MELTZER TEAM - Meltzer-Larsen, Bates-Sontag, Bramley-Stansby

Meltzer's teams won gold in the 2006 Rosenblum, 2001 Bermuda Bowl and 2005 & 2007 Senior Bowls. She and her teammates are hoping to win a chance to try for another World Championship in Beijing this fall.

System Information

Meltzer-Larsen System Summary Form, ACBL Convention Card

Bates-Sontag System Summary Form, 2NT Opening and Defense, ACBL Convention Card

Bramley-Stansby System Summary Form

About the Players

Rose Meltzer

Rose grew up in New York and received her bachelor and masters degrees in chemistry from Columbia University. Rose and her husband, Cliff, along with their 4 dogs and 4 cats have lived in California for the past 9 years. Her passion for bridge began in high school but really blossomed in the late 1990's. Since then she is the first woman to win 4 open world titles and the first woman World Grand Master. She has numerous national and regional wins as well. While in New York she served as unit president and tournament chairman, as well as a member of District 3's board. In California she served on the unit and district board. She is currently a member of the USBF Board and Chair of the USBF Grievances and Appeals Committee. Her other great passion is her love of music and playing the piano (she is also a graduate piano student from Juilliard). Most importantly, Rose is fortunate to have the complete support of her husband and family in these endeavors.

Kyle Larsen

A native Californian, Kyle took up bridge at a young age (both parents play). Kyle became a life master at age 15, the youngest ACBL life master at that time. When he was 18, he won the LM Pairs and Reisinger Board-a-match teams. Since then, Kyle has numerous regional wins to his credit, plus 10 national championships, and 2 world championships, and is a World Grand Master of the WBF. He continues to live in the Bay Area with his family.

Alan Sontag

Alan M. Sontag was born in New York City in 1946. He now lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with Robin and their son Robert. He is a bridge professional and writer. One of the fastest players in the world, he is known by his nickname Sonty. He and Peter Weichsel formed one of the strongest partnerships in the world from the 1970’s until 2005.
Alan has represented the United States in 15 World Championships and has won the Bermuda Bowl twice, the Transnationals, the Senior Teams and the Rosenblum. He has 16 major NABC championships, and has also won the London Times Pairs twice and the Cavendish Pairs twice.
Alan’s book “The Bridge Bum,” published in 1977 and recently reprinted is a favorite of bridge players of all levels. “Power Precision” published in 1979 appeals to a more select audience.

Roger Bates

Roger Bates was born July 2, 1947 in Oklahoma. The middle of three children, Bates spent his youth and early adulthood in Arizona, where he began his life-long passion for bridge at the age of 18. Bates attended the University of Arizona, graduating in 1969, and began working as an Accountant soon thereafter. Bates has one daughter who lives in New York.
When Roger is not playing bridge, he reads spy novels avidly and swims. He has a wonderful sense of humor, which he frequently practices on his teammates.
When not traveling (which is 99% of the time), Bates makes his home in Arizona.
Bates’ bridge accomplishments are too numerous to list, but a few of them are:
Gold Medal 1994 and 2006 Rosenblum Teams
Gold Medal 2003 and 2005 Bermuda Bowl Senior Team
1st in Spingold
3 wins in Vanderbilt
1st Blue Ribbon Pairs
2 wins Life Master Pairs

Bart Bramley

An MIT graduate, Bart grew up in Connecticut. He learned bridge at a young age (both parents played) and got serious in college. Among his wins are the Vanderbilt, the Reisinger, Blue Ribbon Pairs, and most recently the LM Pairs in Chicago. In WBF events, Bart was third in the Rosenblum, fifth in the Bermuda Bowl, second in the Transnational Teams and second in the World Par Contest. He was also captain of the U.S. team in the Olympiad in 1996. Bart has served on several ACBL committees, writes frequent bridge articles, mostly for the popular magazine, The Bridge World, where he is a staff member. Bart now resides in Dallas with his wife, Judy, and their two cats.

Lew Stansby

Lew Stansby, former commodities trader and current professional bridge player, lives in Castro Valley, California, with wife and fellow national champion JoAnna. Since winning the Reisinger in 1965, Lew has won more than thirty national championships and five world championships, and has finished second three times. Most of these championships over the past thirty years have been won in partnership with Chip Martel, but Lew also has an outstanding record with other partners, including wife JoAnna. Their most recent accomplishment was second-place finish in the North American Open Teams in Chicago, playing with Chip and Jan Martel and Kit and Sally Woolsey. Lew is a World Grand Master, ranked ninth in lifetime ranking (15th in current performance ranking). Tall and softspoken, Lew is known for his love of games of almost all kinds and his incredible memory for bridge hands, even those from long-ago events he neglected to win.