Newsletter 24 June 2022

 

In this week’s newsletter...

  • Member Spotlight: Maureen Hickman OAM
  • Free RealBridge Seminars continue... Fourth Suit Forcing next Wednesday
  • Winter Butler Pairs - entries close Monday 27 June
  • BFACT Interclub Teams - 3 July
  • GNOT Qualifying Teams -  Tues 19 and 26 July 
  • Results 
  • Bridge Tips by Joan Butts
  • Lighter Moments

From the President

In case you weren’t aware the Club has cancelled this weekend’s Southern Tablelands Teams Event. Please see the note on the Club’s website.

The lessons on RealBridge are continuing each Wednesday afternoon, and it is not necessary to log on with a partner as players are available to partner individual players.

Please enjoy your bridge and stay safe.

Margaret

 

 

Member Spotlight Maureen Hickman

Congratulations to Maureen Hickman who received a Medal of the Order of Australia in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours list for service to the ACT community.  Well deserved Maureen!  We've used this opportunity to also showcase your love of bridge!

How long have you been a player/member? 

  • At least 25 years. I played in Grand Slam first, playing regularly for 30 years.  Member at CBC for nearly 20 years 

Most memorable occasion at the club?

  • lovely lunches over the years around Melbourne Cup.  I helped with the flowers.

What do you do when you're not at the club?

  • was a journalist for many years, travelling and reporting overseas
  • volunteering with various charitable organisations including the Royal Commonwealth Society 
  • walk the dog and 
  • being with family and friends

What's your  favourite travel destination pre COVID?

  • Italy 

What's your  favourite travel destination now?

  • Don't travel so much as I am 92.  My neighbours are wonderful.  

Final gems...

  • I used to edit a medical journal and one of the researchers found that the rate of dementia in bridge players was very low so I like to keep my bridge up. 
  • I play a lot with good friend Joan Westaway, since my husband Richard passed away.  We used to volunteer as substitutes for the Canberra Summer of Bridge which was great. 

  

Beginner's Classes

We've passed the solstice but it 's still wonderful weather for bridge! Our next beginner’s classes start in August on 17 and 19 August.  We have two sets of classes -  Wednesday – 7pm to 9pm (generally for people who can't commit during the day) and Friday 10am to 12 noon.  The classes run for 6 weeks. If you know someone who would like to learn to play bridge please tell them about our classes.  They can register interest on the club website or by talking to the managers. The cost is $69. 

Encouraging a younger cohort of players is beneficial and will ensure succession planning for our great game.  So if you know someone that you think may be interested in learning please consider a gift of lessons or just plant the seed that face-to-face lessons kickoff in the middle of next month.  

  

Free teaching seminar by international expert on RealBridge

CBC members have been provided with the opportunity to take part in 4 free hour long event over the next four weeks on a Wednesday afternoon at 2.30pm arranged by Andrew Robson in conjunction with RealBridge. Andrew Robson is an international player who regularly represents England, a highly regarded author and the Bridge correspondent for The Times (of London).

The dates for this are 15,22,29 June and 6 July 2022.  

We will be playing four boards selected by Andrew to cover a specific topic (week 3: Fourth Suit Forcing and  week 4: Counting and Card Placement), followed by viewing a video of Andrew giving his insight into one of the boards, and access to his detailed analysis of all four boards.

Put these dates in your diary, grab a cup of coffee on the day and join us for the hour to have some fun and learn from an expert. Enter via the RealBridge button on our homepage and the link.You can come with a partner or without and the director will match you up in the lobby.  

If you've not used RealBridge below please try the troubleshooting advice on the website to make sure your computer has its camera and microphone setting sorted or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  for practical assistance.  Rob will generally respond within 24 hours.  Please don't leave it until the last day!

