Newsletter - 28 May 2021

From the President

As you would be aware, the Club is, with the help of our wonderful managers, Emily and Kerry, largely run by volunteers. So any help that you can give is gratefully received (e.g. returning your cups and glasses to the kitchen and putting them in the dishwasher, volunteering to sanitise the kitchen at the end of play or collecting the boards for the director at the end of play). A big thank you to all the volunteers who work around the Club on various matters but don’t want to be individually thanked.

Please remember to sanitise your hands between rounds, and also sanitise the side tables and chair arms at the end of play, and, of course, to register with the Canberra COVID app. So important with another outbreak of COVID, this time in Melbourne.

Stay safe, and enjoy your bridge!

Margaret

Important changes to contact details in Pianola

Pianola is a management tool used by the Canberra Bridge Club for bridge players and club managers.

The benefits for the player of using Pianola are:

• As a Learning Tool: Pianola provides an excellent service for those players wishing to review their declarer play and defence.
• For easy access to other Club members: Your contact details can be shared with your bridge partners and the wider CBC bridge community.
• To find partners: you can see who is looking for a partner, and you can also ask for a partner for a particular session.

Please read our webpage about Pianola to find handy tips on how to access and use Pianola.

Please NOTE that your information is safe and secure on Pianola as it Is ‘locked’ and is only available to Canberra Bridge Club members. The site can only be accessed via a personal password. This is a very important protection for personal security.

The committee has decided to change the default position in Pianola:

• from a global ‘No phone numbers and email addresses are available without each member making the necessary change’
• to ‘All phone numbers and emails are automatically available unless a member makes the necessary change’.

This alteration will occur on 12 June 2021.

If you are happy for other members to access your email address and phone number, as they did in the Calendar booklets, then you do not have to do anything.

However, some members may not want other members to access their contact information.
Members who wish to opt out of the contact list can do so:

EITHER by:

• changing their Privacy settings in Pianola themselves (see advice that will be in the newsletter of 11 June) OR
• by emailing Mary Tough This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 10th June and requesting exclusion from the contact list for:
  1. their phone number or
  2. their email address, or
  3. both email and phone number

Please be aware that if you choose to opt out of the contact list other members of the club will have no method of contacting you and the club managers will not be authorised to disclose your contact information to other members.

Once we have the membership contact list up and running, we will provide more information about how Pianola works.

Name Badges - Order Now

Regret not buying a magnetic-backed name badge in our last order? Or maybe you've joined since...

Whatever the reason, if you would like one of the spiffy printed badges (which have our Logo, your name, and your ABF Number) - please see/email the managers ASAP. They cost $15 each, which can be paid in cash, cheque, or bank transfer. CBCPay funds cannot be used for Name Badges. Payment must be made before we place the order with the supplier.

Note: If you have a magnetic name badge and need a replacement backing magnet, please contact the office and we can enquire of the cost to place into our order also.

Never forget your name or ABF Number again!

Welcome to our NEW new Director - Stephen Bartos!

A big welcome and thank you to Stephen Bartos for becoming our newest Director.

A little about Steve...

Did you play on that mega-sized Thursday 20th May 10am session? You probably would have met or at least seen Stephen helping Jodi that day -- talk about an induction by fire! 

Stephen plays bridge regularly at South Canberra Bridge Club, but we have been lucky enough to purloin him as a director!

Stephen is an excellent bridge player, and is representing the ACT in their Seniors Team this ANC in Perth.

Vale Alvin Hopper

Alvin Hopper died unexpectedly on 13 May, at the age of 75 years, after a short illness. He was born in Dartford, Kent, in England. He became a fan of all things Welsh after attending Aberystwyth University, graduating in Law with honours.

This was followed by Masters Degrees in Law at London and Melbourne Universities.

He practiced as a barrister in London before moving to Australia and working for the South Australian Attorney-General's Department.  He subsequently transferred to the federal Attorney-General's Department. After retirement he studied Constitutional Law at the University of Canberra, and obtained his PhD in 2005. He was a frequent contributor to the Letters in the Canberra Times. He was a member of the Canberra Alliance Party, and stood as a candidate in the last ACT election.

