Newsletter - 7 January 2022

 

From the President

.As you would all be aware, the ACT has a large number of COVID cases. With this in mind, please remember to follow all the Club’s COVID guidelines, that is, wear a mask on entering the Club,  only one person at a time in the kitchen, and sanitise your hands between rounds. At the end of the session, please also clean the side tables, arms of the chairs and the bidding boxes and wipe the Bridgemates.

With all that in mind, and with all the stresses that COVID entails, please remember to be kind to your partner and polite to everyone at the Club.

Enjoy your game and stay safe.

Margaret

 

New Year and League Tables Finalised

 The ABF has updated their League Tables as follows:

Most Improved players for 2021

100 Top Players of all time

100 Top Players of 2021

Congratulations to all the improvers and performers! 

 

Promotions - December 2021

We congratulate the following people with promotions to new ranks!

Name                                                          New Rank                                           Old Rank

Alexander Hewat                                        Grand                                                 Gold Life

Bill Pattinson                                               Life                                                    National **

Gita Curnow                                               Regional                                            Local**

Anne Barry                                                 Local                                                 Club

Verona Clarke                                            Local                                                 Club

Pam Lyndon                                               Club                                                  Graduate

Sylvia Shanahan                                        Club                                                  Graduate

Geraldine Gregson                                     Club                                                 Graduate

Grant Wickman                                          Graduate                                          nil

Andrew McCredie                                       Graduate                                          nil

Ephraim Grunhard                                    Graduate                                           nil

Ian McRae                                                 Graduate                                          nil

Barbara Stuart-Harris                                Graduate                                          nil

 

 

New Members 

CBC welcomes10 new members to the club.  Roughly half are RealBridge players from Perth and Sydney. Please welcome them virtually or otherwise.  

• Meredith Hayes
• Meredith Nichol
• Kevin Orr
• Diane Potter
• Steven Pynt
• Dave Sloan
• Sue Thomas
• John Spooner
• Lesley Still
• Brenda Watts

Sessions in the club are outlined below.  Many people are away on holidays so the number of tables is smaller, but the bridge is still wonderful!  NB There are possible changes next week but if any of the advertised sessions below change we will send another email advice.  

Upcoming Sessions

Sessions for the rest of the week are as follows:

• Friday Afternoon 1.00pm at the club
• Friday Afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge
• Saturday Afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge

From 10 January 2022  we have the following sessions 

• Monday Morning 10.00am at the club
• Monday 10.15 am RealBridge
• Monday 2.00 pm RealBridge
• Monday 7.00 pm RealBridge
• Tuesday Afternoon 1.00pm at the club
• Wednesday Morning 10.00am at the club
• Wednesday Morning 10.15am RealBridge
• Wednesday Evening 7.15pm at the club
• Thursday Morning 10.00am at the club - Butler and walk in duplicate
• Thursday Afternoon 2.00pm (24 boards) RealBridge
• Friday Morning 9.30am at the club
• Friday Afternoon 1.00pm at the club
• Friday Afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge
• Saturday Afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge

Watch the newsletters and website for advice on face-to-face sessions at the club, and RealBridge sessions as these are fluid, depending on COVID developments and demand.  At this stage it is intended that the Monday 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 Statements

CBC Pay Statements for December will be forwarded on Monday 10 December and won't reflect any payments made in the New Year.  

In other news Cafe Delish reopens on Monday 10 December. There is no correlation between these two statements! 

 

Magnetic Name Tags

If you want to treat yourself to a snazzy magnetic name tag please transfer funds - exact amount - $15 via electronic transfer with your ABF number and state "nametag", or drop in $15 cash with your name and number in an envelope.  We'll put an order in mid to late January.  

 

Upcoming  Events

Festival of Bridge

The Summer Festival of Bridge is a national event hosted by the Australian Bridge Federation. It takes place from 13 to 23 January 2022 on RealBridge. A wide range of events are scheduled.  To find out more go the website.  

 

Swiss Teams RealBridge

Form a team of four and enter the two week competition on 24 and 31 January 2022.  Please enter by 10am 24 January.  

Competitions will be returning to a Tuesday night from 8 February.  More details to follow in due course.

 

ABF Foundation Fundraiser: ProAm BridgeTournament

An ABF Foundation was established in 2020 to assist participants at all skill levels to enjoy and promote our fascinating game. 

There is a Pro-Am Bridge Tournament to raise funds for the Foundation by auctioning a session with a professional or leading players (including  our own Jodi Tutty).  The auction finishes on 25 January with the ProAm to run on either Tuesday 1 February or Tuesday 15 February at 7pm by arrangement.    

The winners will receive gold points! Click on the link above for details on players and the auction!  

  

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.  