 

Sessions in the Club and on RealBridge are outlined below

Upcoming Sessions

Our weekly sessions are the same as last week with one vital change:

  • Monday morning 10.00am at the club
  • Monday 2.00 pm (24 boards) RealBridge
  • Monday 7.00 pm RealBridge
  • Tuesday afternoon 1.00pm at the club
  • Tuesday 7.15pm event RealBridge - Winter Butler Pairs
  • Wednesday morning 10.00am at the club
  • Wednesday morning 10.15am RealBridge
  • Wednesday 2.30pm RealBridge Lesson on Fourth Suit Forcing - FREE
  • Wednesday evening supervised at the club 7pm (18 boards following lesson) 
  • 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 supervised 9.30am at the club (18 boards following lesson) 
  • Friday morning walk-in session 9.30am
  • 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 indefinitely.  

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) $10 visitors

Links to sessions are on our RealBridge page.

 

 Final June Supervised Sessions happening Wednesday nights and Friday Mornings at the Club

We run supervised duplicates on Wednesday evenings starting at 7.00pm and Friday mornings starting at 9.30 am.  

Each duplicate is preceded by a short lesson. 

Our final supervised lessons in June are on 29 June and 1 July (okay it's almost in June):  Rule of 20

If you are interested please come along.  There is no need to book.  If you want to know more get in touch with Morag Lokan.  Morag’s email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Master the Basics

 Master the Basics virtual lessons are onThursdays at 9.00am. The topic next week is Bidding - The Reverse Bid.  Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you want to be added to the Zoom class. $6 for members and $8 for non-members. This is almost the cheapest training on the planet at the moment!

The lessons run for 30 minutes.  

 

Upcoming Events

ANC Youth Contingent

 BFACT is excited to be represented at the ANC in Adelaide by 3 Youth players, Dev and Diya Shah and Alexis Wilsmore. They will each be accompanied by one parent and are forming a hybrid team with 3 WA youth players. We wish them the best of luck.

 

Winter Butler Pairs

If you've been thinking of participating in a competition, this is a great way to start as all the  Australian National Congress qualified players will be in Adelaide!! (good luck to them!)

Starting on Tuesday evening 28 June (also 5 July and 12 July) this three week competition will have Butler scoring.  Entries close on Monday 27 June.  Enter here or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 BFACT Interclub Teams - 3 July

The InterClub Teams (https://www.bridge-club.org/clientdocs/4484.pdf)  is being planned for Sunday 3 July at the Southern Cross Club in Woden with details on the hyperlink.  

 

Grand National Qualifying Teams

The Qualifying round for the Grand National Open Teams are on 19 and 26 July on RealBridge.  There are non compulsory ACT finals face to face on Wednesday night in August.  If you make it to the Finals they are in Brisbane in November.  

Consider forming a team of four to six people and entering.  

 

Results

 

CBC Matchpoint Swiss Pairs 

1.  Neil Ewart & Bruce Crossman

2.  Alaine MacMorran & Fiona Hickey

3.  Bill Tutty & Jodi Tutty

4.  Adrienne Stephens & Peter Kahler

 

Great to see our Taswegian distance members putting up a show!  Congratulations to all who participated!

 

Well Done Brad!

A huge shout out to Brad Coles who participated in the SBS Mastermind Finals, televised last Friday.  Leading until the final round, he faced arguably the hardest questions by far and finished third.  What an achievement! Congratulations Brad! We are all much more interested in the movies "Duck Soup" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" as a result.  

 

Bungendore Bridge Mentors

The Bungendore Bridge Club has just run a set of beginners lessons and are intending to play a number of settling in sessions on a Saturday morning from 10.00am at the Bungendore Community Centre.

They are looking for interested CBC members who live in the Bungendore area to act as mentors while they gain some playing experience.