Alvin was a keen Bridge player, and had a quirky sense of humour. He is survived by twin children, Fiona and Tim, and wife Robyn. He will be missed.

- Peter Hughes, bridge partner and friend

Master the Basics - Bridge Lessons

Are you aware of our weekly "Master the Basics" lessons, taught by Barb Toohey? No pre-registration necessary, except if you plan to join via Zoom and need the link.

Master the Basics, at 9:00am on Thursday mornings before the duplicate sessions, for approximately half an hour. Yes we have heating!

The course caters for a range of abilities and each week covers a fundamental concept to an increased level of mastery. Students who have done a Beginners Course and/or some Supervised play and have limited experience are welcome to attend. With more experience you will still benefit from a deeper understanding of the concept being discussed. 

No registration is needed. Just turn up for any or all of the lessons in the schedule below. There is no requirement to stay on for the duplicate session too. Cost is $6 for CBC Members (paid via CBCPay) and $8 for Non-Members.

The lessons are also available each week on Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Download the MTB Lesson Schedule

Winter Warmers

We have heating at the Club, and most of the time it is sufficient for heating the large room. However, we know that everyone has different temperature preferences, and recommend that if you are prone to the cold that you bring some extra layers in case is it a little colder than your liking (lap blankets are also welcome) and/or try to sit towards the South side of the room - closer to the wall airconditioning heaters.  Those who find the Club too warm could try sitting further towards the North wall, away from the wall units.

We put the heaters on in advance of sessions, to pre-warm the rooms as much as possible. As we enter the coldest part of the year, it can take longer for the room to get to ideal warmth.

Check-In CBR App

Government laws require every person to be registered through the Check-In CBR App when visiting our Club. The scan and number code for the App are on the sidetables, so you do not need to gather in the doorway or foyer to sign in.

Reminders for in-Club sessions:

• It is a condition of entry that you have read and agree to abide by our COVID-19 Safety Plan.
• One person ONLY in the kitchen at a time. You are welcome to gently remind others if you see they have forgotten.

Session Times

Face-to-Face in the Clubrooms next week:

• Monday morning 10:00am
  
• Monday evening 7:00pm (walk-in & supervised) & Monday evening 7:20pm (event)
• Tuesday afternoon 1:15pm
• Wednesday morning 10:00am
• Wednesday evening 7:15pm
• Thursday morning 10:00am (MP and Imps)
• Friday Supervised Lesson: 9:30am, then Play at 10am
  
• Friday (regular walk-in) 9:45am
  
• Friday afternoon 1:15pm
  
• Saturday afternoon 1:15pm

Produce Table proceeds go to Beyond Blue

Due to the lack of our regular program of events resulting from COVID-19 the Committee has dediced that we will use our Produce Table money to support this charity. Please support this worthwhile cause.

If you have any produce or other goodies to donate to our Produce Table for Beyond Blue fundraising, please bring them in!

Upcoming Events

Swiss IMP Pairs - Short Matches

• Monday Evenings - 28 June & 5 July 2021

• Entries required - online entry form

Upcoming Education / Lessons

FREE online RealBridge + Video lesson by David Bird

We have been offered an opportunity to take part in a free event arranged by David Bird in conjunction with RealBridge. David is a well-known author, with an amusing and entertaining way of explaining things.

We will be playing four boards selected by David, to cover a specific topic. Then you can all watch a video of him discussing two of the boards, and have access to his detailed analysis of all four boards (all via a link provided through RealBridge).

Put these dates in your diary, grab a cup of coffee on the day (from home!) and join us for half an hour to have some fun and learn from an expert.

Never used RealBridge before?

• Monday 7 June, 4pm -- Learn to use RealBridge (Free "taster" session)

Join us online for the 4-boards and video lesson:

• Saturday 12th June, 5:30pm
• Monday 14th June, 4:00pm

More Bridge Basics for Continuing Students (Competitive Bidding)

Barb Toohey will run two 4-week courses on Competitive Bidding and Defence. This is the next step after the beginners lessons, and suitable for Novice & Supervised Players.

