Breaking News

The latest eDeclarer (October 2022) is available!  Go to eDeclarer in the menu above to see this eDeclarer and earlier editions.
Diamond in the Ruff, the District 21 newsletter, can be found here

NAP – qualifying games for the North American Pairs (NAPs) have concluded.  The flights are: A (unlimited), B (up to 2500 MPs) and C (NLM, less than 500 MPs).  If you qualified at the club level, you may then play in the District final (there will be no Unit qualifying games this year).  The date for the District finals will be announced later.  Any questions about the NAP, contact Susan Mazzei, District 21 NAP Coordinator at samazzei@gmail.com. To check to see if you’ve qualified go to this link:
https://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/play/NAP_Qualifiers/NAP_D21.pdf

Tunnel Tournament – will be held at East Bay Community Bridge Center in Oakland, Sunday, October 23, 10:30 and TBA.  To register for Unit 499, email jackiezayac@gmail.com by Oct. 16, 2022.  We need players at all levels to compete for Unit 499 and bring the title back to our unit.  See the flyer in the September e-Declarer.
In-person games –  Danville started up on September 23.  Rossmoor and  CCBC have again re-opened in-person games (as of March 21).  Lamorinda began a full schedule of in-person games in April.  Diablo and Blackhawk Country Club games are also taking place in person.  A group of people are exploring having in-person games again in Brentwood & Discovery Bay.  Please check with the club for current schedule.  See the club pages for more details.  We have also updated the club pages with the latest information about resuming in-person bridge at each club (as we know it).
Nite Club Game for 99ers – California 99er “Nite Club”
Three districts are teaming up to offer safe and fun 99er games online for players with less than 100 masterpoints. A special feature is post-game analysis on Zoom at no extra cost. And, you support your local club every time you play.
These games are Mondays through Thursdays at 6:30PM. Click here for more information about the games, and for how to register.
Eligibility. If you see the game listed when you try to register, you are eligible to play. If you don’t see the game, send your BBO user name to your local club for assistance. Register early the first time you play so that you aren’t shut out.
What if I’ve never played online? You should play in a virtual club game before trying the California 99er Nite Club.  Click on the tab for Clubs at the top of the page and contact one for more information.
Due to the closures of all our Unit 499 bridge clubs, we are posting some information on how to play bridge on-line from the comfort of your home.  ACBL has an agreement with Bridge Base On-line (BBO) to provide several types of bridge games daily, some of which award MasterPoints.  We would like to highlight 2 types of games in which players can help assist clubs in the unit financially.  Several clubs, including Brentwood (Tues & Fri), CCBC, Discovery Bay (Sat), Lamorinda and Rossmoor (see the club page or the Weekly Unit Game schedule for more information ) are holding games on BBO.  Proceeds go to the club, and you can earn regular black points.  There are also other games daily – entitled Support Your Club.  The proceeds from these games go to whichever club(s) that you regularly play in.
There are several tutorials to help you get started and learn the ins-and-outs of BBO.  ACBL has some videos on its website at https://www.acbl.org/bbotutorials/.  Here is a link from ACBL to general instructions for Support Your Club games – https://blog.bridgebase.com/2020/03/18/how-to-log-in-to-bridge-base-online-and-play-acbls-support-your-club-game/.  Here is another set of videos on YouTube on how to get started on BBO –  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPVzlKS1MEG6ajgg-PL-aUk3SibfHmQ63

Unit Games:
Cancelled
Also don’t forget to check the club pages for club championships, charity games and other special club games.
Partnerships – Just a reminder that the Unit has its own Google Group for bridge players seeking a partner.  New board member Andy Shockley, ncalifvol@aol.com, is now in charge of managing this Google Group.  For more information, here is a document describing this Group and the general Google Group, which is still managed by board member Judy Keilin.

The Unit 499 Online Directory is up and running!  Click here to view the directory or discover what you need to do to be included.  There is also a link for the Directory in the menu at the top of this page.  Clare Smith, clares@astound.net, maintains the directory on behalf of Unit 499.

Google Groups for unit news and finding partners Here is some updated info on how these work.

Free Youth Bridge Classes are held at CCBC on Tuesday nights at 7:00pm every other week (2nd & 4th Tuesdays).  Contact Bruce Johnsonbaugh at 925-766-7586 for more info.  Click here for a couple of pictures of the future of bridge!  Bruce, thank you for your continued effort to promote the game of bridge for the the youth in our unit!