If you are available please contact Greg Robinson on 0422 599 456

 

Drawing Inferences from Partners Lead with Joan Butts

Quick tips

  • If partner holds a touching sequence in a suit (eg ♠KQJ10x), they will generally lead the top card of that sequence to promote winners
  • When they don’t lead their suit, it may be that they hold a broken sequence (eg ♠AQ1074), and don’t want to lead it until they know where the other honours are, or…
  • They may need to see what’s in dummy, or…
  • They may need you to lead their suit, through declarer’s hand
  • If partner doesn’t lead the suit they preempt in, it’s usually because they hold a singleton in the suit they do choose to lead

 

Overbidding vs Re-evaluating? With Ian Morison 

Hi from Alaska, longest day here!   Here is an interesting hand for bidding and card play

Dealer N, NS Vul

                                          AKQ1072

                                          A4

                                          A1084

                                           5

 984                                                                          63

983                                                                          7652

Q975                                                                         -

 876                                                                         AKJ10942

                                        J5

                                     KQJ10

                                     KJ632

                                       Q3

The bidding

       1. North bid 1S, East bid 4C, South bid 4D and North bid 6D, all Pass

  1. Do you agree with the bidding after North’s 1S?
  1. I do. East should have 7+ good Clubs for the bid. South, bidding a new suit at the 4 level, should have a good suit and points. North’s bid is brave, but the Club singleton, Diamond length and strength, and the very good Spades make it sensible

The lead

  1. West led a Club to East’s Ace and East returned a Heart to Dummy’s Ace
  1. Making the Contract turns on finding the DQ
  1. Diamonds can break 2-2, 3-1 or 4-0. If you have no information, maybe you just play DA, DK
  1. What clues do you have from the bidding? West should have 7+ Clubs for his bid. Ignoring the cards already played, EW have 26 cards, and for East, 7+ of them are Clubs leaving only 6 other cards. West has 13 other cards, so West is more likely to have longer Diamonds than East. That information tips the odds in favour of finessing the DQ through West
  1. Just to be sure East does not have DQ singleton, lead a Diamond to the DK. East shows out. Taking care, you mop up the Diamonds with West by finessing twice. Contract made
  1. What would you have done if East had played a low Diamond?
  1. I would still assume West has longer Diamonds, played DK and finessed the next trick through West
  1. East’s bid gives you information that helps make the contract. If East had not bid, you may have played DA from Dummy at trick 3, and gone down

The moral of the story

  1. Should East bid 4C? Would 2C have given less information away (promising only 5 Clubs?)
  1. As East has bid 4C showing very long Clubs, that gives you much help in making 6D

 

Lighter Moments

 Civilisation in 2022 - this is Priceless

� Our Phones - Wireless
� Cooking - Fireless
� Cars - Keyless
� Food - Fatless
� Tires -Tubeless
� Dress - Sleeveless
� Youth - Jobless
� Leaders - Shameless
� Relationships - Meaningless
� Attitudes - Careless
� Babies - Fatherless
� Feelings - Heartless
� Education - Valueless
� Children – Mannerless

We are-Speechless!

Only in This Silly World ......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage. ?

Only in This Silly World.....do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet Coke.. ? ‍ ♂ ️

Only in This Silly World.....do banks leave vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.. ? ‍ ♂ ️

EVER WONDER
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin ❓❓ ? ‍
Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word ❓❓ ? ‍ ♂ ️
Why is it that Doctors call what they do 'practice' ❓❓

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons ❓❓? ‍ ♂️
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker ❓❓ ?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections ❓❓? ‍
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains ❓❓ ? ‍ ♂ ️
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together? ❓

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal ❓❓
? ‍ ♂ ️ ? ‍ ♂

 Thanks for all the smiles and guffaws Peter Giles.  

 

Final Bits and Pieces

Indigo Foundation is holding a Trivia Night on Friday 1 July here at the club.  Many club members are supporting it at the behest of Ian Robinson!  Ian advises "This is Indigo's inaugural Canberra trivia extravaganza and aids many good works!  Tickets are $50.  Light supper included, fun guaranteed!"  Head to www.indigotrivianight.floktu.com for tix.  

 

Be kind to each other.    

 

Tamara (for Kerry and Tamara)