Newsletter - 10 December 2021

 

From the President

 I wish to remind all members that the Club will be closed on Friday, December 24 and Saturday, 25 December.

However, the Club will be open on both New Year’s Eve (Friday, 31 December) and New Year’s Day (Saturday, 1 January).

While the north-south players do not move from table to table, they are responsible for operating the bridgemate and for ensuring that both boards and players are correct, so it is only fair that all players help with clean up after play.

Please enjoy your bridge and stay safe.

Margaret

 

 

CBC Silly Season - 'tis the season....

If you have been in the club since we reopened, you will have noticed that our wonderful Committee and volunteers are getting into the Christmas spirit with decorations, our Christmas tree and our Christmas raffle. It’s the season of giving and this year we are again supporting the Barnardos Giving Tree Appeal, which collects gifts for children of all ages who would otherwise miss out on Christmas gifts. 

If you would like to support this appeal please bring unwrapped gifts for boys and girls and leave them under our Christmas tree. While gifts for any age are appreciated Barnardos always finds it most difficult to provide suitable gifts for teenagers such as gift vouchers for movies, bowling, JBHIfi, or sports stores, hygiene or pamper packs, and clothes. Barnardos have provided a list of gift ideas for all ages, which is laminated under the tree.Gifts will be collected on Monday 20 December.  

Our wonderful CBC Christmas raffle is in its final week. Tickets are 3 for $5.  Please support as a portion of sales go to our worthy charity BeyondBlue. The raffle will be drawn on Monday 20 December. Thanks again to Adrienne Stephens for coordinating!

It's been a tumultuous year!  Time to celebrate the end of it!  We are keeping things simple this year. The Club will be adding a touch of Christmas with sweet treats and a lucky door prize at all sessions week commencing 20 December.  Come along to help celebrate the spirit of Christmas together!

 

Upcoming Sessions

Sessions for the rest of the week are as follows:

• Friday Supervised 9.30 at the club
• Friday morning 9.30am at the club (early start to facilitate afternoon session)
• Friday afternoon 1.00pm at the club 
  
• Friday afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge 
• Saturday afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge

 

From 12 December our sessions are as follows:

• Monday morning 10.00am at the club
• Monday morning 10.15am RealBridge
• Monday afternoon 2.00pm  RealBridge
• Monday evening 7.00pm RealBridge
• Monday evening 7.15pm - 3 week Swiss Pairs Event, pre-registration required RealBridge
• Tuesday afternoon 1.00pm at the club
• Tuesday afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge
• Wednesday morning 10.00am at the club
• Wednesday morning 10.15 am RealBridge
• Wednesday evening 7.15pm  at the club (NB No  parallel RealBridge session)
• Thursday morning 10.00am Duplicate at the club
• Thursday morning 10.00am - Butler back at the club
• Thursday afternoon 2.00pm RealBridge
• Friday morning 9.30am (please note early start) at the club (24 boards only)
• Friday supervised 9.30am lesson at the club and 10.00am play
• Friday afternoon 1.00pm at the club
• Friday afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge 
• Saturday Afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge

As we transition back to face-to-face sessions at the club, some RealBridge sessions will close down, depending on demand.  At this stage it is intended that the Tuesday and Thursday afternoon RealBridge sessions will continue.  

Member table money will be deducted from players CBCPay accounts. Visitors' fees will be paid for by their member-partner, or via prior arrangement by emailing the office.

Cost: face-to-face $10 members/ $13 visitors, concession $9.  RealBridge $8 members and $7 concession (including event).

Links to sessions are on our RealBridge page.

 

CBC Pay and Membership - if you read this last week skip to next section

November monthly statements were emailed out on 1 December, providing members with up to date advice on CBC Pay balances.  There were a number of bounce backs so please get in touch  - by email or in person - if you did not receive the statement or need further information.  

Please remember to cite your ABF number on any electronic transfers as this saves us time and ensures the funds are deposited correctly.  If you are making a membership payment (due by the end of the year) please transfer the funds separately and state "membership" in the reference field. 

 

Upcoming  Events

January IMP Pairs (Butler) on Realbridge

A two-week competition on 3 and 10 January 2022 on Monday evening at 7.15pm. This will be practice for the online Summer Festival of Bridge.

• Pre-entry required - online entry form - before 10.00am 3 January 2022
• Please enter early.

