victoria (originally scheduled for April), Penticton (June) and Lynwood (August).
Whistler is still in the cards, so to speak, and could be held at the end of October or the beginning of November. A final decision will be made by D19’s Board no later than the end of May.
ACBL extends face-to-face tournament cancellations through April 30, 2021
Here’s ACBL Executive Director Joseph Jones’s full text:
Due to the ongoing risk posed by the surging coronavirus and the slow rollout of the vaccine, the ACBL will not staff face-to-face bridge tournaments through April 30, 2021.
This means all Sectionals and Regionals scheduled during this period have been canceled. Consistent with this decision, the ACBL is also canceling the sanctions for any remaining Non-Life Master Tournaments or other bridge tournaments through the end of April where ACBL Tournament Directors are not technically required.
We will contact you by March 1 if the moratorium will be extended past April 30.
Online events, including Regional-rated tournaments, will continue to be offered along with chances to win gold, silver, red and black masterpoints®. Click here for the 2021 schedule of online events. More details can be found at www.acbl.org/virtual.
Sincerely,
Joseph Jones
ACBL Executive Director
January 12, 2021
ACBL cancels all sectionals and regionals for 2020
On June 17, ACBL announced it will not staff any sectionals or regionals with tournament directors for the remainder of 2020.
This removes any possibility for face-to-face tournaments during the balance of the year but does not preclude online tournaments from taking place.
Further tournament cancellations
As many anticipated, the two remaining D19 Regionals for 2020 have been cancelled, due of course to the Covid situation. These tournaments are the Puget Sound Regional (Lynnwood) and the Leavenworth Regional.
We remain optimistic that the 2021 Victoria Regional, planned for April-12-18 will be able to go ahead. Stay tuned!
Most Sectional tournaments have also been cancelled.
COVID-19: An update for District 19 membership from the Board of Directors
The District 19 Board of Directors is doing its best to navigate the challenges and uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Board members are monitoring developments in policies and guidance from national, regional and local government authorities in Canada and US, and the ACBL. We review, discuss and evaluate implications and plans for D19-sponsored events going forward. We will keep D19 membership apprised of developments as they take place. Please see below an update on upcoming events:
D19 Burnaby Regional (April 6-12, 2020) – Notice of cancellation of this tournament was provided to D19 membership via email on March 17, 2020.
D19 Grand National Teams (GNT) Finals – The D19 GNT Finals scheduled for April 18 & 19 at the Vancouver Bridge Centre are cancelled. The D19 Board is exploring recovery plans for this event. The ACBL Board of Directors has re-scheduled the North American GNT Finals from NABC Montreal in July to NABC Tampa this fall. (ACBL will be establishing the dates of the GNT Finals to be held at Tampa.) Districts are now given until October 1, 2020 to hold their district GNT Finals. The D19 Board is exploring the alternatives of running this event face-2-face, as it has been, or online. More information on plans for D19 GNT Finals will be announced when it becomes available.
D19 Penticton Regional (June 15-21, 2020) – At present, this tournament is still “on.” Financial and other considerations bearing on the decision whether to proceed with the tournament are under review. The D19 Board will further discuss the situation during its telephonic board meeting the week of April 21. We expect to make a final decision about Penticton no later than May 1.
ACBL’s North American NAP Finals – Last fall’s 2019 D19 NAP Finals qualified pairs for ACBL’s North American NAP Finals that were to have been held at the cancelled NABC Columbus. To recover the North American NAP Finals, the ACBL Board of Directors has decided that the event will take place at NABC Montreal in July. (ACBL will be establishing the dates of the NAP Finals to be held at Montreal.) If NABC Montreal were to be cancelled, the event would then be down streamed to NABC Tampa and run on dates not to conflict with the GNT Finals to be held at Tampa. The D19 NAP Coordinator will continue to coordinate plans with pairs who qualified last fall for the North American NAP Finals.
We regret the impacts this situation is having on clubs, units and players. We will continue to look and plan ahead in pursuit of the best available plans under the circumstances.
Thank you for your understanding,
D19 Board of Directors
COVID-19: An update for District 19 membership from the Board of Directors
The District 19 Board of Directors is doing its best to navigate the challenges and uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Board members are monitoring developments in policies and guidance from national, regional and local government authorities in Canada and US, and the ACBL. We review, discuss and evaluate implications and plans for D19-sponsored events going forward. We will keep D19 membership apprised of developments as they take place. Please see below an update on upcoming events:
D19 Burnaby Regional (April 6-12, 2020) – Notice of cancellation of this tournament was provided to D19 membership via email on March 17, 2020.
D19 Grand National Teams (GNT) Finals – The D19 GNT Finals scheduled for April 18 & 19 at the Vancouver Bridge Centre are cancelled. The D19 Board is exploring recovery plans for this event. The ACBL Board of Directors has re-scheduled the North American GNT Finals from NABC Montreal in July to NABC Tampa this fall. (ACBL will be establishing the dates of the GNT Finals to be held at Tampa.) Districts are now given until October 1, 2020 to hold their district GNT Finals. The D19 Board is exploring the alternatives of running this event face-2-face, as it has been, or online. More information on plans for D19 GNT Finals will be announced when it becomes available.
D19 Penticton Regional (June 15-21, 2020) – At present, this tournament is still “on.” Financial and other considerations bearing on the decision whether to proceed with the tournament are under review. The D19 Board will further discuss the situation during its telephonic board meeting the week of April 21. We expect to make a final decision about Penticton no later than May 1.
ACBL’s North American NAP Finals – Last fall’s 2019 D19 NAP Finals qualified pairs for ACBL’s North American NAP Finals that were to have been held at the cancelled NABC Columbus. To recover the North American NAP Finals, the ACBL Board of Directors has decided that the event will take place at NABC Montreal in July. (ACBL will be establishing the dates of the NAP Finals to be held at Montreal.) If NABC Montreal were to be cancelled, the event would then be down streamed to NABC Tampa and run on dates not to conflict with the GNT Finals to be held at Tampa. The D19 NAP Coordinator will continue to coordinate plans with pairs who qualified last fall for the North American NAP Finals.
We regret the impacts this situation is having on clubs, units and players. We will continue to look and plan ahead in pursuit of the best available plans under the circumstances.
Thank you for your understanding,
D19 Board of Directors
Living in interesting times
Here’s a message to all members from Chris Cookson, District 19’s president:
“The District 19 board will be meeting online on April 21 and we hope to be in a position to make a decision about the fate of the Penticton Regional. In the meantime, I urge the membership to plan on going, assume it’s on, but not make any non-refundable deposits on accommodation or transportation.
Next week, we will be reviewing the fate of the GNTs (scheduled for April 18-19 in Vancouver) and will be informing all members of our decision via email.”
Embarrassment of riches
Welcome to October!
This month, you have the opportunity to participate in not only one, but two D19 Regionals.
The Tri-Cities Regional runs from October 21 to 27. It’s being held in Pasco, Wa, some 200 miles SE of Seattle. Follow this link for complete information on the tournament.
A week later, October 28 to November 3, it’s time for the Whistler Regional, in BC, about 1.5 hours driving distance northward from Vancouver, BC. Go to our D19 Tournaments page for the flyer. More details will become available as the tournament draws near.