Newsletter - 12 November 2021

 

From the President

Well done to all the CBC players competing in the Teams online at the Australian National Championships.  Our Seniors Team is competing in the second phase of the finals today against a star studded NSW team. You can kibitz and watch all the action by going to the ABF website.  

We are opening for four sessions face to face next week - details are below and on the CBC website.  

Enjoy your bridge and stay safe.

Margaret

 

 

Deakin again opens its doors, welcome back!

CBC welcomes the return to face to face bridge. Week 2 Tuesday afternoon saw 12 tables in person and 9.5 tables online.  Friday morning saw 4 tables.  People were careful to social distance and follow the club's COVID rules. People need to bring their own drinks, pens and face masks.  

Upon entry you should notice our wonderful Christmas raffle coordinated by Adrienne Stephens for the Club, tickets are 3 for $5.  Please support as a portion of sales go to our worthy charity BeyondBlue.

 There are four face to face sessions next week:

Tuesday 1pm  (not 2pm as inadvertently advised yesterday)

Wednesday 10am

Thursday 10am  (Matchpoints only.  The Butler Imps points stays online at 10.15)

Friday 9.30am

 

 As previously advised all RealBridge sessions will continue for next week except the RealBridge Matchpoints duplicate on Thursday morning. Some sessions will start 15 minutes later. 

Matchpoint players can move to the 2pm Realbridge sesson or come to the Club.  

 

CBC COVID Plan Updated

CBC’s new COVID Plan andChecklist have been revised to reflect the arrangements for the return to face-to-face bridge and are available on the website and in the Club entry hall. If you are coming to the club please refresh your memory of requirements, noting that neither kitchen is open, so bring your own refreshments for the time being.

 

Online RealBridge Session Times 

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: $8 members/visitors, $7 concession members (including event).

Starting times for some online sessions have moved 15 minutes later to accommodate the return of the parallel session at the Club.  

• Monday morning 10:15am
  
• Monday evening - 7:00pm (24 boards) 
  
• Monday afternoon 2pm  
• Monday Evening  7.15pm  State Open Teams week 3 of 4 week competition
• Tuesday afternoon 1:15pm
• Wednesday morning 10:15am
• Wednesday Supervised Lesson: 6.30pm (via Zoom), then Play at 7.15 on Realbridge
• Wednesday evening 7:15pm (24 boards)
• Thursday morning 10:15am - Butler (IMPs) NB Matchpoints has moved to face to face only
• Thursday afternoon 2:00pm (24 boards) 
• Friday Supervised Lesson: 9:30am (via Zoom), then Play at 10.15am on RealBridge Supervised Only
• Friday afternoon 1:15pm
  
• Saturday afternoon 1:15pm

Links to sessions are on our RealBridge page.

 

Cootamundra Charity Duplicate Bridge Day - Sunday 21 November 2021

For those wanting face to face bridge please consider the Cootmundra Charity Duplicate Bridge Day .  Please bring a partner.  The day aids Can Assist.

At the Cootamundra Ex-Services Club (Auditorium) 299 Parker Street 9.00 am for start of play 9.30 am

$40 per head, morning tea and lunch provided, prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd, plus Novice under 35 MP

RSVP to Judy Harris by 15 November 2021, 0429 528 990 or  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Promotions

Congratulations to Peter Hoskin promoted in September to the rank of graduate, mentioned again due to a transposing error. 

 

Upcoming Online Events

Australian National Congress Australian Butler Pairs Championships 2021

The Open Butler is where the top pairs in Australia fight it out to win this prestigious event. Stage 1 is on Sat/Sun 13^th-14^th November and Stage 2 on the Mon/Tue 15-16^th November. There is a healthy contingent of exalted and aspiring CBC members attending.  
There is also the Restricted Butler for players with less than 300 masterpoints which will be fought out just as hard.
You can watch every match of the Open on  RealBridge Kibitz on a 30 minute delay and feel like you are at the table.

 

Inaugural Grand National Novice Pairs (GNNP) 2021

Just one week left to enter the National Novice Pairs!  A unique opportunity for our new and less experienced players, and a chance to play in an Australian wide event, this event is for players with 100 Master Points or less.

This is a National Event from the comfort of your own home.  Featuring CBC qualifying round, and potentially ABF sanctioned semi-finals and finals... you have to be in it to win it!

• Cost: $10 (via CBCPay)
• Online entry is required by Friday 19 November 12:00pm
• More information about the event can be found on the ABF October Newsletter (page 25) article for the ABF Novice Pairs Championship. 

The Club will run a single session qualifying heat on Saturday 20 November at 1.00pm. We will use the RealBridge format.

The cost of the CBC heat is $10 per player and Red masterpoints will be awarded.

The top 20% of pairs in the CBC heat may elect to proceed to the Semi Finals played on the RealDeal Online Bridge platform during the week commencing 29 November with a Grand Final on Saturday December 11. The Semi final and Final feature Gold masterpoints and no further entry fee for the lucky club winners.