Beginners Lessons in 2022

The Club has face-to-face bridge beginner lessons commencing in the first week of February 2022, on Wednesday evenings starting at 7.00pm (2 Feb - 9 Mar)  and Friday mornings  at 10.00am (4 Feb - 11 Mar).  Please note and share with friends and family. Earlybird payments are discounted at $59 or $69 after 26 January 2022. 

The lessons are two hours long and  include a textbook, detailed notes and 3 free "supervised play" sessions.  These lessons make ideal presents!

 

Master the Basics

Master the Basics, is on each week at 9.00am on Thursday mornings before the duplicate sessions, for approximately half an hour. 
The lessons are available on Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

MTB 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.
Cost is $6 for CBC Members (paid via CBCPay) and $8 for Non-Members. Lessons are followed by a face-to-face session at the club at 10.00am.  

Download the MTB Lesson Schedule

 

Supervised Play

Supervised play is at 9.30am on Friday mornings with a short lesson and dedicated play to follow. All welcome! 

Thursday Zoom lessons continue online.  

 

 Results

Andrew Spooner won the Victor Champion Cup playing with Matt Smith and NZ teammates (Brad Johnston, Sam Coutts, Tom Jacob & Brian Mace)

Andrew also won this event the last time it was held, in 2019. Showing his versatility, that win was with a different partner and different teammates.

This event is usually held on the June long weekend in Melbourne but because of you-know-what it was held online this past weekend.

 

 

Inaugural Grand National Novice Pairs (GNNP) 2021

Congratulations again to the winners in the Inaugural Novice Pairs - CBC Heat! 

1. James Walcott & John Lee
2. Philippa Wickman & Grant Wickman
3. Bricet Kloren & Penelope Shilling
4. Steve Taylor & Lisa Bradley
5. Nola Arnold & Graham Ward

To update interested parties, James and John had other commitments, but Bricet and Penelope; Steve and Lisa; and  Philippa and Grant have advanced to the finals to be played at 1pm on 11 December.  We wish them luck!  You can spot them on the 'meet the finalists' board here .

There are competitors from around Australia, including Parramatta, Toowong, Goondiwindi, South Australian Bridge Club and Sale. There were even some surprise Canberra players familiar to many. Interestingly not many participants from WA , has it seceded already?    

The GNNP is expected to be an annual event, so if you have under 100 Masterpoints, start thinking about potential partners for 2022!  

 

Cootamundra Charity Day 

1. Sherryn Datoo & Mirza Datoo
2. Alexander Hewat & Ken Colbert
3. John Donovan & Brian Thorp
4. Phil Glover &Bal Krishan
5. John McMahon & Ken McMahon

 

 1NT response by Joan Butts

• 1NT by responder in any system may or may not be balanced
• You might hold a balanced hand without a fit for partner…OR
• You might hold an unbalanced hand with a long suit and not many points…OR
• You might hold a two-suited weak hand…OR
• You don’t have any suit that you show at the one-level…OR
• You might have a suit but not enough points to show that at the two level
• Your second bid, if you are able to make one, will describe the shape of your hand
• In the 2/1 style, 1NT by responder after 1♥️/1♠ openings show hands with any of the above, with 6 - 11 points
• it could even be a poor 12 point hand that you decided you wouldn't open

 

Overbidding can be Life Limiting - aka Bennett Murder Case

On the 29^th of September, 1929, a time when the USA was fully immersed in a craze over contract bridge, Charles and Myrna Hoffman visited the apartment of John and Myrtle Bennett in Kansas City for an evening of rubber bridge.

Shortly after midnight, after several hours of play and some rising tension, what turned out to be the final hand of the evening was dealt. John Bennett took an optimistic view of a poor quality hand and opened 1S. After a 2D overcall, Myrtle raised him to 4S. The contract wasn't a terrible one and if he'd correctly picked the position of the QS, he probably would have made it, but he went two down. Insults over bridge judgement and ability were exchanged between the Bennetts.  John slapped his wife before declaring that he was going to spend the night in a hotel and leave town the following day.

While he was packing his case, Myrtle grabbed a loaded gun and confronted her husband, who rushed to the bathroom and shut the door. Two shots through the door both missed, and John escaped through a second bathroom door and attempted to flee the apartment but was shot twice as he tried to open the front door.

The murder trial was a sensation in the USA, partly because of the association with bridge and partly because of the fact that a beautiful young woman had shot her husband. Perhaps affected by some of this, the jury produced a remarkable verdict and Myrtle was found not guilty of all charges. They apparently ignored the physical evidence of multiple shots fired in multiple locations, and John's body being found by the front door, and accepted her defence that she was passing the gun to John to take with him and it discharged and shot him accidentally. Twice.