 

Master the Basics

Master the Basics is on holidays until the first week of February.

 

Supervised Play

Thanks to all the supervised players during 2021 and an especial thanks to all the volunteers and helpers during the year (you know who you are!).  

Thursday Zoom lessons recommence on 3 February.

 

 Transfers to the Majors by Joan Butts

 What happens after opener transfers to your suit? (1NT p 2♦️ p 2♥️ p?)

Responder could:

• Pass = minimum (0-7), shows a minimum hand: 1NT P 2♦️ P 2♥️ P P P
• Rebid 2NT = invitational (8,9 pts), five cards in the major, balanced: 1NT P 2♦️ P 2♥️ P 2NT
• Raise to 3♥️ or 3♠️ = invitational (8,9 pts), six+ card suit: 1NT P 2♦️ P 2♥️ P 3♥️
• Raise to 4♥️ or 4♠️ = enough points for game (10+pts): 1NT P 2♦️ P 2♥️ P 4♥️
• Jump to 3NT = five cards in the major, maximum (10+ pts) asks opener to choose between 3NT and 4 of the major: 1NT P 2♦️ P 2♥️ P 3NT P ? Their decision is based on the number of cards in partner’s suit (no trumps if two cards, or the major if three+ cards)
• Bid a new suit = natural (four + cards) game forcing, maximum (10+ pts): 1NT P 2♦️ P 2♥️ P 3♣️(at least five hearts and at least four clubs)

 

More on Drawing Trumps with Ian Morison

As discussed in mid-December, drawing trumps is something to consider very early on when playing a suit contract.

Use of your trumps wisely is imperative to maximising your trick count. There are times when you should draw them all, times when you might leave 1 or 2 outstanding, and, as the following example will show, times when you should cross ruff.

You should always listen to any opposition bidding to help determine your strategy.

You are South and have ended up in 4S on this deal (NS vul):

 

                                                                                A1097

                                                                                Q652

                                                                                A965

                                                                                A

                                Q83                                                                                       64

                                J109843                                                                                K7

                                QJ4                                                                                        103

                                3                                                                                             KQJ9642

                                                                                KJ52

                                                                                A

                                                                                K872

                                                                                10875

The bidding has been:

                                                W                           N                             E                              S

                                                2H (1)                    X (2)                       3C (3)                    3S

                                                P                             P                             4H (4)                    -

                                                P                             4S (5)                     P

1. 6 card suit, weak
2. Takeout
3. Long suit, pre-emptive
4. Dangerous, but Not Vul
5. Bold, but values the singleton CA as helpful for ruffing any Club losers in the N hand, and with long Hearts, these losers should be able to be ruffed in the S (Maybe North should have doubled 4H, but being Vul against Not Vul, North decided to bid on?).

The HJ is led by West, and you stop to take stock after Dummy goes down, as you must always do.                                                        

After winning HA, should you draw trumps? Or some trumps?

Look at the hands and consider the bidding. West has bid hearts, so cannot over-ruff the hearts that you ruff in the South hand. East has bid Clubs, so cannot over-ruff the clubs you ruff in the North hand.

 

The Answer

So away you go. Take the HA in hand, play a Club to CA, then play DA and DK, then cross-ruff Hearts and Clubs till the sun gets up next day.

Depending how the defenders throw their cards (including under-ruffing), you will make 11-13 tricks.

On the other hand, if you had drawn some or all of the trumps, you will very likely go down in your contract.

I find cross-ruffing as exciting as watching England lose (another) Ashes series – pure joy!

Ian Morison - bridge lover

 

 Lighter moments

 Things to think about:

• What if my dog only brings back the ball because she thinks I like throwing it?
• If poison is past its expiry date is it more poisonous or is it no longer poisonous?
• Which letter is silent in the word "Scent", the S or the C?
• Do twins ever realise that one of them is unplanned?
• Why is the letter W, in English, colled double U? Shouldn't it be double U?
• Maybe oxygen is slowly killing us all and it only takes 75-100 years to fully work.
• Every time you clean something, you just make something else dirty.  
• The word "swims" upside-down is still "swims".
• Intentionally losing a game of rock, scissors & paper is just as hard as trying to win.  
• 100 years ago everyone owned a horse and only the rich had cars.  Today everyone has cars and only the rich own horses. 
• Your future self is watching you right now through memories.
• The doctors that told Stephen Hawking he had two years to live in 1953 probably died before him.
• If you replace "W" with "T" in "What, Where & When", you get the answer to each of them.  
• Many animals probably need glasses, but nobody knows it.  
• If you rip a hold in a net, there are actually fewer holes in it than there were before. 
• We started 2021 with a plague of rats and ended 2021 with a shortage of RATs.