Let's get some more entries so we can have a competitive game!

CBC Swiss Pairs (Imps) 

• Monday Evenings at 7:15pm (29 November, 6 & 13 December), via the link on the RealBridge page. You MUST have pre-registered your pair.
• Butler(imps) Pairs event using a Swiss format with three or four matches per night depending on entries 
• Red Masterpoints
• Pre-entry is essential - via the online entry form. Entries must be received by 5pm Friday 12 November.
  
• Cost: $8 visitors/members, or $7 concession members per night. All table money is paid by your CBCPay account. Visitors fees will be charged to their member-partner.

Beginners Lessons in 2022

The Club is planning and scheduling face to face bridge beginner lessons commencing in the first week of February 2022, on Wednesday evenings (2 Feb - 9 Mar)  and Friday mornings (4 Feb - 11 Mar).  Please note and share with friends and family. 

 

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 throughout the lockdown 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.

Download the MTB Lesson Schedule

Negative Doubles by Joan Butts

• A negative double, responder’s double, is made after an opponent overcalls opener’s bid
• The higher the overcall, the stronger the doubler needs to be; each level higher requires the equivalent of a king more (ie 3 points)
• A negative double denies a fit for partner because showing a fit is first priority in competitive auctions
• A negative double denies a stopper for no trumps
• A negative double shows a hand that’s hard to describe (not enough points to show the suit at the level reached, or it has two suits)
• If responder passes, opener should try to reopen with a double (called a reopening double), because responder may hold the opponents’ trumps
• 1♣️ (1♦️ overcall) X (double) = precisely four hearts and four spades
• 1♣️ (1♦️ overcall) 1♥️/♠️ = four + hearts /spades
• 1♣️ (1♥️ overcall) X (double) = four spades
• 1♣️ (1♥️ overcall) 1♠️ = five + spades
• 1♣️ (1♠️ overcall) X (double) four + hearts (denies enough hearts, or points, to bid a forcing 2♥️)

 

The Mississippi Hearts Hand (again) by Ian Morison

 

It is a week later, and sitting South, you pick up the exact same beauty:

                                                                                -

                                                                              AKQJ109

                                                                                AKQ

                                                                                AKQJ

29 HCP and no losers.

You decide the terrible distribution that kept you out of 7H (or 7NT if partner had SA) last week, could not occur again in your lifetime. You resolve to bid.

You are second bidder, so await East’s opening bid, not really caring, due to your strength.

But you notice East is checking and rechecking his cards. He is breaking into a sweat. His eyes are becoming bloodshot. He shuffles in his chair. He is bursting to bid.

He says ‘I have not seen anything like this in all my years’. He reaches for his I pad, punches away, and you can see the numbers 1 in 635,013,559,600 appear on the screen.

Being a student of probability, you know exactly what East has, just as East blurts out:

‘7S’

He looks triumphant, then around furtively, then smugly, daring anyone else to bid.

He plans to shuffle his cards and place all his cards face down, and say to North and South that he will play them from the top of the pile no matter what is led or how they lie.

But in your head, you ignore Paul Marston and Joan Butts. You don’t need a stopper and a half in every suit to bid NT. What nonsense. You bid 7NT. Back it goes to East who, wearing indignity at your arrogance, and knowing he has 13 winners, thunders out ‘Double’, you double thunder back with ‘Redouble’.

It is left to poor West to find a killing lead with no points and no spades, for here are the full hands:

                                                                                -

                                                                                 432

                                                                                J10987                                                                  

                                                -                              65432                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                         AKQJ1098765432

8765                                                                                                                                                                                         -

65432                                                                                                                                                                                       -

10987                                                                                                                                                                                       -                                             

                                                                                                                                                                                                 -

                                                                               AKQJ109

                                                                                AKQ

                                                                                AKQJ

A score of 2980 is promptly chalked up to NS, a record for the bridge club.

East storms out, past the bemused Director. On his way out, in a justified act of rage, he defenestrates the Director from one of the high windows at CBC (such an act against the Director is not, quite rightly, recognised as a crime in Australia).

Ian Morison, bridge lover (& pretend comedian)

 

CBC Pay Advice

There were two payments made recently without ABF numbers or names.  Please recheck your payments were referenced and if not, provide details to have your CBC pay account topped up.  

 

Lighter moments 

Sex is like a game of bridge... if you don't have a good partner, you need a good hand.

Mae West  (1893-1980) actress, playwright, screenwriter & sex symbol.

 

Bridge: A game in which a wife/husband is always eager to do her husband's/wife's bidding

Anonymous

 

 Bridge is the only game that bruises more shins than hockey.

Anonymous

 

Bridge is a friendly game invented by two married couples who disliked each other.

Anonymous

 

 If you're interested in playing casually as a fill in please email us and we'll keep your details handy.