The verdict allowed her to collect on a $30,000 life insurance policy (close to AU$700,000 in today's value), but she did apparently have some difficulties finding bridge partners in the ensuing years.  

The leading bridge player of the time, entrepreneur and personality, (widely known as "the man who made contract bridge" and owner of KEM cards, the first ever plastic cards manufactured) Ely Culbertson used the publicity of the trial to his advantage, analysing an attempted reconstruction of the hand, and even suggesting that had the Bennetts been playing his system, John Bennett might well have still been alive. System is important, it seems!

 

 Spot the Best Line of Play 

You are South and have ended up in 6S on this deal, with no opposition bidding to give you clues where missing cards might lie:

 

North

• 109        
•  AQJ1086
•  4
•  AK104

                                                                         

South

• AK8543
•   -
•  AQJ1083
•  J

The C8 is led by West, and you stop to take stock after Dummy goes down. Rushing at this point often causes you to miss the best line of play.

Your hand has 3 losers, but Dummy’s CA reduces this to 2 losers (SQ and DK).  After playing CA (there is no point in finessing), you are in Dummy – what to play next? How do you make 12 tricks?

Draw Trumps (Spades)

It seems smartest to consider Spades first, as they are trumps and need to be brought under control early on, before tackling your second suit, Diamonds. Dummy’s Hearts are not a realistic option to establish (though if you play HA early, you can throw a Diamond in case the Diamonds break badly).

You are missing 5 spades being QJ972.

Most of the time (68%) they will break 3-2, so you will lose 1 Spade. Occasionally (5%), the QJ will be bare and will simply fall if you play AK, so you will lose no Spades. That reduces the odds of losing a Spade to about 63%.

Also, it is possible that if the Spades break 4-1 (28%), one of the two honours (SQ or SJ) will be single (40%), meaning you might be able to lose only 1 trump. Again, the odds shorten, but not below 50%.

Diamonds

As it is most likely there will be a spade loser, you cannot afford any other losers - Diamonds.

You could finesse the DK now, hoping the DK is on side and they break 4-2 with the DK doubleton (about 30%).

What about ruffing?

Cross from Dummy to the DA, then ruff a Diamond with S9, then back to hand with a small Heart and ruff another Diamond with S10. Then back to hand ruffing a Club, then play A K of Spades, give up a Spade. The contract makes as this was the full hand:

 

	♠ 109 ♥ AQJ1086 ♦ 4 ♣ AK104
♠ Q72 ♥ 7432 ♦ K62 ♣ 872		♠J6 ♥ K95 ♦ 975 ♣Q9653
	♠ AK8543 ♥ ♦ AQJ1083 ♣ J

 

Is this the best line of play?

The odds of a 3:3 Diamond break are 36%, and a 4:2 break are 48%. But if you do get over-ruffed with the 3^rd Diamond, then that player is more likely to be ruffing with the longer Spade suit, thus reducing your losers in Spades to (hopefully) none.

It is also possible that the short Diamond player does not have Spade Q or J, and cannot over-ruff.

I think the ruffing line is the best line. You decide.

This all might look easy, but whilst playing 7 minute Boards, these sorts of hands are tough to play correctly.

Of course, extreme distributions can defeat the above, but it is always best to pay the odds.

 Ian Morison Bridge lover (and an occasional early thinker)

  

 Lighter moments

 

What happened to the man who stole an Advent Calendar? He got 25 days!

Who delivers presents to baby sharks at Christmas? Santa Jaws!

What do they sing at a snowman’s birthday party? Freeze a jolly good fellow!

What do Santa’s little helpers learn at school? The elf-abet!

What kind of motorbike does Santa ride? A Holly Davidson!

What did Santa do when he went speed dating? He pulled a cracker!

Why was the turkey in the pop group? Because he was the only one with drumsticks!

What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? A Christmas Quacker!

What goes “Oh, Oh, Oh”? Santa walking backwards!

Why was the snowman looking through the carrots? He was picking his nose!

Why does Santa have three gardens? So he can ‘ho ho ho’!

What is the best Christmas present in the world? A broken drum, you just can’t beat it!

What do snowmen wear on their heads? Ice caps!

What did Adam say the day before Christmas? “It’s Christmas, Eve!”