To register to attend, please fill out our online entry form or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Dates          :	Tuesdays 17th August - 7th Sept
Time:	10am - 12noon
Cost:	$15 for an individual lesson or $55 for all four (4) lessons Members - Payment will be deducted from CBCPay Table Money. Visitors - Cash, cheque or bank transfer
Program:	Week 1: Doubles Week 2: Overcalls Week 3: Leads Week 4: Signals

Master the Basics

Master the Basics is on Thursdays at 9.00am.

The lesson will be available face-to-face in the Club rooms and on Zoom at 9:00am.
To receive the zoom link, please email Barb Toohey.

You can download the topic list for the weekly schedule.

Supervised Lessons

The supervised lessons are on Mondays 7pm and Fridays 9:30am.

Results

Australia VS New Zealand Online Match - 22-23 May 2021

Last weekend a playoff between our Australian teams and New Zealand teams happened. Punching above our weight, we had 5 members representing Australia in this event!

A big congratulations to Andrew Spooner, George Kozakos, Jody Tutty, Marianne Bookallil and Stephen Fischer who all represented Australia in the event. It was a great effort by all players in all the teams.

An extra congratulations to Andrew Spooner (Youth Team) and George Kozakos (Seniors Team) who won their competition against NZ. 

Hugh Hudson Pairs

1. George Kozakos & Andrew Spooner
2. David Hoffman & David Wawn
3. Joshua Tomlin & Ruitian Lang

ABF Online Nationwide Pairs - 23 May 2021

Open 
N/S 2nd:  Julia Hoffman & Noelene Law

Doubles: Penalty Doubles - by Joan Butts

• If partner has not bid and you double at a low level, that is for take-out, not penalty, and you are asking partner to bid their longest suit
• But if partner has bid, and you double later, it would be for penalty
• With a shortage in partner’s suit, and strong cards in the opponents’ suit, try a penalty double (it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t work!)
• Prefer to show a fit for partner’s suit first, rather than doubling for penalties
• If partner makes a take-out double and you leave it in for penalties at a low level, you need at least five (good) trumps of the opponent’s suit and high cards in other suits
• If your partner preempts and the next hand bids, a double by you is for penalty
• If the opponents open 1NT and you double, it’s for penalty
• Be cautious doubling the opponents’ partscore contracts for penalty because if they make, they will score the game bonus as well
• Doubling a freely bid slam is a “Lightner” double and asks for the lead of an unusual suit (it suggests a void)
• If you are defending a low level contract that’s been doubled for penalty, lead a trump
• Sometimes the opponents will make a contract you double, but that’s life!

Movie/TV Review by Richard Hills

Side note: Special online movie screening of "Aces & Knaves", a bridge-related movie

It’s a 1 hour documentary and is being streamed until 30th May – you just buy a ticket and can watch it at any time in that period. Just go to: https://watch.showandtell.film/watch/aces-and-knaves-bamsa

In case you don’t know about it,  ACES & KNAVES is a tale of triumph and tears, points and partners, and crime and punishment, told by world champions and mere mortals alike, including Bill Gates! The International Movie database says “Aces & Knaves is a documentary about mental gymnastics, competition, and cheating in bridge - the most complex game ever invented by the human mind.”

This special screening is in celebration of the upcoming BAMSA 2021 Conference to be held between Monday 28 June and Thursday 4 July which is a free virtual event featuring 60 speakers from 20 countries, including a keynote presentation on wellbeing by psychologist Martin Seligman and panel discussions with European Bridge League President Jan Kamras and world champion Boye Brogeland. You can register for the Conference here: https://bridgemindsport.org/bridging-academia-policy-practice-conference/ - do have a look, there are some really (really) interesting sessions – and of course you can choose the ones you want to attend but you do need to register in advance.

Half the ticket proceeds from the sale of tickets to “Aces & Knaves” will go to supporting the work of BAMSA (Bridge: A MindSport For All) at the University of Stirling.