It’s 10 p.m. once again, 2 hours to my deadline, as I wait eagerly to see what column will materialize on my computer monitor. I’m thinking of starting a contest. Be the first reader to spot my monthly mistake. Will it be a wrong date, a misspelled name, an overlooked win, or will I combine them all and confabulate a tournament?

There will be a pro-am unit game on Sunday, February 4 (really, trust me). This event is very popular and a lot of fun. It’s a chance for mentors and “mentees” (an intentional error) to test their progress. Others are also encouraged to sign up at the club or contact Lynn Yokel at (408)374-4669 or lyokel@spry.net.

December was a slow month for local tournaments, but we did have STAC week. As of this writing, a number of local pairs placed in these multi-district comparisons, inclulding Gigi Spinazze & Ruth Sporer, Mike Sullivan & Hiram Shen, Eileen Edwards & Sherry Waki, Irv & Marion Wentzien, Jewel Schimke & Shirley Foreman, Xiaodong Zhang & Kou-Ping Cheng, Lynn Yokel & Annette Powers, Ed & Martha Sutton, Charles Reinthaler & Frank Napolitan, Michael Abrams & June McCullough. Our holiday party alone produced the following STAC placements: Uma Reddi & Stuart Goodgold, Henri Farhi & Kit Humphrey, Ray Crist & Joanne Siebecke, Neal Webb & Ray Yuenger, H. Lyle Supp & R. Schwarer. For more current information look up http://www.inetworld.net/wcforum.

Somebody will have to tell me where some of these far-flung bridge clubs are and why, when one finishes 7th of 558 pairs, as did Xiaodong Zhang & Kou-Ping Cheng, the score is not higher. My ignorance does not stop me from enjoying the event.

Our holiday party also produced festive placemats. We overflowed our club and had to rent a hall in the Campbell Community Center. Thanks to Lynn Yokel and Phyllis Vierra for organizing the food and the tables and to Will Watson for directing 21 tables in two sections. More people are discovering how enjoyable our unit games are.

At the Sacramento sectional, strat tops were earned by Ray Yuenger & Lynn Yokel and Gary & Jan Soules.

The magic carpet of the internet takes me to the Palm Springs regional results. Rose Meltzer’s team won two knockouts, Fran Dickman’s team won their knockout.

I have partial results from the Reno regional, which should be reported more completely elsewhere in this paper. Among the noteworthy, Charley & Andrea James celebrated their anniversary by winning their knockout bracket. K.P. Cheng & Fang Wu won the stratified open pairs, with Gary & Jan Soules in 2nd. Phyllis Vierra & Richard Jacobs won the 199er pairs. I heard a number of other local names called out as winners, but I left before getting the daily bulletin to confirm their accomplishments. I was again impressed by how strong our local players are.

It now midnight and we have another column.

Corrections, comments and news are welcome at (408)379-7717 and rayyuenger@earthlink.net.